Chapter 88: It's a Bunsik Party! (2) A pillar of intense light shot up toward the sky from the eastern hill of Colses Castle, the capital of the Doren Kingdom.
A moment later, Jinseo and the envoy party—having traversed a vast distance by teleportation magic—stood there, dumbfounded as they looked at the dense trees surrounding them.
"It's been a while since I was here too."
Charlotte summed up the passage of two thousand long years with the brief phrase "been a while."
And despite the time, the magic circle she had set up was perfectly intact.
It was protected by the mana that seeped out little by little from where the circle had been drawn.
However, the surroundings that weren't protected had changed completely.
The buildings where the human mages she had taught once lived didn't even leave traces behind, and the streets where many humans had come and gone had become an overgrown forest, leaving no sign of the past at all.
If it had been back when she was still young by her standards, she would have been trapped for a long while in emotions she couldn't contain.
Now, she could recall her fond memories and laugh them off.
"Alright, see that down there? That's Colses Castle. It's pretty close, right?"
Passing between the trees and standing at the edge of the hill, Charlotte could see the Doren Kingdom's capital, Colses Castle, all at once.
"So that's what 'nearby' means by dragon standards."
At Jinseo's comment, Charlotte narrowed her eyes and smiled.
"Shouldn't you be used to it by now? Anyway, it's not that far from Colses Castle, so no problem, right?"
"Yes. Thanks to you, we got here comfortably."
She put a hand on her side and shrugged her shoulders.
"This is nothing, so you don't need to thank me every time. Anyway, I just need to sell this food in your place, right?"
"Yes. I'm counting on you."
The first favor Jinseo asked of Charlotte was to sell bunsik at the food truck branch they had set up in Falstead Castle.
When Jinseo had stopped by Colses Castle with Oswald before and returned to Falstead Castle, he still couldn't forget the scene of customers swarming in, having lost all reason because they hadn't been able to eat bunsik for so long.
To prevent the same thing from happening again, he made tteok-twi-sun in bulk and packaged it into single servings.
Since she was a dragon who had mastered magic, of course she would have an extra-dimensional storage space, so his plan was for her to store the packaged bunsik there and sell it—so the Falstead regulars could be calmed down.
Of course, since she had no reason to be used to running a business, small and large problems could arise.
But the odds of any human trying to pull nonsense in front of someone who wasn't human, but a dragon, would be infinitely close to zero.
There was still the question of whether people who feared dragons would actually come to buy bunsik from her, but Jinseo was sure their desire for bunsik would overcome that fear.
In fact, the most decisive reason he made that request was to stop her from casually going into Colses Castle just because they'd teleported there.
At first, he had planned to ask her to subjugate monsters in another region, but she answered that she could finish it and come back in one hour, so he hurriedly canceled.
In the end, he needed to keep her elsewhere for as long as possible.
And a favor he could ask under the excuse of "helping him" was… selling bunsik at the branch.
"Even if the customers make mistakes when they come, please let it go."
"I told you, I'm not that scary of a dragon."
"Not by human standards."
"Okay. I got it. Then I'm going! I'll update your food truck's all-time best sales record and come back!"
Paaaat.
When Charlotte returned to Falstead Castle by teleportation magic, the two spirits who had been hiding tightly inside the Additional Trailer came out through the open window.
"You two were really suffocated, huh? You can walk around freely now. Then… shall we go?"
Jinseo climbed into the driver's seat of the food truck, and the others began boarding the wagons that had been moved along with them by teleportation magic.
"Hey, Jinseo."
Geshtain, the representative of the dwarf delegation, knocked on the driver's door and looked up at Jinseo.
"I'd like to ride in the seat next to you—would that be all right?"
"Of course."
After crossing into the Francia Continent for the first time, Geshtain had enjoyed the food truck's bunsik and drinking snacks to his heart's content.
But he had never actually ridden in the food truck, so he'd been constantly eyeing the passenger seat beside Jinseo.
"At last… I'm getting to ride in a moving food truck."
When Jinseo opened the door, Geshtain climbed into the passenger seat with a bright face.
But it wasn't only Geshtain—other dwarves were lined up behind him, waiting their turn.
"Are the others trying to ride too? But as you can see, there isn't enough space."
"Not there. They mean they'll ride up here."
With his seatbelt fastened, Geshtain pointed at the roof of the food truck with his short arm.
When rumors spread that a dwarf delegation was coming, crowds began gathering at Colses Castle from several days before their arrival.
People came in droves—not only from across the Doren Kingdom, but even from distant foreign nations—to see the dwarves, who had appeared in the human world for the first time in centuries.
And today, the dwarves who passed through the gate into the castle revealed themselves before the humans.
Riding in the food truck that the citizens of Colses Castle were already familiar with.
At the head of the delegation, the food truck drove right down the middle of the road leading to the royal palace.
"Ohhh, what a comfortable ride… it's worthy of being designated a holy relic."
Geshtain sat comfortably in his chair, basking in the humans' gaze.
"What's disappointing is that it's slower than I expected."
"Tell me about it."
Jinseo wanted to speed up too, but he had no choice but to slow down, considering the movement speed of the other wagons and soldiers following behind.
"Later, I'll show you what insane speed feels like with a nitro booster."
"N-nitro booster?"
Geshtain couldn't even begin to guess what a nitro booster was.
But for some reason, just hearing it made his blood run hot.
"By the way, I think the folks up there are already getting into the groove."
Jinseo chuckled lightly as he listened to the dwarves talking atop the food truck.
