Chapter 117: Oh No, Only Two Legs (4) Slurp.
The centaur envoys' faces, as they noisily slurped up the cup ramen noodles, were filled with surprise and happiness.
A feast of flavors they had never experienced before unfolded on their tongues, and the cup ramen container—light enough to hold with one hand while still blocking the heat—was impressive just to look at.
"Hoo, hoo… delicious."
"I never thought you could eat a dish with hot broth while walking like this."
After filling themselves with bunsik and various other foods, the centaur envoys began moving again, keeping close to the Mobile Cooking Facility as it resumed travel.
Right before departure, they finished the noodles and toppings in the cup ramen Jinseo had given them, and even drank down the remaining broth at the bottom.
Worried they might spill the cup ramen, Jinseo deliberately slowed the Mobile Cooking Facility and moved at a gentle pace.
"To think it cooks itself just by pouring in boiling water and waiting a moment. This is very convenient."
Elios, the leader of the envoys, lifted the cup ramen above his face, then scraped up the bits stuck to the bottom with a fork and dumped them into his mouth.
"But don't you have dishes on your side too that you can eat by pouring in water like this?"
To Jinseo, centaurs felt closer to a nomadic people, so he naturally assumed they would have preserved foods.
"We do, but they can never taste like this. In the first place, from foods like that… you called it cup… ramen, right?"
"Yes. Cup ramen."
"We don't eat them expecting a surprising taste like cup ramen."
As he spoke with Jinseo, staying close to the left side of the driver's seat, Elios lightly patted the pouch at his waist that held finely dried meat powder.
It was a convenience food they mixed with water while traveling, but unless the various foods Jinseo gave them ran out, he had no intention of touching it.
"Wow, this is sweet? To think I lived without knowing something this delicious… It's almost regrettable that we only met you humans now."
After biting into a chocolate bar, Elios wore an enraptured expression and licked the chocolate crumbs at the corner of his mouth. The other envoys with him also enjoyed themselves as they ate the snacks Jinseo had packed for them.
And when they even got to taste the ice cream Painfolt had kept in his Interspatial Storage, the centaur envoys quickly became close with Jinseo.
"Uncle Jinseo, if it isn't rude, could you give me just one more ice cream?"
Serkin, another centaur envoy, held out the stick from the ice cream he had finished, pleadingly toward Jinseo.
"If you eat more than three in a day, you might get a headache, so I'll give it to you later. And you really don't have to be that cautious."
"It's just… I feel sorry because I've received so much."
Serkin looked embarrassed as he pointed to the various snacks and drinks loaded on his back—things he had received from Jinseo.
"Serkin, you should feel even more sorry to Uncle Jinseo. What were you thinking, trying to throw a spear out of nowhere? Everyone laughed it off, thankfully, but seriously… even thinking about it again makes me shudder."
"Ah, that happened, didn't it? I forgot quickly because I've been eating good food. Yeah, you keep feeling sorry to Uncle Jinseo."
"Th-that…"
While eating with the delegation, Serkin had been staring at the large TV. When the protagonist's nemesis filled the screen and roared, Serkin got startled and nearly threw his throwing spear at the TV.
The other envoys stopped him in a hurry, and when Jinseo explained it step by step, Serkin apologized so deeply his head nearly touched the ground.
"Even thinking back on it… I'm truly sorry, Uncle Jinseo."
"It's fine—you didn't know. I made a mistake too, not explaining what a TV was ahead of time."
The envoys, including Elios, were only around high school age by Korean standards.
So Jinseo let Serkin's act—which could have become a serious diplomatic discourtesy—pass lightly, and told them to treat him comfortably and call him "uncle."
I wonder how those kids are doing. They were really disappointed they couldn't join this trip, but now that I'm on the Crudian Continent, it's strange meeting centaurs around their age.
Remembering the three young mercenaries he had met at Raven Lair, Jinseo glanced at the envoys who kept eating snacks as they traveled.
"Anyway, I'm glad you all enjoyed it. Since we're different races, I was honestly worried our tastes might differ."
"Everything Uncle Jinseo gave us is something anyone would like."
"And it's also a relief there aren't any foods forbidden on this continent."
"Even if there were, it's a taste I'd want to eat in secret."
"Right, right."
Jinseo wanted to spread bunsik and other foods on the Crudian Continent, but he didn't force them to eat.
Depending on the religion or nation, there could be ingredients considered taboo.
There could be such taboos among centaurs as well.
Before crossing to the dwarves' continent, he had learned from Geshtain that dwarves didn't avoid any foods, but he knew very little about the Crudian Continent, so he couldn't help worrying.
So every time Jinseo handed bunsik and various foods to the envoys, he explained every ingredient one by one.
Only after hearing that centaurs had no specially forbidden ingredients did he feel at ease giving them food.
"By the way, so there really is an animal called a horse."
Elios tore open a bag of potato chips while looking at the horses pulling the carriages following behind the Mobile Cooking Facility.
