ISMFWC 09

Chapter 9

Sehee checked the blue window floating before her eyes once again.

“……This.”

Only then did she realize it.

It was exactly the same format as the troublesome and dangerous notification she had received yesterday.

“Don’t tell me this is some kind of mission or quest?”

A strange chill ran down her spine.

‘Surely this isn’t going to pop up every day, right?’

Sehee absentmindedly glanced at the pot, then beyond the fog.

And she muttered inwardly.

‘Seriously, does it have no intention of letting me rest?’

At that moment, the ominous footsteps coming from beyond the fog finally filled the clearing in front of Sehee’s tent.

Just as Cassian had feared.

The men surrounded Sehee’s small tent, each carrying a greatsword or an axe over his shoulder.

Sehee’s shoulders stiffened slightly.

‘……Wait. Do I need to run?’

Just then, Vargas, the leader of the mercenary band, slammed a massive battle axe as tall as himself onto the ground and stepped forward.

“Hey, woman.”

Vargas raised his chin and took another step toward her.

“You’ve got some nerve running such a strange business in the middle of this forest.”

He curled his lips into a mocking smile.

“Do you know who we are? There aren’t many people in the northern part of the empire who can hear our name and remain unfazed.”

Vargas thrust his scar-covered face forward and laughed threateningly.

The mercenaries behind him raised their weapons or banged on their shields.

The metallic clanging and rough laughter quickly filled the clearing with noise.

Sehee immediately looked up and surveyed them.

‘If I run now, my business is over.’

Her gaze fell not on Vargas, but on the ground beneath his feet.

‘Seriously, couldn’t they wipe their shoes first? I just cleaned the front yard this morning, and now they’re ruining it.’

Sehee frowned instead.

In an instant, these men ceased to be objects of fear to her.

They were nothing more than a group of rude customers.

“You people have no business etiquette. The basic rule is to line up when a store is open.”

Vargas’s eyebrow twitched.

But a mocking laugh soon escaped him.

“Ha! A line? You’re telling Vargas to stand in line?”

The mercenaries burst into laughter and swung their weapons.

It was an overt display of force, as though they might trample the tent at any moment.

“Why don’t you move while I’m asking nicely? I’m busy right now.”

“What the hell do you think you’re doing?!”

The moment Vargas raised his axe and took a step forward—

Sehee’s hand moved like lightning.

She grabbed the thick, bright-red liquid sauce left over from the spicy chicken stir-fried noodles.

She flung it straight into the mercenary leader’s face.

“Hey! I said I don’t accept people interfering with my business!”

Hiss—!

The vivid blood-red sauce sliced through the air and splattered directly across Vargas and the mercenaries in the front row.

“……Urgh? What is this? Blood?”

Vargas snorted and tried to wipe the liquid off his face with his hand.

But one second later, his complexion turned purple.

“AAAAARGH! It’s hot! My face is burning! It’s the flames of hell!”

The capsaicin was attacking their skin.

[Environmental Effect Activated: Hell’s Red Mist]

• Reaction: Extreme pain, involuntary tears
• Status Change: Loss of fighting spirit, sharp decrease in will to fight

Sehee briefly glanced over the message floating before her and set down the sauce packet.

‘Surprisingly, this works pretty well.’

Unlike the calm Sehee, the mercenaries could barely remain standing.

“Cough! Cough! What is this…… magic? Or poison?!”

The mercenaries staggered backward, tears and mucus streaming down their faces.

Sehee looked down at them for a moment before tilting her head.

“Oh, is this not enough?”

And without hesitation, she sprayed the sauce again.

“AAAAARGH!”

“What the hell is this one?!”

The mercenaries, who were already collapsing, began rolling around on the ground.

Some covered their noses, while others could barely breathe.

The area around the tent was instantly transformed into complete chaos under the assault of the spicy sauce.

Vargas, the mercenary leader, lowered his sword with trembling hands and dropped to his knees.

There seemed to be a few tears gathered in his eyes.

Even the slightest touch of the sauce on his fingertips made Vargas scream as he looked up at Sehee in terror.

Sehee clicked her tongue as she put the noodles into the pot.

“What a bunch of nonsense. You barged in here without permission, and now you’re complaining about what?”

She washed the sauce from her slightly stained fingers and casually added,

“Now, are you feeling more clear-headed?”

Sehee tilted her head.

“Our store is pretty strict about property damage and interfering with business.”

She paused and held up the sauce packet.

“If you don’t want to experience that again, you can simply purchase our products.”

Her gaze slowly shifted toward the mercenary band.

“I need to charge you for barging in here without permission.”

Vargas gritted his teeth.

“……What product are you talking about?”

