Leona's Sunday # 2
Leona's Sunday # 2
"What exactly are you doing?"
"Covering my eyes."
I was currently covering my eyes.
"Why cover them?"
Leona sounded annoyed.
"Just picture it. I open my eyes and bam, an Asura Jjamppong place."
"Don't worry, that won't happen! Do you think I'm the daughter of a jjamppong restaurant owner?"
"Then shall I uncover them?"
"Uncover them, quickly! It feels like I'm escorting a prisoner!"
"Alright!"
Very carefully. Maintaining extreme vigilance, I removed the palms covering my eyes.
And what appeared was...
"A jjamppong place...!"
"Not a jjamppong place, it's a conveyor belt sushi restaurant."
"What!"
It wasn't a jjamppong place!
"Ohhhhh!"
It was a freakin' conveyor belt sushi place!
"Unbelievable! How can this be! A conveyor belt sushi place!"
And not just any place, but a massive, legit sushi restaurant with a full Japanese interior!
"I'm so shocked I could collapse! Leona! Are we seriously eating in there?!"
Even the restaurant's name was something like [Fugitive Daimyo Sushi]...!
What is this?
"Were you just planning to look at the building and go home? Come on, it's good here. Let's go in."
"Uh, yeah."
Overwhelmed by the incredibly upscale building, I let Leona grab my wrist and pull me. Led by her hand, I entered this amazing conveyor belt sushi restaurant.
My god. Seriously.
That I've come to a place like this. I could tell at a glance. This was a completely different class from the 1,500-won-per-plate conveyor belt sushi joints in a department store basement. This was a real, class-above sushi restaurant.
"Irasshaimase!"
As we entered, sushi chefs wearing ridiculous hats greeted us in Japanese as they approached.
And that wasn't all. Glorious sushi was rotating on the rails, and even in the morning, a crowd was gathered, stacking up plates. The sushi looked high-end at a glance, but the prices?
There were even plates going for 12,000 won each?
"Excuse me, may I have your waiting number?"
"It's 57."
"Alright. Please sit here and wait a moment."
"Here, Kim Geun-cheol. Let's sit and wait a bit."
"Uh, sure."
I sat down with Leona in the waiting area.
"What the... When did you make a reservation?"
"When we left the orphanage earlier. At places like this, if you don't book in advance, you could end up waiting for ages."
"Wow. Look at that preparation. As expected of Leona. Is this place really that popular?"
"Yes. I heard the chef escaped from Japan, and has become a huge hit in Korea."
These days, do sushi chefs also flee Japan? Thinking about it, my classmate Ken was a stowaway too.
Anyway, after a short wait, a staff member guided us to a two-seat table. A good spot right next to the sushi rail.
"Here, here. Sit. Sit."
"Sniff, Leona, thank you so much. I've really come to a place like this."
"Once you become an active Hero, you'll get sick of coming here."
Leona sat down and even took care of my place setting, pouring soy sauce and placing wasabi for me. I immediately set out the water cups and poured water.
"Now, help yourself to as much as you like. Since Kim Geun-cheol needs to grow up big and strong, just eat with the intention of getting full."
"Is it okay to skip vegetables today?"
"We'll eat those at dinner."
"But can I really just pick anything? Some of those plates are like 12,000 won each?"
Honestly, my heart was pounding so hard I felt like I was going crazy. 12,000 won on a single plate of sushi? Is that insane? Is that right?
"Wait. How much did you say?"
"12,000 won."
"That's chump change."
Wh-what!
"Chump change!"
"So eat to your heart's content. Okay? Eat whatever you want. Our Kim Geun-cheol."
Leona rested her chin on her hand and pointed at the rail with her chopsticks. And as she did, she gave me a grin. As expected of a rich Archangel...!
"Sniff! You're truly an Archangel!"
"Let's eat then."
—Slide.
Leona unhesitatingly took the most expensive gold plate, while I, cautiously checking, picked up a 3,000-won salmon plate.
The flesh was very plump and long. And the outside was lightly seared and glazed with sauce. With plenty of onions on top, it looked incredibly delicious.
"Then, thank you for the—"
"No, why are you eating salmon? Is Kim Geun-cheol out of his mind?"
"What?"
"Eat the eel. Eel."
"What!"
—Slide.
Leona reached out, grabbed the 12,000-won eel plate, and plopped it right in front of me!
"The eel here is tasty, I found out. Oh my. They have tempura here too. Kim Geun-cheol likes fried shrimp, right? Eat this too."
—Slide.
And then she even grabbed a plate of golden fried shrimp, perfectly fried in genuine Japanese style, and placed it before me...!
"No, Leona! My perception can't keep up with reality right now! How much have you already piled up?!"
"About two pieces of gum?"
"What do you mean two pieces of gum!"
"Stop chattering and eat! Are you planning not to eat after I've grabbed it for you?!"
"I'll eat it!"
I immediately deployed my chopsticks!
"So this is the 6,000-won-a-piece eel sushi...! No, they sliced the eel so long!"
This isn't the cheap sushi where they cut the eel into tiny pieces! It's the finest sushi, with plump, firm eel sliced very long and glazed with teriyaki!
—Dip.
Carefully.
I lightly dipped the eel sushi into the soy sauce where the wasabi had dissolved well, and pushed it right into my mouth.
"...!"
In that instant, my eyes flew open!
This taste!
"Sniff!"
