Chapter 54

Meanwhile, in the peaceful cabin.

Jio was observing his new family member.

“Is this little one all grown up?”

“Gya-reu-reu.”

“Cute.”

It was a cuteness that calmed the heart.

As it flopped onto its back and wiggled its four paws, Jio gently took hold of the Anticat’s two front paws.

Cats on Earth hated it when you held their paws, but the Anticat didn't seem to mind much.

As if playing with a newborn baby, he held its front paws lightly and swished them around a few times.

“Geu-reu-reu-reung….”

“It doesn’t seem to hate it.”

“Mi-yalk.”

“A cat is a cat.”

“Meu-meu-meung.”

“You’re very cold.”

The Anticat’s body was as cool as touching a stalagmite in a deserted cave.

“Honey, you’re the complete opposite.”

“Kku-ru-ruk?”

“You’re warm.”

Perhaps because he had evolved with the juice of the Rurupu, which grew under the sunlight and moonlight, Honey’s bean-sized body was exceptionally warm.

It also seemed his temperature had gotten even higher thanks to the lavish affection he’d recently received from the Sun God.

“If you’re this cold, it might be hard to stick close to Honey….”

I wasn't sure if there was a scientific basis for it, but didn't it feel like creatures that were naturally cold, like fish or frogs, would get burned if you held them in your human hands?

“Tell me if it’s uncomfortable for me to touch you, little one.”

“…….”

“You clam up like a ghost. Good girl, good girl. Very clever.”

It didn't seem uncomfortable.

“It seems to understand words, too.”

That was truly remarkable.

‘It sparkles just like a jewel… it looks like some kind of crystal.’

The Anticat’s body was like that of a kitten only a few months old. Its body held a dense sparkle, as if it were a finely cut diamond.

Perhaps because of that, unlike Honey, whose body was completely transparent, it looked opaque.

“How splendid.”

“Meulk.”

“You even know how to glow on your own, good for you.”

Beside him, Honey stared intently at Jio.

“…….”

“…Of course, you’re splendid too, Honey.”

“Kkung.”

“Oh, so pretty.”

“Kku-reu-reu.”

Raising kids is tough.

“Anyway, what does our youngest eat to grow?”

A quick check had told me that it lived by sucking out vitality.

On Earth, they were treated as a type of ghost, but if it was a ghost this cute, I thought it might be nice to have my vitality sucked out just once.

“I might have to make a cat tower soon… I have quite the expertise in making hidey-hole tunnels.”

“Gya-reu-reu.”

“There are tall and rugged trees all over the place around here, so it would be good for climbing, but the Anticat will need its own territory inside the house, too. If it’s like a cat, it will be just as sensitive about its own territory.”

“Myalk.”

“The place where the little one lived was the ‘Water Vein of Jewels,’ so it would be fun to have a similar environment. If I make a hiding house like a dark ant tunnel and put some jewels inside… it should be good.”

Then it was time to give it a name.

“Sparkles….”

“…….”

“…Is this déjà vu?”

It was a similar reaction to when I had first thought of the word ‘Golden Child’ for Honey’s name.

A reaction that seemed to ask, ‘Are you serious, human?’

Jio tried to exert a little more creativity.

“…….”

After a moment of silence, he muttered quietly.

“Dana?”

Among Korean names, it holds the meaning of ‘a person who is always ahead,’ but in truth, that wasn’t why I thought of the name ‘Dana.’

“I kept thinking of a diamond, so I was thinking of giving it a similar name, but diamond is too long. Shortening it to Dia also felt too long.”

But shortening it to ‘Da-a’ or ‘Dai’ felt too shameless.

“A little variation from that, Dana, how about it.”

“Mueung.”

“I am glad you like it.”

It passed the evaluation.

“Hoo.”

Jio dedicated this honor to all the names around the world.

Naming things was truly not an easy job.

“Now, let’s go prepare a meal.”

“Kku-ru-ru-ru-ru-ruk.”

“I got hungry naming you.”

I also had to finish preparing the bone broth.

“Fortunately, it seems it suited student Cha Ara’s tastes.”

Bone on Earth requires a lot of care.

The trimming process was similar, but after that, it required dedication, like controlling the heat and removing the impurities that floated to the top.

“The first batch of bone broth has the disadvantage of being too greasy to just eat. As for me, even if I boiled bone at home, it was a waste to throw it away, so I used it somehow, but that doesn't change the fact that making bone from Earth's cows is a hassle.”

“Meung?”

“There are such things.”

