Chapter 015 : Tae Un-seo
The name of the dangerous-looking man holding a kitchen knife was Tae Un-seo.
"Nice to meet you. I am the Small Snow Squad Captain, Hyeokryeon Yeom."
Tae Un-seo glanced sideways at me.
"You do not seem to be a martial artist of the North Sea."
"Correct. I entered the Ice Palace from the Demonic Cult a while ago."
"Do they accept guys from the Demonic Cult these days too?"
"Ahem! If I may speak about Young Master Hyeokryeon, he is the person who will become the spouse of the Young Palace Head!"
Wi Ji-yeong stepped forward.
"...He had a backer."
He was ignored right away.
"Tae Un-seo."
"Did the Captain abandon me too?"
"......"
Abandoned?
I tilted my head, seeing Danmok Ho not answering Tae Un-seo's words.
It was unlike the Captain of the Snow Tiger Squad.
"I am not abandoning you."
"Yes, yes. If the higher-ups issue an assignment, I must go."
Saying that, Tae Un-seo's gaze turned toward me.
"But you see, I don't want to take just anyone as my Captain."
Tae Un-seo picked up his knife.
The problem was.
"A kitchen knife?"
The knife Tae Un-seo held was a kitchen knife.
"None of your business what weapon I hold. If you're a Captain, let's settle this with a blade like a Captain."
"You mean show an appearance worthy of a Captain?"
"Something like that."
"But you see. I also don't just pick anyone as a squad member, you see?"
I also placed my hand on my sword hilt.
I don't need weak guys no matter how short-handed I am.
To sweep horse bandits and move as a detached unit, I needed martial artists who could match a hundred.
"You said you're from the Demonic Cult; I like that you're hot-tempered."
Swish!
Tae Un-seo swung his sword without hesitation.
Before anyone could stop him, Tae Un-seo rushed at me.
Flare!
"Ugh!"
However, the guy's knife strike couldn't pierce the flames protecting me.
"Flames against a kitchen knife; you would be better suited to cooking than slicing people."
I swung the Fire Art Sword.
As flames soared, the fire transferred onto Tae Un-seo's kitchen knife.
Drip!
And the kitchen knife that caught fire melted down just like that.
"What!"
"If a swordsman loses his sword."
Thwack-!
Defeat was a direct result.
Bang!
As I struck his face with the flat of the sword and sent him flying, Tae Un-seo crashed into the wall far away.
"...That was harsh."
"Consider yourself lucky I didn't kill you."
Even while saying that to the Captain of the Snow Tiger Squad, Danmok Ho.
'He's quite good.'
At the last moment, he minimized the impact by jerking his head to the side.
At a glance, it looked like he was hit properly and flew away, but.
He flew away himself through the recoil of the force.
"So, the decision?"
"I will take him."
Just by taking the strike a moment ago with recoil, Tae Un-seo was a guy worth raising.
"Since he is from the Snow Tiger Squad, please take care of him."
Elder Gwak Tae-san was picking up Tae Un-seo and handing him to me with a pleased expression.
"Squad Leader Baek. Carry him."
Seeing Baek Mu-yong piggybacking on Tae Un-seo who had his eyes closed, I turned my back without lingering attachment.
***
Seol Ye-rin opened her eyes quietly.
She could feel the Yin energy starting to spread slowly.
No matter how much she thought about it, she couldn't just stay still here like this.
"As expected, I want to go out."
Because she is the Young Palace Head of the Ice Palace, she might become a target for the horse bandits?
She didn't care about such things.
If she couldn't feel Hyeokryeon Yeom's warmth right now, Seol Ye-rin was in a situation where she would return to how she was before.
'I don't want to go back to that time again.'
The Palace Lord would understand too.
Once she made up her mind, the action followed immediately.
Just as she was about to move to go find Hyeokryeon Yeom.
"So you were in a place like this."
"Third Young Master?"
"Let's go."
"Pardon?"
"I think I will need the Young Palace Head's help."
I held Seol Ye-rin's hand and started to move.
"W-Where are we going?"
"We will move to sweep the horse bandits."
Coming outside, we could see Wi Ji-yeong, Eun Bin and Baek Mu-yong carrying someone on his shoulder.
