Be Careful When Agreeing to Terms and Conditions - Be Careful When Agreeing to Terms and Conditions chapter 32

4. Back to Liyue (1)

The journey to Liyue was smooth. Rather, it would have been even weirder if it hadn’t been smooth sailing. Among the group, there were only three people with ‘God’s Eyes’. Fissle uses Oz’s vision to scout, and Mona clears out the enemies while Hyangneung keeps the front line in check. Although it was a temporary party, the connection was better than expected.

More than anything, Mona’s skills were surprisingly outstanding. The reason I recruited Mona was because I wanted her brains rather than her brawn. However, when she saw Mona fighting, she was so strong that even most adventurers could not match her.

In addition, Mona’s elemental properties combine well with water, the fire element handled by Hyangreung, and the lightning element handled by Fissle. It was an incredibly solid party that was put together by chance.

So our group was able to arrive safely in Liyue without even the most common crisis situations. Since I had more than enough tents and supplies in my ‘backpack’, it was a comfortable journey suitable for ‘travel’ rather than ‘adventure’.

However, nothing really happened on the way to Liyue. Of course, there was no ‘crisis’, but as we were together for a little over a week, we were able to foster friendship with our group.

The first memory was with Fissle. She met Dai Luke at the Daun Winery, chatted with him, and while doing so, received additional dandelion wine and cider from the Daun Winery and was on her way to Seokmun.

As she approached the stone gate, Fisl began to speak noticeably less. Fissle and I had painful memories of ‘Seokmun’. This was because it was the site of an attack on the last Liyue upbound trip.

I wanted to comfort Fissle, but I couldn’t help feeling depressed.

It occurred to me once again. The feeling of piercing human skin like a blade was something I thought I could bear, but I couldn’t help but feel depressed.

As Fisle and I became gloomy, the mood of the group also darkened. Hyangneung was so oblivious and had her own pace that it didn’t matter, but Mona seemed to sense that there were some bad memories between Piseul and me.

That night, Mona led Xiangling out. Before she left camp, Mona let out a sigh of relief as she spoke to me.

“I don’t know what happened… know?”

I nodded as if I knew. I couldn’t be caught up in those memories for a thousand days. Even I was the leader of this commercial trip.

Fissul can be depressed. But it wasn’t me. Now I was walking along the trade route of the Tivat continent, where danger always existed. It was pitiful that the person leading the commercial trip would do anything to depress the mood of the group.

As Mona dragged Hyangneung, who had been murmuring about whether wind slime or water slime was suitable as a cooking ingredient, all that was left in the camp was silence.

Oz also had painful memories of stone gates. Oz must still be scouting with his eyes open, and in the end, only Fissle and I were left in the campsite, with the sound of a crackling bonfire.

It was the same situation as the last time I went up. As I was putting kindling into the bonfire, I called the name of the depressed girl.

“…… Fissle.”

At my words, the emerald eyes of the girl with her face buried turned towards me. It was always the same composition. It was like that then, and it is like that now.

“I guess it’s a bit difficult, right?”

“…… Joy. “My servant, you also look quite gloomy.”

I smiled bitterly at Fissle’s response to my question. Well, it was worth it. I should have kept my balance, but I couldn’t.

I spoke in a sighing voice.

“Yeah, actually it’s still kind of like that. Still, what can I do? “I did it, so I have no choice but to deal with it.”

Fissle was silent for a moment. She averted her gaze, and seemed to be contemplating something. After a while, Fissle opened her mouth again.

“…… Do you regret it?”

I was silent for a moment. Fissle blushed slightly, and she was avoiding eye contact.

“I went on a trip with a girl who was a nuisance, and ended up committing murder… “Do you regret it?”

Fisle seemed to have regrets. If she hadn’t done that then, she wouldn’t have ended up like that and she wouldn’t have had my blood on her hands.

Perhaps the reason Fissle was depressed these days was not because of her bad relationship with Hayley, but because she remembered that she had left behind bad memories for me.

