Kimjang Festival

The day of kimjang had dawned.

We drained the brine from the properly salted cabbage.

Before anyone arrived for work, I'd already prepped green onions, chives, radish, and salted seafood with Bldi to make the kimchi filling.

"All done," Bldi said.

"Good work," I replied.

There were no major hiccups—except for Bldi staring at the minced garlic and swallowing hard.

On top of those ingredients, we had chili powder, minced garlic, chives, and even mustard greens.

The quantities were staggering—scaled to match the mountain of kimchi we were about to produce.

"That's more than I expected."

"You mean we're doing all of this?"

"Yeah. It won't take too long. Lots of people are coming, and it's not complicated work."

The most tedious part—brining the cabbage—was already done.

All that remained was to whip up the kimchi filling and massage it into the brined cabbage.

"If we want kimjang bossam for lunch later, we'd better wrap this up fast."

"Bossam?"

Bldi blinked.

"That Pog meat—we're going to boil it, then slice it thick and eat it."

"Is that different from samgyeopsal?"

She must have remembered the samgyeopsal we grilled before, because she tilted her head at me.

"A little. Think of it as more tender."

"Aha!"

"The meat is fresh, and since you bled it yourself, it doesn't need anything fancy."

Bldi turned red.

"Y-you can't just praise me like that... Huhu, huhuhu."

A dopey grin spread across her face, all the tension gone from her mouth.

Throwing in some green onion, garlic, a splash of soy sauce, and a pinch of pepper would be more than enough.

In all my experience, I'd never caught a gamey whiff from meat Bldi had drained of blood.

The novelty of it made me try plain, unseasoned grilled meat once.

'It was savory all on its own.'

This time, too, I planned to use the bare minimum of seasonings—more to draw out the meat's flavor than to mask anything.

Just as I finished prepping the last ingredients, the staff arrived.

"We're here!"

Heimer, the knights, and Andrea came bustling in all at once.

"Good morning."

Right behind them, Liana walked in with Henry in tow.

The young lord Henry had his personal guards trailing close behind.

"Sir Lucas, good day!"

Brimming with discipline and fully armed, they barked their greeting in crisp unison.

"Lucas!"

The moment the light-brown-haired boy spotted me, he came running—pitter-patter.

He looked like any ordinary boy, but ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠he was, for all intents and purposes, the young lord of this territory.

"I've been waiting forever for today!"

"Henry, you made it."

I reached out and gave his now-familiar hair a gentle ruffle.

"I hear you've been hitting the books hard lately."

"That's right! Father says they're essential lessons to become a good lord! And when my little sibling is born, I'm supposed to help take care of them, so I need to show a mature side. Plus—my goal is to become a great knight like you, Lucas, so I've been training with a sword every day, too!"

Henry puffed out his chest and proclaimed it.

"A great knight like me?"

"Yeah! A knight who can stop a tuu all by himself, just like a hero from the stories!"

"That sounds like a lot of work."

"Why?"

I made a show of flexing my bicep.

"To be like me, you'd have to put in way more effort than you think. At the very least, you'd need to be able to cook two hundred servings all by yourself. Still okay with that?"

"Urk."

I'd never really considered myself an exceptional knight.

But after watching all these knights lately, one thing had become clear.

'At the very least, when it comes to stamina, I'm not falling behind anyone.'

I'd realized I wasn't weak by any stretch, either.

"That's actually why I came—to do some training on my own."

"Training?"

"I heard the knights of House Britten train together here every day until lunch. Today I'm here to observe the training method and try it out for myself!"

Henry declared it with total confidence.

"Our training gets pretty grueling. You sure about this?"

"I came prepared!"

Henry clenched both fists tight.

"Well then."

"Hoo-hoo-hoo, just you wait."

Everyone had gathered for the kimjang.

I tied on my apron like a commander gearing up for battle, pulled on my cooking cap, and addressed the assembled crew in a solemn voice.

"We'll jump straight in. I'll make the seasoning, and you'll take it and spread it onto the brined cabbage. The cabbage is in layers—just work the filling in between every layer. You don't need to pile it on. Just a reasonable amount. Understood?"

"Yes, sir!"

"We begin with shredding radish. Knights, you're on radish duty. The rest of you, bring the ingredients over."

"Yes, sir!"

Andrea and the knights took their seats in orderly rows before the cutting boards and went at the radish—chop-chop-chop.

The sight of them in rubber gloves, expertly shredding radish, was a little absurd for knights, honestly.

But if you saw the aura laced along their blades, every trace of mockery would vanish.

Henry ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠stared in awe at how they wielded sword energy without leaving so much as a scratch on the boards.

"Ooooh! That's all the fruit of their training!"

Then again, when I thought about how many cutting boards they'd destroyed to reach that level...

'Ah, now I'm annoyed all over again.'

Meanwhile, Henry and Bldi came up, grunting under the weight of sacks stuffed with chili powder and salt.

Even for a vampire, Bldi seemed a little short on physical strength; she wobbled unsteadily from side to side as she handed me the chili powder sack.

"M-Master, h-here."

Maybe it was because the restaurant had gotten crowded.

Bldi stammered, looking a bit uneasy.

"Thanks."

