Cooking Swordmaster [EN]: Chapter 8

For Cainchel van Zistad, the days at the training center seemed longer than anyone else’s. He’d rise before sunrise to prepare ingredients for hundreds of people, and secretly practice cooking late into the night.

Cainchel, who possessed not even a spark of talent for swordsmanship.

He began to observe the knight trainees during their training sessions.

‘How wonderful would it be if I could wield a sword with such skill…’

‘If only I had that kind of stamina…’

‘I’d even sell my insignificant soul for it.’

But nothing changed, and time marched relentlessly on.

The other trainees improved noticeably each day, their progress evident even after a brief glance away.

– Awesome! My stamina went up by 3 in this status update!

– Nice! All that stamina training is paying off.

– Kyung, how did you raise your swordsmanship level by two in just one month! What’s your secret?

The gap between them widened. Before he knew it, the people wielding swords beside him were different.

And all that came his way were sneers and mockery.

So, he was quite accustomed to this kind of attention.

Cainchel worked in the kitchen in the early morning and late at night, but during the day, he trained with the other knight trainees.

Cooking was the key to raising his level and stats. No matter how much he swung his sword, he wouldn’t gain even a sliver of experience.

However, he had to attend training to remain a knight trainee.

He was used to tasks that yielded no rewards anyway.

But something had shifted in the last few days.

Since receiving a duel request from Julius Conrad, the attention focused on Cainchel had intensified significantly.

“Is that Cainchel, the one who’s famous for being a failure?”

“He looks weak. Probably couldn’t even finish his porridge as a kid.”

“I heard he’s from a fallen noble family. Has anyone ever heard of the Zistad family?”

“I don’t know. The Empire is vast. They’re probably stuck in some backwater.”

“I heard from the personnel officer that he sold off his remaining land to pay for his parents’ medical expenses and has nothing left.”

“Maybe he even sold off his talent. Rumor has it he hasn’t even killed a single goblin in the three years since he joined.”

“Hehe. What’s that?”

“Hahaha!”

However, Cainchel had changed since he started wielding a kitchen knife.

The shaking in his sword swings had disappeared, and his breathing was steady.

His once-dim eyes now burned with an indescribable desire.

The first to notice this was Ian, the instructor in charge of the rookies at the Stanis Knight Training Center.

He watched Cainchel wielding his sword for a while and then spoke.

“Cainchel.”

“Yes! Trainee Knight Cainchel, number 50!”

“…You’ve improved a lot. Yes. The important thing is your gaze and breathing. Always maintain the mindset of never letting your target out of your sight.”

“Understood.”

The moment Cainchel looked at Instructor Ian’s face, he was startled.

Ian’s eyes were red.

He was known for ruthlessly pushing the training knights, earning him the nickname ‘Devil Instructor.’

“…Cainchel. Follow me for a moment.”

“Yes.”

When they reached a secluded spot, away from prying eyes, Ian began to speak.

“The swordsmanship you just displayed was at least at the level of an Intermediate 4-Star.”

Cainchel feigned ignorance and looked surprised.

“Are you surprised? It means your efforts are finally paying off.”

With that, Instructor Ian hugged Cainchel tightly.

“You rascal! The instructor knew that, despite the rumors, you were training harder than anyone else. I also knew that you were aware of your shortcomings and were swinging your sword alone until dawn even after work hours, but… but…”

The shoulder where Instructor Ian’s face was pressed felt wet.

Was it raining?

Cainchel felt Instructor Ian’s body temperature, hotter than anyone else’s.

Though he wore the mask of a devil, Ian was more affectionate and tender-hearted than anyone else.

“Why hasn’t your level gone up! I was always worried that you didn’t have even a shred of talent. I am an instructor who trains knights. I teach that if you put in the effort, it will definitely come back as a reward. But you rascal! Why aren’t you, who works harder than anyone else, getting any rewards!”

“…”

Cainchel couldn’t say anything.

He had assumed that the gazes directed at him were only sneers and mockery.

But Instructor Ian was looking at him with such concern.

“But in the last few days, your swordsmanship has changed beyond recognition. Your stopped time has finally started to flow. Do you know what that means?”

“…”

“It means we weren’t wrong about you, you son of a bitch!”

“I, Instructor…”

For a moment, the two looked at each other’s faces without a word.

But they communicated more than ever before.

Ian sat down on a flat rock and patted the spot next to him.

Inviting Cainchel to sit beside him.

When Cainchel sat down, Ian began.

“Cainchel.”

“Yes, Trainee Knight Cainchel, number 50.”

“Let’s drop those cumbersome formalities for a while.”

“…Understood, Instructor.”

“No, leave out the word ‘Instructor’ too. Let’s just talk as brothers who have lived together for three years. Are you really okay with it?”

Cainchel knew very well what Instructor Ian was talking about.

The duel with Julius Conrad in four weeks.

The gap between Chevalier Class #2 Trainee Knight and Rookie Class #50 Trainee Knight was immense.

“You don’t have to fight. If you don’t accept the duel, that’s enough. You’ll just be the target of some ridicule, but you’re used to that, aren’t you? And…”

Instructor Ian stroked Cainchel’s shoulder for a moment.

There were already solid muscles there.

“There will be an uproar in the next status update. Because your level, which hasn’t changed for three years, will finally go up.”

That was part of Cainchel’s plan.

After proving that he had changed in the next status update, he would challenge the promotion exam.

And become a knight within a year.

Of course, he didn’t intend to stop there. If he made good use of the opportunity, he was confident he would soon reach the realm of ‘Sword Master.’

But one variable had intervened.

Julius Conrad.

The man who treated him like a toy and tormented him more than anyone else.