I was silently lost in thought and then spoke.

“…… “I don’t regret it.”

Fissle’s emerald eyes turned to me again. There was something about her downcast eyes and that pouty look that made her feel miserable, like a puppy getting caught in the rain.

That feeling of wanting to be comforted by stroking it. I continued, swallowing down the desire to do so. The memory of that time came to mind. Memories I want to forget.

“What would it have been like if you had hit me with a blunt object instead of a sword? “I wish I could have taken advantage of the surprise attack and targeted the arms or legs, or at least not killed them.”

Just by closing my eyes, the memories of that time were vivid. Even just now, the earthy smell of the secret room, the sound of Fissul crying, and the heaviness of the sword in my hand all came to life, throwing me into that time.

“If I had done that, I wouldn’t have had nightmares, and I wouldn’t have suffered from insomnia. “My hands would have been shaking for a while and I wouldn’t have been able to hold the knife.”

Then I suddenly noticed that my hands were shaking slightly. This was because Fissle’s eyes were fixed on my shaking hands.

But I just laughed it off. I had promised myself not to forget it anyway. I guess I can tolerate some side effects.

“…… But, I couldn’t do that.”

At that time, I thought of several possibilities. The same was true for the options I listed out that I regretted. However, I chose to kill Haley without fail.

“What if you hit it with a blunt object and can’t properly stun it? What if you can’t properly subdue them even if you pierce their limbs? And then, if something goes wrong with you.”

The surest way to keep Fissle from getting hurt was to pierce Hayley’s heart with a knife. A sure blow that will result in instant death with no time to resist.

If I were strong, there wouldn’t have been a need for that. It would have been okay if I just subdued him without killing him. But since I was weak, I had no choice but to choose the most certain method. So I didn’t know that I still couldn’t shake that memory.

Because it was a path I chose with my own will, even though I had thought about it many times and had other options. The thought of killing someone was not something I wanted to forget.

“If I had done that, I would have regretted it even more. So I regret it, but even if I were to go back, my choice would be the same. “It was more important to me to protect the girl who was a nuisance than the girl who stabbed me in the back.”

Fissle listened to everything I said, huffed, and snorted her laughter. However, her face relaxed a little, and it didn’t seem like she was in a bad mood.

“…… “Then you are fortunate. Please know that it is an honor to have the opportunity to serve this princess.”

Judging from the fact that ‘Piseul-eo’ was slowly coming back, it seemed like he was trying to regain his energy little by little. It was fortunate. Thinking like that, I was about to put the kindling into the bonfire again.

“That, and…” ….”

Fissle began to show signs of hesitation. She couldn’t make eye contact, her face flushed.

I looked at Fissle quietly, as if waiting to see what he would say. After a while, a small voice came out of Fissle’s mouth.

From Noble mtl dot com

“…… And thank you. Then, for saving me. “It was kind of cool.”

It probably wasn’t a story told as ‘Fissle’. Because I didn’t use ‘Fisle language’. That shy voice was that of a girl I had seen once.

I chuckled and laughed. ‘Piseul’ is cute, but it’s also quite cute to see it like this.

“Okay, thank you.”

Then, I called the girl’s name.

“…… “Amy.”

Amy buried her face in her knees again, her face bright red. That night, I created a new memory of Fissle and her. Memories that can overshadow painful and sad memories.

The second memory was with Hyangneung. Of course, most of the stories with Hyangneung were related to cooking.

She seemed wary of strangers at first, but after eating Hyang-reung’s cooking a few times, she soon came to accept Hyang-reung as her companion. In any case, she couldn’t have been the type that was easy to tame.

What was special about my memories with Hyangneung was that I ‘cooked’ for the first time. Rather than borrowing the ‘cooking’ function, literally ‘cooking’.

As always, the trigger was a conversation with Hyangneung about the dinner menu. Hyangneung seemed to want to make ‘mushroom chicken skewers’ as a side dish for this evening.

