Chapter 43
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 43
Morning came, finding Gio back in his bed once again.
“……”
“Kkuruk?”
“Hmm.”
Gio was lost in contemplation. It wasn’t the first time he’d noticed that his personality could shift.
“There was the Giovanni incident, after all.”
Reflecting on it now, it seemed he occasionally strayed from his usual self. This mostly happened when he interacted with people outside while in his ‘Portrait’ state.
“Come to think of it, praising employees or giving them gifts out of the blue isn’t my normal way of doing things.”
“Kkuruk?”
“Some of them were even older than me. For a young man from the Land of Eastern Decorum to act like that… honestly, looking back on it now, it wasn’t normal at all.”
The problem was that Gio himself hadn’t felt anything was off at the time.
“Back then, it just felt like the natural thing to do.”
It seemed his identity as a ‘Portrait’ was genuinely changing him.
“Good heavens.”
“Kkoong-kkoong…”
“When I’m inside the portrait, I feel just like my usual self, so I didn’t notice anything strange.”
“Kkuruk?”
“No, it’s fine.”
Whether his personality shifted or not, Gio wasn’t about to let a little mystery like this get the better of him.
“Still, I should be careful not to be rude to others.”
At this rate, he might find himself patting a complete stranger on the head as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
“Who do I think I am, doing something so presumptuous?”
Patting someone’s head was something you saw in fiction, or something parents did to their children. Even lovers rarely engaged in such bold physical contact, so Gio felt he needed to be more reserved.
“Of course, it’s not like I’ve ever actually had a partner.”
“……”
“How dare you look at your father—who is like the heavens to you—with such eyes?”
So what if he’d never had a partner?
“Anyway, a shift in personality isn’t entirely unfamiliar. Even during my outings to Seoul, there were times my awareness as Giovanni grew stronger… I suppose this is similar to what I’m worried about now.”
Yet, it didn’t feel like his actual ‘personality’ was changing completely.
“If it were that drastic, I would have noticed much sooner.”
If he had to describe it, it felt more like recalling a forgotten memory.
“It’s not exactly Seo Gio, but it’s still me… that kind of feeling.”
“…Kkurureuk?”
“It’s not a split personality. You’ve got it wrong.”
Just as he had lived his past life as Giovanni, a priest famous for his benevolent smile, yet lived his current life as Seo Gio, who was often asked if he’d forgotten how to smile. It was like suddenly remembering his past life and having old, forgotten habits resurface.
“I never expected my identity as a portrait to cause issues, too,” Gio muttered. “I guess it’s a problem of resolution. Maybe trying to act human in a portrait’s body causes some kind of system error. My tone gets stiffer, and my actions and thoughts get weird…”
He needed to be careful.
“From now on, I’ll try harder to maintain some self-awareness.”
“Kkoong.”
“You think it’s a hassle? Honey, you really need to work on your social skills.”
At Honey’s grumbling, Gio picked up the round Water Bird and rolled him around in his hands. Rolling about like a plump water balloon, Honey didn’t seem to mind in the slightest.
“Are you having fun?”
“Kkurururu.”
“I see.”
Gio, who had been briefly startled by his personality shifts, found his mind put at ease by the bird’s carefree attitude.
“Well, as long as you’re having fun, that’s all that matters.”
It would be stranger if this ever-changing life wasn’t fun.
“Shall we get some food first?”
“Kkurureuk?”
Honey tilted his head, but Gio got up, paying him no mind.
“Even if we don’t eat it right away, it’s good to prep some soup or side dishes in advance. We still have the bones from the deer we butchered. If we clean them and make bone broth, we can store it in the Ice Storage and use it whenever we need it.”
Bone broth could be a hearty meal all on its own. Gio nodded.
“Whenever I had indigestion, Grandmother would tell me to drink bone broth with a pinch of salt and some chopped green onions.”
He didn’t know about others, but when Gio had indigestion, bone broth settled his stomach much better than rice porridge. Since there were no solid ingredients, it didn’t feel heavy, yet the rich, savory broth still made him feel like he’d had a proper meal.
“Add a pinch of salt, some chopped green onions, and freshly cooked rice to that milky-white broth, and you’ve got gomtang. A deeply simmered bone broth has an incredible umami flavor, which is why even a simple meal like that is so satisfying.”
“Kkururururu…?”
