Chapter 25

Chapter 25: Pork Belly Party & A Colossal Visitor

I have been very troubled lately.

There are more things to think about and my worries have deepened.

But it is not really so bad.

A feeling of being excited.

'Is this too happy a worry?'

What kind of relationship will Ria and I have going forward?

What kind of future will we draw together?

These are happy worries.

In fact, these were worries I had even before that incident happened.

Back then, they were worries I had while excluding any deep relationship between a man and woman.

Now they are worries about the relationship between a man and woman.

'The fact that I am having these worries itself does not make sense. Me, with someone that pretty.'

It is not that I am ugly.

It is just that Ria has looks that do not seem human.

If my friends or acquaintances found out, they would try to kill me out of jealousy.

'She really is impossibly pretty.'

Silver hair and blue eyes, with a slender and distinct face and jade-white skin.

And even a body with fantastic proportions.

Now that I have started seeing her as a woman, she feels newly mysterious.

Even though she is wearing a tracksuit and spreading fertilizer I bought for her in the field.

'Could this be infatuation by any chance?'

Probably not.

Soon she went to the field where other crops were planted and checked the grown crops.

Then she called me.

"Seon-u! Come here! I think the Romaine has fully grown."

"Got it! I am coming!"

Calmly, as if nothing had happened.

I am trying to act normally so Ria does not feel uncomfortable.

Soon I went to Ria and checked the Romaine she had grown.

"It grew to an appropriate size."

Since it was a crop from another world, I had worried what would happen if it did not grow.

Actually I had worried because the sprouts did not germinate, but once Rin helped, new sprouts appeared quickly.

Truly the majesty befitting an S-rank farmer.

Soon I touched the Romaine.

[Romaine Grown by a Dryad]

[Taste & Rarity: D]

As expected, it appeared.

The reason it appeared as D seems to be because Rin touched it less.

Still, the fact that it has a grade at all means its quality will be much better than ordinary Romaine.

"A grade appeared too. D-rank."

"Really? Wow!"

Ria was delighted to hear a grade appeared.

Rin, who had been growing the Applecherry tree, also approached at some point and smiled while clapping her hands together.

Seeing that made my heart feel warm.

'One thing that is certain is that recently is the most comfortable time in my life.'

I had risked my life to protect this scenery.

I said to Ria.

"Tonight for dinner, let us have a Romaine wrap pork belly party."

"Pork belly? What is that?"

"It is the belly fat attached near the ribs of a pig. It is delicious when grilled."

"Is that so? I am looking forward to it. There are still many foods from Seon-u's world I have not tried."

"There are many. Very many. Even just the foods I know, it will take quite a long time to try them all, right? I will make them for you one by one slowly."

"I, I see. Thank you."

Ria suddenly turned red in the face.

Ah, was the nuance of my words a bit like that?

That was not my intention, but it could have sounded that way.

Like this, both Ria and I have been breaking down occasionally since we decided to think about our future relationship.

* * *

That evening.

I bought pork belly and started the party.

I placed the pork belly in the middle part of the pot lid.

Around the edges I grilled seasoned bean sprouts, Kimchi, garlic, mushrooms, and water parsley.

The sauces were ssamjang, oil sauce, salt, and salted anchovy sauce.

For side dishes I prepared seasoned green onion salad, soy sauce pickled onion, pickled radish wraps, Romaine, and sliced Cheongyang Chili Pepper.

And even soybean paste stew.

'Ria started her introduction with miso soybean paste so now she eats soybean paste stew well too.'

She likes it, saying the taste of soybean paste stew is savory.

Soon Ria looked at the food cooking on the pot lid and said.

"The pan has an interesting shape too, and eating by grilling meat and various things together like this is also very interesting."

"This is Korean-style barbecue. I will teach you how to eat it. Like this, place one Romaine leaf in your hand."

"Place one Romaine leaf in my hand."

Ria followed my actions and words.

