Who is it?
When an ominous air settled among the customers, Jinseo turned his head and looked toward where they were all staring.
"Must be someone important?"
"Y-yes, I'll be going now…"
A customer who had received a tteok-twi-sun set hurriedly left.
With one hand holding the plate, the customer drew the sign of the cross with the other and backed away.
{—Sudden Quest: A special guest has appeared! Provide food that can satisfy her.
Quest Reward: 1,000 Mana, 1,000 Mileage, 1 free upgrade coupon. (Only upgrades C-rank or below are available)—}
{—If you complete Sudden Quests consecutively without failing, the reward doubles. (Excluding the free upgrade coupon)—}
Special guest? It's probably that woman coming to the very front.
It was obvious at a glance she was clergy of the Heirem Order.
But unlike the other clergy, the order's patterns across her vestments were gold, not black.
"This must be the carriage that's been the talk of the town."
The young woman leading the group walked toward Jinseo without caring about the many eyes on her.
Her long silver hair fell neatly past her waist to her thighs, and her sharp eyes suggested a personality that wouldn't be easy to deal with.
Her tone was polite, but perhaps because of her look, she felt cold rather than warm. Her pure white vestments carried not glamour, but solemnity and tidiness.
She's a stunning beauty who looks like she's got a temper.
Maybe because of that, the customers' gazes toward her were a near-even mix of fear and reverence.
I can tell she's clergy, but is she high-ranking?
When Jinseo casually placed his left hand over the cash box, a status window appeared above her head.
Name: Fedora Artran. 30-year-old female. Current status: Heirem Order, Cardinal of Kaysus Cathedral. Mobile Cooking Facility visit count at this point: "0".
Wait. Her surname is Artran? That's the same as the Headmaster's. Are they family?
{—More precisely, she is Headmaster Painfolt's granddaughter.—}
So a woman can be a cardinal. This really is a different world from mine.
But what mattered to Jinseo right now was clearing the Sudden Quest.
It was his second Sudden Quest, and the generous rewards made his heart race.
AI, can you tell me what that cardinal prefers?
{—This individual has not used the Mobile Cooking Facility, so further analysis is not possible.—}
Same as last time. Can't be helped.
"May His blessing be with you… I am Fedora, His unworthy servant."
After greeting him, Fedora lowered her gaze and swept over the snacks Jinseo was making.
Then, when their eyes met, Jinseo flinched and broke into a cold sweat.
Am I about to get witch-hunted or something? No. Mages are openly walking around in this world. That can't be a thing here, right?
As he tried to reassure himself, a conversation Jason and Polton had casually mentioned surfaced in his mind.
"Sounds like there are some weird rumors going around in Falstead Castle. They're saying your shop's food is made in exchange for selling your soul to a demon or something."
"Honestly, it's ridiculous. People who've never even come here are whispering that kind of nonsense. If it were true, then I, who've been eating here ever since you started business, would have to be some kind of incarnation of evil, wouldn't I?"
To some people, the unknown—something they've never experienced before—inevitably feels frightening.
As Jinseo tensed up, the wrist pain that had calmed down began again.
Still, he didn't show it. He greeted the cardinal with a smile.
Do I need to make the sign of the cross too?
Just as Jinseo set down the ladle and was about to draw the sign of the cross—
Cardinal Fedora held out her right hand and stopped him.
"I will ask. Are you a believer of the Heirem Order?"
"No."
"Then there is no need. Our order does not force faith onto those who are not believers."
After speaking, she sat in the center of the counter seat and crossed her legs.
What kind of skin… I can't even see a single blemish. It feels like seeing a celebrity up close. I didn't notice from far away, but her face is really small too—like an actual celebrity.
With a beauty like she'd stepped out of a TV screen sitting right in front of him, Jinseo's eyes couldn't help lingering on her face.
Even while his arms kept working hard, as usual, to make snacks.
"According to the rumors, I was told it was a wicked carriage bearing the form of a demon. But it seems that is not the case."
At the word "demon," Jinseo flinched.
She was still speaking politely, but because of her sharp impression, it felt strongly like an interrogation.
"I have heard that this carriage is called a food truck. And another rumor says it sells special food unlike anything seen before. Is that correct?"
"Yes."
"I was unavoidably forced to miss lunch due to my schedule, and I heard the food truck had come here, so I came. May I look forward to it?"
