Chapter 54

Meanwhile, at the peaceful cabin.

Jio was examining the new member of the family.

“Is this little one fully grown?”

“Purr.”

“Cute.”

It was the kind of cuteness that made his heart peaceful.

Seeing the Anti-Cat flopped on its back, waving all four paws, Jio gently took its two front paws. Cats on Earth hated it so much when you held their paws, but the Anti-Cat did not seem to dislike it much.

As if he were entertaining a newborn baby, he gently held its front paws and waved them a few times.

“Prrrrr...”

“It does not seem to dislike it.”

“Meow.”

“A cat is still a cat.”

“Mmm.”

“You’re very cold.”

The Anti-Cat’s body was cool, like touching a stalactite in a remote cave.

“Honey, you’re the complete opposite.”

“Coo?”

“You’re warm.”

Perhaps because Honey had evolved from the sap of a Rurupu that grew under sunlight and moonlight, that tiny little body of his was especially warm. Lately, thanks to receiving the Sun God’s affection without restraint, it seemed as if his temperature had risen even more.

“If you’re this cold, it might be hard for you to stick close to Honey...”

He did not know if there was any scientific basis for it, but did people not get the feeling that if they held creatures whose bodies were naturally cold, like fish or frogs, in human hands, they might burn them?

“If it bothers you when I touch you, say so, little one.”

“...”

“You shut your mouth like a ghost. Good girl, good girl. Very clever.”

It seemed it did not bother her.

“You seem to understand what I’m saying, too.”

That was truly fascinating.

‘It sparkles just like a jewel... like the crystallization of something.’

The Anti-Cat’s body resembled that of a kitten only a few months old. Its body held a dense glitter, as if it were a finely cut diamond.

Perhaps because of that, unlike Honey, whose body was completely transparent, it also looked opaque.

“Beautiful.”

“Mrrp.”

“You can glow on your own, too. How admirable.”

Beside him, Honey stared fixedly at Jio.

“...”

“... Of course you’re admirable too, Honey.”

“Hmph.”

“Oh, how pretty.”

“Coo.”

Raising children was truly hard.

“Anyway, I wonder what our youngest eats to grow.”

From what he had roughly confirmed, she lived by sucking up life force. Apparently, on Earth, she would be treated as a kind of ghost, but if it was a ghost this cute, he thought it would not be so bad to have a bit of life force sucked out of him once.

“I may have to make you a cat tower soon... I do have something of a knack for making hidey tunnels.”

“Purr.”

“There are plenty of tall, rugged trees scattered around here, so they’d be good for climbing, but an Anti-Cat will need territory inside the house too. If you resemble a cat, you’ll probably be just as sensitive about your own territory.”

“Meow.”

“The place our youngest used to live was the Jewel Vein, so an environment similar to that would be fun too. If I made a hidey house like a dark anthill and put some jewels inside... I think that would be nice.”

Then it was time to give her a name.

“Sparkles...”

“...”

“... Is this déjà vu?”

It was a reaction similar to when he had first thought of the word “troublemaker” for Honey’s name. A reaction that seemed to ask, somewhere, “Are you serious, human?”

Jio tried to exercise a little more creativity.

“...”

After a brief silence, he murmured softly.

“Dana?”

Among Korean names, it carried the meaning of “a person who is always ahead,” but that was not actually why he had thought of the name Dana.

“I kept thinking of diamonds, so I thought I’d give you a similar name, but Diamond is too long. Even shortening it to Dia felt too long.”

But shortening it to “Di” or “Dai” felt far too shameless.

“So I changed it a little from there. How about Dana?”

“Mmm.”

“I’m glad you like it.”

It passed the screening.

“Whew.”

Jio gave this glory to namers all over the world. As expected, naming was no easy task.

“Now let’s go prepare a meal.”

“Coooo.”

“Naming you made me hungry.”

He also had to take care of the marrowbone broth.

“Fortunately, it seems to have suited the student Cha A-ra’s palate as well.”

Earth marrowbone broth required attention to all sorts of things. The preparation process was similar, but after that, effort went into adjusting the heat and removing the impurities that floated up.

“The first marrowbone soup that comes out is too greasy, so it has the drawback of being too much to eat as is. If I made marrowbone broth at home, I’d feel it was a waste to throw it away, so I’d find some way to use it, but that doesn’t change the fact that marrowbone broth made from Earth cows is a hassle.”

“Mrr?”

“There is such a thing.”

