Cooking Swordmaster [EN]: Chapter 113

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34. The Missing Chef

The kitchen of the Well-ride mansion, back after a month.

Keinzel confidently took out the Dragon meat from his four-dimensional pocket.

It was large enough to fill more than half the kitchen.

If he cooked with this, he would create a vessel capable of using Aura Blade.

Keinzel infused Aura into the kitchen knife he was holding.

Ziiiiing-!

Then, the mithril knife emitted a brilliant light.

Aura Sword cannot cut through a Dragon’s hide.

That’s where the compression of Aura is needed.

A technique only those who have reached the realm of Sword Master can perform.

Keinzel racked his brain to reproduce a similar effect.

And he found out that using three types of Aura with different properties would produce a similar effect.

“Then, this time, flambé!”

Flames blazed on the Aura Sword.

But with this, the meat would cook before he could even start cooking due to the intense heat.

Keinzel finally coated the flames with meringue.

Then, a red-glowing blade was completed.

“…Su, succeeded!”

Aura Sword that enhances the characteristics of the sword.

Burning Aura Flambé.

Meringue that provides strong defense by coating.

He put three types of Aura into one kitchen knife like that.

“Yeah, that’s why I got the mithril knife to complete this. Well, should I just call it Glaze.”

Glaze is a term used in baking to coat pastries with syrup to make them shiny.

Keinzel took a deep breath, staring at the Dragon meat.

How many onions had he chopped and how much meat had he sliced until now?

That experience is 그대로 녹아 있다 [literally, ‘melted as is,’ meaning fully integrated or present] in the 12-Star Beginner Swordsmanship.

‘For a chef, that’s just an ingredient. Let’s think of it as pork…’

Then he felt much more at ease. Keinzel swung the kitchen knife as it was.

The knife imbued with Glaze cut through about half of the Dragon’s hide.

“…Alright!”

Keinzel’s hand holding the knife trembled.

He had taken the first step in Dragon cuisine, something no one in history had ever done.

‘Then, if I just raise my beginner swordsmanship a bit more, I’ll be able to cut Dragon meat like cutting radish.’

He still had a long way to go.

Keinzel took out a chunk of pork.

He was planning to make pork chops for the guest who would be visiting in an hour.

‘Then, should I warm up in advance for tomorrow’s cooking competition?’

What kind of dish will Gordon make?

What kind of evaluation will he give to my dish?

He hadn’t slept a wink for days thinking about it.

Keinzel took out Mimir’s spring water in a small bottle. If you sprinkle a drop of this on vegetables, they become surprisingly delicious.

‘Then the menu is decided as pork chops with paprika.’

Keinzel brought the Aura-coated knife to the bone-in pork.

Then it split in half as it was.

“Hoo, is this the power of a mithril knife…”

What’s best is that he no longer needs to carry multiple knives.

Meat cut with a dull knife has a rough cut surface and the juices dry out easily. That’s why you have to sharpen it every time to keep it sharp.

But with a mithril knife, there’s no need to do that.

Keinzel carefully made cuts on the skin of the meat. This prevents the pork chop from curling when grilling and ensures it cooks evenly.

‘Next, I need to use raw garlic and thyme to infuse the meat with flavor.’

He crushed the unpeeled garlic with the kitchen knife and rubbed it all over the meat. Then, the pungent garlic scent mixed with the meat scent, creating a mouth-watering smell.

If there’s something you want to cut, just bring the knife to it and it’s done.

Dicing or crushing is also instantaneous with a mithril knife. With just this, it felt like he could make any dish.

‘Long live the mithril knife!’

The hardships he went through to get the mithril knife felt like they were melting away.

Keinzel left the pork to marinate for a while and began preparing the paprika.

First, he stood the paprika on the cutting board and sliced it diagonally as if cutting an orange peel.

Then he cut it into smaller pieces that were easy to eat.

The mithril knife cut the paprika so smoothly without destroying its tissue.

Not a single tear came out even when slicing onions.

