Chapter 56
Chapter 56
Seaweed Soup of Longing (2)
“What is that.”
“There is a deep story behind it.”
Would there be only one grocery store? There were four in total. I went around the four grocery stores within the academy that were about the size one would expect, but I couldn’t obtain any seaweed.
With no other choice, I jumped straight into the sea myself. I wondered if the water might still be cold, but it was just the right temperature.
I could have simply picked up what the waves had washed ashore, but once I saw the sea, I couldn’t hold myself back. In the end, I threw off my clothes and entered the water.
I brought back the fluttering seaweed from down below, and by good fortune I also grabbed an abalone. Its size was terrifying, so it would surely taste good.
When I approached with a bucket filled with seawater, with the seaweed and abalone inside, the professor looked at me with suspicion.
He examined the bucket and then made a strange face.
“Isn’t that seaweed? What are you planning to do with that? Trying to strangle the kids with it or something?”
“Yes.”
“…You punk. Don’t do that.”
He had thrown the joke while snickering, so I played along. But then his face stiffened in an instant as he began trying to stop me.
It was far too much of a reaction for something that had simply been me playing along with a joke. I felt something around the edges of bewilderment and mild disappointment.
The time was late evening. There was no need to run the whole thing as a full overnight two-day event. I could see the first-year students who hadn’t eaten dinner.
“Alright, alright. It’s nothing special. You just need to survive in the mountains. A simple task. Only bring an emergency kit and your weapon. If something happens, fire the signal flare.”
An extremely simple explanation. Deep worry settled across the students’ faces. Even the teaching assistants who had to stay up all night for safety looked utterly exhausted.
“Dismissed. See you tomorrow at two.”
My eyes met Winter’s, who was looking at me with trembling eyes. Why are you there? There’s a reason for that. We finished that level of detailed conversation through our eyes alone and parted ways following the professor’s words.
I could also feel Bereninche’s gaze beside Winter as she looked at me with curiosity, and the gaze of the reddish-brown twins who were smiling in a strangely meaningful way.
“You must be hungry.”
They would have to spend three whole meals in the mountains. That was absolutely not an easy thing.
A test that looked simple actually hid quite meticulous intentions.
Students from the Magic Department, the divine studies department, or the alchemy department were originally physically weak, so skipping just a few meals would make them stagger.
What about the combat department? No. Those guys were worse.
The amount of calories required to maintain those bodies was enormous. They were no different from trains that consumed an absurd amount of fuel.
In the former case, simply enduring hunger would work.
But the latter had no such option.
They would hunt no matter what. Fruits alone could never cover that kind of fuel consumption.
The food expenses of the combat department dormitory were greater than the combined dormitory food expenses of the former departments. Looking at that, it wasn’t an incorrect statement.
“Alright. Let’s go too.”
After confirming that the first-year students had scattered in all directions under the guidance of the teaching assistants, the professor stood up from his seat. I quickly tidied up where I had been sitting.
That comment was about the first-year students. Honestly, for us including the teaching assistants and the professor, this was no different from a modest camping trip.
The place the professor guided us to could literally be called a campsite without exaggeration. Needless to say it was well hidden, and it was a flat area rarely seen in mountainous terrain. It was a place where about two people could stay without discomfort.
It had been somewhat organized, and traces of long-term trimming and carving were visible. It was clearly a place that had been used for several years. There was even a tent set up.
“Is there a valley nearby as well?”
“You figured it out right away. This place is prime real estate. There’s less wind so it’s less cold, and not far away there’s a valley, so there’s plenty of drinking water.”
The professor spoke with deliberate pride.
Even so, it would normally make him look like a villain who made the students suffer while he lived comfortably. But since this time I was also in the position of the villain, I decided to stay quiet.
“Can we light a fire?”
“Of course we should. Fire is the most effective means of driving away wild animals, and it also provides the important benefit of warmth.”
At the professor’s words, I set my luggage down. The tent was thoroughly camouflaged so it wouldn’t be easily discovered. I stacked my belongings neatly inside it.
