I’m Quitting Everything and Selling Cola

Chapter 134

Chapter 134. Turning Point (3)

After defecting from the post of Minister of Internal Affairs.

He had spent a considerable amount of time in Nortaris, yet his actual range of activity had not been particularly wide. Having devoted the vast majority of that time to the Culinary Revolution, it was unavoidable.

And then, for the first time, some free time had appeared. Cola and CCC had settled into a stable footing. The next step—Seasoned Ribs—was having its timing reconsidered in light of the disturbance the dark mage had caused, and Aiden had also taken on a share of the investigative duties.

In other words, it was something of an in-between period.

That said, he could not afford to be negligent when it came to dealing with the dark mages. He was not the sort of temperament to leave rubbish sitting right in front of him undisturbed.

As Aiden had said, now was precisely the time to make thorough use of the anonymity that came with being 'Jurgen.' And so he had set off with Aiden to explore the Labyrinth Demon Realm. With any luck, if they happened to open up a decent route in the process, it might prove useful to future ventures as well.

The outer reaches, where adventurers rarely set foot owing to poor profitability. Jurgen and Aiden began their search, checking Reward Rooms one by one.

Enclosed spaces, complex structures, vast uncharted territory. The ideal layout for dark mages to entrench themselves.

"It's been a while since I've done a search with you, sir……. Makes my skin crawl all over again."

"Oh, same here."

"By the way, that……what was his name again? Gilbert the viscount's estate—do we not need to go through it ourselves? The intelligence I brought in is so-so at best."

"There's no particular need."

"Why's that?"

The charity event was a gathering of the Northern nobles, and simultaneously an occasion to display their power and unity to the capital. The End Order had dropped a bomb right in the middle of it.

The furious Northern Noble Alliance would shake down everything connected to Viscount Gilbert—right down to the dust—before any personnel arrived from the capital or the Church.

"And precisely because of that, the End Order will have left no traces in return."

They leave behind conspicuous, grandiose remnants—signs of human sacrifice, traces of cruel sorcery.

When the sensational material draws the attention of the press, and everyone becomes fixated on seizing those gratuitously cruel traces, they slip away through an unexpected gap, composed as ever.

A tedious method.

"So what do we do?"

"Rather than catching a tail, we need to watch where the head is pointing. What they wanted, and why they carried out a stunt like that."

"Hm? Wasn't the attack itself aimed at the honoured guests? Or rather, it's pretty obvious, isn't it. I heard that Gilbert fellow was persistently clinging to Lady Vivian and Miss Penelope. Mad from a strange religion taking hold, probably."

"I'm not so sure."

Aiden's take was the common view of this incident. Logically, it was reasonable enough.

"But I have a gut feeling this is not a simple matter."

The public perception of the End Order was that they were madmen driven by frenzy.

That perception was largely correct. But occasionally, it went fatally off the mark.

Jurgen, who had cut down more dark mages on the front lines than anyone, had felt it. At times, their madness was cold, composed, and possessed a neat internal coherence.

He had a gut feeling that this incident was one of 'those' kinds. That if so, there would surely be a 'legitimate reason' he was missing.

"Well, if you say so, sir……. I'll look into it more carefully."

"Take care of yourself. The Northern nobles will not look upon you kindly."

"Come on, it's not like this is my first time doing something like this. I'll be fine."

"No—the relationship between the royal family and the North is at an all-time low, without precedent. They wouldn't go so far as to directly persecute an investigator dispatched by the royal family……. But you're a witness, aren't you? It could be dangerous."

"Sir……"

Aiden's eyes glistened with tears of deep emotion. Jurgen lightly sidestepped Aiden as he spread his arms to embrace him, then happened to glance around at his surroundings.

"Oh my, there's a Reward Room like this one too."

"So there is. Pine trees everywhere."

