Chapter 45
Gio was good at everything.
“That is why I am also good at cooking.”
“ ”
“Leave swimming out of this.”
At the Sun God’s question, which struck precisely at his weakness, Giovanni shook his head politely but firmly. How could a two-legged human, born able to breathe only outside water, possibly be good at swimming too?
“Though I am breathing underwater at present….”
Was it because ‘Giovanni’ was already dead in this world, or because, although he was in the midst of Synchronization, his fundamental nature was that of a ‘Portrait’? Gio could breathe perfectly well even in the water-filled ‘Breathing Sea.’
“Is the water itself designed so that humans can breathe in it?”
“ ”
“It has indeed become a special sea. I suppose this too should be considered one of Aria’s accomplishments.”
Even so, he felt a certain emptiness.
“It feels as though the rules of this world no longer bind me. Is it because I am no longer one of its inhabitants? My present physical state does not seem very different from when I am in the painted forest….”
“ ”
“I see.”
The Sun God agreed as well.
“How regrettable.”
Giovanni wore his characteristic kind, light smile. It was a neat smile, no different from before.
“Perhaps I should say it feels as though I lost a homeland.”
“ ”
“It saddens me somewhat, but I will gradually improve.”
Now was the time to eat rather than discuss such matters.
“I seem to recall that you did not enjoy spicy food either, Father, so I prepared mainly mild dishes. I would be distressed if the meal became soaked, so please create a space for us again.”
By ‘create a space,’ he meant producing an enormous bubble of air in this water-filled world.
The Sun God had lost every follower except Giovanni and grown weak, but he could still perform a miracle of that degree for a short while.
“……”
Using such a miracle to eat a meal might have seemed somewhat absurd to others.
“Even so, a person must eat to live. Is there a rule saying a god must not eat?”
“ ”
“If anyone criticizes you for such a thing, entrust that ignorant wretch to your son. I will reprimand them severely.”
“ ”
“Anyone who torments another person for eating is the strange one.”
The Sun God was extremely happy. He was unquestionably a pig god.
‘Can gods gain weight?’
The thought abruptly occurred to Gio, but he soon shook his head inwardly. Hoping that an incorporeal being without even a voice, let alone a physical form, might gain weight merely by eating seemed far too shameless.
In any case, the man had initially become so dejected and wilted that he refused even food. Now he had spread out the table as though demanding that Gio serve the meal immediately, and the sight warmed Gio’s heart.
Giovanni smiled brilliantly in satisfaction. Warm light rippled around him as a priest of the Sun.
“Thanks to Honey’s hard work, today’s meal has become exceptionally abundant.”
At Gio’s praise, Honey entered the air bubble and thrust out his chest imposingly. He appeared to want the Sun God’s praise as well as Gio’s.
“Kkurururururu.”
“ ”
“Kkurukkukurukkukuruk!”
Honey’s body soon shone brightly for a brief moment.
“He praised you.”
“Kkuruk.”
The light resembled sunlight.
‘Perhaps because Honey evolved after drinking Rurupu Juice, he is especially fond of the Sun God.’
Rurupu, which grew in springs within the painted forest, was a flower nurtured by moonlight and sunlight. Strictly speaking, Honey had been born from the Sun and Moon, so his fondness for the Sun God was understandable.
‘He resembles a grandson performing tricks before his grandfather.’
In any case, he was cute, so it was fine.
Gio watched fondly as Honey wiggled his rear and flapped his wings, following clusters of light that could be called the Sun God’s touch.
Because Honey had been particularly affectionate, the Sun God’s wariness had broken down easily, allowing him to accept Gio again.
“……”
Communication with the Sun God (1/1)
“Then I should prepare the meal.”
Because the Sun God had evaporated part of the water with heat, the food did not grow wet when Gio brought it in.
Today, Gio had made an assorted sashimi platter and sushi, warm fish soup with rice to accompany it, and fried fish as a side dish.
He had fried the fish plainly and prepared a sour sauce and a spicy sauce separately for dipping, so he expected little resistance from the two who could not tolerate heat.
“Let us eat. Everything is ready.”
“Kkururururu!!”
Honey arrived first, flapping wings as large as his body with combative vigor. He stood before the whole fried fish Gio had set aside for him, which was ten times Honey’s size.
“It certainly is large.”
Honestly, it was a rather funny sight.
