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Chapter 10
The mercenary group that had entered as intruders was gradually turning into genuine customers, all of them focused on Se-hee’s every movement.
Watching this scene, Se-hee suddenly realized something.
This forest was attracting people more than she had expected.
She instinctively felt that this wasn’t going to end after just one day.
But that was something she could think about later.
There was only one thing that mattered right now.
Teaching them how to cook ramen.
Se-hee placed the pot of water over the fire and spoke.
“Fill the water to about this level.”
“Yes……”
“Is this much okay?”
The mercenaries tilted their pots, carefully following Se-hee’s every gesture.
Hands that would normally be gripping swords and charging across battlefields were now being incredibly careful just to get the water level right.
“Don’t make the fire too strong. If it boils over, I’m not responsible.”
At those words, the mercenaries hurriedly removed some of the branches, reducing the flames.
As they spread the firewood apart, the flames quickly died down.
“That’s enough.”
Se-hee nodded and turned her attention back to the pots.
They put the noodles into the boiling water, drained the water at the right moment, and then squeezed in the dark red sauce without hesitation.
The spicy and intensely stimulating aroma drifted through the air and tickled the mercenaries’ noses.
Vargas was the first to cautiously pick up the chopsticks.
He stared at the tips of the chopsticks for a long time before looking down at his bowl again.
He had absolutely no idea how he was supposed to hold the two thin sticks.
One of the members watching from beside him swallowed nervously.
“Captain, are those… weapons?”
Vargas thought for a moment before tightening his grip on the chopsticks.
The two sticks crossed awkwardly and made a sharp click.
At the thin sound, Se-hee looked up.
“Ah.”
She immediately understood what was happening.
“That’s not how you hold them.”
Se-hee picked up her own chopsticks and slowly demonstrated.
“Like this. Keep one still and move only the other one. Think of them like tongs.”
Vargas nodded with a serious expression.
Then he copied her.
The chopsticks bent in completely the wrong direction and struck the edge of the bowl.
Se-hee watched him for a moment before silently turning her head away.
‘Hmm… he’ll figure it out.’
Meanwhile, Vargas gripped the chopsticks tightly, as if determined to maintain the dignity of a mercenary captain.
Then he picked up a large mouthful of noodles and shoved them into his mouth.
“……!”
Vargas’s face instantly turned purple.
He screamed and began rolling around on the ground.
He waved his hands desperately in the air as if he could grab his own tongue, while tears poured from his eyes like a waterfall.
“Vargas, wake up! What the hell happened?!”
The members beside him tried to help him, but Vargas had already lost his senses and was heading toward the faucet.
He slammed his head against it, desperately trying to cool himself down.
Seeing his miserable state, the mercenaries froze in fear, chopsticks still in their hands.
But the spicy aroma drifting through the air was strangely irresistible.
Even though they were terrified, the hungry mercenaries began putting noodles into their mouths one by one.
“Gah! This… this isn’t food! My soul… my soul feels like it’s burning!”
His scream seemed to be the signal.
Screams erupted from all around.
“Water! Give me some water! No, ha… It’s getting even hotter!”
“Why am I sweating from my eyes?!”
One mercenary pounded his chest, while another kept eating the noodles even as tears streamed down his face.
“This is strange. It’s definitely painful, but I can’t stop.”
Someone gritted his teeth and nodded.
Just then, Vargas, apparently having cooled himself down somewhat, raised his face covered in tears and mucus.
Meanwhile, Se-hee’s expression as she watched them was complicated.
‘Ah, I guess they put in too much sauce.’
Se-hee watched the mercenaries’ reactions for a moment.
‘No wonder the red sauce looked unusually dark.’
To hide the business smile spreading across her lips, Se-hee deliberately spoke in a stern voice.
“Okay, everyone, pull yourselves together and finish everything. Don’t leave any behind. You’ll be punished for wasting food.”
“Yes! I will gladly endure this trial!”
“Understood!”
