They say grocery shopping is another word for time disappearing in an instant.
"Rice... let me see..."
"Are you going to eat this? It was pretty good."
"Fruit cereal...? Fine, whatever. I can just eat it with milk."
"Isn't that too much? You don't even have a car."
확실히 담아보니 꽤 많았다. 그 말대로 차도 없고. 하지만 괜찮다. 왜냐고?
"That's why I have you."
"...?"
"What are you doing? You should be carrying it."
Why bother, when I have a Draco and a dragon sturdier than a car?
"Dragon Gate profanity... what is that even..."
"Listen, you people who were born with cheat-race bodies are carrying less than me, so I don't know what you're complaining about."
"What kind of strength does a Liberi even have to produce that kind of load... seriously..."
What else would it be? A mountain spirit. If you hate it, go get your body modified and get dumped in a slum too.
"'How carefree. For someone who was abandoned?'"
"The world is full of things I can't quite understand. A guy who lived day to day on the edge of life and death in back alleys ends up living somewhere like this."
"'That is true. I never expected to end up living in Yan either...'"
"Is this your first time here too?"
"'I used to wander around a lot, but I was mostly inside Danguk.'"
So the world really is impossible to predict. Even a mountain spirit seems to be experiencing this for the first time.
"Fridge organized! Haaah, that feels so much better."
"Fast."
"Are you actually good at organizing?"
"Who knows. Maybe."
"...Do you not know what a sofa is?"
"I do. It's right behind my back."
"Then why are you sitting on the floor with your back against the sofa?"
"Hah—so you don't know this either. Is this what they call a cultural difference?"
"...? There's culture attached to a sofa?"
"In Danguk, a sofa has exactly two uses. One: a bed. Two: a backrest. It's just an interior prop for when guests come over. Nothing more, nothing less."
"Is that... how it is?"
"That's how it is."
It's true, isn't it? Isn't that what a sofa is for—at first you sit on it a little, and later it just becomes a backrest? Does it have any other use?
"Ah... I'm hungry. Should I eat some dried persimmons?"
"Instead of cooking...?"
"Anything that fills your stomach counts as a meal, doesn't it..."
That's not entirely wrong, is it? Food is something you eat to fill your stomach, and dried persimmons fill your stomach, so aren't they a meal?
"Sigh... what kind of person is this..."
"What? Even so, if we're going to be seeing each other often from now on, you shouldn't start getting a headache already."
We're going to be seeing each other for the next two years, aren't we? If we start getting on each other's nerves now, the rest of the time will be a nuisance.
"And I was joking, so relax. Why would I stuff myself with that instead of eating a proper meal?"
After all, dried persimmons are something you should eat reverently, in a place with no interruptions at all, with your full attention on the persimmon alone. Eat them like a fool instead of a meal? Unacceptable.
"Instead... well, I guess toast will do."
What I chose from the things that could be eaten quickly was toast. Toast some bread, add ham and egg, and you're done. Simple.
"'Bread? Danguk people are supposed to run on rice... tsk tsk.'"
"I admit that too, but if I washed rice and cooked it, it'd probably be past three o'clock."
And if you've been living off scraps and garbage, you should be grateful for toast.
No need to add oil at all. Lay a couple slices of ham in the pan, and one strip of bacon. I like meat.
Once enough grease starts to sizzle up, crack in the egg and fry it in the rendered fat. The important part here is that the yolk must not break.
"Finally, toast the bread in the remaining grease and stack it layer by layer. Done."
I considered shredding cabbage and adding that too, but if I was going to eat something simple, I didn't particularly want to handle a kitchen knife as well.
"All right then... hey, what now?"
"Nothing. I just thought you were cooking."
"Who in their right mind can't manage to fry ham, eggs, and bread? It's not like I'm a baby."
In the first place, was this even cooking? It was just frying things.
"Cough, cough! R-right."
"...? You sick or something?"
"No. I just choked a little. Yeah... right."
