Chapter 2. The Retired Royal Chef (1)
Drip.
Blood trickled down from Kim Seongchan’s nose.
His head spun, but he endured it.
“You’re stubborn. I won’t go easy on you this time. Kneel.”
The man who appeared to be the Knight Commander seemed determined to force him onto his knees somehow.
Kim Seongchan resisted the urge to put a hand to his aching head and held his ground.
His nose was bleeding, but he couldn’t afford to show weakness.
‘I can’t kneel.’
If he knelt here, he wouldn’t be able to attract King Daltan’s attention.
Since this was the starting point, there were many things he could gain through King Daltan.
“This time, it won’t end with just a bloody nose.”
“What? Are you planning to cut off my head?”
Kim Seongchan raised his head and glared at the Knight Commander.
The Knight Commander froze for a moment.
The knights standing nearby sucked in their breaths when they saw the suddenly vicious look on Kim Seongchan’s face.
‘Right. This is what happens when I put some strength into my expression.’
Kim Seongchan wasn’t exactly handsome.
But he wasn’t ugly enough to be called ugly either.
The problem was his face.
Whenever he frowned, he looked vicious and threatening.
And when he relaxed his expression, he looked like someone hiding a dagger, ready to attack at any moment.
He softened his expression as much as possible.
“You truly have no fear, acting like this before His Majesty. Your Majesty, just give the order.”
At that moment, Kim Seongchan felt someone grabbing the leg of his pants.
He looked down at the person holding onto him.
He wasn’t the only one here.
There were around ten other Heroes.
“What are you doing?”
“Can’t you see what kind of situation we’re in?”
“We’re all going to die at this rate!”
Clank. Clank.
Knights stood in rows on both sides.
They were prepared to move the moment an order was given.
“Just kneel already!”
The woman holding onto Kim Seongchan’s pants pulled down with all her strength.
‘My underwear came down too last time.’
That had happened before his regression.
His underwear had been pulled down along with his pants, and because of that, he had failed to obtain the reward he could have received from King Daltan.
Grab.
Kim Seongchan caught his falling pants and twisted his body.
“Eek!”
The woman released her grip, allowing Kim Seongchan to save his pants.
King Daltan merely watched everything without giving an order.
‘He must be thinking about it.’
Heroes were summoned to this world once every five years.
Sometimes only one appeared.
Other times, as many as thirty were summoned.
The Heroes were brought here to defeat the Demon King and save the world.
But the summoned Heroes, who had no idea what was happening, didn’t always obey King Daltan’s commands.
Many of them even harmed innocent people before leaving.
Of course, plenty of Heroes also died while fighting demons.
That was why King Daltan was carefully judging him.
He was comparing Kim Seongchan to all the Heroes he had seen in the past.
‘He’s taking too long to decide. I should give him a little push.’
Even after seeing Kim Seongchan proudly standing there with blood running from his nose, King Daltan had remained silent.
Seeing how cautious the king was, Kim Seongchan decided to make the first move.
Step. Step.
He walked toward King Daltan, who sat on a throne at the top of the stairs.
Shing! Shing!
The knights beside him drew their swords.
Kim Seongchan felt a prickling sensation against his neck and arms.
He could feel their killing intent.
If he moved any farther, they would cut those places without hesitation.
“You. Do you know who We are?”
King Daltan asked Kim Seongchan.
But before he could answer, one of the knights beside the king stepped forward.
“Who in this kingdom could possibly not know Your Majesty? Just give the order, and I, Kosdal, will deal with him immediately.”
“Sir Kosdal, you always become so aggressive whenever you stand beside Us.”
“Everything I do is for Your Majesty.”
“You’re making Us look bad in front of the Heroes.”
Kosdal’s stern and intimidating expression immediately collapsed.
Seeing him suddenly become flustered made even the dignified knights around him struggle to keep straight faces.
A few of them failed and let out small snorts of laughter.
Even so, they desperately maintained their posture, trying their best not to laugh openly.
During that brief commotion, Daltan looked at Kim Seongchan.
Kim Seongchan stared back at him.
‘You must be really curious.’
Of course, they couldn’t understand each other simply by exchanging looks.
Once the commotion settled down, Daltan finally gave in to his curiosity.
“You’ve made Us curious. If your answer fails to satisfy Our expectations, We may let you rot in prison for a year.”
“So my head won’t be cut off?”
“You Heroes are far more valuable than you seem. And in your case, We never introduced Ourselves as King Daltan, yet you already knew who We were.”
In truth, some Heroes possessed skills that allowed them to see the future.
Their abilities varied greatly.
Some could predict whether they would have good or bad luck the next day.
