TCBMF 10

Chapter 10

The mercenaries who had arrived as intruders were now becoming genuine customers, all of them focused on even the slightest movement of Se-hee’s hands.

Watching this, Se-hee suddenly realized something.

This forest is attracting more people than I thought.

She instinctively felt that this wasn’t going to end after just one day.

But that was something she could think about later.

There was only one thing that mattered right now.

Teaching them how to cook ramen.

Se-hee put the pot over the fire and said,

“Fill it with about this much water.”

“Yes…….”

“Is this enough?”

The mercenaries tilted their pots, following every single gesture Se-hee made.

Hands that would normally grip sword hilts and roam battlefields were now being incredibly careful as they tried to get the water level just right.

“Don’t make the fire too strong. If it boils over, I’m not responsible.”

At those words, the mercenaries hurriedly pulled out some branches and weakened the flames.

As they widened the gaps between the firewood, the flames quickly died down.

“That should do it.”

Se-hee nodded and turned her attention back to the pots.

She put the noodles into the boiling water, drained the water at just the right moment, then squeezed in the dark red sauce without mercy.

The spicy, intense aroma drifted through the air and brushed against the mercenaries’ noses.

Vargas was the first to cautiously pick up his chopsticks.

He stared at the tips for a long time before looking back down at his bowl.

His expression clearly said he had absolutely no idea how to hold two thin sticks.

One of the men watching from beside him swallowed hard.

“Captain, are those…… weapons?”

Vargas thought for a moment, then tightened his grip on the chopsticks.

The two sticks crossed awkwardly and made a click.

Se-hee raised her head at the thin sound.

“Ah.”

She immediately understood the situation.

“You’re not supposed to hold them like that.”

Se-hee picked up her own chopsticks and slowly demonstrated.

“Like this. Keep one still and move only the other one. Think of them like tongs.”

Vargas nodded with a serious expression.

Then he copied her.

The chopsticks bent in the wrong direction and jabbed against the edge of the bowl.

Se-hee watched him for a moment, then silently turned away.

Hmm…… he’ll figure it out.

Meanwhile, Vargas tightly gripped the chopsticks as if trying to preserve the dignity of a mercenary captain.

Then he rolled up a large bite and shoved it into his mouth.

“……!”

Vargas’s face instantly turned purple.

He began rolling around on the ground, screaming.

He flailed his hands in the air as if trying to grab his own tongue, while tears poured from his eyes like a waterfall.

“Vargas! Get a hold of yourself! What happened?!”

The men beside him tried to help him in shock, but Vargas had already lost his senses and was heading toward the faucet.

He slammed his head against it, desperately trying to cool down the heat.

At the sight of his pitiful struggle, the mercenaries froze in fear, chopsticks still in their hands.

But the spicy aroma drifting through the air was strangely impossible to resist.

Despite their fear, the hungry mercenaries began putting noodles into their mouths one after another.

“Gah! This…… this isn’t food! My soul…… my soul feels like it’s burning!”

As if that shout were a signal, screams erupted from every direction.

“Water! I need water! No, ah—it’s getting even hotter!”

“Why are my eyes sweating?!”

One mercenary pounded his chest, while another kept holding onto the noodles even as tears streamed down his face.

“This is strange. It hurts so much, but I can’t stop.”

Someone gritted his teeth and nodded.

Just then, Vargas, who seemed to have finally cooled himself down, raised his face covered in tears and mucus.

Se-hee’s expression as she watched them was rather complicated.

Ah, I guess they put in too much sauce.

Se-hee watched the mercenaries’ reactions for a moment.

No wonder. The red sauce did look unusually dark.

To hide the business smile spreading across her lips, Se-hee deliberately spoke in a stern voice.

“All right, everyone, pull yourselves together and finish everything. Don’t leave any food behind. You’ll be punished for wasting food.”

“Yes! I will gladly endure this trial!”

“Understood!”

The moment Se-hee finished speaking, a collective gasp escaped the mercenaries.

Some swallowed their curses, while others squeezed their eyes shut.

Still, not a single person put down their chopsticks.

This is going pretty well, isn’t it?

The area in front of the tent was a complete mess.

Red sauce was smeared all over people’s faces and beards, while tears and mucus mixed together and dripped beneath their chins.

This is a completely different scene from earlier.

Just a little while ago, these men had come here brandishing weapons.

Now, they didn’t even seem to have the spare attention to remember that fact.

“Is it really that spicy?”

Instead of answering, Vargas tried to nod, only to lower his head again.

A tear dropped from his chin.

“Ha, haa……. It feels like my insides are on fire.”

Vargas couldn’t continue.

He tried to breathe in, but the air seemed unable to reach his lungs.

Se-hee tilted her head.

That’s strange. I just find it a little spicy.

“Hmm. I don’t think it’s that spicy.”

One of the mercenaries nearby raised his head at those words, only to lower it again immediately.

“That’s even scarier to hear.”

Se-hee didn’t ask any more questions.

She had a feeling that listening to the answer would only give her another headache.

Vargas, meanwhile, stared at Se-hee as if she were strange.

This is what she calls spicy?

It felt as if everything he knew about spicy food had just been denied.

Vargas had traveled all over the place as a mercenary, but he had never experienced anything this painful, like torture that burned his insides.

Through his tear-filled vision, he stared at Se-hee’s back.

Se-hee, naturally unaware of his gaze, simply turned and headed toward the tent as if nothing had happened.

She opened her Inventory and took out a two-liter drink.

When she poured it into a paper cup, the pink liquid glowed softly, as if it had absorbed the sunlight.

“Here.”

Se-hee held the cup out first to Vargas, who had been suffering the most.

“Drink this and pull yourself together.”

Vargas looked at Se-hee’s face before looking at the cup.

He couldn’t decide whether he should trust it in a situation like this.

After just eating noodles that felt like the fires of hell,

No way.

He was starting to suspect Se-hee a little.

“What…… is this?”

“It’s a drink. You’re supposed to have something to drink when you eat spicy food.”

Vargas’s eyes wavered faintly at her words.

His tongue and the roof of his mouth were still suffering from the burning pain.

“You don’t have to drink it.”

Se-hee shrugged.

“But then you can keep suffering.”

When Vargas continued to hesitate, Se-hee added,

“This normally costs money too, but you look like you’re having such a hard time that I’m giving it to you as a free service.”

Vargas didn’t hesitate any longer.

He gritted his teeth, grabbed the cup, and took a sip with an expression of near resignation.

“…….”

Vargas couldn’t move.

The moment the cold liquid touched his burning mouth, the pain surged once more.

But this time, it was different.

After the sting came an unbelievable sweetness.

A refreshing coolness wrapped around his tongue and instantly extinguished the heat that had been spreading like flames.

“Ugh…….”

Vargas’s shoulders shook violently.

And then.

“Aaaaaaaaaah—!”

This time, it wasn’t a scream of pain.

Vargas gripped the cup with both hands and dropped to his knees.

It looked as though his legs had simply given out.

Tears were still flowing from his eyes,

but his expression was completely different from before.

“This…… this can’t be real.”

Vargas shouted in a trembling voice.

“This isn’t just water. It’s holy water that purifies pain……!”

Several mercenaries looked at one another and began whispering.

“Captain?”

“What did he just say? Did anyone hear him properly?”

“No, I think he said something about purification.”

Vargas hugged the cup against his chest and raised his head.

His eyes went straight to Se-hee.

There was no trace of hostility left in them.

Instead, they were filled with awe, certainty, and an emotion that was difficult to describe.

“The pain is really gone.”

After forcing out those final words, Vargas immediately slammed his forehead against the ground without the slightest hesitation.