Chapter 51

Chapter 51: A Life with 100% Happiness

We returned to our daily routine.

I stopped Ria's cooking lessons for the time being and focused on teaching her Korean instead.

Ria absorbed everything as fast as I could teach it.

"If you had attended an academy in your world, you would have definitely been at the very top of the class."

"I was not that impressive. I was on the ordinary side."

"You are absolutely not ordinary."

"No, I had a really smart friend who was close to me, and compared to her, I was at an ordinary level."

"A friend? You had a friend too, Ria?"

I had assumed she had no friends since she had spent all her time training.

"I did. She was my childhood friend and also my comrade."

"Ah......, so she was a subordinate in your knight order."

Is it a man, by any chance......?

Well, so what if it is a man?

A friend is just a friend.

I am not conscious of it at all.

Still, if they are a childhood friend, maybe I should be a little conscious of it?

"That friend was a commoner, but my father heard there was a brilliant genius in the territory and began sponsoring them. After that, they studied the Ancient Language together with me under my master."

"So that is how you became friends."

"That is right. That friend learned the Ancient Language twice as fast as I did."

"You are already an extremely fast learner yourself, Ria, so if they were twice as fast, they were definitely a genius."

"Yes, that friend showed particularly genius-level talent in ancient language magic and walked the path of a mage. Later, when I took command of the knight order, they followed me and enlisted."

"They must have really liked you."

"Hehe! I suppose so. Originally, their dream was to become a servant of our house, saying they wanted to stay by my side."

So is it a man or a woman?

If it is a man, I am a little on guard.

But asking felt so petty that I could not bring myself to do it.

What does it matter anyway? Ria is my lover right now.

In any case, I felt like I had learned a little more about Ria.

"I am curious about what you looked like as a child, too."

"I was just a tomboy. I rolled around in the dirt and swung a sword all day."

"I bet you were still cute, though."

"Hmm, when I was young, all I could think about was becoming as strong as my father, so I was full of ferocity. There was nothing cute about me."

Now I was even more curious.

If only there were photographs from her childhood like in the modern world.

"Do you have any paintings or drawings of yourself as a child?"

"There should be some in the castle, but they are probably gone by now."

"......I see."

What a shame. I would have loved to see them.

And so, after finishing the Korean lesson with Ria.

Ria's next tasks for the day were sword training and tending the fields.

There was also Rin's Korean education remaining.

I had my own tasks to attend to as well.

'I need to harvest the Glace Mushrooms first.'

I equipped my cold-weather gear and headed to the cave Incubation Room.

Thanks to the Conqueror of the Frozen Rift title effect obtained from defeating the ice dungeon boss, my Cold Attribute Resistance had increased by 11%.

Combined with the 41% Cold Resistance from my three-piece cold-weather equipment set, that brought my total to 52% Cold Resistance.

I had finally reached a level where I could withstand the intense cold of the Incubation Room reasonably well.

'It is still cold, though.'

But the moment I saw the plump, beautifully grown Glace Mushrooms, the cold melted right away.

'They grew faster than I expected, and there are far too many just for cooking. Should I try making mushroom liquor with these?'

That did not seem like a bad idea at all.

It was already almost time for my fifth delivery of Applecherry fruit wine anyway.

Maybe I could bring these along at the same time and have them aged.

Trying something new was always enjoyable.

With the cold forgotten, I happily picked the mushrooms one by one.

I ended up picking about 40 this time around.

"Nice."

So this is the joy of farming.

It felt good to watch the crops grow abundantly.

Planning new products to make with them was exciting too.

I was living out the dream of being a chef who cooked with ingredients he grew himself.

'Is it really okay to be this happy?'

My world had changed since meeting Ria.

Anyway, the next task on my schedule was feeding the Horn Rabbits in the ice dungeon.

When I moved through the Gate portal to the location that had been the Boss Room of the ice dungeon, the trapped Horn Rabbits came swarming over.

They were rushing over to demand food.

"All right, eat up."

I scattered an abundance of B-Rank carrots, lettuce, and cabbage for them.

