***
“Hmm… Is it because of the rice?”
It didn’t taste as strong as when he had the sandwich or the potato soup.
The most basic ingredient, rice, ruined the taste because its flavor was weak. The newly grown ingredients had excellent fragrance and taste, but they didn’t harmonize with the rice.
He tried making it with various types of rice, but the results were all the same.
It seemed like he couldn’t put it on the menu until he grew his own rice.
‘What a pity. What should I make?’
He became more worried about the new menu.
“Oh, I’m going to be late. Luna Festival!”
He remembered his promise with Chloe.
Hae-jun hurriedly went to the Dimensional Farm.
Chloe, who had been waiting all dressed up, pouted.
“Why are you so late? I was about to go alone because you weren’t coming.”
“Haha. Sorry. I was working on a new menu.”
“Menu?”
“Oh. But, you…”
“Me? What?”
Hae-jun looked closely at Chloe’s face.
Pretty.
He didn’t know before, but she was so pretty when she dressed up.
It was something he didn’t know when he first met her, or even when they worked on the field together.
Is it true that women are different when they dress up?
When he stared blankly, Chloe pushed her face close.
“What?”
Somehow his face felt hot. Hae-jun cleared his throat and changed the subject.
“Oh, no. Ahem, where’s Pote?”
“He’s always busy. He danced around the farm all day and then disappeared somewhere. We’re late. Let’s go quickly.”
“Meow~!”
Mongchi grabbed Hae-jun.
The lump, which usually rolled around elegantly, followed them, and the three of them went down to the village together.
The village, where the festival was in full swing, was bustling with the sound of people singing.
‘A festival…’
A faint memory came to mind.
When he was a child, he went to an amusement park with his parents for the first time and last time. He remembered having fun until night at the spring flower festival’s night opening.
‘What did I eat back then? It was something very sweet like candy.’
He remembered the sweet taste of the candy his mother had bought him.
It was a fruit, but it was incredibly sweet and delicious.
“Hae-jun, look over there. There!”
Chloe shouted in an excited voice.
When he followed her gaze, he saw people gathered in the square writing something on large lanterns and flying them into the sky. They seemed to be writing wishes.
“Let’s do it too!”
He bought two lanterns for 1 silver.
Hae-jun wrote a heartfelt wish to find his father’s traces and flew the lantern into the sky.
The colorful lanterns that adorned the night sky gave the illusion that hundreds of full moons had risen.
“Hae-jun, what did you wish for?”
“A secret.”
“A secret? Tsk, what’s that.”
“What did you write?”
“It’s a secret too. Hehe.”
They enjoyed the festival by going around the square and various parts of the village.
They played games and won prizes.
Then,
Hae-jun urgently found William, the general store owner, passing by.
“Hello… Huh? Where are you going in such a hurry?”
“What’s wrong? What happened?”
“Well.”
Chloe and Hae-jun followed William.
William, who noticed the two of them then.
“Oh, right. It’s you guys.”
“Mister, what’s wrong?”
“Oh, Haas’s daughter, Mia, is missing.”
Haas was the only herbalist in the village.
He picked herbs used in medicine, but he also picked wild plants deep in the mountains and sold them.
He had a casual relationship with Hae-jun at the general store.
“His daughter is missing?”
“She was playing hide-and-seek with her friends, but no one can find her. I’m busy, so I’ll go now.”
“Wait a minute, mister.”
Hae-jun called out to William, who was about to run away.
“We’ll help you find her. What does Mia look like?”
“You?”
He wasn’t close to Mr. Haas, but he wanted to help find his missing daughter, Mia, somehow.
If one more person searched, it would be more advantageous to find the missing child.
William thanked him and explained Mia’s appearance. A six-year-old girl with brown hair in two braids, fair skin, and freckles on the bridge of her nose.
“We’ll search that way.”
“Yes. If you find her, bring her to the house at the end of that alley.”
“Yes, mister.”
Hae-jun and Chloe ran in the opposite direction of William.
Since it was a festival to honor the moon goddess Luna, everyone in the village was out on the streets, so it wasn’t easy to find the child.
Hae-jun and Chloe searched everywhere the child could hide. However, they couldn’t find her easily.
“Should we go up that way?”
Hae-jun pointed to the path leading to his farm while catching his breath for a moment.
“Did she go that far?”
“She might have. She might have gone somewhere she didn’t know because she was trying to hide.”
The path to the farm was covered with a thick forest, and not even the bright light of the full moon reached it.
