City of Witches Chapter 203

Of course, even setting everything else aside, the numerous civilian casualties were a depressing matter.

But what could be done about it?

We had done everything we could, and I didn't want to create a needlessly gloomy atmosphere.

Sharon already seemed downcast, and the Twins were likely psychologically shaken, so I thought it wouldn't do any good for me to slump over too.

It was a sort of adult consideration.

“Alright, alright, it’s here! The signature delivery food defense of our officetel!”

Delivery food laid out enough to fill the vast six-person table.

We even pulled out all the bowls that had been tucked away in the kitchen corner just to transfer that food into dishes.

Even if it was a bit forced, trying to liven the mood and act as usual, the Twins cooperated well.

The vaguely lingering dark clouds were gone, replaced by a lively dining table.

“Wooow!!!”

“Kimchi! Kimchi! Kimchi!”

“Assistant! We’re going to eat all of this today!”

“Don’t stop us!”

Odil clapping like a seal with joy. Odette cheering for kimchi, a new discovery for her today.

The Twins’ costumes were quite cute.

They were pajamas bought as souvenirs at the aquarium today.

Odil wore blue shark hoodie pajamas. Odette wore pink rabbit hoodie pajamas.

One might wonder what rabbits were doing at an aquarium, but perhaps because they are easy to raise and receive a lot of affection, they occupied a prominent spot alongside land turtles.

Whether we’ll be able to visit that aquarium again...

Let’s drop it.

I stopped the depressing thoughts.

“Is this about everything?”

“Seems like it.”

“Lady Odil and Lady Odette, you both are adorable.”

Perhaps influenced by the Twins’ atmosphere, glowing like a three-wavelength stand lamp, Sharon had also returned largely to her usual self.

She smiled brightly and spoke to Siwoo.

Odil reacted immediately.

“I don’t understand what you mean by ‘adorable.’”

“That’s right, we are proper ladies, so the expression ‘elegant’ suits us better than ‘adorable,’ ohoho!”

Oddly fixated on being called mature, Odil and Odette suddenly sat down properly and spoke while pretending to fan themselves elegantly.

As a side note, it didn’t suit them at all.

I pointed it out subtly.

“But isn’t that something you shouldn’t say while wearing pajamas like that?”

“What’s wrong with pajamas? They’re cute, ah...!”

“What’s the matter with pajamas? They’re pretty and cute, so what’s wrong? Ah!”

See.

A perfect comedy skit completed in an instant.

The Twins falling into a trap, even though it wasn’t particularly intended.

Every time I saw them like this, I thought they’d do well and live comfortably as entertainers or YouTubers instead of being Witches.

They were just so pretty and overflowing with variety show sense.

Siwoo, familiar with their antics, just chuckled, but beside him, Sharon, bowing her head, was engaged in a desperate challenge to hold back her laughter.

“Anyway! Let’s pretend that petty criticism never happened! Please be more careful with your word choice from now on! Sharon unnie.”

“Is it okay to call you unnie? It would be easier if we could speak casually too! You’re our senior who became a Witch before us!”

“Should we...? No, should we?”

““Yes!””

Siwoo complained and interjected.

“By that logic, aren’t I a senior too?”

“Assistant is Assistant, so.”

“I always use honorifics with you, though?”

With the Twins’ flawless behavior, Sharon was gradually starting to converse comfortably with them.

Come to think of it, considering the Twins’ usual conduct, they might actually get along quite well with Sharon.

Sharon could be a bit mischievous herself.

I could picture a future where the three of them, having grown closer and living together, would gang up and bully Siwoo.

Anyway, the evening feast began.

Siwoo clapped his hands to get everyone’s attention and announced the start of the modest party as the host.

“We had some unpleasant things happen today, but let’s shake them off and enjoy the food.”

“Assistant! I want to drink alcohol!”

“Unnie, unnie, I knew you’d say that, so I brought some from the Artifact.”

Odette, who somehow knew, came from the refrigerator with her hands full of canned beer.

Odil opened them without hesitation.

They really learned fast.

