Cooking Swordmaster [EN]: Chapter 12

————– 12/203 ————–

Chapter 4: Awakening

[You have tasted the 5-star dish ‘Amazing Medium Steak’.]

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

[Level up!]

“Hah······.”

Kainchel devoured the steak Gordon made as if he would lick the plate clean.

Seeing the words that appeared in the Mind’s Eye, he couldn’t help but nod.

It really was an amazing steak.

The well-prepared meat was so tender that it was hard to believe it was beef. It was so smooth that it could be cut with just a touch of a knife.

If he had to choose the most perfect medium steak, he could say it was this without hesitation.

The rich juice and the generously sprinkled high-quality seasoning, pepper, harmonized well, allowing him to fully appreciate the taste of the high-quality meat and oil.

Gordon asked Kainchel, who was savoring the aftertaste of the steak.

“How is the doneness?”

“Medium.”

“Correct. I deliberately cooked the outside a little more to make you mistake it for medium-well done, but you weren’t fooled. Now that I’ve shown you, it’s your turn to grill.”

He felt like he had cheated, but he didn’t need to worry about it.

This was also just using his abilities.

But it was almost time for the other chefs to come to work.

“Hmm, then I can’t help but have you grill after dinner time.”

“Are you going to watch me cook again?”

“Only until you can grill a perfect steak. Now that you can feel the temperature, all that’s left is how skilled you become. Don’t eat dinner and come. You’ll be eating grilled beef until you burst. What’s your answer?”

“Yes, Chef!”

Half a day later.

The two people gathered again in the same place.

This time it was Kainchel’s turn to grill the steak.

The method was simple. Gordon would tell him how well to cook the meat, and Kainchel would just cook it that way.

“Well-done.”

“Yes, Chef!”

“This time, rare!”

“Yes, Chef!”

“Kid! This isn’t rare, it’s completely raw! It’s so undercooked that if you let it loose in the yard, it would try to eat grass right away! Control the temperature with the feeling of trapping the juice inside the meat!”

“Yes, I understand!”

That’s how the two people’s lesson continued until the day changed.

Around the time the expression on Gordon’s face changed to a satisfied smile.

The Mind’s Eye began to vibrate violently.

Ding-

[You have grilled all kinds of steaks with perfect skill. Your proficiency is very high.]

[The sense of grasping the temperature of food has been sublimated into the ‘Fallen Star’ skill.]

[‘Fallen Star’ has been created.]

‘Fallen Star? What, what kind of skill is it?’

He couldn’t tell anything just from the name.

Fallen Star? It’s like a third-rate poet made up the name.

He was too curious, but as long as Gordon was in front of him, he couldn’t openly check the Mind’s Eye.

‘Only I should know that I have this ability. That’s the only way the opportunity has meaning.’

He had no choice but to check the newly acquired skill after Gordon left.

Gordon ate the steak Kainchel grilled and gave his impressions.

“Hmm. At this point, it seems like you know how to grill meat. But it’s still a long way to go. Cooking only has meaning when there is someone to eat it. Always remember that mindset.”

“Th, that means.”

“I can let you be a kitchen assistant.”

‘Yes!’

From now on, Kainchel would be in charge not only of cooking support but also of assisting the chef as a kitchen assistant.

Gordon got up from his seat and said.

“The kitchen must always be alive. We have to work tomorrow, so make sure to clean up properly.”

“Yes, Chef.”

Kainchel raised one corner of his mouth as he watched Gordon’s back as he left the kitchen.

He couldn’t sleep and grilled meat, but it wasn’t hard at all.

‘Now I can look at the Mind’s Eye as much as I want!’

Kainchel, who was distracted by the Mind’s Eye, couldn’t hear Gordon muttering.

“Is that the meat grilled by a newbie who has been holding a kitchen knife for a week? What the hell is that crazy talent······.”

Without Kainchel noticing.

The talent he had was slowly blossoming.

@

Kainchel, who had quickly cleaned up the kitchen, swallowed and looked at the Mind’s Eye.

“Fallen Star.”

As he chanted the activation word, an explanation of the skill came to mind.

[Fallen Star: ★★★★★★★]

– A technique to sense the hostility of the opponent.

– Thanks to the high level of proficiency, more detailed detection is possible.

“What! This proficiency!”

After his swordsmanship skills improved as he learned to cook.

Kainchel was no longer greatly surprised by most things.

