Chapter 43
Morning came, and they were back on the bed.
“……”
“Kkuruk?”
“Hmmmm.”
Gio was lost in shallow contemplation.
This was not the first time he had learned that his personality could change.
“There is Giovanni’s case too.”
Only belatedly had he realized it, but Gio seemed to depart from his usual personality on occasion—primarily when interacting with people outside while in the state of a ‘Portrait.’
“Now that I think about it, praising the employees or abruptly giving them gifts isn’t an ordinary response either.”
“Kkuruk?”
“Some of them were older than me. As a strapping young man from the Eastern Land of Courtesy, behaving that way was honestly not particularly normal when judged by my present state.”
The problem was that Gio himself had felt no incongruity about those changes.
“At the time, I simply thought it was natural.”
It seemed that his identity as a ‘Portrait’ truly was changing him.
“Spirits of heaven and earth.”
“Kkungkkung….”
“I felt normal while staying inside the Portrait, so I didn’t notice anything strange.”
“Kkuruk?”
“No. I’m fine.”
Whether his personality changed or anything else did, Gio would not yield to a mystery this trivial.
“Still, I should take care not to behave rudely toward others.”
At this rate, he felt that he would soon find it perfectly natural to stroke the head of a complete stranger.
“Who am I to behave in such an unseemly manner?”
Stroking someone’s head was an act possible only in fiction or when a parent did so to a child. Even between lovers, such a bold touch ought to be avoided, so Gio felt the need to conduct himself chastely.
“Of course, I have never had a lover.”
“……”
“How dare you look at your father, who is as lofty as the heavens, with such eyes?”
So what if he had never had a partner?
“In any case, changes in personality are not such an unfamiliar situation. Even during our outing in Seoul, there were times when my awareness as Giovanni grew stronger… I think it should be considered quite similar to the matter I’m pondering now.”
Even so, it did not feel as though his actual ‘personality’ literally changed.
“I would have noticed much sooner if it went that far.”
If he had to describe it, it felt closer to recalling a forgotten memory.
“I could not call it Seo Gio, yet it is still me. Something like that….”
“…Kkururuk?”
“It is not a split personality. That is a misunderstanding.”
It was as if, in a previous life, he had lived as Giovanni, a priest renowned for his benevolent smile, while in this life he had lived as Seo Gio, who had occasionally been asked whether he knew how to smile. After recalling that past life belatedly, forgotten habits would emerge from time to time.
“Though I never imagined my identity as a Portrait would cause problems too.”
Gio murmured,
“It seems to be another issue similar to resolution. Perhaps trying to behave like a person in a Portrait’s body causes errors somewhere. My manner of speech becomes stiffer, and my actions and thoughts become strange….”
He would need to be careful.
“Let us make a greater effort at self-objectivity from now on.”
“Kkung.”
“It sounds troublesome? Honey, you should develop some social skills.”
At Honey’s grumbling, Gio placed the round waterfowl on his palm and rolled him this way and that. Honey rolled like a pleasantly sticky water pouch and did not appear especially displeased.
“Are you enjoying yourself?”
“Kkururururu.”
“I see.”
Though briefly startled by the changes in his personality, Gio was able to settle his mind at Honey’s carefree appearance.
“In any case, it’s entertaining, so it’s fine.”
Would it not be stranger to find no entertainment in this ever-changing life?
“Shall we eat first, then?”
“Kkururuk?”
Honey expressed confusion, but Gio paid no attention and rose.
“Even if we won’t eat immediately, it’s good to prepare soup or side dishes in advance. We already have the bones from the deer I dismantled. If I organize them and make marrow-bone broth, I can store it in the ice storage and take it out whenever I need it.”
Marrow-bone broth could make a hearty meal all by itself. Gio nodded.
“Whenever I had indigestion, Grandmother told me to drink marrow-bone soup with a little green onion and salt.”
Gio did not know about other people, but whenever he suffered indigestion, such soup settled his stomach far more comfortably than porridge. With no solids, it did not fill his stomach, yet because the broth was rich, it still felt as though he had eaten something.
“Add a little salt, finely chopped green onion, and freshly cooked rice to milky-white broth, and you have gomtang. Deeply simmered marrow-bone broth has tremendous savoriness. That’s why even such a simple meal is so filling.”
“Kkurururururu…?”
