Chapter 259 – The Road to the Present.

“Yup, what the hell did you make porridge with?”

Tadao, who returned with a drawn face, asked if he had barely emptied his stomach, and Lucas wiped his mouth and looked at Krikaliev.

“A simple porridge mixed with cornmeal, turmeric, vinegar, salt, pepper, sake lees, yesterday’s leftover lizards and some ground beef jerky, and simmered.”
“Crazy, you put all that in?”
“I wonder if the identity of that smell was a lizard?”

Usher was so bland that he ate one porridge, concentrating on it until it was bland.

“Can I try that too?”
“Are you going to try this?”

Lucas and Thaddeo stared at Usher in disbelief. Actually, Krikaliev held out his bowl to him casually.

“Take just one bite of that.”

Usher reached out and scooped the porridge into a bowl that was within reach. And what you see is a strange porridge somewhere between brown and orange, unlike his pure white porridge. Seeing that figure, he was definitely reluctant, but somehow he picked it up and brought it in front of him. The moment I took a bite of that porridge like that.

“Oops!?”
“I knew it.”

With the look of Lucas that seemed to be expected, Usher managed to hold back what he was about to spit out right away. The smell of the porridge, which seemed to be edible by itself, changed suddenly from the moment it touched your tongue. The savory smell was a bitter smell, and the porridge itself was so sour and irritating that the tongue shrank, and the jerky chewed slightly amidst the strange taste maintained its original taste, but rather made the porridge’s sour yet greasy smell even more intense. He hurried to the bathroom and spat it out.

“Ugh, Mister, didn’t someone throw up on this?”

To explain the taste, it was like vomit coming up from the inside. I couldn’t believe he cooked this. I would have believed it if someone had vomited it up and boiled it.

“Yeah! It tasted just like that!”

Then, as if Usher was not alone in the sentiment, Lucas nodded his head.

“No, well, it turned out like that after putting in a lot of things and boiling it.”

It must have been true that Krikaliev had cooked it from the heart. When he scooped up his own porridge and ate it again, it still tasted watery, but he preferred this.

“Can’t you cook normally, too?”

The only question is why he made such a dish that is hard to even call a dish like that. Usher had already eaten the food he would cook if you camped with him on the way to the Holy Land. Among them, there has never been a case where there was not a little taste, but there was never a case where it was this bad. It was Thaddeo who answered his question.

“Ha, it’s because of that guy’s bad habit.”
“A habit?”

Usher was a little reluctant to think of the girl’s clothes and things in his house, but when asked, he gulped down the water bottle and put it down and sighed.

“Yes, if it’s simple grilling, cutting, and boiling, that guy will take care of it. The problem is when there are a lot of ingredients around.”
“Kuh-kuh, yes. That’s right. It has been infamous since the old days because it mixes just about anything.”

Lucas also agreed with Thaddaeo’s words.

“It’s not anything. You found something that would suit you and put it in?”
“The results are always the worst!”
“Even if you just follow the recipe, you must add something strange to create something completely different.”

Apparently, his cooking has been like that since before. In fact, while they were cursing at Krikaliev’s cooking, they looked happy as if they missed it.

“But I can’t eat this. What do I have for breakfast?”

They sighed as they looked at what lay in front of them. Usher and Erica had at least some bland porridge, but theirs were hardly edible. In the end, Thaddaeo, who had been thinking about stirring the porridge with a spoon, stood up.

“Okay, let’s get up. Let’s eat at Isuga’s house.”
“Then what about this?”
“Just throw it away. Anyway, this isn’t it.”

In the end, they left the house to die.

“We kill…”
“That’s too dull. Just follow me.”

Usher and Erica’s porridge was moderately edible, but Thaddeo didn’t care and called them over.

“Chii, it’s okay to be alone with Usher.”

Usher thought it was fortunate to hear the girl’s muttering voice as if regretting it. It happened in the morning, but I didn’t know what would happen if the two of us were alone. Recalling the events of the morning, she cooled her face, which was about to heat up again, and suddenly had a question.

“By the way, Erika. Why was I lying on the floor?”

He had fallen asleep with her in her bed yesterday, but when he woke up, he was lying on her floor.

“Ugh? Usher was sleeping on the floor when I woke up?”
“…Okay?”

She thought maybe she had fallen out of bed in a struggle, but it was strange nonetheless. He had never fallen out of bed even in Lantua. Lost in his thoughts, he walked along the Krikalievs and heard the sounds of talk.

“By the way, Isgara. Are you still running a restaurant?”
“The skill is still the same. Is it popular?”
“Umm, I thought I was good at cooking from before.”
“…I don’t think you mean it.”

Usher looked around, overhearing their conversation. It must have been morning, but the sight of the street dyed in the glow of the setting sun looked strange. Also, unlike yesterday, I saw a lot of people, and they were just walking on their own path, probably because it was a familiar sight. As I walked past people drawing parallel lines while walking on the same street, the savory smell tickled my nose. Thinking that it would be delicious just by smelling it, I followed it with a curious mind, and they were standing in front of a house.

The large sliding door made of iron that occupied the whole side of the house and the sign that the door was open seemed to be characteristic of the shops here. Perhaps because of the sagging roof, it looked especially low even though it was a two-story house, and the smoke coming out of the iron chimney jutting out above the low roof taught me that that place was the source of the smell.

“Welcome… What is it? Aren’t they Thaddeo and Lucas?”

