Chapter 003

Wow!Icanfeelthewind!Wow! I can feel the wind!

Inside Alex’s body, Ibaek was amazed as he felt the cool breeze, the warm sunlight, and the refreshing smell of grass.

But Alex could only see the village getting closer and closer.

Alex was overwhelmed with emotion.

The peaceful and comfortable scenery, something he could never have dreamed of during the Age of Destruction, made him feel as though tears were about to burst from his eyes.

Alex quickened his pace.

“…!”

Then, at one point, he stopped.

It was sunset.

He had spotted a child playing with his friends at the entrance to the hill behind the village.

A six-year-old boy with golden hair.

“…Leo.”

Perhaps he had somehow heard Alex’s small voice, because Leo, who had been drawing pictures on the ground and playing with his friends while waiting for his uncle, turned his head and looked in Alex’s direction.

The scene seemed to unfold in slow motion.

Alex stared at the child without even blinking.

The golden hair swaying in the breeze, the plump and soft red cheeks, the sparkling sky-blue eyes, and the bright smile like a flower.

It wasn’t the ‘Hero Leo’ who had fallen into an eternal sleep.

The lively, young Leo was right there.

Alex’s heart began to pound.

It felt like a dream.

Afraid that he might wake up if he moved even a little, Alex couldn’t even breathe, unlike just moments ago when he had been running excitedly.

There.

Leo was there.

His nephew was alive and well, right there.

The child’s face, which had been beaming upon spotting his uncle, soon became filled with surprise.

“Uncle!”

As Leo looked straight at him with sparkling sky-blue eyes and called out, Alex felt tears welling up without realizing it, but he held them back.

His clothes were already in such a miserable state. If he started crying, Leo would worry about him.

“…Leo!”

But he couldn’t do anything about the heaviness in his voice, filled with longing and overwhelming emotion.

“Uncle! Did something happen?”

Leo, who had been playing on the hill behind the village, ran toward him with a tearful expression, startled to see his uncle returning in such a sorry state.

Alex instinctively bent his knees and hugged Leo tightly.

“Ah! You’re cold!”

Leo cried out after touching his wet clothes, and Alex felt sorry.

But he didn’t want to let him go.

He could feel the warm body that proved Leo was alive and the little heart beating rapidly.

Life seemed to pour out of his small body.

‘…Ah!’

Only after holding that small, warm body in his arms could Alex truly feel it deep in his heart.

This was reality.

He had really returned to the past.

“Uncle, what’s wrong? Are you hurt? Does it hurt a lot?”

Even though Alex was cold and wet, Leo was worried about his uncle first.

Alex desperately tried to suppress the emotions surging inside him.

For more than ten years, his nephew hadn’t been able to hear him no matter how much he spoke to him.

And now, Leo was speaking to him first.

Alex felt as though laughter and tears would burst out of him at the same time.

But he managed to hold them back and smiled brightly with reddened eyes.

“No, I’m not hurt. Look, it’s just my clothes that are torn.”

Alex showed Leo his unharmed bare skin through the tears in his clothes.

Just as Alex had said, Leo and his friends looked him over here and there, but there really wasn’t a single injury.

“Your uncle dodged around like crazy!”

“Wowww!”

When Alex demonstrated exaggeratedly how he had dodged from side to side, the children watched with sparkling eyes and exclaimed in admiration.

“How about it, Leo? Your uncle is amazing, isn’t he?”

“Yeah! Uncle is the best!”

Seeing Leo smile brightly as though his worries had disappeared, Alex made a firm resolution.

No matter what happened, he would protect that smile.

Yournephew?He′scute!Your nephew? He’s cute!

Howoldishe?How old is he?

To do that, he first had to get this ‘otherworldly Lich’ out of his body.

“Oh my goodness. What happened?”

The adults had gathered after hearing the children’s chatter, and they were startled when they saw Alex looking like a beggar.

Seeing the familiar faces of people who had all died in the ‘future’, Alex desperately held back his expression from crumpling.

Then he whispered so the children wouldn’t hear.

