Chapter 27: It’s a Festival, Not a Funeral (2)
Chapter 27: It’s a Festival, Not a Funeral (2)
(27/225)
When the escort soldiers gathered and began murmuring, Oswald’s face reddened and he turned his gaze away.
“Ahem! Well, it’s not like I said it with any deep meaning. If ramen gets cooked in the food truck because of me, the locals might swarm over. Anyway, just understand it that way.”
After speaking, Oswald kept clearing his throat and headed toward the lodgings.
Avoiding the crowd, he glanced back at the food truck with a strangely wistful look, but Jinseo pretended not to notice and let it pass.
“Jinseo, then are you planning to rest properly today?”
“Yes. I’m going to look around the harbor. While I’m at it, I’ll check out the fish market.”
At Jinseo’s reply, Aston’s eyes sharpened slightly.
“In that case… are you planning to come up with new dish?”
“Not so much coming up with it—more like trying to make something with ingredients from here.”
Jinseo had once tried making bunsik using ingredients from the Francia Continent, but every attempt had ended in failure, and he hadn’t tried again for a while.
Still, he hadn’t completely given up.
“I think fried squid should be doable with ingredients from here. Maybe the squid here will suit people’s tastes better.”
“I’m really looking forward to it.”
“And I want to make something with ingredients you can only get on this continent. If only there were kraken.”
“Huh? Kraken?”
“Wouldn’t they be obtainable here?”
“Well… I’m not sure.”
After touring the harbor with Aston, Jinseo went to bed earlier than usual.
Perhaps because he was excited about the upcoming festival, he couldn’t fall asleep, and only after midnight did he finally close his eyes.
He opened them again at five in the morning.
Stretching, Jinseo opened the window of the additional trailer.
“Wow. Sunrise by the sea really is incredible.”
Watching the real sun rise over the horizon—not a photo or a video—Jinseo couldn’t help admiring it.
Still staring blankly at the sunrise, he turned his gaze toward the fish market.
“I couldn’t find kraken in the end. But the squid looked pretty good. It didn’t seem all that different from what I usually use.”
He had scoured the entire fish market, but all he heard was that kraken couldn’t be obtained by ordinary means.
Even if one appeared by chance, he’d have to pay an exorbitant price, so he gave up.
Even so, thinking about the festival tomorrow was enough to shake off the regret.
“Since I’m up early anyway, maybe I’ll go for a jo—”
{Warning! Warning! An unidentified monster has been detected.}
For a moment, Jinseo doubted his own ears.
“…Am I not fully awake yet?”
{Warning! Warning! An unidentified monster has been detected. If the monster approaches within a certain range, the Mobile cooking equipment will automatically switch to defense mode.}
The warning kept sounding. Jinseo hurriedly changed clothes and ran out of the trailer.
“Jinseo? What’s going on?”
The escort soldiers on watch to protect the food truck stared at him in surprise.
“J-just a moment.”
Jinseo looked around, then fixed his gaze on the sun that had fully risen over the horizon.
No matter how he looked, he couldn’t see any monster.
Yet the warning continued to ring in his ears.
“I know this is hard to believe, but a monster is going to appear.”
“A monster?”
“Is that true?”
“First, inform everyone! I’ll take responsibility!”
At Jinseo’s shout, one soldier sprinted toward the lodgings.
{Warning! Warning! Unidentif—}
AI, I get it. Turn off the warning sound for now.
{Understood.}
What kind of monster is it? Where is it?
{This is a monster we have not encountered before, so analysis is not possible. The monster’s location is southwest, relative to the Mobile cooking equipment.}
Southwest would be the docks. Is it moving under the sea?
{Yes.}
Frowning, Jinseo carefully approached the docks.
He hoped no one would be around at this early hour, but the opposite was true.
Sailors were preparing to depart on the ships lined up along the docks, while laborers hurriedly carried cargo.
“Jinseo!”
With Aston in the lead, the entire escort unit came running in full gear.
Behind them followed Oswald and Fedora, along with three mages.
“Jinseo, you said a monster would appear. Is it true? Is it that ability you mentioned before?”
“So it really is a monster?”
“Yes. We’ve managed to avoid them until now, but this time we were unlucky.”
While Jinseo had been driving the food truck, the escort unit had never encountered monsters.
It could also be said that thanks to the food truck’s detection ability, they had avoided monsters for over a month.
In fact, there had been several times when they adjusted their route at Jinseo’s instruction and safely reached Colses Castle.
“It’ll probably appear over there. From under the sea.”
Jinseo raised his right hand and pointed toward the docks.
“I’ll check. If it’s a sea monster then—ah?”
“That foam… don’t tell me…”
“I’ve never seen it myself, but if it matches what’s written in the monster bestiary…”
The mages, who had belatedly tried to deploy detection magic, noticed bubbles boiling up around the docks and hesitated.
“If it’s underwater… I see.”
Aston drew the sword at his waist and gripped it with both hands.
At that moment—
Splaash!
A monster shaped like a gigantic octopus burst through the surface.
A shadow large enough to cover every escort soldier near the docks fell over them, and everyone’s faces darkened.
Everyone except Jinseo.
“It—it’s a kraken!”
“Kraken? You mean a kraken?!”
“What are you doing?! Run! Everyone, run!”
The fishermen preparing to set out fled in panic the moment they saw the kraken.
