Chapter 41: Honeymoon (2) (1/2)
Terms used in this chapter:
Molecular gastronomy – a subdiscipline of food science that that seeks to investigate the physical and chemical transformations of ingredients that occur in cooking.
Ramyeon – Korean word for instant noodles. It’s the Korean version of the Japanese’s ramen. It is made by boiling a precooked and dried noodle block with flavoring powder or sauce.
Binyeo – a Korean traditional hairpin used to hold a woman’s hair bun in place. (The white hairpin in the picture.)
Qinggong – this had been mentioned in previous chapters, but here’s a recap. It’s a martial art skill in wuxia stories that allows you to circumvent gravity to fly, cover tremendous distances in a single stride, run across surfaces of water, mount trees, and jump over or scale high walls. For this chapter, Jude used the ‘cover tremendous distances in a single stride.’
The next morning, after Cordelia’s letter was found in Count Hræsvelgr’s guest room, the count tried to respond as calmly as possible.
‘I have to find them.’
Whether they left on their own or not, if some accident happened to Jude and Cordelia, Count Hræsvelgr had no choice but to take responsibility for it.
In any case, the two were minors, so Count Hræsvelgr ideally had the responsibility to protect the two who were invited as guests.
‘Why? What the hell did you do while the kids left the house? Are the walls of Count Hræsvelgr that low?’
Of course, it was unlikely that Count Bayer or Count Chase would say such words themselves, but they would put the blame on him with a roughly similar remark.
The potential discord among the 12 northern families wasn’t the only problem.
“What should we do? If those two get caught by the Devil’s Hand…”
Lucas spoke to everyone with a face full of worry, and the faces of Count Bayer’s and Count Chase’s knights all turned miserable.
“They couldn’t have gone that far. Let’s steadily find them around the city.”
When one of Count Hræsvelgr’s knights intentionally spoke in a lively manner, the other knights were also motivated.
Regardless, they had to find the two people first.
But contrary to everyone’s expectations, Jude and Cordelia had already gone quite far.
***
Five days from their ‘elopement,’ Count Hræsvelgr was still searching the villages near Vedrfolnir, but Jude and Cordelia had reached near the northwestern border where Frost Anvil was located.
“That smells delicious.”
It was morning, and Cordelia sniffed in front of the campfire while still in her sleeping bag.
She had just woken up, her hair was untidy, and she had no makeup on, but as an incomparably beautiful girl, she was still pretty and lovely.
“Are you awake?”
“Uh, I’m awake. What is it for this morning?”
Cordelia faintly smiled as she saw the hard-working Jude cooking in front of the campfire.
When Jude and Cordelia left Vedrfolnir, Fabian gave them only one luggage bag, but in the last five days, their household items have pretty much increased.
‘Magic Blaze, expansion bag, special insect-repelling incense.’
The Magic Blaze, also called a portable burner, was received in exchange for helping Koblo escape. The expansion bag, which can store double its size, was received in exchange for finding the memento of Yinsen’s lost mother.
The special insect-repelling incense was made from ingredients that Jude had collected during their trip.
And there were many other items.
Five days ago, they were bare-handed when they left Count Hræsvelgr’s territory, but now, Jude and Cordelia were unbelievably well-supplied for their journey.
“A man who has the ability to maintain a livelihood is the best. The number 1 ideal husband.”
“Uh, okay. Anyway, for this morning, we have French toast, bacon, and cream soup.”
Jude responded without even looking at Cordelia, but she was already satisfied.
It was because Jude’s gaze was focused on the frying pan.
“Where did you learn how to cook?”
“Here and there.”
“Where is that here and there?”
“France, Italy, England, China, the Czech Republic, Russia, Afghanistan, Iraq, Saudi Arabia…it’s literally so on and so forth.”
Cordelia’s eyes sparkled at Jude’s words, but she pouted by the end of it.
