Cooking Swordmaster [EN]: Chapter 11

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Kainchel had to stop himself from constantly reaching for his neck.

After winning the match against Gordon Lambolton, his Swordsmanship and Cooking levels had each increased by one.

‘With this, Beginner Swordsmanship is now 6-Star! And my Cooking level is 4-Star!’

He wanted to stare at his status all day long.

But this was just the beginning.

Kainchel Van Zistad’s time had been frozen for three years.

As if in compensation, Kainchel’s skill with the kitchen knife rose at an incredible rate.

Kainchel glanced at the kitchen knife he was holding and began to clean up the kitchen.

‘…Everything in its place.’

It was an unwritten rule in the kitchen.

All tasks had to be completed within the allotted time.

Therefore, the kitchen support staff had to prepare all the ingredients and tools in their proper places before the chefs arrived.

At that moment, Gordon opened the door and entered the kitchen.

“Hmm. I thought the atmosphere had brightened up lately. It seems the new recruit is working hard.”

Kainchel was startled and greeted him.

“C, Chief Gordon! You’re here!”

There were still about 30 minutes left until the chefs’ arrival time.

But Gordon, who rarely even entered the kitchen, was here so early.

Moreover, he was wearing a sharply pressed chef’s uniform and had shaved off his shaggy beard.

“Not Chief. In the kitchen, you should call me Chef.”

“Understood. Chef.”

Gordon narrowed his eyes and began to check the state of the kitchen.

He meticulously checked even the dust piled up in the corner of the cupboard and said,

“It’s more or less ready to start cooking. Shall we begin?”

“Ah, you said you would teach me how to cook a steak, right?”

“And I also said I would make you shed tears of blood.”

Kainchel was momentarily choked up and couldn’t say anything.

Gordon had come to the kitchen as a chef to teach him how to cook.

“The answer?”

“Y, yes! Chef!”

Thus began the cooking lesson of Gordon Lambolton, the imperial chef, and Kainchel, who had just grasped a kitchen knife.

“The meat you cooked was like goat dung. Explain the degrees of cooking meat.”

Kainchel recalled what he had seen in a cookbook and said,

“Blue rare, rare, medium rare, medium, medium-well, and well done.”

“You know it well. So why did you cook such coal-like meat?”

“…I’m sorry, Chef.”

Kainchel made a circle with his fingers and used the method of comparing the elasticity of his skin to the meat.

That’s what the cookbook said was the standard way.

But it wasn’t as easy as he thought. Especially the difference between medium and medium-rare was still unclear.

Gordon shouted.

“The important thing is the cooking time and the internal temperature of the meat! From now on, I will make sure you engrave it in your body!”

The moment Kainchel saw the strange madness that flashed in Gordon’s eyes, he broke out in a cold sweat.

Gordon brought a pan and started to cook the meat.

First, it was rare.

The center was a deep red color, the inside was slightly cold, but the rest was moderately heated.

The juices were so rich that they overflowed.

Kainchel swallowed.

He wanted to eat it. It was just cooked meat, but why did it look so delicious?

“This is rare cooked meat. The internal temperature is about 47~49 degrees Celsius [116-120 degrees Fahrenheit]. Don’t forget. This is the temperature of rare.”

With those words, Gordon grabbed Kainchel’s hand.

And he put it between the hot plate and the meat.

Sizzle!

With the sound of something cooking, tremendous heat began to burn Kainchel’s right arm.

“Aaaaaaaagh!”

Kainchel screamed in surprise.

He tried to pull out his right hand, which was starting to cook, but he couldn’t overcome Gordon’s strength.

“Don’t make a fuss! Feel it with your whole body! This is the degree to which the meat is cooked!”

It was an absurd training method.

Even if the degree to which the meat is cooked is determined by temperature, to engrave it on the body in this way…

But Gordon was firm.

The pan was still hot. The temperature was gradually rising.

“This time it’s medium. The external temperature of the meat is 55~57 degrees Celsius [131-135 degrees Fahrenheit]! It should still be bearable.”

“G, gr, hnggh, hnggh!”

Kainchel was foaming at the mouth from the tremendous pain.

His hand was burning, but Gordon didn’t stop.

“Medium-well! The temperature is about 63 degrees Celsius [145 degrees Fahrenheit]!”

Kainchel endured, even though he felt like he was about to faint from the pain of his hand being burned on the hot plate.

Accept the fire. Engrave this temperature into your body.

[Fire Resistance (0.1%) has been activated.]

[Slightly protects against burns.]

The Joma Mirror hanging around his neck was emitting light, but he had no time to pay attention to it now.

The pain of having his hand burned alive.

With that, Kainchel felt the temperature at which the meat was cooked. He accepted it with his whole body.

‘Yes, this is…’

“Now the last…! Well done! The temperature is 71 degrees Celsius [160 degrees Fahrenheit]!”

When the temperature required for the meat to be cooked well done was reached, the time that had felt like eternity ended.

“Keuh. Keok. Keheok!”

Kainchel grabbed his right arm, which was literally cooked well done, and let out a fierce scream.

Cold sweat poured from his whole body.

His eyes had turned red from burst blood vessels.

I’ll make you shed tears of blood.

“Ugh…. Ugh…!”

It wasn’t a joke.

“How is it, kid? Now you know how the meat is cooked, right?”

He felt like he was about to foam at the mouth and collapse from the tremendous pain. But Kainchel slowly raised his head and looked at Gordon.

“…Yes, Chef.”

Then it was Gordon who was surprised. He answered in this situation?

What he had just done was literally a brutal training method to directly feel the temperature at which the meat is cooked.

But as a result, he would suffer a serious injury of a third-degree burn.

Even if he received treatment immediately, scars such as pigmentation and bumps would remain, and if the heat spread to the joints, joint contracture would occur, causing the joints to stiffen.