“Then you should come down as well, Father. It tastes best while warm.”
“ ”
Agreeing with Gio, the Sun God’s power soon spread somewhere.
The warm cluster of light touched a platinum-white bear doll placed demurely near the Frame that served as Gio’s entrance.
Before long, the bear doll, slightly smaller than a young child, began moving.
“Kkuu.”
“Welcome.”
The Sun God had descended.
To eat.
‘Pigs.’
They were adorable.
“Kkuu, kku….”
“Shall I help you?”
“Kku.”
Perhaps because it rested underwater, the bear doll could not walk properly and flailed about. In its old, worn body, it seemed unable to overcome the water pressure and resistance.
Gio willingly slipped a hand beneath the bear doll’s side and lifted it. He then set the bear doll inhabited by the Sun God before its bowl.
“Kkuu.”
“I’m glad you seem pleased.”
It was extremely cute, but from the perspective of Giovanni, his son, it was also somewhat pitiful.
‘You have grown so weak that entering a mere doll places no strain upon it.’
Of course, the Sun God had not entered the bear doll in his entirety. He must have placed only enough of himself inside to eat.
Yet the fact that the Sun God’s consciousness manifested through the bear doll meant that an important part of his power—the equivalent of a god’s heart or brain—must have entered it.
Even so, the doll did not burst, nor did the Sun God experience discomfort. With Giovanni as his only follower, it seemed inevitable that his power would be weaker than during his prime.
“……”
Though the mere fact that Giovanni alone prevented the Sun God from vanishing was itself a miracle.
“Then let us eat.”
“Kkuu.”
“Kkururururuk.”
One human, one waterfowl, and one bear doll began eating without any of them leading the others. Though its interior should have contained nothing but cotton, the bear doll opened its mouth wide and snapped up a piece of fried fish.
Gio marveled anew.
‘Extraordinary.’
He saw it every time, yet could not understand through what structure the doll tasted and digested food.
“Honey, does it taste good? Is the fish properly cooked?”
“Kkururuk.”
“Good. Avoid only this sauce. It will be somewhat spicy for you.”
Gio had placed the spicy sauce in the center of the table just in case, but he was certain no one else would touch it. He had made it exclusively for himself anyway.
“……”
Let’s see.
‘Shall I begin with the sashimi?’
Read only on MUGEX
Perhaps because Honey had already feasted on fresh organs earlier, he targeted the fried fish first. The Sun God, whose palate had followed that of the humans who worshiped him, did not particularly enjoy raw food and was drinking fish soup with rice.
This made Gio want to sample what no one else had chosen first.
‘And sashimi tastes best while fresh.’
Gio immediately picked up a slice of sashimi.
“…Hmm….”
He had seen it many times while preparing the fish, but its appearance remained unusual.
‘Its color resembles salmon, and it is soft like salmon, yet unlike salmon, its flesh possesses resilience. That truly is fascinating. Thanks to that, frying it did not make it as heavy as salmon.’
When he dipped it lightly in soy sauce and ate it, he felt the chewy flesh melt gently in his mouth.
“Delishus.”
“Oink.”
“Kku.”
Seeing everyone happily reacting in their own fashion warmed Gio’s heart as well.
Perhaps Honey, eager to finish hunting quickly, had seized an entire school of fish at once. Every fish he brought back was this flounder disguised as salmon.
But its flavor and texture were so distinctive that he did not grow tired of it.
‘It is not completely devoid of fat either.’
One peculiar characteristic of the fish was that it tasted rich when eaten as sashimi, but heating it by frying or boiling caused all the fat to seep out. Thanks to that, even fish soup made with very few ingredients possessed a heavy depth of flavor.
“How is the soup?”
“Kkuuuk.”
“This priest is delighted that you enjoy it.”
Gio looked toward Honey again.
“Honey, you….”
“Kkuuung.”
“Yes, you are eating very well.”
What a pleasant sight, you pigs.
‘For now… I’ll eat the cold food first, then move on to the others.’
Considering the dessert he would eat later, warming his stomach somewhat would probably make a cold jelly more enjoyable. Gio decided to finish the sashimi and sushi he was eating before trying anything else.
The sashimi, whose restrained richness flowed out like meat juices, harmonized with the sushi rather than clashing with it.
‘Flounder sushi always seemed as though the grains of rice were moving separately.’
