Woohoo···
A submarine making a low-pitched noise.
“You’re almost there. If you go straight that way… Oh, that’s right! It’s that buoy!”
On the way to Priolo, on the eastern coast of Sicily.
Lorenzo, who had escaped from there, guided the way by looking through the periscope, while Lee Yong-soo and the crew drove the submarine without a single error.
The buoy was washed quite a distance from the harbor.
The totem’s territory was intentionally expanded to catch fish.
Thanks to this, I was able to infiltrate easily, just like Lorenzo.
Choaaaak!
The submarine, which had hidden under the water, entered the totem zone, discharged seawater, and rose to the surface.
As I opened the hatch and climbed up to the watchtower, I felt like I was standing alone in the vast ocean.
“Product recall.”
Hwaaaaak!
All of the party members inside the submarine were taken into subspace.
Because I had nowhere to step, I fell into the water with a splash, but with the help of my life jacket, I slowly swam toward the harbor shore 50 meters away.
After all, I wasn’t an invited guest, and this was clearly an ‘infiltration’.
Perhaps I could have ordered the knights to investigate this land, but since the subspace portal had not yet been installed, I decided to check it out with my own eyes this time.
“Huh······”
After arriving at a corner of the dock, I washed my body with water poured over my head.
After blowing the air from Jirisan and drying my hair and putting on new clothes, I was able to completely wash away the saltiness that had been wrapped around my body.
“So this is how I should go?”
In my hand I had a simple map drawn by Lorenzo.
The store where his uncle was, from which Lorenzo had not yet been able to bring him.
Because his stubbornness was so stubborn, Lorenzo swallowed his regret the whole time.
First of all, I decided to meet him.
If a stranger wanders around alone, he or she will be noticed in many ways.
The place we arrived at following the map was a restaurant located in a corner alley.
It was not a very large town, with only about a thousand residents, but compared to the buildings in the city center that were breaking at the waist due to the infestation of monsters, it still retained its old appearance quite well.
“This is···”
Beneath the restaurant’s main entrance, three distinct bullet holes were left in the marble tiles.
It is quite a rare feat, judging by the fact that the marble is not cracked.
Perhaps it was something left behind by the dictator of Priolo.
He said he uses guns too.
Daughter.
As I opened the door, a bell rang to announce the arrival of a customer, and a white-haired man who looked to be in his fifties or sixties slowly walked out from the shadowy kitchen.
I told him.
“I came here on Lorenzo’s introduction. Here···”
I handed him the map Lorenzo had drawn for me.
There was a message written in Lorenzo’s handwriting to his uncle, and thanks to this the white-haired middle-aged man no longer doubted me and held out his thick hand.
“Nice to meet you. My name is Marco.”
“This is Kim Jeong-gyeom.”
Knock knock!
After exchanging handshakes, Marco quickly grabbed a chair closer to the kitchen.
“Please sit down. I was just preparing a meal.”
“Ah, I······”
“Don’t worry. I don’t know about anything else here, but there’s plenty to eat. The world is in such dire straits that the wheat sacks that were supposed to be shipped to the port are piled up like mountains… If you don’t eat it, you throw it away. Well, the ingredients are pretty monotonous, though.”
Marco strode into the kitchen and started a fire in the red brick stove.
It wasn’t the first or second time he had done it, but soon after, a flame burst into flames.
‘······The atmosphere is really good.’
While waiting for him, I slowly looked around the store.
The ceiling and walls, which showed the original wooden structure, were covered in dark green paint, and through the thin, fluttering curtains, soft sunlight streamed in through the cross-shaped bars, carrying soft dust.
Suddenly, I felt like I was traveling alone in Europe.
And maybe because of that, I slowly started to feel hungry.
Marco, who had turned on the fan moderately, spoke from the kitchen.
“It’s okay if the taste is disappointing. It’s just oil pasta fried in salted olive oil.”
There was regret in his voice.
Even if the wheat was stacked in sacks, it would not have been easy to find other ingredients in this situation.
Although he was doing his best, he would sometimes stop in the same spot blankly, perhaps because his path was tangled due to missing materials, and then he would start moving hurriedly again.
And he muttered to himself.
“If only there were at least some eggs······”
Bam!
I headed straight to the kitchen and put my hands in my pockets.
Then he handed the items shipped from his pocket to Marco.
Tiring!
[Animal Welfare Organic Eggs, 6 pieces, price is 3,800 won.]
“I, sir. Actually, I have some fresh fertilized eggs······”
“······Oh, thank you?”
Marco accepted the egg with a bewildered expression.
widely!
He continued, stirring the fertilized eggs in a small bowl.
“Heh heh… how many eggs have you had…! Since you gave me such a precious ingredient, I’ll make it really fancy! I’m being greedy because I have one egg, how foolish of me. But… it’s still a pity. If only there had been cheese, I could have let you taste the essence of Italy.”
Bam!
I immediately got up from my seat.
“Excuse me, sir. Actually, I have some Pecorino Romano······”
“······??”