“I heard a wolf howling, so I ran away and fell.”

The adults looked Alex up and down again.

“How do you fall so badly that your clothes get torn like that?”

“Exactly. They’re not even good enough to use as rags!”

“Ahahaha.”

Alex laughed awkwardly.

“But a wolf appeared?”

“I only heard the sound.”

In the ‘future’, there had only been one wolf that appeared in the village.

But now that Alex had survived and the wolf had died, he didn’t know what would happen.

It seemed better to warn them just in case.

After all, wolves lived in packs.

“Then we should inform the neighboring village and the lord’s castle. Everyone should avoid going to the hill behind the village for a while.”

At the words of Mark, who lived next door to Alex, the villagers nodded.

“But why are you wet?”

“I went into the stream to get rid of the smell.”

“You’ve had a hard time. Hurry and change your clothes. You’ll catch a cold. Leo, you too.”

“Yes.”

After greeting the villagers, Alex took Leo’s small hand and headed home.

Now that he thought about it, six-year-old Leo really was tiny.

“Bye! See you tomorrow!”

“Yeah! Bye! Leo!”

How could this little child, whose everyday life consisted of playing with his friends, grow up to become such an amazing Hero who defeated monsters and demons?

‘I should be proud… No, I shouldn’t.’

He wanted to prevent Leo from becoming a Hero.

‘…Though I’m not sure it’ll be possible to stop him just by trying.’

Still, he had to do something!

Alex made up his mind.

“Hey, hey, Uncle! Today, I had a competition with my friends to see who could catch the most fish. Guess who caught the most?”

Leo swung the hand he was holding with his uncle Alex and spoke in a proud voice.

“Hmm… Our Leo?”

“That’s right! I caught the most!”

Laughing merrily, Leo told him what he had played today, what he had eaten for lunch, and how well he had run errands for the elderly neighbor.

As Alex listened to his endless chatter, he tried to calm his churning emotions.

The ‘future’ that no longer existed.

Six-year-old Leo must have wanted to tell his uncle all these things when he returned from the hill behind the village.

But the only thing that had returned was the corpse of his uncle, who had been killed by a wolf.

He hadn’t been able to tell him that he had come first in the fish-catching competition, that he had eaten a sandwich he made himself for lunch, or that he had done a good job running errands for the elderly neighbor.

He had only been able to cry and cry.

Alex, who had died and become a ghost, could only watch.

When he remembered that little face, Alex couldn’t hold back his affection.

He suddenly lifted Leo into his arms and hugged him tightly, making up for all the times he hadn’t been able to hold him like this.

“My Leo is the best!”

“Ah! You’re cold, Uncle!”

Even as Leo shouted, he laughed merrily, as though he was enjoying himself.

“Ah, I’m wet, aren’t I? Let’s hurry and change our clothes.”

“Yeah!”

Alex wanted to spend this time, which he had miraculously been given back, happily and joyfully with Leo.

“Leo, what do you want for dinner?”

“Hmm. Meat!”

“Meat! Sounds good!”

Ilikeit,too!I like it, too!

…It would be so nice if only this guy weren’t here.

I need to think of a way to get rid of him quickly.

After changing into clean clothes, Alex and Leo headed to the kitchen to prepare dinner.

Along the way, Alex forgot that he had a physical body and tried to pass through a door or wall, only to bump into it.

Leo thought it was a joke and laughed, so Alex ended up laughing, too.

Although more than a dozen years had passed for Alex, the kitchen remained exactly as it had been in the past.

The leftover stew from breakfast and chunks of meat cut into convenient pieces were being stored properly.

“I’ll get the bread!”

Leo also went to get the bread as though he were used to it.

“My Leo, you’re such a good boy.”

At the sight of his uncle’s teary green eyes, Leo tilted his head before smiling shyly.

His uncle seemed strangely more emotional than usual, but when he thought about it, his uncle had always been like this.

Alex placed a frying pan over the fire.

Then he was about to put the meat straight into it.

Wait!Wait!

