Chapter 31
Chapter 31
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 31
Chapter Title: Cooking (1)
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The Antalya Territory was fundamentally wealthy.
The reason was the endless supply of stone resources gushing from the land. Unlike the stones from other regions, which required full processing to be usable, the stones from Antalya could skip some steps and still rank among the top tiers of their grade.
In short, thanks to these attached resources, the Antalya Territory had become incredibly rich by steadily supplying them to the various territories under the Norba Kingdom.
And Gran, born as the second son of the Antalya lord, had believed from a very young age that money could solve everything in this world.
At least, during his upbringing, there had never been anything money couldn't buy.
Want something?
Buy it.
Crave something?
Buy it.
Need to use force?
Buy it.
Having grown up watching the Antalya lord operate this way since childhood, he believed everything in the world could be resolved with money.
That's why he coveted the position of Antalya lord.
To him, the seat his father occupied was one of absolute power, where he could live luxuriously for life as long as he had a modicum of judgment.
That's why he had volunteered for a task he didn't need to take on, coming to capture her himself.
More precisely, his intent was to recover the 'merchandise' his father had personally created, win his favor, and gain an edge in the succession battle.
He thought it would be the perfect card to soothe his father's anger.
And above all, it didn't seem like a difficult task.
Even if the 'merchandise' had been chosen by the world and become a hero, she was still just a fledgling hero who had barely been selected—essentially a human granted a bit more growth potential.
In other words, without discovering and honing her talent, she'd be nothing more than slightly stronger than average. That's why he judged it an easy job.
Until just moments ago.
“Kuaaaaaagh!!!”
As Gran's leg twisted in an impossible direction, a agonized scream tore from his mouth.
But the Red Eyes who executed it,
And the inky eyes that sealed his mouth with scattering darkness,
Stared at him with utterly emotionless gazes.
Terror surged in Gran.
More than the excruciating pain, his heart pounded as if it might burst, threatening to suffocate him.
The brutally slain knights' corpses visible to him seemed to foreshadow his own future, and he soiled himself in panic.
He couldn't comprehend how this situation had come about.
He didn't know why these monster-like beings were attacking him.
Nor why the knights had died so cruelly.
Nothing made sense.
Yet his survival instincts raced, churning out the best ways to escape this nightmare.
“Money! I'll give you money—!!”
Ripping away the darkness from his mouth, Gran desperately shouted.
“I-it's about money, right?! Yeah?! I-I'm rich! I've got plenty right now, and if I just head back to the territory, even more!”
His words tumbled out in frantic urgency.
The wolf watching him replied.
“Where?”
“...What?”
“Where's the territory?”
Her voice was utterly flat, devoid of inflection.
Feeling an inexplicable chill at the question, Gran still forced himself to answer for survival.
“A-Antalya Territory! Antalya Territory! My father's the lord there! Head west from here—it's a massive territory! It's a bit far, but if we just go—”
As Red Eyes unhesitatingly raised her foot to smash his head while he wailed like a madman,
The half-demon blocked her attack.
Killing intent amplified in an instant.
The moment her blood-soaked claws emerged.
“You think you'll end it with this much?”
“...What?”
The Absolute Ruler of Darkness spoke.
“No, you can't—not like this.”
Her tone held no highs or lows, just like Red Eyes.
“Why show mercy to someone who insulted him by killing him outright?”
Instead—
“Scum like this shouldn't be killed. There's something worse than death in this world: life itself.”
She muttered at Gran, her voice thick with raw fury.
“Ha—.”
Hearing that, Gran suddenly burst into incredulous laughter.
More accurately, rage.
From their conversation, he now knew the cause.
“That bastard's fault? Because of that shitty village chief?”
Gran muttered in fury.
Realizing from their talk that survival was impossible, rage fueled his courage like a propellant.
“Don't bullshit me! What the hell does that asshole have to do with me suffering like this? Who the fuck does he think he is!”
Indignant curses poured from Gran's mouth.
Endlessly.
Without pause.
“And you think my father will sit still if I disappear!? You're all dead meat—that asshole's village will be razed—”
Before the Absolute Ruler could intervene, Red Eyes—her face twisted in rage—smashed his skull with her foot.