The blacksmith made a longsword with the remaining mithril that was almost identical to the one he used to use.

Although the thickness of the blade was reduced by almost half, the grip in his hand was even better.

‘If I had known it would be this good, I would have made it sooner.’

Why didn’t he know about something so good?

When he stir-fried the finely chopped paprika and onions in olive oil, a pungent smell wafted through the air.

It is important to maximize the flavor of the ingredients while stir-frying them over maximum heat.

Then sprinkle with salt, pepper, and sugar. Sugar makes the paprika softer and helps caramelize the onions.

Sizzle-!

The sound of the vegetables cooking pleased the ears. Add wine made by an elf and a drop of Mimir’s spring water to the well-stir-fried paprika.

Then the color of the paprika changed even more vividly.

When he tasted it, even Keinzel, who cooked it, was surprised.

‘The vegetables are dancing alive in my mouth! Th, this is Mimir’s power!’

It wasn’t even a finished dish yet, but five stars were already floating in the Chef’s Eye.

If he grilled the meat properly, it would have an even higher rating.

Keinzel focused all his attention on the heated pan.

When he put the well-seasoned pork on it, it cooked with a pleasant sound.

It felt like he had made a great steak.

Grill the garlic and thyme together to make the seasoning taste even stronger.

‘The point is to make the garlic and thyme lie underneath when grilling the meat. That way, the flavor is felt even better.’

Add butter and cream at the end.

Then tilt the pan and keep pouring the sauce with the melted seasoning over it.

The rich scent of butter. The pungent taste of garlic and thyme.

The oil infused with them coats the meat.

Repeating that for about 3 minutes and 30 seconds, the meat was cooked to the most delicious degree.

‘To make moist pork chops, you need to age it for the same amount of time as the meat was cooked. Alright, then it’s done.’

First, place the well-grilled pork chop on a plate and top it with paprika that smells amazing with basil. And it was complete with well-grilled garlic and thyme on the side.

“Caroline the Archbishop will enjoy this, right?”

Arriving in Citizen, Keinzel informed the Deus Order of Antares’ death.

Then Archbishop Caroline said she would visit to confirm.

The weight of the existence of the Seven Sins Church was that great.

Caroline was a regular at Verus and a customer who enjoyed Keinzel’s jewel ice cream so much.

Keinzel had never imagined that he would reunite with her in this way.

@

Arriving at the drawing room, Caroline widened her eyes as she looked at Keinzel.

“Wow! It’s really Chef Keinzel! I missed you! To be exact, the jewel ice cream!”

Then the escort knight next to her said with a strict, solemn, and serious expression.

“Your Grace. Please maintain your dignity. You must not forget that you are here as the representative of the Deus Order.”

“I know! But the ice cream that person makes is really delicious. You know how much I suffered while he was away. No matter how much chocolate, strawberry, and vanilla ice cream I ate, that thirst wasn’t quenched! Jewel ice cream is the best!”

A bitter smile appeared on Count Well-ride’s face. And he asked in a small voice when he had become acquainted with the Archbishop.

“…She’s a regular at Verus.”

“Hoho, such a connection… But it seems the Archbishop really likes your cooking.”

Keinzel, who had returned to Citizen, had some unresolved problems left.

Nymue and Abel decided to take care of transplanting the World Tree sapling to the Green Mountains.

In the meantime, Keinzel had to unravel the secrets left in Antares’ corpse.

A situation where he could not expect help from the royal family or the military. In the end, all that was left was the Deus Order.

‘The Deus Order that persecutes even half-elves as heretics… I don’t really like them…’

Wasn’t the enemy of my enemy my friend? To deal with the Seven Sins Church, the power of the Deus Order was needed.

In the end, he chose Archbishop Caroline, whom he had met through jewel ice cream.

“Your Grace. Then let me tell you the detailed situation while having a simple meal. Is pork chop okay?”

“I love pork! Did Chef Keinzel make it himself? Can you make other dishes besides ice cream?”

