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After the territory had been somewhat restored,

Gordon’s daily life was monotonous.

To put it broadly, it was a cycle of territory affairs, hunting, selling materials, and resting.

That had been all until finally, there was a change in the routine.

Two guests who received the invitation accepted it.

One of the four castle towers erected at the corners of Armsport. The maids served drinks and dishes for a late lunch at their lord’s command.

“I’m warning you time and again, those munchers aren’t to be trusted!”

Sitting opposite Gordon, Sigurd IV complained while chugging beer.

“You do remember this is our fifteenth time starting lunch, right?”

“Of course I remember, since you keep cursing at me!”

“And that the other party is a sage-level grand wizard?”

“That’s why I’m munching only in front of you.”

Gordon was at a loss.

“Why were you keeping your mouth shut yesterday?”

“Enough with the pointless chatter.”

Of course, that wasn’t all.

Sigurd IV was, after all, an invited guest.

Shen Arberni de Bersengzeto was a vassal of Gordon who had invited him.

He had a history of brandishing weapons at Zigmeser, the infamous reject of dwarf society, during an invitation. If he did something even remotely similar, he would simply be a rock shaped like a dwarf.

“Because of the history of wielding weapons against my lord’s nephew while working in the lord’s castle?”

“Damn it! It’s been a while, so how in the world—”

“This esteemed swordmaster enjoys the lord’s favor. You see, there are carrier pigeons sent at least once a week, right?”

“Hmm.”

Sigurd IV hid his reddened face behind his beer mug.

“What kind of worthless meat can exist in this cursed, joyless land? Why on earth has a sage-level druid come to this dung ground of Iceland?”

That was the point Sigurd IV couldn’t understand.

South Coast, the gateway to Seophone Island.

Ruinhenge, the largest dungeon spawn site in the kingdom.

Mirkwood, the Ancient Primeval Forest that has been preserved.

If a druid is to step into Seophone Island, it must be for one of the three places; what reason would they have for stepping into the dung land of Iceland?

“Well, I did hear there’s news to deliver to a comrade. Oh, my back.”

As Gordon rubbed his waist, he gently stuffed some crispy bacon into his mouth with a groan.

“…You’re saying your back hurts because of a night out.”

“I never imagined such a day would come.”

“You’re a swordmaster, you know?”

Sigurd IV knew all too well how absurd that remark was. Unfazed by his distrustful gaze, Gordon shrugged and patted his waist again.

“Well, it’s just life.”

Of course, Sigurd IV’s experiences and instincts told him that the statement was true. However, there are undeniably certain facts that are hard to accept as true in this world.

“Anyway, I suspect that the comrade might be a sir/madam mage.”

“A sir/madam mage? The same senior who always attaches honorifics when coming with me? They didn’t mention anything when we met yesterday.”

“Well, who knows.”

Gordon pictured Shen running around the Bolton Forest on all fours.

“They probably got distracted and forgot.”

“…Even if they are meat munchers, a sage-level grand wizard?”

“Maybe?”

As Sigurd IV blinked in surprise, he took a big bite of a sausage laden with mustard. No way. No way that grand wizard was that kind of meat muncher.

“I’ll pitch in if you finish.”

“Sigurd, I invited you—”

“I’m saying this for your back, you know.”

Gordon accepted Sigurd IV’s suggestion obediently.

*

*

*

No stalking.

Forbidden to approach within thirty paces until permission is granted.

No running on all fours like a dog.

Shen took to heart Flora’s countless prohibitions with a sense of nausea, for better or for worse.

He had no choice but to accept them.

“Ratatouille with tomatoes, how unique.”

Ratatouille is merely a vegetable dish with a ton of veggies thrown in.

However, for the elves of Bersengzeto, ratatouille carries a special significance.

Vegetables are an essential ingredient for the elves of Bersengzeto to survive.

The saying that if the amount and type of vegetables used in ratatouille decreases, Bersengzeto will ignite stems from an actual historical event that reflects their love for vegetables.

For the elves of Bersengzeto, ratatouille is like kimchi for Koreans, baguettes for the French, or tea for the British.

And for a high elf who hadn’t even caught a whiff of authentic Bersengzeto cuisine for decades, its meaning was all the more significant.

Thanks to the sour aroma of tomato sauce, the freshness of the vegetables felt even more robust and diverse.

However, even before Shen the druid, the mage’s curiosity turned their eyes away from ratatouille.

An elf would be abnormal. A mage would be normal.

Earth apples, processed and used in a variety of fields, including potions, magic tools, medicines, bad remedies, nutritional supplements, and tonics.

Two dishes made from those earth apples, which one would never guess were created by the Seophone people, contained absolutely no meat.

The first was the Seophone Chips, sliced so thinly that the other side was barely visible and fried to a crisp.

The second was Aligot, with mashed potatoes stuffed with boiled mozzarella cheese.

As he examined these two dishes, Shen covertly gazed aside.

“Porong~♪”

“Ah, right. What good is a vegetable chip? This is a chip.”

Flora scooped up the Aligot and slurped it like spaghetti. Karem took the ratatouille, slightly reduced with seophone chips, and popped it into his mouth.

Crunch!

The crisp sound echoed through all his long ear.

Shen could no longer hold back. He couldn’t help it.

