episode_0027

The day’s business was gradually approaching its end.

Looking at the clock, it was already 1 AM.

I was planning to tidy up the shop around two, so I should start preparing to finish up.

“Ugh~ My back hurts… It’s definitely tough doing it alone.”

Still, I felt quite proud.

Most of the ingredients I had prepared were effectively used up, and even the conversations I overheard from customers were filled with words like “It’s better than I expected?”

“Now I just need to handle about 5 more servings.”

Turning towards the cupboard, bending down to take out the remaining ingredients, just then.

Tap.

A quiet sign of someone lightly sitting on a wooden chair.

“Hmm?”

Not one person… two. Are they a couple?

“Yes~ Welcome! The monster dishes you can lightly enjoy as a late-night snack, there’s still plenty left?”

“Hehe. If it’s something Yoo An made, even a heavy dish full of love would be nice, you know?”

“Haha, that’s right! It’s a relief you’re open late. Only the two of us went to the next village, didn’t we~ Yoo An, do you know how much Arte boasted? Just how delicious was the food you gave her?”

Today’s last customers.

It was Lilyen and Alice.

I wondered why they weren’t coming.

I was waiting for when they would come!

[Today’s business ends here. Thank you for using our service!]

I stepped out in front of the pojangmacha for a moment, lightly set up a small sign, and came back inside.

If it was those two, they’d finish off the remaining ingredients warmly.

“Welcome, both of you. Did you manage to get good ingredients in the neighboring village?”

This morning, there was a rumor that rare monster ingredients were coming up for auction, so you said you’d go together, right?

“Of course! They’re scheduled to arrive frozen tomorrow morning. How about dinner together…?”

“Of course, the location is Yoo An’s studio apartment~ I told Arte too. Let’s eat together.”

“Well~ Wouldn’t the answer change depending on how much revenue you bring in today?”

At my words, the two of them burst into laughter simultaneously.

“Haha, I knew you’d say that, so I came without eating dinner?”

“Rather, it might not be enough?”

Playfully winking, I handed the day’s menu to the two of them.

“Since you two are the last customers anyway. It’s fine to choose leisurely. Please stay slowly, for a long time.”

On the grill, the oil for the final round was quietly preheating.

The savory aroma filling the pojangmacha, the gentle warmth,

The end of this night is always together, with these people.

Alice, whose eyes were sparkling as she looked at the menu, opened her mouth first.

“Oh, Sotteok Sotteok using Wild Hog sausage? Yoo An! I’ll have this!”

“I’ll have the Cockatrice Chicken Skewer, please. Ah, Alice. It would be better to have soup, right? I’ll add one Deep Sea Fish Cake Soup as well.”

“Okay~ Should I give you a drink too?”

“Great! You have ale too, right? Pour me two refreshing glasses of that!”

“Order received, customers~”

Along with a cheerful remark, I poured the refreshing ale and handed it over.

The shimmering golden foam in the glasses mingled with the soft lamplight, coloring the inside of the pojangmacha even more warmly.

Immediately, I set up the Sotteok Sotteok, skewered with Wild Hog sausage and rice cakes alternately, on the grill!

Next to them, the glossy Cockatrice Chicken Skewers also started to cook to a golden brown.

Lastly, if I also boil the fish cake soup made from a fish monster living in the deep sea, it’s a perfect meal.

Using the steam of the fish cake soup simmering in the pot like a heater, I asked Alice.

“But Alice, aren’t Neobiani or fried dishes better for filling you up?”

At those words, Alice propped her chin with both hands and shook her head back and forth.

Even blushing slightly.

“It’s Wild Hog cuisine, you know? The monster our party ate when we first met Yoo An.”

“Haha, that’s right. I was trying to roast and eat that alone in the upper levels of the dungeon, and you caught me red-handed.”

At that story, I couldn’t help but let out a chuckle.

I said that the day we first met is still vivid even now.

Me, simply roasting meat over a small campfire I had lit alone.

The knight, the demon king, and the automatan who appeared, drawn by that savory smell.

Now, these precious companions laughing by my side.