“It isn’t spicy.”
After his strong aversion to the spicy sausage last time, Honey appeared to be wondering whether gomtang was spicy. But unless one mixed in chili powder or spicy seasoning, there was no reason for gomtang to taste hot.
“If it seems too plain, you can add meat, or use somyeon noodles instead of rice. Having both together is better than you might expect. I think another charm of gomtang is that you can add whatever seasonings or black pepper you like.”
Marrow-bone broth had many other uses as well.
“Even something as simple as cooking spicy ramyeon in broth instead of water produces another fantastic flavor.”
“Kkuruk! Kkuruk! Kkuruk!”
“Still, the broth itself makes the soup somewhat milder… Very well, let us move past that.”
Honey, who disliked spicy food, objected with all his might, and Gio, as his father, respected his opinion. If there was a human somewhere in the world who ate anything, then somewhere else there could also be a frail waterfowl incapable of eating even the slightest heat.
“Then making a different soup with more vegetables would be good too. Manduguk would be the obvious example.”
Gio murmured,
“Tteokguk would be good too. Budae-jjigae, with all sorts of vegetables and ham simmered together, wouldn’t be bad… Even ordinary doenjang soup or miyeokguk gains far greater depth when made with marrow-bone broth.”
“Kkung?”
“Aside from budae-jjigae, the others won’t be spicy. Unless I add Cheongyang chili peppers… Come to think of it, did you know that cooking rice with broth instead of water makes it much more delicious?”
“Kkururu.”
“Yes. Let’s go make broth.”
Ever since eating rice balls last time, Honey had become a waterfowl who loved rice more than anything in the world. It was obvious that he was imagining how delicious rice cooked in marrow-bone broth would be if shaped into rice balls and grilled.
On the way down to the ice storage where he had kept the bones, Gio abruptly became uneasy.
“Come to think of it, isn’t marrow-bone broth ordinarily made from cattle bones?”
“…Kkuk?”
“Well, when I trimmed and organized them last time, they were quite full of marrow. Perhaps because the deer was freshly killed, the red borders along the cut surfaces were distinct, so their condition should be good. The deer was so large that its bones are thick and sturdy too, which should make simmering them satisfying….”
“……”
“Then again, when did we ever limit ourselves to food from Earth?”
The bones used to make marrow-bone broth generally came from an animal’s legs. With cattle, one would have used the feet, but Gio saw no reason for deer to differ greatly and had prepared them. He carried the marrow bones from the ice storage to the kitchen.
“I washed them once at the time, but this still feels somewhat unpleasant.”
After washing the bones, cut to expose the marrow clearly, he took out a large pot and dropped all of them inside. When he used Bellflowers to ignite the firewood, the water soon came to a boil.
“I drained all the blood when I first butchered it, so there shouldn’t be too many impurities rising to the surface. I drained it for over a day, so it should be fairly clean. Even so, foreign matter remains inside. I need to remove it to produce good broth.”
“……”
“As you have just surmised, it is a damned time-consuming process.”
“Kkungkkungkkung….”
“I never expected to drink the broth today anyway.”
Once the bones had been blanched in boiling water, washed, and made perfectly clean, the battle of time and devotion began. There was a reason ‘real’ marrow-bone broth was expensive.
“They can continue simmering in the pot like this, but the fire mustn’t be too strong. Even if it takes longer, a low flame draws out the broth’s savoriness more effectively.”
“……”
“The longer they simmer, the more oil and miscellaneous impurities will continue rising. Perhaps because the marrow comes out intact, people say the first broth is ordinarily too oily and concentrated to drink comfortably. So the first batch can’t be eaten….”
“Kkung.”
“You’ll eat it?”
“Kkuruk.”
“Pig.”
Honey protested fiercely, but that did not change reality. This affection that could not abandon even the first broth, rich enough to make the inside of one’s mouth smack with grease. This obsession.
“You’re already a splendid pig.”
“Kkurururururururureuk!!!”
“Accept reality.”
If possible, Gio wanted him to become pleasantly plump.
“Plump enough for me to lean against….”
More precisely, plump enough for Gio to rest his head on him.
“……”
“……”
Seeing firm resolve on Honey’s face, Gio nodded.
“Is it adolescence?”
He sensed Honey’s powerful conviction to preserve his present cute and charming appearance at any cost.
