Cooking Swordmaster [EN]: Chapter 209

63. Why Is the Devil Here?

At first, I didn’t recognize him.

Beneath the weathered, faded brown hair, wide eyes stared, filled with shock.

Judging by his bulging muscles, he was likely a swordsman.

However, his face was terribly gaunt. His hollow cheeks and prominent cheekbones made him look as if he hadn’t eaten in a month.

Unshaven and with rough skin, he could easily be mistaken for a vagrant based on his appearance alone.

Yet, the kind look in his eyes was just as Batory remembered.

“Father…?”

“…Heh. What in the world is this?”

The Beast Marquis didn’t even bother to wipe the chocolate cream from his mouth. He simply stared blankly down at his body.

Instead of the thick fur of a beast, there was soft skin.

He absentmindedly brought a hand to his face. The protruding wolf snout was gone, replaced by dry, chapped lips.

“I only ate a chocolate cake….”

“Are you really Father? Really?”

“My dear, I’m a bit flustered, but could you bring me a mirror?”

“Ah, understood!”

This was originally the duty of the servants waiting by the door, but they were all foaming at the mouth and collapsed.

Apparently, the sight of a beast turning into a human was more shocking than expected.

The Beast Marquis could only accept reality after seeing his reflection in the mirror.

“…I’ve returned to being human.”

He thought he would scream with joy if the Beastification curse was lifted, but it was more anticlimactic than he imagined. The surprise of eating the chocolate lava cake was greater.

Returning to human form, he became aware of things he hadn’t noticed before.

“Father…! Why are you so gaunt!”

He looked as if he hadn’t eaten in a month. How much mental anguish must he have suffered for his face to change like this?

“Heh. Knowing you were struggling, how could I have been at ease? Don’t worry too much. I’ll be healthy soon.”

Batory lowered her head with a sullen expression. It was truly joyful that the Beastification curse on her father had been lifted.

“…But I never imagined that a curse that couldn’t be lifted even by selling one’s soul to a devil would be lifted like this.”

“My dear….”

The Beast Marquis started to say something to Batory but stopped himself.

The Beastification curse was lifted, but Count Perentz, who had died, would not return. Atonement for that was a burden that Beast would have to carry going forward.

With what face could he comfort Batory?

How wonderful would it be if she could purely rejoice in the miracle that had occurred.

Too many things had happened for that.

Kainchel, who had completed another 7-star dish, stood up from his seat.

He still had something to say to the two of them.

“Countess Batory, what you did was not a meaningless act.”

“…What do you mean?”

“If you hadn’t become a witch, I wouldn’t have visited this place. And if you hadn’t done what you did to lift the Beast Marquis’s curse, this chocolate cake wouldn’t have been completed.”

No matter how great the cooking skill, one could only make up to a 6-star dish.

To comfort the soul, hold back tears, and melt the heart, something else was needed.

All a chef can do is cook to the best of their ability. How one accepts it is up to the guest.

‘And to melt Batory’s frozen heart, there’s still something I need to convey.’

Kainchel spoke.

“In the end, the Beast Marquis’s curse was lifted because of what you have done so far. I simply put my heart into the dish.”

“Ah, ah…. Ah….”

Eventually, the tears she had been forcibly holding back burst out. Batory cried for a while as if she had returned to her childhood.

The Beast Marquis hugged Batory tightly and patted her back. He kept muttering apologies.

Kainchel, with teary eyes, took Morgana’s hand and walked outside. From now on, it was time for just the two of them, father and daughter.

* * *

He wanted to go find the next witch right away. About two weeks left.

He had spent more time in Gallia than expected. Of course, there was the gain of completing a 7-star dish, but he would have to move even faster in the future.

However, there was still one problem to solve.

“I’m worried about what to do with Lulutia. Capturing the witch is an amazing achievement, but the problem is that she’s a necromancer [one who practices dark arts and raises the dead]. You should have just killed her.”

“If I had, I would have been tied up for a while investigating noble murder or something.”

Of course, there was plenty of evidence that Lulutia was a necromancer.

There was no need to worry about being falsely accused.

But he didn’t want to waste precious time.

There was nothing like divine power to counteract the power of the devil.

Kainchel recalled that there was a Deus Church in Gallia as well.

“About four bishop-level priests would be enough to suppress the witch’s power. If it were an archbishop or cardinal, one would be enough.”

An archbishop in charge of a diocese is in a position where it is difficult to move at will.

In the end, Kainchel’s opinion was the most reasonable.

The Beast Marquis tried to stroke his chin with an awkward expression. And realizing there was nothing there, he gave a bitter smile.

“I’m really ashamed. The Noble Assembly and the Provence Church are currently in a power struggle. They are claiming that they were able to catch the necromancer thanks to them. Hmph! If I were only 10 years younger, I would bite them all… Oh, I’m not a beast anymore.”

For a moment, Kainchel’s eyebrows twitched.

‘I passed it off as hard-to-eat chicken ribs, but they’re rushing in like hyenas.’

It was like going to the trouble of cooking a delicious stew, only for them to come with a spoon and demand it.