It was a taste so delicious it brought tears to my eyes...! The unique soft texture and flavor of the eel, and the teriyaki sauce harmonizing beautifully, melting in my mouth!
"Oh my, is it that good?"
"Yeah, hic! I've never had sushi like this before! It's so good!"
"Then let's eat more! Eat more and then stop!"
Excited, Leona reached toward the rail, grabbed another eel sushi, and placed it in front of me!
"What about you, Leona!"
"Don't worry about me and just eat! I get full just watching Kim Geun-cheol eat!"
That's what she said, but Leona was grabbing things like ōtoro and chūtoro and piling them on her own table.
"And you have to eat the eel quickly so we can eat tuna too!"
She's planning to make me eat tuna as well!
"Hurry up. Ah, I completely forgot about drinks. What drink does Kim Geun-cheol want?"
"Uh, what do you drink with sushi?"
"Usually, green tea. A cold one."
"Then get me that."
Leona immediately ordered green tea along with sea urchin sushi. How much was that already? Feeling a sense of the sublime, I inhaled the eel sushi placed in front of me, and even ate the golden fried shrimp thoroughly soaked in soy sauce.
This was seriously fucking delicious.
"No, this is completely different from the fried food I usually eat."
"It's Japanese-style fried food. They call it tempura. How is it? Is it good?"
"Nuclear-grade delicious, for real."
"Nuclear-grade delicious, my ass. Are you a geezer? What era is that buzzword from? Ah, try this too."
—Slide.
Leona handed me her plate of fatty tuna belly sushi, from which she had just eaten one piece. Tuna sushi. It was radiating a jewel-like presence. If rubies existed, they would feel exactly like this.
My mouth was watering nonstop.
"Wow. The color of this tuna is just killer. Isn't this too pretty? My god. Seriously, it's as pretty as you, Leona."
"Hohoho, stop your nonsense and just eat. Who says sushi is pretty like a person?"
"This thing has the presence to justify it. It couldn't be any prettier."
Saying that, I carefully picked up the tuna sushi.
So lustrous.
To give me something like this.
What exactly is Leona?
"Leona."
"Yes?"
"I'm saying this for real, seriously. You're the prettiest in the world."
"What did you say?!"
"Leona, you're the prettiest in the world."
"Keut...!"
Leona covered her mouth with the back of her chopstick-holding hand.
"More! Say more! More!"
She shouted in excitement!
"Leona is the prettiest in the world!"
I'm in an excited state too!
"More...! More! Kim Geun-cheol! I desire more!"
"A beauty that nothing can compare to!"
"Still not enough!"
"Leona, you're the goddess of beauty!"
"Yahoo!"
Finally letting out an exclamation of joy, Leona cheered and grabbed her cold green tea, gulping it down.
"Ah! The green tea is killer! Kim Geun-cheol is very commendable! You're doing great!"
"I'll do even better! To the absolute limit, I'll be better!"
"Good mindset! Good mindset! Kim Geun-cheol, you've really shaped up! Hohoho!"
"Huhahahaha!"
"Quick, eat this too!"
"Yes ma'am!"
A madly joyful and delicious time! I wolfed down sushi just as fast as Leona placed the plates. Like a baby bird being fed by its mother.
It was while we were enjoying and inhaling sushi like that with Leona.
"Sumimasen."
Suddenly, the chef who had been making sushi leaned his face toward us, making me flinch, but I saw he had been offering a greeting.
"Y-yes?"
"By any chance, are you heroes? A mana aura. I felt it."
"Oh my. We're not active Heroes, but cadets."
"Is that so!"
What's this?
Why is he reacting so warmly?
I shot a glance at Leona, but she was also flustered. She mouthed, 'What's this, Kim Geun-cheol?'
Then I should ask.
"Uh, Chef? What's the matter?"
"Hahaha. I'm also an Awakened, you see. I felt a sense of kinship, so I spoke up. After all, you're people who know how to eat sushi."
"Oh my, you're an Awakened too. That explains it."
A staff member suddenly talking to you makes you feel pressured... but his accent was a bit unusual. Is he actually Japanese?
As I was thinking that, the chef suddenly started crying.
"Sniff, seeing young souls enjoying and eating sushi makes my heart swell with emotion. My family has been a family of sushi makers for generations. However, now, all members of my family have become slaves of the Neo Daimyo."
"Huh? Huh?"
No, what did he say?
"What do you mean by that?"
Leona asked in a tone suggesting she couldn't let this go.
"After the Dimension War broke out. Somehow, the Neo Daimyo seized control of the Japanese archipelago. They were cruel. How cruel? They rounded up every skilled sushi master from around the country and made them slaves. Turned them into sushi slaves to cook their meals for them."
What kind of talk is this?
"That oppressive life. I could not endure it. I barely managed to escape from Japan, but... I likely won't be able to see my family again... Sniff!"
No, why this heavy story all of a sudden...
"But even in Korea, our sushi gets through. Every time I see young souls like you eating it so deliciously, I'm truly so happy I can't bear it. Arigato, young souls."
"Y-yes..."
"This is on the house. Please enjoy your meal."
—Slide.
The chef put out a plate of sushi he had been making while telling his story. It was a green plate with no price tag attached.
—Somber.
But maybe because we just heard that story, the atmosphere had grown somber...
"Leona."
"He's too pitiful...!"
"Leona?"
"Let's eat a little more here!"
Fine by me!
