Chapter 9
Seasoned Spinach (1)
I opened the refrigerator and looked into the bottom compartment.
A faint blinking light flickered from deep inside.
There’s something in there.
I reached farther in and pulled it out.
It felt strangely warm, like a document that had just been printed.
“A notepad?”
Golden letters shimmered across its surface as if they were alive.
[Side Dish Order]
Client: God
Requested Side Dish: Seasoned Spinach
Reason: A side dish I want to give to someone one last time.
Requirements:
-
Use poor-quality C-rank spinach.
-
The client likes the grassy smell of spinach.
Reward: 2 Good Deed Points
“…A god?”
Since this was a side dish shop, I thought customers could place special orders.
But… a god?
“Haetae, someone called ‘God’ placed an order.”
“Not a person. It’s an actual god, nya.”
“Gods really exist?”
I stared blankly at Haetae.
The chubby cat glanced at me and replied,
“There are divine beasts like me, so why wouldn’t there be gods, nya? And do you really think everything that’s happened to you is normal? Stop staring and read the rest of the order, nya.”
I couldn’t help laughing.
Well…
Ever since Grandma passed away, nothing about my life had been normal.
I accepted it and continued reading.
The next page contains the ingredient supply contract between GS Company and contractor Han Jigu.
“GS Company? So they actually have a name. It says these are the supply conditions.”
“That part they never explained when you signed the contract, nya.”
“Yeah. They’re only sending it now.”
Haetae frowned.
“The order they do things is really strange, nya.”
“I guess even gods are busy.”
I turned the page and read carefully.
Ingredient Supply Conditions
-
You must complete every side dish order delivered by GS Company.
-
If you fail to win over the client’s heart, exercise extreme caution.
-
Never casually give your heart to members of different races.
-
If you fail an order, remember that misfortune will follow you for a while.
-
And under no circumstances should you question anything.
Those were incredibly suspicious conditions.
This company is definitely hiding something.
“Jigu.”
I looked up in surprise.
Haetae always called me Hyangsuk’s granddaughter or simply you.
Hearing him use my name felt unusual.
He looked at me seriously.
“You must never underestimate gods, nya.”
“I wasn’t planning to.”
“I mean don’t think they’re like me, nya. There aren’t many gentle gods like me.”
Not many gentle gods…
As thanks, I gently scratched under Haetae’s chin.
“Thanks for telling me.”
“Since I helped you, don’t I get a reward, nya?”
“I’ll make delicious seasoned spinach for you.”
“Wasn’t I getting that anyway, nya?”
Haetae glared at me.
“…Well, maybe.”
“Nyaaaaaang!”
While calming the sulking cat, I looked outside.
It was already evening.
The streets were quiet, and there were barely any people left.
I figured it was about time to close the shop.
“Should we close up and go harvest some spinach? I need to make the order…”
Just then—
The bell above the front door rang.
The sound should have faded quickly…
But instead it lingered strangely.
Instinctively, I turned toward the entrance.
“…Welcome?”
Someone stood at the door.
The figure that entered had the face of a Jangseung, yet the body of a human.
“Forgive me.
I came rather late.”
His deep voice echoed heavily throughout the silent shop.
Why is a wooden log walking…?
He wore clothing that strangely blended traditional Korean robes with a modern suit.
He was over two metres tall, almost touching the ceiling.
His face looked like cracked tree bark.
Where his eyes should have been…
There were only two deep black holes.
Despite his enormous size, he walked toward me without making a single sound.
Could it be…
“A-Are you… the one who ordered the side dish?
H-Hic!”
I hiccupped from the shock.
“It seems I frightened you.”
There was no doubt.
He was the ‘god’ mentioned on the order form.
The moment he bowed slightly, I almost stopped breathing.
My heart pounded loudly in my ears.
“Yes.
I arrived much later than I intended.”
“…Uh… y-yes.
Hic.”
I accidentally looked straight into those empty eye sockets.
Even though there was nothing there but darkness, an overwhelming pressure washed over me, sending a chill down my spine.
“I do not harm humans.
There is no need to fear me.”
“Are you… Cheonha Daejanggun?”
“Oh?
How did you know?”
“…It’s written on your face.
Hic!”
A Jangseung…
A guardian totem that marks the boundary of a village and protects it.
Why would one be here?
“Most young people nowadays recognize a Jangseung but pay little attention to us.
You are correct.
I am Cheonha Daejanggun, a Jangseung.”
He nodded politely.
“H-Hello…
Hic.”