Youhavetoseasonitfirst!You have to season it first!

Salt!Pepper!Salt! Pepper!

That was when Ibaek suddenly interrupted.

While Leo placed the bread and forks on the table with his little hands, Alex whispered.

“What is it all of a sudden?”

It′sbeensolongsinceIhadameal,sowehavetomakeitdelicious!It’s been so long since I had a meal, so we have to make it delicious!

Koreansrunonrice!Koreans run on rice!

Alex didn’t understand what he meant, but he could feel Ibaek’s determination to eat something delicious.

“Have you ever cooked before?”

Ofcourse!Of course!

IcookedoftenevenafterbecomingaLich.I cooked often even after becoming a Lich.

AlthoughIcouldn′ttasteanything!Although I couldn’t taste anything!

A Lich who cooked.

Alex couldn’t imagine it.

In contrast, perhaps because he and his older sister had wandered around when he was young and hadn’t been able to pay much attention to food, Alex had always believed that as long as food was seasoned properly and cooked thoroughly, it was good enough.

Even after settling in the village, he had continued to think that way.

He had raised Leo on that kind of food, too.

‘…That’s why our Leo became a Hero who eats anything. My Leo.’

Whenever Alex saw the ‘Hero Leo’ happily eating even bad-tasting food, he regretted not having made more delicious meals for him in the past.

‘Of course, thanks to that, he managed fairly well even when food supplies weren’t properly delivered….’

From now on, Alex decided, he would feed Leo lots of delicious food.

First,seasonthemeat.Sprinklesaltandpepperonit!First, season the meat. Sprinkle salt and pepper on it!

Although suspicious, Alex sprinkled salt on the meat as Ibaek instructed.

“We don’t have pepper because it’s expensive.”

There was no way a commoner’s farming household would have pepper, which sold for the same weight in gold.

Thenthere′snothingwecando.Then there’s nothing we can do.

Ah.Doyouhaveanyherbs?Ah. Do you have any herbs?

Somethinglikerosemary.Something like rosemary.

At that, Alex thought for a moment.

It was a little troublesome, but if following Ibaek’s instructions would make the food delicious, he thought it would be worth it.

“Leo, can you go to Grandma Jessie and borrow some rosemary?”

“Okay!”

Leo nodded energetically at his uncle’s request.

While Leo was outside, Ibaek explained the cooking method.

First,searonesideofthemeatoverhighheat.Then,whenyouturnitover,addbutter,herbs,andgarlic.First, sear one side of the meat over high heat. Then, when you turn it over, add butter, herbs, and garlic.

“Garlic? How much?”

Ahandful!A handful!

Alex, who had been about to take out two cloves of garlic, stopped at Ibaek’s words.

“…How much did you say?”

Ahandful!A handful!

Awholehandful!A whole handful!

A brief silence followed.

Alex took out two cloves of garlic as he had originally planned.

GarlicisthelifeofKoreans….Garlic is the life of Koreans….

“Well, it’s not the life of the people of the Kingdom of Mihiti.”

Ibaek’s voice was full of disappointment, but Alex ignored him.

A handful of garlic? Was he trying to ruin the food?

“Uncle! I brought the rosemary!”

“Good job, Leo.”

Alex smiled brightly and patted Leo’s head before beginning to cook the meat.

He seared the meat over high heat, flipped it, then added butter, rosemary, and two cloves of garlic.

Useaspoontopourthebutteroverthemeat!Keepdoingit!Use a spoon to pour the butter over the meat! Keep doing it!

Pour butter over the meat?

“That sounds really suspicious….”

Still, it didn’t seem as though the food would be ruined by this, so Alex followed Ibaek’s instructions and spooned butter over the meat.

“Uncle, what are you doing?”

“Hmm. They say it’ll make it taste better this way.”

“Wow!”

Leo always exclaimed in admiration at everything his uncle did, and Alex couldn’t help laughing.

“Uncle! It smells delicious!”

Uwaaaah!Thesmellofsteak!Uwaaaah! The smell of steak!