Others could discover in advance where major incidents would occur.
There were even skills that revealed another person’s name and background, just like what Kim Seongchan had seemingly done.
‘That was the skill I had before my regression.’
If Kim Seongchan hadn’t brought the God of Soup skill with him this time, he would have started with a skill that revealed a person’s name and background.
But after going through so many regressions, he naturally already possessed plenty of information about the people around him.
“Would you believe me if I said I know what the Positk Kingdom needs the most right now?”
“Now that sounds interesting. Heroes, rise!”
The suffocating tension disappeared.
The Heroes, who had been nervous the whole time, finally relaxed.
The Knight Commander stopped glaring, and even the stern expressions of the surrounding knights softened slightly.
Above all, King Daltan’s voice was filled with anticipation.
“We are in a good mood now. Give potions and defensive equipment to every Hero except that man.”
The moment King Daltan gave the order, the knights began moving.
They started escorting the Heroes away.
The woman who had grabbed Kim Seongchan’s pants earlier ran toward him while following one of the knights.
“Thank you.”
“Don’t grab someone’s pants like that again. You almost pulled down my underwear too.”
“Ah... I’m sorry.”
“It’s fine.”
The woman bowed her head before following the knight out.
The Knight Commander and King Daltan remained silent.
Bang.
The doors closed.
At the same moment, King Daltan spoke.
“You’ve raised Our expectations. If your answer isn’t what We’re hoping for, you won’t get away unharmed.”
“That sounds to me like you’ll give me an appropriate reward if I give you the answer you want.”
“I’ve listened long enough! Is there anything you won’t dare say before His Majesty?!”
“Enough, Sir Kosdal.”
“Your Majesty, you cannot simply let this man behave however he wants.”
“Would you like to leave?”
“No. Of course not. I must remain here to protect Your Majesty.”
Kosdal looked desperately at King Daltan, silently begging him not to send him away.
Whenever Kim Seongchan saw Kosdal behaving like this, he found the man’s unconditional loyalty fascinating.
And it became even more surprising when one knew what kind of family Kosdal came from.
‘Would anyone who saw him like this believe he’s the third son of the Hart Family, one of the Empire’s Three Great Families?’
Kim Seongchan would need both Kosdal and King Daltan’s assistance in the future.
Without their help, preventing the destruction of this other world would become much more difficult.
“Before I explain, I’ll need Sir Kosdal to come with me. Would that be all right?”
“Would you do that for Us?”
“Your Majesty!”
“You’ve been hovering around Us so much that We haven’t been able to speak properly with the other knights. They only tell Us good things because you’re always nearby. Go on. Tell Us.”
Daltan was still a king.
The moment Kosdal tried to interrupt again, Daltan silenced him.
“Hasn’t a troublesome incident been occurring recently?”
“There are far too many troublesome places for that description to narrow it down. But judging by the way you’re speaking, it must be something serious. What is it?”
“Haven’t the Wild Pigs been causing trouble?”
“Indeed. Are you saying you have a way to deal with the Wild Pigs?”
Kosdal’s eyes lit up.
“If it’s simply a matter of hunting Wild Pigs, there should be plenty of people besides me who can do it.”
“Unfortunately, hunting them isn’t the solution.”
“Not hunting them? Then how exactly do you intend to solve the problem?”
The Wild Pig problem couldn’t be solved simply by killing them.
They possessed tremendous natural reproductive ability and lived throughout the forests in every direction.
The person who understood that better than anyone was King Daltan himself.
“To solve the problem, we need to meet a retired royal chef.”
“You’re saying meeting a retired royal chef will solve the Wild Pig problem? We’ve never heard of anyone successfully cooking Wild Pig.”
At this point in time, nobody ate Wild Pigs.
Kim Seongchan understood why King Daltan was looking at him suspiciously.
“I know that many people have been trying.”
“You can even see that much?”
Was that all?
Kim Seongchan also knew about many of the major events that would happen in the future.
“Are you saying this retired royal chef will succeed?”
“Of course. However, there is one condition.”
“And what would that be?”
“I have to go with you. Otherwise, it won’t work.”
After finishing his conversation with King Daltan, Kim Seongchan left the castle together with Kosdal.
“His Majesty has a great interest in the Wild Pig problem, so I’m playing along for now. But if you chose this path simply because you wanted to save your own life, then know that you made the wrong choice.”
The moment they were alone, Kosdal immediately began treating Kim Seongchan like a con artist.
Seeing Kosdal’s suspicious attitude and tone, Kim Seongchan said,
“Didn’t His Majesty look good when he smiled so brightly?”