If it weren’t for Julius, Cainchel wouldn’t have become the laughingstock of everyone.

Because this was a knight training center where you had to swing your sword one more time if you had time to make fun of others.

Cainchel thought.

‘Am I doing this simply for revenge?’

No, it wasn’t for such a simple reason.

Cainchel had only ever looked at the backs of those running ahead.

But now the situation was different.

A new goal of becoming a Sword Master had emerged.

That was only possible by being ahead of everyone else in the training center.

But avoid a duel with number 2?

—I can’t do that.

Cainchel grinned.

“Instructor… No, Ian hyung [older brother/close male friend]. Thank you for everything. I wouldn’t have been able to endure it here without you. So, I would like you to be the referee for this duel.”

Ian, seeing the unwavering determination in Cainchel’s eyes, couldn’t refuse.

@

This is not enough.

Cainchel looked at the parchment on his desk.

It detailed his hourly schedule for the next month.

Even if he followed this plan, Cainchel would be stronger than anyone in the rookie class.

“I’m sorry, but I have to win this duel for Ian hyung, who believed in me.”

Cainchel grinned and tore up the training plan.

Win against Julius.

To do that, this wasn’t enough.

The key was the acquisition of ‘Disarm’.

He learned how to prepare salmon from Chef Ainkel. That’s how he was able to use Disarm, a technique that destroys the enemy’s weapons and armor.

Wouldn’t the same apply to other cooking techniques?

He wasn’t sure, but it was worth a try.

Besides, Ainkel excelled at noodles and ovens.

Joffrey, who made desserts that high-nosed nobles in the capital would line up to buy.

Gordon Lambolton, who seemed to have lost his passion for cooking but might have once made ‘Chicken Soup for the Soul’ [a comforting and restorative dish].

To think that there were three masters of cooking so close by.

What would happen if he learned all their skills?

The thought alone sent shivers down his spine.

Cainchel had initially been preparing ingredients simply to raise his swordsmanship level.

After a week, strangely enough, Joffrey and Ainkel started talking to him in a friendly manner.

If he used that favor, wouldn’t he be able to learn the know-how that he couldn’t get just by watching?

Learn as many dishes as possible and increase his skills.

‘…To do that, I need the Zoma Mirror.’

Even if he acquired a skill, it would be useless if he didn’t know of its existence.

Of course, he would know if he updated his status. But that would be too late.

Therefore, the first thing he had to do was revive the Zoma Mirror, which had turned into an ordinary pocket watch due to the loss of magic.

Injecting magic into magical tools was a common source of income for new sorcerers.

However, since he couldn’t always inject magic through a sorcerer, the Sorcerer’s Guild sold ‘Magic Injectors’ separately.

To use it, he needed magic stats.

And fortunately, Cainchel had magic, even if it was just a small amount.

‘If I pour all the magic I have into it, I should be able to activate one Zoma Mirror. That should be enough.’

But after secretly inquiring, the price of the magic injector was unbelievably high.

‘…Crazy! It’s more than my living expenses for a year.’

In the end, it meant he couldn’t get a magic injector through normal means.

But Cainchel had been at the bottom of the Stanis Knight Training Center for three years.

“Uncle John. How are you doing?”

“Oh, isn’t it Young Master Cainchel.”

John was the cleaner in charge of the knight training center. He often met and greeted Cainchel, who woke up early to train.

“Could I see the incinerator, by any chance?”

“Oh dear…. That’s off-limits to anyone other than authorized personnel….”

“Ahaha. I bought this last time I went out on leave because I thought of you, Uncle.”

Cainchel handed over a small box. It was cheap pipe tobacco.

“Oh, thank you as always. Hmm…. Then you really shouldn’t spread the word.”

“Of course.”

Wealthy nobles often threw away things that made you think, ‘Why are they throwing this away!’

Cainchel, who had nothing but his body, often picked up and used such things.

He remembered seeing a half-broken ‘Magic Charger’ in the incinerator before.

‘There are a lot of trainee knights with exclusive sorcerers. They have so much money that they even throw away magic injectors that look perfectly fine. There must be a usable one among them.’

Cainchel followed John to the garbage incinerator.

There, countless items were piled up to his chest.

‘Things are burned once a year. Okay, let’s go treasure hunting.’

Cainchel didn’t care about getting dirty and started rummaging through the trash.

It was something a scavenger, one of the poor, would do.

But he didn’t care. He had thrown away his pride as a noble more than 10 years ago.

He rummaged through the treasure pile and found three ‘Magic Chargers’.

“This one has a broken core. This one…. Ugh, my life force is being sucked in!”

The only one left looked reasonably intact.

Cainchel told John to go smoke in the corner and tried using the magic charger.

It was the first time he had handled it, but he knew how to do it.

He had overheard other sorcerers talking about it.

“If you concentrate and think of the core of the magic charger as part of your body…. Oh, it works!”

The magic charger, reacting to Cainchel’s magic, began to emit a dark red light.

Now, holding it, he just had to plug the magic charging cable into the hole in the back of the Zoma Mirror.

“Ugh…. Keueueueueuk…. Keueoeoeoeok….”

His mind went blank as if blood was being drained.

This was because the charger was forcibly extracting Cainchel’s meager magic.

“Keok, Keuheek, Uup….”

Cainchel, who had finished charging the magic, couldn’t hold back and threw up all the food he had eaten in the morning.

The feeling of forcibly extracting magic was far worse than he had imagined.

But the revived Zoma Mirror was displaying his level and stats.

“Heu, heuheuheuheu. Heuhahahahaha!”

Cainchel laughed among the piles of trash.

He had a free battery to use.

Of course, it was a little difficult, but he could endure this much.