“I said don't kill him!”
The half-demon snarled, face full of anger.
“Why should I spare trash who insulted my lord?”
But the wolf still glared at her fiercely, fury unquenched.
As Red Eyes' arm and the Absolute Ruler's darkness sword drew to strike instinctively—
As if by agreement, they turned west.
A few days later.
Lorandel, the notorious lord of Antalya Territory—who grew rich by sucking his people dry and turning them into slaves—met a sudden end.
“Hand over the Execution Sword.”
“Don't talk nonsense.”
That day, the clash between the two heroes obliterated two nearby stone mountains beside Antalya Territory.
In the end, Kim Hyunwoo successfully recruited Lani.
Right after bringing the officially recruited Lani to his office to explain various things,
“Why... did you go that far for me?”
He heard that question.
“Hm.”
Truthfully, he hadn't pummeled the guy to that extent—risking strained relations—for her sake.
He simply couldn't tolerate the blatant disrespect, nearly caving in his skull.
But now that he'd just recruited her and needed to raise affinity, Kim Hyunwoo saw no need to say it exactly like that. He mixed in a white lie.
“Because I needed you.”
“M-me?”
Lani visibly panicked.
Like when he'd first seen Elena, her self-esteem was rock-bottom, and her eyes darted as if she had something to say. Kim Hyunwoo asked,
“Why are you so fidgety?”
“I-I'm... I mean, I can't do anything—”
She hung her head low.
Honestly, Kim Hyunwoo didn't know why she lacked confidence.
He only roughly guessed she'd been wronged in the Baron's Antalya Territory and fled—nothing more.
But now that she was in Lartania, she needed to grow combative, not timid.
“Can't do anything? I recruited you because I saw your talent.”
“T-talent?”
“Yes.”
“Me? What—”
“Cooking.”
“...C-cooking?”
Kim Hyunwoo decided to boost her self-esteem.
“Yeah, I can see people's talents. And you have one for cooking... Though you'd probably not believe me if I just said it like that.”
“Honestly, hearing it so suddenly, I—”
Seeing her skeptical look, Kim Hyunwoo shrugged.
It was a natural reaction.
But rather than dropping it because she didn't believe him, consistent positivity was better. After repeating a few times that she had cooking talent,
“Rest for today. We'll talk more tomorrow. Elena?”
He called Elena, who had stuck by him since chasing off the knights.
“Yes.”
Her crisp reply came, though she seemed slightly curt. Kim Hyunwoo wondered briefly,
But said,
“Show her to a room first.”
“...Got it.”
With a faintly odd expression and a delayed response, she took the huddled Lani and left.
'Why does she look upset?'
Watching them, Kim Hyunwoo tilted his head.
'Maybe I'm imagining it.'
He shrugged it off.
A few days later.
With the restaurant completed, Kim Hyunwoo had Lani try cooking.
Though they'd grown closer through days of talk, she still hadn't shed her timid nature as she began in the restaurant.
Like a puppy anxiously watching for mistakes, Kim Hyunwoo reassured her.
“Relax, it's fine.”
“Y-yes...”
Her limp response showed she didn't quite believe him.
But he genuinely wouldn't be disappointed whatever she made.
She was still a 1-star hero, not yet grown as a support.
'She has talent, so even if it's not great now, she'll improve fast.'
Kim Hyunwoo was prepared to praise whatever she served.
As the saying goes, praise makes even whales dance—she needed confidence.
“H-here... it's done...”
While he thought, she timidly placed the dish before him.
“Thanks, dig in.”
He said grace and eyed the stew.
'She's 1-star, so ideally a +3 stat buff or something—'
[Buff Effects]
Random Stat +7 (8 hours)
Defense +5
[Permanent Effect]
Eat while hungry 40+ times: Agility permanently +2. [1-time limit]
※ A dish infused with Lani's sincere feelings for Kim Hyunwoo! If 'Kim Hyunwoo' eats it, the 40-eat requirement vanishes, and Agility +1 immediately. [1-time limit]
“...Huh?”
Kim Hyunwoo couldn't help but gape in surprise.