The inside of the tent was wider than expected. The mountain had been dug out and expanded inward. Deep inside, there were even neatly prepared logs, as if someone had arranged them in advance.
Ah, teaching assistants. Stay strong.
Realizing at once where that labor had come from, I picked up a few logs and left the tent with a somewhat solemn attitude.
“Let’s eat dinner right away. If you’re hungry, you could also go hunting?”
“I’ve prepared something.”
“…You’re unnecessarily thorough with your preparations.”
He clicked his tongue as if it were a pity. I could feel his intention of trying to send me out hunting. But I, who came here to take it easy, wasn’t that easy to deal with.
As for the seaweed, it was the result of my determination to eat Korean food. After eating once, I planned to get through the rest with supply-use calorie bars.
A calorie bar contained the daily caloric intake of an adult man. Considering its size, it wouldn’t be strange to call it a magitech item.
The taste was disgustingly sweet to the point that it made your tongue sting, but since I didn’t particularly care about taste to begin with, there was nothing more useful than this.
“Professor, you’re going to get by on calorie bars too, aren’t you?”
“What? You too?”
“Yes. I’ll only eat dinner properly. For the rest, it’ll be all that.”
Perhaps our thoughts were the same, because the professor also became speechless.
It was a moment that made me realize that people’s thoughts all end up being quite similar.
Since I didn’t have a magitech tool to start a fire, I held out my hand to the professor. Fortunately, the professor had a magitech tool for lighting fires.
I placed tinder in the center of the ground where stones had been embedded in a circle, then stacked firewood on top of it. With the help of the magitech tool, the spark that was born diligently grew in size.
“I’ll go fetch some water.”
“While you’re at it, bring some drinking water too.”
I obediently accepted the mess tin the professor handed me. Taking the mess tin for the seaweed soup, I headed toward the valley.
There was no need to worry about the location. A place where the sound of flowing water could naturally be heard. As I walked toward it, the sound of water gradually grew louder.
I intended to mark trees occasionally so I wouldn’t lose my way, but there were already quite a few markings present.
Thanks to that, I reached the valley comfortably and filled the two mess tins with water. Since I had come all this way, I scooped up water with both hands and decided to drink some.
It was perfectly clear, with no floating debris rising up. It could cause trouble, but I decided to trust in the toughness and resistance of Adaptive Body.
“Keuh.”
The cool sensation sliding down my throat. It felt different from the sea. As if I were drinking alcohol, I felt a refreshing clarity and drank several more handfuls.
While washing my face as well, the moment I raised my head, my eyes met something.
Its bright eyes were filled with purity, and its smooth, flowing curves were truly beautiful.
Filled with vigilance, it looked back at me as if it were a lie and quietly met my gaze for quite some time.
“A deer. Meat?”
Yes. It was a deer. Just an ordinary deer. It didn’t have any special color or unusual appearance—just a normal deer.
Since there were no antlers on its head, it was clearly a female. Its ears kept twitching repeatedly. Beast—meat—protein. An extremely simple line of thought.
That thought ultimately moved me.
My speed, like the teeth of a comb, resembled that of an assassin. As I was about to swing the shovel down just like that, I had no choice but to hesitate.
A herbivore that should have been extremely wary showed no reaction even after I suddenly appeared in its field of vision. I had once heard stories of water deer freezing in place when caught in car headlights.
Just as I wondered if it was something similar, the creature approached quite familiarly and nudged me with its snout.
“Lord Anaye…….”
Something had definitely taken effect. Otherwise, there was no way this creature—one that should have either jumped away in shock or been full of caution—would act so friendly.
I judged that whatever had influenced it must be related to Anaye. Anaye’s epithet was none other than Anaye, the Thunder Deer. I had thought it might just be a simple nickname, but did it actually have a real connection to deer?
“Go on. Get lost, you rascal.”
Thanks to that, my excitement cooled off. I wasn’t hungry enough to cut the throat of a creature that seemed to like me quite a lot. Above all, once I thought it might be related to Anaye, that thought disappeared completely.