As I took the sack from her, Bldi gazed up at me with sparkling, expectant eyes—clearly anticipating something.

"???"

What do you want?

My expression seemed to ask, and Bldi bowed her head slightly, nudging the crown of her hair toward me.

That's when it clicked.

She was signaling me to pat her head.

"Sorry. I've got rubber gloves on right now."

"Nnnhh... B-but..."

Her eyes flicked over to Henry, who was still grunting beside us.

Wait—don't tell me this is because I ruffled Henry's hair earlier?

"I'll do it later, all in one go, after we're done."

"Uuuu... O-okay. I'll hold out until then."

The knights placed their neatly shredded radish into a large basin, and I poured Bldi's chili powder over it.

It was an absurd amount, even at a glance.

'Given how much we sell, this won't last long, even if we brine every last leaf.'

With that thought, I worked the radish into the chili powder.

To mix it efficiently, a little finesse was needed.

The finesse in question...

"There it is! Sir Lucas's secret technique!"

"Aura, on his hands..."

Coating my gloved hands with aura.

Mixing ingredients with aura-clad hands not only coaxes out the umami but also lets you handle large quantities at once.

Why can you handle more?

Because the aura amplifies the volume you can fold in with each motion.

It also saves energy when you're turning over heavy batches—an essential skill for any seasoned cook-knight.

Perfect for kneading dough, or for coating seasonings like this.

And in a pinch, it doubles nicely as a weapon, too.

"Keep slicing, no breaks! Do you people not grasp how much we have to get through?"

"We're sorry!"

I barked at the goofing-off knights and returned to mixing the radish.

After thoroughly mixing one basin full, I moved on to the next pile.

Both basins done, I folded in the fish sauce, salted shrimp, minced garlic, ground ginger, sugar, and the pre-made rice glue.

Once I worked everything into the softened radish, it came together with a satisfyingly squelchy sound.

'Nice sound.'

"Liana, could you bring the crown daisy and the rest of the greens?"

"Of course."

Liana, Bldi, and Henry returned with the green onions, chives, and crown daisy.

I dumped them all into the basin.

Whoosh!

Tossing the greens into the already-mixed radish, I gave it one last turn and sprinkled in a bit of MSG.

The kimchi filling was ready in no time.

I peeled off a glove, scooped up a little of the finished filling, and tasted it.

Crunch!

Salty, spicy—not bad at all.

"Henry, want to try some?"

"Yeah!"

Henry hurried over first and popped it into his mouth.

"How is it? Too spicy or salty?"

"It's fine! Really, really good!"

"Okay. Then we're set."

Right then, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Bldi scurried over and opened her mouth.

"M-me too, please. Aaah."

I dropped some into her small mouth.

"How is it?"

"Delicious!"

She was seriously copying a little boy's antics.

All vampire dignity, thoroughly dead.

I kept that thought to myself.

Bldi started a trend, and soon everyone crowded in wanting a taste.

"You'll give me some too, right?"

Andrea got her bite straight from me as well.

"Tasty. Hahaha."

I held out the filling toward the workers, each of whom had now had a sample, and said,

"Now, just spread this filling in between the layers of cabbage."

"Understood."

"Alright—begin! I'll make more filling and shred more ingredients, so let's move!"

The work went smoothly.

Andrea and Liana, needless to say, were flawless.

The knights, Henry, and Bldi—awkward at first—were spreading filling like old pros after just a few tries.

I kept shredding radish and mixing new batches of seasoning so they could keep at it without stopping.

The workload was so massive that what started in the morning carried on right up to the edge of lunch.

'Stowing all this in the cold storage is going to be a job, too.'

The traditional method would be to bury it in the ground, but with the Empire's magical engineering—refrigerators and all—there was hardly any need.

As long as you set the temperature properly, you could age it without ever touching a shovel.

I was packing the kimchi everyone had worked together to make into storage containers when I glanced over at Bldi.

"...Eep!"

She'd been nodding off while stuffing filling, then jolted awake in alarm, frantically wiping drool from the corner of her mouth and looking around.

With lunchtime approaching, she was clearly getting sleepy.

For a species whose day and night are inverted, this hour must feel like the dead of night.

"Mmmhh..."

She shook her head hard and went back to mixing the filling.

Not that she didn't start dozing again barely a moment later.

"If you're that sleepy, why not ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠take a little break?"

I leaned in and whispered.

"Eek!"

She stared up at me, face startled.

"M-Master!"

"What?"

"D-don't do that! My h-heart nearly s-stopped."

Her flustered expression, face especially red, was pretty adorable.

"Alright. You seem tired, so rest a little before we eat."

"Eat?"

"The bossam, remember."

"Ugh... Eating that at this hour is going to make me fat..."

"Just go to bed a little later. You don't have to come in tomorrow, so eat up and sleep in today."

"Okaaay."

I crossed over to the huge pot bubbling away on the flare range.

"That's done."

While we'd been making kimchi, the Pog meat had simmered to perfect tenderness, sending up clouds of steam and a deep, savory fragrance.

"Kimjang kimchi just demands bossam-style boiled pork."

I lifted the steaming meat and called over to the knights, who were mixing seasoning into the last of the kimchi.

"We're all done—now let's eat some meat!"