Nonchalantly, he picked up a seophone chip and dipped it into the ratatouille.

The U-shaped chip was filled with red sauce and vegetables.

Despite the heat radiating from his hand, Shen swallowed hard and carefully took a bite.

The enhanced sharpness of his taste buds and the texture of his tongue from hunger and patience became heightened.

Just the saltiness touching his tongue was enough to unleash the crispness, and Shen lost control, biting down hard.

Crunch!

The fragile seophone chip crumbled like a dried leaf, and ratatouille exploded forth.

The salty nuttiness flooding his tongue collided with the sour sauce’s violent aroma.

Even without feeling the texture, the freshness still tickled as he chewed along with the crispy seophone chip fragments, sending droplets of sensations to his tongue.

However, it seemed the end was approaching swiftly. As the delightful variations on his tongue grew wearisome, Shen picked up a fork.

Dipping into the Aligot, the fork’s end extended like long threads of yarn.

The earth apple, yielding without resistance.

Smoothened further with cream and butter.

The melted mozzarella that coalesced within the particles and cream.

Slurp.

Before long, Shen swallowed the forkful of twisted Aligot.

The creaminess, the bland subtle taste, the exploding butter aroma, and the dampen of earthy apple flavors wrapped together in delicacy. Not to mention the challenging chewiness of the mozzarella that kept it interesting.

As he repeatedly indulged in the seophone chip topped with ratatouille, Aligot, seophone chip, ratatouille, Aligot, Aligot with ratatouille, again and again, Shen was once more overwhelmed.

His belly was full.

‘How many plates have I eaten now?’

One-and-a-third servings of Aligot, ratatouille, and seophone chips.

For the first time, reason and instinct were in disharmony.

His head and tongue still craved more, but his body and stomach protested there was no room left.

There might be forced methods to eat more here, but the result of that forced eating was three plates.

Clatter—

“Hm? Did I think of something I need to do—”

“No, Your Grace. I wish to eat more too, but unfortunately, my body has no room for any more dishes.”

“…Are you saying you’re full?”

Clang! Crash!

Flora’s dish fell onto the table from her shocking statement. Karem missed the ratatouille he was bringing over with the seophone chip.

Naturally.

Only three plates of Aligot, seophone chips, and ratatouille?

No one they had seen so far had eaten so little.

Even Godwin, who was in the midst of a weight-loss regime, always ate plenty.

Alicia was still hungry, while Catherine, who slyly hoped she wouldn’t gain weight, munched heartily as well.

No, it wasn’t just those two; it was everyone from Iceland…

‘Ah, normally eating that little would be considered overeating.’

In that moment, Karem realized he had been deeply influenced by Iceland.

Just… eating only three plates was already overindulgence for a common folk. The Icelanders, starving for food, and some who eat extravagantly weren’t the norm.

“Porong? Porong?”

However, Flora was worried about Shen, asking if he was sick or had fallen ill.

To Flora, who had only encountered gluttons all her life, the news of three plates was akin to a terminal illness.

“Pororon? Porong? Pororon?”

You still have vigor, right? Are you hurt? Cursed?

Of course, Flora would have despised Shen.

However, Flora also understood that thanks to Shen, Gordon had more time to spend with her.

Thus, it was only natural for Flora, who ate as much as Alicia, to worry about Shen upon hearing the shocking three plates.

“Well, I appreciate the concern, but I truly have no room left, and that’s why I stopped eating—”

“Porong~♬…Porong!? Pororon!?”

“Even if you say that, I’ve eaten like this my whole life.”

“Porong!?”

Flora couldn’t fathom the shocking statement of a light eater leaning toward becoming a gourmand. Shen, bewildered, felt the sudden concern becoming overwhelming.

“Flora. There are places where eating so little is just normal.”

“Porong…Porong…”

“Yeah. It’s surprising, but I know you’re worried.”

After some serious contemplation, Flora, upon Karem’s soothing, was able to refocus back on lunch. Although she kept glancing over with concern.

“By the way, since I know about curses from my own experience…”

“A curse? Oh, I’ve heard of the Curse of Aging.”

“Yes. But you’re not actually under a curse, right?”

Yet having only seen high-calorie gluttons around, Karem also poked gently, fearing for the possibility.

“Your Grace.”

Shen, with a slightly pale expression, poked a seophone chip crumb that fell onto his plate.

“Of course, I eat a little less for an elf, but most are similar to me.”

“…Considering there are so many gluttons around.”

“Other female mages admire the Atani—”

Aly was about to flinch slightly, as if something suddenly came to mind.

“Are you perhaps recalling a curse you forgot about—”

“Not at all. It’s just that I’ve forgotten the reason for my visit here after seeing your esteemed self—”

Rustle—

The pile of seophone chips on the plate stirred.

No hands had touched them.

The eyes of the three pairs, including Flora, who was about to grab another plate, turned toward the dish.

Crunch! Crunch, crunch!

A petite creature, with distinctly shining features, about the size of a palm, was gnawing on a seophone chip that was larger or smaller than its own body.

Flap-flap-flap!

As its wings, resembling translucent bamboo leaves, grew up and down in an X-shape, a shimmer of dust fell with each movement.

“A fairy?”

A furrow appeared in Shen’s brow.

 

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