Choked? So even a dragon is still a person in the end. They choke too.
"Talulah....."
Chen's voice sounded strangely off, but I'm hungry right now, so let's put that thought aside.
"Mm. Yeah. Not bad."
Didn't someone say that with simple dishes, controlling the heat is everything? That's exactly right. Even if it's only a gas stove flame.
"'Even a slow worm has its tricks. So you do have something going for you.'"
"Seriously. What kind of cutting remark is that? And more importantly, can you taste?"
"'More or less. Which means I ended up learning the taste of garbage whether I wanted to or not.'"
That... I'm sorry about. But you had to eat that to survive, so there wasn't really a choice.
"'Yes, yes, I know. More importantly, look at that girl.'"
Baaaan
"...W-why again...?"
"It's nothing."
Baaaaaaan
"What now, seriously! Don't tell me...?"
With a flick, flick, I moved the toast around, and unlike her body, which sat obediently still, her eyes were tracking the toast in frantic little bursts.
"Is she trying to snatch this?"
Then she should go suck the marrow out of a flea. No matter that I'm Wei Yenwu, and she knows me through her uncle—she met me today for the first time, and her first impression was that of a pickpocket. And now she wants to steal my food?
"It's really nothing, right? Then I'm going to eat all of this."
"Ah... ahem. Yes, you should. It's yours."
"Then ahhh~"
"Aaaah..."
Haaah... what is that? She is terrible at acting. How is she supposed to lead Reunion later?
"Haaah... [Sword Wheel]"
Since washing dishes is a pain, I'll cut it with wind. Even if it's only a sword formed in empty air without a blade, with pitiful cutting power, range, and every other measure, it's embarrassing to call it a sword wheel. But for cutting a single piece of toast, there was no need to draw out a grand sword.
"Arts? You handled that very precisely earlier too."
"Who are you to talk... never mind. Here. I'll split it in half just this once, so keep that in mind."
"No, really, it's fine..."
"Then should I eat it?"
"...I'll gratefully accept it."
Honestly, if you're going to take it, why put on a show first? What a pain.
"...."
"...Ah, don't tell me."
"Mine?"
"...Danguk profanity. Is this your restaurant?"
"I don't know Danguk, but I know that's an insult."
"If you know that, then you should know this is a refusal too."
"I'm hungry too."
"And what am I supposed to do about that?"
"If a guest comes over, you should offer them something..."
"Hah, bullshit."
And so, after making a couple more toasts, the little struggle finally came to an end.
"It's already evening."
"Then dinner..."
"I'm not making any. I'm going out, so both of you can go back to your own homes now."
I had already given up on sightseeing in Dragon Gate a long time ago. I'll be wandering around until I'm sick of it anyway while I work, so what's the point of looking around first? Let's be satisfied with salvaging the camera.
"Huh? It's snowing."
"Is this that White Christmas thing or whatever?"
Romantic, I suppose. Though snow isn't something you eat. It's cold and only gives you stomach trouble.
"Come to think of it, on a day like this, people eat cake."
There definitely wasn't any cake in that girl's hospital room.
"....I'm going out for a bit."
"Hm? Want me to come with you?"
"No, I just forgot to buy a whetstone."
"Huh? You're going out now just for that?"
"Yes. Since the landlord is leaving, you two should head out now as well."
"Fine. Got it, got it. I had somewhere to stop by anyway."
"You too, Chen?"
"I'm stepping out for a bit. I need to buy something. Talulah?"
"It's evening, so it could still be dangerous. Let's go out together."
Good. Finally, we're leaving. I'm going to buy a whetstone anyway. A whetstone.
...Cake. They should still be selling it, right? Maybe I should buy some while I'm at it?
"'What kind of nonsense is that...'"
"Shut up."
"'Hah. Go die, you ill-mannered magpie.'"
Ignoring the mountain spirit's nonsense, I sprinted through the evening streets. The wind, for once, felt unusually favorable.