A deep, verdant coniferous forest carrying a fragrance familiar to any Korean. Magnificent pine trees stood in rows over fertile soil. Given the nature of the Demon Realm, free from pine wilt disease, they had grown in rampant abundance.

"Looking at it, this area is also barely touched by people. It's the 3rd Floor, but it's in an incredibly remote outer area, and there aren't many portals leading all the way out here either……. It seems the entirety of visitors amounts to a few wealthy people who come occasionally to dig up a few roots as ornaments."

"Hm, just a moment."

In front of Aiden, who was thinking nothing much of it, Jurgen began vigorously digging at the snow-covered earth.

"Sir, why are you suddenly digging? Is there a sign of a burrow?"

To Aiden's eye, it seemed a peculiar thing to do. Pine trees have comparatively sparse roots for broad-leaved trees, so they grip the soil firmly. If one were specifically trying to dig a tunnel, another location would be far better suited.

But Jurgen was not digging. He was merely clearing away the thick accumulated fallen leaves and decomposed granite soil.

"Oh, ohh……"

There, Jurgen discovered a treasure.

A mushroom regarded as a precious delicacy since at least before the Silla era. A delicacy that, even in his former life—when his profession had made enjoying fine food a matter of course—he had tasted only occasionally due to its outrageously expensive price.

Plump, generously sized Pine Mushroom Mushrooms had bloomed in countless numbers.

***

"And that is precisely this—Pine Mushroom."

Jurgen showed the cleaned Pine Mushroom to the group with a look of pride. He had trimmed the roots carefully, shaken off the soil, and then used Wind-type Alchemy to blow away the remaining earth cleanly.

"Teacher! Question!"

Brigitte raised her hand with a flourish.

"Go ahead."

"Why use wind to blow them off! Can't you just rinse them with water?"

"Dear, dear."

Even Brigitte, culinary prodigy that she was, had yet to conquer mushrooms, it seemed.

"It's to enjoy the Pine Mushroom's fragrance in full. Washing them away with water diminishes the distinctive flavour."

The problem was that without washing, one would also be consuming minute soil particles, insect eggs, bacteria and the like. Back in the day, on occasions when precious Pine Mushroom were obtained, one would simply shake off the soil and consume them together with antiparasitic medication……

Jurgen felt a new deep appreciation for the greatness of Britannian Alchemy.

"Is it really that delicious?"

"Goodness, Penelope. Every dish Hanbin—no, I mean Jurgen recommends is delicious."

"No, absolutely not."

Penelope shook her head firmly side to side.

Who was the closest companion who spent the most time with Jurgen? Penelope.

And as a result, Penelope had always been made use of as something of a launchpad for Jurgen's Culinary Revolution experiments.

In other words, what Serena had been eating was food that had cleared at least a minimum level of vetting.

"Sometimes he shows up with live squid and says 'this too is a delicacy,' you know?"

"Squid? That's a friend of the octopus, yes?"

Serena, who had been making a face as if to say 'Hmm, is that all?' suddenly shrieked.

"Now, now, such distrust."

Jurgen tore off a small piece of Pine Mushroom with a light pull. The mushroom—its flesh now exposed, torn cleanly along the grain—was dipped into sesame oil and salt sauce.

"Here, try some. My hands are clean."

"I'll try it first! Aaah!"

Brigitte, who would sooner die than come second in the spirit of culinary exploration, opened her mouth wide and received the mushroom.

"By the way, it'll upset your stomach if you eat too much of it raw just because it's delicious."

"Mm! Mmmm! Mm?! Mmmmmm……"

She chewed it with small, deliberate movements, and then her face took on an expression of mild bewilderment. She did swallow, but her expression was far from bright.

"How is it?"

"W-well, first the texture is a little……crunchy-crisp? A really strange and peculiar flavour? And there's all this pine-tree-like scent coming out."

"Pine Mushroom grow from pine roots, after all. That incomparable fragrance is precisely what makes it the Orient's truffle—a true delicacy."

