Truth in Wine
"You caught a pickpocket for me, so how could I possibly just let you go? Especially since you're planning to dine here at Gijwaru. As the mistress of this establishment, it's simply a matter I cannot overlook."
Having spoken to us as we stepped inside Gijwaru, the mistress rejected our rejection before we could even voice it. With a grand gesture, she turned and began striding up the stairs, gesturing for us to follow.
Ah, I seriously missed elevators. It wasn't because I was tired; it was purely out of sheer boredom. I briefly wondered if I should start an elevator business later, but then I remembered I was a humanities major to my very bones. To a humanities guy, when snow melts, it doesn't mean the temperature rose—it means spring has arrived, right?
In any case, watching the scenery change with every floor we climbed was quite refreshing. The first floor was just a typical tavern, but from the second floor onward, the atmosphere began to shift. The third floor resembled the estate of a high-ranking official—the kind of place I'd only ever stared at from the outside in the past—and the fourth floor was practically the pinnacle of luxury. Seeing how everyone else's eyes were spinning alongside mine, this was undoubtedly an incredibly high-end establishment.
But why weren't we stopping? Surely she wasn't planning to host us on the fifth floor?
"Excuse me, Mistress?"
"Yes?"
"We don't exactly have enough money to rent a room on the fifth floor..."
At my words, the mistress turned her head slightly and let out a soft, dimpled giggle. It was definitely the kind of smile that would drive men wild.
"Young Master... how much do you think it costs to rent a room on the fifth floor of Gijwaru?"
"I heard it was roughly one gold coin."
"That only covers the room reservation."
"Pardon?"
"Food and drinks are extra."
This place was absolutely insane. Should I open a window and jump out right now?
"But I could never accept money from those who helped me out of the goodness of their hearts. Please, enjoy your lunch today to your heart's content."
Whew. Thank goodness I didn't have to jump out of a window. Perhaps my relief was a bit too obvious, because Seonwoo Seol poked me from behind.
"You're embarrassing me, seriously."
"What's wrong with free food?"
"I get it, but you shouldn't make it so obvious!"
I knew this look. It was the exact face my mother used to make, covering her face with her hand and pretending she didn't know us whenever my father did something embarrassing in public.
"So embarrassing, really."
"Free. Food."
"Be quiet!"
Poke, poke! Judging by the sheer force of her pokes—which felt dangerously close to the Flicking Finger Technique—she really wanted me to stop. If I pushed her any further, she'd probably use the Dragon Claw Hand to pinch my sides, so I decided to behave.
Anyway, I had expected the fifth floor's interior to be dripping with gold leaf and jewels, but it was surprisingly sparse. No, to be precise, it felt like only the absolute essentials were present. I never thought I'd use this word in the Central Plains, but the closest description was 'modern.'
"Please sit here and wait."
She pointed toward a table set before a massive window overlooking the scenic vista of Zhengzhou. Four seats were laid out, as if specifically prepared for the four of us.
Once we took our seats, the mistress slipped away for a moment. In her place, a maid dressed in elegant attire appeared and served us chilled tea.
"Please call for me if you need anything else."
"Ah, yes..."
As soon as the maid disappeared, Seonwoo Seol began scanning her surroundings.
"What's on your mind?"
"The mistress's presence... it completely vanished."
"You were paying attention to her presence?"
"Well, isn't it strange?"
Seonwoo Seol fanned her hand over her cup to catch the tea's aroma before taking a cautious sip.
"The tea tastes fine, but... still, why would the mistress of a place like this be hanging around a tanghulu stall right in front of her own restaurant? Especially dressed in such eye-catching clothes?"
Ah, so she had been suspicious from the very beginning? Come to think of it, the mistress's behavior was bizarre. The area in front of Gijwaru was essentially her home turf. Why would someone of her standing be standing by a tanghulu stall without a single bodyguard, wearing highly conspicuous Western clothing, with her coin purse dangling invitingly from her waist? As Seonwoo Seol said, it was highly suspicious.
As I fell into deep thought, Seonwoo Seol rested her chin on her hand, staring at me intently with a slight scowl.
"Here I am, on high alert, while Chef Yoon is just giggling over free food and happily following a pretty woman wherever she leads."
"What did you want me to do, slap her across the face and yell, 'Silence! Begone, you wicked enchantress! Get thee hence!' or something?"
"That's just a crazy person!"
"Well, I have to go to those extremes for you to believe me, don't I?"