Many, however, couldn’t move and collapsed where they stood, trembling.
Meanwhile, Jinseo only stared up at the kraken in a daze.
“Wow… so that’s a kraken…”
Perhaps because it was so enormous.
The gigantic monster before him felt less terrifying than mysterious.
As if watching a 3D movie, Jinseo unconsciously reached his right hand toward it.
But when he saw the kraken wrap a thick tentacle around a small boat and lift it up, he snapped back to reality.
“…That’s a kraken?”
“Jinseo! Get out of the way!”
“Ah—okay!”
At Aston’s shout, Jinseo sprinted toward the food truck.
Boom! Boom! Crash!
Long, thick tentacles slammed down onto the docks.
Dust billowed as shattered wood and stone fragments flew everywhere.
Amid the chaos, Jinseo didn’t panic. He opened the truck door and sat in the driver’s seat.
I need to load people and get them out first.
As he reached to start the engine, a message appeared in the center of his vision.
{Unexpected Quest: A giant monster, Kraken, has appeared. Hunt the Kraken and save Orte Harbor from crisis.
Reward: 30,000 mana, 30,000 mileage, physical grade increase.}
“What? Hunt the kraken? Me?”
He accepted the quest on reflex and only then processed the contents. It was absurd.
“I’m just a regular food service worker.”
Most of the quests he’d received so far had been related to selling bunsik.
Aside from the one time he’d been tasked with dealing with attackers who assaulted the food truck.
Even then, it hadn’t been difficult for Jinseo, whose body had been strengthened.
But hunting a kraken that was smashing the docks with massive tentacles?
It was so ridiculous that even his fear faded.
“Then why is the reward this huge?”
As his time in this world increased, quest rewards had grown larger.
Still, the experience and rewards listed here were incomparable to anything he’d cleared before.
“Even so… this is… no.”
To Jinseo, the kraken was an unknown existence.
He couldn’t even guess how strong it was, so he couldn’t act rashly.
Meanwhile, Aston and the escort soldiers faced the kraken head-on despite their fear.
“Hah!”
Aston’s sword knocked aside a tentacle that lunged at him.
“Young master! Be careful!”
“I’ll handle this side!”
Oswald’s guards, Dan and Austin, wielded their weapons together to block the kraken’s attacks.
“This way! Over here!”
“Get up! Hurry!”
The other soldiers focused on evacuating fishermen and sailors who hadn’t managed to escape.
“…To deliver those who serve You from evil, and to extend the hand of salvation to those writhing in suffering…”
Fedora, positioned beyond the tentacles’ reach, calmly recited a prayer without losing her composure.
Kneeling on one knee with hands clasped, she prayed as a hemispherical light spread outward from her.
“You all know this, right? We get the people out first!”
“I know! The kraken comes later!”
Within the area wrapped in his light, the three mages opened their spellbooks and frantically chanted.
They cast spells to strengthen the soldiers carrying evacuees and used levitation magic to pull sailors flailing in the sea to safety.
Thanks to that, there were still no casualties.
Even so, Jinseo couldn’t just stand by and watch.
AI, how strong is the kraken?
{At the current distance, analysis is possible. Please wait.}
Jinseo took a deep breath and repeatedly clenched and unclenched his hands.
His known physical grade was B+.
If the kraken’s grade was lower—or at least equal—he planned to join the fight.
{Analysis complete.
Monster: Kraken
Physical grade: B+
Vitality: A+ (classified as a giant lifeform; elevated above physical grade)
Abilities: Undersea high-speed movement (A), ink discharge (A)…}
Its physical grade is the same as mine?
The AI’s explanation continued, but only “B+” stuck in Jinseo’s mind.
At the same time, Aston’s D+ grade surfaced.
How is Aston fighting that thing with such a gap?
{Assistants within a certain range of the Mobile cooking equipment receive an effect that increases physical grade. Additionally, combining swordsmanship and aura allows engagement with monsters exceeding one’s physical grade.}
I see…
{However, factors such as “sense of duty” and “experience accumulated from combat” cannot be precisely measured, so discrepancies may occur.}
Then I also—huh?
As Jinseo moved to open the door, a tentacle shot toward him.
He flinched and raised his arms, but the tentacle bounced off something invisible without touching the food truck.
Another struck from above with the same result.
{A protective barrier has activated to protect the Mobile cooking equipment. If accumulated mana is depleted, the barrier will not activate.}
Right—I upgraded that.
{Current remaining mana is 95% of maximum storage. Each similar attack blocked consumes up to 0.3% of maximum mana.}
“Everyone, this way! Over here!”
Jinseo exited the truck, opened the additional trailer, and loaded civilians who had collapsed and failed to escape.
Even as multiple tentacles struck the food truck, it didn’t budge, as if anchored.
“Oswald! Over here!”
“W-will it be alright? My men are fighting, and I alone—”
“If you’re safe, they can fight more freely.”
Jinseo grabbed Oswald’s arm and pulled him into the trailer.
At that moment, ink fired from afar poured down where Oswald had been standing.
Sssss.
“That was close!”
Seeing the stone floor blacken and melt, Oswald broke out in a cold sweat.
“It’s safe inside. Make sure no one else goes out!”
“And you?”
“I can’t just stand by.”
Jinseo jumped out of the trailer, entered the food truck, opened the refrigerator—and stuffed ice cream into a plastic bag as fast as he could grab it.