"There are quite a lot, huh?"
KangWoo walked out of the executive barracks and looked at the combined army of Guardians, angels, and Light Watchers.
A huge snowstorm raged over the mountain where the combined army was located.
The weather was so harsh that it wasn’t hard to imagine the cold instantly freezing urine before it could even hit the ground.
Even if players had superhuman bodies, they would obviously struggle in such weather, but there were no signs of struggle in their forces.
"Finally, we're going to be able to face the Demon Cult properly."
"Once this is over, we will be able to return to our homes, right?"
"I'm going to marry Anna if I survive this war."
"Smith…"
"Good luck! I'm sure you'll be able to survive!"
Not only were they not feeling cold, but they could even chitchat.
The magicians of the Tower of Truth were a part of Guardian, and thanks to the equipment they'd made by sacrificing their holidays, the Guardians were able to brave the weather comfortably.
KangWoo's expression hardened when he heard their conversation.
'Smith… are you going to be okay?'
It was a death flag.
While leaving the poor guy behind, he entered the barracks again.
Gaia, Kim ShiHoon, Chae YeonJoo, Cheon MooJin, Han Seol-ah, and Echidna, among others, were waiting for him there—the elite members of Guardian.
"Ah, Mr. KangWoo."
Han Seol-ah walked toward him with a smile on her face.
"I prepared dinner, so, please, take a seat."
There was kimchi stew in the middle of the meeting table.
Usually, they would have to eat war rations, but they'd used their rank advantage to have a proper meal.
'After all, a person needs to eat proper food to be able to fight well.'
Saliva started to gather in KangWoo's mouth.
"Thank you. There are quite a lot of people, so it was probably hard to prepare."
"No. Echidna and Mr. ShiHoon helped me, so I almost didn't do anything. I just taste-tested it."
"Hngh! KangWoo, I learned how to prepare kimchi stew!"
Echidna smiled confidently.
KangWoo smirked and patted her, and Echidna rubbed her cheeks in her hands as if she were a cat.
He sat down.
There was a bowl the size of a washbasin with kimchi stew in front of him.
Chae YeonJoo looked at him in surprise.
"Do you like kimchi stew that much?"
"Of course. There's nothing in the world that can compare in taste."
Kimchi stew was the truth—it was a wonderful thing.
KangWoo grabbed the chopsticks.
Chae YeonJoo laughed in disbelief.
"Well, it isn't that I don’t find kimchi stew delicious…"
But it wasn't delicious enough to say it was the best food in the world.
From what she'd heard from Han Seol-ah, he ate kimchi stew at least 10 times a week, and what was even funnier was that he ate enough kimchi stew for four or five people.
Even if one loved a certain food, it was surprising that they would be able to eat so much.
'Well…'
Chae YeonJoo grabbed the spoon and narrowed her eyes.
She looked at KangWoo eating kimchi stew.
'I guess… it's understandable?'
She thought of his past.
Ten thousand years…
His craving had built for an unthinkable amount of time.
It was understandable if she considered that, during those times, he hadn't been able to eat, drink, or enjoy anything.
'Well, if he likes it so much…'
Chae YeonJoo coughed.
'Should I also try to make it?'
It wasn't that she was interested in him, but when thinking about how much help he'd given her, maybe it wasn't a bad idea.
She hid her cheeks and looked at Han Seol-ah.
Clack-
KangWoo turned his head and picked up the bowl without caring about where she was looking.
First, he grabbed a long kimchi and put it into a rice bowl; then, he grabbed a piece of pork meat with a delicate balance of meat and fat and surrounded it with kimchi.
He scooped a large spoon of rice and put it into his mouth, and the sour taste of kimchi and pork juice spread through his mouth.
"Haa…!"
His body trembled in excitement.
After repeating the process several times, he put a bowl of rice in the kimchi stew.
He only put some of the rice in the kimchi stew. He took a spoon of rice, placed kimchi and meat on it, and ate it.
A satisfying taste spread through his mouth.
If you take a spoonful of rice, cover it in water, and then eat it along with kimchi stew, it catches the sour taste of kimchi and creates a unique flavor.
"Haa… Thanks for the food."
"You’re probably tired from all the battle preparations, so I prepared more food than usual."
"Thank you, ah. I'm going to clean out the food."
After cleaning his plate, KangWoo washed the dishes and then stood up.
"Oh, Seol-ah, Can you prepare more kimchi stew? A lot more… Enough for about 100 people."
"Are you going to eat all of it…?"
"No. I want to take it to someone."
Han Seol-ah tilted her head and prepared more kimchi stew with help from KangWoo, Echidna, and Kim ShiHoon.
KangWoo had stockpiled a lot of ingredients, so they had enough ingredients necessary to prepare kimchi stew.
He then took the completed kimchi stew and put it in a giant box and used temperature-controlling magic to regulate the temperature of the kimchi stew.
"I'll be going."
He went to the angel base, separate from the Guardian base, with enough kimchi stew to feed over a hundred people.
The Light Watchers had quite harsh looks on their faces.
It seemed like they'd also found a way to protect themselves against the weather, so it wasn't that they were upset because of that.
There was probably only one thing that could make them look so upset…
'As expected.'
KangWoo looked around and saw that the Light Watchers were eating some unknown soup.
The angels were each taking care of their weapons and talking about the war against the demons that would soon take place.
"What brings you here?"
An angel with six wings walked toward him.
The armor he wore was more luxurious than what the other angels had. Not only that, but he had more wings than the others as well.
The light shining from him was also on another level.
