chapter 126

The Painter Who Draws Dungeons - Episode 126

From long ago, meat boiled or steamed with liquor could never taste bad.

“The sharp fragrance of the liquor wipes away the gamey smell of the meat, and the gentle heat softens the tough texture.”

He even had the perfect ingredient.

“So...”

Candy Trap Tree

A tree whose lower trunk swells out like a round candy.

It is hermaphroditic; the leaves are on the outside, but the fruit grows on the inside of the swollen pillar.

If you do not take out the fruit of the Candy Trap Tree in time, which has a strong sweet-bitter taste, it begins to rot inside, and depending on various conditions, this fruit mixes with the tree’s sap and becomes vinegar, juice, or fruit wine.

“Right, this.”

Gio took out a not-large ceramic jar from the basket Dana had in her mouth.

When Dana, who had run an errand to the ice storage, spat the basket out—ptui—Argio put a chunk of Golden Tread Sheep meat into that mouth.

Dana, an omnivorous cat who wasn’t picky, did not refuse raw meat.

Unlike an ordinary cat, Dana the anti-cat, whose teeth were packed in a single dense row, enjoyed the chunk neatly.

“Ryu-jon?”

“Good girl.”

She’s been growing day by day lately; he hoped she’d eat a lot and grow big like a pig.

Then he’d have to do five times more belly-pats than he would have for one.

Gio felt pleased.

“The good thing about this Candy Trap Tree is that the degree of aging differs from tree to tree.

Maybe because of that, the taste differs a little too.

This one... the tree’s scent is definitely rich.”

The heavy weight unique to liquor that makes the tongue burn the moment it touches was intense, and the plant’s distinctive bitter astringency, like it was rolling round and round inside the mouth.

With even the Candy Trap Tree’s own scent added, it gave off a smoky feel somewhere.

As expected, this liquor was delicious even if you drank it as is.

To the point he thought people who really enjoy liquor wouldn’t be able to understand using this in cooking at all.

“There wasn’t liquor made by nature like this even in the Avilas rainforest.”

“...”

“Honey, would you like to taste it once?”

“Gururur.”

“It’s nice to see that every one of my kids eats well.

You’ll grow up big.”

Gio was going to pour some fruit wine into a small plate, but Honey didn’t care and forced her way into the narrow mouth of the ceramic jar.

Watching quietly to see how far she’d go, before long Honey’s squishy face popped back out with a plop.

“...”

“...”

The waterbird, slightly caught on the mouth, tilted its head.

“B-koong?”

“Oh dear.”

“...Koong-koong-koong...”

“Guess it didn’t taste good, huh?”

“Gururuk.”

“They say there are people it suits and people it doesn’t.

It might have been too soon for a child.”

“Koong...”

“Do you want to try enjoying it?”

Argio, who enjoyed liquor as much as a bloody battle, willingly offered advice.

“There are a few ways to enjoy fruit wine.

You can hold it in your mouth and feel its weight and texture, or analyze the plant’s unique astringency, or else appreciate the fragrance the fruit itself holds, or the fragrance afterward.”

“Guruk.”

“It will be hard for a child like you to enjoy liquor yet.

I’ve been especially fond of these textures and fragrances since I was young, so I kept liquor close, but if it truly doesn’t suit you, there’s also the method of using it in cooking.

Just in time, we didn’t hit the perfect liquor.”

Whether it was the choice of a cat with a keen sense of smell, or whether she simply brought the most visible one.

Among the fruit wines he’d been gathering whenever he was bored, Dana brought the one that went best with meat.

“With ordinary liquor, during cooking, the fragrance and taste almost get wiped away, but the liquor here has something special, so it likely won’t be like that.

The meat stew we’re making this time will be quite delicious.”

Gio had always found it a shame that when he cooked with liquor, through boiling and stir-frying the taste and aroma almost all flew away.

But the things born in this forest did not vanish so easily.

“You could say their vitality is strong.”

“Gururur?”

“Yes, like you.”

After kneading his son as if stroking him on the shoulder, Gio soon turned toward the teddy bear.

“So...”

“...”

“Why is our father staying so far away?”

“Coo...”

“Does the son who has become new feel that unfamiliar to you?”

Gio’s hair, which had been a deep red like wine, faded, then became platinum blond.

“Then how is it now?”

“...Coo.”

“Yes, it’s the same person.

There’s no difference at all.”

“Coo-coo-coo.”

The traditional god who had once ruled a dimension laughed and clapped.

It wasn’t a situation that particularly called for clapping, but there was no one here who would point that out.