The Horn Rabbits devoured it all happily.

"You lot will not be able to eat anything else besides the vegetables I give you, you know?"

After all, these were B-Rank vegetables.

I lowered myself down and stroked the heads and ears of the Horn Rabbits as they ate contentedly.

They no longer showed any aversion to my touch.

It seemed like the taming process was nearly complete.

I would need to move them to the forest soon.

I had already set up a wide wire fence in the northern forest on the outskirts of the house.

It was large enough for over a hundred Horn Rabbits to live comfortably.

The support posts for the fence were the trees growing on all sides.

***

After returning from the ice Rift cave.

The next task was making fruit wine.

"Rin, the Applecherry quality is amazing!"

I picked Rin up and held her in my arms as I admired the Applecherry trees.

All twenty Applecherry trees were loaded with plump, gorgeous fruit.

"Hehe!"

Rin beamed at the praise.

Her laughter had even grown from "Heh" to "Hehe" now.

Watching her grow day by day was truly heartwarming.

"You are an absolute bundle of luck."

"Bundle of luck."

She had even started repeating what I said, whether she understood the meaning or not.

After spending a little time with Rin, I began picking Applecherries in earnest.

I climbed the small ladder and picked only the fully ripe, deep red Applecherries, placing them in a basket.

For the occasional ones my arms could not reach, I used Acresia's Absorption Skill to pluck them.

"Seonu, one."

Rin, who had begun learning numbers, said "one."

She meant she wanted one Applecherry.

I picked the freshest one and handed it to her, and Rin ate it happily.

'How cute.'

I ended up harvesting 40 large, perfectly ripe Applecherries.

That was enough to make two 20-liter batches of fruit wine.

With two batches.

'That is another 200 million won in the bank account.'

Making money was genuinely fun.

The entire area around the Rift house was a goldmine.

To the south of the house was Rin's Applecherry orchard, and around the perimeter were Ria's fields.

On the hillside behind the house was my cave Glace Mushroom Incubation Room.

'All of this is thanks to Rin, Ria, and Bell, so I should repay them properly.'

After delivering the fruit wine and Glace Mushrooms this time, I would buy them clothes as gifts on the way back.

'Ria keeps telling me to stop buying clothes, saying she and Rin already have more than enough.'

But what can I do when that is my greatest pleasure?

Buying delicious snacks for my family, buying them clothes.

Is that not the joy of earning money as the head of a household?

I then brewed the Applecherry fruit wine.

I also started the Glace Mushroom liquor.

For the Glace Mushrooms, I simply cut them in half horizontally, put them in a container, and poured the base liquor over them. That was all.

"Well, I will be heading out to make the delivery."

"I wish I could go with you. What a shame."

"I know, it is a shame."

If the three S-Rank members had been here, I could have brought Ria along.

But there was currently no one to watch the house, so I could not take her.

'The absence of those three is quite significant.'

Come to think of it, the last time I had taken Ria to my countryside house.

I should have taken her for a drive in the car.

She would have found riding in a car absolutely fascinating.

There would be another chance later.

"Take care, Seon-u."

"Take care, Seonu!"

Rin, held in Ria's arms, mimicked Ria's words and waved her arms.

Seeing that made me not want to leave.

But work had to be done.

"I will be back."

I opened the Gate portal and headed for the countryside house.

***

I immediately drove to Seoul and arrived at Director Jang's wine shop.

When I presented the two batches of fruit wine, Director Jang broke into a broad smile.

"Haha! Thank you so much for delivering two whole batches."

"I harvested a lot of Applecherries this time. And please age this as well."

I took out the Glace Mushroom liquor.

"Is this a Glace Mushroom infusion?"

"Yes, that is correct."

"Oh my, you have five Glace Mushrooms in a 2-liter container."

"Yes, do you think the amount of mushroom is too little?"

"Not at all. Since it is a strongly aromatic mushroom, about two and a half per liter is more than sufficient. If you put in too much, the aroma becomes overpowering. You put in just the right amount as if you already knew that. As expected of a chef — you have a wonderful sense for these things."

