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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Silverriver
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The atmosphere was… something else.
The restaurant was a charming blend of rustic charm and classic architecture, somehow managing to avoid feeling tacky. I had been to similar Korean restaurants in my previous life, but perhaps due to the different world, this one felt unique.
“Wahahahaha!”
Despite the elegant ambiance, the restaurant was noisy. Most of the restaurants in this area catered to the festival crowd.
Essentially, they were no different from pubs.
“Deron, are you sure this is the right place?”
“Why?”
“It’s just… the atmosphere is a bit… lively.”
Erina, born a noble, wasn’t used to such boisterous environments. Agnes and Han seemed unfazed, but for Erina, raised in the refined setting of an Earldom, this must have been a bit of a shock.
The waiter looked slightly taken aback when we entered, a group of young people among the rowdy crowd. He must have been used to serving burly, boisterous men.
But only for a moment. He quickly composed himself. Working in a place like this must have made a poker face second nature.
The waiter approached, confirmed our number, and led us to a table. I brushed off any dust and carefully sat down.
“May I take your order?”
We looked at each other at the waiter’s question. None of us seemed to have experience ordering in a restaurant like this.
“Um…”
Agnes and Erina stared intently at the menu but couldn’t seem to decide.
‘They’ve never heard of these dishes.’
The Spring Festival was, after all, an event for the common people. Though it had been disrupted by Morax. A festival held regularly to celebrate the new year, with food catering to the common folk.
For Agnes and Erina, raised in the privileged settings of Earldoms and Viscounties, the cuisine of commoners was unfamiliar.
And asking Han to order wouldn’t help either. He had spent most of his life in the mountains. Even if he’d eaten commoner food, he wouldn’t be familiar with the dishes of the capital.
“I’ll order.”
Seeing their struggle, I took the menu from them. Agnes and Erina readily handed it over.
I had chosen a decent-looking restaurant, just in case. Good choice.
I quickly scanned the menu, looking for familiar dishes. Becoming a Hero at the Academy often incorporated Earth’s cuisine.
The specialties offered at the Spring Festival were mostly food and items I’d seen in my previous life. This restaurant was no different.
Dishes like bulgogi and jeongol were common in Korean restaurants. But, true to this world, there were also dishes created by the author. Meat from an animal unique to this world, described as having the flavor of beef tenderloin and chicken thighs.
“Pibore meat and four glasses of Ade.”
“Pibore can be a bit… unusual. Are you sure? If it’s your first time…”
“It’s fine.”
I remembered it being described as delicious in the novel. The waiter started to say something more, then closed his mouth and nodded.
As soon as he left, I slumped back in my chair, exhausted.
The festival was fun, but all the walking had taken its toll. Even without actively using Aura, the mana flowing through my body was constantly being consumed to maintain my physical balance. I was losing mana in addition to coughing up blood.
Was this considered an improvement?
“Deron.”
Erina’s voice interrupted my thoughts. She was staring at me intently.
“What?”
“Are… you okay?”
What did she mean, okay? I tilted my head and met her gaze.
“Ruberic… is dead.”
“Oh…”
So that’s what she was asking about. Erina averted her gaze, fidgeting nervously.
“No, no, you don’t have to answer. I shouldn’t have asked.”
“It’s fine.”
“Huh?”
“I’m fine.”
Erina’s eyes widened slightly. Agnes and Han, who had been pretending not to listen, also looked at me.
“Really?”
“Yes. It’s been weeks.”
I understood why Erina was asking. She was likely still struggling with her first kill. I could see it in her expression.
The passionate fire that usually burned in her red hair and eyes was gone, replaced by a chilling emptiness.
She had a trauma regarding taking a life. That’s why she acted even more cheerful, desperately clinging to her usual bubbly and passionate demeanor. The sweat and calluses on her hands from relentless sword practice were her way of coping.
The Pibore meat was actually for her. It was her favorite dish in the original story.
“To be honest, I’m not completely fine.”
After I woke up and escaped the infirmary, the first place I went was the site of Ruberic and Morax’s deaths. Ruberic had made a pact with a demon, but unlike in the original story, he hadn’t caused any harm.
