Chapter 217: Time to Say Goodbye (1) With the dragon subjugation force's victory in the battle against the Dark Dragon Evelyn, peace returned once more to the Francia Continent.
After returning to Falstead Castle from the final battle, the soldiers received the welcome of countless people and proudly passed through the triumphal arch the dwarves had prepared in advance. A grand banquet to celebrate the 1,000 Dragon Slayers was then held at both Falstead Castle and Dwarf Town.
Having cast off the fear of destruction, the soldiers ate and drank to their hearts' content and savored the peace they had won with their own hands.
Just as they had during the battle against the Dark Dragon Evelyn, the dragon subjugation force enjoyed food and drink day and night without restraint, and after the disbandment ceremony, each returned to his homeland.
They did so with a promise that someday they would all gather again, recall the heroic tales of that time, and enjoy bunsik together.
Half a month later.
Falstead Castle was crowded with people who had gathered not only from within the castle itself, but from beyond the Doren Kingdom, all to eat the food truck's bunsik, which had now become a famous attraction across the Francia Continent.
There had always been many customers, but the reason they now had to make enough bunsik to rival the amount prepared during the final battle with the Dark Dragon Evelyn was largely because of a ridiculous rumor that had spread.
"They say if you eat the food truck's bunsik, you'll become strong enough to be a Dragon Slayer?"
Naturally, it was a completely absurd rumor, so no one gained great power no matter how much bunsik they ate, even if they stuffed themselves to bursting.
Even so, not a single person complained after finishing a meal.
That was because everyone was satisfied simply by enjoying the taste of the various foods sold by the food truck.
"One serving of cheese pork cutlet is ready! Enjoy your meal!"
"Thanks, I will!"
Jason's face was full of energy after finishing the order for a regular customer who always looked only for bunsik with cheese in it.
Now that there were hardly any people still coming for bunsik in hopes of becoming Dragon Slayers, Jinseo and Jason were finally able to relax a little as they looked at the customers gathered around the tables.
"It's peaceful."
"It really is. I still can't believe it was already a month ago that we were standing far off in the distance from the Dark Dragon Evelyn and making endless amounts of bunsik… I really can't believe it. Time went by in a flash."
Jason clicked his tongue as he recalled the fierce scene from then.
The food truck's side had been every bit as intense as the battle against the Dark Dragon Evelyn. To keep the soldiers' stomachs full, they had to keep grilling, frying, and boiling without even a moment to catch their breath.
Every chef had poured sweat into cooking, to the point that even Marco would collapse and fall fast asleep the instant his shift ended, and amid that grueling forced march, the only one who kept working nonstop was Jinseo alone.
"But the subjugation force's battle is still going on."
"Huh? It's still going on… ah, that's what you meant."
Jason looked at the people stepping off the treadmills with trembling legs, then quickly understood what Jinseo meant.
The food truck was currently doing business not in Dwarf Town, but at the entrance to Elven Forest, and here it was easy to see soldiers crawling out in exhaustion after intense workouts.
Elven Forest was a place of dreamy atmosphere, filled with buildings and areas that called to mind the plastic greenhouses commonly seen in Korea.
However, after the final battle with the Dark Dragon Evelyn, when people thought of Elven Forest, the first things that now came to mind were the exercise machines set up all over the place.
"A little while ago, I saw someone running on a treadmill for nearly a whole hour without stopping. To think they have to work out that much just to maintain things… that's a truly terrifying side effect."
Because of the side effect left behind by Dragon's Blessing, the number of people who still had to overeat was one-tenth of the 1,000 combatants: 100 people.
Unable to return to their homelands, they were still carrying out a grueling schedule to lose weight.
Even now, nearly a month after the final battle with the Dark Dragon Evelyn had ended.
At first, they had simply eaten as much as they wanted while waiting for the side effect to wear off. But as time passed, they could no longer bear watching their bellies grow more protruding and their jawlines grow thicker, so they began dieting in earnest.
Charlotte had said it was not some horrifying curse, but to those dripping with sweat as they struggled to lose weight, there was no curse more frightening than this.
"Hm, it feels as though the side effect still lingers for me as well."
"Come on, Lord Craid, you've always eaten a lot."
Craid said it as if it were nothing after polishing off ten servings of tteok-twi-sun-ra-gim in one sitting, but not a single person agreed with him.
"Huff, huff, huff… good grief, I'm dying."
Hayward, drenched in sweat after working hard with the weights, dropped down beside Craid with a thud.
"Here's a towel."
"Oh! Thanks! I've honestly never exercised like this in my life."
"It's hard, isn't it?"
"Who would've thought that out of all 1,000 people, I'd be one of the unlucky ones?"
When Hayward straightened up from where he had been bent forward, the belly jutting out from his body was so obvious that anyone could see it at a glance.
"Give me a sports drink."
"What about food?"
"Thankfully, I'm not hungry yet. Of course, I'll be hungry again in an hour."
"Still, besides the people suffering from the side effect, quite a few others are exercising together with them."
Jinseo went on speaking as he looked around at the people sitting at the hundreds of exercise machines.
"Well… they say that when you're exercising to lose weight, it helps to have other people with you instead of doing it alone. Something about how it works better when you can see other people beside you suffering through the same pain?"
"That's true enough."
As the atmosphere of working out in dripping sweat spread throughout Elven Forest, people who simply wanted to diet also began gathering there.
Then the young elves, who had always exercised regularly, joined in as well, and Elven Forest turned into one enormous fitness club.
"Oh right, Craid. They asked if you could teach them how to use the bench press later."
"All right."
Craid swallowed an entire roll of gimbap whole and mumbled his reply.
Using the workout videos Jinseo had shown him as reference and teaching the correct methods, he had long since established himself as an excellent exercise instructor in Elven Forest.