It’s a world where cooking raises swordsmanship levels, so it could happen.

But what he was seeing now was what on earth.

“The proficiency of the skill I just acquired is 7 stars? Damn, does that make sense?”

He even spat out rough swear words without realizing it.

Kainchel had to take a deep breath for a while to cool his heated head.

10 minutes.

It was almost a full 10 minutes of deep breathing before Kainchel’s wildly beating heart calmed down a little.

The content that appeared in the Mind’s Eye was so absurd.

It is much more difficult to increase the proficiency of a skill than to acquire it.

7 stars was a level that could only be reached by grinding and polishing a skill to death for several years until the bones rotted.

“······Let’s think calmly. Why is the proficiency of the skill I just acquired like this? Wait! Surely Fallen Star was a skill that came about from grilling steak well, right?”

That meant Kainchel’s steak grilling was that perfect.

Even to the point of being treated like a master who had been dedicated to it for several years.

Kainchel stared blankly at his right arm, which still had burn scars.

The reason he acquired a skill with such tremendous proficiency of 7 stars in an instant.

It was thanks to engraving the temperature of the food on his body while enduring great pain.

“No pain, no gain.”

An old saying that nothing can be gained without pain.

It was Kainchel who realized the weight contained in those words.

It was then.

Jjijik-

Kainchel realized that someone was looking at him.

It was a weak but hostile gaze.

‘Could this be the ability of Fallen Star?’

Kainchel swallowed and grabbed the practice wooden sword he had placed in the corner.

Although it has no blade, it is still a lump of iron.

With this, he could hit the opponent and half-kill them.

He turned his body towards the place where he felt the gaze and drew his sword.

“Is it there!”

Squeak!

Then, through a small hole in the wall, a rat was seen sticking its head out, aiming for food.

“······What, it’s just a rat.”

It seemed that more attention needed to be paid to hygiene management.

But to even sense the faint hostility emanating from a small creature.

“Fallen Star. This is a complete scam skill [overpowered skill].”

A satisfied smile appeared on Kainchel’s face.

@

Kainchel’s popularity, who was promoted to kitchen assistant, was soaring.

“Kainchel, Sir! Are you having a hard time? This is onion soup. I made too much, so I brought some. Try it.”

“Ah, thank you. Chef Ainkel.”

“Ahaha! I’m having so much fun working these days because Kainchel is doing so well! Kainchel is really like a gift sent by Deus [God]!”

“Even if you praise me like that, there’s nothing [I can give you in return].”

“Hey. Anyway, eat it while it’s still warm.”

“Yes, I will enjoy it.”

After Ainkel left, it was Joffrey’s turn this time.

“Newbie. This is hardtack. I sprinkled sugar on it, so it’s not bad to eat.”

“I really like hardtack. Thank you.”

Hardtack was often distributed as a side dish at the training center.

It was like blood to Kainchel, who couldn’t afford to buy snacks separately.

Besides, it’s not ordinary hardtack.

‘This is fried hardtack! I heard it’s a special dish that can only be eaten in the cafeteria… It’s even sprinkled with sugar, so it would be great to eat with milk?’

In this way, the number of times other chefs made food and brought it to him increased significantly.

It was only natural.

The cafeteria was always struggling with a shortage of staff.

It was enough to complete the food according to the set menu every day.

But the new recruit does all the chores. Now he’s been promoted to kitchen assistant and even helps with cooking.

If he wasn’t a nobleman, he would have wanted to put a stake in him [keep him permanently employed].

Kainchel looked at the food piled up on the table and cheered inwardly.

The better the dish, the more experience he could gain.

In particular, if you eat a dish made for you by a skilled chef, your level will increase very quickly.

“Ehehe······. Experience points are rolling in even if I stay still. Is this real?”

Kainchel first took a spoonful of onion soup.

It was a soup made by boiling onions with butter and champagne. Gruyere cheese was placed on top of it.

The thick, earthenware-baked, golden-brown Gruyere cheese covered it as if it would overflow.

As soon as he took a spoonful, the cheese that stretched out followed him into his mouth.

Soon after, the melted cheese wrapped around the roof of his mouth.

After savoring the gooey cheese, he scooped up the soup below and put it in his mouth.

“Keu, yes, this is the taste!”

The taste was so amazing that an exclamation came out involuntarily.

There were finely chopped pieces of bread in the dark brown onion broth.

