I wandered outside, searching for Levinas.
She was in the field we had worked on together, harvesting carrots.
"Levinas, what are you doing?"
"Pulling out carrots! Levinas is going to put them in shabu-shabu!"
"I see."
Eating shabu-shabu with carrots we had grown ourselves.
Not a bad idea at all.
I crouched beside Levinas to help her.
"What will the King put in her shabu-shabu?!"
"Well, I guess? Just eat whatever's there, right?"
Yeoreum must have prepared everything well.
I didn't think I needed to get anything special when suddenly, Levinas tapped me on the back.
"You can put anything in it, you know?! Opportunities like this don't come often!"
"Uh..."
What exactly did Levinas think shabu-shabu was?
It's not like you can put just anything in it.
As an adult, I couldn't fathom her childish thoughts, so I just silently continued to help her pull out carrots.
"Is the king not planning to put various things in?"
"Uh, well. I'm not even sure what to put. It's not really a dish for shabu-shabu."
"Really? What does the King usually eat?"
The foods I used to eat.
They weren't exactly suitable for shabu-shabu.
I just went through them one by one, indulging Levinas's curiosity.
"I used to eat minnows, dandelions, corn flour. When there was really nothing else, I even caught and ate grasshoppers."
"Okay! Then let's put that in!"
"No, that's not..."
Especially the grasshoppers; Yeoreum would hate that.
As I was about to refuse hastily, Levinas's eyes sparkled, and she dashed toward the bushes.
"There's a grasshopper!"
"Uh, what?"
On the grass lay a locust, resting.
The shape of its wings and the position of the spikes on its legs perfectly matched the one I had caught in the morning.
So you were the one from this morning.
But was I really able to distinguish them to such an extent?
As I marveled to myself, Levinas leapt towards the locust.
Thud!
She lunged with both hands towards the locust, but it simply hopped away into the distance.
Due to Levinas's impressive jumping ability, she had given it the chance to leap away.
"Huh?"
Was she disappointed that she couldn't catch it?
Levinas stared down at her own palms.
It seemed I needed to teach her how to catch a locust.
"You shouldn't jump too high like that."
"Is that so?"
"Yeah."
I approached the locust that had escaped far away, demonstrating as if to teach Levinas.
As I quickly reached out my hands towards the locust, it was effortlessly caught in my grasp.
Years of experience catching insects and grasshoppers had paid off.
"Caught it?!"
"Yes. Just pounce on it like this..."
As I was about to teach Levinas how to catch a locust again, footsteps from nearby reached my ears.
I turned hastily to the side, and there stood the middle-aged man who had helped us catch a thief last time, with a group of people I hadn't seen before by his side.
In truth, it wasn't the first time I had seen them.
Having frequented the guild building, I had seen their faces before.
"Ah! It's the Master!"
"···What are you all doing?"
"We're looking for things to put in shabu-shabu with the King!"
"Shabu-shabu···?"
The Master's gaze shifted to the carrot in Levinas's hand.
He nodded slightly, then shuddered upon seeing the locust in my hand.
"I'm going to eat carrots, and the King will eat grasshoppers!"
"Grasshoppers···?"
The Master and those around him opened their mouths in surprise.
They murmured something, but I decided not to pay much attention, slightly taken aback by the Master's demeanor.
"Ah, well···"
I knew very well that grasshoppers shouldn't be put in shabu-shabu.
While it's not impossible, Yeoreum detested insect cuisine.
I didn't intend to do anything she disliked.
"Do you normally eat insects?"
"Yes, yes... I eat them when I'm really hungry, but I won't put them in shabu-shabu. People don't like it."
"I see."
The Master, with his lips drooped to his chin, nodded, then pulled out a chunk of chocolate from his pocket.
It was the same chocolate he had given to me and Levinas before.
"Chocolate!"
"Put this in the shabu-shabu as well."
"Ah! That's an idea!"
Levinas jumped up and accepted the chocolate.
I could only stand there dumbfounded at the Master's actions.
'It must be a joke, right?'
Even so, putting chocolate in shabu-shabu seemed more impossible than grasshoppers.
I wanted to tell Levinas that the Master was joking, but one thing bothered me.
The fact that the common sense of this world was different from Earth's.
'There was no ssamjang, and we even ate this strange Naru meat...'
Given the different food cultures, asserting something impossible could lead to embarrassment.