HowmanyyearshasitbeensinceIsmelledthis?!How many years has it been since I smelled this?!

Like Ibaek, who was getting extremely excited, Alex also felt as though he might start drooling at the smell of delicious food for the first time in twelve years.

Nowcookthesides,too!Now cook the sides, too!

Ibaek’s voice, filled with anticipation, grew louder and louder.

Leo’s blue eyes were sparkling as well.

Finally, the meat was done.

The golden-brown meat looked incredibly delicious.

“Now, let’s eat dinner, Leo.”

“Okay!”

No!No!

At that moment, Ibaek shouted.

Youhavetoleaveitaloneforaboutthreeminutes!It′lltastebetter!You have to leave it alone for about three minutes! It’ll taste better!

Alex looked back and forth between Leo’s sparkling eyes and the meat, then spoke with a sigh.

“Should we make a salad, too, Leo?”

Since he had followed Ibaek’s instructions this far, he thought it might be better to see it through to the end.

“…Okay!”

Leo, who had been staring at the meat with a disappointed expression, eventually nodded.

Alex and Leo washed the vegetables, cut them into appropriate pieces, and poured over some dressing given to them by a woman in the village.

Then, when they sat down at the table, the three minutes Ibaek had mentioned had passed.

“Let’s eat!”

“Let’s eat.”

Let′seat!Let’s eat!

Of the stew, bread, salad, and meat, the food that both of them reached for with their forks was, of course, the meat.

Unlike the meat Alex usually just grilled, he was curious about how it would taste after being cooked with all these different ingredients.

Leo energetically stabbed the meat with his fork and put it into his mouth.

His plump cheeks twitched.

The meat melted away so tenderly that he barely needed to chew it, and Leo’s eyes sparkled with surprise and happiness.

“Wow! It’s so delicious, Uncle!”

Alex had just been about to put the meat into his own mouth.

For some reason, the hand holding his fork was trembling.

Since becoming a ghost, he had never eaten food.

Not even once.

Outdoor meals with Leo and his friends, unusual dishes from the Magic Tower Federation, splendid banquets in the Knight Empire, and the sacred meals of the Holy State—

As a ghost, Alex could only watch while craving the food.

But finally—

He could eat food again.

And it was food cooked in the style of another world!

The smell of the tempting grilled meat made his mouth water.

“Uncle, you’re drooling!”

“Ugh!”

He hadn’t expected that he would actually drool.

Alex hurriedly wiped his mouth with an embarrassed expression and laughed awkwardly.

“Your uncle is just really hungry.”

“I see! Then hurry up and eat!”

Seeing the kind Leo offer him a piece of meat on his fork, Alex’s eyes filled with tears.

Hurryupandeat!Hurry up and eat!

Eatit!Eat it!

Shoveitintoyourmouth!Shove it into your mouth!

Listening to Ibaek’s voice, which somehow sounded exactly like his own inner thoughts, Alex put the meat Leo had offered into his mouth.

“…Ah….”

Aaaaaaaaaah!!!Aaaaaaaaaah!!!

The meat was at just the right temperature and cut softly under his teeth.

The meat juices and butter spread throughout his mouth.

The aroma of rosemary and garlic went perfectly together.

Alex chewed very slowly, savoring the taste of the meat.

Sniff…Damn,thisissofreakingdelicious.Sniff… Damn, this is so freaking delicious.

Even Ibaek’s voice, which sounded as though he was crying from being so moved, couldn’t interrupt Alex’s enjoyment.

“…It’s delicious.”

It was a taste that filled his soul, which had been starving for more than a decade.

“Right! It’s really delicious. Uncle’s cooking is the best!”

Perhaps it felt even more delicious because Leo was right beside him, smiling brightly with such a happy expression.

“Leo, eat lots.”

“Okay! You too, Uncle!”

It was a perfectly peaceful and ordinary dinner, as though everything that had happened before had been nothing but a nightmare.

Onemore!Hurry!Onemore!One more! Hurry! One more!

…Let’s ignore him.