Back when they were leaving the royal castle, King Daltan had seen Kim Seongchan off with a huge smile while he mounted his horse.
[Kosdal stays beside me so constantly that many people become too nervous to speak properly with me. Try to return as late as possible.]
[Your Majesty! How could you speak about me like that?!]
[They aren’t even dangerous, but the moment anything looks suspicious, you start glaring at them.]
[Everything I do is for Your Majesty.]
[Have a safe trip. Come back later.]
[Your Majesty!]
And now—
Kim Seongchan rode his horse behind Kosdal.
When Kosdal suddenly stopped, Kim Seongchan’s horse naturally stopped beside him.
Kim Seongchan felt the killing intent in Kosdal’s stare and glared back.
Kosdal spoke.
“You seem to think that scary face of yours will keep people from pushing you around, but that won’t work on me.”
Kim Seongchan had only glared back because Kosdal was overreacting.
‘If I back down here, it’ll be difficult to gain Kosdal’s cooperation later.’
First impressions were important.
A powerful first impression remained firmly in someone’s memory.
And Kim Seongchan’s face was certainly memorable in situations like this.
“I do rely on my face sometimes.”
One intimidating glare could solve quite a lot of annoying problems.
Even with Kosdal standing before him.
Shing.
But Kosdal drew his sword from its sheath.
His killing intent became even stronger.
“Do you remember humiliating me in front of His Majesty?”
“When did I humiliate you?”
Kim Seongchan had merely offered to separate the king-obsessed Kosdal from Daltan for a while and solve the troublesome Wild Pig problem at the same time.
Yet Kosdal was calling that humiliation.
“Get off your horse right now. If you understand your mistake, get down and apologize. I’ll accept your apology.”
Kim Seongchan didn’t get off.
He simply looked at the glaring Kosdal, clearly showing that he had no intention of obeying.
Whoosh!
The fine hairs on Kim Seongchan’s cheek were sliced away by the sword.
Hearing the blade whistle past his ear sent a chill down his spine.
It hadn’t been long since his regression.
If Kosdal truly wanted to, Kim Seongchan could be sent to the afterlife at any moment.
Still, there was no reason for him to tremble in fear.
“You wouldn’t threaten a Hero who’s currently carrying out an important order, would you?”
“Don’t forget that there are only two people here. You and me.”
“Right. Only the two of us.”
“Exactly. Just the two of us.”
The agitated Kosdal still hadn’t lowered his sword.
His eyes gleamed with killing intent.
Kim Seongchan sighed.
‘He should’ve understood by now, but apparently he still doesn’t get it.’
Seeing Kosdal’s eyebrow twitch, Kim Seongchan decided to explain it again.
This time, he said it as clearly and simply as possible so Kosdal couldn’t misunderstand.
“Aren’t we supposed to be carrying out His Majesty Daltan’s order?”
Kosdal looked like he had plenty more to say.
But eventually, he slid his sword back into its sheath.
His killing intent disappeared, though his suspicious gaze remained.
“Don’t try anything foolish. Just because His Majesty likes you doesn’t mean I do.”
“Sir Kosdal is the one doing something foolish right now. The horses aren’t moving because of you.”
Neigh! Hiiiing!
Once Kosdal withdrew his killing intent, the horses cried out as though celebrating their survival.
Kim Seongchan stroked his horse’s neck to calm it down.
Only after soothing the horse were they able to move again.
Clop. Clop.
Only the sound of horses’ hooves echoed around them.
“If you dislike me so much, how about making a bet?”
“I’m not interested.”
“Will we become able to eat Wild Pig, or not? Which side will you bet on?”
“And what will you do if I bet that we will be able to eat them?”
If Kosdal placed his bet on Wild Pig becoming edible, it could interfere with Kim Seongchan’s plans.
Kosdal might not believe him, but he certainly knew how to ask sharp questions.
But they were only sharp.
Nothing more.
“His Majesty would probably be disappointed in you, wouldn’t he?”
“You may have a frightening face, but you certainly know how to use your words.”
“So you won’t make the bet?”
When Kim Seongchan kept pushing him, Kosdal stared at him.
Normally, people couldn’t endure Kosdal’s killing intent.
They either obeyed him or at least pretended to listen.
But what was wrong with this man?
‘Just what part of this bastard did His Majesty see that made him decide to trust him?’
Was it courage?
Or sheer stubbornness?
Eventually, faced with Kim Seongchan’s persistence, Kosdal finally spoke.
“Your confidence seems genuine, so I’ll trust you this once. But don’t try to buy my trust with bets like this.”
Kosdal looked straight at him.
“I only care about your ability.”