Even though she understood speech, the Anti-Cat, Dana, who had not yet adjusted, drooped over Jio’s shoulder as if to say, “I have no idea what you’re talking about.” She was heavier than expected, and the sight was amusing.

On the other hand, Honey, who knew that Jio enjoyed cooking, listened calmly. A true gourmet knows the origin of the food they are about to eat and knows how to enjoy it more deeply. Honey and Jio were like that.

“In that respect, the tree-antler deer’s marrowbones are extremely independent.”

If he simply left them over low heat for three days, the bones and cartilage melted away without him even having to skim off impurities.

“In a way, there really isn’t anything to throw away on a tree-antler deer.”

“Coo.”

Honey, who had eaten all the organs except for some of the intestines, sent fierce agreement. Honey, happily wagging his tail feathers, turned to look at Jio from the shoulder opposite Dana.

“...”

“...?”

At that expression, as though he had remembered something, Jio soon realized what Honey was talking about.

“... Ah.”

Come to think of it, there had been a jewel heart obtained when he butchered that tree-antler deer back then.

“I forgot I was going to check it.”

“Hmph, hmph, hmph...”

“If there’s no problem after we finish eating today, I’ll give it to you, Honey.”

Jio, surrounded by jewels and even able to make them himself, did not covet the jewel heart. Even though it was clearly part of an already dead body, it somehow felt as if it were still alive, which left him with a strange feeling.

“But if it seems like eating it will make you sick, Dad will keep it.”

“Hmph.”

Even Honey did not throw a tantrum over that much. Jio smiled contentedly.

“What an admirable child.”

He was happy to have such a diligent and good son. Jio himself was probably not a particularly good person, yet meeting only good family throughout his life like this was truly a great blessing, he thought.

Jio skillfully adjusted Dana’s posture as she slid down and said,

“The marrowbone soup itself was actually complete from the moment I gave the student Cha A-ra rice cooked with it, but if I wanted to keep eating it from the ice storage, I thought it would be better if it was concentrated, so I boiled it a little longer until it got thick. When I need it later, I can just add more water.”

“Coooooo.”

“Yes, you waited a long time too. I can still clearly see you hovering in front of the stove because you wanted to eat it, but you endured very well. Seeing how patient you are, you’ll become a big bird someday.”

Honey had always liked liquid-form foods to begin with. The wait must have felt rather harsh to him. Acknowledging and praising Honey’s patience, Jio went to the cauldron where the marrowbone soup was still boiling.

“Oh...”

When he opened the lid, a sweet, rich aroma rushed out.

“Nice.”

“Coo, coo, coo...”

“It’ll be hot right now.”

“Hmph.”

“If you insist, I’ll scoop some for you.”

Honey had endured the Sun God’s touch any number of times without a problem. Naturally, a broth that had merely been boiled a little longer over firewood would be no issue at this point. Jio scooped the broth into a small bowl and was about to give it to Honey.

And then Jio saw it.

“Honey.”

“Coo.”

“It would be good for my body and mind if you came out.”

Honey was plopped right into the cauldron.

“Hmph, hmph, hmph...”

“I don’t want to eat broth simmered with my son in it. This isn’t a scene from Greek and Roman mythology. Just what kind of human scum are you trying to turn me into?”

In that short time, Honey had eaten enough to expand from a parrotbill to about the size of a pigeon. If Jio took him to an animal hospital like this, he would surely be told that the pet was severely obese and that the guardian needed to pay attention.

“It’s already concentrated, so the flavor must be even stronger. What are you doing?”

“Hmph, hmph, hmph, hmph, hmph...”

“Eating salty things is bad for your body. Dad can make it taste better for you, so let’s calm down a little.”

Honey grumbled, but still crawled out of the cauldron.

“...”

“... You too?”

“Mrow.”

Was she inspired by the eccentric behavior of her sibling, who had confidently crawled all the way into the cauldron to taste it, anytime and anywhere? Dana, who had been drooping over his shoulder like a slime without much motivation, plopped down beside the cauldron.

‘It seems a little hot for Dana, whose basic body temperature is low.’

Jio cooled the shallowly scooped broth as much as possible and handed it to Dana.

“...”

Lick.

“...”

“Oh.”

Seeing her whole body glow faintly and silently, Jio nodded.

‘Looks like she likes it.’

She was not as talkative as Honey, but it seemed that, to that extent, her mood was expressed by making her own body glow.

Feeling pride as both a father and a cook, Jio warmly prepared the meal.