Caroline’s eyes shone to the point of being burdensome.

Is this how it feels to be a crazy fan following the great writer Goethe?

It seemed that Caroline really liked the jewel ice cream.

“Then I’ve made plenty, so let’s have the escort knight eat with us.”

Then the temple’s escort knight lightly bowed his head in greeting.

“I am Lion, a paladin of the Deus Order.”

“I am Keinzel, a free knight.”

“Free knight… But I feel strangely familiar.”

Lion gave Keinzel a strangely sticky look. It felt like he was a colleague he had spent years with.

‘Ugh, is it because of the divine power that rose as a bonus? Still, it’s not bad to have the favor of a paladin.’

Keinzel felt goosebumps and placed the plates on the table.

And when he opened the lid, an incredible smell wafted out.

“… !”

Even the dignified Paladin Lion widened his eyes at the fragrance.

The people gathered in the room swallowed their saliva without realizing it.

How can you grill meat in such a way that it gives off such an amazing scent?

Caroline looked at the pork chop with the eyes of a girl in love.

“Don’t stop me, Lion. No matter what you say, I’m going to eat that.”

“Cough, cough!”

Originally, they were planning to have a meal after checking Antares’ condition. But it was impossible to do so.

Caroline hadn’t had a proper meal since she had been holding services since morning.

She was in a state where she could eat even shoes if they were grilled deliciously.

But a 6-star dish was right in front of her.

The Archbishop of the Deus Order moved her fork with the eyes of a hungry beast.

First, she took the paprika with a pungent scent and brought it to her mouth.

The smoky scent unique to well-grilled paprika and the crunchy texture were felt at the same time.

“H, how can you get such a texture from grilled paprika…”

The paprika and onions that melted in her mouth began to dance. If you close your eyes, you can feel the freshness as if you are lying in the middle of a deep forest.

It’s just stir-fried vegetables, but how can it be like this?

This alone is already a great dish.

“This is the first time I’ve had such delicious paprika…”

A strange desire arose in Caroline’s eyes. How delicious will the pork chop she is about to eat be?

The hand holding the knife moves quickly. The well-grilled pork split softly in half when she put the knife to it.

When she cut it into small pieces and brought it to her mouth, the usually tough skin left only a savory taste and crumbled as it was.

Pork chop is a fairly greasy dish. But thanks to the scent of grilled garlic and basil, it goes down her throat cleanly.

With a dish like this, she can eat as much as she wants without getting tired of it.

Caroline, who was eating the dish without realizing it, raised her head slightly.

Then she saw Lion, who was sitting across from her, silently eating pork chops.

He was the type of person who would have been talking about how the knife skills were and how the posture was.

It was such an amazing pork chop that he couldn’t even do his basic duties as an escort knight.

In the end, Caroline ate all the onions, which she usually didn’t even touch.

“Hoo… This was the first time I’ve had such delicious pork.”

Paladin Lion wiped the grease from his mouth and bowed his head.

It seems he was ashamed of showing an unpaladin-like appearance.

“To be treated to such delicious food while coming to perform a mission… Thank you so much for the meal…”

Keinzel swallowed his saliva without realizing it. There was no need to look at the Chef’s Eye [a skill that allows him to assess the quality of food].

This is a 6-star dish.

‘Even the paladin, the symbol of strictness, solemnity, and seriousness, couldn’t say anything until he ate it all…’

He can now make such dishes about one in three times.

Nevertheless, Keinzel’s cooking level is still stuck at 5 stars.

What is it that he needs to become a 6-star?

Maybe he can find the answer in the cooking competition with Gordon.

Keinzel said to the people who were talking in a much softer atmosphere.

“Then shall we go see Antares, the bishop of the Seven Sins Church?”

Then the smile disappeared from Caroline’s face. She returned to the appearance of an archbishop, just like when she was holding a service.

“Yes. Let’s find out how he can still be alive even after cutting off his head.”

The Missing Chef #2