Chapter 124: Ah, Right. There Was That? (2) Hearing his younger brother's name from someone he never expected, Painfolt Artran doubted his ears.
There had been one previous instance where someone mistook him for his brother, but this was the first time anyone had known his brother's name and asked about it.
"It's you, right? You're human, your long beard is still the same, and even after ten years, your face has barely changed…"
"When we heard humans had arrived, we came out just in case, and at last we've met you."
Shane and Dane, having mistaken Painfolt Artran for his younger brother, beamed broadly.
"You know my brother? No—wait! You know him?"
Painfolt Artran, briefly forgetting that the other party were princes of a nation—an entirely different race at that—hurriedly corrected his tone.
"Are you that man's elder brother? Your faces are truly identical…"
"Rainfolt is my twin younger brother."
"What?"
"Ah—like us…"
The twin princes looked regretful, but they were still delighted that they had at least met his family.
"Your Majesty, I believe we've finally met that man's family."
"What? The family of the one who saved you back then?"
Lloyd V startled and seized Painfolt Artran's hands tightly.
"To think I'm only now meeting Lord Rainfolt's elder brother… I am truly grateful. If not for your brother, I would have had to live with these two buried in my heart! Truly—truly, I thank you!"
Lloyd V expressed thanks even more intensely than his two sons. Watching him, Painfolt Artran could only force an awkward smile.
"Little Grandfather… with them…"
Fedora Artran, hearing the princes repeatedly mention "Little Grandfather," approached slowly, but stopped in place when she saw Painfolt Artran's complicated expression.
"Your Majesty, what is it?"
Angelica Crudian, not understanding, cut into the conversation. Lloyd V gently patted his daughter's head.
"That incident happened before you were born, so you wouldn't know. I will tell you everything later. For now, never forget this: this man is, for our royal family, as good as a great benefactor."
"Yes, Your Majesty!"
"Shane, Dane. While Lord Rainfolt's elder brother remains here, you two will personally attend him with proper respect. Do your utmost to ensure he is not inconvenienced in the slightest!"
"Understood."
"Leave it to us."
"I will stay and speak further with the others, so you two take Lord Rainfolt's elder brother first and guide him through the palace."
Having seen through Painfolt Artran's desire to learn about his brother, Lloyd V sent him to the palace with his two sons.
As they walked, the two princes and Painfolt Artran continued exchanging words without pause. Lloyd V watched them with a satisfied smile.
"To think foreigners from a distant continent would save not only my two sons but my daughter as well—today is truly a joyous day. Hoho…"
Lloyd V let out a hearty laugh and stood before the Food Truck.
"So this is the mysterious carriage called the Food Truck, from the land known as Korea. Hmm… indeed…"
The carriage's smooth surface, lacking even a single rough or crude part, captured Lloyd V's heart just by sight alone.
"And to think it produces rare dishes we have never once tasted, from within…"
He slowly circled the Food Truck, then bent down to examine the tires.
"Wheels of a peculiar shape. Not wood, not iron… yet the elasticity is quite strong."
After pressing the tires on the Additional Trailer with his fingertips as well, Lloyd V kept nodding and straightened up.
"I do not know how these wheels are turned, but in any case—its speed must be real, yes?"
"Yes!"
At Lloyd V's question, all the Centaurs who had come with the Food Truck answered in unison.
But Lloyd V found it hard to believe without seeing it with his own eyes and turned to Lee Jinseo.
"We Centaurs praise and exalt the swift. Thus, we often compete to see who is faster."
Lloyd V wanted to formally arrange a setting and offer thanks, since his daughter had been able to return safely from the monster subjugation thanks to Lee Jinseo and the delegation.
But before that, there was something he had to confirm first.
"They say none of them could defeat you—but they have not raced me. Lee Jinseo, I wish to compete once against that peculiar carriage you drive."
The impromptu speed match between the Food Truck and Lloyd V naturally ended in Lee Jinseo's overwhelming victory.
The moment Lee Jinseo stepped down from the driver's seat after showing off speed to his heart's content before the citizens, thunderous applause poured over him.
And Lloyd V, arriving late with rough, heavy breaths, did not merely acknowledge defeat—he praised the Food Truck and shouted that it was an object bestowed by the gods—a divine treasure.
Following the Sacred Relics of the Heirem Order, the Food Truck was designated as a divine treasure of the Centaur race as well, raising its status even higher. Lee Jinseo's standing—being the one who drove it—rose with it.
Lloyd V did not recognize the Food Truck as a divine treasure with words alone. He also presented Lee Jinseo with a horseshoe-shaped ornament, said to be a gift for a benefactor of the royal family.
The horseshoe's effect, as confirmed in his Status Window, was—
{Name: Crudian Kingdom's HorseshoeEffect: When equipped to the Mobile Cooking Facility, increases the speed of the Mobile Cooking Facility and its companions; increases the number of Nitro Booster uses and duration}
The horseshoe made the Food Truck even faster.
Bang!
At the sharp crack of a starter pistol for track events, the Centaurs lined up in a row burst into motion all at once.
Running along a track the dwarves had built—modeled after the stadium they had seen on the large TV—the Centaurs' faces were full of happiness.