If you scoop it up with cheese and put it in your mouth, the savory aroma of onions and butter stimulates the tip of your nose.

It was an onion soup that gently filled his empty stomach in the morning.

Next, it was time to eat the hardtack that Joffrey had fried.

The already savory hardtack was fried in high-temperature oil, making it even more savory.

In addition, it was sprinkled with plenty of sweet sugar.

Considering the price of sugar, it is too precious to eat simply as a snack.

“But I have to eat it without saving it.”

Kainchel grabbed three hardtacks at a time and brought them to his mouth. When he drank the leftover cold milk that was being distributed as a finishing touch, he felt like he had the whole world.

“It’s worth working in the cafeteria!”

When he checked the information that appeared in the Mind’s Eye, the grades of the two dishes were all 3 stars.

It was lower than what Gordon made, but he could still gain a considerable amount of experience.

Kainchel summoned his status.

[Kainchel Ban Zistad – Lv6]

– Stamina (8), Agility (6), Strength (6), Dexterity (6), Intelligence (10), Magic Power (5), Divine Power (5)

“With this, level 6!”

At this rate, he was not afraid of the duel with Julius, which was coming up in two weeks.

In addition, if he starts cooking in earnest, he will be able to gain even more experience.

“Kainchel, Sir! I tried making lasagna!”

“Hmm, hmm. I made this because I was bored. It would be a waste to throw it away, wouldn’t it? Would you like to eat it?”

With the attention of the two chefs, Kainchel’s experience points were soaring like bamboo shoots after the rain [growing rapidly].

After several days passed, he finally had the opportunity to cook for the first time.

Gordon, wearing a chef’s uniform, clapped his hands and called the other chefs together.

“Attention. As you all know. A special meal is scheduled for this weekend. It’s a 1-pound steak.”

Then the smiles disappeared from Joffrey and Ainkel’s faces.

It was as if what was coming had come [they knew what was coming].

Unlike foods that are fried or boiled in large quantities at once, steak is a dish that must be grilled individually to be completed.

Besides, the opponent is a 1-pound lump of meat.

This is really no ordinary task.

“This time, the commander has specially instructed that the degree of grilling can be specified.”

“What? No, what are you talking about now? This isn’t some 3-star restaurant!”

“I can’t meet the time at all!”

Usually, when steak is on the menu, it is basic to unify the type to one. This is because it is impossible to adjust the degree of grilling when grilling hundreds of pieces.

But someone who was dissatisfied with that seemed to have protested.

The culprit is probably someone with a fairly high position.

“I don’t know what they think the cafeteria is!”

“Oh, we can’t help it. Because it’s the military, we have to do what they say······.”

Until last month, even Gordon, who usually doesn’t stand in the kitchen, was mobilized to grill 1-pound steaks.

Although the degree of grilling was unified to medium. Nevertheless, it was exhausting as if he had gone on a long-distance march.

Gordon said.

“So I brought a countermeasure [solution]. The newbie will also attend this Steak Day.”

“Wow.”

“Oh!”

The total number of steaks to be grilled is 200.

If there are 4 people, the quota per person is reduced to 50.

Compared to last month, when each person had to grill nearly 70 steaks, there was a considerable amount of leeway.

At this rate, even if you pay attention to the degree of grilling, you can finish it more comfortably.

But there were also people who sent worried glances.

“But can we really entrust the steak to the newbie? There are many trainees who are looking forward to Steak Day. If they don’t like the quality, we’ll have to deal with it······.”

“Don’t worry. The newbie has endured the ‘Rite of Fire’ [trial by fire]. And he has become able to grill reasonably delicious steaks.”

“······!”

Joffrey stared at Kainchel with wide eyes.

To think that the newbie had endured the ‘Rite of Fire’.

No, that’s why he was recognized by Chef Gordon.

“I understand. Then newbie. It will be a little difficult, but it’s surprisingly fun.”

Joffrey and Ainkel were already treating Kainchel as a chef.

If he had endured the ‘Rite of Fire’, he was qualified enough.

Kainchel’s eyes lit up.

‘I’m going to grill 50 steaks in the most delicious way possible.’

It has been 3 weeks since he held a kitchen knife.

For the first time, he was able to make his own dishes.

‘Surely that will make me stronger.’

And Sunday came.

It was the day Kainchel’s dishes were first revealed to the world.

Awakening #2