"On the Romaine, place one or two pieces of meat. I am using two pieces."

"Then I will use two pieces too!"

A wrap beginner will regret wrapping two pieces, though.

"You add ssamjang or salted anchovy sauce, but I recommend trying ssamjang first. Like this, add a little ssamjang. Add seasoned green onion. Add one piece of grilled garlic or raw garlic."

"Add the grilled one."

"Now you eat this in one bite."

"What? In one bite?"

I knew this would happen.

Ria was flustered.

She was flustered looking at the enlarged wrap and measuring the size of her mouth.

'How cute.'

I gave her advice.

"It is better to eat it in one bite without thinking about appearances or embarrassment. Otherwise the sauce that flows out gets on your hands, and also if you eat it in two bites the taste is not even so it is not good."

"I understand. But I will turn my head away while eating."

Ria turned her head away from me and ate the wrap.

She does not need to do that though.

Soon she put it in her mouth and turned her head back to its original position, covering her mouth with her hand as she tasted it.

"Mmm, it is delicious!"

Ria raised her thumb.

Soon she swallowed and continued speaking.

"At first it felt a bit confusing with various tastes mixed together, but after chewing a few times all the ingredients harmonized as if they were originally one thing and the taste exploded."

"That is the appeal of wraps."

I also wrapped a wrap and took a bite.

"Wow, the Romaine is really fresh. The taste is good, I wonder who grew it."

"Hehe! Thank you. It is thanks to Rin."

Ria and Rin smiled brightly at each other.

They are like mother and daughter.

Soon Ria dipped just a little ssamjang on a fork and tasted it.

"Mmm, this sauce is so delicious. What sauce is this?"

"It is a sauce called ssamjang made by mixing Red Pepper Paste and Soybean Paste and adding seasonings."

"I see, now that you mention it I remember the Meju we made before."

"That Meju, I left it aging together with when I made Fruit Wine and stored it in Acresia. Next time let us make Soy Sauce, Red Pepper Paste, and Soybean Paste with it. And I will teach you how to mix ingredients to make ssamjang too."

"That will be fun. It will taste better if we make it ourselves and eat it, right?"

"Of course. It will taste better, and it will be healthy with no additives."

Soon I taught Ria how to eat it by combining things in various ways.

The method of wrapping it in pickled radish wraps, the method of putting Cheongyang Chili Pepper in the wrap and eating it.

The combination of meat and pickled onion, and so on.

"The taste is different with each combination, so it is enjoyable."

Ria was very satisfied.

Among them, the one with Cheongyang Chili Pepper was very spicy though.

"Cough! Water……! It is spicy!"

She seems to still need to adapt to spicy taste.

Rin was deliciously eating salad made with Romaine and health juice on the side.

During that peaceful meal.

Suddenly Ria stood up abruptly.

"A strong energy."

If Ria says it is a strong energy and is being cautious to this degree, it must be a really strong Monster.

I also took out a spear from Acresia and equipped it.

'They say even dogs do not bother you when you eat.'

A moment later that being revealed itself.

I followed Ria and raised my head to look at the top of the hill behind the house.

'That is……'

It really was a dog.

One Monster that looked like a gigantic pure white wolf was watching us from the top of the hill.

Ria looked at it and said.

"Fenrir……!"

Like the Doppelganger Ria mentioned, is that Monster the one that eats Magic Stones?

Soon the Fenrir said something.

"###, ####!"

As expected, I cannot understand.

However, Ria understood vaguely.

"Demon, killed, you, thank you."

Thank you……? For us killing a demon?

Who is the demon?

Just hearing Ria's interpretation, it does not seem to have hostility toward us.

Moreover, if it was going to attack, would it not have ambushed us when we were eating?

Soon the Fenrir leaped and lightly landed in front of our house's yard.

"Wow……"

It is amazing seeing it up close.

Amazing because of its large size.

And the unstained pure white fur felt very mysterious.

