#346
“Hohohohohohohoho!”
The dizzying laughter of a lady echoes throughout the restaurant.
Olivia, with her goggles slanted over her beanie, covers her mouth with her hand and bursts into that laughter.
“I won every single match this time! Huhuhuhuhu.”
She places her hand over her chest while speaking.
The contrast between the chilly outside and the warm inside seems to have made Olivia’s nose and cheeks flush bright red.
It seems the results of the match, which I wasn’t particularly curious about, have finally been revealed. At least it’s a good thing that the winner is Olivia.
Following her, Rin enters with a slightly annoyed expression.
“Hmph… I lost this time, but I won’t lose next time…”
Rin bites her lip and lowers her head.
“…I was pretty confident in my skiing skills, but I never expected to lose.”
Next in is Aris.
She bites her lip, her hands trembling slightly.
“Hawawawawa… I lost by a hair…”
Evangeline’s voice chimes in.
She covers her mouth with her hand while also making the same whimsical sound.
Her dizzying way of speaking hasn’t changed a bit.
“Ugh… If only my body was in normal condition… I could have overwhelmingly beaten everyone…”
Lastly, Seira bursts out in frustration.
Isn’t Seira taking this childish fight a bit too seriously?
“Alright. Then, as the victor, and as your exclusive maid…”
Olivia’s blue eyes meet mine as she steps in.
Her face quickly turns red.
“I-I-I will go on a d-d-d-date with you!!”
Olivia stutters, squeezing her eyes shut.
A date, huh.
“Uh, sure.”
There’s no reason to refuse.
As I accept, Olivia puffs up her cheeks, face still flushed.
With her arms crossed, she turns her head and says, “Hmph! I have no special feelings about such an obvious result anyway!”
She seems pretty embarrassed, judging by her tsundere-like attitude.
She sits down next to me, still blushing.
As Olivia sits, the other heroines, Evangeline, Seira, Aris, and Rin, take their places.
Lastly, without a word, Yuji quietly joins the table, sitting next to Haru.
Luckily, the restaurant is spacious, so the table is overflowing with food.
Clink, clink.
Han Seo-Jin rolls in a cart as if she was waiting for the perfect moment, placing various dishes on the table.
A steaming hot pot, spicy chicken from Sokcho, Abai sundae from Sokcho, grilled yellow corvina from Pyeongchang, buckwheat pancakes from Yeongwol, and Chuncheon chicken galbi fill the table with delicious food from Gangwon Province.
Chuncheon dakgalbi and other Gangwon-do dishes are laid out in abundance on the table.
“These are dishes made with ingredients provided by the Gangwon Province Governor, residents, and the local community to celebrate Mr. Kim Deok-Sung’s visit, all cooked by Chef Kim, who has a background at the Seven Star Hotel,” Han Seo-Jin says in a calm voice.
I mean, I’m not some Joseon dynasty king, why are they doing all this?
At this rate, I’ll end up trying every regional specialty in the nation.
I’m losing it.
“Huh, is this the food of Gangwon-do? It looks delicious,” Rin says, picking up a fish cake skewer with a serious expression.
“Wow, wow, wow… This is the Chuncheon dakgalbi I only heard about!” Evangelin exclaims, her eyes shining.
How does a princess living in England even hear about that?
“Well then, everyone, enjoy your meal,” Han Seo-Jin says as the heroines start eating.
I quietly take a bowl of fish cake soup and fill it up.
Soup is definitely a winter thing.
I’m not sure if the seafood was caught in Busan or what, but as the warm fish cake soup goes down, I feel a bit better.
“Mr. Kim Deok-Sung, how is it? What do you think of the fish cake soup?” Han Seo-Jin asks with a serious expression.
I silently dip the fish cake in soy sauce and pop it in my mouth.
As expected from the most famous Busan fish cake, it tasted pretty good.
Overall, it’s decent.
It definitely has flavor.
But something feels a bit off.
“It’s good… but it doesn’t quite taste like the stuff I used to have at the local food stall…”
On a cold winter night, I used to split what little pocket money I had to buy that nostalgic taste at the market after class; it just doesn’t hit the same.