“It’s not spicy.”
Having developed a strong aversion to spicy food after the spicy sausage incident, Honey seemed worried about whether gomtang would be spicy. But unless they added red pepper flakes or spicy seasoning, there was no way it could be.
“If it feels too plain, you can add meat, or even wheat noodles instead of rice. Eating it with both is actually pretty good, too. Being able to add seasoning or black pepper to your liking is one of the charms of gomtang.”
There were plenty of other uses for bone broth as well.
“At the very least, if you use the broth instead of water to cook spicy ramen, it tastes absolutely fantastic.”
“Kkuruk! Kkuruk! Kkuruk!”
“But the broth itself actually tones down the spiciness of the soup powder… Fine, let’s skip that.”
Honey, who despised anything spicy, protested vehemently. Gio, playing the part of a good father, decided to respect his son’s wishes. If there were humans in the world who could eat absolutely anything, there also had to be weak little waterbirds who couldn’t handle a single speck of spice.
“Then maybe we can add some vegetables and make a different soup. Dumpling soup is a classic option,” Gio muttered. “Rice cake soup is good, too. Budae-jjigae with various vegetables and ham wouldn’t be bad either… But even simple soybean paste soup or seaweed soup gets a much deeper flavor when you use bone broth.”
“Kkoong?”
“Aside from budae-jjigae, the rest won’t be spicy. Unless we add hot peppers… Oh, by the way, did you know that cooking rice with broth instead of water makes it taste way better?”
“Kkururu.”
“Right, let’s go make some broth.”
Ever since eating rice balls, Honey had become a Water Bird whose absolute favorite food in the world was white rice. It was obvious he was already imagining how delicious it would be to make grilled rice balls with rice cooked in bone broth.
As Gio headed down to the Ice Storage where the bones were kept, a sudden wave of anxiety hit him.
“Come to think of it, isn’t bone broth usually made with beef bones?”
“…Kkook?”
“Well, when I cleaned and prepped them, they were packed with marrow. Since it was freshly hunted, the red borders on the cross-sections of the shafts were distinct, so the quality should be good. The deer was so massive that the bones are thick and sturdy, which will make simmering them quite satisfying…”
“……”
“Then again, it’s not like we’ve only been eating Earth food anyway.”
The bones used for simmering broth usually came from the legs of an animal. For a cow, it would be the shank, but Gio had prepped the deer bones anyway, figuring it wouldn’t be much different. He brought the bones out from the Ice Storage and into the kitchen.
“I washed them once back then, but it still feels a bit iffy.”
After thoroughly washing the bones, which had been cut to expose the marrow, he pulled out a large pot and dropped them all inside. He lit the firewood using a Bell Flower, and the water quickly began to boil.
“I drained all the blood when we first butchered it, so there shouldn’t be too many impurities. I also let them soak for over a day, so they should be pretty clean, but there will still be some residue left inside. We have to get rid of that to get a good broth.”
“……”
“And just as you’re probably guessing, this is a painfully slow process.”
“Kkoong-kkoong-kkoong…”
“I didn’t expect us to be able to eat the broth today anyway.”
Once the bones were blanched in boiling water and washed completely clean, it became a battle of time and dedication. There was a reason ‘real’ bone broth was so expensive.
“We just have to keep boiling them in the pot like this, but we can’t use too high of a heat. Even if it takes time, simmering it on low heat draws out the umami flavor much better.”
“……”
“The longer we boil it, the more fat and random impurities will keep floating to the top. Because the marrow melts right out, people say the first batch of broth is usually too greasy and rich to enjoy. So, we can’t even eat the first batch…”
“Kkoong.”
“You’re going to eat it?”
“Kkuruk.”
“You little pig.”
Honey protested fiercely, but that didn’t change the facts. Such affection, such obsession—he couldn’t give up even the first batch of broth, which would coat the mouth in grease so thick it would practically smack.
“You’re already a magnificent pig.”
“Kkurururururururuk!!!”
“Accept reality.”
Ideally, he wanted the bird to get a bit plumper.
“Plump enough for me to lean on…”
To be precise, plump enough to use as a pillow.
“……”
“……”
Seeing the look of firm determination on Honey’s face, Gio nodded.
“Is he going through puberty?”
He could feel Honey’s strong conviction to maintain his current cute and adorable appearance at all costs.
