chapter 99

The Painter Who Draws Dungeons - Episode 99

This is a world where even human lives are treated as resources.

Even if an evil element that sullies society’s waters was dragged away by something that was neither a monster nor anything else, no one sincerely worried about the missing person.

They were simply curious.

“Do you think he’s dead by now?”

“What time did the information-processing team confirm the disappearance?”

“Around 4 p.m. on the 22nd.”

“Today is the 24th.

About two days have passed, so... it’d be reasonable to count him as dead.”

“If so, it’ll be worth paying attention to how he was killed.”

“He might not have killed him and just made him a toy.”

“Since it’s evaluated as having considerable intelligence, that possibility exists as well.”

Because they had not identified the Black Cloak’s exact identity, the Association employees had no choice but to predict and judge him by likening him to a humanoid monster.

And when you consider how a humanoid monster would treat a human who broke its rules, harsh speculation naturally follows.

“If it simply killed him cleanly, I think we can reconsider the meaning of ‘punishment.’

Doesn’t that mean there’s no personal feeling involved?”

“It could have been the intent of ‘tidying up’ rather than ‘punishment.’

Wanting to remove a human who broke its rules from in front of one’s eyes is a natural thing, so you can’t say there’s no personal feeling involved.”

“We’ll have to know the outcome for sure to adjust the response grade for the ‘Black Cloak’...

And there was also the advice of Hunter Yoo Seong-woon, the former research team leader.”

When the Black Cloak met a polite and good person and showed goodwill, that wasn’t so important.

For the Association, which had to consider all kinds of dangerous variables, what mattered was how this thing—whether monster or not—would harm humans.

“Is there no way to determine the missing person’s location?”

“According to the witness’s testimony, he was not carrying a location-tracking device.”

“Even if he had such an item, there’s no guarantee it would have worked.”

“Still, it isn’t enough to simply process it as missing and wrap up the agenda.”

“Is there no method to summon the ‘Black Cloak’ separately?”

“We have not been able to find information on that yet.”

Amid the orderly commotion, the Association chairman opened his mouth.

“Let’s request cooperation from the three major guilds.”

“...All three major guilds?”

“Yes. Please contact each guildmaster.”

“Understood.”

Only the executives gathered here knew that the ‘Black Cloak’s’ other name was ‘Gio’s Portrait.’

The one who bought it at auction was none other than the Collector Visabel.

The guildmaster of the Collectors’ guild.

So, asking the three major guilds for cooperation here was no different from requesting that they directly ask the Black Cloak about the outcome related to Hunter Park Eun-gyeom’s disappearance incident.

Visabel—or ‘Gio’s Portrait’—might be displeased by such a direct and naked request, but...

“As long as we show only the intent not to touch the work, the Collector will provide sufficient help. We cannot know the Black Cloak’s reaction, but the Collector’s curators will manage and assess the situation directly, so if things truly become dangerous, they will restrain themselves.”

Above all, judging by the direction the Collector was moving, the curator currently in charge of ‘Gio’s Portrait’ was highly likely to be Gardener Yoo Seong-woon.

He was a very serious person in dealing with an existence of the source, so either way there was nothing to lose by trying.

“We’ll conclude this agenda here.”

“Yes, Chairman.”

“Then the next agenda is...”

The Association was always busy.

So receiving help from friends was, at times, necessary.

* * *

Meanwhile, in the peaceful cabin inside the portrait.

“Today’s content is.”

Gio declared.

“We’ve decided on gambas.”

“Gururururuk.”

Honey cried out in delight.

“Guruk, kuuk, gurururururur.”

“Calm down, son—gambas won’t fly in like you just because you rush it.”

Even if the name ‘Black Cloak’ had spread widely in the world—especially in Korea—Gio knew nothing about the detailed circumstances.

The owner of an ultimate positive mindset who accepted a life inside a portrait because he didn’t want to pay rent was, today as well, simply pondering a peaceful meal.

“First, I did say gambas, but... hmm.”

As an excellent gourmet and a big eater, Seo Gio’s greatest content in life was deciding what to eat.

Living in a dream cabin rich in time, stamina, and capital, Gio freely spent his body and mind preparing meals.

“Gambas al ajillo is the original proper name.”

“Gur?”

“Gambas is shrimp, ajillo is garlic.”

“Gurur...?”

“Right. Literally translated, it’s shrimp garlic stir-fry.”

In truth, even though he said he’d make “gambas,” what Gio would make today would be nothing like the original.

“To begin with, there won’t even be shrimp.”

If there was any common point at all, it was only that he would use bitterly fragrant olive oil and plump garlic.