They had been told in advance that humans and dwarves were different from centaurs, so when they first met the delegation they studied them carefully, but they weren't too shocked.
But the moment they saw horses up close, they startled and stepped back.
Even though the lower body was the same as theirs, the upper body was completely different, so it was fascinating, and just looking at a horse's face gave them an indescribably strange feeling.
"I didn't realize there were no horses on the Crudian Continent. Then do you not have separate animals you use as transportation, like horses?"
"We're much faster when we pull it ourselves. And we can carry more, too."
Elios continued, tapping the thigh of his right front leg.
He said that on other continents, the roles played by horses, donkeys, and cattle were entirely taken on by centaurs themselves, and the more goods one could transport quickly, the more enviable they became.
But young centaurs, who inevitably lacked strength compared to adult centaurs, took on the envoy role of running alone at speed, and Elios expressed regret about that.
"I see. Among centaurs, transportation is respected."
"It's something you can't do without fast, strong legs."
At the word "legs," Jinseo studied Elios without thinking—then urgently turned his gaze forward.
"Ah—sorry."
"Hm? Sorry for what?"
Crunch.
At Jinseo's sudden apology, Elios bit into a potato chip with a puzzled expression.
"I was told not to stare at centaurs' legs."
"Is it possible my legs are weak?"
When Elios looked worried, Jinseo shook his head.
"Not at all. They look extremely healthy."
"Right? Thank goodness! So my legs are sturdy enough to be recognized even by other races!"
As Elios suddenly became excited, the other envoys also crowded up to the driver's seat and began asking what Jinseo thought of their legs.
Without letting it interfere with his driving, Jinseo glanced at their legs and commented that they all looked excellent and healthy.
They were literally horse legs, so of course they were sturdy.
"Wow, Uncle Jinseo is a human who really knows how to judge legs properly!"
"So all those days of running and training paid off!"
Jinseo glanced at the envoys with their noses lifted high and made a confused expression.
Is it like that? Like when people stare at a guy's biceps after he's lived a life of lifting, and the guy feels happy about it?
He tried to understand the centaurs' unusual way of thinking by finding his own rationale.
Is that why they looked at Craid-nim with envy?
No matter the race, anyone tends to envy what they don't have.
The centaurs' lower bodies looked sturdy from running across the vast Crudian Continent, but their upper bodies looked relatively somewhat slender.
Maybe because of that, Jinseo belatedly recalled how the envoys had looked at Craid—whose physique was strong even by human standards—with admiring eyes.
"I see. I jumped to conclusions."
Listening from the passenger seat to Jinseo's conversation with the envoys, Painfolt seemed embarrassed and tugged the front brim of his pointed hat down slightly.
"Uh, do humans and dwarves consider it rude if someone looks at their legs?"
This time, Elios asked Jinseo instead.
"If they aren't exposed legs, it probably isn't a big problem."
"I was curious what circumstances left you with only two legs, but I thought it would be rude to ask, so I only looked carefully. Whew, that's a relief."
Letting out a sigh, Elios folded the empty potato chip bag in half.
"But at this speed, it seems like we won't reach the destination before it gets dark."
Since Jinseo, at the front, had been talking with the envoys, he had no choice but to slow the Mobile Cooking Facility, and the delegation's overall travel speed had decreased.
"You said being fast is a virtue to centaurs, right?"
"Yes. The fact that we can run across those wide plains faster than anyone is also a matter of pride for us centaurs."
"I want to show you what it really means to be fast. Would that be all right?"
At Jinseo's words, which were close to a provocation, the envoys were startled for a moment. But after looking at each other and nodding, they turned to Jinseo with smiles.
"Just a moment."
Jinseo stopped the Mobile Cooking Facility and went into the Additional Trailer.
A short while later, everyone who had been riding in the Additional Trailer, including Fedora, got out.
What was about to happen was too harsh for their bodies to endure, so they moved as far away from the Mobile Cooking Facility as possible without looking back.
I won their favor with bunsik, but they worship speed…
Calculating that if he showed them what real speed felt like, the delegation's future path would be much easier, Jinseo climbed into the driver's seat.
"It's been a while since I've had a thrilling experience."
Instead of Painfolt, who had originally been in the passenger seat, Craid climbed up and fastened his seatbelt.
Resting his left hand lightly on the steering wheel, Jinseo started the engine again and looked at the centaur envoys.
"We just go straight in this direction, right?"
"Yes."
"Then I'll go ahead first."
"Yes, we'll follow soon."
"Hehe, you don't have to push yourself too hard."
The centaur envoys, confident they wouldn't fall behind any other race in speed, didn't know—
What the smile on Jinseo's lips meant as he raised the driver's side window.
"AI, engage the Nitro Booster."
{Yes, understood.}
Vroooom!
Spitting red flames, the Mobile Cooking Facility shot forward, leaving a long streak of black tire marks behind it.
"Huh?"
"W-what is that? How can it be that fast?"
"N-no way. It can run faster than us?"
The centaur envoys stood stunned, blankly staring in the direction the Mobile Cooking Facility had gone.
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