A Bowl of Warmth for the Hungry
I moved to the village clearing with Eos to complete the farm village quest. After selling the loot, I set my now-lightened backpack in the corner and pulled out my cooking tools. While walking to the clearing, I’d pondered what to make and decided it would be best to cook with Kron Village’s local specialties.
Kron Village, with its vast plains, was thriving with exceptional wheat farming. Other territories spoke of its fame, and the rumors about its bread were endless. I’d sampled it briefly—the wheat bread here was far more aromatic and tender than anything from other regions. After tasting it, I immediately bought a whole sack of wheat and stuffed it into my backpack. With flour this good, I was certain noodle dishes would turn out incredibly delicious.
I used Water Ball to fill the wok with water, then added various vegetables and herbs to boil into a broth.
“I will assist you, Master.”
“It’s fine. Just pick up a few pieces of bread and eat over there.”
“Yes, Master…”
When it came to Korean noodle dishes, nothing beat kalguksu. Of course, without anchovies or kelp, I wouldn’t be able to achieve the exact flavor I wanted, but I aimed to make the best meat broth possible.
While the broth simmered, I prepared the kalguksu noodles. I mixed wheat flour, water, and rendered animal fat into a dough, kneaded it thoroughly in several batches, then placed the mass in a large bowl, covered it with a damp cloth, and let it rest.
During the resting and simmering time, I lit another campfire to melt more fat from the meat and stir-fry the chunks. Once they were nicely browned, I poured the prepared broth over them and brought everything back to a boil.
“This should be enough.”
I took out the dough that had rested for about thirty minutes and drew my sword. Using noble swordsmanship, I sliced the dough into perfect, noodle-like strips. It really was kalguksu. I dropped the freshly cut wheat noodles into the boiling water and cooked them through. Once done, I used Water Ball to rinse them a few times before neatly arranging them in bowls.
I added vegetables and herbs to the bubbling broth, seasoning it with spices and condiments. Then I filled the bowls containing the noodles completely with the fragrant soup. And just like that, the kalguksu was complete.
“Try it.”
I set a bowl of meat kalguksu in front of Eos and watched her closely.
“This is a dish I have never seen before.”
It was my first time making kalguksu too. Without the cooking ability I’d obtained, I never would have been able to pull this off.
“It smells wonderful.”
The savory aroma continued to rise invitingly. Eos, who had been starving for so long, boldly brought the unfamiliar food to her lips despite never having seen it before.
“Mmmph?!”
At her exclamation, I turned away and began preparing my own portion, adding the remaining noodles to a bowl and ladling broth over them. There was no need to ask if it tasted good.
Eos emptied her bowl in no time. Whether it was the meat or the wheat noodles, she devoured everything with ravenous speed, filling her stomach. Watching her made me feel good too. I sat across from her and quietly ate with chopsticks.
“Slurp… I’d like to visit a village near the coast sometime.”
“Slurp… slurp… Ah… What business do you have at the sea, Master?”
“I want to make a broth even cooler and cleaner than this one.”
“If it is cool… do you require seawater?”
“No…”
It seemed people in this world didn’t understand the concept of “clean, refreshing broth.” I felt a pang of regret that I couldn’t show her the true potential of kalguksu made with seafood, dried anchovies, or kelp.
“Every dish I’ve made so far has been a failure.”
“Th-this is a failure? I find it incredibly delicious even now.”
Eos stared at me as if I’d said something absurd.
“I need a much wider variety of ingredients. Things like proper salt or soy sauce… Yeah, we still don’t have those yet.”
“Gulp… I cannot believe there are dishes even more delicious than this.”
“I’ll make sure you get to try them someday.”
The female demon who had shed tears on our first day now wore a bright expression. That alone felt like half a success to me. A teammate’s morale and mood were incredibly important when carrying out requests. Since she’d received what she wanted, her resistance to my orders would likely fade considerably. Having been forcibly turned into a soldier myself, I knew that all too well. If you only used someone without giving them anything in return, anyone—human or animal—would eventually rebel.
“I truly wish to taste them…”
Eos gazed at her empty bowl with clear anticipation for the next meal.
“Whoa…”
While we were eating in the clearing, I felt eyes on us.
“It’s the kids.”
They must have been drawn by the smell. I glanced at the wok—there was still plenty of broth and noodles left.
“Come here. I’ll give you something to eat.”
“Ah…”
The children hesitated, clearly wary, yet they couldn’t resist the tempting aroma.
“It’s hot, so eat slowly.”
“Yes… mister…”
“Thank you for the food.”
The children didn’t hesitate any longer and dove into the kalguksu.
“Ah…!”
“It’s… delicious!”
“It’s… warm…!”
