Cooking Swordmaster [EN]: Chapter 126

Baron Brigham sighed in relief and leaned back in his chair.

It was truly a stroke of luck.

The strike, which had threatened to escalate into armed conflict, had been resolved more smoothly than expected.

“I’m truly grateful that you’ve resumed your work, Blue Mountain.”

“We’ve decided to overlook the fact that you deceived us, since you caught the swindler. But don’t forget, Baron Brigham, we’re merely in a contractual relationship. If you fail to provide what we desire, we will leave this place at any time.”

“I will keep that in mind. Please, let me know if you need anything. Ah, how about postponing the delivery date by about two weeks, since you haven’t been able to work for a while?”

It was as if he were bestowing a great favor.

Blue Mountain scoffed, clearly displeased.

“Hmph, there’s no need for that. We will meet the delivery date as scheduled.”

Baron Brigham’s eyes softened, becoming cunning, almost serpentine.

“Then, I shall take my leave.”

“Why not stay for a meal? I’ve hired a very skilled chef this time, who makes excellent French cuisine…”

Blue Mountain rose from his seat as if he had heard enough.

Left alone, Baron Brigham’s lips twisted.

“Tch, ungrateful bearded fools. They don’t even know who they owe their livelihood to.”

Baron Brigham tilted the bottle on the table, filling his glass with a fiery red liquid.

The fragrant aroma of wine filled the room as he swirled it.

“Ah, so this is the wine made by the elves. I bought it for five gold coins a bottle, but it’s well worth it. I’ve never tasted a wine with such a sweet and captivating fragrance.”

He first savored the aroma, then tasted it with his entire tongue.

Baron Brigham would celebrate with fine wine whenever he successfully deceived a business partner.

“Good, good. I was shocked when they suddenly stopped making weapons. I thought they had found out about the manipulation of the furnace’s concentration.”

Dwarves temper weapons using the power of spirits.

Approximately one thousand dwarves reside in Ironforge.

To create the flames they all use, a tremendous number of spirits are required.

Thus, the furnace was created.

Blue Mountain checks the spirit concentration inside the furnace every day to determine the amount of weapons produced.

However, there were times when the demand increased severalfold.

That was during the War of the Seven Deadly Sins ten years ago. Swords, armor, arrows, all sold like hotcakes.

“But how can we meet that demand if we adhere to all the rules?”

Baron Brigham unconsciously stroked his neck.

What would happen if he gathered dwarves to create an industrial district, but the weapon production was insufficient?

He would surely be beheaded, and a new manager would take his place.

“Well, it’s been fine for ten years, so won’t it continue to be so?”

Baron Brigham shrugged.

Even if the furnace explodes and the fire spirits dwelling within escape, only the bearded dwarves will die.

The fire spirits cannot escape the Forever River surrounding Ironforge.

“I don’t know how long the furnace will last, but until then, eat your fill and work hard.”

@

Bino muttered to himself as he gazed at the scene before him.

“Those rough dwarves have become as docile as baby birds waiting for food…”

Could it be because they have high fire resistance?

Dwarves are notoriously known for their fiery tempers.

Moreover, as natural artisans, they have a keen eye. They notice and point out even the slightest mistakes.

— How much did you boil the vegetables! They’re completely mushy and falling apart!

He had only boiled them one minute longer than the recipe. Even customers at high-end restaurants aren’t this picky.

It would have been a relief if it ended there.

— What is this, the meat is completely burnt! It’s blacker than the coal I mined in the mine!

It was just a little too much searing.

Sear the surface of the meat on a pan with high heat until it is charred. This prevents the juices and spices inside from escaping.

However, when grilling hundreds of pieces at the same time, some are bound to be slightly overcooked.

Besides that, dwarves are incredibly good at finding even the smallest problems and protesting loudly.

“Moreover, even though all the dwarves look the same, they each have different specialties…”

Some dwarves raise their voices because they don’t like how well it’s cooked.

The dwarf sitting next to him frowns because the dish isn’t beautiful.

It seemed like even a god of cooking would have to appear to satisfy them all.

“…But.”

What about the dwarves sitting at the table now?

“Tonight’s dinner is steak, mashed potatoes, and roasted vegetables… They’ve divided the serving locations according to the degree of doneness so that everyone can eat the meat to their liking. Is this the idea of the new chef? Heh, my.”

The dwarf sitting next to him nodded.

“Look at the sense of decorating this steak. They’ve created a background by spreading white sauce overall and added points with black sauce. I also like how they’ve arranged asparagus, carrots, and mushrooms around the roasted garlic. Well, it’s not perfect, but at least they seem to have made an effort to make it as beautiful as possible.”

“And how about the taste? The meat is tender and chewy. Moreover, the rich juices burst out with every bite. It’s been a long time since I’ve had such a delicious steak.”

“Besides, when I eat the dishes made by Chef Al, I feel strangely energized. Just yesterday, I mined much more iron ore than usual.”

“Huh? Me too. My hammer feels strangely light these days. I guess it’s because I’m eating delicious food.”