“Assistant, could you explain each one for us? There are too many foods we don’t know!”

“Should I?”

“Assistant feels like Assistant again after a long time.”

To the giggling Twins, Siwoo explained the foods one by one.

First, the bright red king crab.

“Ah, this is king crab. It’s the favorite of Sharon, sitting over here.”

“Don’t explain it weirdly!”

Sharon slapped Siwoo’s shoulder. Her hand stung.

“Wow! It’s huge!”

“It’s incomparable to what we ate in Ars Magna Town!”

“It’s delicious if you fry rice with the innards like this.”

The Twins diligently picked out crab meat and then gobbled up the fried rice Sharon handed them.

The savory flavor of the innards and rice grains coated in fragrant sesame oil.

The harmony with the popping, bright red flying fish roe seemed to suit the Twins’ tastes perfectly.

Even the Twins, who initially tried to taste and comment gracefully, were soon too busy shoveling the fried rice into their mouths, almost burying their noses in the crab shell.

Sharon and Siwoo watched them fondly.

“It feels kind of like being parents.”

Sharon said it casually, and Siwoo agreed.

Today, he understood the feeling of his parents, who used to watch him with proud faces as he picked out only the meat without any side dishes.

The Twins ate so deliciously, their cheeks puffed out as they chewed the rice.

“Next! Next!”

“Give us the next one!”

“The next menu item is samgyeopsal.”

The second food Siwoo presented was delivered samgyeopsal.

Unlike other places, this shop was a bit pricier because they used domestic refrigerated pork.

“Assistant? This is just grilled meat.”

“Fat... there’s fat... too much of it...”

Gehenna’s food culture is quite Western.

It was even more so for Witches from prestigious families like the Zemnarai family.

Ordinary citizens and Witches of the middle and lower classes ate chicken and pork, while upper-class Witches enjoyed beef, lamb, goose, etc.

Among these, samgyeopsal, with its thick layers of fat, was only used in Gehenna for making bacon, sausage, or lard, so it seemed very unfamiliar and threatening to the Twins.

But Siwoo was confident.

“If you try it once, those words will vanish.”

“Really?”

“Sniff sniff, the smell is really good though...”

Beside them, Sharon made a wrap with lettuce, perilla leaf, ssamjang, and topped it with scallion salad.

It seemed she had left out the raw garlic.“I wrapped the meat in lettuce for a ssam.”

“Isn’t it kind of like an instant cabbage roll...?”

“But that one isn’t even cooked, right?”

The Twins watched the unfamiliar scene with wide eyes from the side.

“Miss Odil, Miss Odette. It might look a bit strange, but this is really delicious. Who wants to try it first?”

Two pairs of widened eyes followed the ssam Sharon was waving, moving left and right.

The one to move first was, as expected, Odil.

“I’ll try it first. Ahhh....”

The ssam, which Sharon hadn’t even made that big, barely fit into her wide-open mouth.

Odil, who had been chewing carefully with a serious expression, suddenly widened her eyes.

“Thish ish... sho delishous...!”

“Really? It’s that good?”

“Miss Odil, chew thoroughly and swallow before speaking.”

“Mmmph mmmph...!”

Odil diligently swallowed and gulped down Korea’s famous samgyeopsal. A healthy flush rose to her face.

“Ooh! Th-this, this taste...!”

While Odil stood there dazed with her mouth open, Odette pleaded with Sharon.

“Unnie! What is it, what is it? Why? Make one for me too!”

Sharon, fearing Odette might change her mind, quickly made a ssam for her.

Inside the moist, fresh lettuce was a crisp, fragrant perilla leaf.

Past the slightly rough texture, the rich, juicy meat infused with a subtle charcoal-grilled aroma flooded her mouth.

Just as she might have grown tired of the tender pork’s fattiness, the flavor of the green onion hit her.

After eating eagerly, she made the same expression as Odil and stood there dazed with her mouth open.

“Th-this food is perfect...”

“I’ve wasted half my life!”

“Please teach me how to do it too!”

Siwoo taught Odil, and Sharon taught Odette how to make ssam by hand.