He knows he’s cute.
Even if he was a son born of paint, if a child held a proper conviction, a parent ought to support it. Gio decided to back down. Chubby animals were cute, but forcing them to gain weight was animal abuse.
“Anyway, the broth won’t be ready anytime soon. The impurities will take some time to rise, so there’s nothing we can do even if we stay glued to the pot.”
“Kkururuk?”
“Right, so we should prepare another dish. Let’s give our generous bone friend some alone time.”
Gio looked at the pot, which wasn’t even boiling yet since he had just changed the water.
“I don’t know for sure, but I’ve heard that simmering bones too many times is actually bad for your health… I’m not sure how to handle the legs of a Tree-Horned Deer.”
Tree-Horned Deer Bones
Prepped leg bones of a Tree-Horned Deer. Though greasy due to being packed with marrow, bones simmered for more than three days will completely dissolve into the broth, turning it into a restorative tonic. It is characterized by a strong, meaty aroma with hints of nuts or saltiness.
Alchemy Method: Clean thoroughly and simmer over low heat for three days. The marrow and bones will completely dissolve, turning into a restorative medicine. This medicine can be used immediately; when administered to humans, it heals all bone abnormalities. The degree of recovery depends on the dosage and the individual’s constitution.
“……”
Gio nodded.
“There was no need to worry.”
Why was he applying real-world logic to this fantasy world?
“Since the marrow and bones will dissolve on their own, we just need to skim off the impurities occasionally and wait. Let’s stop worrying about those highly independent bones and start thinking about our lunch.”
“Kkurureureuk.”
“Then, what would be good…”
Gio pondered for a moment before making up his mind.
“The day has finally come.”
“Kkuruk?”
“It’s time to go fishing.”
After stuffing himself with meat, shouldn’t he refresh his palate with some fish?
“It’s only polite to my tongue and stomach.”
After all, Seo Gio was a true glutton who had learned the meaning of ‘Engel’s coefficient’—the proportion of a household’s budget spent on food—at the tender age of five. He could still hear his grandmother’s warm, chuckling voice saying, “Look at my little chubby potato.”
And so, Gio plotted how to get some fish. There were plenty of ways.
“The stream is narrow, but it’s quite deep. I’ve seen fish of all sizes swimming around whenever I passed by. Especially since I connected the waterbirds' nests to the stream and the spring so various creatures could move around… Honestly, I could probably get some decent fish just by going to the nests.”
“……”
Honey tilted his head at Gio’s words, then hopped closer to poke Gio’s cheek with his beak. It was a tiny, harmless beak—so small he wondered why it even existed—so it didn’t hurt at all.
“What is it, Honey?”
“Kkururureuk.”
“…Ah.”
Come to think of it, Gio had another source for fish.
“There’s the ‘Breathing Sea’.”
The Breathing Sea, one of the dimensional portals Gio had created, was literally a world submerged in an ocean. When he had looked at it last time, it was absolutely teeming with all kinds of marine life.
Gio took Honey’s advice.
“Smart boy.”
“Kkuruk.”
Honey puffed up with pride. He was incredibly cute.
“No matter how cute you are, the only one you can conquer is your dad.”
“Kkoong-kkoong-kkoong.”
“Do you think you could act cute anywhere else and find someone who caters to you as well as I do? Where else in the world would you find a butler as competent as me? You’d better stick close to your dad.”
They were a happy family, as always.
Gio headed straight to the second floor, specifically to the storage room where his completed works were kept. The frame that allowed travel to the Breathing Sea hung there.
Standing before the frame filled with blue light, Gio slowly dissolved and seeped into it.
“……”
And then, in an instant, he was underwater.
“It has been a while, Father.”
Giovanni had entered the Breathing Sea.
“Or perhaps it hasn’t been that long?”
“ ”
“I’ve just been out seeing the outside world for a bit.”
The one conversing with Gio was none other than the Sun God of the ruined world—the lonely old man whom Giovanni had made a request to before.
He asked what brought Gio here today.
“Ah.”
And Gio, as always, was completely shameless.
“I came to do a bit of fishing.”
Hand over the fish.
“If I get a good catch, I’ll share some with you.”
“ ”
“I knew you’d like that.”
The Sun God was delighted.
It was clear this place was nothing but a gathering of pigs.