‘He knows he’s cute.’
Honey might have been a son born from paint, but if his child possessed a righteous conviction, Gio ought to support it. He decided to retreat. Fat animals were adorable, but forcing one to gain weight was animal abuse.
“In any case, the marrow-bone broth won’t be ready immediately. Impurities only rise after time passes. Even if we remain right beside it, there is nothing for us to do.”
“Kkururuk?”
“Exactly. Therefore, we must prepare another dish. Let us grant our marrow-bone friend, who gives itself so generously, some time alone.”
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Gio looked at the pot, which had not even begun boiling because he had just replaced the water.
“I’m not certain, but I once heard that simmering marrow bones too many times can actually be harmful… I don’t know how I should treat the Wood-Horned Deer’s legs.”
Wood-Horned Deer Marrow Bones
Leg bones taken from among the bones of a Wood-Horned Deer and properly prepared. They are rich because they are packed with marrow, but bones simmered for more than three days dissolve entirely into the broth and become a restorative medicine. They are distinguished by an intense meaty aroma suggestive of nuts or even saltiness.
Elixir Refining Method: Clean them thoroughly, then simmer over low heat for three days. Both marrow and bone will dissolve and become a restorative medicine. The medicine produced this way can be used immediately. When administered to a human, it heals all bone abnormalities. The extent of recovery differs according to the quantity consumed and the individual’s constitution.
“……”
Gio nodded.
“There was no need to worry.”
Why was he applying realistic concerns to this fantasy world?
“The marrow and bones will dissolve on their own, so we need only strain the impurities occasionally and wait. Let us stop worrying about those fiercely independent fellows and turn our attention to lunch.”
“Kkurururuk.”
“Then something suitable would be….”
After thinking briefly, Gio made up his mind.
“The day has finally come.”
“Kkuruk?”
“The time for fishing is upon us.”
Should he not refresh a stomach tired of feasting on land animals with fish?
“It is only proper courtesy toward my tongue and stomach.”
And Seo Gio was a true gourmand who had learned the term Engel coefficient—the proportion of household consumption expenditure spent on food—at the age of five. He still remembered Grandmother’s warm voice as she chuckled, ‘There’s a little sunchoke in our house.’
Thus, Gio began planning how to eat fish. There were many ways.
“The streams are narrow, but they’re also quite deep. While passing them, I have confirmed that they hold fish both large and small. I also connected the waterfowl nests to streams and springs so various creatures could move between them… In practice, I could obtain decent fish simply by visiting a nest.”
“……”
Honey tilted his head repeatedly at Gio’s words, then soon approached his ear and poked his cheek with his beak. The beak was so small and harmless that Gio did not know why it existed at all, and it did not hurt.
“What is it, Honey?”
“Kkururururuk.”
“…Ah.”
Come to think of it, Gio had another source of fish.
“There was ‘Breathing Sea.’”
‘Breathing Sea,’ one of the dimensional gates Gio had created before, was quite literally a world submerged beneath an ocean. When he had seen it last, it had certainly overflowed with all kinds of life.
Gio accepted Honey’s advice.
“How clever.”
“Kkuruk.”
Honey became imposing. He was extremely cute.
“No matter how cute you are, the only person you can conquer is your father.”
“Kkungkkungkkung.”
“Do you think acting that cute elsewhere would let you work someone as effectively as you work me? Where in the world would you find a more capable servant? Stay close to Dad.”
They were a loving family today as well.
Gio immediately visited the second floor, specifically the storage room where he kept completed Works. The Frame through which he could travel to ‘Breathing Sea’ hung there.
Standing before the Frame filled with blue light, Gio slowly seeped into it as though melting.
“……”
And soon,
he was underwater.
“It has been a while, Father.”
Giovanni entered ‘Breathing Sea.’
“Or has it not been that long?”
“ ”
“I went to look around the outside world for a while.”
The one conversing with Gio was none other than the Sun God of the destroyed world. The lonely old man whom ‘Giovanni’ had asked for a favor before.
He asked why Gio had visited today.
“Ah.”
And Gio was confident wherever and whenever he went.
“I came to do some fishing.”
Give me fish.
“If it goes well, I’ll share some with you.”
“ ”
“I knew you would be pleased.”
The Sun God rejoiced.
Clearly, only pigs had gathered here.
(To be continued)