"I won't disappoint you. What would you like?"
Not knowing what answer would come, Jinseo decided to treat the cardinal like any ordinary customer.
All while desperately hoping whatever she ordered would satisfy the Sudden Quest.
"Tteokbokki, please."
"Only tteokbokki?"
Most first-time visitors ordered the tteok-twi-sun set out of curiosity.
So ordering just one item was rare, and having that single item be tteokbokki was truly unusual.
Tteokbokki—painted entirely in red—was a complete mystery, an unknown even among unknowns. Until you put it in your mouth, you couldn't even imagine what it would taste like.
"I researched what kind of food tteokbokki is before coming, so there's no need to worry. I'll tell you in advance: I have a high tolerance for spicy food. So please make it with the original level of spiciness, and only a small portion. I want to confirm first whether the flavor suits me."
"Yes, understood."
At a customer's request for proper tteokbokki for the first time in a while, Jinseo smiled.
His wrist throbbed, but he did his best not to show it as he began preparing a fresh batch.
"There is an unhealthy energy lingering in your wrist."
At Fedora's remark, Jinseo's right hand, which had been stirring the tteokbokki, stopped.
"I have a chronic issue."
"Then you will need a blessing. Ah, but…" Fedora moved as if to reach out both hands toward Jinseo's right arm. But she noticed the believers watching and pulled her hands back. "We must prioritize the believers. Please understand."
"Thank you for the thought."
A moment later, Jinseo made her tteokbokki and, as she requested, served only about a quarter of his usual portion.
"Before you eat, please put this on."
"What is this?"
Holding the apron he handed her, Fedora looked at Jinseo with a confused face.
Instead of answering, Jinseo pointed with his finger at his own apron stained with tteokbokki sauce.
"Ah, that's what you meant. Thank you."
She put the apron on and looked down at the tteokbokki painted in red.
"The more I look, the stranger this food seems. Then…"
The moment Fedora speared a piece of tteokbokki with her fork and brought it to her mouth, her left eyebrow twitched.
"Ho. This kind of spiciness is… unique."
Even though she'd taken only one bite, the satisfaction bar instantly reached 50%.
Unlike with Painfolt, the satisfaction wasn't displayed in blue, but in red.
Good. If it keeps climbing like this, I can clear it easily.
Like Painfolt, she slowly savored the tteokbokki.
With everyone's attention fixed on her, Fedora finished the plate.
But her expression looked dissatisfied.
It stopped at 50%. What's missing?
Jinseo's face mirrored hers as he watched the satisfaction bar above her head.
"Can't you make it spicier? The same amount again, please."
"I can. Please wait a moment."
Jinseo scooped up the red seasoning with a ladle, added it into the tteokbokki he was making, and mixed it.
"That seasoning makes it spicier?"
"Yes."
Convinced he could satisfy her this time, Jinseo served the second plate.
"…"
Unlike before, Fedora started eating without any reaction, silently.
"It was better than before."
But it was better only in the most literal sense.
The satisfaction bar, which proved it, rose from 50% to 60%.
She's insanely tolerant of spicy food. What do I do…?
Making it spicier was easy.
But even if the heat increased, the overall balance of flavor would collapse.
At that point, it wouldn't be tteokbokki anymore—it would just be eating spoonfuls of spicy sauce.
Ah. I have that.
"Could you wait a moment?"
Jinseo rummaged through a box inside the food truck and pulled out a ramen packet in black packaging.
The one he'd bought to study flavor, only to end up studying human endurance instead.
He'd bought a bundle of ten, but after boiling less than half, he'd left the rest untouched.
He tore open the black packaging and took out only the small square sauce packet.
"If you wait a moment, I'll make a tteokbokki that will satisfy you, Cardinal."
"Since you insist so strongly, I will look forward to it. But do not overexert yourself."
Jinseo gave another smile to Fedora, who was watching his wrist.
"Thank you for your concern."
Jinseo had a solid basis for his confidence.
That ramen sauce had been acknowledged by countless people online, and it had passed the test of Koreans who knew spicy food. It couldn't fail.
"This looks like it will be different."
The vivid red, now far brighter—like boiling lava—captured Fedora's gaze.
As her vanished expectations returned, Fedora lowered her left hand that had been supporting her chin and swept her eyes across the counter seat.
