Stalls (1)

Marko recently got a job. It was at a large-scale clock factory, a national project of the former Dedran City, now integrated with Greek City, where he made wooden frames.

These frames were the main parts of the clocks that were spreading across the continent.

The process of cutting and assembling the wood was all done by hand.

Marko worked on that line. And now, finally, a hard day was over.

When you work frantically, the day passes in the blink of an eye. Of course, this busyness was very welcome to Marko.

The times when it was difficult to put food on the table, literally surviving on grass roots, had passed. Being able to work and earn an honest living was like a warm light to Marko and many others.

Something unimaginable when thinking of the old Dedran City.

Now, he was getting used to the changed life.

Marko wiped the sweat off his forehead and spoke to his colleague next to him.

“Since we worked hard, how about a drink?”

“Oh, Marko. I’m sorry. Today I have…a prior engagement.”

“Oh, I see.”

Marko forced a smile and nodded. There was a reason for his forced smile.

It had been a few months since he started working.

For the first time, he had actively suggested a drink to some colleagues he thought he had become close to, but today they all refused.

Then there’s nothing he can do. What can he do if they have appointments? Marko left the factory with a bitter smile. It wasn’t something he had planned in advance, so it was understandable.

But today, he wanted to have a drink with someone because it was his 44th birthday. At this age, he didn’t give much meaning to his birthday.

Still, going straight to bed after washing his feet, as usual, felt somewhat empty.

Being alone without a family, loneliness visited him as always.

‘Well, still… The fact that I can even think about having a drink means things have gotten better. I should be grateful for that.’

Thinking that, Marko started walking with his shoulders drooping.

After leaving the factory, he had to go down a few hills to reach the area formerly known as Dedran City’s city center.

The new name of the city center was Berna Street. It was named after some high-ranking person, but like ordinary citizens, Marko wasn’t interested in that.

Even if he was interested, it wasn’t something he could find out.

For him, just an ordinary citizen, what was important was that he was alone again today.

“Marko, can you switch the night shift with me today? I have a date with my girlfriend.”

“Sure, I can.”

“Marko, can I get some advice? I have something today…”

Among his colleagues, Marko was relatively old, so they often asked him for advice and various favors, which he always accepted with a smile.

So he thought he had a good relationship with his younger colleagues.

Well, they all seemed very busy after work anyway, so it wasn’t something to be too upset about that everyone turned him down today.

Thinking that, Marko hurried on his way home. Then, near the city center, he found an intriguing restaurant.

It definitely wasn’t there yesterday. It was a restaurant that had suddenly appeared.

There were quite a few people drinking. Thinking it curious, he found himself walking towards the restaurant.

“Welcome.”

“Uh, excuse me, but what is this place? It wasn’t here until yesterday…and it wasn’t under construction either…”

“It’s a mobile restaurant. Think of it as a comfortable tavern where you can have a drink after work. In my country, we call it ’pojangmacha’.”

“Pojangmacha?”

Marko tilted his head at the unfamiliar word. But the delicious smell wafted into his nose.

It was a long way to his usual pub. Somehow, he felt like he would sink into endless self-pity on the way there, so he decided to just have a drink here and go straight home.

“Then, excuse me.”

“Yes, thank you.”

He looked at the menu posted on the pojangmacha.

From familiar beer, distilled spirits, fruit wine, and soju. Since he had never heard of soju, Marko asked the young man who appeared to be the owner.

“I know beer, and I roughly know the others, but what is soju?”

“It’s stronger than beer but weaker than expensive spirits like Angal.”

Angal is a distilled spirit mainly consumed in this region, known for its strong potency. Soju is about two to three times weaker.

“And most importantly, it’s the cheapest. The manufacturing process is inexpensive.”

Stronger than beer but cheaper. Marko thought it was the perfect drink for him right now.

So Marko immediately ordered soju.

The young man promptly placed a pretty bottle and glass in front of Marko. Since it was his birthday, he didn’t want to drink only alcohol, so he looked up at the menu of side dishes. The menu was also diverse.

Normally, when eating alone, he would just drink. The more money he saved, the better.

But today was his birthday.

He was filled with the desire to reward himself for all his hard work.

The menu listed items like udon and Palenque fried food.

Recently, Palenque fried food had become a boom in the area, so Marko was familiar with it. But it was his first time seeing udon. It was his first time with soju and the food as well.

‘That’s not bad either.’

Without much thought, Marko ordered udon. This time, he didn’t even ask what kind of food it was.

“You, there is nothing around. No animals and of course no monsters. It’s quiet.”

“Really?”

While waiting for his food, a woman walked briskly into the inside of the pojangmacha. She looked like she had been wandering through the woods, with spring flowers stuck in her hair here and there.

He didn’t think she was a crazy woman wearing flowers. Her face was so beautiful that he was momentarily stunned.