Tiring!
[Pecorino Romano Cheese, 150g, price is 7,160 won.]
“It would be nice if there was bacon too······”
“It just so happens that I have a bacon steak in my pocket······”
Tiring!
[John Cook Deli Meat Country Bacon Steak, 1kg, price is 23,150 won.]
“······”
Hurrruk!
Cheeeeeee······
Marco completed the authentic Italian carbonara in just a few minutes.
He said, putting the bowl down in front of me.
“······What exactly is your identity?”
“···I run a small mart.”
“There’s no way I’ll go somewhere and not die from not eating······”
That’s what I was going to say.
Marco’s carbonara, a rich flavor created only with eggs and cheese, without milk or cream.
Because this was the best pasta I’ve ever had, before or after the apocalypse.
‘These gentlemen······’
Only then did I understand why that dictator demanded three meals a day.
‘···It’s clear that you’re an overly good cook.’
In fact, if the taste was this good, wouldn’t I have asked for the same meal even if I had worn the crown of Priollo?
Of course, I wouldn’t have done something like putting a bullet hole in someone’s head just because I was whimsical.
After finishing my meal with Marco, I was about to start talking seriously…
Knock knock!
“If you’re done eating, follow me.”
He suddenly got up and went outside.
.
.
.
The place he headed to was a wide grassy field leading to the back of the store.
It was a place more than 100 meters away.
“You have to be careful what you say here. No matter what happens, it all gets into his ears.”
Then, looking out over the view of Priolo, where houses and shops are scattered here and there, he added:
“But it seems like it’s okay as long as you leave the area around the building. I figured it out after some trial and error.”
A dictator who was aware of the townspeople’s every move like a bird listening to daytime conversation and a mouse listening to nighttime conversation.
Could that be his awakening ability?
When asked about the guy’s identity, Marco shook his head.
“None of us know his true identity. I don’t know what kind of power he has, but not even I, not a single person in the town remembers his face. He usually walks around in a clean suit, muttering something in a notebook the size of his palm… He specializes in judging people by their taste, their appearance, and telling them to wash up. In severe cases, he gets shot in the head… You must have heard that from Lorenzo.”
Phew.
Marco added with a small sigh.
“Fortunately, I’m good at cooking, so I’m pretty popular. Recently, one of the restaurant owners passed away, so it’s even worse. That’s why I didn’t follow Lorenzo. I won’t die if I stay.”
Only then did I realize what the bullet marks on the floor at the restaurant entrance were.
Three Michelin stars.
That was the evaluation score the dictator left for Marco.
“Why are you so obsessed with evaluation?”
“He’s trying to turn this entire town into his own paradise. He’s so obsessed with it… he interferes with everything from the interiors of stores to the landscaping of the town. And… I think there was something else going on.”
“If there is anything else······”
To my question, Marco answered while stroking his beard.
“It was just a passing remark… but he asked me if I wanted to go to another dimension and try cooking. But isn’t it a bit strange for a joke? Another dimension….”
Marco scratches his head.
Maybe, as he said, it wasn’t really a joke.
‘You’re saying we’re going to another dimension…?’
I became even more curious about the guy’s identity.
He erects totems to ward off monsters, uses them as surveillance equipment, eavesdrops on entire villages, and even performs bizarre feats such as making it impossible for anyone to remember his own face.
It was even said that he was even moving to another dimension, not knowing if all of this was some kind of ‘field effect’ or his mysterious ‘awakening ability’.
‘······Isn’t this just an ordinary awakened person?’
As I was picturing the guy’s vague figure in my head, seemingly within reach, I couldn’t quite catch him.
Taang-!
“······!”
Gunshots rang out from across town.
Marco and I headed straight to where the sound came from.
I was very careful not to let anyone see me, but since the townspeople had already gathered around me in confusion, I was able to blend in with the crowd without much difficulty.
“······!!”
Crowds of people.
At its center lay a pale, frozen corpse with a hole in its head, and a notepad with the words [F-poor Conduct] written on it rested squarely on top of it.
I couldn’t think of any other case.
Except that the dictator has purged yet another person.
‘It’s strange···’
This is the outskirts of town, leading to the orchard road.
Even though the rain had not yet dried and the surrounding area was covered in mud, I could not find a single footprint of the creature.
“Tsk tsk······”
Marco clicked his tongue.
Then, as if he had given up, he slowly turned his body.
“It’s almost time for the bastard to eat. If I don’t want to end up like him… I have to prepare my meals properly. Thanks for the ingredients. Thanks to you, I’ve saved myself a few days.”
Marco was proud that he would never die, but in reality, that was something he couldn’t be sure of.
There was no way of knowing when this dictator would have a fit of temper and point his gun at us again.
It’s a situation where it’s difficult to make a fuss.
All the people here in Priolo were innocent.
If there was one thing he could cause trouble for… it was his precious mealtimes.
Imagining the dictator’s picky palate, I added to Marco.
“Let me prepare this meal myself.”
Because that’ll be his last bite.
luna-cave
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