Cooking Swordmaster [EN]: Chapter 270

12. You Too, From Now On

Count Gregxia Wellide stared at the beer in front of him, his face flushed.

A clear, golden liquid filled the transparent glass, the kind used in the royal palace.

The quality of the foam was different from that of cheap ale. Moreover, the surface of the glass was covered with water droplets, as it had been chilled using magic tools.

The finest beer, not easily accessible even to royalty.

“Damn it…”

Gregxia, unbefitting a head merchant, cursed roughly and grabbed the beer glass, downing it in one gulp.

Gulp, gulp…

“…Kuh… It’s all my fault… Because of me, Frelia…”

The smoothness of the drink and the refreshing aftertaste, along with the rich foam, were perfect in every way.

However, to Gregxia, it felt like he was drinking horse urine.

Gulp, gulp, gulp.

Nevertheless, he drank several glasses of beer in a row. He couldn’t bear it without alcohol.

Gregxia couldn’t hold back and threw the beer glass he was holding.

However, his pain did not disappear in the slightest.

War is not just about manpower. It requires enormous amounts of supplies, such as food for them to eat and weapons for them to fight with.

If it were a fight against another country, they could plunder, but what could they take from the demons?

Count Gregxia could not wield a sword at all. So, he supported the war effort by providing the supplies held by his trading company, along with transportation.

In addition, he collaborated with the Magic Tower to build a number of gates, acting as the wings of the Seven Virtues.

Without Count Gregxia, the War of the Seven Deadly Sins would have ended in Britannia’s defeat.

Was he now paying the price for that? His only daughter, Frelia, was cursed by Belphegor, the King of Sloth.

And Frelia had been asleep for over half a year, unable to wake up.

The War of the Seven Deadly Sins ended in victory for Saint Aslan and Britannia. However, Gregxia’s fight was still ongoing.

“…Kuh. I should have been the one cursed… I…”

Eventually, Gregxia, having drunk all the beer, called out to his butler, Brad, in a neurotic voice.

“Bring me a few more beers, Brad.”

However, the butler, who should always be waiting right next to him, was nowhere to be seen.

Instead, his wife, Roselina, was looking at him with slightly angry eyes.

“Greg… How can you drink so much…”

“…Ahem, ahem! You’re not feeling well, why aren’t you in bed, my dear?”

“I was worried about you. You’re drinking too much…”

After giving birth to Frelia, she became unable to have any more children.

She had always been weak, but she couldn’t withstand the long labor. It was even said that it was a miracle she was alive.

A successor was needed to continue the trading company. People around him recommended remarriage, but Count Gregxia never met another woman.

He loved Roselina so much, and his only daughter, Frelia, as well.

Roselina knew that fact all too well. That’s why it hurt her even more.

“I’m sorry. I can’t bear it unless I drink beer. Those incompetent priests! What is it about the curse of the Seven Deadly Sins that they can’t even wake up someone who’s asleep!”

“…Don’t worry too much. Frelia is just taking a little nap. She’s always been a sleepyhead. She’ll wake up soon and come to your arms.”

“I wish that were true…”

“Greg. If you want to drink beer so much, how about eating this instead?”

Roselina came from the kitchen with a small plate, looking triumphant. On it was a crispy-looking pie.

“This is…”

“It’s a Britannia-style meat pie. The meat is very tender because it’s simmered with stout [a dark, strong beer]. Oh, and if you look closely, the crust is made of pastry, right? I folded it while wishing for Frelia to open her eyes again in good health.”

Roselina was so weak that she would be bedridden for days just from moving a little.

Yet, she had baked such a delicious-looking pie, thinking of his health.

Gregxia felt something hot welling up from deep within his throat.

What kind of disgrace was this? He was the head of the Wellide family, the head of the Edelweiss trading company.

Moreover, he was Roselina’s husband and Frelia’s only father.

Where did he have the time to waste drinking here?

His mind cleared as if he had been splashed with cold water. His hazy mind became clear, and he could only see Roselina’s smiling face.

“Excuse me for a moment, my dear.”

In the end, Gregxia couldn’t hold back and hugged Roselina tightly.

Then Roselina smiled and said.

“I want to help too, but I’m really sorry that I can only do this. Please take care of Frelia for my share.”

“I understand. I will definitely keep that promise.”

“Yes. Greg, then let’s listen together. Do you know how hard it was to make that?”

Those were the last words Roselina left behind.

* * *

“…It was an infection. The culprit was the family doctor. After collecting the bodies of those who died in the war, he immediately returned to his residence and made medicine for Roselina.”

“…”

Neither Kanchel nor Sitri could say anything. It was not difficult to guess why she had taken more medicine than usual.

“But in order to fulfill the last request she left behind, I couldn’t afford to be discouraged.”

And until Frelia opened her eyes after eating a honey butter sandwich 10 years later.

Gregxia had lived only for that.

“But you know this dish so well.”

Kanchel scratched his head and cut out a piece of the stout pie, which was still steaming.

“Would you like a piece? Actually, I heard it from Zeke.”

“Huhu, Zeke, you say?”

“It was when I needed to get as many clues as possible to break the curse of the Seven Deadly Sins. So please don’t blame him too much. Besides, what I heard was that your wife made the pastry by piling up her heart for Frelia and the Count.”

Gregxia nodded, chuckling.

Kanchel was the benefactor who saved Frelia. He could easily overlook that much.

“However, I hope you will absolutely keep it a secret from Frelia. She’s such a foolishly kind child that she’ll definitely blame herself terribly.”

“I understand. I’ll take it to the grave.”

Gregxia picked up a fork with a relieved expression and began to eat the pie.