When you open the door and enter the store, you are greeted by a woman with short black hair. She frowned in annoyance as she looked this way with her half-open eyes, as if she had been dozing while biting her toothpick.

“What are you doing here?”
“Why did you come for breakfast?”
“Even with Thaddaeo, Lucas…”

Then she noticed Krikaliev standing behind them and frowned.

“But what? The can? Is she a new friend?”
“I’m sorry that it’s a tin can. You’ve become an ajumma in no time.”

As he shrugged her shoulders and opened her mouth, Isgar’s eyes widened and she opened her mouth. Because of this, she didn’t even think to pick up the fallen toothpick and looked at Krikaliev, and Lucas and Thaddeo laughed bitterly as if they knew it.

“My God, are you really Yakaf?”

She stared at him all winter, raising her voice, shook her head swishly, frowned and glared at them.

“You guys do jokes like this!”
“Yaya! No kidding! Anyway, are we going to play around with something like this?”
“Yes! Calm down and listen!”

As if she thought she couldn’t be trusted, Usher hid behind Krikaliev with Erica. Then he touched his chin and opened his mouth.

“Gorum, you grew up a long time ago with Lucas. Ouch!”
-Wheeik!

He couldn’t speak to the end. Because Isgar threw the chopsticks he was holding at Krikaliev. She let out a deep sigh at the sight of him holding the chopsticks with the correct tip casually.

“Whoa, I guess it’s not a lie.”
“If you’re going to check, can’t you be a little less violent?”

As Lucas spoke with his legs trembling, Isgar glared at him.

“You shut up!”
“Sigh, you always fuck with me.”

While he muttered, she walked with enough force to make a thud, and came toward Krikaliev. As he stared at her in spite of her rather ferocious spirit, Isgar bit her lip and turned the sign in front of her door as a sign that the door was closed. Soon after, she closed the door and made a subtle expression when she found Usher and Erica hiding behind him.

“Everyone sit down. Didn’t you come to eat?”

Everyone seemed to be about to sit down, but Erica raised her hand. When Usher looked back at her, her girl faced him with a bashful grin.

“Hey, we’re full. Can we go out to play separately?”
“Yeah, it’s uncomfortable having kids around.”

With Lucas’ permission to leave before Usher had time to say anything, Erica held his hand and opened the door and went outside.

“Wait a minute! Erika! As for the pocket money…”
“It’s okay! There’s still a lot of things you gave me!”

Despite Thaddeo’s voice, which was somehow embarrassed, she answered without looking back and led Usher.

“Is it because they’re kids? They’re lively. We used to be like that too.”
“Don’t look like you’re old already! I’m still listening to the sound of a new wife!”

As Lucas muttered as he looked behind them, Isgar bruised him as if he were angry.

“That’s a bit.”
“What are you complaining about?”

When Thaddaeo spoke incredulously, she glared at him and asked Krikaliev.

“Then Yakaf, how are you? Aren’t I still young?”

When Isgar asked him in an expectant voice, Krikaliev gave her a thumbs up.

“What a perfect lady!”
“Kill this bastard! You managed to survive, but you came back to die in my hands!”
“Hey, grab it quickly!”‘
“Calm down! Isuga! You’re a lady!”
“Let go of this! What about Bob! I’ll kill you all!”

Usher asked Erica, breaking into a cold sweat from the commotion coming from her store, even though she was quite far away.

“Where are you going to play all of a sudden?”
“Hee hee, you’ve come upstairs after a long time? Wouldn’t you like to look around this place a bit more?”
“That’s true, but…”
“And you’re not full either, right?”

He hesitated, but she couldn’t come up with any other excuse, so she had no choice but to follow her girl. What I realized was that the traces of private houses around me were fading and I was climbing an increasingly sloping hill. Erika must have been here for the first time as well, but she was moving forward as if she knew where the path left a faint trace. How long have you been following her? At the end of the hill, Usher met a light that brightened her eyes.

“Found!”

Erica walked towards it with a bright face as if it had been her original destination, and Usher watched as it grew in size. It was a huge tree that you could barely see the tip of if you looked up. I don’t know since when did she grow here? The trees around her, which she couldn’t reach even with her arms wide open, were moving towards the sky. But it wasn’t the bluish green that took over the branches of the tree. Instead, it was occupied by a pinkish-white color.

Every stem and every node of the branch was covered with flowers in full bloom, replacing the leaves.

“This tree…”
“It’s called a peach tree.”

Usher looked at Erica, who happily answered her own murmur. Will she welcome her? She danced along in the gentle wind, and white petals swirled around her shyly blushing her cheeks. She watched as the petals landed on the girl’s hair and embroidered the night sky before finally opening her mouth.

“You know, Erica.”
“Huh.”

At his call, the gray light meets him, embracing full of expectations sparkling like starlight. It was a little different, but her girlish gray color was full of her sweet affection that couldn’t be hidden. Erica told him that love was more irrational and instinctive than she thought, but it was strange that it was a day anyway. No, somehow, she seemed to know him before she met him. And above all else.

“…What kind of relationship do you have with Belka?”

Is it because the tone is different? If not, was it because it was dismissed as an illusion? The girl’s voice came to her in her sleep, which she thought was a dream. I only realized it this morning. That Erica’s voice is so much like Belka’s.

“Aha ♪”

A bright smile spread across the girl’s face.