And his last words…
‘He had questioned why he had made a pact with the demon.’
In the original story, it was due to his jealousy and envy of Lee Han. There had been a clear motive. He had even spouted lines filled with resentment and inferiority upon meeting Lee Han.
But it was different with me. He had seemed lost, uncertain of his own purpose.
As if his assigned role had vanished. But the truth remained unchanged.
Morax was a demon, but Ruberic was human.
“I killed a demon, but… Ruberic was in there too.”
It was my first kill. A chillingly indifferent experience that hadn’t evoked any particular emotion within me. I wondered if I would feel anything upon returning to the place where he died.
“My heart still aches when I think of Ruberic.”
A “No Entry” sign hung at the entrance to the training grounds, the site ravaged by Archxius’s mana and Morax’s rampage. I could see traces of blood and rubble beyond the barrier.
“But time has passed. I can’t dwell on it forever.”
I wasn’t dwelling on it. I had already moved on. I had tried to push Ruberic from my mind, to treat him as an insignificant footnote.
But I couldn’t.
“He was a demon contractor, after all.”
“But that doesn’t mean I’ll forget him. I still killed him.”
To remember. To never forget. To remain human, I needed to remember those I had killed.
Even if he was a villain from a novel, he had been a living, breathing person with a beating heart and emotions.
Ruberic Caius. In this chillingly indifferent state of mind, I will remember you.
That is how I remain human. Someone who fears taking a life, who doesn’t become numb to it, who suffers from it.
My heart ached. Perhaps it was the unfamiliar sentimentality of my words.
“I’m glad to hear that.”
Agnes, having listened to my confession, finally spoke.
“I once heard from a professor that the first kill is incredibly psychologically taxing. Even if it’s a monster, not a human. The sensation of cutting through flesh… it’s chilling.”
“Um… Agnes? Which professor told you that?”
“Professor Akdin.”
Agnes replied nonchalantly to Erina’s question. People didn’t usually talk about such things so casually. Agnes…
“I’m glad to see you’re… coping well.”
“Me too! Me too!”
“Now I can challenge you to a spar without worrying.”
“Huh?”
Erina, puzzled by Agnes’s words, was about to say something menacing, but…
“Pibore meat is served!”
The aroma of the Pibore meat captured everyone’s attention. I, too, was drawn to the enticing scent.
“Please cut and share this among yourselves. Enjoy your meal.”
The waiter placed the meat on the table with a practiced smile and left. We exchanged glances, then each picked up a knife.
“Shall we dig in?”
Erina made the first cut, and the Pibore meat was quickly divided. The Ade was delicious, but the Pibore meat… it was divine. It made every other meat I’d ever tasted pale in comparison.
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The sounds of knives scraping against plates, forks piercing meat, and careful chewing filled the air.
Erina was among them. The Pibore meat before her was more captivating than any dish she’d ever tasted in the Earldom.
With each bite, the explosion of flavor and juices… it was incomparable to any meat she’d had before.
‘This is so good!’
Erina wanted to shout, but this wasn’t the place for such outbursts. She glanced at Deron as she cut her meat.
He sat beneath the soft glow of the restaurant’s lights, carefully bringing pieces of Pibore to his lips, ensuring no sauce stained his clothes.
He brushed back a stray strand of hair, then cut another piece of meat. He seemed experienced with this type of cuisine, the meat parting effortlessly under his knife.
She quickly averted her gaze after glancing at him. She had heard that beautiful people looked good no matter what they did.
Deron was a perfect example. Even the simple act of opening his mouth to eat was elegant, rivaling the models in the magazines occasionally published by the newspaper.
If she continued staring, she wouldn’t eat anything. She lowered her gaze, focusing on her food. But the image of Deron’s earlier vulnerability lingered in her mind.
The man who had been tormented by his first kill. Yet, he was determined to remember it, to bear the burden of his actions. A man who refused to be cowardly, who chose to face his guilt.
The meat suddenly tasted less appealing. She pushed aside her thoughts of Deron and focused on her meal.
But the words “cowardly Erina” echoed in her mind. She felt… conflicted.
So much so that she didn’t notice the red ring on her middle finger flash briefly before dimming.
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that meat, I wan’t that