Even though it understood words, the Anticat, Dana, who was not yet fully adapted, slumped over Jio's shoulder as if to say, ‘I have no idea what you’re talking about.’ It was a surprisingly heavy and amusing sight.

On the other hand, Honey, who knew Jio enjoyed cooking, listened calmly.

A true gourmet knows the origin of the food they eat and can enjoy it more deeply.

That was the case for Honey and Jio.

“In that sense, the bone of the Tree-Horned Deer is severely independent.”

If you just leave it on low heat for 3 days, the bones and cartilage melt away without any need to skim off impurities.

“In a way, there's really nothing to throw away from a Tree-Horned Deer.”

“Kku-ru-ru-ruk.”

Honey, who had eaten all the innards except for some intestines, showed fervent agreement.

Happily wagging his tail feathers, Honey looked back at Jio from the opposite shoulder of Dana.

“…….”

“……?”

At the sight of him seeming to have remembered something, Jio soon realized what Honey was talking about.

“…Ah.”

Come to think of it, there was the jewel heart he had gotten when he butchered the Tree-Horned Deer.

“I forgot to check it.”

“Kkung-kkung-kkung….”

“After we finish our meal today, if there’s no problem, I’ll give it to you, Honey.”

Jio, who had jewels lying all around and could even create them himself, did not covet the jewel heart.

It also felt strange because it seemed to be still alive somehow, even though it was clearly a part of a dead body.

“But if it seems like you’ll get sick from eating it, Dad will keep it.”

“Kkuk.”

Honey didn’t throw a tantrum over that.

Jio was pleased.

“What a good boy.”

He was happy to have a diligent and good son.

Jio himself was probably not a very good person, but he thought it was a great blessing to meet only good family members throughout his life.

Jio skillfully corrected the posture of the sliding Dana and said.

“Actually, the bone broth itself was complete when I gave the rice cooked with it to student Cha Ara, but I boiled it a little more to make it thicker because I thought it would be better to have it concentrated in the ice cellar for a long time. I can just add more water when I need it later.”

“Kku-ru-ru-ru-ru-ruk.”

“Right, you’ve waited a long time too. I can still see you hovering in front of the fire pit, wanting to eat it, you endured it really well. Seeing your strong patience, you’ll become a great bird one day.”

Honey was originally fond of liquid foods.

The wait must have felt quite harsh.

Acknowledging and praising Honey’s patience, Jio went to the gamasot where the bone broth was still boiling.

“Oh….”

The sweet aroma that hit him as he opened the lid.

“Nice.”

“Kku-ruk-kku-ruk-kku-ruk….”

“It’ll be hot right now.”

“Kkung.”

“If you insist, I’ll ladle some for you.”

This was the Honey who had received the Sun God’s touch several times without a problem.

It was only natural that a broth boiled for a long time with firewood wouldn't be a problem now.

Jio was about to ladle the broth into a small bowl to give to Honey.

And then Jio saw it.

“Honey.”

“Kku-ruk.”

“It would be good for my mind and body for you to come out.”

Honey, who had plopped right into the gamasot.

“Kkung-kkung-kkung….”

“I do not want to eat broth made from my son. This isn't a scene from Greek mythology, what kind of human scum are you trying to make me out to be?”

In that short time, Honey had expanded from a crow-tit to about the size of a pigeon.

If they went to an animal hospital like this, he would surely be told that the bird was morbidly obese and that the guardian needed to pay attention.

“It’s already concentrated, so the flavor must be even stronger, what is this?”

“Kkung-kkung-kkung-kkung-kkung….”

“Eating salty food is bad for you. Dad can make it more delicious, so let’s try to calm down a bit.”

Honey grumbled but crawled out of the gamasot.

“…….”

“…You too?”

“Alk-ok.”

Was she impressed by the bizarre behavior of her brother, who had boldly crawled into the gamasot anytime, anywhere, and tasted its contents?

Dana, who had been listlessly draped over his shoulder like a slime, plopped down next to the gamasot.

‘It seems a little hot for Dana, whose base body temperature is low.’

Jio cooled the shallowly ladled broth as much as possible and handed it to Dana.

“…….”

Lick.

“…….”

“Oh.”

Seeing her glow faintly all over her body without a sound, Jio nodded.

‘She must like it.’

She wasn't a talkative one like Honey, but it seemed her mood was expressed through her body glowing.

Jio felt a sense of pride as a father and a chef and warmly prepared the meal.

“For rice, we have what I made when student Cha Ara was here, so let’s eat that.”

“Kku-ruk.”

“Mang.”