But the method would be quite similar, so Gio decided not to bother changing what he called it.

“Honey, you remember the cudgel trumpet we saw last time, right?

If you go to the storage room, there are cudgel trumpets Dad cleaned up.”

“Guruk.”

“Go down with Dana and scoop up as much as you want, including for Dad and Grandpa.

And if there’s anything you want in the storage room, bring that up too.”

“Gurururur.”

Honey nodded fiercely, then fluttered over and sat atop Dana’s head.

A spring breeze drifted in, and Dana, who had been lying sprawled on the subtly warm floor like a cat that had spilled, flailed her two front paws.

“Gur.”

“...Myaaang...”

Streeetch—.

Rising from her spot and arching her back in a long stretch, Dana began to trot off.

With the small basket made to fit Dana’s body clenched in her mouth, the two children vanished, and Gio nodded.

“They’re close.”

“Coo?”

The sun god asked if it was all right for Dana to go into the icy storage room, but Gio shook his head.

“Dana isn’t family I drew, so she might be affected by this forest, but perhaps because her body is very cold and, strictly speaking, she isn’t an ordinary living creature, there was no problem even when she went to the ice storage room.

Unless she goes somewhere dangerous, she won’t get sick just because it’s cold.”

Having soothed the elder of the house, Gio thought to himself.

‘He’s particularly mindful of Dana.’

Gio understood that feeling.

Honey would come on her own to receive today’s share of attention and affection, but if you left Dana alone, there were times you couldn’t even tell where she was.

‘She doesn’t even cry unless it’s mealtime...’

When she wasn’t thinking about food, she even vanished entirely, so it seemed she was causing the sun god a great deal of worry.

She was a child who had survived well even in that barren ‘Gem Vein,’ so it didn’t seem likely something serious would happen, but in any case, if Grandpa felt that way, it was something Gio could respect fully.

“Then, for now, I’ll...”

Seafood turns tough if you heat it too long.

The cudgel trumpets Honey and Dana would bring were to be added near the end, so Gio could just work on the rest in the meantime.

“Since Honey and Father don’t particularly enjoy spicy food, I’ll add spices in moderation.”

“Coo, coo.”

“Yes, I’ll adjust it well so you can enjoy only the aroma, so you don’t need to worry too much.”

“Coo...”

“Certainly, in Giovanni’s world, spicy food wasn’t that common.

It must feel unfamiliar.”

Gio poured olive oil generously into a shallow, wide square pan.

“But in Edlen Village, spicy food was quite developed.”

“Coo?”

“I also found it strange.

Usually, in a coastal village where you can often get fresh seafood, they don’t use spicy seasonings much...”

Basically, seasonings existed not only to enrich aroma, but also to cover unpleasant smells in ingredients.

Using strongly stimulating chili powder to mask the gamey smell of meat or the fishy odor of seafood was common even on Earth.

“Still, it was a hot and humid climate.

The temperature difference between seasons was large too.

It’s an environment where ingredients spoil easily, so perhaps they extended preservation time with spiciness... or aimed for a sterilizing effect.”

Above all, Edlen Village’s specialties were shellfish like cudgel trumpet, but among the neighboring villages there was a region where spices were the specialty.

Since it was easy to obtain such spices, it might have been an environment well-suited in many ways for spicy food to develop.

“One of Edlen Village’s representative foods was spicy fried fish.

It was a menu often sold at taverns, and if you asked, they’d add dried bread so you could dip it in the red oil and eat it.”

“Coo-oo...?”

“It was spicy, but thanks to the unique aroma of tomatoes and the savory oil of the fish, it went especially well with bread.

The fish used there was particularly salty, oily, and plump, and the oil that flowed out of it was truly intoxicating.”

“Coo...”

“Now that I think about it, if we could have added pasta noodles, that might have been good in its own way too.”

Reviving that memory a little, the gambas he would make this time would also be served with bread and noodles.

“For bread, we have the ciabatta and baguette I made last time, and it’d be good to lightly toast both once in the oven.

Which do you like more, olive ciabatta or cheese ciabatta?

There’s also a baguette baked with dried tomatoes in it.”

“Coo-coo-coo-coo...”

“Yes, very wise.

As Father says, I’ll set out a little of everything.

Dana aside, Honey resembles me and is quite the big eater, so we’ll be able to enjoy it without leaving leftovers.

It’s a good thing I toasted the bread ahead of time.”

Knowing Gio’s strong interest in cooking, Yoo Seong-woon would often give him ingredients as gifts.

