129
After Baal, Chronos, and Ganesha left, Yeon Ji-ho’s pension became much quieter. The first thing Ji-ho did for Apophis, Isquis, and Shango, who decided to stay, was a thorough cleaning of the pension.
It wasn’t just cleaning the house where Ji-ho lived, but literally a “pension” deep cleaning. Ji-ho decided to offer the long-unused pension units as homes for Apophis, Isquis, and Shango to use.
So the cleaning they were doing now could be considered not just a deep clean, but a move-in clean. After letting each of them choose the pension unit they would use, Ji-ho had them do some basic sweeping and wiping, then took them to the largest supermarket in the area.
However, unlike when he came with Set before, it was too complicated inside the mart to keep bringing along three people. So Ji-ho gave each of them a cart and said:
“Alright, buy only what you absolutely need and meet back here in an hour. You all have watches on your wrists, right?”
“Yes!”
The watches on their wrists were all Ji-ho’s. Among them, Ji-ho had given Isquis a smartwatch in particular. Of course, it was a watch that allowed location tracking.
The three dispersed in different directions with rather determined expressions. Left alone with Set, Ji-ho sighed deeply and asked Set, who was holding another cart beside him:
“…They’ll all come back safely, right?”
“You must be worried, Ji-ho. But those guys aren’t that stupid.”
Set laughed softly, comforting the worried Ji-ho. Hearing those words and finally relieving some worry, Ji-ho started pushing the cart towards the vegetable section first and said:
“Then let’s think about tonight’s dinner menu. Is there anything you want to eat, Set?”
“It’s not about what I want, but what you want to eat, Ji-ho. …Should we buy something for dinner instead of cooking?”
“Buying food is only tasty for a day or two. I got sick of it eating out all the time at the hospital.”
Ji-ho supported his waist with one hand as he picked up a zucchini. Glancing at the price, he saw that zucchini prices had gone up a lot.
As Ji-ho was walking around the store with Set, now quite accustomed to the routine, he happened to spot some red pepper powder on sale. Seeing the red pepper powder, Ji-ho let out a groan.
“Ah, we need to make kimchi this winter too…”
Until he met Set, Ji-ho had made kimchi every winter with cabbages he harvested himself. In fact, since he only needed enough for himself for a year, his kimchi-making was limited to just four or five cabbages at most. But now it was different.
Thinking of the kimchi in the kimchi refrigerator that was running low, Ji-ho sensed that this year’s kimchi-making would need to be increased. The problem was that he was pregnant.
Spreading out plastic sheets and filling large basins with cabbages, squatting for hours to make kimchi would be a harsh task for the pregnant Ji-ho. As Ji-ho was debating whether to buy the red pepper powder or not, he was leaning towards just buying kimchi this year, when:
“…Kimchi-making?”
“Ah, it’s like a Korean tradition. Every winter we make kimchi in advance to eat for the next year. But this year, well, since I’m heavy with child.”
Ji-ho mumbled, looking down at his belly with a troubled expression. He was about to add, “We can just buy kimchi,” when:
“I and the knights will do the kimchi-making.”
“What? Kimchi-making? It might be too difficult for beginners…”
“Don’t I have the ‘internet’?”
Set spoke to Ji-ho with an expression of having a very reliable support. That internet. Ji-ho knew that since Set had access to the internet, he was adapting to this world day by day. To be honest, it was sometimes a bit worrying.
On the internet, there were not only good stories but also a lot of fake news and online scammers. It would be difficult for Set, still new to the internet, to identify all of these.
But Ji-ho couldn’t bring himself to say “The kimchi you make probably won’t taste good, so you don’t have to do it” to Set, who was speaking with such a proud face. Instead, he just swallowed a sigh and thought to himself that he would help with just the kimchi seasoning.
Finally, after much deliberation, a bag of red pepper powder went into Ji-ho’s cart. Various other ingredients for kimchi-making were also added one by one.