Hae-jun called out Mia’s name loudly and searched through the grass.
However, there were no results.
“Did someone already find her?”
“If so, that would be fortunate…”
“I’ll search the farm more.”
“Yes. Then I’ll search the back alley more.”
“Let’s meet in 20 minutes.”
He parted ways with Chloe and searched the area near the farm.
This was a place where the villagers didn’t go, but if she was hiding while playing hide-and-seek, she might be hiding in a place like this.
While searching between the bushes next to the fence.
Rustle-
He heard some movement somewhere.
He stopped and listened, and he heard the sound of a child sobbing.
Hae-jun moved forward through the bushes.
And finally.
“I found you.”
The girl with the appearance that William had described was sitting and sobbing.
When the girl found Hae-jun, she burst into tears, holding back her sobs.
“Waaaah~.”
She probably couldn’t cry properly because she was so scared.
The night was dark, and the forest was a scary place.
Hae-jun hugged the girl tightly.
“It’s okay. Don’t cry. I’ll take you to your father.”
“Waaaah~ I got lost playing hide-and-seek. I was so scared…”
“Stop crying. Stop.”
“Waaaah~.”
Despite Hae-jun’s coaxing, the little girl’s crying didn’t stop.
He thought he should calm the child down first and take her to the village.
An idea crossed his mind as he wondered how to appease her.
“Mia. Don’t cry. I’ll make you candy. Stop!”
“Hic… Candy?”
The little girl, covered in tears and snot, stopped crying at the word candy.
As expected, children liked sweet candy.
Just like himself when he was young.
.
.
.
“Wow, what is this?”
Mia, who was standing next to Hae-jun and looking up at the shelf of the kitchen counter, asked with sparkling eyes.
Everything looked new to the little girl’s eyes.
“Fruit skewer candy.”
“Skewer candy?”
“Yes.”
The candy that Hae-jun was going to make was a fruit skewer candy called ttang-hoo-roo. It wasn’t in the recipe notebook, but it was a snack his mother used to make for him when he cried when he was young.
The method was simple.
Put any fruit on a skewer, coat it with sugar syrup melted over low heat, and it’s done.
Hae-jun cut a branch off a tree and shaved it thinly. He washed the grapes thoroughly, put them on a skewer, and made syrup.
Mia swallowed her saliva with an excited face.
“Hehe. It’s going to be delicious.”
“Wait a minute.”
He coated the grapes with enough syrup and let them cool for a while.
Soon, the fruit skewers coated with transparent sugar were complete.
“Here, try it.”
“Thank you.”
The little girl, who had been crying and wanting to see her father just a moment ago, smiled brightly at the candy.
Hae-jun stared blankly at the little girl’s expression.
Cooking is getting more interesting.
A child who was crying just because she was hungry stopped crying and smiled.
It was the same in the real world. Sometimes, he felt a sense of accomplishment and satisfaction when he saw the customers smiling brightly beyond the kitchen.
He came all the way here to find his missing father, but he soon became absorbed in the satisfaction of growing crops with his own sweat and serving people the food made from those crops, rather than finding his father.
‘It’s fun…’
Hae-jun smiled faintly.
***
“Thank you.”
“Thank you for bringing her, mister.”
Mr. Haas and Mia thanked him.
His fame increased by 3 in an instant. It was probably because of William’s request and because he helped Haas and his daughter meet.
He didn’t enjoy the festival, but it was a productive night in its own way.
“You’re welcome. Mia, be careful not to get lost again.”
“Yes, mister. But, can I come and play again next time if I want to eat candy again?”
“Candy?”
Haas tilted his head.
“I made her candy.”
“It was really delicious, Dad. Hehe…”
“My daughter owes you a lot. I’m grateful that you found her, and you even gave her candy.”
“No. It wasn’t difficult.”
“We shouldn’t talk outside. Why don’t you come inside and have some tea?”
“It’s fine.”
“I’m so sorry.”
Hae-jun thought it wasn’t polite to refuse the offer, so he followed Haas into the house.
As soon as he entered, he smelled the faint scent of herbs. Hae-jun looked around the house, smelling the scent that somehow calmed his mind.
Colorful flowers were displayed in transparent glass bottles on one wall.
Haas took out a bottle filled with orange flowers.
“It’s flower tea. This is dried marigold, and it’s rich in vitamins.”
“It smells good.”
When he poured hot water, marigolds bloomed in the teacup with a faint scent.
