Chapter 6. The Retired Court Chef (5)
Oseul realized that he had gotten on Kim Seongchan’s nerves.
As he always did, Oseul tried to fix the situation by placing the blame on If.
“If! How long are you going to keep causing trouble?! At such an important moment, you can’t even control yourself and you’re making things difficult for me! Hurry up and fix this!”
Neigh!
“Who are you to get angry?!”
Ella hated how Oseul always picked on If.
And just moments ago, when Kim Seongchan asked whether he wanted a spirit, Oseul had looked delighted the instant he heard that Seongchan might give him one.
That reaction had put Ella in an even worse mood.
Ella flew in front of Oseul and blocked his path.
Frustrated that things were not going his way, Oseul lost his temper and swung his fist at Ella.
His punch carried considerable force.
Ella’s tiny body staggered from the blow.
“Stop.”
“Please wait a moment. I failed to properly discipline my spirits. Isn’t If the one at fault for glaring at you, Seongchan? Ella interrupted me, so I’ll discipline them properly now.”
Ella refused to back down.
Meanwhile, If curled up and simply watched Ella and Oseul.
Oseul disliked the looks in both their eyes.
Those ungrateful little things. They don’t even remember who raised them, and now they’re getting in my way until the very end.
Madness had begun to color Oseul’s eyes.
He had spent ten years researching Wild Pig Stew without success.
And now, he had witnessed its completion with his own eyes and even gained a chance to obtain the recipe.
Yet they dared interfere at such an important moment!
They weren’t helping him at all!
I need to discipline them properly. And while I’m at it, I’ll show him how spirits are supposed to be handled.
Oseul grabbed Ella with one hand and turned toward If.
“This is how you handle spirits. Spray water.”
Neigh!
Ella struggled desperately in his hand, refusing the order.
Oseul showed no mercy.
“Spray it! Ten years! I can finally learn what I couldn’t accomplish in ten whole years! You should be helping me! Why can’t you understand that?!”
Neighhh!
Even though Ella cried out in pain as Oseul tightened his grip, she still refused his command.
The more she resisted, the harder he squeezed.
You’re humiliating me at a time like this?
Oseul’s face turned red.
His anger toward the disobedient spirit was obvious.
Watching the way Oseul treated his spirits, Kim Seongchan let out a sigh.
He’s been blinded by the recipe for the Wild Pig Stew he failed to create even after ten years of effort.
Normally, a spirit would have returned to the Spirit Realm after being treated this badly.
Yet Ella had stayed.
Oseul was a spirit master before he was a chef.
And now, even the normally understanding water spirit was strongly resisting him.
He was handling his spirits completely wrong.
Kim Seongchan could no longer stand by and watch.
“Ten years… Is that really so important?”
“Is there anything more important than this? I researched every single day to find a way to make Wild Pigs edible.”
“No. I’m not talking about cooking.”
Oseul kept changing the subject.
First, he had been talking about controlling spirits.
Now he was talking about how much effort he had poured into cooking.
Perhaps frustrated that things were not going his way, Oseul threw Ella toward If.
Ella spun through the air, unable to regain her balance.
Kyar!
Hing!
Just as the fire spirit and water spirit were about to collide, Kim Seongchan reached out and snatched Ella from the air.
Startled, If widened his eyes as he looked at the back of Kim Seongchan’s hand.
Seongchan carefully placed the shocked Ella on the ground.
That’s hot.
The flames coming from If had scorched the fine hairs on the back of his hand.
Ella immediately noticed and sprayed a little water over it to cool him down.
“If it’s about the spirits, I’ll discipline them properly. I’ll make sure If learns how to control his flames. So all you need to do, Seongchan, is give me the Wild Pig Stew recipe.”
Kim Seongchan looked at him.
“What do you think a spirit is?”
“A spirit is something that understands the sacrifices its master makes while cooking and silently supports them. If they refuse to listen, you have to correct their bad habits like this. Once you hit them, they learn to behave.”
“So a spirit should understand its master’s sacrifices and do its absolute best? If I treat it well without expecting anything, it should naturally do whatever I want? And if it refuses to listen, I should beat it until it obeys?”
“Seongchan, you understand very well. Of course, I only hit them when the situation calls for it.”
Oseul agreed without the slightest change in expression.
