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Chapter 6
“……What?”
Fortunately, Cassian hadn’t heard that.
He had, however, noticed Se-hee’s expression stiffen.
“No, what is this?!”
Even so, Se-hee muttered sincerely to herself.
“Is this thing crazy?”
She couldn’t tell whether this was a joke or some kind of error.
‘It’s talking nonsense.’
Once again, Se-hee concluded that this system was strange. Then she casually flipped the meat over as if nothing had happened.
She tightly gripped the branch she was using as a makeshift spatula, suppressing the curse that was rising to her lips.
The basics of sales were to understand the customer’s needs, not to fabricate some romance that didn’t even exist.
Apparently, this system didn’t have a program for that.
Meanwhile, the wolf sitting beside her was intoxicated by the smell of the pork belly, tapping its tail against the ground to keep rhythm.
At that moment, Se-hee felt someone watching her.
When she raised her head, Cassian was looking at her.
‘Ah, I must really look like a strange person.’
There was no way it was normal to mutter to herself at empty air or have pieces of meat randomly fall around her.
Se-hee pretended not to notice and turned her attention back to the fire.
“Here you go!”
Cassian’s gaze moved back to Se-hee’s hands.
The hand that picked up a piece of lettuce.
The way she selected the meat.
Even the angle at which she dipped it into the ssamjang.
Everything looked natural.
As if she had always done it this way.
The tips of Cassian’s ears turned very slightly red.
“There’s still plenty of meat, so keep eating.”
“…….”
“Ah, if you’re uncomfortable, should I move over a little? There’s a lot of smoke.”
“No.”
Cassian cut her off firmly.
“I’m fine.”
When he saw her nod and go back to flipping the meat, an inexplicable sense of relief rose from deep within his chest.
At that moment, another tiny window appeared before Se-hee’s eyes.
[Warning]
This customer is currently in a state of maintained misunderstanding.
“……Ha.”
Se-hee let out a small sigh.
‘What does “maintained state” mean now?’
She didn’t even know if there was a way to turn this off, and trying to understand the explanation would probably be exhausting too.
So Se-hee simply decided to ignore it.
“Does this food always come out this way?”
Cassian suddenly asked.
“Huh?”
Se-hee looked up.
“Ah, no. It’s just that today……”
She stopped halfway through her answer.
Because when she tried to explain, she realized there really wasn’t anything to explain.
“I’m just eating it because it’s delicious?”
Cassian was silent for a moment.
Because it’s delicious.
That simple reason easily shattered every interpretation he had come up with moments ago.
“I see.”
Cassian turned his gaze back to the fire.
The sizzling sound, the smoke, and Se-hee flipping the meat with an expression that suggested nothing unusual was happening.
Very quietly, he became certain.
This was not simply a meal.
Cassian was convinced.
Perhaps the one and only being capable of affecting his curse had finally appeared.
And perhaps he was already one step too late.
Of course, Cassian still did not know exactly why.
But he could not deny that something somewhere inside his heart had already begun to move quietly.
While Cassian’s misunderstanding deepened, the sound of an abacus clicking away was already ringing through Se-hee’s mind, cutting through the silence of the forest.
The smoke stung the corners of her eyes.
‘I should eat quickly and clean everything up.’
As her stomach became full, her eyelids grew heavy.
‘Just hold out a little longer. Really, just a little.’
She endured it while looking at the pink pork belly cooking over the fire and the fresh green lettuce leaves beside it.
‘I have to treat him well.’
Those golden coins Cassian had handed her in advance earlier floated before Se-hee’s eyes.
Even after the exchange fee was deducted, they had given her an enormous number of points.
To drive away her sleepiness, Se-hee moved her lips.
“This is all points. I have to handle them carefully……”
Se-hee’s eyes shone more sharply than ever.
Her gaze immediately locked onto the grill.
Her movements as she flipped the meat became faster, while the way she selected the lettuce was as precise as that of a gem appraiser.
“If I’m going to do this anyway, I might as well collect as much as possible.”