"This person is..."
"I know you're awake, so come down."
"Pardon?"
The moment Baek Mu-yong turned to the side to look at Tae Un-seo's face.
Hop!
Tae Un-seo jumped down lightly from Baek Mu-yong's shoulder.
"I was caught. Since when did you know?"
"From the beginning."
"If only you didn't make my knife unusable, you're a Captain with quite quick wits."
"I can get you plenty of kitchen knives like that."
"...Will you let me cook too?"
At the word cooking, Wi Ji-yeong's ears perked up.
"Warrior Tae, do you know how to cook too?!"
"Who are you?"
"I am Young Master Hyeokryeon Yeom's maid, Wi Ji-yeong. Shall I pack ingredients?"
When Tae Un-seo looked back at me with an expression asking why a maid was here,
"Ji-yeong is your senior so you should listen well to her words."
"Senior?"
"Ingredients, shall I pack them or not!"
"Are we going outside the Palace? If so, it would be good if you packed them."
"Understood! Young Master, I will go pack some ingredients!"
Since we were moving to sweep horse bandits, we might have to go quite far.
Since we might have to camp out, it seemed Wi Ji-yeong intended to prepare in advance.
"Tae Un-seo. Go with her."
"...Is that allowed?"
"If you have greed for cooking, you should choose the ingredients yourself."
Tae Un-seo followed behind Wi Ji-yeong silently.
"Who is he?"
"He is a new member."
The answer flowed out from Eun Bin.
"If you have information you know about Tae Un-seo, will you tell me?"
At my question, Eun Bin opened his mouth.
"That guy, even if he looks like that, is a former chef."
"Chef?"
"Why is the Snow Tiger Squad keeping a chef?"
"...Since the Captain melted the kitchen knife, you couldn't see it, but that guy. He uses the knife really well."
When I made an expression asking if it wasn't natural for a chef to use a knife well,
Baek Mu-yong added.
"Cooking... it would be better not to expect anything. He is a guy assigned to the Snow Tiger Squad because he is better at slicing people."
"He slices people better than ingredients?"
"Yes."
I became curious anew about what taste Tae Un-seo's cooking would have.
"By the way, is the Young Palace Head also joining this expedition?"
Eun Bin glanced at Seol Ye-rin.
"We plan to move together."
"Permission from the Palace Lord..."
"It's better than the Young Palace Head freezing up again because I left on an expedition, so it will be fine."
Pause.
Eun Bin nodded at my words.
Eun Bin couldn't bear the Young Palace Head going wrong.
"Does the talk about sweeping horse bandits mean you intend to go down to the south this time?"
Baek Mu-yong asked.
"Do horse bandit groups exist in the west or east too?"
"That is not the case."
"Then we have to go to the south."
-Horse bandit groups, you say?
The Sword Venerable, who had been staying still until now, opened his mouth.
'In the present, three hundred years later, there are really many people coveting the Ice Palace.'
It's not just the horse bandits.
Later, the Demonic Cult will aim for the Ice Palace and invade.
Although the Ice Palace exists in the North Sea known to be barren, just as they survived in this harsh North Sea, there were quite a lot of people aiming for the Ice Palace eyeing for an opportunity.
-Kukuku, the descendants must have become very weak. To dare covet the North Sea.
He was speaking with a laugh, but the Sword Venerable's face was full of wrath.
"Third Young Master."
When Yin energy was felt from the direction where the Sword Venerable was, Seol Ye-rin approached me.
Because it was warm near me.
Then, I held Seol Ye-rin's hand.
Coldness was felt.
As I transferred Yang energy through the held hands, Seol Ye-rin's hand began to become warm.
"Are you okay?"
"Ah, yes. Thank you."
'Don't be too angry. I will handle the horse bandits.'
Why?
Because I need to receive acknowledgement from the Ice Palace Lord.
And because I need to survive.
"Young Master!"
Just when I was strengthening my resolve.
Wi Ji-yeong returned with Tae Un-seo.
Strangely, Tae Un-seo's complexion seemed to have brightened.
"Ji-yeong, did something happen?"