Seeing Seonwoo Seol purse her lips at that, she must have really disliked me looking at the mistress. Come on, it's not like my eyes would wear out from a brief glance.
"Anyway, that's just my opinion. I think we should be a bit cautious."
"It definitely is a bit suspicious that she brought us all the way to the top floor just for catching a pickpocket."
Man Hanseok, who had been listening to our conversation, downed his tea in one gulp and smacked his lips as he chimed in.
"But maybe she isn't a bad person?"
"And why is that?"
"If she were a bad person, she wouldn't need to lure us like this. She could've just ambushed us on a quiet road, or kidnapped us."
Hearing that, he had a point. There had to be a specific reason she drew our attention in front of Gijwaru while wearing Western clothes to bring us here.
"I think she brought us here because she has something to say to us."
"Like what?"
"How should I know? I'm not the pretty mistress, am I?"
A pretty mistress, huh? Maybe I should snitch on him to Dang Go-hye. Just as I was about to tease him—
"Thank you for the compliment, Young Master Man."
"Whoa!"
At the sudden sound of the mistress's voice, not only Man Hanseok, but Seonwoo Seol and I jumped in surprise.
"Hic!"
Gongson Yeongji went so far as to start hiccuping. The reason for our shock was simple: the mistress had materialized near us without making a single sound.
Not expecting us to be so startled, the mistress offered an apologetic look.
"I had to scramble to prepare when I heard you were passing by, and it seems you've already seen right through my clumsy plan."
"Don't tell me you were listening to our entire conversation?"
I had clearly watched her head downstairs. Eavesdropping from that distance was impossible unless one had mastered a highly specialized martial art. Yet, she appeared to be an ordinary person with no martial training... Could she be a master who had reached the state of Return to Nature, completely masking her presence? Even so, it should have been impossible for anyone to bypass the eyes and ears of peak experts like Seonwoo Seol and myself.
As Seonwoo Seol and I glared at her with suspicious eyes, the mistress raised both hands in a placating gesture.
"Though I orchestrated this meeting through deception, I assure you that I am entirely on your side."
She wasn't wearing her usual captivating smile; instead, she looked back and forth between Seonwoo Seol and me with absolute sincerity.
"You speak as if you already know who Chef Yoon and I really are," Seonwoo Seol pointed out. She was right. The mistress spoke as though our identities had been laid bare to her from the very beginning.
The mistress didn't deny it. Taking a deep breath, she gestured toward Seonwoo Seol.
"The Little Heavenly Demon, Lady Seonwoo Seol, currently using the alias Hong Seol; the Three-Virtue Chef, Great Hero Yoon Gomyung; the Mount Tai New Hero of the Donhwa Sect, Young Master Man Hanseok; and Lady Gongson Yeongji, the youngest daughter of the Gongson Clan's direct line. I am well aware of who the four of you are."
Seonwoo Seol was currently disguised using a high-level technique known only to the four of us. To know that, along with her alias Hong Seol, meant she truly knew everything.
"I hope you can understand that this was the only way someone like me could secure a meeting with you."
"Someone like you?"
The mistress hesitated for a moment, lost in thought, before looking at me as if she had made a monumental decision.
"To the public, I am known as Mi Jinhyang, the mistress of Zhengzhou's Gijwaru."
"If that's just 'to the public,' it means you have a hidden identity."
"Just like the Little Heavenly Demon sitting right there."
At those words, Seonwoo Seol's mouth twitched to the left. That was her signature expression whenever she was thoroughly displeased.
"Then why don't you just spit it out instead of beating around the bush?"
Perhaps she was annoyed by the deception used to meet us, but Seonwoo Seol's sharp tone made the mistress hesitate for a moment before she finally spoke.
"I am Ju Suran, the Henan Branch Leader of Haomen."
"...Haomen?"
Unlike the twenty-first century, where typing a few keystrokes could summon any piece of information in seconds, information itself held immense value in the Central Plains. Only two sects in the entire realm specialized in dealing with such a commodity. If the Beggars' Sect ruled the light, then Haomen ruled the shadows.
"Why would Haomen want to meet us? And go to such lengths to hide your identity?"
In response to Seonwoo Seol's question, Ju Suran bowed her head slightly.
"To speak without a single lie, this was an order handed down from above."
"Did they order you to deceive us just to treat us to a meal?"