"I'm Mr. Raphael's loyal subordinate, Shargiel."
The angel with short, silver hair introduced himself.
Shargiel's expression wasn’t a very kind one.
It wasn't just Shargiel, all the other Light Watchers and angels were giving him a similar look.
Although they'd decided to form an alliance at Raphael's command, they still had animosity toward Guardian.
'This can make things troublesome.'
The battle against the Demon Cult was going to take place soon, and animosity between allied factions could pose a problem.
If they had further conflict that gave birth to or intensified their distrust…
* * *
'I won’t be able to use them as I want.'
The role the angels had in the war was very important.
The tips of KangWoo's mouth went up.
'Is he Raphael's right-hand man?'
That seemed to be the case.
KangWoo put down the giant box of kimchi stew.
"That's…"
"Kimchi stew."
"Kimchi stew?"
Shargiel frowned in confusion.
"I've been taking some glances at the angels and Light Watchers over the past few days… and it seemed like they needed this."
"It's okay. We don't need food."
"Of course, that might be the case for angels…" he said firmly.
KangWoo raised his hand and pointed to the Light Watchers.
"But can't you see how exhausted they look? Why do you think that is?"
"It’s probably because they feel sadness and anger at Ludwig’s death…"
"Of course, that's probably one of the reasons, but the biggest reason is probably…"
He opened the box’s lid.
The Light Watchers who smelled the kimchi stew suddenly had a new light in their eyes.
Shargiel exclaimed in surprise.
"Ah…"
"Humans need something to eat."
"We know that. That's why we prepared—"
"What they’re eating couldn’t even be called military rations."
Shargiel closed his mouth at KangWoo's and made a troubled expression as if he couldn't understand KangWoo's words.
KangWoo clicked his tongue.
'I knew it.'
Just like demons, angels had a body that didn't require food.
Thanks to that, they didn't understand how important food was to humans.
It was obvious.
Just like humans couldn't understand the sensation of flapping wings, angels couldn't understand the 'desire' to eat food.
They couldn't understand how important taste was to people.
There was no way a human could be satisfied by cheap oatmeal.
If that were enough, the concept of cooking and preparing food would've never been born.
Humans subconsciously craved delicious food.
'But…'
The Light Watchers in Raphael's camp were apostles that served angels, and the hierarchy was clearly defined—there was no way a private could complain to a sergeant about the army's food.
The Light Watchers were silent about that; naturally, it was slowly exhausting them.
'I wonder how they usually spend their days.'
When the Light Watchers arrived on Earth, they looked normal.
That was probably because, on Ernor, they could get delicious and nutritious foods without considering the angels.
With their arrival on a foreign world, their food supply had vanished.
"…"
Shargiel remained silent.
He seemed surprised and confused and quickly turned his head to look at the priests.
They hurriedly spoke.
"N-no!'
"Oatmeal is more than enough!"
"How could we lust over food as beings that serve the light?"
Although everyone denied it, it was clear that they were just giving excuses.
"I see. It seems we haven't taken good care of the Light Watchers."
Shargiel nodded.
After hearing his answer, the Light Watchers walked toward KangWoo.
"You. How dare you make such accusations!"
"We're beings that serve the light. We don't need food from a world like this—"
Clack-
As they walked toward him to complain, KangWoo wafted the scent of kimchi stew toward them with the lid.
A delicious smell spread over the apostles.
"W-we don't n…"
Their expressions hardened.
"Everyone…"
KangWoo smiled brightly.
"You can eat as much as you want. Even Mr. Shargiel said the angels couldn't take good care of your needs, right?"
"W-we cannot…"
"A soup as red as blood… We cannot eat something like this!" the apostles shouted.
"Don't be like that. Give it a try," KangWoo said in a cordial voice.
"Ugh…"
"You can always try it and then make a decision, right?"
His words were as sweet and tempting as a demon’s, but the Apostles couldn't reject them.
After all, they hadn't been able to eat a proper meal since their arrival on Earth almost a month prior.
"…"
The apostles looked at each other; then one finally took a step forward.
He grabbed a spoon and tried some rice and kimchi stew.
"A-Ahhh!!"
His eyes widened.
"T-to think there's food… a-as delicious as this!!"
The apostle trembled in excitement.
Although it was true that Han Seol-ah's cooking skills were great, they weren't enough for someone to react like that.
Rather than the stew being that good, it was more that their situation was that dire.
They hadn't been able to eat proper food in over a month thanks to the angels, so anything would've tasted great to them.
"It's an Earth food called kimchi stew."
"Ooh!!
"Kimchi stew…!"
The apostles quickly began devouring the kimchi stew.
As their empty stomachs began filling, the looks in their eyes started to change.
"Ehem…"
"We're partners who are going to fight against demons together… We're really sorry."
Instead of their previous resentment, their eyes were full of trust and confidence toward KangWoo and Guardian.
"Hmm."
"Just what kind of food is that…?"
Even angels began wondering about the kimchi stew and started trying it.
Their taste buds were weak, but they still reacted to the spicy taste of the kimchi stew, so they felt surprised.
"We'll provide you with food until the war breaks out in earnest."
"Ah…"
Shargiel’s face reddened, he was also eating the kimchi stew out of curiosity.
"Thank you. It seems like… I was mistaken about Guardian."
Their animosity started to melt down.
KangWoo smiled while looking at the angels and apostles.
'As expected. To gain someone’s trust…'
‘There's nothing like kimchi stew.’
KangWoo nodded while making a proud expression.