They decided to have a simple dinner tonight and soak the cabbages in advance for tomorrow’s kimchi-making. It was when Ji-ho arrived at the meat section to buy pork for bossam for tomorrow that they encountered Shango.
Ji-ho and Set slowly approached the huge figure standing with a cart in the distance. However, as they got closer, they saw that the cart was completely empty. The only thing in it was…
“…1++ grade rib-eye steak?”
It wasn’t just beef. From bulgogi and chicken galbi to sausages, frozen dumplings, and meat patties. Shango’s cart was full of only food.
Even at this moment, Shango was accepting and eating a piece of beef rib offered by the lady at the tasting booth on a green toothpick. In his hand were already stacked empty paper cups that had once held tasting samples.
“Mr. Shango.”
“…?”
Shango turned his head at the voice calling him and looked at Set and Ji-ho with a surprised face. Ji-ho, who had already scanned Shango’s cart once, asked with an incomprehensible smile:
“Are you just going to eat at home?”
“…”
“What did I tell you to buy? Writing materials? Notebooks? Ah, did you buy sneakers? Your shoes are all worn out, Mr. Shango.”
Previously, Ji-ho had taken Shango to a shopping mall and bought him lots of clothes, but he had only been able to buy one pair of shoes. However, that one pair of shoes had somehow become almost like a rag by the time they met again, no matter how they had been used in Asterra.
So this time, he had told him to try buying shoes on his own, but…
As Ji-ho continued speaking, Shango’s expression became more and more aggrieved. Seeing this, Ji-ho looked at him as if to say ‘If you have something to say, say it,’ and Shango quietly held up two packages of frozen dumplings taped together and said:
“Buy one… get one…”
“Those are usually sold in packs of two!”
At those words, Shango looked at Ji-ho with a shocked expression. It was as if his world had crumbled. Come to think of it, most of what Shango had chosen were either buy-one-get-one-free or items discounted 30% to 50% due to approaching expiration dates.
As Ji-ho grabbed his hot forehead, Set, who was standing beside him, embraced him with an anxious expression. Meanwhile, Ji-ho spread out his five fingers and said to Shango:
“Listen carefully, Mr. Shango. Notebook and pen, shoes to wear from now on, one bag to carry, seven pairs of underwear. Go find all of these.”
“…!”
“There’s no time now, hurry and go!”
Ji-ho pushed Shango’s cart and hurriedly sent him away. Shango, who kept glancing back until he left, finally rolled the wheels of his cart strongly and disappeared into the household goods section.
It would be nice to take them around and teach them one by one, but Ji-ho wanted them to continue to be exposed to the world and interact directly with people. What he could teach them could be studied slowly at home later.
Ji-ho sighed and was about to continue shopping with Set when they spotted Isquis sniffing in front of the bread section.
Isquis’s cart made Ji-ho sigh as soon as he saw it. It wasn’t much different from Shango’s. Most of it was food, and in between were…
“Toys?”
“Ji-ho-nim! Your Excellency!”
Isquis, who was in front of the bread section, ran towards Ji-ho and Set as soon as he saw them, pulling his cart. No, he didn’t pull it. He pushed the cart hard and then rode on it as he came.
…Ji-ho was immediately grateful that Isquis hadn’t been caught by staff and kicked out of the mart yet.
“This and this! How about these?!”
Isquis proudly held up the toy sets he had chosen. They appeared to be remote-controlled RC cars. Whatever explanation he had heard, Isquis was excitedly explaining that these would go far away on their own just by pressing a button.
And just then, Apophis appeared from somewhere, pushing his cart. Apophis’s cart was, well, maximal.
“Look at this, Your Excellency! Do you know what this is? It’s floor heating, floor heating! With this, we won’t have to worry about freezing to death even if we sleep in a tent!”
Apophis’s excited voice and Isquis’s flushed face as he chattered beside him were enough to draw consecutive sighs from Ji-ho. No matter how he thought about it, re-socialization education for otherworld immigrants was desperately needed.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
I wonder how much are they gonna cost