"I cannot blame you for your suspicion. But if we had sent a formal invitation, asking you to dine on the top floor of Gijwaru... would you have readily accepted?"
Seonwoo Seol's lips twitched again. It was true; receiving a sudden invitation to dine from Gijwaru, a place with which we had absolutely no connection, would have naturally seemed highly suspicious. Seeing Seonwoo Seol rendered speechless, Ju Suran continued in a calm, even voice.
"Such is the current state of the Murim—where goodwill cannot be accepted at face value. To meet the Three-Virtue Chef, who is renowned for his righteous heart, I had no choice but to use myself as bait to draw you in."
"Pardon? Who has a righteous heart?"
"Why, the Three-Virtue Chef, of course."
Is that really how I looked to others? Me, righteous?
"I don't possess even a grain of righteousness, I assure you."
"But you caught the pickpocket, did you not?"
Huh, did I? Put that way, it did make me sound like some kind of chivalrous hero.
"Setting aside whether I'm righteous or not, what is the exact reason you invited us here, Mistress?"
"Since it was an order from above, I do not know the full details. I was simply instructed to host Chef Yoon and his companions on the top floor of Gijwaru."
"Just host us? Without any favors or requests?"
"Along with a message: since the journey back to the Mutual Righteousness Academy in Hebei is long, they wished for you to fill your bellies before you set off."
In short, it was an order to show pure hospitality on someone else's behalf. Who on earth could have made such a request? Ju Suran added that she had originally planned to slip a note explaining the order into my purse after the meal, but since she had already been caught, she decided to just tell us directly.
Seonwoo Seol still looked thoroughly displeased, pouting in silence, but this had turned into a situation that was rather awkward to refuse.
"Well, in that case, we'll gladly accept your hospitality."
When I spoke to Ju Suran, who was still nervously reading the room, her face instantly brightened. It didn't feel like she was lying, and besides, when else would I get the chance to eat at a place where renting a single room cost a whole gold coin?
"Then I shall have the dishes brought out immediately."
"And please bring us a bottle of mild liquor as well."
"Thank you, Chef Yoon."
"I'm the one being treated, so there's no need to thank me."
As the mistress bowed deeply and scurried away once more, Seonwoo Seol crossed her arms and grumbled.
"Aren't you trusting her a bit too easily?"
"She was acting on orders; what else could she do? She went through the trouble of devising a plan so clumsy that even Hanseok saw through it, all just to treat us."
Tsk, tsk. Spoken like someone who doesn't know how the world works. I didn't mean to look down on her, but she occasionally made comments that showed she had no idea what life was like for subordinates. She didn't seem to understand how incredibly difficult it was for an ordinary person to refuse an order from their superiors. I suppose that was to be expected from the daughter of the Heavenly Demon.
As I defended Ju Suran's position against Seonwoo Seol's grumbling, Seonwoo Seol seemed to quickly grasp the reality of the situation and finally let go of her pout. However, complaints soon erupted from an entirely different direction.
"Why is my observation the benchmark for a clumsy plan?"
"Because you're incredibly dense. If even you noticed it, then it was a clumsy plan by default."
"...I mean, it's true that I'm dense, but that actually hurts a little."
"Well, go look at the mistress's face to soothe your aching heart."
"I only have eyes for Lady Dang!"
"What nonsense. Who was the one gaping in awe the moment they saw her face?"
While Man Hanseok and I bickered, the dishes began to arrive one after another. It started with Baiguangdu, an appetizing white fish dish, followed by Pao-yu Jitang, a soup made by simmering abalone and chicken together. Utilizing the ultimate cheat-code combination of abalone and chicken, the soup boasted a distinct, light-brown hue. Taking a sip of this broth...
"Ahhh."
The rich, deep broth hit the back of my throat with a satisfying punch. It was absolutely sensational. Moreover, the windows on this floor were incredibly wide, giving the space the open, airy atmosphere of a pavilion. Despite it being midsummer, a gentle breeze drifted in, making it feel as though we were dining at a luxury resort.
The dishes that followed were equally spectacular. There was Kaifeng Gaoya, similar to the Peking duck we all know but served whole for a more rustic dining experience, and Mudan Yancai, a refreshing yet complex soup packed with various seafood, chicken, and vegetables. To make these myself, I would have had to blow through several days' worth of the academy's ingredients and budget. They were truly extravagant dishes.
"A single bowl of this would easily cost more than half a silver coin."
"Huh?"