After tasting the broth, they began slurping it down with pure joy. Their reactions weren’t all that different from Eos’s. They ate with delight, filling their empty stomachs and radiating happiness. Eos watched them with a gentle smile, perhaps seeing her former self in the children.
“Um… mister…”
“Hm?”
“Could… could you pack this up for me?”
One of the children hadn’t finished their portion and had left some behind.
“What’s wrong?”
“My big sister is sick at home… I thought if she ate this, she might feel a little better.”
So that was why these children had come to the clearing so hungry. Their guardian wasn’t fulfilling their duty to care for them.
“There’s still some left, so finish yours. I’ll prepare a separate portion for you to take.”
“Thank you so much…!”
The grimy child bowed repeatedly in gratitude. The sight was both admirable and heartbreaking.
“Take this with you.”
“Thank you…!”
I handed over a small pot, and Eos and I left the clearing behind.
“Master seems to grant requests quite willingly.”
“Only when money’s involved.”
“But you granted the child’s request for free, did you not?”
“Kids are an exception. In the country I came from, we raised children together as a community.”
“You raised children together?”
Eos asked in return, clearly not understanding.
“That’s right. You’d often see mothers wrapping a crying child they didn’t know in socks or a towel.”
“Doing such things for someone else’s child… There must be another motive.”
“Heh… Maybe. Perhaps they simply wanted to see a crying child smile?”
“That is not what I meant…”
The world I came from and this one were completely different in era and culture. Even Eos, a demon, kept pushing back, saying she couldn’t understand my words. Yet here we were, walking together through the village streets.
“Sigh… Master truly is a peculiar human.”
“I’m perfectly ordinary, except for the black hair.”
“That is what you said last time as well.”
“So you’ve fully understood what kind of person I am.”
“Yes.”
Eos followed closely behind me, her eyes never leaving my back. I took out all the magic stones I had in my pocket and handed them to her.
“Eos, can you control monsters if you have magic stones?”
“Yes, Master.”
“That means even with your mana seal, you can still use magic as long as you have stones. Keep them and use them when you need to cast spells.”
“…Understood.”
“And if you run out, tell me. I’ll hunt as many monsters as possible and gather more for you.”
The general store owner had said that mages were overjoyed to receive even low-grade magic stones. That meant mages could definitely utilize them. As a blue demon, Eos would naturally know how to use them too. It was better to give them to her than let them rot in my inventory.
Of course, she could potentially use the stones to erase her slave brand and run away… But trust was something that had to start with me. So I decided to believe in her first.
“It’s convenient that we can just follow the river path up.”
We walked along the river trail that connected directly from the village. At the end of the river lay the rocky mountain the client had requested. As we climbed, I took in the sight of the village and the vast wheat fields stretching out below. The stalks were still green, meaning it would be quite some time before harvest.
“Do demons farm?”
“No. We live primarily by hunting.”
Since meat was the staple of the demon race, it made sense they didn’t bother with agriculture.
“Then do you not have any livestock farms?”
“We do. But their main purpose is not for meat, but for raising slaves.”
“So they’re like livestock for labor.”
“Yes. Labor is necessary whether one is human or demon.”
Since humans and demons were so similar, it was only natural for one side to capture the other and turn them into slaves.
“They brainwash them into assassins, use the men as night slaves until they’re worn out and discarded, or—if their skills are acknowledged—treat them as gladiators.”
It wasn’t all that different from how humans operated. This world was full of inconveniences, so exploiting others came naturally.
“That is why a human like Master—who treats his slave with such kindness—is the first I have ever seen.”
“So having a master like me feels awkward to you.”
From Eos’s perspective, my treatment was completely contrary to common sense, and she seemed full of questions.
“I do not know. This is my first time as a slave as well.”
“Good is good. That’s all there is to it.”
“Pardon? Ah… yes…”
As I spoke, I quietly drew my sword.
“I’ll leave the magic support to you from behind.”
“Yes, Master.”
Once we moved away from the village, monsters began to appear. The first thing that showed up was a two-legged monster frog standing upright. The moment it faced us, I unleashed noble swordsmanship. The creature that had been staring blankly at me was sliced cleanly in half.
-Thud…
‘No need to even involve Eos for this.’
It was a frog—easier than a goblin. I’d been slightly nervous about its massive size, but its movements were slow and its body was soft, so it went down quickly.
“There are a lot of them, though.”
As expected, their numbers were enormous. It felt somewhat similar to slimes.
“I have heard that frogs lay thousands of eggs at once.”
“Do they have no natural predators?”
“Earlier I overheard some people complaining that they greatly interfere with farming.”
“So basically, nothing but humans bother them.”
Seeing that other monsters ignored them, I wondered if these frogs simply tasted bad. But looking at the corpses, those thick, meaty legs looked like they would be delicious if fried.