It was not that he disliked flounder sushi, but he thought both the unusually firm chew of the flounder flesh and the plump, rolling sushi rice were excessively strong.
For that reason, Seo Gio preferred salmon sushi, which was soft enough to pass down his throat on its own after only a little chewing, over flounder sushi.
This sushi, however, was different. The delicately aerated rice spread wide like a net the instant he put it in his mouth, while the sashimi on top resisted his teeth briefly before melting gently.
The rice seasoned with sushi vinegar and the lightly oily sashimi formed an excellent combination.
“Mm.”
Gio finished all his sashimi and sushi. If the rest of the family left any, it would all become his.
‘Next, the fried fish.’
The Sun God’s consideration kept the air dry, but no matter what, fried food lost its crispness easily. Gio chose the fried fish as his next opponent after the sashimi.
“…There was so much that I worried the batter would become tiresome, so I didn’t coat the fish separately. It was already being fried in oil, and the flesh is plump….”
Honey and the bear doll looked at Gio, who was making excuses that were not quite excuses, as if asking why he was talking while they were eating perfectly well. The cook felt his heart relax instantly.
‘Nothing warms my heart like a pig that eats well.’
They seemed like the sort who would gladly eat lye if it tasted good. As the person who had cooked, Gio could not help feeling satisfied.
“My apologies for interrupting. Let us simply eat.”
“Kkuuuu.”
“Kkurukkukuruk.”
“……”
Come to think of it, had the bear doll’s cry been modeled after Honey’s?
‘I have thought this every time, but they are remarkably similar.’
He was too hungry to ponder it further.
“Ah, hot.”
Fortunately, the fried fish remained warm and crisp. It was thanks to the Sun God’s consideration in showering it with the Sun’s blessing without reservation. Perhaps he had merely done so to eat it deliciously himself, but either way, it was excellent.
Crunch—!
“Oh.”
As expected of the Sun God. He tolerated not a single trace of moisture.
‘The crisp fried skin and moist juices inside are exquisite.’
Because preparing all thirty-three fish individually had been so burdensome, he had fried them whole. Perhaps thanks to that, the interiors held glossy juices.
The fat once held in the flesh had drained out and remained in the skin, making it feel almost like eating fried chicken.
‘Perhaps because it was fried, the flesh has become much chewier too.’
It was not unpleasantly resilient, but offered just enough resistance to feel satisfying. When he chewed without applying much force, he could feel the grain unravel gently like silk thread against the inside of his mouth.
“……”
It tasted good even without sauce.
‘Is that because the skin contains salt?’
Seawater had permeated this fish’s skin especially well. Once the moisture was removed, the saltiness remained. Gio did not understand the mechanism, but even after frying, the seasoning was exquisite.
‘The flesh is mild enough to taste almost sweet, yet brimming with juices, while the skin is especially rich and crisp… They pair remarkably well.’
Dipped in the spicy sauce, it was the kind of flavor that made rice slide down effortlessly.
“……”
Slurp.
The fish soup, simmered like doenjang soup, was excellent as well.
“…Fresh fish allows me to try things like this.”
“Kkururuk.”
“Indeed. This is better than I expected.”
He had not added any particularly impressive sauce. He simply dissolved some doenjang in water, added the properly cleaned fish, then placed a little radish and green onion on top.
Despite that, the deeply savory fish soup tasted like marrow-bone soup that had simmered for hours.
‘I could never prepare it this way if the fish smelled even slightly fishy.’
That was why the words ‘fish soup’ ordinarily brought maeuntang to mind. Unless the fish had just been caught, it invariably carried a fishy odor.
Especially when boiled into soup, seafood’s fishiness intensified, so people generally covered that odor with heat and spice.
But Gio effectively had an ocean inside his cabin, so he had no need for that. Fish that had been alive and thrashing moments before were exceptionally fresh, and doenjang alone could complete a soup with profound flavor.
“Whewww….”
His insides felt so warm that if he slept now, he doubted he would wake before evening.
“Excellent.”
“Kkuuuk?”
“Yes, I am full.”
Ah, right.
“I’m simmering marrow bones. I’ll return once the broth is finished.”
“Kkuuuuu.”
“Yes, this will be your first marrow-bone soup, Father, won’t it? Its flavor is even deeper than this fish soup….”
A characteristic of gluttons:
They talk about food while eating.
(To be continued)