“Is this Hyangsuk’s Side Dish Shop?”
“Yes… it is!”
He quietly looked me up and down.
Almost as if confirming my identity.
“I heard the human here had changed.”
“My grandmother passed away.”
“I had not heard.
My condolences.
You must have suffered greatly.”
“I’m alright…
Hic.”
Just then Haetae’s tail puffed up.
“Jangseung! Because of you he can’t stop hiccupping, nya!”
The Jangseung blinked with surprise.
“Divine Beast, it has been a long time.
I did not recognize you in the form of… such a plump cat.
My apologies to the granddaughter.”
“Hissss!
A plump cat?!
You’ve gotten bold, nya!
Come here!”
“I’m…
Hic…
fine.”
I barely managed to calm Haetae before he leapt at the Jangseung.
Still…
Watching the giant wooden guardian dodge him felt incredibly strange.
“How did you get here, nya?”
“Divine Beast…
It was quite tiring walking all the way here.”
“You walked here, nya?!”
“Yes…”
That explained why beads of tree sap covered his body like sweat.
I pulled a tissue from the counter and offered it to him.
“Here.
Please wipe yourself.”
“My sap will soon be reabsorbed…
But I shall not refuse your kindness.
Thank you.”
The corners of his mouth curved into a smile.
“My name is Han Jigu.
Please feel free to call me Jigu.”
“Oh.
Young Jigu.
I look forward to working with you.”
I immediately explained the situation.
“I need to harvest spinach from my garden before I can make your side dish.
You happened to arrive just now.”
“Oh dear.
Then I came too early.”
“No, it’s alright.
I’m the one who should apologize.”
I needed to close the shop and enter the pocket dimension immediately.
“Haetae?
Can Mr. Jangseung enter the pocket dimension with us?”
“Anyone except humans can enter, nya.”
“Oh…”
Then the answer was obvious.
“Would you like to come with me?”
“Hic.”
We had just entered the pocket dimension.
I started walking toward the spinach garden.
“The vegetable garden is over there…”
As I naturally led him along—
The body that had looked almost human suddenly peeled away like someone unzipping a costume.
Inside…
A huge wooden pillar appeared.
“WAAAH!
H-Haetae!
His skin came off!
What’s happening?!”
I almost screamed.
Haetae scratched his chin lazily.
“That’s his real form, nya.”
“His real form?”
“Your hiccups stopped, nya.”
“Oh…
Right.”
What stood before me now was an enormous tree trunk with only a neck and torso.
It looked like an ancient zelkova tree that had been cut down and planted upright.
His face still had only those deep hollow eye sockets.
Seeing them sent another chill through me.
“This pocket dimension is sacred ground.
So I naturally returned to my original form.”
I awkwardly avoided looking directly at him and hurriedly picked up my knife.
I cut a spinach stem.
“But… is that really how you harvest spinach?”
“Ah!
You startled me!”
I accidentally pulled an entire spinach plant out by the roots.
“Did I surprise you?”
“You suddenly spoke beside me…
Haha…”
“My apologies.”
I calmly explained,
“If you pull it out by the roots, it won’t grow again.
You have to cut it right below the root like this.”
“I see.”
“By the way…
I’ve been wondering.”
I looked at him curiously.
“The conditions on your order form.
Why did you ask for those specific things?”
“Ah.
That is because…”
The Jangseung stood quietly and gazed into the distance.
“The person who will receive this side dish had a mother who always made spinach exactly like that.
She barely trimmed it.
It still had that fresh grassy smell.
It was rough…
But filled with love.”
A faint smile appeared on his wooden face.
“That child called it ‘Mother’s flavour.’
It was never a perfect dish.
It was the flavour of a time they dearly missed.
I wished to give them that memory once more.
And…
I wanted them not to forget me.”
“Not forget you…?
What do you mean?”
“Because…
I will soon disappear.”
“Disappear…?
Why?”
My voice trembled.
His hollow eyes seemed to drift into the distant past.
“The village I protected is being redeveloped.
My duty as a Jangseung has come to an end.
People no longer need me.”
I bit my lip.
“…Doesn’t that make you sad?”
Surprisingly…
His expression remained peaceful.
“There is no reason to be sad.
I have fulfilled my duty as a Jangseung.
That is enough.
I existed only to protect them.
If they can continue living peacefully…
Then I have no regrets.”
His calm voice carried unwavering conviction.
“Who is going to receive this side dish?”
“A friend.”
“A friend?
Oh…
That’s rather romantic.”
