The Military Chef of a Ruined World

The vacant-looking individual gazing into the building interior was none other than Sang-ah.

In the meantime, I have also finished the peeling and trimming of the vegetables.

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I descended from the tank and approached her.

Wondered what she had discovered to be standing there so dazedly.

“What are you… ah.”

Standing in front of the building, it became immediately clear why she was there.

[Wolgyegwan Tailor Shop]

A tailor shop.

Sang-ah was a [Seamstress] by profession.

Her pre-awakening occupation had been a clothing designer at a tailor shop, if I recall correctly.

In other words, this place was…

“It’s my former workplace.”

She replied while staring vacantly at the storefront.

“Former workplace.”

“Yes. I never imagined I’d be able to come back here.”

“Didn’t you say you were active in the military camp before our unit arrived? You must have had opportunities many times.”

“That’s true, but there were just too many monsters concentrated in this area, especially around that market over there.”

Following her gaze, I understood the situation easily.

‘Ah, right next to where Ariella had just cleared out a monster nest.’

A powerful monster colony.

Even with Ariella and her servants deployed, substantial casualties had occurred.

Indicating the formidable prowess of the monster nest at that location.

She had been leading a regular survivor group.

A group that lacked a significant number of awakened.

For her, returning here would have been nearly impossible.

Creak.

“Going inside?”

“Well, why not? The door’s already broken anyway.”

The glass door was already shattered, but she deliberately opened it and stepped inside.

I too was curious, so I peeked inside.

‘It’s surprisingly intact?’

Perhaps due to the monsters that had taken over the area early on.

The interior seemed to have maintained its past appearance even more so than expected.

As for anything remarkable, well…

There was a zombie corpse lying in the middle.

“That’s the zombie I killed.”

“…Yes, the scissors are still stuck in its neck.”

“I had awakened after killing that zombie. Didn’t even realize it was a zombie at the time.”

Sang-ah sighed softly as she looked around the interior.

“This place was like a second home to me… and now it ended up like this.”

“A second home?”

“My relationship with my family wasn’t very good.”

An unhappy home life.

She had wanted to leave home early, so she had become independent sooner than most.

But living alone at a young age couldn’t have been easy.

The ones who had helped her a lot were…

“The shop owner and his wife. They were so kind to me…”

“And now?”

“In the beginning, I was active alongside them. But after they fell in an accident, I’m not sure what happened to them. They were already quite old and in poor health, so…”

“….”

“But still, I at least managed to survive in this world. I should be grateful for that.”

Her face held a bitterness that she couldn’t quite wash away.

I glanced further inside.

In the area hidden from view, there was a small break room-like space.

On the table were now-rotted dishes.

“What’s that?”

“Ah, those were the lunchboxes the wife would bring me every day. She’d even share them with the other employees, so there was quite a lot.”

“They’ve all spoiled.”

“Yeah. The wife was a really skilled cook. They were so delicious… but now, sadly…”

I briefly glanced at the dishes.

Decayed beyond recognition after all this time.

But,

I’ve become quite an experienced chef myself these days.

Identifying the original dishes wouldn’t be too difficult.

‘Sadly, huh.’

With a menu like this,

Hmm.

“If you miss it that much, why don’t I make some new ones?”

“…Huh?”

Sang-ah turned back with a bewildered expression at my words.

“Getting the exact same ingredients may be tough in this situation, but I should be able to find some monster meat that can make something similar… no, even more delicious than before.”

“What are you suddenly saying?”

I shrugged.

“You said this place was like a second home, right?”

“That’s true, but…”

“Fortunately, that’s in the past tense.”

If this place used to be a second home,

then from now on,

“Couldn’t you think of our unit as your third home?”

“…Huh?”

“The fact that it’s the military is a bit of a flaw, I admit… but I also make home-cooked meals too, you know. Military cuisine is mostly Korean dishes after all.”

Sang-ah stared at me with a bewildered expression.

I spoke confidently.

“Once you’ve taste my home-cooked meals, I’m sure you’ll feel like this is your true home.”

“Pfft!”

Though I had spoken sincerely, she burst out laughing in bemusement.

“Was it that funny?”

“No, no, it’s not that.”

For something “not that”,

she was struggling to hold back her laughter.

“It’s just, you’re so focused on the cooking aspect. You really are a quintessential army chef, aren’t you?”

“….”

Damn.

Had my interests really become so skewed towards cooking?

A little embarrassing, but…

“Hehehe…”

Still, seeing the gloomy soldier’s face light up with a smile,

I suppose that’s not a bad thing.

“You’re right, a home.”

After subduing her laughter, she said calmly.

“This tailor shop wasn’t really my true home to begin with. There’s no problem seeing the unit as my new home.”

“I guess the concept of ‘home’ can be pretty flexible, huh.”

“Ah, who cares? Just think of it however suits you best.”

She spoke lightly, as if a weight had been lifted.

“Thank you for the consideration, Commander.”

“I was just joking around, no need to be so polite.”

“Look at you, getting all embarrassed.”

It seemed she had only planned to take a quick look around.

With a lightened step, she exited the tailor shop and headed back to the battlefield.

‘A home, huh…’

I had said it lightly to her,

but the concept of ‘home’ is quite an important keyword for me as well.

‘Not just for me, though.’

Most of the unit members are from elsewhere.

They must be curious about the fates of their hometowns and families.

Knowing the truth would likely bring them pain, as there are far more who have perished than those who have survived in this world.

In such cases, if the unit could become a second home for them that would be no small thing.

Stepping out of the tailor shop, the outer area was still embroiled in a chaotic battle.

Boom!

It’s breached! Infiltrating, infiltrating!

Requesting fire support here!

The trajectories of mages’ spells and artillery shells flew across the city.

The enemy had simply transformed into monsters.

The sounds were not so different from what one would hear in a war film.

And at the edge of my vision, the central area of this region began to come into view.

Not in a geographic sense, but a symbolic one.

Aged and weathered, but above all, the building that symbolized this area.

‘The city hall.’

Our destination was in sight.