They also passed on variations like eating it with kimchi stir-fried with the samgyeopsal, raw garlic, chili peppers, and sesame oil salt dip.

Simultaneously, Odil and Odette, who had popped the ssam into their mouths, jumped up and down on their buttocks, causing a commotion.

“As soon as we get home, I’m going to propose we acquire a pig farm!”

“I feel sorry for the citizens who turn such delicious food into sausages! We must spread this new culture!”

Siwoo proceeded to introduce traditional Korean foods that were hard to find in Gehenna.

The Twins were surprisingly good at eating spicy food.

Moreover, unlike Gehenna’s cooking methods, which emphasize the original taste of ingredients, Korea’s cooking style—liberally adding chili powder, pepper, salt, garlic, and soy sauce—seemed to appeal more intuitively to the Twins.

They even enjoyed dishes like tteokbokki and kimchi jjim.

In contrast, samgyetang, which could be said to highlight the original flavor of the ingredients, was unexpectedly not very popular.

Maybe because of the medicinal herb smell.

Instead.

“So this is the chicken you mentioned, Assistant? How good can chicken possibly taste?”

“That’s right, I thought turkey was tastier than samgyetang!”

“Yes, please try it first before saying anything. This one is yangnyeom chicken, made with a sauce mixed with gochujang and starch syrup. This one is fried chicken, just fried.”

“I’ll try it first!”

Contrary to their words, perhaps because their expectations for food in general had risen, Odile Odette was already drooling.

Soon, they each held a drumstick in their hands and took a bite.

Siwoo, having already roughly guessed the Twins’ tastes through trial and error.

“Ooh...!”

“No way...!”

The Twins savored the chicken with reactions straight out of a cartoon.

A slightly devilish thought, but he wondered how they’d react if he fed them buldak-bokkeummyeon.

Wouldn’t it easily get 10 million views on YouTube?

“Is this... chicken?”

“What is this juiciness...?”

What’s this? I thought my patriotism had vanished down to the roots since returning from the military.

But watching the Twins, who had only eaten the low-stimulus cuisine of the Zemnarai family, lose their minds over Korea’s sweet, spicy, and savory food made my chest tingle.

“Is this national pride?”

“Huh?”

“It’s nothing.”

Sharon, who was diligently eating jokbal beside him, looked puzzled but let it slide.

Right now, watching the Twins’ remaining reactions was more important.

“This is a culinary revolution! I think we should open this chicken shop in Gehenna right away! It’ll surely become an inexhaustible source of wealth!”

“Hear, hear! Let’s open one next to our house!”

Beyond that, the Twins’ rave reviews poured out one after another for jokbal, makchang, mulhoe, bulgogi, kimchi jjigae, and more.

They drank beer so well that a stack of canned beer piled up elegantly beside the Twins.

“Haa... haa... I don’t want to go back...”

“Uh, unnie... I think I’m going to throw up...”

After a two-hour eating marathon, the Twins lay down directly on the sofa.

At first glance, it seemed impolite, but well.

No matter how much I thought about it, it didn’t seem like the Twins had received education on ‘cleaning up after eating,’ so I let it go.

Besides, the food they ate today was essentially paid for by the Twins anyway.

“Go play with them. I’ll do the dishes and come.”

“Ah, no. Leave them, I’ll do them tonight.”

“I said I’ll do it~ Let’s all watch a movie together. I think you’ll like it.”

Sharon, wearing rubber gloves, pushed Siwoo from behind.

Odil lay leaning her neck against the bed’s headboard as if melting. Beside her, Odette stretched out in the same position.

“Are you going to sleep like that?”

“Isn’t it too early to sleep already?”

“That’s right, our night is just, haaam~, beginning now.”

Despite saying that, their eyelids looked heavy. They were blinking slowly, like cows, blink-blink.

“Then let’s watch a movie together.”

“A movie? Ah! I wanted to see that too!”

“M-me, me too!”

Sharon, who had finished the dishes, joined as well.

The four of them sat side by side on the sofa and watched the movie.