At first, it was possible if he had gone to one or two countries, but she didn’t think that he’d really been to all those countries.
‘Well, he’s good at lying.’
But the important thing was that he was good at cooking, so Cordelia quickly regained her usual expression and used her nose to sniff again the smell of the savory bacon.
“Did you learn how to make bacon abroad?”
“Oh, I learned this from my friend who lives in America.”
“I heard that cooking is a skill.”
“No, it’s more about accurate measurement.”
“Measurement?”
“Baking time varies depending on the intensity of the fire. The amount of salt added depends on the amount of ingredients. Of course, it also depends on the person’s preferences.”
“Is it molecular gastronomy or something?”
“Well, it’s similar.”
Jude, who had spoken so far, suddenly raised his head to look at Cordelia and then shook his head in resignation.
“What is it?”
“No, I just remembered the first dish you cooked three days ago.”
‘No, can you even call that cooking?’
Cordelia’s face turned red in proportion to Jude’s miserable face, and she pouted her lips.
“Hmph, I have a dish that I’m good at cooking too, okay?”
“Lying about your weakness…”
“No, it’s not? I’m really good at cooking ramyeon.”
“…isn’t ramyeon an instant food?”
As Jude’s expression became even more miserable, Cordelia’s face turned even more red.
“Really. It’s because you haven’t tried it. If you eat the ramyeon I cooked, you’ll fall in love too? If you ask for it, I’ll cook it for you every day.”
“Yes, yes. If you insist, so be it.”
“Tsk, I’m serious.”
Cordelia pouted again, but she soon smiled and said.
“Well, someone said that there’s a right talent for the right place, so in the future, it’ll be good to divide our tasks like this. You’re the cook, and I’m the taster.”
“F*cking bullshit. I’m in charge of cooking and you’re in charge of washing dishes.”
“Hey, he said that if his Gueumjulmaek is cured, he wouldn’t even let a drop of water get into my hands.”
“When did I say that? He said that he’ll carry you, be hit by you, cross over the wall, and also care for you.”
“I think something is missing.”
“Anyway, we’re going to eat now, so go and wash your face. Wash your hands too.”
“Yes, mom.”
“Phooey, is that whom I’m going to marry?”
Cordelia stood up as she giggled, and Jude shook his head.
“I’ll be right back.”
“Yes, don’t skip or you’ll trip.”
“Who do you think is a kid?”
After Cordelia arranged her long hair into a bun and secured it with a binyeo made by Jude, she began walking with a light gait.
She walked towards a nearby stream.
‘It’s definitely winter now, so it’s really cold.’
Moreover, they had arrived near the northernmost part of the Sälen Kingdom.
If the weather got a bit colder, the stream itself might freeze.
‘I’m not sure if we’ll be okay then.’
Frost Anvil would be much colder than this place.
Although they diligently packed items that protected them against the cold, Jude still couldn’t help worrying about it.
‘It’s a shame. If we had a little more time, we would’ve gotten the winter protection.’
It was a protection that could only be obtained through a special event called ‘Winter Protection.’ It helped by maintaining one’s body temperature and not hindering one’s movement in the cold. The problem, however, was that the event was a random occurrence.
‘If you consider the circumstances, it seems to be near here…’
Jude raised his head and looked around, but he didn’t see the area where he thought it would happen.
No matter how great JudeWiki was, he couldn’t figure out the parts that were left out in the game.
‘Damn, it can’t be helped.’
The encounter with the person who told the event location was really random.
Even if they had enough time, they still didn’t know where it was, so they couldn’t wander around here just to get the winter protection.
And it was at that moment.
“Kyaa!”
“Cordelia?!”
Jude heard the screaming sound and spontaneously shouted as he stood up by kicking the ground and simultaneously using the Twenty-Four Gale Steps.
Although it was a footwork technique, the Twenty-Four Gale Steps could be used as Qinggong depending on its application.
“Cordelia!”