When he took a sip, the sweet and fragrant scent relaxed his mind.
After serving him tea, Haas showed Hae-jun around the house.
He was knowledgeable about flower tea and herbs. And,
“What’s this?”
“I’m growing edible vegetables that I picked from the mountains separately.”
They were vegetables used in salads.
Lettuce, romaine, red lettuce, arugula, and more, there were many kinds.
“Oh, Mr. Hae-jun, you said you had a farm north of the village, right?”
“Yes. I raise some crops, chickens, and goats.”
“Then take these vegetables and plant them. They taste pretty good.”
Haas picked a ripe red paprika and handed it to Hae-jun.
“Try it.”
Crunch-
A pleasant texture and fragrant fruit scent filled his mouth.
As he continued to chew, he could taste the sweetness.
“It’s delicious. It’s sweet.”
“Paprika is a vegetable with a sweet taste. It contains a lot of vitamins, so it’s good for relieving fatigue.”
“Do vegetables all taste different?”
“Yes. Some, like paprika, are sweet, but there are also vegetables that are bitter or spicy.”
Hae-jun’s stereotype that all vegetables tasted the same was completely shattered.
Lettuce and romaine had a bland taste. And kale and chicory had an impressive bitter taste, and arugula had a bitter and spicy taste.
Hae-jun learned a lot from Haas.
“Can I really take them?”
“Of course. And this too.”
Haas gladly gave him the vegetables.
Along with a glass bottle with small grains.
“This is?…”
The small grains in the glass bottle were pepper.
“It’s a spice called pepper, and it’s also used as a medicinal herb. It tastes good when eaten with vegetables.”
This was not just a good result, but a jackpot.
He found a lost child and got salad vegetable seeds in return.
‘How should I combine them?…’
Hae-jun looked through the recipe book.
He found various combinations of salads and sauces that could be combined with toppings such as chicken breast, shrimp, tofu, cheese, and salmon.
The necessary vegetables were lettuce, romaine, kale, radicchio, and arugula.
He carefully dug them out of the soil, taking care not to damage the roots.
“Will this be enough?”
“Yes, it’s enough.”
“Come again if you need more. You’re always welcome.”
“Yes, goodbye.”
Hae-jun waved goodbye to Haas and his daughter.
***
“Hmm… Is it because of the rice?”
It didn’t taste as strong as when he had the sandwich or the potato soup.
The most basic ingredient, rice, ruined the taste because its flavor was weak. The newly grown ingredients had excellent fragrance and taste, but they didn’t harmonize with the rice.
He tried making it with various types of rice, but the results were all the same.
It seemed like he couldn’t put it on the menu until he grew his own rice.
‘What a pity. What should I make?’
He became more worried about the new menu.
“Oh, I’m going to be late. Luna Festival!”
He remembered his promise with Chloe.
Hae-jun hurriedly went to the Dimensional Farm.
Chloe, who had been waiting all dressed up, pouted.
“Why are you so late? I was about to go alone because you weren’t coming.”
“Haha. Sorry. I was working on a new menu.”
“Menu?”
“Oh. But, you…”
“Me? What?”
Hae-jun looked closely at Chloe’s face.
Pretty.
He didn’t know before, but she was so pretty when she dressed up.
It was something he didn’t know when he first met her, or even when they worked on the field together.
Is it true that women are different when they dress up?
When he stared blankly, Chloe pushed her face close.
“What?”
Somehow his face felt hot. Hae-jun cleared his throat and changed the subject.
“Oh, no. Ahem, where’s Pote?”
“He’s always busy. He danced around the farm all day and then disappeared somewhere. We’re late. Let’s go quickly.”
“Meow~!”
Mongchi grabbed Hae-jun.
The lump, which usually rolled around elegantly, followed them, and the three of them went down to the village together.
The village, where the festival was in full swing, was bustling with the sound of people singing.
‘A festival…’
A faint memory came to mind.
When he was a child, he went to an amusement park with his parents for the first time and last time. He remembered having fun until night at the spring flower festival’s night opening.
‘What did I eat back then? It was something very sweet like candy.’
He remembered the sweet taste of the candy his mother had bought him.
It was a fruit, but it was incredibly sweet and delicious.
“Hae-jun, look over there. There!”
Chloe shouted in an excited voice.
When he followed her gaze, he saw people gathered in the square writing something on large lanterns and flying them into the sky. They seemed to be writing wishes.
“Let’s do it too!”
He bought two lanterns for 1 silver.