Man Hanseok, who was in the middle of tearing into a chicken leg, locked eyes with me.
"Never mind, just eat."
"...Yes, sir."
Man Hanseok's eating speed slowed down drastically. Well, if I were told that half a silver coin vanished into thin air every time I emptied a bowl, I'd take my sweet time savoring it too.
"It doesn't quite compare to Chef Yoon's cooking, but it's still highly impressive. The ingredients used are top-tier as well," Seonwoo Seol whispered to me.
"Indeed. I feel like we're being treated a bit too well..."
We murmured to each other. It was so lavish that I wondered if it was really okay for them to give us this much. And on top of that—
"This is Henan's famous liquor, Songhe Liangye."
The moment I took a sip of the accompanying alcohol, a sweet, fruity aroma filled my mouth. Songhe Liangye was notorious for being incredibly strong, but perhaps they had processed it somehow, because it went down smoothly and the alcohol content felt significantly lower. Yet, the distinct flavor of the liquor remained perfectly intact. It was my first time trying it, but that was the distinct impression it gave me.
"This is seriously a luxury."
The taste was clean, and the aftertaste was incredibly smooth. I should buy a jar of this to take back later. As I smacked my lips after emptying my cup, Seonwoo Seol raised hers.
"...Pour me a glass too."
"You know how to drink?"
"You've just never asked me to drink with you. I'm of age, you know."
"Did you learn proper drinking etiquette from your father?"
"During last year's winter break."
Drinking etiquette taught by the Heavenly Demon himself? Now that piqued my interest. In any case, in the Central Plains, you never sip your first glass. The first glass must always be downed in one shot. When I poured her a cup, Seonwoo Seol swallowed the Songhe Liangye without a single change in her expression. In fact, seeing her let out a soft smile after finishing her drink, she seemed to have quite a high tolerance.
"I expected you to make a fuss and ask why anyone would drink this stuff."
"I take after my father, so I can hold my liquor pretty well. If we went drink-for-drink, I might actually beat you."
"Let's save that challenge for later when these kids aren't around. Today is just a taste."
"Deal."
Even so, as we shared a few more cups, a rosy flush began to creep onto her cheeks. It was clear that Seonwoo Seol was starting to get tipsy.
"Unni, your face looks really red..."
Once even Gongson Yeongji pointed it out, Seonwoo Seol drained her final cup and pushed it aside.
"Since our Yeongji is worried about me, I guess I should stop."
Seonwoo Seol began rubbing her cheek affectionately against Gongson Yeongji's, throwing the young girl into a state of utter fluster.
"Ah, ah..."
"You're definitely drunk. You're even teasing the kid now."
"My mind is perfectly clear, thank you very much."
Your actions say otherwise, so what does a clear mind matter?
A bit of time passed. Only bones remained of the crispy, chewy Kaifeng Gaoya, and the bottom of the bowl was visible for the brothy Mudan Yancai. Man Hanseok was slumped back in his chair, completely stuffed, while I poured the very last drops from the liquor bottle. Seonwoo Seol, wearing a dazed expression, spoke while still holding Gongson Yeongji in her arms.
"Chef Yoon."
"Yes?"
"I wish we could keep living like this together forever. Don't you?"
"We can just go on another trip like this next time."
"...Do you really think we can?"
Where was this sudden wave of melancholy coming from? As she spoke, there was a strange, hollow look in Seonwoo Seol's eyes. It was as if she believed we would never be able to go on a long journey together again after today. It didn't seem like simple sentimentality; she likely harbored a deep worry that she couldn't easily share with us. I had pondered over her circumstances in my own way, but there were no easy answers. As the Little Heavenly Demon and the sole heir to the Heavenly Demon, her burdens were bound to be on an entirely different dimension compared to the worries of ordinary people like us. Suddenly, a strong desire to be of help to her welled up inside me.
"There's a saying: 'If it's impossible, make it possible.'"
"...?"
"Do whatever it is you want to do."
"And what if someone tries to stop me?"
At Seonwoo Seol's anxious question, I replied with absolute certainty.
"Then we'll just smash through them."
"No matter who it is?"
"No matter who they are, or where they are. I'll smash them to pieces for you."
At my words, Seonwoo Seol let out a bright, radiant laugh—a smile I had never seen on her before.
"Thank you. Even if they're just words, it means a lot."
Though her face was still obscured by her disguise, to me, she was the most beautiful woman in the entire Central Plains.