It was an ordinary day to scout the surface of the underground city of Tamel. Above, there were towering buildings and an ongoing fierce snow storm.
Locruna was once a planet with a bright star and two moons. However, one day, the star disappeared from the sky and was never seen again. After hundreds of years, thick ice covered the planet and their only source of heat came from underground. Then… their two moons also disappeared mysteriously. News spread fast and their hearts grew weary.
Suddenly, there was an emergence of a thick fog and… three men that came out of that fog.
"Guh… this mana here is too thick. I hate it! Let's go back. We don't have anymore business here; and it's freezing!" The man with defining lean muscles and gruff face said as he backed out into the fog. He breathed out a sigh of relief when the pressure he felt softened.
"Egbert, this is a whole new world. We can't just let this pass!" A man with freckles and lean muscles protested.
"Daren… we don't have anything that we could use to combat the cold… and the density of the mana!" Egbert exclaimed.
"I am fine, you see," his handsome companion said as he gestured at his body.
"What are you saying?! Don't pretend---wait… you are fine?"
"Yeah."
"What did you do?"
"Just cover yourself with mana."
"Jairen… easier said than done, stupid."
Jairen shrugged. He looked around and saw that he was the only one who could cover himself by the mana in this world.
"I'll try and see if I could get some people."
"... no need, Jai. We have a few visitors," Daren said as he gestured at the group of people running towards them.
They couldn't believe their eyes when someone they knew was leading that group. That one face that was so familiar since it was widely known that he sheltered a woman that suddenly appeared in Central Marsh.
"Yao Yun?!" Jairen exclaimed. "What are you doing here?"
"Uh… do I know you?"
"... well, you wouldn't really know me since we never talked. I'm Jairen. These are my companions; Daren and Egbert."
Yao Yun smiled then shook their hands.
"It's nice meeting you. Please, come and follow us."
"In this freezing cold?! No way!" Egbert complained.
"Ahaha… we will die…," Daren mumbled.
"I can give you some coats," Yao Yun said as he retrieved three thick coats intricately woven with mana threads from his storage ring. These were the coats he bought with his own money from Emersyn after selling the monsters they hunted yesterday.
"These are?" Jairen absentmindedly accepted the coats.
"It's a small gift from me, Mister Jairen. You will only need it if you went out of the underground city anyway. If you earned more money, you could buy some for the others that would be coming after you."
"... thank you. So, you said about this underground city..." Jairen asked as he handed the coats to his companions then wore one. "Oh… this is so soft and nice to wear… who made this?"
"Yes, we are going underground to see people. The surface is the domain of the monsters while the underground is the domain of humans. And answering your question, I bought it from my companion," Yao Yun gestured at Emersyn who was behind him.
"Oh! You are that woman who came with Yao Yun to the South Garden Pagoda."
"Well remembered," Emersyn smiled as she shook their hands. "I am Emersyn Lachlan. Currently employed by Yao Yun."
"Oh! It was rude of us to not introduce our last names. I am Jairen Chua. This is my brother, Daren Chua. My friend, Egbert Yongbeong. We are employed by the elders of the Central Marsh to scout this place."
"That's perfect! We already asked for Tamel's help for our people."
"That- that's great! Thank you so much, Yao Yun! You really helped us!"
"For now, please follow me."
"Okay!"
***
"This is…," Jairen mumbled as they went down the thick ice that covered the planet. "This is amazing… how many years has it been since the planet turned frozen?"
"Around 500 years ago," Nico answered. "It wasn't that bad at first, but each passing day, it was getting worse. It was around 400 years ago that we started living underground."
"I… I see."
"What about your world?"
"Well… we didn't have a moon at all, only a bright sun. It was normal in the morning, but when night comes, it's so dark and cold. There were also beasts living outside our village and those are our source of meat. Though we have people who would take care of those, and the three of us are part of those people who would give meat to the village. Now, when the Divine Lightning Barrier completely vanished, we were sent to scout the outside world."
"How fortunate that you have a bright star in your world."
"Eh? Wait… I thought it was night since it was dark..."
"Actually… a few days ago, our moons also disappeared. We didn't know why it suddenly happened… just like what happened to our sun a long time ago."
"How… saddening. It must be hard living that way."
All the Locruna men have stiff smiles in their faces. Silence came washing over them and Jairen scratched his cheek. It was awkward, but the atmosphere soon lifted when they could hear bustling noises. They hastened their pace then came to greet the guards.
"Oh? We have more visitors?"