Maybe it’s because they didn’t use MSG for the so-called healthy food?
“Y-yes…”
Han Seo-Jin looks flustered at my words.
Her expression slightly falters, cracking her typically emotionless face.
Her eyes become heavy.
“…I’ll immediately inform Chef Kim…”
The moment she mutters in a cold voice, it suddenly hits me.
Right now, Han Seo-Jin has the same expression as a major general visiting a front-line unit, sitting with the soldiers, and hearing someone say that the soup is a bit salty.
If it goes on like this, she’ll end up acting like a battalion commander who went around chewing out everyone after the general’s visit ended because of some complaint.
There’s no need for Chef Kim, who has a background from the Seven Star Hotel, to be reprimanded just because of my preferences.
“No, no need for that. It’s delicious.”
“Understood. I’m glad to hear there are no complaints about the taste. Though it’s not lavish, please enjoy your meal.”
Han Seo-Jin’s face quickly returns to normal.
I just managed to avert the aftershock.
Thank goodness.
As I think this, I slurp up some ramen and stuff my mouth with Chuncheon dakgalbi and Yeongwol buckwheat pancakes.
I’m not sure what local food is actually like, but the Gangwon Province Governor’s efforts to ensure the taste were well worth it.
But really, nothing will go wrong, right?
*
Busan Metropolitan City.
Busan Metropolitan Mayor’s Office.
As the second-largest city in South Korea and a coastal city with the Busan Port, a logistics hub in East Asia.
Lee Hyung-Sik, the mayor responsible for the city’s 3 million residents, was currently bending over repeatedly as he answered the ringing phone in his office.
In the office hung a map of Busan, alongside the national flag, the Busan city flag, and a photo of Hero Kim Deok-Sung.
“Oh, yes. Did Mr. Kim Deok-Sung say our Busan fish cake is worse than the ones from the street stalls?”
“Did you say you evaluated it?”
The mayor’s face was filled with shock as he received a call from Gangwon-do.
Isn’t a ski resort all about hot odeng (fish cakes)?
The mayor still remembered how the special Hadong green tea was a massive hit during a private interview between Hero Kim Deok-Sung and the president on her overseas trip.
So, in an attempt to promote Busan’s pride, the Busan odeng, he appealed to the Kim Deok-Sung Foundation with the logic that odeng and its broth were a must for the ski resort, cutting through fierce competition from numerous regional specialties from Honam, Yeongnam, and Chungcheong, to have Busan’s Jagalchi seafood on his table.
To think that Busan odeng is worse than the street stall version!
What a shock!
“I understand, Agent Han. I will correct it. Yes.”
Click.
With the phone disconnected, sparks flew from the mayor’s eyes.
The catchphrase about Kim Deok-Sung enjoying Busan odeng was already prepared, and yet he rated it so poorly!
He felt it was an insult to send him subpar odeng, tarnishing his esteemed mouth!
Something must be very wrong!
The mayor couldn’t accept this reality.
“Secretary! Gather all the people responsible for the Busan odeng project right now! How could you handle things like this!”
The mayor’s shout echoed outside the Busan City Hall.
This happened in Busan.
*
After filling our bellies at the ski house restaurant.
My heroines and I continued to ski.
As I kept skiing, it became quite fun, and I found myself genuinely enjoying it.
Unlike the summer vacation, there was no pesky lucky pervert event this time, which was a bonus.
Certainly, mountains over the sea, and winter over summer.
Time passed, and before I knew it, the sun had set, and it was dark.
“The daytime course has been closed. If you want, you can continue skiing on the nighttime course… Is there anyone who wishes to ski at night?”
Han Seo-Jin, who was in charge of this ski trip at the ski house, spoke up.
Night skiing time had finally arrived.
And the enemy’s attack was now just around the corner.
We had already received intel that three villains had infiltrated the resort.
All that was left was to intentionally set a trap to lure them in.
“Ugh… Eri is tired… I want to rest…”
“I want to rest too.”