Under the guidance of Craid and the young elves, people enjoyed working out in various ways while trying to lose weight, and the most popular dieting course of all was—
"Ah, it's time to put that on."
Jinseo picked up the remote control and turned on the large TV.
"Helloooo~!"
A middle-aged woman on the TV screen greeted them with a bright smile and a booming voice.
The people who had been exercising hard immediately staggered toward the food truck, and even the people who had come simply to diet started gathering with them.
"Hey, it's time for that! Everyone, gather up!"
"Good grief, that one really is rough once you start running through it… but if I want to lose weight, what choice do I have?"
Including Hayward, the 100 victims lined up in ranks before the large TV.
Then, with miserable expressions on their faces, they copied the woman's movements on the screen.
What they were doing was Taekick, an exercise that combined taekwondo and kickboxing.
"Just 25 minutes a day!"
As the comedienne in the center of the video shouted at the top of her lungs, the 100 overweight people shouted along with her, pouring all their longing to return to their original weight into their voices.
They punched nonstop, lifted their legs high, and threw kick after kick….
After twenty-five fierce minutes, so intense that the smell of sweat filled the air, Hayward became drenched all over again and collapsed onto the floor.
"See you tomorrow, and the day after too!"
The video ended with the comedienne's closing line, her smile as fresh as ever, in complete contrast to the people who had been worn out following along.
"Ugh… just thinking that I have to do that again tomorrow is driving me crazy."
Honestly, it was a face he never wanted to see again, but with no knowing when the side effect would wear off, Hayward found the brightly smiling face of the comedienne he had seen to the point of exhaustion through this daily hellish routine more terrifying than anything else.
"It was way easier fighting the Dark Dragon Evelyn… at this rate, we're all going to die..."
"Ah, I forgot to mention it. Starting tomorrow, we won't be showing it anymore."
"You're… going to switch to a different video? Taekick wasn't enough?"
"No, that's not it. We're going to stop by the Girvante Kingdom. In the food truck."
Vroom.
"All right, slowly reduce your speed."
Sitting in the passenger seat of the food truck, Jinseo instructed Jason, who sat in the driver's seat.
"Hoo… hoo..."
Jason kept taking deep breaths as he slowly reduced the food truck's speed.
Even so, he did not forget to keep checking his surroundings, just as Jinseo had repeatedly emphasized.
"Slowly… slowly… without rushing..."
He repeated the same words as he brought the food truck to a stop in the middle of the brush.
"Jinseo! H-how was it?"
"That should be enough for course-driving practice. As long as you fix the habit of getting too tense, there won't be any problem."
"Yahoo! I did it!"
"But it's not over yet. You still have parking practice left. We'll try that once we arrive at Selfier Castle."
"Ugh, parking really is tricky… but I'll definitely learn it. That way things will be easier for you too, Jinseo. I've felt really bad every time I watched you do all the driving by yourself."
"That expression looks a little too happy for someone who feels bad."
"Haha… the truth is, I really wanted to drive the food truck myself. It was one of my dreams."
Jason, who had given up on his dream of becoming a swordsman and was now walking the path of a chef, grinned as he revealed the wish he had kept hidden until now.
"Then this time it's Aston's turn."
"Yes!"
After answering, Jason got out of the driver's seat with a bright smile.
A moment later, Aston, who had been resting in the extra trailer, climbed into the driver's seat.
"Please drive us to the next village."
"Yes, leave it to me."
Having already perfectly mastered not only parking practice but also road-driving practice, he was now taking turns driving the food truck with Jinseo.
Vroom.
The moment Aston took hold of the steering wheel, the food truck sped forward exactly as it did when Jinseo drove it.
"You really are driving skillfully now. Even if you took the driver's license test in Korea, you'd pass it on the first try."
"Please do not say that. When I think back on the first time I sat behind the wheel, I feel terribly ashamed. I was even worse than Jason. If I counted only the trees I nearly knocked over, there would be at least ten."
"Everyone's like that at first."
Jinseo gave a bitter smile as he remembered the tense moments from his first driving lessons with Aston.
"Oh, right, Mr. Jinseo."
"Yes."
"I'm worried I may be making a pointless guess, but the reason you taught Jason and me how to drive… could it perhaps be..."
"That is..."
"Ah, no. Never mind."
Vroom.
Aston cut himself off and increased the food truck's speed.
"Oh! Jinseo! You've come!"
King Lanster II of the Girvante Kingdom warmly greeted Jinseo, who had arrived in the audience chamber.
"I can only apologize for appearing so suddenly without giving advance notice."
"Not at all. Aren't you the savior not only of the Girvante Kingdom, but of the entire Francia Continent? Everyone has been waiting desperately to see when you would come here again, so this is wonderful!"
Lanster II patted Jinseo on the shoulder, where he had been kneeling on one knee, and personally helped him to his feet.
"Even so, it has already been a month since the Dark Dragon Evelyn was sealed."
"Indeed. Time truly feels as though it passes very quickly."
"I'm truly glad that peace has returned to the world, but separately from that, there is something I regret. If I had participated in the battle too, I would have obtained the title of Dragon Slayer as well… I truly wanted that glorious title."
Lanster II had wanted to personally command the troops he brought to fight the Dark Dragon Evelyn, but after Charlotte sharply told him not to do anything useless, he had no choice but to remain quietly at Falstead Castle until the dragon subjugation force returned.
"Isn't the position of king just as glorious?"
"Come now, how could a seat one can ascend to merely by having the right bloodline possibly be compared to the honor of Dragon Slayer! In any case, if you came so suddenly without warning, then it must be because you have some special business. I'm curious what it is."
"That is… I came to say goodbye."
"Say goodbye?"
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