“Rather than caught, you came to me first~ Do you know how surprised I was when Arte called me ‘likable appearance’ back then?”

“I think that judgment isn’t wrong even now~”

Lilyen said, and swallowed the ale.

In the meantime, the skewers were also cooking deliciously.

The chicken skewers making a sizzle sound, glistening and shiny,

The golden-brown grilled Sotteok Sotteok giving off a slightly sweet smell and nearing completion.

Tasting the fish cake soup in the earthenware pot with a spoon—

Okay. The seasoning is perfect.

If it boils a little longer, a fantastic one will come out.

“We couldn’t not approach you, you know. Alice had scorched all the monsters, so everyone was just hungry? That meat smell wafting then was truly… unfair.”

“Kya ha~ I still think of that roasted meat. It was a common monster, but why was it as delicious as a named monster?”

A small amount of foam remained around Alice’s mouth as she drank the ale.

Lilyen naturally wiping that off with a handkerchief.

“Really, how old are you to get foam like this, Demon King.”

“Hehe~ I was thirsty~”

She even shook her tail back and forth completely, whining.

Looking at the two of them like that, a smile came to my face without realizing it.

Just like… that appearance was like a mother and daughter, or perhaps like close sisters.

“Isn’t it memory correction? It feels like mother’s home cooking.”

While saying that, I put the savory cooked skewers and Sotteok Sotteok onto plates.

Drizzling a rich sauce lightly, so that a sweet and salty aftertaste would linger in the mouth.

Hoping that this dish would create new memories for the two of them.

Then, carefully taking out the pot where the fish cake soup had steeped, I placed it on the table with steam rising from it.

“Now, customers. Your ordered menu has arrived.”

“May it warm and melt away the fatigue of today, even for a little while.”

The skewer dishes and fish cake soup neatly arranged on small plates.

The two people sitting in front of them were already full of excitement from their eyes.

“Hehe. Sausage and rice cake at once!”

Alice, whose eyes were already half heart-shaped.

Picking up one Sotteok Sotteok, she popped it into her mouth.

Chew, chew.

Yum yum. Gulp!

“Hyaa…! It’s chewy! The rice cake is good, but this sausage! As expected, it’s Wild Hog. Yoo An, it’s delicious! It’s so delicious!”

Her black tail wagged violently, and her small wings also fluttered.

She shook them around noisily like a very excited child.

Even though it was just one skewer, it seemed more delicious to her than any gourmet dish.

Seeing that appearance, I smiled genuinely and felt good.

As a chef, could there be a greater compliment than this?

Meanwhile, Lilyen was quietly picking up a chicken skewer.

Even though it was just street food, her movements were elegant. To the extent that you could even feel grace.

“Oh? There are two flavors?”

“Yeah. One is salt, one is seasoned. And the cheese next to it, you can skewer and eat it as you like.”

At my explanation, Lilyen nodded slightly and carefully lifted the chicken skewer.

Applying a little strength to her fingers so the red sauce wouldn’t drip—

And then, just slightly, one bite.

“…Haaah.”

The moment the skewer touched her lips, she shivered slightly for an instant and exhaled deeply, for a long time.

“Uh… Lilyen? Are you okay?”

“Haaah… It’s enchanting. I feel like I’m melting, Yoo An. In your cooking. And, in your love.”

“Eh, that much?”

Me, smiling in embarrassment and scratching the back of my head.

Seeing me like that, Alice nudged me playfully.

“Lilyen! Give me a bite too~! Let’s trade!”

“Hehe, shall we?… Before that.”

Carefully lifting the spoon she was holding, she scooped up a spoonful of fish cake soup from the pot.

“Alice, let’s try the fish cake first together.”

“Okay! I’ll eat first? Yum!”

“Me too. Haha, carefully, carefully… Mmm.”

Warm soup. Fish cake pieces floating atop the richly steeped broth.

The two people who carefully put that into their mouths closed their eyes simultaneously.

“Haaah… It’s warmmmm… Is it just my imagination that the soup is more delicious than the fish cake?”