“I was going to leave quietly since I got what I wanted, but I can’t. I’ll have to be a little greedy.”

Kainchel showed the Marquis the sign proving he was the ‘Sword of Deus.’

“The, the Sword of Deus?! Not only are you a Sword Master of a nation at less than thirty years old, but you’ve also done so much that the church recognizes it… What in the world have you been doing?”

“Cooking, of course.”

“……”

The Sword of Deus is an honorary position with no authority. But that’s why there are things you can do.

“So, you’re saying that they’re fighting over who will escort Lulutia to the Vatican?”

“That’s right. Hmph, what’s so great about that credit….”

“What help did those people give in fighting the necromancer?”

“Well, the Margrave is touting his merit in granting Kainchel entry, and the Provence Church is claiming that they fought after eating the fish dish blessed by Deus.”

“…Rather than shameless, they’re brazen.”

“Hmph…! I apologize on their behalf. I’m sorry for showing you this side of things.”

“There’s no need for you to do that, Marquis. Well, if they’re claiming credit for that reason, there’s something even better here.”

Kainchel called Caroline in the Gistad territory through Lehman.

She said she would arrive in Provence in a week.

“Archbishop Caroline will escort Lulutia to the Vatican.”

Then all the credit for catching the necromancer will go to Caroline.

She is already the Pope’s darling.

What would happen if the defeat of a national disaster, the necromancer, was added to that?

Perhaps she will be appointed as the next cardinal of Britannia.

“There will surely be a great backlash if she, who has done nothing, monopolizes the credit. What will you do about that?”

“Wouldn’t it be fine if Caroline helped tremendously in defeating the necromancer?”

“Isn’t that a lie?”

“Well, about three months ago, I received a blessing not to get frostbite. It was so good at blocking the cold air emitted by the undead.”

“Hahaha! It’s definitely much more helpful than what the other guys did.”

The Beast Marquis grabbed his stomach and started laughing.

With this, he would be able to give a big blow to the Noble Assembly and the Church, who were fighting over each other’s merits.

Who would object when the Sword of Deus claims that?

‘With this, the Gistad Church will develop further.’

For Caroline, it was like a persimmon falling from a tree while she was taking a nap.

“Then Lulutia can be taken care of by the Provence Church until Caroline arrives. Ah, just in case, would you like to take charge of the surveillance?”

“Of course. It will be very enjoyable for a week.”

* * *

While Kainchel and the Beast Marquis were chatting happily,

Batory had finished preparing for her trip. It was a simple luggage that could all fit in one bag.

Morgana put her hand on Batory’s shoulder, who was wearing a black cloak pulled down to her head, and whispered.

“Batory, I know that you have participated in Sabbaths [gatherings of witches] several times to lift the curse.”

“Yes, that’s right. I have met other witches.”

It is a kind of unwritten rule not to reveal the identity of other witches even if you know them. But Morgana is also a witch. In their conversation, they are free from that rule.

“Who is that witch and where does she live?”

Batory opened her mouth as if she had made up her mind.

“Lulutia Orleans. She is the only witch left in Gallia.”

“Oh, is that so?”

Morgana sighed with a hollow expression. In the end, it went around in circles.

“…Is something wrong? Could it be that Lulutia doesn’t meet the conditions?”

“Her soul has already passed into the hands of the devil. She no longer has a connection.”

“Is that so. She is already….”

Batory lowered her head with a pitiful face.

Even though she had known her for a long time, she was the one who framed her. But it didn’t seem satisfying at all.

As long as you have a witch’s contract, it is not strange for your soul to pass into the hands of the devil at any time.

It is a contract to take the soul after death, but if they kept that, they would not be called devils.

Calliope, who was staring at the ceiling with a blank expression, tugged at Kainchel’s sleeve.

“You can do the sealing ceremony even if there are only two witches, but it’s incomplete.”

“…In what way is it incomplete?”

“You can’t block all the devil’s power. In other words, it’s a temporary measure.”

In the end, it means that if they don’t find the last remaining witch, they will have to repeat the same thing.

At that time, Batory raised her voice as if she had remembered something.

“Kainchel, the devil who contracted with me came to visit me a while ago.”

“The devil came to visit you?”

“He seemed to enjoy seeing me suffer. But I suddenly remembered what he said at that time. He said that it seemed like a contractor of a pseudo-devil (僞惡魔) had been born after a very long time.”

“Pseudo-devil?”

Bishop gave an explanation instead.

― Pseudo-devil. That’s a name I haven’t heard in a long time. It is literally a made-up devil.

‘What the hell are you talking about? Explain it in a way I can understand.’

― Isn’t it common to hear stories that objects containing human malice become devils? Devils created in that way are pseudo-devils. Devils living in mirrors and cursed dolls are all in the same category.

Before the gate to the Demon World was created.

The devils that humans could commonly encounter were all pseudo-devils born from the human heart.

Anyway, they are also devils.

If that contractor exists, they will surely have a connection to the Demon World.

Kainchel waited with a nervous expression for Batory to open her mouth.

“If I remember correctly, the name of that pseudo-devil is Mephistopheles. And the contractor was Faust. Do you happen to know him?”