Chapter 3. The Retired Royal Chef (2)
A foul stench assaulted their noses, making everyone grimace.
“Are you sure this is the right way?”
“It is.”
Even the horses had noticeably slowed down.
The disgusting smell wasn't unpleasant only to humans. The horses could smell it too.
They snorted irritably and wrinkled their noses.
Everyone continued down the forest path with sour expressions until they finally discovered the dead Wild Pigs scattered across the ground.
Each Wild Pig was larger than a full-grown man and resembled a wild boar.
Most of them had brown fur, while a few had yellow fur.
Wild Pigs naturally gave off a horrible smell, but even that was nothing compared to the ones with yellow fur.
Around the corpses of the yellow-furred Wild Pigs, the grass had completely withered, all of its moisture drained away.
Crunch.
Kim Seongchan dismounted and stepped on the dried grass.
It crumbled like grains of sand and scattered into the wind.
When Wild Pigs died, they damaged the surrounding forest.
On top of that, their smell was revolting.
And even if someone tried to solve the problem by eating them, their meat had such a uniquely disgusting flavor that it was practically inedible.
“Anyone who saw all these Wild Pigs lying around should've gotten scared and turned back. Did they come looking for me?”
The Wild Pig corpses surrounded the area like walls.
At the only opening large enough for a person to pass through, a water spirit had formed a curtain of water to block the entrance.
The water spirit resembled a dolphin, though it was only about the size of an adult man's fist.
It floated through the air.
Hiiing!
The water spirit tried to make a threatening sound.
Rather than intimidating, however, it sounded strangely sorrowful.
Kim Seongchan looked at Kosdal beside him.
Kosdal had not dismounted.
Even though the situation clearly called for him to get off his horse, he simply stared at the curtain of water.
Kim Seongchan finally asked him.
“Aren't you going to do something?”
“The retired royal chef Osle knows who I am. There's no need for me to step forward.”
While they were speaking, the curtain of water disappeared.
With the barrier gone, Kim Seongchan could finally see what was inside.
Bubble, bubble!
His eyes met those of a fire spirit curled beneath a violently boiling cauldron as it desperately produced flames.
The fire spirit immediately jerked its head away.
Pretending it hadn't seen him, it concentrated entirely on keeping the fire burning.
Water and fire are essential for cooking, after all.
Kim Seongchan looked toward the owner of both the fire and water spirits.
The retired royal chef Osle had sharp eyes that made him look rather temperamental.
Their gazes briefly met, but Osle quickly lowered his eyes.
Did I look too irritated?
Kim Seongchan immediately put on a smile.
Only then did Osle slowly raise his gaze again.
Seemingly relieved, he spoke.
“Sir Kosdal, what brings you here?”
“I'm here to carry out His Majesty's mission.”
“Has word of my cooking research spread so far that even His Majesty has become curious about it?”
“And who exactly started such a rumor? I've never heard anything like that.”
Osle had spoken about the king rather casually, and Kosdal responded coldly.
At Kosdal's blunt reply, Osle cleared his throat awkwardly before changing the subject.
“And who is the gentleman beside you?”
Kim Seongchan, who had been listening to their conversation, suddenly became the center of both men's attention.
Kosdal made no attempt to hide his thoughts.
He openly looked at Kim Seongchan with suspicion.
He's probably trying to see what I'm capable of.
Kosdal had accompanied him for one reason.
He wanted to determine whether Kim Seongchan would actually be useful as a Hero.
Kim Seongchan had to prove himself.
“I'm Kim Seongchan.”
“A Hero?”
“That's right.”
Osle showed a rather uncomfortable expression.
Heroes weren't exactly treated warmly in this world.
The people of this world had seen far more Heroes lazing around than Heroes sacrificing themselves for others.
“If Sir Kosdal personally brought this Hero here, does he possess some remarkable ability?”
“You could certainly call it remarkable. But is an ability truly useful if you can't use it when you actually need it? I'm still not sure.”
“What kind of ability makes you say that? If it's remarkable, then surely it must be something impressive.”
“It seems to be some kind of unpredictable future sight.”
Osle and Kosdal continued speaking despite Kim Seongchan standing right in front of them.
They were discussing him as though he wasn't even there.
They keep glancing at me while they're talking.
Kosdal was barely even trying to hide it, while Osle seemed to be carefully testing him.
Was he an impressive Hero?
Or wasn't he?
If I were an amazing Hero, he'd immediately start treating me respectfully.
Not every Hero was treated equally in this world.
Some were looked down upon and ordered around.
Others lived arrogantly while ordering the people of this world around instead.
Kim Seongchan's eyes met the fire spirit's once again.
“You seem to be cooking something. Is it really okay to leave it like that?”
The fire spirit once again avoided his gaze, pretending it hadn't seen anything.
Instead of firewood, Osle was using the fire spirit to heat the cauldron.
Kim Seongchan couldn't simply leave things as they were.
He started walking forward.
“Where do you think you're going?”
“Didn't you want to know whether my future sight is really unpredictable?”
“I never said that.”
“Maybe it only sounded that way because you were being so suspicious of me.”
Kim Seongchan's gaze met the water spirit, Ela, floating in the air.
Whenever I worked with spirits, the ones I usually handled were the fire spirit If and the water spirit Ela.
He had encountered many spirits before.
Even so, If and Ela held special meaning to Kim Seongchan.
They had been the first spirits he had ever formed contracts with.
That meant he knew them better than anyone else.
He knew what made them happy.
He even knew how to help them grow.
Hiiing?
Ela had been wearing a serious expression, but the moment her eyes met Kim Seongchan's, they filled with curiosity.
Kim Seongchan smiled so she wouldn't become frightened and approached the cauldron.
Let's take a look.
He moved closer.
The fire spirit beneath the cauldron looked like an iguana and was burning its own body to produce flames.
It had even shut its eyes, as though determined not to make eye contact.
Kyareureu~
The fire spirit lowered its head while keeping its eyes closed, expressing its discomfort with a small cry.
“That's a fire spirit, not firewood.”
“It's better than using firewood, so that's what I'm using. The coward gets frightened by practically everything. If! Stop paying attention to him and concentrate on the cauldron! The flames are getting weaker!”
Kyareu? Kyareung!!!
There was clear irritation in Osle's voice as he spoke to the fire spirit.
He didn't seem to care whether his emotions frightened the spirit.
Osle shouted at If with a deep frown.
Even when If began trembling, Osle made no attempt to soften his expression.
Emotional synchronization is important when handling spirits, but he isn't doing it properly.
Spirits were naturally curious.
Each spirit also had its own personality.
When a summoner's personality didn't match their spirit's, they ended up managing them while constantly irritated, just like Osle was doing right now.
Even so, one couldn't simply send a spirit back to the Spirit Realm whenever they pleased.