That’s a menu I’ve made countless times while running a street vendor, so I decided to take charge of the cooking. However, Hyangneung’s proposal was a little more unique.

“What if we grind dried pickled peppers and add a unique aftertaste? It has a spicy yet deep scent. “If you use a lot, it will be spicy, but if you mix in just a little when salting the meat, it will taste interesting!”

I scratched my head at those words. I told you this last time, but I guess I forgot.

“Hyangneung, as I said last time, I’m not good at cooking. Are you saying it’s just my body moving as it pleases? So, you can’t make it with that modified recipe.”

Hearing my words, Hyangneung said, “Oh,” And tilted her head.

“But the last time you assisted me, you were good at preparing ingredients, right?”

“That’s because my body has adapted to moving as it pleases. No matter how arbitrarily you move, you will get a feel for it after doing it thousands of times. So even if I can do some trimming…….”

“Then, let’s take this opportunity to cook!”

I kept my mouth shut. I wanted to refuse, but it wasn’t easy to betray Xiangling’s sparkling gaze. And I was a little curious too.

Pound the dried pickled peppers and add them to the salting process. It was a fun idea. I hesitated for a moment, then nodded as if I had no choice.

“…… “It’s not my fault if I mess up.”

Although he added a timid comment, Xiangling didn’t seem to care at all. In the end, I ended up cooking a modified version of ‘Mushroom Chicken Skewers’.

The main part used to make chicken skewers was chicken legs. Among them, the thigh meat called ‘dukchae’ was the most popular. This was because it was not only greasy, but also had a soft and moist texture. Separating only the flesh from this ‘dukchae’ is called ‘chicken meat,’ and cutting it into appropriate sizes was actually quite difficult.

Like most meats, protein deformation occurs in chicken when exposed to heat. As the meat hardens, its shape changes. In particular, chicken meat is a fatty part, so the degree of deformation was relatively severe.

Of course, it was nothing compared to pork or beef. However, in the ‘mushroom chicken skewers’ where it is important to cut it thickly into cubes and retain the juices inside, preparing the chicken meat could be called the first challenge in the cooking process.

I took out the chicken meat that had been cured with milk, salt, pepper, and spices. As Hyang-reung said, it was a salting method that also included powder from ground dried red peppers. I then prepared the chicken meat, and surprisingly, my body was cutting the chicken meat to the correct size as if it were a natural thing.

I was like, “Wow.” Was cooking ever this easy? I felt my body move freely, as if I had used the cooking function. Indeed, ‘Mushroom Chicken Skewers’ was a dish I had made thousands or tens of thousands of times. It was natural that the body remembered.

What was interesting was that I not only had a sense of how to prepare the ingredients, but also had a rough idea of how to season them and how to grill them to make them taste better. When I thought it was cooked properly, my body reacted before my head. My senses of sight, smell, and even touch sent me signals like spinal reflexes while I was cooking.

It was a strange experience. I finished cooking with a dazed feeling. Hyangneung came next to me, sniffed, and smiled broadly.

“Delicious smell!”

That evening, I listened to the grilled skewers I had made with a slightly disapproving look on my face. ‘Mushroom chicken skewers’ was a dish I had made several times. I also remembered the taste.

But I just didn’t use the ‘cooking’ function. I hesitated a bit, but eventually swallowed the skewer.

If you tear the moderately burnt exterior with your molars, the meat juice hidden inside bursts out. Salt and pepper not only brought out the richness of the meat, but also more intensely the unique aroma of food grilled over an open fire. And then, coming to the end, a spicy yet tantalizing stimulation.

The fat from the chicken immediately wet the tongue and spread a savory taste. The mushrooms you chew next mix their unique flavor and juice in your mouth. The chicken cured in milk did not even have the fishy smell that is characteristic of chicken.

Salt, pepper, and pickled red pepper dance on your tongue. I had no choice but to taste it and remain silent.