There is a reason it is called a divine beast.

Soon Ria aimed her sword and was cautious.

Then the Fenrir said.

"####!"

"Not fighting?"

When Ria quietly withdrew her sword, the Fenrir nodded its head.

Soon Ria used the Sigil of Wisdom on the Fenrir, a communication magic that allows understanding each other's language.

"Oh, this is ancient magic."

I can hear it.

The words of the gigantic pure white wolf.

Soon Ria said.

"Right, it is one of the ancient magics."

"To have learned ancient magic, you must be from the Continent of Velinta. I also came from there. That is why I could understand even a little of the ancient language. You must have been the child of a quite noble house there."

"Because I was from a Grand Duke's family, I received ancient language education. I am not nobility now though."

What…… I knew she was nobility but she was a Grand Duke's daughter?

Come to think of it, I never asked Ria about her title.

I only listened when Ria told me about her father or family, worried that bringing it up might hurt Ria.

The Fenrir continued speaking.

"Did you kill that demon?"

A demon, could it be talking about that guy?

"Are you talking about the Doppelganger?"

When I asked, the Fenrir nodded its head toward me.

"Correct. The Doppelganger. That guy completely ate up the Magic Stones of the Monsters in this area. Two of my children were also eaten by that guy."

That is an unfortunate thing.

From the Fenrir's perspective, it would be a demon indeed.

The reason the number of Monsters in this area is small must not simply be because the Monster population is small, but because the named Doppelganger completely killed and ate them all.

The Fenrir continued speaking.

"I have been sensing that guy's energy since I lost my children to it. But at some point the guy's whereabouts became unclear. The guy's energy was completely cut off in this vicinity. Then that means that demon was killed by someone with an energy as strong as that guy's energy. And there is only one being with such energy, precisely you."

The Fenrir tilted its head and pointed at Ria.

Then Ria shook her head.

"It is correct that we dealt with that demon guy. However, to be precise, it was not me but this man."

Ria pointed at me.

Then the Fenrir looked at me and tilted its head as if very surprised.

"This human looks very weak. Could he be hiding such strong power that I cannot sense it?"

"No, being weak is correct. Weak enough to die if grazed by the Doppelganger."

"Then how did you catch it?"

"Thanks to a skill."

Rather than explaining with words, showing is faster.

I floated the spear I was holding in the air and used the absorption skill.

Then the spear was sucked in.

"Ho, it is a subspace warehouse. Do things die if absorbed into that?"

"It varies sometimes, but the Doppelganger died. By my strength alone, absorbing that guy into the subspace would have been impossible, and it was possible thanks to this Lady Knight helping."

"I see. Then that demon was completely annihilated for certain."

"For certain."

Soon the Fenrir turned its head toward the sky.

Is it thinking of howling?

That does not seem to be it.

It is a gaze as if longing for someone.

Could it be the children it sent away?

Soon the Fenrir said to Ria and me.

"It was something I could not do with my own power, but thank you for carrying out vengeance for my children."

"Thankful…… I express my condolences."

The Fenrir nodded its head and was silent for a moment, then soon looked toward Ria's legs and said.

"Is what is there a Dryad's child?"

Rin, trembling while hiding behind Ria's legs.

I blocked in front of Ria and answered.

"Correct. Rin is also a victim who lost her mother to that Doppelganger."

"Is that so. There is no need to be so cautious. I do not have the bad taste of eating young Monster Magic Stones. I am also a mother raising children. No matter how much a Monster, I do not touch young ones."

"I see……"

"More than that, it is fascinating. No matter how much Dryads are treated as forest spirits, to call a Monster's child family."

"Because she is that precious."

The Fenrir looked back and forth between Rin and us for quite a while.

Soon it turned its body.

"I will definitely repay this matter."

Leaving those words, the Fenrir departed.

A few days after that incident.

The Fenrir came again and put down something it held in its mouth as repayment.

A form of repayment I could never have imagined.