“The magnanimity I showed by overlooking your mistake, you should be grateful your head is still attached to your neck because of it.”
“…….”
My jaw dropped. But the man simply let a smirk slip from beneath his hood and tossed out one more remark.
“You’re quite greedy. Do you not realize the Knight Commander has already paid a rather handsome price?”
With that, he flicked the hem of his robe and vanished into thin air. All that remained was a single empty earthenware pot. I stared blankly at the hollow bowl for a moment, my hands beginning to tremble with rage.
He’d scraped the pot so clean there wasn't a single drop of broth left. And yet, he didn't pay a cent.
“…That, that piece of Cheval……!”
That jerk! He finished the whole bowl!
Not long after Lionel left, I huffed and puffed as I slapped a notice onto the front door.
<NO DINE AND DASHING>
To vent my frustration, I even drew a little doodle. I sketched a brat with a hood and some blonde hair peeking out from underneath, adding the caption. “Finishing the whole bowl and running away is FORBIDDEN.”
From that day on, I established a new rule. The seasoning paste must be served in a separate small dish.
I didn't forget the verbal warning either.
“Add the seasoning yourself, and don't put too much in at once. It’s very spicy.”
Of course, the customers' reactions were almost always the same.
“Psh, how spicy can it really be?”
“I’m pretty confident when it comes to heat.”
They’d bluff like that, dump the entire dish into the soup, and eventually….
“Kh… ugh… urgh!”
“Gasp, the sweat! I need a towel!”
It was a sight to behold, men shoveling gukbap into their mouths while sweat poured down their faces. I watched from the kitchen with my arms crossed.
“I told you. I said it was spicy.”
But inwardly, I was smirking. Sweating bullets yet unable to stop the spoon, that was the ultimate sign of being addicted to the charm of spicy food.
As expected, the gukbap became a massive hit. Seeing adventurers return from their hunts to wash away their stress with spice and soothe their insides with the milky broth felt like watching a sacred ritual for survivors of a battlefield.
And finally.
Daily sales surpassed 10 silver.
“This is it. I’ve made it.”
In my mind, a golden sign was already flashing.
<THE BORDER GUKBAP CHAIN>
I saw a future where I’d open branches across the Empire, collect franchising fees, and reign as the Emperor of the Gukbap Franchise. Signs like “Chevalier Gukbap” and “Royal Certified Gukbap” would hang in every corner of the Empire.
The day might soon come when I’d pour silver and gold into a bathtub and go for a swim. In that moment, I felt like I held all the wealth and honor of the world in my hands.
…However.
“Ugh, my poor bones…”
The problem was my body.
Between the kitchen work, serving, cleaning, and dealing with customers, I was doing it all alone. My wrists were swollen and my legs felt like jelly. Binding my wrists with cloth before bed became a nightly routine.
Furthermore, while I had focused primarily on the restaurant, the recent surge of adventurers near the border meant more and more guests were asking for a place to stay. In my current state, I simply couldn't handle it.
“Maybe I really do need to hire someone.”
But who? If I hired a suspicious person and they discovered my secret MSG stash, I’d be in deep trouble. Or should I give up on the lodging business for now, focus on the restaurant for a year to build up capital, and then expand the inn?
Actually, if war breaks out, expansion is pointless. It would be better to run away to a safe place, buy a mansion, and just run a quiet gukbap shop there.
My head was spinning, but I soon made a decision.
Let’s take a break.
I hung a ‘Closed’ sign on the door and flopped into a chair. I massaged my swollen wrists and stretched out my aching legs.
“Haa…. I’m going to die.”
It was then.
Ding~!
When the bell rang through the quiet inn, I reflexively bolted upright.
“Welcome! But we aren't open today……”
My voice trailed off.
As if he had absorbed all the surrounding light, a man with familiar, deep black hair, as dark and still as ink, slowly bowed his head and stepped over the threshold. Beneath that hair, I saw shimmering violet eyes and a strikingly beautiful face.
His features were sharp yet graceful, soft yet cold. He looked like a young scholar at first glance, but within those violet eyes lingered the chill and boredom of someone who had lived for decades. He looked like the kind of person who could be studying an ancient text one moment and draw a blade the next without it feeling out of place.
It was a face where all these contradictory traits merged into one perfect whole.
Geoffrey Marches Latour.
The most suspicious and dangerous Archmage in the original novel was currently crossing my threshold.