It was delicious. It was clear to me that even if I borrowed the ‘cooking’ function, I wouldn’t be able to create a dish of a noticeably higher standard than this. Because I’ve already tried it hundreds of times.

Hyangneung looked at my complexion and then burst out into a simple laugh, saying, “hehehe.”

“How about it, is it delicious?”

Up until then, I had forgotten what to say, and only then did I suddenly come to my senses. Hyangneung’s eyes were on me, and the rest of the group was also looking at me. As if asking what was going on during the usual meal time.

In the end, I couldn’t help but laugh. It was a sign that it was nothing special.

“…… Yes, it’s delicious.”

“I knew so. After all, Siwoo is a genius!”

If Hyangneung hadn’t added those words, it would have been a really good memory.

The last memory was with Mona. This happened when the journey to Liyue was nearing its end.

In the middle of the road from Mond to Liyue, there was a huge guesthouse called ‘Mangseogaekjan.’ It was a guesthouse built around a very large tree. I don’t know how it was built, but it was very tall. There was even a separate elevator.

This was a popular place among travelers going to and from Liyue. When looking at the vast scenery of the Oat Plains from the top of Mangseo Guesthouse, even those who were not good at poetry could hum a few lines of poetry.

The trip was coming to an end, and there was only a day or two left to get to Liyue, so we decided to rest for the first time in a while.

No matter how luxurious sleeping on the street was, it was never as luxurious as staying in a hostel. Besides, I had a lot of money. In other words, it was okay for our group to eat and drink as much as we wanted.

It’s been a while since I drank alcohol. At the same time, I became acquainted with several peddlers and talked with merchants, receiving information about the Liyue merchant world and various news from the Tivat continent.

Of course, I was the only one drinking. Piseul and Hyangneung were underage, and Mona seemed not in the mood to drink so she disappeared somewhere.

But what can we do? The place where Tivat’s information circulates is at a drinking party. I needed to remain alone and gather information.

When I got a little drunk, I climbed to the top of the famous Mangseo Guesthouse. Several people had already gathered there to enjoy the night view.

Lights turned on here and there showed the locations of people heading to Liyue. Some of them would have been advance bases for the Chuchu people. But among them, I saw a woman looking at the sky, not the ground.

The cone-shaped hat alone made me guess her identity. Her mysterious black hair has a soft blue glow, and now that I look at it, it resembles the light of the night sky. She, whose beauty stands out even more under the moonlight, was fearlessly sitting on top of the guest house and admiring the night sky.

I came next to her. And I looked up at the sky.

There were stars and moon in the night sky. The sky was so clear that there were no clouds.

“…… “The people of the Tivat continent have special regard for the night sky.”

Mona told her story in such a low voice. Starlight was shining in her eyes.

“I believe that people have something called a ‘constellation of destiny’ and that their fate is determined by the movement of that constellation. And sometimes your earnest wish reaches the stars and seeps into them.”

By that time, I was sitting next to her. The cool night breeze passed by my forehead. I felt like the alcohol had gone away a little.

“So, I have liked the night sky since I was young. “When she thought that each star contained someone’s life and that the light was as beautiful as mine, she couldn’t suppress her excitement.”

Mona was still not looking at me. Perhaps she didn’t necessarily mean for me to hear it. She just told anyone about the inspiration that came to her while admiring the night sky, and I happened to be by her side at the time.

I was silent for a moment. I was thinking about saying something, but then I asked what I was curious about.

“Now that I think about it, why did you choose those two as Mond’s specialties? ‘Dandelion’ and ‘Wind Mushroom’,”

Only then did Mona glance at me. The form that gave me a little glance seemed to be reprimanding me for being ‘without a mood’. But that was the only story I knew how to tell.

When I cleared my throat shyly, Mona spoke with a sigh.