In such situations, it was best to just keep my mouth shut.
At least half the time.
"Thank you, Master! I will definitely put chocolate in the shabu-shabu!"
"Good. Now stop playing and go inside. The adults will be worried."
"Okay!"
<+>
Carrots, chocolate, and a grasshopper.
We returned home with these unlikely ingredients.
"Here I am!"
Levinas shouted loudly as she ran into the living room.
The table was already set for shabu-shabu.
"Are you here?"
"Yes..."
"Yes! I brought things to put in the shabu-shabu!"
Levinas showed Yeoreum the carrots and chocolate.
I just watched from behind, unsure of her reaction.
"You can put the carrots in, but chocolate will be difficult, won't it?"
"Is that so?"
"Yes. Let's eat the chocolate as a snack at the end?"
"Okay! Got it!"
Yeoreum, smiling with her eyes, then looked down at the grasshopper in my hand.
Her expression, tinged with a smile, froze in place.
"The King said she eats grasshoppers in shabu-shabu!"
"Gyeoul-ah. We decided not to eat grasshoppers..."
"That's right..."
I felt wronged.
The grasshopper was something Levinas insisted on bringing, despite my reluctance.
But I couldn't blame the young Levinas, so I just let it pass as my own doing.
"Normally, people don't put grasshoppers in shabu-shabu. So, let's compromise, Gyeoul?"
"Yes..."
I knew it too.
That grasshoppers don't belong in shabu-shabu.
Feeling unfairly treated, my shoulders slumped in defeat.
"But still, shabu-shabu is really delicious, right? Have you ever had shabu-shabu, Gyeoul?"
"No, this is my first time."
Someone who has eaten shabu-shabu before wouldn't think of putting grasshoppers in it.
Once again, I became someone who was trying everything for the first time.
<+>
After listening to all of Jung Yu-na's explanations, the counselor closed her eyes tightly, shocked by the child's experience of hell.
"So, you thought they were a pathetic adult who couldn't even catch a horned rabbit."
"Yes..."
It would be absurd for an adult to be unable to catch a single horned rabbit.
Such a person could easily become the butt of jokes, especially if they had a bad temperament.
The counselor tried her best to empathize with Jung Yu-na, to stand on her side and understand her.
Though she didn't seem like the type to mock someone.
"Did you also tease the child, Yu-na?"
"I laughed once when I saw her being chased by a horned rabbit..."
"Ah..."
She probably didn't know that one could actually die from a horned rabbit's stab.
To someone unaware of the child's situation, it might have looked funny.
But the truth was far more dreadful.
"You said someone physically harmed the child, right?"
"Yes. In the beginner's dungeon..."
Jung Yu-na had to pause, feeling a sense of dissonance from the conversation.
'Gyeoul didn't have mana...'
Usually, a blow to the back of the head wouldn't be too painful for someone with mana.
But the problem was that the child had no mana at all.
How painful must it have been for a mana-less child to be hit on the back of the head?
Jung Yu-na, with her characteristic analytical skills as a mage, quickly came to a conclusion.
It would have felt like being hit with a hammer.
"Ah."
A light hit on the back of the head.
A gentle push of the body.
Why had she carelessly used the adjective 'light'?
To Gyeoul, who lacked mana, it would have been anything but a light impact.
Jung Yu-na, her face turning pale, covered her face with her hands as if to hide her expression.
'I thought of it from my perspective.'
To the child, even a light slap from a person could have been a life-threatening situation.
That's why the child was so terrified and avoided people coming near.
In Gyeoul's world, every person could be a monster capable of killing her.
'Is she still slowly opening up, despite all that?'
Honestly, she had entertained such arrogant thoughts.
They thought Gyeoul was gradually opening her heart because they were doing well.
But upon truly realizing the pain Gyeoul had endured, they could see how foolish their thoughts had been.
Despite having experienced unimaginable pain, she had opened her heart to those who had inflicted it upon her.
It wasn't because of their good actions, but because Gyeoul had chosen to 'forgive' them first.
"······"
Could I forgive those who mocked me as I was dying?
Jung Yu-na shook her head without a second thought.
Surely, she would have become a spirit filled with distrust and vengeance.
'Gyeoul is a saint.'
Where else could one find a child as kind as her in this world?
Jung Yu-na's guilt grew even more.
<+>
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