"Ah! They say even the Ten Thousand Great Mountains are best viewed after a meal! He said let's cook and eat on the spot before leaving, so Warrior Tae said he would cook himself!"
At those words, we all stared at Tae Un-seo who was holding a kitchen knife and making something like a smile.
"Okay... try making it."
Seeing Tae Un-seo's face looking that happy.
We couldn't possibly spit out the words telling him not to cook.
***
Chop chop chop chop.
Tae Un-seo's movements starting to slice ingredients on the cutting board were not the skills of someone who encountered cooking just once or twice.
"His knife skills are like that but he can't cook?"
The kitchen knife's movements were consistent, and the ingredients began to be sliced consistently.
Wondering what on earth was the problem, I checked.
Splash!
'...Crazy.'
Just looking at it, a tremendous amount of salt is being poured in.
"What dish are you making?"
"In the North Sea, we usually eat Tanggaeng and dumplings for breakfast."
Tanggaeng.
So, it's soup.
In other words, the fact is Tae Un-seo cannot even cook something as simple as boiling soup.
It means he was put in the Snow Tiger Squad to slice people since he is that bad at cooking.
The problem was the guy's slightly raised corners of the mouth were telling a story.
Tae Un-seo was enjoying cooking.
"Here, it is served!"
Tanggaeng and dumplings were placed in six bowls.
The size of the dumplings was very consistent.
However.
"...It's hard."
"Munch munch. The dumplings are not much different from usual though?"
At Baek Mu-yong's words, I realized that all dumplings in the North Sea were hard like this.
"Oh my."
This was quite problematic.
Woom-
Since I discovered a problem, it is human nature to solve it.
Extreme Yang energy begins to warm the dumplings.
As the Yang energy began to rush into the point of burning the inside of the hard dumplings.
Sizzle-
The delicious smell of dumplings began to spread fragrantly.
"This smell..."
Seeing the dumplings emitting steaming vapor, Tae Un-seo hesitated.
I pulled off a piece of dumpling.
Seeing the piece falling off softly.
"H-How..."
"Originally, food tastes best when eaten warm."
Munch munch.
Whether the dumpling was heated well, it became easier to eat than a moment ago.
Now next is the turn to eat the Tanggaeng Tae Un-seo made.
I scooped the Tanggaeng with a spoon, and was about to put it in my mouth but hesitated.
"This wasn't boiled?"
"It was boiled."
Generally, soup tastes best when eaten warm.
It seems even boiled food cools down quickly because of the cold chill of the North Sea.
Hard dumplings in cold soup?
There was no way it could be delicious.
Woom-
Warmth begins to warm the bowl again.
Seeing the bubbling Tanggaeng, Tae Un-seo's eyes twinkled.
Slurp-
If eaten warm like this.
No matter how bad it tastes.
'Ugh-'
I almost vomited.
'Just what did he put in?'
Did he intend to poison me?
But poison isn't felt.
It just really tastes damn bad.
I mean the food.
I almost spit it out instantly.
Twinkle- Twinkle-
However, looking at those twinkling eyes of Tae Un-seo, I simply couldn't spit it out.
'Phew.'
Gulp-
Eventually, I swallowed the Tanggaeng down my esophagus.
I quickly put a dumpling in my mouth and started chewing.
"How is... the taste?"
At Seol Ye-rin's question, I handed the Tanggaeng and heated dumplings to Seol Ye-rin thinking I couldn't be the only one to suffer.
"It's delicious, Miss Seol should try it too."
Grin.
Thinking I couldn't die alone, I recommended the Tanggaeng to Seol Ye-rin.
At those words, Baek Mu-yong and Eun Bin opened their mouths wide.
Pretending not to know that appearance, I watched Seol Ye-rin dipping the dumpling in the Tanggaeng and putting it in her mouth.
I was curious about Seol Ye-rin's reaction after tasting the Tanggaeng.
"Oh! It's my first time eating such soft dumplings! The Tanggaeng is also decent?!”
'......?'
It's not the reaction I thought of?
The moment I thought that.
"T-Thank you. The two of you are the first people to say my cooking is delicious!! I will cook with my best for the two of you in the future! No, I will pledge my loyalty!"
Tae Un-seo began to shed tears with a moved expression.