There's no way this won't work.
After finishing, Jinseo wiped the sweat off his forehead with the back of his hand.
This time, instead of a quarter portion like before, he served a larger-than-usual plate.
"It will be much spicier than what you ate earlier."
"That is fine. It is what I wanted."
Fedora boldly brought the tteokbokki with that sauce into her mouth.
But at the first taste—different from what she expected—she tilted her head.
"No. It feels milder than before."
"At first, it will."
Because that sauce had a strong sweetness as well as heat.
Jinseo had reacted the exact same way the first time he tried it.
But the delayed attack that comes while you let your guard down because of that initial sweetness—anyone who's suffered it once never forgets it.
"Th-this taste…"
It's coming.
"It's beyond my expectations. No, this is…"
Mid-bite, Fedora pursed her lips and exhaled harshly.
The heat had clearly exceeded what she anticipated.
Even so, her hand didn't stop, and the satisfaction bar above her head began filling rapidly.
Past 60%, over 70%, reaching 80%.
At this rate, I'll clear the quest without trouble. I'm glad I chose that sauce.
With room to breathe now, Jinseo stopped staring at the satisfaction bar and began watching Fedora's reaction instead.
"How is the taste of this special tteokbokki, in a whole different league of spiciness from the original?"
"Ha… it is excellent. But I did not expect it to be like this."
Her suffering yet inability to stop eating wasn't much different from the reactions Jinseo had seen online.
"I did tell you it would be far spicier…"
"Precisely why I cannot let this opportunity pass!"
Fedora gripped her fork tightly and began stuffing multiple pieces of tteokbokki—thoroughly soaked with that demonic sauce—into her mouth at once.
She's holding up? Does she really like super spicy food?
But before long, her face was drenched in sweat, and both hands on the counter seat were trembling.
No matter how spicy something was, this kind of reaction wasn't normal.
And now, the one getting anxious was Jinseo.
She doesn't have high blood pressure or something, right? If she does…
Maybe she was someone who should never have been served food this spicy in the first place.
Normally, Jinseo would have asked about health conditions before pulling out that sauce, but the pain in his wrist had kept him from thinking that far.
No. I need to do something. This, at least.
Jinseo hurriedly opened the fridge and pulled out a long drink pack tucked in the far corner.
CoolXs.
One of the go-to remedies after eating spicy food.
"Drink this and—"
{—Sudden Quest has been completed. Due to excessive message output, rewards will be 지급ed after some time. Thank you for your understanding.—}
{—Food preference analysis for this job class has been completed.—}
{—Those who serve the one true God and pursue sincere faith wish to draw closer to God through ascetic practice. For them, "special sauce" special tteokbokki is the optimal food.—}
{—Clergy baseline preference for special tteokbokki: 70
If preference exceeds 50, a special effect activates for the consumer. Higher preference increases the effect.
Activated effects: Immunity to all status ailments except spiciness, recovery of holy power, increased activation probability of clergy-exclusive abilities such as blessings and healing, etc.—}
{—Food preference analysis for this individual, Fedora, has been completed. This individual's preference for special tteokbokki is 210.—}
Higher than that old man's? And the effects look insane. No—what matters right now isn't that!
"Drink this! Hurry!"
Jinseo held out a cup filled with CoolXs toward Fedora.
But she didn't respond, head lowered.
"Are you okay? Can you hear me?"
"…I can."
Fedora slowly stood up.
Sweat slid down her face, gathered at her chin, and dripped onto her vestments.
"I heard… His voice."
"What?"
"I heard His voice! I can hear His voice!"
Fedora threw her head up toward the sky and shouted while gripping the fork—still dripping with tteokbokki sauce—tightly.
At the words "His voice," the clergy who had followed her clasped their hands and raised their gaze to the heavens.
Customers watching from afar rose from their seats all at once.
But to Jinseo, it only looked like she'd lost her mind from the heat.
Flash.
A powerful light erupted from Fedora, who stood with both arms spread wide.
"Ugh!"
With his vision turned completely white, Jinseo quickly shut his eyes and turned his head aside.
"What the hell is going on…?"
When Jinseo opened his eyes, an unbelievable sight spread before him.
Countless particles of light floated in the air, brightly illuminating the area around the food truck.