“There’s rice I cooked when the student Cha A-ra came, so let’s eat that.”

“Coo.”

“Mrow.”

Dana, who had not shown much interest in eating, seemed to have felt something after tasting the marrowbone broth. The sight of her following Honey around and meddling with the meal preparations was very interesting.

“As expected, nothing works better on kids than tasty food...”

Jio scraped up the rice cooked with marrowbone broth.

After scooping out all the still-fluffy grains of rice, he neatly scraped off the scorched rice left on the bottom. Perhaps thanks to the oiliness of the marrowbone broth used to cook the rice, it came off very cleanly.

“Who wants scorched rice?”

When Jio rolled the scorched rice into a round shape and made a simple snack, both creatures reacted.

“Coo. Coooo.”

“Mrow, meow, mrow... mmm, mmm, mmm.”

“... Let’s split it.”

There were loud complaints, but was there any choice as long-standing and wise as the wisdom of Solomon? Jio neatly split the scorched-rice ball in half for them, and once it reached that point, the two companion creatures no longer grumbled.

While they were engrossed in the scorched-rice balls, Jio finished preparing the meal.

“I should try making grilled rice balls with the marrowbone rice.”

Even if he said that, it did not mean he was really going to grill only one.

“For side dishes, grilled eggplant with soybean paste... and should I make a soup?”

Jio headed to the backyard that he called a vegetable patch and considered a monster patch.

The pea vines still looked as if they had a firm sense of self.

“...”

Enough to greet him.

“... This is starting to get funny.”

SWAY.

“Yes, nice to meet you. The weather is lovely, isn’t it?”

“...”

“Thank you for protecting the vegetable patch again today.”

After securing Jio’s greeting, the vine slowly and calmly sank back down.

‘... Even if you pretend to be an ordinary pea vine now, you won’t look ordinary.’

But Jio decided to respect the pea vine’s private life. He naturally glossed over the fact that ordinary pea vines could not move.

In any case, Jio picked four eggplants and some assorted vegetables from the vegetable patch. After washing them clean, he sliced the eggplants to an appropriate thickness and salted them, then peeled the radish and cut it into thin squares. He also took the peas out of their pods and rinsed them once in water.

“... No matter what, putting jerky in feels a bit off.”

Jio brought over sausages.

“Honey, you don’t like spicy things, right?”

“Coooooooooooo.”

“I figured.”

It was a mild-tasting sausage.

“Mrow?”

“Well, whether you can eat spicy things is something we can find out later. I’m only making one soup, so if spicy sausage goes in, Honey can’t eat it.”

“Mrr.”

“I’ll grill the spicy sausages for you later.”

It was probably a combination unfamiliar to Koreans, but putting sausage into soup and boiling it was tastier than one might think. Of course, using ham where the shape of the meat grains was not even visible, like pink sausage or Spam, would be a little awkward...

“Then let’s peel it.”

Jio prepared the sausages.

If he cut off the end of the casing and gently pushed with the back of the knife, the meat grains filling the sausage came out as they were.

In the meantime, the spices had properly permeated it, giving off a deep aroma, and Jio cut the meat and casing into suitable sizes.

“Now I just have to toss everything in.”

He added a little water to the concentrated marrowbone soup, then put in the radish, peas, and prepared sausage.

The peas were large because they grew in the monster patch, but they were small compared to the others, and the sausage was already good enough to eat raw, so it would be ready once the radish was cooked.

“And next...”

He lightly grilled the rice balls, coated the eggplants in a sauce made with fruit syrup, soybean paste, soy sauce, and the like, and put them in the oven. By the time the soup was more or less finished, the rest of the food was also done.

“Let’s eat.”

“Coooo.”

“Mrooow, mmm, mmm, mmm...”

It was the first time Jio had seen Dana cry for so long. Seeing her like mealtime this much was very nice. Children were prettiest when they were eating.

“Dad will go make an offering to the Sun God, so you two go ahead and eat on your own.”

“Mrow.”

“Coo.”

Jio headed straight to the second-floor art storage room. Several landscape paintings were there. Jio went directly to the Breathing Sea.

As expected, the Sun God was extremely pleased...

“...”

And gave him a gift.

“... What did you say this is? A certificate?”

“ ”

“Then shouldn’t I not receive it? It shouldn’t be mine in the first place.”

“ ”

“... Yes, understood.”

He did not really know what it was, but it did not seem like anything bad, so Jio decided to accept it gratefully.