"Hmmm……mmmm, I see."

Even to Brigitte's lukewarm response, Jurgen held his ground and pressed on.

"Serena, rock-paper-scissors—loser eats first?"

"Rock paper scissors! Eek! I lost!"

Next up was Serena, who had lost fair and square.

"Give me a small piece. A small one."

"I'm telling you it's delicious."

She chewed a tiny little piece, and then tilted her head repeatedly.

"Like Brigitte-yang said, it's just a mushroom with a really strong pine scent……? What is this……? What on earth is this……?"

It was too elusive to say whether it was delicious or not. After deliberating for quite some time, Serena delivered her verdict.

"Honestly……. I don't think I'd eat this without the sesame oil and salt sauce……"

"I-is that so?"

Jurgen was greatly taken aback. He had come rushing over with a beaming smile, thinking he had miraculously found a treasure.

Of course, just as opinions on truffle are divided, he knew that Westerners had mixed feelings about Pine Mushroom. The West rarely used mountain herbs as ingredients, and the pine scent itself was not something they recognised as a food flavour.

Still, he had harboured some hope—that members who had shared the journey of 'fine dining' together might think somewhat differently, and that from there he might find some path to improvement.

"Ah, n-no……! It's not that unpleasant!"

Serena, now acutely aware of the hierarchical order between them, made a desperate attempt to walk it back—but it was already too late. Even Brigitte, who would normally rush at any good food without being offered, had given a similarly middling reaction, and above all……

"Actually, I had drawn up a strategy to refine and serve this alongside the Ribs……"

"Ah, that's a bit……"

At the mention of 'commercialisation,' silence fell over everyone except Serena. Penelope had not tried it herself, but there were things one could tell without tasting.

"Hmm…… I suppose it can't be helped."

A pity. But well, it wasn't as though disappointment was a new sensation.

Of course, it was disheartening—to have found such a large quantity of Pine Mushroom, rarely seen at the best of times, in a place with no competition whatsoever where simply staking a claim first would open up an enormous market—only to hit a wall from the very start. And yet he had even sensed some genuine potential in it.

"Perhaps it was a little early."

But if this was enough to make him give up, he would never have attempted to bring about a Culinary Revolution in Britannia in the first place.

Only…… Penelope alone was clearly unsettled. If the atmosphere had been one of outright teasing it might be different, but with Jurgen looking deflated—she couldn't very well let it pass without even tasting it.

"Give me some too."

"There's really no need to eat it for the sake of it. I think I may have misjudged."

"No, it's fine. Give me some. It might be good."

Penelope plucked the Pine Mushroom from Jurgen's hand and popped it straight into her mouth. She chewed with her eyes shut tight, but……

"……It's not bad?"

The texture was unfamiliar, and the fragrance alien too, but it was not unpleasant. One could even go so far as to call it refined.

"Really?"

Jurgen's face brightened at once. Penelope hadn't exactly lied, but seeing his reaction put her at ease too.

"See? I'm eating it just fine. Can I have a bit more?"

"Really?"

"I'm telling you it's true. It does clearly have a divisive quality so it might not do to put it in front of guests……. But someone with the right palate will keep coming back for it."

"Oh ho."

"Give me another piece."

Penelope, endlessly receiving pieces of Pine Mushroom like a fledgling chick begging for food, and— Jurgen, delightedly handing them over one after another.

"Penelope's way with people really is something……"

Serena looked on in something close to horror at Penelope continuing to accept and eat the not-particularly-delicious mushroom while cultivating goodwill with Hanbin-nim——and then.

"Ah……. My stomach feels strange……"

"W-well, you should have eaten in moderation, shouldn't you."

"But……. Haaa, I suppose you're right……"

The behind-the-scenes epilogue: Penelope, having eaten too much Pine Mushroom, ended up with an upset stomach.

For the record, Baron Keystone was extremely fond of this Pine Mushroom.