I clicked my tongue briefly and turned around to leave, but the creature followed me. When I glanced back, I saw the cute fellow with its ears twitching.
“Go on. Get lost. I’ll eat you, you know?”
Even when I reached out my hand, it didn’t show any sign of avoiding me. When I touched it, I felt a slightly firm texture. Soon it accepted my touch and was gently stroked.
Only after I gave its rump a few firm slaps did it startle and run far away. After watching it for a while, I finally picked up the mess tins and returned to the tent.
“Did you get lost? Why are you so slow?”
“Yes. Well.”
Even though the scolding came as soon as I arrived, I didn’t show much reaction. I handed him one mess tin and hung the other over the campfire.
“Professor.”
“What.”
“Do I smell like something?”
At my rather serious question, the professor made a puzzled expression. Instead of joking around, he came closer and sniffed.
“What is this. Hey. Do you wear perfume? Why do you smell so sweet? No, this is a bit different. Is it body scent?”
“Hmm.”
Naturally, I couldn’t smell my own body scent. It was my own body after all. The only person who had been close to my body was Winter. Most of the time I was covered in blood, but there was no way Winter wouldn’t have reacted if there was something like that.
There wasn’t anything particularly strange about it. Maybe it was an effect on the skill side rather than the body. Had venison ever appeared on the dormitory menu?
“Why are you asking something like that?”
“Just because.”
“You’re boring. Just cook the food.”
Come to think of it, the princess had liked me unusually much. At the time, I had simply thought it was because of the Duhein Family bloodline.
Or maybe not? And why had that deer reacted like that and made things annoying? Thinking that it didn’t really matter, I ignored it and began cooking.
“…What exactly are you making.”
The water in the mess tin began to boil. I cut a few strands of good-quality seaweed and dropped them in.
The original recipe involved stir-frying meat in oil. But doing it properly in the mountains like this was too troublesome, and the tools were poor. Cooking was originally about bringing out the flavor of the ingredients.
I sprinkled some salt and crushed the garlic I had brought with my hands before adding it in. When I had put in about six cloves, the professor spoke.
“Uh… seaweed soup?”
“Why would you make something like that… no, wait. More importantly, how many cloves of garlic are you putting in there?”
While he was speaking, the ninth crushed clove of garlic went in. Seeing the professor shudder, I reluctantly put the remaining garlic away.
The soup bubbled as it boiled, and the seaweed soup gradually released its color. At that moment, I added the abalone I had washed thoroughly.
“Would you like some?”
“The smell isn’t bad…”
The professor had a suspicious expression at my polite offer. I scooped some broth with a spoon and tasted it.
The deep, rich umami unique to seaweed soup.
Even without sesame oil or meat, it was utterly delightful. I quickly poured some into the lid of the mess tin. Soon I swallowed the seaweed as if slurping noodles.
It wasn’t tough, yet its firm texture kept it from becoming tiresome. Or perhaps in this case, the fact that I was eating it after such a long time played a big role.
I absorbed the seaweed soup in a state close to trance.
Perhaps because it looked quite appetizing, the professor soon pushed his suspicion aside as well.
“Certainly. The aroma is nice.”
He took a small portion and sniffed it repeatedly. Soon he reacted positively enough to elevate the smell to the level of fragrance and drank the seaweed soup.
“Kuk! Kheu. Kuu. Kulk! Kyaaak! Kyaak! Ptooey!”
Soon he choked violently.
He spat out the seaweed soup so roughly that it was painful for anyone watching. It was impossible not to look.
Only after retching for quite a while did the professor stare at me with blank eyes.
“It’s fucking salty! You expect me to eat something like this? And why the hell is it so spicy too!”
Then he exploded with intense emotion.
Salty? It came from the sea, so this level was normal.
Spicy? It only had nine cloves of garlic.
Having seen quite a few cases of foreigners failing to adapt to Korean food, I wondered if the professor might be that type as well.