His eyes widened when he saw the stew bursting out the moment he cut the crust.

The warmth contained within was the same as the dish he had eaten ten years ago.

In the end, Gregxia devoured all the stout pie on the plate in an instant.

And he smiled with a happy expression and said.

“In the end, this dish was the best gift that the departed made for those who remained.”

“…”

Sitri’s eyes trembled as she listened to Gregxia’s story without saying a word for a while.

Sitri was a demon created by Belphegor, the King of Sloth, to be a medium for the curse.

She had tremendous abilities to the point of becoming one of the top ten demons. However, after becoming useless as a medium for the curse, she was immediately in danger of being disposed of.

That was natural in the demon world, where the law of the jungle ruled.

But what was the infinite affection that Gregxia and Roselina showed?

The girl named Frelia, who had been asleep for ten years due to the curse of sloth, felt so envious.

“Father… No, Count. You’re right. I’m not Frelia, I’m the demon Sitri.”

Now that her identity had been revealed, all that remained would be contempt.

It was Belphegor who spread the curse of sloth, but the medium was Sitri.

If she hadn’t been born, Count Gregxia’s painful 10 years would not have existed.

But Gregxia’s reaction was something Sitri had never expected.

“Sitri… What a beautiful name. I wanted to thank you all this time.”

“Yes? Th-thank you?”

“You protected Frelia while she was asleep, didn’t you.”

“What do you mean…”

There were many things that threatened Frelia’s safety, who had to be asleep all day.

There were times when a candlestick fell over and the bedroom became a sea of fire, or when kidnappers aiming for ransom sneaked in.

Each time, Frelia escaped from the crisis while asleep.

At first, she thought it was a coincidence, but some of them involved things that were impossible with human power.

“Didn’t you do it all, Sitri?”

“…Yes. That’s right. But I only did it to survive. Because there was consciousness in this body.”

“Even so, the fact that you saved Frelia’s life as a result does not change.”

“…”

Sitri lowered her head with a sullen face.

In fact, the reason she imitated Frelia was because she felt like Count Gregxia was a real father.

But now that the truth has been revealed, the family play is over.

Frelia is Frelia. Sitri is Sitri. She would be treated as a completely different person.

The fact that felt strangely heartbreaking.

“…It’s all because of the food that Sir Kanchel made. It made me feel strange.”

Gregxia smiled as if he had seen into Sitri’s heart.

“If Sitri is okay with it, I would like to make a suggestion.”

“…A suggestion?”

“Do you know that among humans, there are not only biological parents but also adoptive parents? Although you were only asleep while dwelling in Frelia’s body, the fact that we spent 10 years together does not change. If Sitri is okay with it, I would like to adopt you as my daughter.”

“…Adopt me as your daughter? So, you’re saying you’ll be my father?”

“You can refuse as much as you want if you don’t like it.”

“Ah, no, I like it. Ah… But… I’m a demon…”

Then Gregxia hugged Sitri and stroked her head.

Before she knew it, his tone had softened.

“That doesn’t matter, dear. Actually, from the moment I found out about the other being dwelling in Frelia’s body, I had been thinking of you as my own child. So, you are my daughter from now on.”

“Ah.”

Numerous expressions appeared and disappeared on Sitri’s face.

She knew very well what kind of being her biological father, Belphegor, was. And what was the reason she was born.

But at this moment, Gregxia felt like a real father.

It was just a body borrowed from Frelia, but she could feel her father’s warmth.

A bizarre father-daughter relationship between a human and a demon was established.

At that moment, the Joma Mirror hanging around Kanchel’s neck began to vibrate like crazy.

‘What is it? Surely the stout pie was a 6-star dish?’

Ting-

[7-star dish ‘Stout Pie for the Remaining’ has been completed.]

[The heart of the Archduke of Demons, Sitri, who realized the affection contained in the dish, begins to fluctuate greatly.]

‘…Ooh!’

To think that the grade of an already completed dish would change.

It wasn’t that similar things hadn’t happened, but this was the first time it had become a 7-star.

“Hmm, Frelia is about to wake up. I’ll be going now… Sir Kanchel. Let’s talk about the rest later.”

“Okay. Then good night, Sitri.”

It takes about a minute for Sitri and Frelia to switch.

Not missing that gap, Count Gregxia asked, his eyes shining.

“But Duke Jistard. Frelia and Sitri. Which one do you like better?”

“…I’ll tell you that later.”

“Hahaha. I’ll be looking forward to it.”

Kanchel and Sitri.

Frelia and Gregxia.

It was the beginning of a bizarre symbiotic relationship bound by alliance and family.

* * *

In the end, it was a long time after the sun had set that he was able to talk to Sitri again.

Andras is a demon who can be said to be Belphegor’s right-hand man.

The greater his influence, the more dangerous Sitri’s safety becomes.

In the end, Sitri decided to stay at the Wellide mansion for a while and support the fight against other demons.

“First of all, I want you to know that I can only be active for about two hours a day.”

“Most of it is at night, right?”

“Yes. Of course, if you don’t put Frelia to sleep at night, I can be active during the day too.”

“Ahem, ahem…”

Sitri smiled as Kanchel coughed awkwardly.

“But you’ll need a way to contact me, right?”

“Should I attach some jelly?”

“Tentacles are a bit… Ah, I can tell Odin to follow you around.”

At her gesture, a black crow flew from somewhere and sat on her shoulder.

“So that’s the name Odin.”

“Isn’t it cute? It’s really smart. Now, let me explain why the orcs revolted in the Argon Federation.”

Kanchel swallowed hard. As long as there were demons behind the Argon Federation, they had no choice but to fight them.