Of course, he was able to do this because he was prepared for it.

Gordon shouted towards the door.

“Medical team!”

Then the doctor and priest who had been waiting burst into the room.

The doctor, who checked Kainchel’s condition, shouted.

“Priest Saint-Germain! It’s urgent! The patient’s condition is serious!”

“Teacher Gordon, it’s difficult if you keep doing this! Really, someone is going to die like this!”

“The cooking isn’t over yet. Treat him quickly.”

“You’ve half killed the person and you’re calling it cooking? I knew you were crazy, but this is…”

“You should have been prepared for that much since you decided to learn from me.”

“Oh, if that person wasn’t a friend of the High Priest…”

“What did you say, Saint-Germain?”

“Ah, nothing.”

The skills of Deus’ priest Saint-Germain, who was dispatched to the Stanise Knight Academy, were tremendous.

Gordon would often get angry when he saw poorly cooked meat.

‘If you cook chicken like this, Saint-Germain can save it!’

But he never thought it would be real.

Saint-Germain grabbed Kainchel’s well-done hand and performed a miracle.

“Deus’ radiance!”

Then a bright light enveloped the wound, and the burn began to disappear as if rewinding time.

It was almost High Priest-level divine power.

“Hoo…. This has completely healed the burn. But please stop doing this. No matter how badly you cook the meat, burning your hands… But I haven’t heard that a new chef has joined. Who is it? Considering his hand became a steak, his injury is healing well…”

Priest Saint-Germain, who had been nagging Gordon for a while, returned to the infirmary, saying he was busy.

Kainchel, who had become a well-cooked steak and returned to being human.

The visible burns were healed, but the heat that had spread throughout his body still remained.

Originally, it was an injury that required a day of rest.

Gordon looked at Kainchel’s face with sunken eyes.

He was full of the will to cook as if this was nothing.

“Hmm. Then I’ll teach you how to cook a perfect steak right away. If you remember the experience of your hand becoming a steak, it will be very easy.”

Kainchel admired Saint-Germain’s tremendous divine power and said.

“But Chef. Can I eat the meat you just cooked?”

“….”

Gordon felt goosebumps at that moment.

He knew that his training method was not normal.

But the new recruit in front of him was not in his right mind either.

Gordon sighed and said.

“Do as you please. Then take a 5-minute break.”

“Thank you, Chef. Then I’ll enjoy it!”

Kainchel’s eyes lit up as he put the well-cooked meat, like his own arm, into his mouth.

‘Is this well done? The juices are gone, but the unique flavor of well-cooked meat is amazing.’

Meat cooked directly by Gordon.

There was no way he could miss such a delicious experience point.

Then, as if waiting, the Joma Mirror began to ring.

[You have tasted a 3-Star dish, ‘Hand-Cooked Well-Done Steak’.]

[Due to the influence of the Gourmet level, you have absorbed some of the experience points contained in the dish.]

[Level Up!]

That wasn’t the end of it.

[You have endured tremendous pain from the fire.]

[Fire Resistance greatly increases. (+15%)]

Fire resistance that protects against burns just by existing.

It had risen tremendously.

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The moment of leveling up is always enjoyable.

Kainchel felt like he was flying.

This time, all seven stats had increased.

This confirmed that all stats increase when leveling up.

‘This makes me level 4! Okay, if I keep going like this, it’s a jackpot!’

Moreover, Fire Resistance had increased by 15% at once.

Learning to cook from Gordon allows you to acquire skills related to swordsmanship. And eating the finished dish increases experience points.

Meeting Gordon itself felt like a greater opportunity than anything else.

“Then I’ll teach you how to cook an amazing steak. The secret is to literally sear the meat. Do it with the feeling of searing, not grilling.”

“Yes, Chef.”

“First, heat the pan very hot. Then season the meat. Grind black pepper and sprinkle it, then rub it in. Then the aroma will be amazing.”

After completing all the preparations, Gordon poured plenty of olive oil onto the pan, which was heated up and emitting breathless smoke.

And he placed the meat on top of it.

“The pan is cooking the meat, not you. After about 30 seconds, you’ll feel like it’s cooked. Then grab the tongs and solemnly flip it over. By the way, the part you’re cooking now is sirloin. There’s fat next to it. You have to turn it sideways and cook it well so that part is also cooked.”

Gordon tilted the pan.

Then the fat and olive oil literally began to sear the meat.

Pajik, pajik! [Sound of sizzling]

“Next is garlic. Crush the garlic and put it in the pan and cook it together. You have to put it in without peeling it to keep the flavor alive. And flip it every minute to make sure it’s evenly colored.”

“Understood, Chef.”

Gordon added thyme and finely chopped butter to create an even better aroma.

And with the pan tilted, he kept pouring the mixture of olive oil and butter over the meat.

Then the oil mixed with the scent of thyme and garlic permeated the meat, creating an indescribably good scent.

“If you want to bring out more aroma here, you can grab the garlic with tongs and rub it on the meat. I think you’ll know enough about how to cook the meat without me explaining it separately.”

Gordon smiled slyly.

He had engraved it on the new recruit’s body so that he would never forget it.

“Okay, it’s done. Now turn off the heat and let it rest so that the juices spread well throughout.”

Kainchel felt his body trembling.

It was a jackpot. What star-level dish was completed?

How much experience would it give?

He wanted to eat it right now.

“Hmm. I didn’t cook it for you, but it’s a waste to throw it away. Try it.”

Gordon held out the steak on a plate.

At that moment, Gordon’s bare hand was visible between the chef’s uniform.

There were old burn marks left there.

‘What, you did this too.’

“T, thank you, Chef!”

Kainchel rushed at the steak Gordon had cooked like a hungry beast.

Enlightenment (1)