Hae-jun wrote a heartfelt wish to find his father’s traces and flew the lantern into the sky.
The colorful lanterns that adorned the night sky gave the illusion that hundreds of full moons had risen.
“Hae-jun, what did you wish for?”
“A secret.”
“A secret? Tsk, what’s that.”
“What did you write?”
“It’s a secret too. Hehe.”
They enjoyed the festival by going around the square and various parts of the village.
They played games and won prizes.
Then,
Hae-jun urgently found William, the general store owner, passing by.
“Hello… Huh? Where are you going in such a hurry?”
“What’s wrong? What happened?”
“Well.”
Chloe and Hae-jun followed William.
William, who noticed the two of them then.
“Oh, right. It’s you guys.”
“Mister, what’s wrong?”
“Oh, Haas’s daughter, Mia, is missing.”
Haas was the only herbalist in the village.
He picked herbs used in medicine, but he also picked wild plants deep in the mountains and sold them.
He had a casual relationship with Hae-jun at the general store.
“His daughter is missing?”
“She was playing hide-and-seek with her friends, but no one can find her. I’m busy, so I’ll go now.”
“Wait a minute, mister.”
Hae-jun called out to William, who was about to run away.
“We’ll help you find her. What does Mia look like?”
“You?”
He wasn’t close to Mr. Haas, but he wanted to help find his missing daughter, Mia, somehow.
If one more person searched, it would be more advantageous to find the missing child.
William thanked him and explained Mia’s appearance. A six-year-old girl with brown hair in two braids, fair skin, and freckles on the bridge of her nose.
“We’ll search that way.”
“Yes. If you find her, bring her to the house at the end of that alley.”
“Yes, mister.”
Hae-jun and Chloe ran in the opposite direction of William.
Since it was a festival to honor the moon goddess Luna, everyone in the village was out on the streets, so it wasn’t easy to find the child.
Hae-jun and Chloe searched everywhere the child could hide. However, they couldn’t find her easily.
“Should we go up that way?”
Hae-jun pointed to the path leading to his farm while catching his breath for a moment.
“Did she go that far?”
“She might have. She might have gone somewhere she didn’t know because she was trying to hide.”
The path to the farm was covered with a thick forest, and not even the bright light of the full moon reached it.
Hae-jun called out Mia’s name loudly and searched through the grass.
However, there were no results.
“Did someone already find her?”
“If so, that would be fortunate…”
“I’ll search the farm more.”
“Yes. Then I’ll search the back alley more.”
“Let’s meet in 20 minutes.”
He parted ways with Chloe and searched the area near the farm.
This was a place where the villagers didn’t go, but if she was hiding while playing hide-and-seek, she might be hiding in a place like this.
While searching between the bushes next to the fence.
Rustle-
He heard some movement somewhere.
He stopped and listened, and he heard the sound of a child sobbing.
Hae-jun moved forward through the bushes.
And finally.
“I found you.”
The girl with the appearance that William had described was sitting and sobbing.
When the girl found Hae-jun, she burst into tears, holding back her sobs.
“Waaaah~.”
She probably couldn’t cry properly because she was so scared.
The night was dark, and the forest was a scary place.
Hae-jun hugged the girl tightly.
“It’s okay. Don’t cry. I’ll take you to your father.”
“Waaaah~ I got lost playing hide-and-seek. I was so scared…”
“Stop crying. Stop.”
“Waaaah~.”
Despite Hae-jun’s coaxing, the little girl’s crying didn’t stop.
He thought he should calm the child down first and take her to the village.
An idea crossed his mind as he wondered how to appease her.
“Mia. Don’t cry. I’ll make you candy. Stop!”
“Hic… Candy?”
The little girl, covered in tears and snot, stopped crying at the word candy.
As expected, children liked sweet candy.
Just like himself when he was young.
.
.
.
“Wow, what is this?”
Mia, who was standing next to Hae-jun and looking up at the shelf of the kitchen counter, asked with sparkling eyes.
Everything looked new to the little girl’s eyes.
“Fruit skewer candy.”
“Skewer candy?”
“Yes.”
The candy that Hae-jun was going to make was a fruit skewer candy called ttang-hoo-roo. It wasn’t in the recipe notebook, but it was a snack his mother used to make for him when he cried when he was young.
The method was simple.
Put any fruit on a skewer, coat it with sugar syrup melted over low heat, and it’s done.
Hae-jun cut a branch off a tree and shaved it thinly. He washed the grapes thoroughly, put them on a skewer, and made syrup.