Behind his deeply wrinkled face, he hid his greed and raised the corners of his mouth, trying to win Seongchan’s favor.
When the situation calls for it? It just looks like you’re beating them because they didn’t obey you and you wanted somewhere to vent your anger.
What Oseul did was closer to giving orders than teaching.
And the man standing before him seemed incapable of understanding that difference.
If and Ella were far too good for someone like Oseul.
“I think I’d like to have spirits.”
“I’ll give them to you. But you should understand one thing—why I treat spirits this way. Once you have a spirit, you can’t become a magician. You have to deal with annoying emotional connections, their personalities are incredibly fickle, they absorb mana whenever they feel like it, and they even rebel against you. If you need fire, you can simply use a Fire Scroll.”
Oseul continued rambling on about why he disliked spirits.
From Kim Seongchan’s point of view, every word was meaningless.
“Are you saying you don’t want to give them to me?”
Oseul violently shook his head.
If and Ella looked at him desperately, silently begging him not to abandon them.
Even after being treated so badly, the two spirits still believed in Oseul.
But their desperate gazes never reached him.
Spirits were no longer on Oseul’s mind.
“Is this really enough? You’ll give me the Wild Pig Stew recipe?”
“That was the deal.”
“If you take spirits, you won’t be able to use magic scrolls or learn magic. There really aren’t that many things spirits can do.”
It was the complaint of a man who had already formed contracts with spirits.
The more Oseul spoke, the clearer it became that he did not understand what forming a contract with a spirit truly meant.
He wanted only the rewards while refusing to carry any responsibility.
Whenever he complained about spirits and talked about how being a magician was better, If and Ella visibly shrank.
Kim Seongchan felt sorry for them.
Then he spoke.
“Before I accept the spirits, kneel down and apologize to Ella and If.”
Kim Seongchan was giving Oseul one final chance to apologize.
“What am I supposed to apologize for? That wasn’t part of our agreement.”
“I won the bet.”
Kim Seongchan intended to settle his victory in the bet by making Oseul apologize to his spirits.
“Don’t you think that demand is a little excessive?”
“Ella. If. Come over here and receive his apology.”
Kim Seongchan had Ella and If stand beside him.
He was ready to make sure they received their apology.
Oseul frowned, but eventually dropped to his knees.
“Do you know how much those spirits have tormented me? Even when I tried to sleep, my head kept ringing. I couldn’t rest properly, and I spent all my time researching how to make Wild Pigs edible. The fact that I managed to cook with those spirits without going insane is already an incredible accomplishment! You’ll regret it. No matter how well you treat spirits, you won’t gain anything from them!”
“Are you not going to apologize? Do it sincerely.”
Oseul repeatedly struck his own chest.
Perhaps he wanted to show just how sincere his advice was.
Kim Seongchan merely stared at him.
Under that gaze, Oseul finally gave up trying to advise him.
Thud!
He slammed his forehead against the ground.
“Thank you. Thanks to Seongchan wanting the two of you, I finally managed to obtain the Wild Pig Stew recipe. I’m truly grateful.”
Once spirits chose a master, they rarely changed masters.
As they spent more time together and accumulated memories, a deep bond naturally formed between spirit and master.
That was why separating was so difficult.
They endure while imagining that someday, their master will finally understand them, praise them, and share happiness with them.
Spirits obeyed their masters.
They shared emotions with them.
And they grew alongside them.
A spirit would always try its hardest to do everything it possibly could for its master.
And through that, they shared happiness together.
Even though Oseul’s apology was hardly an apology at all, If smiled brightly.
Ella looked at the innocent smile on If’s face and gave a resigned smile of her own.
“If.”
If happily turned toward Kim Seongchan.
Seongchan looked directly at him.
“You did well.”
Those sincere words—
Those were the words If had desperately wanted to hear from his master after enduring ten years of hardship and constantly trying to control his flames.
Kyarrrrr~
A joyful sound escaped If.
Then he suddenly flinched.
He seemed surprised that his own body had reacted that way.
Just how long had he been suppressing his emotions?
If did not even seem to know how to properly express happiness anymore.
“Ella, you did well too.”
Neighhh~
Ella looked like she might soar straight into the sky from pure joy.
Oseul clicked his tongue.
“Do you really like spirits that much when they can’t even recognize the person supplying them with mana?”
