The adventurer party members turned their heads away, pretending not to notice. Under the overwhelming pressure that needed no words, no one dared to look at him directly. Well, even so, their gazes kept sneaking glances at him, wanting to see that handsome face.
While everyone else was holding their breath under the weight of tension, I alone smiled brightly and pulled out a chair.
Even though I’d seen him yesterday, I greeted Theorde with a happy face as if welcoming a long-awaited guest, and he too gave a very faint eye-smile in return. At that moment, small gasps of suppressed breath burst out from those around us.
“…Huk.”
“He smiled….”
At their commotion, I deliberately glared at the surroundings, worried my regular customers might feel uncomfortable for no reason. My eyes hidden behind my bangs weren’t even visible anyway.
“Shall I bring you gukbap?”
Theorde nodded. As I set down the ttukbaegi I’d quickly brought from the kitchen in front of him, I habitually made conversation.
“Don’t you get tired of eating the same thing every day?”
At those words, Theorde’s hand momentarily hesitated.
Oh no, I messed up.
The unspoken rule of restaurants. Don’t carelessly talk to young male customers. They’re like wild animals—if you act familiar for no reason, they’ll just up and leave.
Remembering that fact, I immediately shut my mouth. Instead, I silently offered a few pieces of boiled meat I’d prepared, and without adding any more small talk, quietly turned and moved my steps to another table.
When I sneaked a sidelong glance, fortunately Theorde showed no particular reaction. He simply picked up his spoon and swallowed a mouthful of gukbap. His expressionless face remained unchanged, but his spoon moved without rest.
…I’m saved. Fortunately, it seems he won’t stop coming.
And today too, the ever-composed Theorde slowly rose from his seat.
As always, he seemed to be rummaging through his pockets, then his hand paused for a moment.
“……?”
…What? Has this noble lord finally realized the value of currency and decided to pay the proper price?
I swallowed nervously and watched as Theorde spoke in a low voice.
“……Because you said, it contains love.”
“Pardon?”
Unlike me, who was only blinking blankly, Theorde smiled faintly. At that, the surroundings stirred once again. The spoon that had been scooping gukbap fell with a clang-, and someone couldn’t even hide the sound of clearing their throat.
“……He smiled.”
“That ‘Hart’ smiled……?”
Whispers exchanged quietly spread like wildfire.
However, Theorde maintained his usual calm expression as if he couldn’t hear such commotion at all. Then, as always, he took out a silver coin from his pocket.
Thud.
The sound of the coin landing on the table could be heard. Today it was particularly heavy. And that tiny reverberation greatly stirred my heart.
“……!”
I glanced at the table and reflexively covered my mouth. There wasn’t just one coin. Three coins gleaming silver.
A whopping 3 Silver.
My fingertips trembled. But even in the midst of that, my mind spun rapidly. The gukbap cost 3 Pennies, which in Silver was merely 0.03. But that crazy noble had casually tossed down a hundred times that amount and left.
‘……This is real. I’ve really caught a sucker.’
Even as he cleared his seat and stood up, I remained frozen, unable to offer a single word of greeting. I simply slowly reached out and grasped the silver gleam on the table.
Three silver coins sparkling brightly.
As that heavy weight settled in my palm, my heart dropped once again with a thud.
The surface glittering in the sunlight was no longer simple currency. It was ecstatic, beautiful. It was as if I held a work of art in my hand.
“……Haah.”
…What do I do.
His coming was now starting to become not just something to look forward to, but something that made my heart flutter.
***
And it was right from that day.
‘The Empire’s Knight Commander ate gukbap at a shabby inn on the Boundary Line and smiled brightly.’
No, when did Theorde ever smile brightly?
People embellished and spread rumors however they wanted about the corners of his mouth rising a mere 0.1cm, and the rumors that should have died down swelled like a snowball until the bell above the inn door rang dozens of times a day.
Ding-a-ling-
“Is this the inn where the Knight Commander ate?”
“That’s right. They say that cold-blooded man emptied a whole two bowls.”
I hurriedly waved my hands in denial.
“No, it wasn’t two bowls! And he didn’t smile brightly either, he just slightly… minutely, very minutely smiled.”
“See, he did smile!”
“No, it’s not that sunny smile you’re all imagining!”
However, my voice was a silent scream, merely an echo scattering in the air. It didn’t reach the ears of customers who were already devoutly holding their spoons.
Eventually exhausted from explaining, I just gave up and served generous portions of pork head meat on top of the milky MSG-laden broth with a “just eat and leave” mentality. Then without fail, the customers’ eyes would sparkle.