Giovanni smiled, hugged his father once, then stood again.

“Hm.”

His hair turned deep red again.

“But if it’s like this, I worry about our mermaid siblings’ reaction.”

“Coo?”

“That’s right, it will soon be time for those children to come.

Good grief...”

Argio laughed.

“This’ll be fun.”

It was going to be a very enjoyable meal.

* * *

“...”

“So our princess has come.”

“Damn it.”

Mermaid Princess Aria stabbed both her eyes.

“My Gio has had impurities added to him.”

Aria pouted, blood streaming from her eyes.

It looked just like a child crying, and Argio burst out laughing.

As he coaxed Aria, who wasn’t coming down from the second floor, to the dining table, he bantered.

“If you call it an impurity, doesn’t this teacher’s heart hurt too much?”

“How did an identity that isn’t even like Giovanni get in here?

Weren’t only ‘Gios’ with similar nature gathered?”

“My, my student.

My disciple.

In the end, why won’t you recognize that we are all the same Gio?”

“I do recognize it.”

Aria, whose eyeballs had already recovered, clicked her tongue and looked at Argio’s vivid golden eyes.

They brought to mind not a peaceful sea with sunlight settling on it, but a gold nugget that was only cold, smeared with blood.

Even so, inside them was a familiar affection.

A love she could never forget even once, that could not be confused.

“...That gaze can’t be imitated.”

“How honest.”

“You also know that in the end you are my teacher.”

That was not a lie.

“I can’t say I didn’t expect it would become like this someday.”

The ‘Gios’ of this portrait were diverse.

In truth, even just Seo Gio and Giovanni had many differences.

First of all, their ages were different, and though you couldn’t see well because of the clothes, their builds were different too.

Their bone structure and coloring were different, and even the expressions they could make and the kinds of them were different.

So even if now an even more bright-red Gio was added, it wasn’t strange.

Then his teacher asked.

“Then?”

“...”

Before sitting at the table, Aria carefully took the hand of Giovanni, who had escorted her.

“Gio.”

It was a soft voice.

“I want to share a meal with you.”

“...I do as well.”

Giovanni, too, gave the same smile as always.

“This time I came up with quite a decent recipe, so I want to brag about it.”

“Then why did you have that face if you only wanted to brag about the recipe?”

“It seems she doesn’t like Argio’s face.

I thought I should explain...”

“...Haa...”

Staring quietly at Giovanni’s awkward smile, Aria let out a small sigh and said,

“You could explain well enough with words.”

“But is there any explanation more certain than showing it?”

“You’ve got a shameless side.”

Only then did Aria sit in the seat Gio guided her to.

“This is what you newly made this time?”

“Yes.

The fragrance is very good, isn’t it?”

“It smells faintly of liquor—it seems like it’ll be a delicacy.”

“I don’t think it will be bad.”

Gio, now back to black hair, sat across from her.

As if familiar, Honey and Dana climbed onto the table, and the teddy bear with the sun god inside took its seat in its own chair.

And...

“...”

Aria looked around.

“What are those waterbirds?”

“They’re just watching in case there’s something they can take.”

“Why would there be something to take.”

“It seems it’s because of the children who gathered the golden wool, which is part of the sheep, earlier.”

“Golden wool?”

“It’s the hide of the meat placed in front of Aria right now.”

“Ah-ha...”

Aria nodded as she looked at the waterbirds by the window watching them with sparkling eyes.

“Now, of all things, even a golden sheep is showing up—what a time.”

“It’s not an existence our hometown had.”

“If we’d had something like that, we could’ve turned humans’ eyes that way.”

“It was wool beautiful enough that an ordinary person couldn’t resist their greed.”

“So it’s better not to bring it outside.

Well, that’s also my extremely personal greed.”

The mermaid still could not trust humans.

“Teacher has no wariness in strange places, so it worries me.”

“Aria has grown into a truly excellent adult.”

Gio admired his disciple’s 모습 of looking out for him.

Even while he was in the state of black-haired Seo Gio, he naturally wore Giovanni’s smile.

It was thanks to having fully synchronized.

“In the past, you were really prickly and hot-blooded.”

“Oh... just how old a story are you going to bring up?”

But Aria acknowledged that part too.

“I know I had many lacking parts back then.”

The Aria who had just been born into the world had sensitive and prickly parts.

She doubted everything that approached, found it difficult to acknowledge someone at all, and felt irritation and disgust at everything that obstructed her.

“Compared to that childhood, I’ve become much gentler, too.”

“Honestly, I don’t think you’re all that different even now.”