Running freely across the open plains as before was good, but the thrill of competing—within a space divided by white lines—over who could cover the same distance faster was a pleasure they had never known.
"They really are fast."
"If they'd run wing for our soccer team at that speed, it'd be great."
Inside the soccer field at the center of the track, dwarves and knights kicking the ball clicked their tongues as they watched the Centaurs sprint.
The dwarves' love of soccer did not change even after arriving on another race's continent. They were desperate to play no matter what.
The dwarves participating as part of the delegation set up a temporary soccer field on an open lot outside the capital and enjoyed matches with Duke Layton's knights.
The Centaurs gathered with interest at the unfamiliar sport called soccer, but it did not become especially popular.
Instead, what captured the Centaurs' attention was the offside detector the dwarves had made.
For Centaurs who were serious about running, who was faster was a major matter.
Yet even with their excellent eyesight, there were areas they could not judge. They asked the dwarves whether a device that strictly judged offsides could be used for something else.
The result was a track-event detector—and eventually, they even went so far as to build a running track encircling the soccer field.
Thanks to that, the Centaurs could compete in speed with even greater precision.
"I'm first! I'm first!"
Elios threw both arms high and shouted in triumph.
Eight Centaurs who had covered 10 km in an instant crossed the finish line nearly at the same time, but the detector declared Elios the winner.
"Here you go! Enjoy!"
"Tteok-twig-sun-ra-gim set is up! For drinks, please use the vending machine next to it!"
A crowd of Centaurs surged toward the Food Truck set up near the soccer field.
Jason and Aston Hamilton worked hard to serve bunsik to the other-race customers gathered to eat food from another continent.
Nero and Owl helped by carrying food to the Centaur customers.
"Bunsik eaten while looking out over the wide plains… it feels especially special."
"You know you say 'especially special' every single time you eat, right?"
"Your Highness, ramyeon would taste better boiled in an aluminum pot—why do you insist on ppogeuri?"
"I find this way more to my liking."
"It certainly differs from my tastes."
"It's the same as how I can manage rose tteokbokki, but I can't even touch your special tteokbokki."
Craid, Hayward, and Fedora Artran sat in the middle of the counter seats, enjoying bunsik.
With Angelica Crudian standing beside Fedora Artran, since her body structure made sitting at the counter impossible.
Inside the busy kitchen, Lee Jinseo stared down at the red vegetable on the cutting board, sinking into thought.
How should I cook this?
Three days ago, Lee Jinseo had received a special request from Lloyd V.
When Centaurs turned eighteen, they held a coming-of-age ceremony. For Angelica Crudian's ceremony a week from now, Lloyd V had asked Lee Jinseo to make the food.
Lee Jinseo readily accepted. Lloyd V then sent wagons piled high with all kinds of meat and vegetables.
On the condition that one ingredient must be included.
When you say "horse," this is the vegetable that comes to mind, but I didn't think Centaurs would eat it. Still… this is really awkward.
It was carrots.
Since Lee Jinseo began doing business in this other world, it was an ingredient he had hardly used.
Even in Korea, carrots were something people strongly liked or disliked. And on the Francia Continent, the dislike side was far more common—so he simply did not use them at all.
Because of carrots' distinctive texture, smell, and taste.
"Lee Jinseo, it still doesn't seem to be going well."
At Craid's voice, Lee Jinseo turned and walked toward the counter seats.
"Haha… it isn't as easy as I thought."
"Even for you—the master of bunsik—it doesn't look easy. The carrots here… the taste and texture are rather peculiar."
To check whether the carrots on the Crudian Continent were different, Lee Jinseo tasted one himself and grimaced—feeling they were even more divisive than Korea's.
To confirm it wasn't just him, he asked someone else to try raw carrot.
The result was even worse.
Even Craid—who ate almost anything—could only chew three pieces of raw carrot before he couldn't continue.
The Centaurs who tried it with him had expressions so twisted they did not relax again.
Like a foreign baseball mercenary who guzzled red ginseng extract without knowing and then suffered, his face contorted in agony.
"Lady Angelica Crudian, I have something to ask…"
"Ask whatever you wish."
"Must carrots be included in the coming-of-age dish?"
At the word "carrot," Angelica Crudian's expression—while she was happily eating Jjajang Neoguri ppogeuri—twitched slightly.
"It is tradition."
"Ah… then it cannot be helped."
"It is certainly good for the body, but in truth, it is eaten for health—never for taste. So even I find this troublesome. But you, Lee Jinseo, who must cook with it—you must find it even more troublesome."
"Even so, I want to make it properly at least once."
Lee Jinseo wanted, if possible, to make a carrot dish in the form he specialized in: bunsik.
But when he tried to think of bunsik dishes that used carrots, nothing came to mind.
"Do not worry too much. If it is truly difficult, you may stop. Never forget you are one of the life-saving benefactors who rescued me. I will speak to His Majesty and—"
"Ah! Right. There was that!"
Lee Jinseo turned around, belatedly recalling one of the dishes that often appeared in snack shops.
A dish where carrots were not the main ingredient, but could be included and still be eaten without issue.
Curry.
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