“When I only ate fried food, I felt bloated and couldn’t sleep well, but these days I’m sleeping like a log every night.”

The dwarves sitting at the table exclaimed in admiration as they devoured the steak at an incredible pace.

Bino’s expression softened as he watched them enjoy their meal.

The new chef had assigned the three sous chefs to distribute the food.

At first, they vehemently opposed the idea, saying that they were already busy enough making the food, let alone doing such chores.

But now, he seemed to understand why he had ordered them to do so.

“They used to only complain no matter what food we made, but now they’re eating so happily… Maybe what was wrong was…”

Bino wasn’t the only one thinking that.

Uova used to get into fights with the dwarves every day because of his rough temper.

But recently, a dwarf he had fought with bowed and apologized.

“Human. Um, your name is Uova, according to your name tag? I’m sorry about last time. I think I was too picky, even though I knew you were having a hard time with the small number of staff.”

Uova also backed down and accepted the apology when the other party took a humble stance.

“No, I’m the one who should be sorry for swearing at you so suddenly.”

“Ah, well, it’s not because of that. Sorry, but can I have one more plate? The steak is really well-grilled. Haha!”

Uova checked the board with the number of diners. Fortunately, there was plenty of meat.

“Here you go. Enjoy your meal.”

“Oh! This looks like twice as much as what I just ate! If you ever need a knife sharpened, come find me!”

A faint smile appeared on Cainchel’s lips as he watched the three chefs distributing the food.

‘Assigning the food distribution to the Food Ingredients Trio was the right answer after all.’

The Food Ingredients Trio working here were experiencing extreme mental and physical fatigue.

It is difficult to satisfy dwarves who have the discerning eyes of artisans.

No matter how carefully they prepare the food, they cannot achieve satisfactory results.

‘It’s the same as those who left the training center, frustrated by their unchanging stats.’

What the Food Ingredients Trio needed was to face the customers eating the food.

Dwarves who want to eat even a little more food will treat the person distributing it as kindly as possible.

And when they see them eating deliciously, they feel things that are hard to feel inside the kitchen.

It was all a path that Cainchel had gone through.

It wasn’t just the Food Ingredients Trio that started to change.

Dwarves who had finished their work began to volunteer to help with the restaurant work.

“If we’ve eaten our fill, let’s clean the restaurant! After all, isn’t this the restaurant we use! If we eat in a clean place, won’t we feel refreshed?”

“Hmm! That would be perfect as an after-dinner exercise!”

The walls, which had been covered with food scraps, regained their original color.

Unidentifiable sculptures began to line up in one corner of the restaurant. The restaurant, which had been unpleasant every time they came, was transformed into a pleasant place.

‘Everyone is equal in the face of delicious food, after all.’

At this rate, even if the temporary chef leaves, it won’t be as bad as before.

Cainchel took out the Joma Sutra he was wearing around his neck. A message appeared on it, saying that the level of his skill had increased.

[The level of Beginner Swordsmanship has increased.]

Beginner Swordsmanship, which had already exceeded its limit twice, broke through its limit once again.

@

Cainchel looked at the dragon meat on the cutting board.

“It’s finally time to eat this.”

In a few days, it will be a month since he started working at Ironhammer.

Dwarves, who are born artisans, are known for being picky eaters. Making dishes for them has given Cainchel a tremendous amount of experience.

And finally, the moment to cook dragon meat had arrived.

First, he infuses the mithril knife with aura. And it was the moment he decided to wield it.

Shuk-!

Before he knew it, the meat placed on the cutting board was split in half.

‘I, I did it!’

Could this be the power of Beginner Swordsmanship at 13 stars?

The knife was drawing the sword path exactly as Cainchel had imagined.

Sharp yet strong.

‘If I were wielding a proper sword instead of a kitchen knife…’

Cainchel swallowed dryly without realizing it.

“Hoo…”

Cutting dragon meat consumes a tremendous amount of aura. And cooking it deliciously will be even more difficult than that.

‘Then, Brilliant Road this time!’

What kind of dish can he make using dragon meat?

Cainchel quietly walked down the brilliantly shining road. But all he saw was a single recipe.

‘…Oven-roasted.’

A simple dish that only requires scoring the meat, seasoning it, and then roasting it in the oven.

However, roasted dragon meat was no ordinary dish. It is said that you need to use Aura Sword, Effect Amplification, as well as Gemstone Salt and Mimir’s Well to make a proper roast.

A dish that requires using everything Cainchel has, literally.

“Besides, you have to bake this for 12 hours?”

But he had to do it.

Cainchel had neither proper mana cultivation nor talent for swordsmanship. All he had was a slightly special ability to strengthen his swordsmanship by cooking.

But to become a Sword Master, you need to be able to handle a tremendous amount of aura.

Of course, if you eat well-made dishes, you will eventually gain the aura to become a Sword Master.

But to become a Sword Master, you would have to eat thousands, no, tens of thousands of dishes.

Maybe he can end it with just one dish.

“Hoo, then shall we begin?”

First, he had to start by scoring the entire dragon meat.

In front of delicious food #2