Dana, who hadn't shown much interest in eating, seemed to have felt something after tasting the bone broth.

It was very interesting to see her toddling after Honey and meddling in the meal preparation.

“There’s really nothing that works as well on kids as delicious food….”

Jio scraped and scooped out the rice cooked in the bone broth.

After scooping out all the still-fluffy grains of rice, he cleanly scraped off the nurungji left at the bottom.

Perhaps thanks to the oil from the bone broth used for cooking the rice, it came off very cleanly.

“Who wants nurungji?”

When Jio, who had rolled the nurungji into a simple snack, asked, both creatures responded.

“Kku-ru-ru-ruk. Kku-ru-ru-ru-ruk.”

“Mang, mi-yalk, alk-ok… meung-mang-mang-mang.”

“…Let’s split it.”

The complaints were loud, but could there be a choice as historically deep and wise as the wisdom of Solomon?

Jio cleanly split the nurungji rice ball in half, and at that, the two companion creatures stopped grumbling.

While they were distracted by the nurungji rice ball, Jio prepared the rest of the meal.

“I should try making a grilled rice ball with the bone rice.”

Even if he said that, it didn’t mean he was only going to grill one.

“For side dishes, grilled eggplant with soybean paste and… should I make a soup.”

Jio headed to the backyard, which he called a garden but thought of as a monster patch.

The pea vine still seemed to have a strong sense of self.

“…….”

To the point of greeting him.

“…This is starting to get funny.”

Rustle.

“Yes, hello. It’s a nice day, isn’t it.”

“…….”

“Thank you for watching over the garden today as well.”

The vine, having obtained Jio’s greeting, calmly sank back down.

‘…It’s not like it will look normal now just because it’s pretending to be a normal pea vine.’

But Jio decided to respect the pea vine’s privacy.

He naturally overlooked the fact that ordinary pea vines cannot move.

Anyway, Jio picked 4 eggplants and some other vegetables from the garden.

After washing them clean, he sliced the eggplants to a moderate thickness and salted them, and peeled and diced the radish into thin squares. He also shelled the peas and washed them once in water.

“…It’s a bit much to add jerky, though.”

Jio brought out a sausage.

“Honey, you don’t like spicy food, right?”

“Kku-ru-ru-ru-ru-ru-ru-ru-ruk.”

“I thought so.”

It was a mildly seasoned sausage.

“Alk?”

“Well, let’s find out later if you can eat spicy food. I’m only making one soup, so if I put in a spicy sausage, Honey won’t be able to eat it.”

“Meuk.”

“I’ll grill a spicy sausage for you later.”

It was probably an unfamiliar combination for Koreans, but sausage in soup tasted surprisingly good.

Of course, it would be a bit strange to use a ham where you can’t even see the form of the meat granules, like pink sausage or Spam….

“Then shall we peel it now.”

Jio prepared the sausage.

If you slightly cut the end of the casing and gently push with the back of a knife, the meat granules that were filling the sausage come right out.

In the meantime, the spices have permeated appropriately, giving it a deep aroma.

Jio cut the inner flesh and the casing into appropriate sizes.

“Now just throw it all in.”

He added a little water to the concentrated bone broth and then added the radish, peas, and the prepared sausage.

The peas were large because they grew in the monster patch, but they were small compared to other things, and the sausage was already fine to eat raw, so they could eat once the radish was cooked.

“And next is….”

He lightly grilled the rice ball and put the eggplant, coated in a sauce made with fruit cheong, soybean paste, and soy sauce, into the stone oven.

By the time the soup was roughly done, the rest of the food was also cooked.

“Let’s eat.”

“Kku-ru-ru-ru-ru-ruk.”

“Alk-ooo-ok, meung-mang-mang-mang-mang….”

It was the first time Jio had seen Dana cry for so long.

It was a very good sight to see her enjoying mealtime so much.

Kids were the prettiest when they were eating.

“Dad is going to make an offering to the Sun God, so you two go ahead and eat first.”

“Mwaeng.”

“Kku-ruk.”

Jio headed straight for the 2nd-floor art storage room.

Several landscape paintings were in their places.

Jio went straight to the ‘Breathing Sea.’

As expected, the Sun God was very pleased….

“…….”

And gave him a gift.

“…What is this? A certificate?”

“ ”

“In that case, shouldn’t I be the one to receive it? It probably isn't mine in the first place.”

“ ”

“… Yes, I understand.”

He wasn’t sure what it was, but it didn’t seem like a bad thing, so Jio decided to accept it gratefully.

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