“This taste……!”
“As expected, worthy of the Knight Commander’s approval.”
“Kyah, it was worth risking my life to come eat gukbap.”
……So I’m telling you there’s no need to risk your life just to eat gukbap?
At first, even one pot was more than enough, but now I had to cook in a huge cauldron from morning. The sight of customers lining up from the morning to receive their ttukbaegi.
I wiped my sweat with my sleeve and muttered to myself while lining up the ttukbaegi.
“This is why brand power is scary.”
The Empire’s Knight Commander, no less. A living, breathing human billboard.
Around the end of lunch time, the ingredients finally ran out, forcing me to unavoidably put up a break time sign.
After resting briefly and going down to the marketplace, the butcher ahjussi on one side was pounding his chest and bragging.
“The pork head meat at the Inn on the Boundary comes from me. So technically speaking, what the Knight Commander ate was my broth.”
Immediately, the vegetable shop ahjussi across from him crossed his arms and sneered.
“Don’t make me laugh. The greens the Knight Commander ate as a side dish were supplied by me.”
“Hehe, you’re both wrong.”
This time the restaurant owner interjected with a snort.
“That gukbap pot itself was borrowed from our place. Technically speaking, what the Knight Commander ate was our shop’s secret recipe.”
The three people’s bickering echoed loudly enough to shake the marketplace. I watched that scene from a distance, one hand on my forehead, the other hand fiddling with the heavy weight of the silver coins.
Fine. That’s all good. But no matter what anyone says, in the end the money comes into my pocket, right? So it’s a meaningless fight.
I was just shrugging my shoulders and walking down the street again when—
Whack-
“Ah!”
With an ear-splitting sound, a shock like lightning struck my back, pushing my whole body forward with a whoosh. It was because a large hand had struck my back directly. My body instantly tilted forward sharply, and I trembled without even being able to grab my back, then hurriedly turned around.
“Kid, where are you going?”
Sure enough. It was that annoying inn owner Gilbert with his beard braided into two strands.
Should I just grab and yank that fluffy beard? After considering it, I finally shot back with a sullen face and a sharp tone.
“Ah, seriously! It hurts, I said it hurts. You’re an old man but why are you so strong? Reduce your muscles, please!”
“Huh?”
Gilbert scratched his head with a bewildered expression, then glanced at my back. Then he looked at me and said in a lukewarm tone.
“You’re scrawny. How can a man survive being this weak and feeble?”
“Think about the size difference! Your opponent is a curly-haired youngster!”
As I glared at him huffily with tears welling in my eyes, the gazes of passersby began to turn toward us one by one. Feeling even more wronged for no reason, I quickly turned away, but Gilbert, perhaps feeling sorry, approached with an awkward laugh.
“Sorry. Did it hurt that much?”
“Forget it. I’m busy so don’t follow me.”
I ignored him and walked on, but Gilbert strode up and stuck to my side.
“So, where are you going? What are you buying? Want me to carry it?”
At those words, my steps hesitated. Actually, it would be good if he helped. Honestly, there was something hard for me to find alone.
“…There’s something I want to buy, but I can’t find it.”
“What is it?”
“Peppers.”
Instantly, Gilbert’s eyes swept down below my waist. And he muttered very seriously.
“Aren’t you a man?”
“……!”
What is this perverted hairy bear saying?!
Hearing people around us giggling, I covered my face and yelled at Gilbert.
“Ah, who was talking about someone’s genitals!”
I yelled and pushed Gilbert away, but the muscular hairy man didn’t budge at all.
“Ugh……!”
It’s unfair. But no matter how much I pushed, I realized there was no impact against his wall-like build. Rather, only my palms hurt.
I eventually huffed and stomped my feet as I walked. I was stomping the ground hard enough to make it shake when Gilbert, who had followed at some point, casually draped his thick arm over my shoulder.
“Uwah, hair! I told you to get your hair away!”
As his beard tickled my cheek, my whole body shivered. Even so, he calmly patted my head and muttered.
“Don’t sulk, man. What are you talking about?”
“Spices. I’m trying to make some spicy seasoning but I can’t see any.”
“There’s pepper and ginger.”
“That’s different!”
If I just had peppers, I could make kkakdugi, make seasoning sauce, and serve distinctive gukbap……!
Besides, gukbap without seasoning sauce is like kimbap without pickled radish and ramyeon without kimchi. Doesn’t the world have something called food compatibility?
As I muttered regretfully, Gilbert stroked his beard and stared intently at my face.