"Good day, Alois!" Althas greeted. "We found more people, but I need to go and report what we found earlier," he said then turned around at Yao Yun. "Please bring these men in your room and wait for us."
"Copy that, sir Althas."
"Let's hurry, boys," Althas announced, then brought Cali, Elan and Nico to where Emersyn presumed they would be; the Elders.
"Please follow me," Yao Yun smiled then proceeded to walk towards the building the Locruna men entered then to his room.
Jairen was so amazed by the tall buildings with intricate designs. Even the room they were led into was so spacious that three houses would fit in. There was a huge table and chairs then sofas where they all sat… There was also a built-in kitchen, stove and oven, and refrigerator. Out of curiosity, he opened the refrigerator and cool air permeated out as he stood shocked.
"Yao Yun! What is this?!"
"... I'm sorry, I never really bothered to ask about it… Emersyn?"
"Hm? That is a refrigerator. It keeps food cold and stores them. It prevents food to spoil and ingredients to rot."
"That… that is amazing!"
"Yao Yun, I am going to cook for you all now," Emersyn said as she stood up from her seat.
"Please do."
Emersyn nodded then equipped her apron. She took out meat, washed then ground it on a chopping board. Set aside then chop the green onions, white onion and kimchi. She reached out for a pot then put it on heat. Meanwhile, she washed rice then settled it on heat. She drizzled olive oil on the heated pot then put a whole load of green onions, then ground meat. Stir fry until the meat is cooked. For some reason, she felt that there were eyes watching her every move. She shrugged then put a lot of minced garlic and white onion then stir-fried. Season with salt, pepper then lots of spicy powder for that extra kick. She put water then brought to a boil, then added lots of tofu and kimchi. She stirred then turned off the heat. She cracked ten eggs she bought in the Japanese online supermarket on the hot stew then slowly stirred. When she turned around, her eyes twitched when she saw how famished these men were. They were drooling as they gulped, watching the pot filled with stew.
"Can you bring the bowls for your share?" She asked.
"Yes, ma'am!" Then they scuttled away to look for bowls.
Emersyn shook her head then brought out a side dish that would go well to this Korean stew. She settled the plates on the big round table then accepted the bowls she got from the men. She just finished scooping their shares when there was a knock on the door. Emersyn removed her apron then opened the door.
"Good day, Emersyn! I just came to---" Nico sniffed then his eyes naturally settled on the table filled with food. He gulped then… "Can… Can I join? I am also hungry..."
"Perfect timing then. We still haven't started. Feel free to eat with us."
When Emersyn opened the door wide to accommodate the huge size of Nico, he noticed that she had an apron hanging on her forearm and quickly deduced that she was the one who cooked. And damn… brought butterflies in his stomach. It was rare, like, really rare to see a female cook in Tamel or maybe in this world. Now, he couldn't believe that he would taste the cooking of his future wife.
"Then, if I may intrude~"
"So, you came for?" Emersyn asked.
"Doesn't matter~ We should start eating now! I am really, really hungry. You see, I haven't eaten anything since morning, so can I get some for me to take to my room?"
"Sure? I made a lot anyway. I could send some to your party too."
"What?! No way! They have too much food in their houses! You can't just give away your cooking to some jerks!"
"Jerks, you say?" A voice interjected.
"Eep!"
"We jerks are also hungry, so, Emersyn, you wouldn't mind our joining, right?" Althas said as he unceremoniously entered the room together with Cali and Elan.
"Of course. I made a lot after all."
"It is rare to taste a woman's cooking here, so please excuse our excitement."
"I'm sure it wouldn't be that different," Emersyn smiled then served more stew to the newly arrived men. "Please enjoy the stew with some side dishes. I will make some refreshments while you eat---"
"Oh nonono! We can't let a woman work while we eat!" Althas complained then went behind Emersyn. He gently pushed her to a vacant seat then sat her there. "Refreshments will come later."
"Okay?"
Althas smiled brightly then announced, "Let's all eat Emersyn's cooking now!"
"Ugh..." Nico groaned but ate anyway. "Why do you all have to come? Wait… this is so delicious! Emersyn, you're a goddess!"
"You are taking too long when your destination is so near. So, we excused ourselves for a few minutes to take you back with them. We ended up hearing that we are jerks, so I intervened. And I don't regret it."
"I could have enjoyed Emersyn's cooking in my room… you ruined it, you bastard!"
Emersyn smiled stiffly as she watched their banters. She shrugged then proceeded eating joyously.