It wasn’t a seductive or provocative face. She was a beauty with a graceful face, yet when she spoke to the young man, she overflowed with an astonishing cuteness.

But the strange thing was that the longer he looked at her, the more an odd sense of fear seeped into his heart.

As if telling him to stop staring.

A sense of alarm in his heart, perhaps.

That strange feeling made Marko lower his head without realizing it. As an ordinary person, he couldn’t possibly understand that it was the subtle effect of Dragon Fear.

“But why are you covered in so much stuff?”

“I ran around, so it got on me. It’s nothing.”

Like a puppy that had just come out of the water, the woman shook her head wildly in front of the young man. Leaves stuck to her hair fell off bit by bit, but many still remained.

Because her hair was very long.

The young man grabbed the woman’s arm, pulled her to his chest, and began carefully brushing the debris out of her hair.

“Hya?”

The woman made a strange sound as she was pulled to the young man’s chest and then froze like a statue.

“Walk on the path, walk on the path. Geez.”

“I don’t care. A path is something I create.”

Despite her self-centered words, she didn’t resist the young man’s touch at all.

They seemed quite affectionate.

‘Are they a couple?’

That thought naturally came to him, but an inexplicable fear still rose deep in his heart, making him lower his eyes.

Then he felt nothing again. Glancing briefly was fine, but looking into the woman’s eyes brought on an undeniable fear.

In fact, this slight Dragon Fear would become tolerable once one got used to it.

Regulars at the Hilltop Restaurant, like Greek the boy, got so used to talking with Rurin that they felt nothing, but newcomers were terrified and couldn’t approach due to even the tiniest bit of Dragon Fear.

That’s why men who saw Rurin for the first time couldn’t make advances.

Anyway, Marko couldn’t understand this phenomenon at all and thought there was something wrong with him, so he decided to just eat what he ordered and go back, thinking it was because he was tired.

Soon, steaming hot broth was placed on the table in front of him.

Looking closer, there were noodle-like things in it. The unusual thing was that these noodles were much thicker than the noodles he usually ate. It was indeed an unfamiliar dish, just like its name.

“Enjoy your meal.”

The young man said with a smile, and Marko nodded, picking up his fork. Then he tasted the broth.

A light soy sauce flavor and other hidden flavors filled his mouth. He thought it went well with alcohol and drank the soju.

“Ahh.”

Strangely, a sound he had never made in his life came out naturally. He was hungry, so he drank the broth again.

“Ahh.”

Again, the sound came out unknowingly. It felt good.

Slurp.

Despite being thick, the noodles had a great texture in his mouth. So he alternated between a sip of soju, a spoonful of broth, and a slurp of udon.

Even though he felt an unknown fear and thought it was a strange place, the food was delicious. He felt like he wanted to come back again.

And the soju was good. The intoxication came quickly compared to the price. Marko thought it had great value for money.

“That guy is eating so deliciously. I’m getting hungry too, my dear.”

“I remember you ate dinner earlier, though?”

“I got hungry after looking around. Isn’t it natural to digest quickly when you move? Don’t state the obvious. So give me food quickly!”

He heard their conversation. It was somewhat funny. As long as he didn’t look at the woman, he didn’t feel fear. Listening to their conversation strangely alleviated his melancholy.

The melancholy of being alone on such a day gradually disappeared.

He wasn’t sure if it was because of the alcohol or the funny couple.

“This is delicious. I was a bit down today, but it feels like that sadness is disappearing.”

“That’s good to hear.”

Marko thanked the young man and started alternating between soju and udon again.

As the sun disappeared and night began to deepen, other factory workers who discovered this pojangmacha started coming in one by one.

Marko thought he might feel awkward if a colleague from his line came in, so he didn’t look at their faces properly, but fortunately, he didn’t see the ones who said they had prior engagements.

‘Yeah, they must have really had prior engagements.’

Marko shook his head and started drinking again. Just as he was enjoying the peace, uninvited guests barged in.

“Ho, what do we have here?”

“Boss, isn’t this an unlicensed place? It looks like it.”

“Anyone can see that, right? Hey, owner!”

Clearly uninvited guests.

Marko was startled and looked at the men who barged in. They clearly looked like thugs. Of course, there were so many of these thugs in the old Dedran City that you couldn’t count them, but most were eradicated during the former lord’s large-scale purge.

But with the change of lords and the increase in factories, a lot of people from other regions moved in, leading to the emergence of thugs who entered the city without knowing any better.

‘It’s going to get noisy.’

He hadn’t known the place for long, but strangely, he liked it, so Marko felt sorry for it.

“You’re running this place without a license, right? We’ll report you. But if you pay us protection fees, things might be different.”

In the end, the thugs brought up their main point and started laughing among themselves. There were three of them.

“Can I kill them?”

The woman who had been eating udon in the corner stood up. She was still holding her udon bowl.