Meanwhile, Cassian, who was watching the whole scene from directly in front of her, had forgotten even how to breathe.
Her lips were moving very slightly, but in a steady rhythm.
He couldn’t make out exactly what she was saying.
Only the faint rhythm of her voice mysteriously tickled his ears.
‘Just like that potion earlier……’
Looking at Se-hee’s expression, Cassian thought seriously.
This woman treats people far too casually.
That indifference somehow pierced even deeper.
For someone who had lived such a lonely life, she was the first person who treated him simply as a person without expecting anything in return.
At that moment, Se-hee picked out the juiciest, most glossy pieces among the well-cooked meat and slid them toward Cassian.
“Here. This is special service. They’re much better cooked than the ones before.”
Se-hee’s professional sales smile went into full effect.
Cassian picked up the meat with trembling fingers and put it into his mouth.
He had not intended to eat any more, but seeing how much effort Se-hee had gone to for him, Cassian could no longer refuse.
The meat, grilled while listening to the holy hymn, struck his brain with a much stronger flavor than before.
“Sei.”
Cassian paused for a moment.
“Being this considerate toward someone…… is dangerous.”
“Huh?”
Seeing Se-hee’s completely clueless expression, Cassian stopped there.
The words that should have followed never came out.
“No. I will come here often. I will seek you out again.”
His words were so serious that Se-hee felt embarrassed just hearing them, so she immediately replied.
“It’s okay. If you saw anyone collapsed like that, you’d probably help them too, right?”
Cassian shook his head.
“No. That is not something just anyone could do.”
Then he continued.
“Usually, there is a reason behind such actions.”
Cassian took a short breath before continuing.
“I will return here with an elite knight order.”
Then he quietly added,
“Of course…… I will come with them as well.”
‘A knight order?!’
Se-hee’s heart began to pound.
A knight order would have at least dozens of people, and possibly hundreds.
Cassian calmly added,
“Even then, I would like it if you served me personally, just as you are doing now.”
After a brief pause, he added,
“Just like today.”
Se-hee already had the expression of someone making her next calculation.
“When you come, I’ll prepare a special set menu for you.”
Cassian nodded at the unfamiliar term.
“If it is something you prepare, anything will be fine.”
He did not know the exact meaning of the words, but he could tell from the context that she meant she would treat his knights well.
‘Even if I charge just a little per person, if there are a hundred people, how much money would that be? And if I convert it into points……’
Even after the exchange fee was deducted, the number left over would be enormous.
Se-hee thought that the more points she accumulated, the closer she would get to returning home.
‘Oh my god, this is basically a group reservation, isn’t it?’
Forgetting even about the sleepiness that was coming over her, Se-hee couldn’t hide the smile spreading across her lips.
But her pleasant imagination lasted only a moment before a blue alarm appeared in her field of vision with a sound.
[The Store Owner’s level of counting her chickens before they hatch has reached a dangerous level.
It is not a virtue of a distributor to start drinking the broth before the person offering the rice cake has even thought about giving it to you.]
“Hey, learn to read the mood.”
When Se-hee frowned at the empty air, a low growl came from near her feet.
The wolf had approached sometime without her noticing.
Until a moment ago, it had been drooling from far away near the tent, but now it had settled down right beside Se-hee.
It stood with its fur raised, facing the forest as if it were the guard dog of this area.
Se-hee glanced at it before speaking again.
“Oh, by the way…… about the curse you mentioned earlier. If you don’t mind me asking, can I ask why you were cursed?”
Silence fell between the two of them.
‘Ah, maybe I shouldn’t have asked.’
Cassian’s gaze briefly fell onto the flames.
The sound of burning firewood quietly filled the forest.
“……I was cursed during a subjugation mission. It is not something I am particularly proud of.”
After saying that, Cassian did not explain any further.
As if he were someone who did not want to hold onto that memory for very long.
Se-hee simply nodded awkwardly.
“Ah…… I see.”
At the same moment, the atmosphere of the forest changed.