They included unusual flour or vegetables that could only be purchased in the current world, and Gio, with a happy heart, accepted Yoo Seong-woon’s kindness.

‘I should treat him like an older brother and serve him.’

He had the ease of an adult, he was capable, his temperament was mild, and he even had good sociability.

To survive in this hellish Korea, Gio made up his mind once again today to cling faithfully to Yoo Seong-woon.

“Ah, it would also be good to put cream cheese and smoked salmon on the baguette...”

Even if it wasn’t salmon, laying thin-sliced sausage or ham on top was also an incredible combination.

Gio brought out dried fish jerky from ‘The Breathing Sea’ that was hanging in the yard and sliced it thin and wide.

“Good—it's dried well.”

“Coo-coo.”

“Then I’ll leave the bread preparation to Father.”

He sliced the garlic he had prepped earlier—not too thin—and poured it straight onto the pan that still hadn’t heated up.

The teddy bear, slicing a baguette dotted here and there with sun-dried tomatoes, turned to Gio at the sound of something rushing down.

“Coo?”

“Yes?

There’s no problem at all.”

“...Coo?”

“Garlic has to go in about this much for it to be normal.”

“...”

The teddy bear soon resumed slicing the baguette as if it had given up.

Since it was a doll with fingers in its own way, it looked like it could just barely handle knife work.

Reassured, Gio continued the gambas cooking.

‘You have to put the garlic in from low heat so the garlic aroma infuses well into the oil.’

If there was something to be careful about, it was that if you left garlic in olive oil too long, it would burn.

But the garlic grown in this cabin forest was particularly firm and large, so even if you left it long enough to draw out aroma, it didn’t seem like an unfortunate accident of suddenly scorching would happen.

“And then...”

Gio took out the dried Milky Way Mary.

“Where’s the mortar...”

“Coo-oo.”

“Ah, I see.

Thank you for telling me.”

Thanks to the sun god’s guidance, he was able to pull out the mortar he had stuffed into the cupboard.

Well-dried in the sun, Milky Way Mary glittered black and transparent, but the grains were so hard he couldn’t crush them by hand.

Scrrk, skrk.

“...”

A spicy, sharp aroma rose.

‘It really is similar to pepper.’

Should he call it pepper holding a faint hint of chili’s aroma?

‘Since it isn’t that spicy even if you add a lot, should I add a bit generously?’

Pepper’s aroma was highly volatile, so if you left it ground for too long, the aroma faded.

But Milky Way Mary, without any such issue, retained that intense aroma for a long time, so even if he added it to the olive oil now, it would be fine.

“Pepper is in too...”

Next was Weeping Fringe.

“I’ll add only a little of this.”

“...”

“If the spicy aroma is too weak, it’ll be greasy and you won’t be able to eat much.”

“...Coo-oo...”

“Trust this son.”

When making dishes loaded with oil like this, dried spices were preferable.

If moisture went into hot oil, it created an eco-friendly, high-performance bomb.

‘And for this day, I dried Weeping Fringe in advance.’

Weeping Fringe, if dried in sunlight for more than a month, turns pink and becomes extremely sweet.

But instead of drying it in sunlight, Gio lightly dried it indoors on a weakly heated pan, like toasting dried squid—rather, the spicy aroma became stronger.

‘Its color is still turquoise, so it’s noticeably different from chili powder, but...’

Still, the aroma was roughly similar.

‘And the sweet scent that used to make the aroma overly complicated has faded a lot too.’

Weeping Fringe dried crisp over heat was crumbly like thin turquoise hanji paper, and the edges were wrinkled and crinkled like lace.

Once pieces of Weeping Fringe of an appropriate size went in, the spicy aroma that had remained calm even with Milky Way Mary suddenly flared.

“This is it.”

“Coo.”

“...”

Gio, who had unknowingly clenched his fist tight, lowered his arm.

“...It won’t be very spicy.”

Really.

Because of the suspicious stare that wouldn’t go away, he tried a taste as the royal taster just in case, but as expected, it wasn’t that spicy.

Even Seo Gio, who didn’t have some tremendous tolerance for spiciness, found it fine, so even if the teddy bear—who looked gentle from the start—tasted it, it didn’t seem like there would be a big problem.

“Truly.”

“...”

“If Father doesn’t trust his son, who will trust me?”

“Coo.”

“Trust abuse? This is exactly what trust is for.”

Unfortunately, a spice-weakling’s suspicion isn’t something you can easily break.

The adults who hadn’t eaten their years for nothing continued a strange standoff until Honey and Dana returned.

Fantasy, Modern,