Who could possibly be friends with a god?
“From childhood, that child greeted me every day.
They called me ‘Grandpa Tree’ and visited me without fail.
Even after growing up and moving far away…”
“…”
“They never forgot me.
Whenever they returned to their hometown, they came to see me before even visiting their parents.
Whenever they argued with their family, they would stand before me and tell me all their troubles.
They treated me like a true friend.
And now…
That child is getting married.”
The Jangseung lowered his head.
A trace of sadness lingered in his voice.
“So…
I wanted to give them their favourite side dish one last time.”
His voice was filled with the desperate wish to give them something.
“How are you going to meet them…
Looking like that?”
He smiled shyly.
“You mean my appearance from earlier?
Is it… strange?”
His earlier appearance…
The one with a Jangseung’s head and a human body?
I felt like anyone would faint if they saw him.
Before I could answer, Haetae quietly interrupted.
“He only sees your true form, nya.”
The Jangseung blinked.
“Ah.
I forgot.
Humans normally see me as another human.”
“Wait…
Does that mean I’m not human?”
“You have already touched the realm of the gods.
That is likely why you can see my true appearance.”
…The realm of the gods.
I silently sped up my harvesting.
[Exquisite Spinach (A)]
[Slightly Inferior Spinach (C)]
[Slightly Inferior Spinach (C)]
[Slightly Inferior Spinach (C)]
“Oh!
Lucky!”
I grinned.
Three C-rank spinach in a row.
Just what I needed.
“That’s lucky, nya?”
Haetae peeked over my shoulder.
“The order specifically asked for C-rank spinach.”
“I’ll never understand humans, nya.”
It’ll shrink after boiling…
I needed at least ten more.
“You look happy.”
The Jangseung smiled.
“I really am.”
For the past year…
While taking care of Grandma in the hospital…
I had completely stopped enjoying cooking.
No matter what I made, it wasn’t fun anymore.
I survived mostly on simple instant noodles.
“But cooking for someone again…
It feels wonderful.”
The knife moved naturally in my hand.
It was as though my hands had remembered the feeling all along.
Every time the blade cleanly cut through another stem, my heart beat faster.
“If you work so hard making this side dish…
Then I shall repay your kindness by spreading word of your shop.”
I froze.
“To… who?”
“To the guardian gods I know, of course.”
“Really?”
“Indeed.
Must you not continue performing good deeds?
The more they hear about your shop, the more orders you shall receive.”
Then his expression became slightly complicated.
“Of course…
If word spreads, some unpleasant gods may also come.
If you are willing to accept that…
I shall still tell them.”
Unpleasant gods…
I placed the harvested spinach into the basket.
“That’s alright.”
“Are you certain?
Gods are…”
I interrupted him.
“Humans are the same.
There are good customers…
And bad customers.”
The Jangseung nodded.
“I’m relieved you think that way.”
Just as there are difficult customers among humans…
There would naturally be difficult gods as well.
“Oh!”
One last time—
[Slightly Inferior Spinach (C)]
I harvested another C-rank spinach.
“Alright.
Let’s go.”
“To where?”
“To the kitchen.”
I stood up and lightly shook the basket full of spinach.
As soon as we entered the kitchen, I removed my gloves and apron and tied my hair back.
“May I watch?”
“Of course.
Please make yourself comfortable.”
I poured the spinach into the sink.
Being C-rank really makes a difference.
The quality really wasn’t very good.
Even the stems looked dull.
“May I ask something?”
“Sure.”
“Is spinach normally that red near the root?
The others seemed much redder.”
“Ah.”
I took out my small knife and began trimming the spinach.
“That’s right.
The redder the stem near the root, the sweeter and more delicious the spinach is.”
“Oh?”
“If it’s dark and dull like this, it’ll taste bitter.”
That’s why finding good ingredients is always the hardest part.
“I want some too, nya.”
I looked down at Haetae while washing the spinach.
“I thought you said you didn’t want seasoned spinach?”
“That was then, nya.”
“Just admit you want to eat it.”
“Hmph, nya.”
I cut a cross into the bottom of each spinach root and gently rinsed them under running water.
The hidden dirt washed out from between the leaves.
After draining the spinach, I placed a wok on the stove.
I sprinkled in a pinch of salt, and the grains quickly dissolved into the water.
“Jigu.”
“Yes?”
“Sorry to bother you while you’re busy, but may I ask one more question?”
“Of course. What is it?”
“How much longer will it take?”
I answered simply.
“I’m almost finished.”