Sehee nodded and gave a short laugh.

“You just tasted it, didn’t you? I’ll specially charge you one gold coin per packet for this ‘flame of hell,’ or whatever you want to call it.”

Then she added,

“So everyone here needs to buy one packet.”

“O-One gold coin?”

“Or would you like me to spray you one more time? This time, I’ll aim for your eyes.”

When Sehee shook the remaining sauce packets, the entire mercenary band shrieked and hurriedly pulled out their pouches.

“We’ll buy it! We’ll buy it! Please, just put that away!”

Sehee collected the money the mercenaries hurriedly handed over.

The sack made a heavy jingling sound as it filled with coins.

She took a peek inside.

‘……Huh?’

There was almost no gold.

Most of the coins were silver or copper.

“But.”

Sehee asked cautiously,

“Don’t you have any gold coins?”

The area around the tent suddenly became strangely quiet.

“Gold coins? Who carries something that valuable? We’re not nobles.”

Vargas let out a hollow laugh.

Sehee’s eyes widened slightly.

“Then what do you normally use for payment?”

“We have silver coins.”

Vargas answered as though it were obvious.

“Daily wages, drinks, equipment repairs—everything’s paid in silver coins. Copper coins are for small change.”

Sehee swallowed unconsciously.

‘Then the gold coins Cassian gave me…… how much were they actually worth?’

Only now did she realize that the price she had just quoted was absurdly high by their standards.

‘Wow. I really……’

She felt the tiniest bit of guilt.

But weren’t these the ruffians who had barged into her tent without permission and brandished their weapons?

‘Considering that, I’m practically giving them a bargain.’

Sehee shook her head and handed out the packets one by one.

“Here. One packet of spicy chicken stir-fried noodles each.”

She looked over their faces once and tilted her head.

“Actually, you all look so miserable that I’ll give you a little discount.”

The mercenaries’ expressions brightened with hope.

“One silver coin and three copper coins per packet. How does that sound?”

Vargas’s eyes widened.

The price was roughly equivalent to what a mercenary might spend at a village tavern on a hearty meat stew and several beers.

But Vargas knew refusing the offer would be an even greater loss.

“Ohhh……! Of course. Sounds good.”

Vargas hurriedly agreed, afraid Sehee might change her mind.

‘At least it’s cheaper than a gold coin. There shouldn’t be any trouble later.’

Sehee seemed satisfied and pointed toward the front.

“Everyone, go over there and take a seat.”

The moment she finished speaking, the familiar system window appeared.

[Exchange Notification]

• Detected: 6 Imperial Silver Coins × 18 Copper Coins
• Converted Value: 780P
• Fee (20%): -156P
• Final Amount Obtained: 624P

‘It feels completely different from when the payment came in as gold coins.’

Sehee looked over the numbers once again.

‘Can the difference in points really be this huge?’

She wanted to calculate it properly.

But seeing the mercenary band standing dumbly in front of her holding their ramen packets, she abandoned the thought and continued.

“I’ll demonstrate how to cook it from now on.”

Vargas and his men accepted the ramen packets with bewildered expressions.

Their heads were filled with complicated thoughts at the realization that the weapon they had thought was the flames of hell was actually a product worth one silver coin.

But overwhelmed by Sehee’s presence, none of them dared to object.

“I’m giving you a cheap price for the fine for trespassing.”

Sehee looked down at the pot.

She then swallowed a sigh and opened the system shop.

• [Pot] …… 700P

‘I’ll probably be using these more from now on, right? If so, I can consider this an initial investment.’

As soon as she made her decision, her hand moved toward the purchase button.

[Purchase History]

• Pot ×3

Total Cost: 2,100P

Three new pots dropped onto the ground with a series of thuds.

The mercenary band flinched at the sudden appearance of the pots.

“There are three pots, so split into groups of two and cook them.”

Vargas rolled his eyes for a moment as he counted.

“Two people per pot?”

“Yes. One pot can handle up to two packets.”

Sehee nodded before continuing.

“Oh, and get the water from over there.”

She pointed toward the faucet beside the tent.

“Light the fire yourselves. This is self-service.”

The tear-streaked mercenaries exchanged glances before putting down their weapons and huddling into their respective spots.

The sight of these rough-handed men carefully fiddling with their ramen packets was strangely comical.

‘They can swing swords just fine, so why are they handling the packets like they’re made of glass?’

Sehee cleared her throat.

“All right. Everyone’s seated, so pay attention.”

Once she confirmed that everyone’s eyes had naturally turned toward her, she continued.

“I’m going to explain how to cook spicy chicken stir-fried noodles properly.”

Sehee opened the lid of the pot and began giving her first official lesson to her group of customers.