Surviving on the Northern Front with Gukbap

Chapter 51 : Minor Demon Realm (1)

Minor Demon Realm (1)

* * *

Battalion commander's office, Granfen Headquarters.

Breaking the quiet silence, the battalion commander spoke softly.

"Heh heh. Still, it's a relief in this unfortunate situation—it's a low-rank minor Demon Realm, mostly made up of impets."

It was meant to lighten the mood,

but Lantz and Hank, sitting across from him, couldn't reply so easily.

After all, the third company had been half-destroyed in the recent spirit stone quarry raid, leaving a company commander incapacitated for combat.

Even if they were just dealing with a low-rank minor Demon Realm that they could manage with their strength, it was understandably unwelcome.

"Heh. If only we had just one squire sent by the Grand Duke, this would be much easier."

Both company commanders silently agreed with the battalion commander's words.

A fair amount of time had passed since they'd received a response from the Grand Duke saying a squire had been dispatched,

but that squire hadn't shown up at all.

So, the battalion commander had set his information network into motion.

He looked into who in the Duchy's knight order, the White Fang, might have headed east to the edge of the duchy.

As a result, the battalion commander had only recently learned that a squire by the name of Schutmann had set out.

He also learned what kind of missions this experienced squire mainly took on.

'He was never sent to war.'

The missions he'd mostly carried out were suppression of minor Demon Realms and demonkin,

and putting down insurrections.

Knowing this, the battalion commander couldn't shake off a suspicious feeling.

'It was odd from the start when the Grand Duke sent support so quickly.'

In the end, though it was past the squire's expected arrival time, he still hadn't appeared.

Battalion Commander Kratan's mind was complicated, but he needed to address the immediate problems rather than things he couldn't know for sure.

He collected himself and questioned Lantz.

"So. Did you relay the recall order to Legion?"

"Yes. I sent a carrier pigeon so that the Special Investigator would return as soon as possible without interfering with the special ops team's mission."

Ordinarily, three 4th-rank company commanders would be enough to deal with a minor Demon Realm.

But with one company commander seriously injured, the battalion commander had to summon the Special Investigator.

Especially since Special Investigator Legion's ability was particularly effective against demonkin.

"Well done. In that case, he should arrive around dawn."

"At the current estimation...yes."

"Dawn, huh."

It took two to three days for a minor Demon Realm to fully transform,

and the longer time passed, the more enemies appeared inside.

So time was not on their side.

However, they couldn't just stand around and wait either.

The battalion commander steadied himself and gave his orders.

"Lantz. Organize the minor Demon Realm subjugation team centering on officers. Make sure we can deploy as soon as Legion arrives."

"Yes, understood."

"And..."

Lantz and Hank stared blankly at the battalion commander, not expecting what would come next.

"Bring the cook along on this subjugation."

The unexpected command made Lantz's eyebrow twitch,

but Hank reflexively objected before he knew it.

"Battalion commander, sir! How can you bring a greenhorn with no actual combat experience to the minor Demon Realm subjugation—"

"You, Hank."

Hank felt a chill at the battalion commander's voice and quickly closed his mouth.

"I never questioned you about your previous actions. Do you know why?"

Hank sensed this was suddenly turning into reprimand time.

"......"

"In the North, duels are considered so honorable that no one can interfere. Since the cook personally requested the duel, I decided to let it slide."

Hank felt himself suffocating.

It had been a while since he'd faced such obvious anger.

Sweat trickled down his spine.

"You did attempt to interfere with my intentions, but the result ended up positive, so I let it be. Understood, Hank? I hope there will be no such incident again."

"... Y-yes, sir. I'll bear that in mind."

Hank could only bow his head deeply.

He'd expected the battalion commander would find out about what he'd tried to do.

Still, he'd forced it through, thinking ridding them of the outsider was best for the Duchy and everyone involved.

'Why does the battalion commander support the outsider so much?'

Hank swallowed his words, enduring the battalion commander's oppressive aura.

"So this time, I intend to punish you so that you'll never go against my will again."

With those words, the battalion commander's pressure vanished.

Finally able to breathe, Hank raised his head in confusion and looked at the battalion commander.

"You will not get the Spirit Orb from this minor Demon Realm subjugation."

"... Excuse me?"

"Don't pretend not to know. The Spirit Orbs will go to Lantz, Legion, and Cook Ian. Those three will claim them."

Despair and anger flickered across Hank's face.

*

An hour after the officers finished breakfast.

Outside the shop, a noisy clamor could already be heard—customers had begun gathering.

Employee No. 1 Naba took a deep breath, opened the door, and yelled,

"Welcome—!? Waaah!"

But he couldn't finish his greeting, swept up by the crowd.

People, people, and more people pushing in!

True to their uncivilized medieval ways, nobody lined up.

They jostled and shoved, each trying to get in first.

I had to dash out from the kitchen and shout,

"Enough, everyone!"

The would-be customers, mid-rush, froze for a moment,

and I forced a smile as I spoke.

"Enter slowly, or you'll be asked to leave."

Light glinted off the kitchen knife in my hand. Clang.

Rumor had already spread through the village that my kitchen knife was my main weapon.

"Ahem."

Plerine lifted the trampled Naba to his feet and shot me a thumbs up,

and finally the crowd calmed and started entering in an orderly manner.

Satisfying.

Truly, in this medieval world, violence equals negotiation power.

After that, it was just a non-stop series of struggles, even tougher than combat.

I barely made it out of the kitchen, cooking repeatedly.

Both Naba and Plerine didn't have a moment to rest either.

Providing breakfast, lunch, and dinner for the officers,

and serving regular customers in between—that was far tougher than I'd imagined.