> Rare, deep black hair that looked as if dark ink had been poured into it. Shimmering beneath were violet eyes that captured the gaze of anyone they met. That wasn't all. Though he appeared to be a young man, his eyes were clouded with the emptiness and boredom that only one who has endured long ages can possess.
> There was only one reason he had joined Amelia's party.
> He was sick.
> He suffered from a mana-leaking disease, which was fatal for mages. An ordinary mage would have reached the end of their lifespan long ago, but Geoffrey delayed the process with his vast amount of mana. However, he was merely delaying the inevitable, he was slowly dying.
> And the only one who could save him was the Saintess, Amelia. Whenever he writhed in agony, Amelia's holy power was his only paradise and salvation.
> When he collapsed, coughing up blood with a pale face, the holy power flowing from her fingertips filled his void. Like a torrential rain falling on parched, barren land, that satiating fulfillment made Geoffrey's bored eyes flash. No one knew what those violet eyes were thinking, but one thing was certain. he craved her.
> He wanted to capture the Saintess and keep her for himself forever. He felt that only then would this hollow abyss, which nothing could fill, finally be satisfied. But was that the only emotion he harbored? Did he simply want to use the Saintess as a tool to gain power and achieve something with it?
> Whatever the case, within his gaze lurked a dark, suppressed desire that he dared not speak aloud. That look, mixed with the pain of his disease and total despair, was a fatal temptation in itself.
> Every time Amelia met that gaze, she had the same thought.
> ‘He is a dangerous and eerie man. But… there is no danger more enchanting than this.’
> His charm was something even the Saintess could not deny.
Geoffrey always moved with a hidden agenda. Even his acts of salvation were calculated, and even in the moment of saving someone, he was a man who pondered how to exploit their strength. He was a man who hid a blade-like truth behind a kindly decorated smile, using even his own perilously burning body as a weapon.
In my memory, he was the most suspicious and difficult person among all the Saintess's companions.
Knowing this, I stood frozen, staring at him. As Geoffrey tilted his head, his ebony hair fluttered slightly. I found myself momentarily captivated by even that small movement.
Soon, he opened his mouth, speaking softly with a benevolent smile.
“Are you not open for business?”
“…Today is my day off.”
“Oh dear, it seems I’ve disturbed you.”
His tone, tinged with a hint of embarrassment, was gentle. However, within those dry, deep eyes, boredom flickered.
Seeing his attitude, standing there without moving an inch, as if he had already completely taken control of the room, I realized something.
This guy came here on purpose knowing it was a ‘Closed’ day. He must hate crowds and specifically chose this time.
How should I put it? He acts polite and kind on the surface, but in reality, he’s like a high-maintenance customer with a gentlemanly face who barges in whenever he wants, regardless of the other person's circumstances.
Thinking of him that way, Geoffrey no longer seemed like a dangerous figure, but just an exhausting customer to deal with.
So, I gave him a deliberately bright smile and said.
“Yes, please come back another time!”
“…….”
Geoffrey’s brow furrowed ever so slightly. I scoffed inwardly. Did he think that just because he barged in and spoke kindly, I’d be honored and serve him gukbap? That type of person who thinks they can get whatever they want by pushing, it makes me want to give it to them even less.
When I shrugged and pointed toward the exit with a firm attitude, Geoffrey let out a long sigh and continued calmly.
“To be honest, I stopped by to taste the dish from the rumors. However, the shop always seemed so busy that I found it difficult to step inside.”
“So you came on a day off?”
“I won’t deny that it is a rude thing to do.”
His words flowed lightly, but there was a strangely sharp weight to his voice.
“I will pay you generously. Could you spare a single bowl of gukbap?”
Since he offered to pay well, and since it was just one person...
I hesitated for a moment before nodding in resignation.
“Have a seat.”
It’s a world where social status is everything, after all. Let’s just give it to him and kick him out.
At my permission, Geoffrey sat down carefully with a smile. Yet even that carefulness looked like the gesture of an ancient sage nonchalantly overpowering his opponent. Well, he might look like a young man, but inside, he was an old soul.
As soon as I served the steaming gukbap, Geoffrey took a light breath as if savoring the aroma. He then picked up his spoon and took a bite, then another.
“It is certainly a dish I have never encountered before, just as His Highness the Crown Prince said.”
At those words, I flinched and my eyes widened. Geoffrey gave a faint smile and slowly looked up at me.
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