“My body is melting. The wind was a bit cold today, wasn’t it? That wind is just a pleasant seasoning in front of this soup.”

The quiet meal that followed like that.

Even as the warm soup of the fish cake soup was slowly cooling down,

Lilyen and Alice were sharing and eating the food slowly, preciously, as if trying to hold onto time.

“Wang!”

Alice suddenly put her mouth right onto the chicken skewer Lilyen was holding!

Biting off a piece of the sauced meat, holding a playful smile on her lips.

“Haha, you’re too impatient. But still, you’re cute.”

Lilyen smiled, and this time, she smoothly and naturally brought the Sotteok Sotteok Alice was holding to her mouth and took a bite.

“Ah! Well, since I bit your chicken skewer, it’s 1:1~”

I watched the two of them like that, and quietly prepared service dishes in the back.

A few pieces of fried food on a small plate,

Pieces of Neobiani that had their oil drained,

And a bottle of barley tea placed in a warm teapot.

“Now~ a glass each for a warm finish.”

Setting down the barley tea in front of them, I slowly began to tidy up the kitchen fires.

Because this night, too, was now heading towards its conclusion.

Finally, the end of the meal.

By then, the full pot was also empty, and only sauce remained on the plates.

“Yoo An~”

“Yoo An, come here~”

Lilyen and Alice called me simultaneously and waved their hands.

But what they held out was… one unidentified skewer.

“What… is this?”

On the skewer was Wild Hog sausage, chewy rice cake, fish cake pieces on top of that, and golden-brown cheese.

Even pieces of the salt-flavored chicken skewer meat were on it?

A skewer with so many things skewered on it that it was chaotic.

“What is this custom skewer? It’s mixed without any basis…?”

At my question, the two of them burst into laughter simultaneously and shouted.

“It’s a skewer just for you~!”

“That’s right! Yoo An only cooked and didn’t properly eat, did you! That’s why we cooked for you~”

“Rather than cooking, it’s closer to disassembly and assembly?”

“Hehe, even so, we put more affection into it than anyone else?”

At those words, I accepted the skewer without a word.

Setting aside tidying up for a moment, I picked up the skewer with one hand and took a bite just like that.

Crunch. Chew, chew.

The sauce was mixed, and the textures were all different, but—

Inside, clearly.

That feeling they wanted to convey to me was richly contained.

After chewing it for a long time, a quiet smile came to my lips.

“…It’s delicious.”

I murmured quietly.

And raising my head, I looked at the two of them.

“It’s a taste I want only for myself. I wish others would never know it.”

Quietly, with a bright smile, I conveyed that feeling.

At my smile, both of Lilyen and Alice’s eyes also shone brightly simultaneously.

Inside the small pojangmacha.

The last moments under the lamplight.

Tonight was warmer and cozier than anything else.

[Eyecatch!]

The Knight and the Demon King’s Picks!:

Wild Hog Sotteok Sotteok and Cockatrice Chicken Skewers, and Deep Sea Fish Cake Soup.

1. Wild Hog Sotteok Sotteok

It’s an ordinary monster, but what if that one skewer holds memories?

The Wild Hog Sotteok Sotteok that Alice chose, filled with the nostalgia of their first meeting!

The ultimate skewer where chewy rice cake and salty sausage are perfectly harmonized!

2. Cockatrice Chicken Skewers!

Chicken skewers using the soft and flavorful wing meat of a Cockatrice!

Skewers that maximized the use of leftovers from a previous hunt!

Salt flavor and seasoned flavor, and if you add cheese…?

3. Deep Sea Fish Cake Soup

Fish cake soup brewed with deep sea fish monsters caught from a deep sea dungeon!

Since preparing it is very difficult, it’s the only dish that Yoo An went to a processor and commissioned.

As if repaying that effort, it’s much richer and full of flavor than regular fish cake soup!

Originally, it’s a taste that calls for Soju, but since there’s none in this world, it’s regrettably passed over.

“Yes, shall we go back, everyone? Because today is a special day. Let’s all sleep together.”

ㅡA certain kind automatan who deliberately vacated their seat and then visited again