As soon as Se-hee finished speaking, a collective gasp escaped from the mercenaries.
Some swallowed their curses.
Others squeezed their eyes shut.
But no one put down their chopsticks.
‘This is actually going pretty well.’
The area in front of the tent was a complete mess.
Red sauce was smeared all over the mercenaries’ faces and beards, while tears and mucus dripped down beneath their chins.
‘This scene is completely different from before.’
Only a short while ago, these people had arrived here with weapons drawn.
Now, they didn’t even seem to have the energy to remember that.
“Is it really that spicy?”
Instead of answering, Vargas tried to nod, but his head simply dropped.
A tear fell from his chin with a plop.
“Hah, haa…… It feels like my insides are on fire.”
Vargas couldn’t continue speaking.
He tried to breathe in, but the air seemed unable to reach his lungs.
Se-hee tilted her head.
‘That’s strange. I just think it’s a little spicy.’
“Hmm. I don’t think it’s that spicy.”
At those words, one of the nearby mercenaries raised his head, only to lower it again immediately.
“That is somehow even scarier.”
Se-hee didn’t ask any further.
She had a feeling that listening to their answer would only give her another headache.
Vargas, meanwhile, stared at Se-hee as if she were strange.
‘This is what she calls spicy?’
It felt as though everything he knew about spicy food had been denied.
Vargas had traveled all over the place as a mercenary, but he had never experienced such a painful, torturous level of spiciness that made his insides feel like they were burning away.
Through his tear-filled vision, he stared at Se-hee’s back.
Of course, Se-hee had no idea he was looking at her. She simply turned around and headed toward the tent as if nothing had happened.
Then she opened her inventory and took out a 2-liter drink.
When she poured it into a paper cup, the pink liquid glowed softly, almost as if it were holding sunlight inside it.
“Here.”
Se-hee held the cup out first to Vargas, who had been suffering the most.
“Drink this and pull yourself together.”
Vargas looked at Se-hee’s face before looking at the cup.
He couldn’t decide whether he should trust it.
After what he had just experienced with the ramen that felt like the flames of hell, he couldn’t help but suspect her a little.
‘Don’t tell me……’
“What is… this?”
“It’s a drink. You’re supposed to drink something with spicy food.”
Vargas’s eyes trembled faintly.
His tongue and the roof of his mouth were still suffering from the sensation of being burned.
“You don’t have to drink it.”
Se-hee shrugged.
“Then you can keep suffering.”
When Vargas continued hesitating, Se-hee added,
“I’d normally charge for this too, but you look like you’re having such a hard time that I’m giving it to you as a free service.”
Vargas stopped hesitating.
He gritted his teeth, grabbed the cup, and took a sip with an expression of complete surrender.
“…….”
Vargas couldn’t move.
The moment the cold liquid soaked his burning mouth, another wave of sensation washed over him.
But this time, it was different.
An unbelievable sweetness came after the burning pain.
A refreshing coolness spread across the tip of his tongue and instantly extinguished the heat that had been spreading like flames.
“Ugh……”
Vargas’s shoulders heaved heavily.
And then—
“Aaaaaaaaaah—!”
This time, it wasn’t a scream of pain.
Vargas clutched the cup with both hands and dropped to his knees.
His legs seemed unable to support him anymore.
Tears were still flowing from his eyes.
But his expression was completely different from before.
“This… how can this be?”
Vargas shouted in a trembling voice.
“This isn’t just water. It’s holy water that purifies suffering……!”
Several mercenaries looked at one another and began whispering.
“Captain?”
“What did he just say? Did anyone hear him properly?”
“No, I think he said something about purification.”
Vargas held the cup tightly against his chest and raised his head.
His eyes immediately turned toward Se-hee.
There was no longer any hostility in them.
Instead, they were filled with awe, certainty, and an indescribable sense of emotion.
“The pain really disappeared.”
Vargas spat out the final words as if they were a revelation.
Then, without the slightest hesitation, he slammed his forehead against the ground.