“…… The ‘dandelions’ grown in Mond are special. It contains the power of the wind element. Some say that when the god Barbatos blew away the snow and ice from Mond, the power that permeated into the dandelion resided in it. So, the ‘dandelion’ grown in Mond is an irreplaceable ingredient for wizards and alchemists. The same goes for ‘wind mushrooms.’”

I nodded. An ‘irreplaceable material’, that alone would have been enough to attract attention in Liyue. All other Mond specialties can be replaced with something, but ‘Dandelions’ and ‘Wind Mushrooms’ seem not to be. Especially for wizards and alchemists.

It was a story from a world I didn’t know much about. But since it’s Mona’s specialty, she knows best. With that thought in mind, I took out a ‘dandelion’ from my ‘backpack’.

The ‘dandelions’ of the Tivat continent had a light green color. It was so bright that it glowed even at night. The figure was so beautiful that it captivated people, but I suddenly felt a thought come to me.

Will this, like the ‘dandelion’ in reality, fly away if you blow on it?

I blew on a dandelion as a joke. It was towards Mona.

“aaah! “W-what are you doing!”

Then, the sound of something exploding was heard, and light green light dispersed. It passed by Mona, who was disgusted, and spread out into the night sky. It was quite a dreamy sight.

Mona, who was ambushed, seemed a little angry and fussed.

“Do you know how much it costs? Even without that, dandelions are difficult to collect, so how much trouble did I have to meet the quantity…… !”

“Mona, did I ever tell you?”

I felt my breath heated by alcohol and spoke to Mona in a slightly dazed voice.

“Actually, I am not from the continent of Tivat. “I don’t know why fate showed me to you, but like Lumine, I fell from another world.”

Mona was silent. She seemed a little angry and looked at me with her eyes filled with a little doubt. I also couldn’t figure out why I was suddenly saying this.

Probably because of the alcohol. I thought so and continued talking.

“But there were ‘dandelions’ where I lived too. Also, when the wind blew, the seeds would fly away with a whoosh. “When I was young, I used to go around the neighborhood looking for dandelions for fun.”

I put the ‘dandelion’, with only a faint glow remaining, back in the ‘backpack’. It was because I thought that this too might be valuable.

Instead, what I held in my hand was a canteen. My throat burned.

“…… It seems to be a fairly rare material on the Tivat continent. “I was a little surprised.”

Mona, who had been looking at my face closely up to that point, soon opened her mouth with a serious look on her face.

“You… ….”

I glanced at her as if asking why. Mona’s voice was a mixture of a bit of confusion, a bit of concern, and her doubts.

“…… “I haven’t decided yet.”

I chuckled and laughed. Then he picked up the canteen and took a gulp of the cold water contained in it.

Mona was smart as expected. Lumine and Fisle noticed my concerns that I didn’t even know about.

“Don’t worry, I will definitely pay you 3 million mora.”

Mona’s face, who seemed to be worried about me, crumpled at the words I jokingly said. She opened her mouth as if she were dumbfounded.

“…… Don’t you think I’m only helping you for money? Of course, I accepted some sincerity, but… And stay away! It smells like alcohol…… !”

The more it happened, the more I just giggled and stayed where I was. Mona complained that she smelled like alcohol, but what could you do? The night sky seen from the top of Manseo Guesthouse was a sight that no one could monopolize.

That night, I felt like I got to know Mona a little bit. She and Mona probably got to know me a little better. I was confident that our relationship was progressing, little by little.

…… Anyway, time passed by and now our group had arrived at ‘Liyue Port’.

Liyue, which I visited after a long time, was still a vibrant city. I felt it again, but it was completely different from Mond, where foreigners had stopped coming and going due to the Wind Demon Dragon incident. Among them, there might be Sister Kamu, and perhaps Tartaglia and Mr. Jongryeo might be having a chat.

But no matter what the streets of Liyue were, there was only one thing I had to do.

“Let’s go to a restaurant.”

This was the moment when the collaboration between ‘Manmin Party’ and ‘Siwoo Restaurant’ began.