The first to raise their hands in response to Han Seo-Jin’s words were Eri and senior Kasumi.
Eri mumbled with a tired expression.
“Hahaha. I’ll go back to our accommodation with Eri-chan and senior Kasumi.”
Makoto said as she looked after Eri.
“Hmm. I’ve already won the daytime race, so I, Olivia Napoleon Bonaparte, the Noble French Princess, will graciously take my leave this time!”
Next, Olivia raised her hand and spoke.
Looks like winning the race was quite a thrill for her.
“…I guess I’m running out of energy since I had so much fun outside for the first time in a while. I should head back to the accommodation and rest.”
After Olivia, Seira spoke.
Even though she was younger, it seemed her stamina was still running low.
“Hmm… I’ll also take my leave. My silly brother said he wants to stop skiing.”
“…Hahaha. That’s true.”
Next, Haru and Yuji left.
With them gone, the remaining squad consisted of me, senior Aris, and the ever-energetic Evangelin and Beatrice.
With the remaining members being me, Senior Aris, and the ever-energetic Evangelin and Beatrice, we were a group of four.
Han Seo-Jin’s gaze was fixed on us four.
Evangelin and Beatrice with Aris.
Evangelin and Aris were S-rank, while Beatrice was an EX-rank powerhouse capable of instantly binding even villains with her artifacts.
With a lineup like this, we could handle any situation.
Just as I thought that, someone spoke up.
“Are the remaining folks planning to go night skiing?”
“Of course.”
I nodded at Han Seo-Jin’s words.
Even if I didn’t want to, I had to do it this time.
To lure the enemy.
“I’ll join too.”
Before I could finish, Aris raised her hand, and next Evangelin chimed in.
“How exciting! A girl still has more fun to be had! Tonight we burn it up with skiing!”
Evangelin’s pink eyes sparkled.
“If the contractor is going, I have no choice but to go too…”
Finally, Beatrice timidly added her two cents.
Great.
It was a relief that our night skiing party formed naturally.
Otherwise, I was prepared to forcefully pick night ski members myself, but hey, natural is always better than forced.
Though it was surprising that Aris was included.
“Understood. Then Mr. Kim Deok-Sung, Ms. Saionji, Princess Stewart, and Ms. Trixie—four of you will be prepared for night skiing.”
Han Seo-Jin bowed her head.
Thus, night skiing with me, Aris, Evangelin, and Stewart was officially decided.
My true purpose of confronting villains was just about to kick off.
*
At the same time.
Despite it being night, the resort ski area was bright as day thanks to the splendid lights.
In the coniferous forest beyond, three villains gathered.
The Undertaker in a robe, Diego Morales in a long puffer, and Dokta Shinahel in a mask.
While munching on a buckwheat pancake he bought outside for 30,000 won, Dokta Shinahel spoke.
“It’s almost time for the operation to begin.”
“And the remaining people at the ski resort?”
“The targets Beatrice, Kim Deok-Sung, Saionji Aris, and Evangelin Stewart.”
In response to Diego Morales’s question, Dokta Shinahel expanded his view using a magic orb, scanning the ski resort.
“Perfect… We’ve got just the right members left. Then we won’t need Plan B. Let’s commence the operation.”
“Sounds good.”
As soon as Diego Morales finished his sentence, Dokta Shinahel swallowed the last buckwheat pancake in his hand.
Witnessing this, Diego interjected.
“Weren’t you supposed to give me one earlier?”
“Is that important right now?”
“It’s a big deal! You promised me!”
Just as Diego Morales and Dokta were bickering, the Undertaker chimed in shortly.
“…Operation… begin.”
With her voice distorted through modulation, both of their faces snapped back to their usual selves.
“That buckwheat pancake is on the tab.”
Diego Morales’s remark made Dokta Shinahel click his tongue.
“Such a petty guy. Well, since the Undertaker’s urging us, let’s kick off the real operation now.”
Right as Dokta Shinahel finished speaking.
Bam!
A pillar of light shot up from the coniferous forest into the dark night sky.
The villains’ operation was finally underway.
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