When we finally sent off the last customer and quickly locked up,

the two employees collapsed onto the floor of the hall at the same time. Thud.

"Boss, this is too much. It's too busy, it's gone beyond what's reasonable."

Plerine grumbled about being tricked into this job,

but Naba looked even worse off, unable to speak and his eyes spinning as he lay there.

"For now, have some of this and recover your senses."

I brought out the meat and vegetable rice porridge I'd prepared for them in advance.

"Huh? Isn't this what we had for breakfast? I want real rice."

I could understand their whining, considering how hard it'd been,

but right now, the stamina recovery buff from rice porridge would be more useful.

"No soup or rice?"

Without another word, I scooped up a big spoonful of the hot porridge and shoved it into Plerine's mouth.

Hup!

"......"

Plerine immediately went quiet.

She sat up and, without complaint, began to eat.

Just as I thought—once she starts, she eats just fine.

As for Naba, well.

"Naba, rest a bit and eat slowly when you're ready."

With a near-dead voice, Naba mumbled "Yes, boss," then closed his eyes.

I could hear his gentle breathing—seems he wasn't dead.

'Alright, I'll have some too.'

I'd only tasted this dish while making it this morning.

Now it was time to confirm the buff effect.

〈 By consuming the completed Korean meal 'Ordinary Bear Meat and Vegetable Rice Porridge (mid-low-grade ingredient: Ice Bear)', you receive a bonus effect. 〉

〈 Stamina regeneration increases significantly. 〉

〈 Stamina regeneration does not decrease. (3 hours) 〉

On hearing the system message, my eyes snapped open.

The buff's strength was listed as 'significant'!

Until now, the only buff strengths I'd seen were 'slight' and 'minor'.

'This is the best description I've gotten so far.'

I could definitely feel what "significant" meant right away.

Energy surged into my previously lethargic body.

Goosebumps ran down my arms.

Sure enough,

employee Plerine, who received 50% of the cooking buff, looked at me in surprise.

In the end, I had to forcibly wake up the still-unconscious Naba.

"Ugh... Boss?"

I pressed his cheeks, forced his mouth open and shoved in a spoonful of porridge.

The sooner he ate, the better for his recovery.

"S, so hot! Hup!"

You need to pull yourself together so I can leave you in charge of the shop while I'm away at the minor Demon Realm.

Just hang in there a little longer, Naba!

*

No matter how I looked at it, my cooking buff really was broken.

What should have left us completely worn out gave us the energy of freshly made kimchi.

"......"

"......"

But the two employees remained silent.

Though their physical fatigue was lifting,

the mental trauma from the rush of customers still hadn't faded.

"Boss."

Breaking the silence, Plerine was the first to speak up.

"You're going to hire more staff, right?"

"Of course. That's a given."

Even if the bear meat and vegetable rice porridge's stamina recovery was top notch,

I couldn't have my staff run ragged every day just feeding them this.

'A boss needs to keep their duty to employees. That's what my parents taught me.'

I'd hire more staff as soon as possible.

Or maybe limit the number of customers.

"Good, that's all I wanted to know."

At this, Naba nodded slowly and deeply.

"Anyway, both of you really worked hard today. I didn't expect it to be this busy, but it's only because you kept up that we made it through. As your boss, I truly thank you."

Did my sincerity get through?

Slowly, Naba's eyes reddened, and he sniffled before saying,

"I'm truly...so happy to follow someone as warm as you, boss!"

What a strong voice.

Little rascal, you're making me emotional.

I ruffled his hair.

If he'd been born back in the modern era, he'd be in elementary school.

What a mature and grateful kid.

"Thank you, Naba. While I'm away at the minor Demon Realm, look after the shop and keep it locked up. Just tough it out today."

"Yes, boss! Leave it to me!"

Naba jumped up and went off to work,

and Plerine raised one corner of her mouth and said,

"Time to head out?"

"Not yet."

"Huh?"

"This guy sure is late."

Plerine looked at me, puzzled.

I explained,

"Spirit Orbs' mana can go to three people, right?"

"Yeah. So?"

"I've recruited one more person to go with us."

You could only use Spirit Orbs within a certain time after obtaining them.

If only the two of us went in and cleared it, it'd be inefficient.

'How could I possibly tolerate inefficiency as a hardcore Korean gamer?'

So, amid all the busyness, I'd managed to get a note delivered and recruit a party member.

"Do we need to? Just me should be enough."

"Sure. I know. But you never know what might happen. Having one more with us can't hurt."

"... Who is it? Don't tell me it's that smelly hunter?"

Plerine's expression turned stony just at the thought,

but fortunately, it wasn't Flaco.

"Oh. Looks like he's here."

At the sound of knocking, I went to open the door myself.

"Welcome."

The man with the biggest jaw in Granfen,

and someone I personally registered as a [Regular Customer].

"Ian, you're getting big-headed, huh? Now you're calling the head of the security squad over like this."

Ralph let out a laugh as if it was absurd.

"So. You said you've got a great job for me?"

"Absolutely. It's not just any job. But just like I wrote in my note, you have to keep this a secret."

"Hah! Fine! But if it turns out to be nothing special, I'll smash my fist right into your face."

I was genuinely curious how this guy would react.

"Let's go to the minor Demon Realm together."

Ralph blinked, momentarily dazed, then came to and yelled,

"What?! Are you insane? Did you eat something weird? Do you know what you're saying? You beat Sergeant Fav and now you're getting ahead of yourself."

Hmm. That's not really why, but sure.

"You'll understand better if you see for yourself, right? Plerine?"

Plerine let out a quiet sigh,

then with a whoosh, she lit a blue flame on her index finger.

Ralph's reaction to that was quite a sight.