Mia swallowed her saliva with an excited face.
“Hehe. It’s going to be delicious.”
“Wait a minute.”
He coated the grapes with enough syrup and let them cool for a while.
Soon, the fruit skewers coated with transparent sugar were complete.
“Here, try it.”
“Thank you.”
The little girl, who had been crying and wanting to see her father just a moment ago, smiled brightly at the candy.
Hae-jun stared blankly at the little girl’s expression.
Cooking is getting more interesting.
A child who was crying just because she was hungry stopped crying and smiled.
It was the same in the real world. Sometimes, he felt a sense of accomplishment and satisfaction when he saw the customers smiling brightly beyond the kitchen.
He came all the way here to find his missing father, but he soon became absorbed in the satisfaction of growing crops with his own sweat and serving people the food made from those crops, rather than finding his father.
‘It’s fun…’
Hae-jun smiled faintly.
***
“Thank you.”
“Thank you for bringing her, mister.”
Mr. Haas and Mia thanked him.
His fame increased by 3 in an instant. It was probably because of William’s request and because he helped Haas and his daughter meet.
He didn’t enjoy the festival, but it was a productive night in its own way.
“You’re welcome. Mia, be careful not to get lost again.”
“Yes, mister. But, can I come and play again next time if I want to eat candy again?”
“Candy?”
Haas tilted his head.
“I made her candy.”
“It was really delicious, Dad. Hehe…”
“My daughter owes you a lot. I’m grateful that you found her, and you even gave her candy.”
“No. It wasn’t difficult.”
“We shouldn’t talk outside. Why don’t you come inside and have some tea?”
“It’s fine.”
“I’m so sorry.”
Hae-jun thought it wasn’t polite to refuse the offer, so he followed Haas into the house.
As soon as he entered, he smelled the faint scent of herbs. Hae-jun looked around the house, smelling the scent that somehow calmed his mind.
Colorful flowers were displayed in transparent glass bottles on one wall.
Haas took out a bottle filled with orange flowers.
“It’s flower tea. This is dried marigold, and it’s rich in vitamins.”
“It smells good.”
When he poured hot water, marigolds bloomed in the teacup with a faint scent.
When he took a sip, the sweet and fragrant scent relaxed his mind.
After serving him tea, Haas showed Hae-jun around the house.
He was knowledgeable about flower tea and herbs. And,
“What’s this?”
“I’m growing edible vegetables that I picked from the mountains separately.”
They were vegetables used in salads.
Lettuce, romaine, red lettuce, arugula, and more, there were many kinds.
“Oh, Mr. Hae-jun, you said you had a farm north of the village, right?”
“Yes. I raise some crops, chickens, and goats.”
“Then take these vegetables and plant them. They taste pretty good.”
Haas picked a ripe red paprika and handed it to Hae-jun.
“Try it.”
Crunch-
A pleasant texture and fragrant fruit scent filled his mouth.
As he continued to chew, he could taste the sweetness.
“It’s delicious. It’s sweet.”
“Paprika is a vegetable with a sweet taste. It contains a lot of vitamins, so it’s good for relieving fatigue.”
“Do vegetables all taste different?”
“Yes. Some, like paprika, are sweet, but there are also vegetables that are bitter or spicy.”
Hae-jun’s stereotype that all vegetables tasted the same was completely shattered.
Lettuce and romaine had a bland taste. And kale and chicory had an impressive bitter taste, and arugula had a bitter and spicy taste.
Hae-jun learned a lot from Haas.
“Can I really take them?”
“Of course. And this too.”
Haas gladly gave him the vegetables.
Along with a glass bottle with small grains.
“This is?…”
The small grains in the glass bottle were pepper.
“It’s a spice called pepper, and it’s also used as a medicinal herb. It tastes good when eaten with vegetables.”
This was not just a good result, but a jackpot.
He found a lost child and got salad vegetable seeds in return.
‘How should I combine them?…’
Hae-jun looked through the recipe book.
He found various combinations of salads and sauces that could be combined with toppings such as chicken breast, shrimp, tofu, cheese, and salmon.
The necessary vegetables were lettuce, romaine, kale, radicchio, and arugula.
He carefully dug them out of the soil, taking care not to damage the roots.
“Will this be enough?”
“Yes, it’s enough.”
“Come again if you need more. You’re always welcome.”
“Yes, goodbye.”
Hae-jun waved goodbye to Haas and his daughter.
