Maybe it was because everyone showered together and changed into clean clothes.
The escort group slept more soundly than usual.
Under the night sky—where everyone except those on watch had fallen into a deep sleep—Jinseo was inside the food truck, rolling gimbap.
I probably only need to make a little late-night food today.
Compared to the previous night, when the knights and soldiers deliberately stayed awake after getting hooked on Jinseo's late-night snacks, tonight was quiet.
"Tonight's late-night snack is gimbap, I see."
"Aston. You're on watch tonight."
For Aston, who came alone to the counter seats, Jinseo ladled out fish cake broth and handed it over.
"At the soldiers' request, I've been serving only this for the past few days. It gets the best response as a late-night snack."
Jinseo set out one roll of vegetable gimbap and slightly reheated the leftover tteokbokki broth from dinner to serve alongside it.
"At this pace, I think we'll be able to enter Colses Castle by tomorrow."
"It feels like we just left the other day, and now we're already arriving at the capital. Time really flies."
"Thanks to you, Jinseo, everyone in the escort has been enjoying themselves."
"Is that so?"
"Even members who'd never eaten bunsik before now wait for mealtimes every day. Some of them even secretly asked when the next procession would be. Of course, only if you're coming along."
"Haha…"
In Korea, he had never been acknowledged to this extent, so Jinseo couldn't help but laugh in genuine delight.
But the true centerpiece of this procession wasn't Jinseo—it was Aston, sitting across from him.
"So now all that's left is for the matchmaking to go well."
"Matchmaking…"
Aston trailed off and looked up at the night sky.
The contrast was strange—his serious expression as he dipped gimbap into tteokbokki broth—but Jinseo didn't show it and waited for his reply.
"Actually… the truth is…"
Aston stopped mid-sentence and glanced around.
"Cooking is my hobby."
"What?"
The words were so unexpected that Jinseo doubted his ears for a moment.
"Whenever I went out to subjugate monsters or trained in other territories, I used to cook with my men. Normally, I would've handled the meals on this trip too—but after eating your bunsik, Jinseo, I realized it was for the best that I didn't."
Aston held the gimbap between his fingers and turned it slowly from side to side.
"But I can't be satisfied with just eating bunsik and enjoying it. If possible… I want to make it myself."
"After you heard me say I needed an assistant…"
"Yes. I can't keep doing it, given my position, but at least for the duration of this procession, I'd like to take part."
Aston put the gimbap into his mouth and chewed.
He's looked like he wanted to say something to me for a while, but I never expected this.
Jinseo didn't know how to respond.
He had earned respect by introducing bunsik—something that hadn't existed on the Francia Continent before.
But that was a special case, and he needed to understand how cooking was generally viewed in this world.
There was also one concern Jinseo couldn't ignore: Aston might be seen as neglecting his escort duties.
"I don't know much about how things work here. On the Francia Continent, is cooking looked down on?"
"Not at all. It's just one job among many. I've never seen it treated with discrimination."
"That's a relief. But if a knight cooks, wouldn't people find it strange? They might think you're neglecting your duties."
"You don't need to worry about that. Thanks to the food truck's monster-detection function, we haven't encountered a single monster on the way here, and the mages have maintained detection magic the entire time. I judged it would be fine."
True. Aston is part of the escort, but he's also someone who needs escorting. If the person being protected says it's fine, it'd look odd if I keep refusing.
"Do you want to try?"
The moment Jinseo offered, Aston began removing his armor as if he'd been waiting for those words.
He changed into a T-shirt, washed his hands thoroughly, then put on the hygiene cap, clear mask, cooking gloves, and apron in order.
Instead of barging straight into the truck, he insisted on basic cleanliness first, and the seriousness of it stood out.
"So this is where the bunsik we eat is made."
Once inside the food truck, Aston looked around at the equipment, unable to hide his admiration.
"It's clearly different. Even this kitchen knife… it was obviously made with exceptional craftsmanship. It looks better than the swords knights use."
"Does it?"
"Honestly, it feels like a waste to use something like this only as a kitchen knife."
Aston examined the knife as if it were a treasured blade.
Jinseo tilted his head at the sight.
It was a good-quality knife he used often, but to him, it was still just a tool.
I bought it on sale at a kitchenware store, though… Is it really that good?
"I've never seen these in any castle kitchen… and this is the refrigerator?"
Like a child visiting a kids' café for the first time, Aston stared at everything with awe.
But the moment he gripped the knife to show his skill, his eyes changed.
"..."
Jinseo crossed his arms and watched from behind in silence.
Aston's slicing motion over the cutting board was fast and crisp.
He cut each ingredient into uniform sizes, placed them into a bowl, and moved straight to the next without a hitch—smooth, continuous, like flowing water.
"It's the same kind of blade, but it really does feel better when I'm holding a kitchen knife."
In no time, Aston completed five servings' worth of gimbap and moved on to the next dish.
Not fully familiar with bunsik cooking methods, he followed Jinseo's instructions carefully as he worked.
Gimbap, kimchi fried rice, sliced soondae ready to eat, and freshly fried fritters.
One by one, the completed dishes Aston made were placed on the counter.
"I'll join you."
After only watching up to that point, Jinseo rolled up his sleeves and began cooking alongside him.
With both of them working at once, the counter quickly filled with dish after dish.
When they finished jjolmyeon and ramen as well, Aston let out a long breath and wiped the sweat from his brow.