"Ohhh, so this is what it feels like to look down from above."
"So humans have always gotten to enjoy this feeling… I'm truly envious."
The dwarves had attached structures they built themselves to the food truck and extra trailer so they could stand on top.
As a result, it had turned into a parade for dwarves.
"Hey, you're all ready, right? It's time to show humans what we've practiced!"
When Geshtain stuck his face out of the passenger-side window and shouted upward, the dwarves tossed the soccer balls they'd brought up over their heads in unison.
Then, continuously tapping the balls upward with their heads, they showed off the heading skills they'd mastered.
"Huh? What are those dwarves doing?"
"They're tapping the ball up… it's not falling down at all? Just now he even tapped it with his shoulder!"
"Is that the game called soccer that's been popular lately?"
Soccer—the sport Jinseo had brought in.
But perhaps because it had first been introduced on the Ashred Continent rather than the Francia Continent, soccer had spread among the people of the Francia Continent as a "dwarven game," twisted beyond recognition.
The dwarves atop the food truck now displayed, before countless humans, their mastery of the soccer ball as if that distortion were the truth.
Though the space was too cramped to show a full soccer match, their ability to keep the ball bouncing without dropping it even once was enough to amaze everyone.
They even formed a circular formation and created the rare spectacle of passing multiple soccer balls back and forth—like juggling—using only headers.
Jinseo, driving, couldn't look up at the roof of the food truck, but the reactions of the crowd gathered to see the dwarves were enough for him to picture it clearly.
So that's why they kept practicing headers. The dwarves' first impression is going to change a lot… Well, "early-morning soccer club member" is way better than "alcoholic," right?
The dwarves Jinseo knew from various media were all about brawn over brains—reckless warriors, blacksmiths, heavy drinkers, and the like.
But starting today, the dwarves' image in the Doren Kingdom was decided as one thing only.
Masters of soccer.
Fwoosh.
Nero opened his mouth toward the sky and breathed fire.
At the sight of flame surging upward while perfectly avoiding the soccer balls passing over Nero's head, the crowd roared in cheers and the mood grew festive.
"Hey! Humans! Later, let's have a round of soccer with us!"
After showing off their tricks, the dwarves threw the soccer balls toward the people in the street in unison.
Mostly toward children.
The children who ended up with soccer balls had eyes full of curiosity and longing.
It was the moment a soccer youth scene was born in Colses Castle, the capital of the Doren Kingdom.
After drawing massive attention with their incredible heading skills, the dwarf delegation entered the royal palace.
Jinseo, who had received a separate invitation, followed behind them, and Fedora accompanied him as the custodian of the holy relic.
Craid's party, who had been part of the human delegation to Ashred Continent, did not participate this time. Instead, Aston and Jason attended to help Jinseo.
As they walked toward the audience chamber, Aston wore armor, and Jason wore the cook's uniform Jinseo had given him.
And Jinseo, walking ahead of them, was dressed differently than usual.
Creeeak.
As the doors opened, the dwarves revealed themselves before those waiting inside the audience chamber.
The eyes of Philip III, the officials, and the guards naturally went to the dwarves—the non-human race.
"Oh… so many dwarves..."
"This will be a moment recorded in Doren Kingdom history."
"But that black-haired man's clothing is…?"
Next, the one who drew everyone's attention was Jinseo, unusually tall among the dwarves.
The black suit he wore for the first time since his parents passed away couldn't help but stand out.
Especially because it contrasted with—and strangely harmonized with—Fedora's white robe beside him.
With a white dress shirt, tie, and dress shoes, Jinseo's outfit gave off an image that was both refined and solemn.
The men who saw it wanted to ask at once where he got those clothes.
But since Philip III's conversation with the delegation came first, the nobles in the audience chamber stayed silent, only watching Jinseo's suit.
"...Then we shall proceed as agreed. Once again, I welcome your visit."
After finishing his discussion with Geshtain, Philip III turned his gaze to Jinseo, who stood at attention.
"So you are Jinseo, the cook from Korea."
Before Philip III, who called his name, Jinseo knelt on one knee and paid his respects.
"But… what a very unusual outfit."
"In my country, we wear clothes like this for formal events. This was bought for me by my father, who has since passed away, to commemorate my discharge from the military."
"Hoh… so there was such a story. Hmm..."
Hearing an unexpected story from Jinseo, Philip III put off the question he had intended to ask.
Instead, he praised Jinseo before many people, saying that thanks to him, they were able to avert a catastrophe.
Fedora, at his side, couldn't hide her delight at the praise pouring onto Jinseo, as if it were her own work.
Jinseo was happy as well, but he didn't show it—he listened to Philip III with a serious expression.
"Though you are a foreigner, you have rendered many services to the Doren Kingdom. Before we commend those merits..."
Philip III rubbed his stomach with his right hand.
He had been eating Jinseo's bunsik by delivery for some time, but he could hardly suppress his desire to eat bunsik made by Jinseo himself right before his eyes.
"It is embarrassing, but if you could first bring out food and drink that can soothe my hunger, that would be appreciated."
"Understood. Please wait a moment."
Having anticipated this, Jinseo flipped up the seat of the scooter he had brought into the audience chamber.
If this were the Ashred Continent where dwarves lived, he would have to bring out drinking snacks first, but this was the royal palace of the Doren Kingdom.
On the spot, Jinseo began taking out simple items one by one for a quick meal.
Cup ramen, gimbap he had made in advance and wrapped in foil, hot bars.
And instant coffee.
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