“Hah, it’s only because it’s in front of you, Teacher, that I can be comfortable.”

“Suddenly, such a moving story?”

“I didn’t bring it up for you to be moved, though.”

Aria didn’t even look at the meal and only fiddled with the glass of water.

“Who else could I be this honest in front of?

Even in front of my younger brother Iser, I couldn’t be—I had to lead him.”

“...”

“I’ve become quite seasoned.

I’ve become skilled, and regardless of whether I like or dislike, I learned to smile in front of any target.

Just as you told me, Teacher, it helped greatly in interacting.”

She looked at Gio with pearl-colored eyes.

“Is this ‘growth’ you like?”

“It could be, and it could not be.

What I like isn’t what’s important, either.”

“You’re still a vague person.”

When Aria deliberately sighed, Gio laughed softly.

A small, gentle laugh toward his cute student.

“So you don’t intend to eat?”

“When I think it’s a meal made by some unknown loafer, my stomach twists on its own.”

“That unknown loafer could be your teacher, too.”

“It’s because it’s certain he’s my teacher that it becomes even stranger.

In an instant like this...”

It felt really strange.

“...”

But it was only that she wasn’t used to it; it wasn’t to the point she wanted to refuse it.

“...Like I said earlier, the fragrance is good, at least.”

“It’s thanks to the liquor’s scent, newly used this time, remaining intact.”

“The meat is very tender.”

“I boiled it once, then grilled it, and after steaming it, I put the sauce on.”

“I don’t know why cooking is so cumbersome.”

And the more cumbersome, the more delicious the dish.

“You said you put the sauce on separately, so is it different from making stew?”

“It will certainly be different—because of that, don’t you feel the meat’s flavor better?”

“You said it’s golden sheep meat?

Yes, it’s quite a delicacy.”

The flesh, a deep black like squid ink, cuts softly when you chew, and yields its grain readily when you tear it.

But the distinct plump, bouncy chewiness added a springy bite, giving pleasure in chewing.

In particular, the fragrance you could feel from the meat itself was very impressive.

The scent that rose sharply along the tongue resembled spices like garlic or onion.

The greasy richness and savory taste of the meat’s fat that welled up with the juices was beyond words.

“Somehow, whenever I’m with Teacher, I feel like I’ve become a gourmet even without intending to.”

“I will take that as praise.”

“You end up eating while thinking.”

“Then it really was praise.”

“There’s no one like you, Gio, for thinking however you want.”

The sauce was quite good, too.

“My tongue stings a little.”

“I didn’t add spicy seasonings, but it’s probably because the liquor we used this time is strong.”

“Normally, doesn’t all the alcohol fly off in the cooking process?”

“The alcohol itself has died down a lot, but perhaps it’s the effect of the fragrance remaining intact.”

“To be this strong with fragrance alone—I can’t understand it.”

“Mermaids especially can’t eat strongly stimulating things well.”

“No...”

Aria muttered inwardly.

‘Isn’t it a miracle in itself that someone like me can feel it like this?’

Aria had built power to the point she was close to a wicked god.

There was no way Aria, who had ‘grown’ over long years, could be the same as an ordinary mermaid.

And yet, for her to be able to enjoy Gio’s cooking like she had become an ordinary person.

‘Did he change the cooking to match my rank?’

Or else.

‘Is it that anyone can enjoy Gio’s cooking as he intends.’

Aria thought it was probably the latter.

Hadn’t Gio made even the sun god, who had no appetite itself, wait for his cooking?

It truly was a strangely tremendous ability.

Because he simply wanted to share his cooking with everyone, he made it so.

Whether the other party was a monster that had surpassed a mermaid’s limits, or a teddy bear who had once been blind because it was a god, and so on.

“...”

Aria asked.

“...Is there no bread on the side?”

“I have some made ahead—would you like it?”

“The sauce is pretty good, so I want to dip it.”

“Then I’ll toast it for you quickly.”

Gio stood up and put the bread he had baked ahead of time into the oven.

A golden waterbird flew over and perched on the shoulder of the black cloak, to see if there was something it wanted to eat too.

The waterbirds that had been sitting by the window also approached, making a sound like splashing water, and a big human hand stroked his small children.

“Yes, the aroma as it toasts is good, isn’t it?”

“Gururuk.”

“Wait just a little longer.”

The crackle of firewood burning, the scent of bread that had already been baked turning even more golden-brown, the warm heat that spread out from it, and the clatter of the teddy bear’s dishes...

“...”

Aria recognized all of it.

Fantasy, Modern,