"It is just the basics."

In truth, I was quite knowledgeable about infused liquor.

When I had been planning to open my own fine dining restaurant, I had intended to serve fusion cuisine combining Korean and Western styles.

At that time, I had studied herbal and mushroom infused liquors with the idea of offering them alongside pairing wines and traditional Korean spirits.

I had even personally made infusions with white peony root, wild mountain ginseng, yadong herb, lingzhi mushroom, Phellinus mushroom, and cauliflower mushroom, among others.

Anyway, I asked Director Jang to age the Glace Mushroom liquor.

"I will go handle the aging process, then. Please make yourself comfortable while you wait."

Director Jang disappeared into the aging room.

I waited leisurely, browsing wines from around the world.

About 40 minutes must have passed.

"It appeared......!"

A loud shout came from inside the aging room.

It seemed some sort of buff had appeared.

Director Jang came out carrying the Glace Mushroom liquor.

I looked at the color of the liquor inside the transparent glass container and let out an exclamation of admiration.

"Wow......"

Mushroom liquor typically took on a brownish hue when aged for a long time, but the Glace Mushroom liquor was a slightly cloudy white, like unfiltered rice wine.

Director Jang emerged with it, speaking excitedly.

"Something incredible has come out!"

"Really? Let me see."

I placed my hand on it.

[Well-Aged Glace Mushroom Liquor]
[Per 200ml — Blessing of Dexterity effect: Recovery from status ailments including Freezing and Poisoning, injury recovery effect (high), 42% increase in Stamina and 45% increase in Stamina recovery rate for 6 hours, exaltation effect]

Since it was not wine, the collaborative effect with a wine master did not appear, but even so, the buff was extremely impressive.

No, it was more than just impressive.

This was a tier-one buff for Tanks.

After all, it increased Stamina by a whopping 42%.

"This is good."

"I know, right? By any chance, this one too......"

"Yes, we will need to sell it. Let us calculate the price."

With 2 liters divided into 200ml portions, that came to a total of 10 bottles, with half a Glace Mushroom in each bottle.

Factoring in the buff effects as well and converting that into monetary value.

"A highest-grade potion with top-tier recovery effects goes for about 30 million won, and a high-grade recovery effect potion usually goes for about 4 million won. Considering the buff on top of that, I think about 7 million won per bottle would be appropriate."

When I said that, Director Jang, who had been running his own calculations, looked surprised.

"You came to the exact same conclusion as me. As expected, you have an outstanding talent for business."

"Actually, someone recently called me greedy about business and gave me the nickname Magic Stone Fiend."

"Haha!"

And so, Glace Mushroom infused liquor was added to the list of delivery products.

Director Jang divided the mushroom liquor into small infusion containers, making 10 in total.

After the work was finished, Director Jang said to me.

"Meeting you, Chef An, has truly been the greatest fortune of my life."

"The fortune is all mine. I am making a lot of money thanks to your aging skill, Director Jang."

Director Jang was still maintaining the 9-to-1 settlement ratio.

I had previously suggested raising his share by 0.5, but he adamantly refused.

He insisted that even a ratio of 1 was more than he deserved for the work he did.

***

I bought a heaping amount of clothes for Ria and Rin at the department store's children's wear and women's wear brands.

Watching me, the store clerk remarked.

"You come here often, do you not? You must really love your wife and daughter."

Wife and daughter.

A little ambiguous, but pleasant to hear nonetheless.

"Yes, buying clothes like this for them is my greatest joy."

"Oh my, your wife and daughter are so lucky."

"If anything, other people would be envious of me."

"Why is that?"

"Because my wife and daughter are both very beautiful."

"Really? You must be a picture-perfect family."

I was not so sure about the "picture-perfect" part for myself.

Comparatively speaking, it was more like Beauty and the Beast.

In any case, I loaded up on gifts and stored them in Acresia, then.

The moment I arrived at the countryside house, I opened the Gate portal with an excited heart and stepped into the Rift house.

And there, while I had been out, something I could never have imagined was unfolding at the Rift house.