"Cooking right beside you, Jinseo… it makes me incredibly nervous."
Aston looked different from before.
Watching him make bunsik—serious, but also clearly enjoying it—it was hard to remember he was a knight.
"How does it taste?" Aston asked.
Jinseo ate a piece of sliced gimbap and nodded.
Then he took a spoonful of kimchi fried rice, put it into his mouth, and gave a faint smile.
"You called it a hobby, but you can call it a skill from now on."
"That's embarrassing, hearing you say that."
"You're not just assistant-level. You're good enough to cook on your own. Honestly, I almost want to put you fully in charge of ramen and gimbap in my place."
"Y-you really mean that?"
To Aston, Jinseo was a pioneer—someone from a distant foreign land who introduced a bold, entirely unfamiliar genre of cooking: bunsik.
Being acknowledged by him made it hard to contain his happiness.
"But you probably can't take charge of all three meals."
"That's why I want to help during dinner and late-night snack time."
"True. The escort eats the most then, so that would be best. All that's left is… for your men to eat the bunsik you made."
When Jinseo glanced to the side as he spoke, the knights and soldiers gathered in front of the truck flinched and stepped back.
They had been watching the cooking process in silence, holding their breath so they wouldn't interfere with Aston.
"Don't just watch—come eat."
At the scent that stirred their appetites, stomachs audibly growled.
"Why are you all so tense? It's not like this is the first time you've eaten food I made."
With Aston's easy grin, the escort members finally sat at the counter and began eating.
The bunsik Jinseo and Aston made together didn't taste drastically different from before.
But the escort's reactions were slightly different from what Jinseo had seen until now.
"Damn… I never thought I'd be eating ramen and kimchi fried rice at the same time."
"I actually wanted to eat jjolmyeon with gimbap. Now that I'm trying it, they go great together."
"No—jjolmyeon pairs better with ramen. Try it with my ramen!"
They had all been dishes shown at least once during the journey, but Jinseo had never put out so many different bunsik dishes all at once, and the reaction was far better than before.
"Uuurp… I've never eaten until I was this full."
"Thank you so much. I think tonight's watch is going to feel amazing."
The assorted bunsik that had filled the counter was soon gone, and the escort members rubbed their protruding bellies, all wearing satisfied expressions.
This reminds me of when I worked at GOP. When the Golden Carriage came, I used to eat until I was stuffed like those soldiers. That was… almost ten years ago now.
(Translator's Note: GOP (General Outpost / Guard Outpost, GOP) — Korean Army frontline outpost, typically near the DMZ, where soldiers are stationed in isolated conditions.)
(Translator's Note: Golden Carriage (황금마차) — nickname for the mobile PX / supply truck that visits GOP units, bringing food, snacks, and goods; rare arrival, so soldiers eat heavily when it comes.)
As Jinseo sank into those memories, a status window suddenly appeared in his view.
{Hidden Quest: 'A non-owner used the mobile cooking facility to cook' has been completed.}
Huh? There was a hidden quest like this?
{Sudden Quest: Lead a non-owner to cook using the mobile cooking facility a certain number of times or more.
Reward: 5,000 Mana, 5,000 Mileage, and creation of authority to register a specific individual as a Helper.}
Helper?
A new term appeared—different from Companion—so Jinseo quietly placed his hand on the cash box to call the AI.
AI, what's the difference between a Companion and a Helper?
{A Helper, unlike a Companion, can directly participate in cooking and sales.
Even when food and drinks are cooked and sold through a Helper, exchangeable profits can still be earned.}
From what Jinseo had known until now, exchangeable profit was only possible if he alone made or sold the bunsik.
That was why, even if he got an assistant, he only planned to use them for prepping ingredients or selling things that were already made.
But if the AI's explanation was true, he could serve more customers and sell more varieties of bunsik simultaneously.
Can a Helper also have skills, like a Companion?
{Yes. In addition, a Helper can increase abilities together with the owner of the mobile cooking facility.
The more the Helper improves, the owner, Lee Jinseo, will also improve in proportion.}
So just cooking together benefits both me and the Helper. Does the Helper get any other benefit?
{If a Helper's abilities reach a certain threshold, they gain the right to become the next owner of the mobile cooking facility.
However, this is only possible with the original owner's consent.}
Can I set only one Helper?
{At the current level of the mobile cooking facility, you can set up to two Helpers.
As the facility's level increases, the maximum number will increase.}
Jinseo had only had Aston try cooking as a test, and at most, he had intended to use him until this procession ended.
Aston was a highly capable knight—also the lord's son—who might soon marry.
If Jinseo led someone like that down the path of cooking, it could cause no small amount of upheaval.
Still… during this procession, it should be fine. After we return, I can register someone the lord recommends as the second Helper.
{Hero Quest: Guide the lord's son, Aston, to become a cook.}
"Huh?"
"What is it?"
In response to Aston's question, Jinseo didn't answer—he couldn't take his eyes off the message in the status window that had just appeared.
To anyone else, his gaze was fixed on empty air.
"It's nothing."
After a brief moment of thought, Jinseo shook his head as if nothing had happened and lowered his eyes.
If this were the Jinseo of earlier days, the moment a quest appeared, he would have tried to clear it no matter what.
But a quest that could decide someone else's life was different.
I'll put this quest off for now. If it comes down to it, I'll abandon it.
Jinseo deliberately didn't even check the quest completion rewards and dismissed the status window while the quest was still displayed.
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