Cooking Swordmaster [EN]: Chapter 120

Sand Worm.

A monster mainly found in the vast deserts of the Ottoman Empire, its size varies greatly depending on the individual.

Some of the larger ones can swallow a horse whole.

However, the Sand Worm that attacked the tunnel wasn’t just large.

‘What is that thing! How can it move like that when it’s not even in the desert!’

The creature, over 10 meters in size, moved while crushing the ground and rocks. The entire tunnel shook with a tremendous roar.

The fact that it can move like that means its jaw strength is as formidable as its large mouth!

Zeke, recognizing the monster’s identity, screamed.

“Brother! It’s a Giant Sand Worm! Even for a Sword Knight, facing a large monster is dangerous!”

Using an Aura Sword can pierce even the thick skin of a large monster.

However, that’s like a scratch to a human. It’s hard to inflict a fatal wound.

Kugugugugugung!

Each time the Giant Sand Worm moved, cracks appeared in the walls, and dust poured down.

“Damn it, at this rate, the entire tunnel will collapse!”

Kainchel focused all his aura into both legs and his waist.

This allowed him to gain explosive acceleration.

Even so, he couldn’t completely avoid the Giant Sand Worm’s attack, which moved dozens of meters at once.

GRRRRRRRR!

A terrifying shockwave engulfed Kainchel’s body.

“Keugh······.”

If he wasn’t wearing Bitege’s Holy Armor, several bones would have been broken.

The screams of the merchants buried under the collapsed rubble were heard. Kainchel gritted his teeth.

‘Using Fallen Star would allow me to evade the Sand Worm’s attacks. But with just the Aura Sword······.’

Fighting like this will only intensify the Giant Sand Worm’s rampage.

Kainchel looked at the aura dwelling in his sword.

The light that was so brilliant when he first wielded it now felt like a firefly on the verge of death.

This isn’t enough.

The opportunity I obtained isn’t just the Aura Sword!

“Flamberge!”

With a shout filled with strong will, Kainchel’s sword began to burn red.

“It’s a shame I can’t use Aura Blade yet. Bear with this for now!”

This should be able to cut through the Sand Worm’s thick hide and burn its flesh. But to do that, time is needed.

He needed to restrain the Giant Sand Worm’s movements for at least a minute.

‘Right, it was definitely after the dragon meat, wasn’t it?’

Kainchel tore off the two-dimensional pouch [a pouch with seemingly infinite space] from his waist.

And threw it towards the lead wagon.

The opponent is a monster that moves on instinct. If there’s prey in front of it, it will open its mouth to bite it.

GRRRRRRRR!

It looked as if a giant darkness was descending. A wooden wagon would be crushed in an instant.

“But I’m sorry to say, that’s a bit tougher than you think!”

A large bubble formed from Kainchel’s fingertips. He used it to coat the entire wagon as if covering it.

This would give the wagon the strength of steel for a moment.

Kwaang-!

And the Giant Sand Worm swallowed the wagon.

Kagaagaagaagaak-!

The foreign object in its mouth stopped the creature’s movement.

Kainchel didn’t miss that brief moment and swung the Flamberge-infused sword.

“This will be a little hot!”

A tremendous amount of aura was consumed in an instant, and bloodshot veins appeared in Kainchel’s eyes.

However, the total amount of aura Kainchel possessed now was 600.

That was nearly three times the amount he had when he first became a Sword Knight.

“Merang again!”

Kainchel continued to replace the crumbling Merang [a type of magical barrier] with new ones as he swung his sword.

‘Disarm!’

Then, the Giant Sand Worm’s thick hide split in half. Its flesh was exposed as if it had become a giant lobster.

Kainchel plunged the Flamberge’s flames into it.

“Haaaaaaaah!”

The Flamberge’s heat burned the Giant Sand Worm’s body.

However, it couldn’t escape into the tunnel because of the wagon in its mouth.

The Giant Sand Worm, with its movements stopped, was like a giant sandbag.

Tass Merchant, who was groaning under the collapsed rocks, doubted his eyes.

“Wh-what······. He’s fighting the Giant Sand Worm alone?!”

Even a Sand Worm is difficult for one or two Sword Knights to handle.

Moreover, that’s a much more dangerous Giant Sand Worm.

Each time Kainchel’s sword moved, the giant body writhed.

Kugugugugugung!

The Sand Worm’s attack was like a natural disaster to the merchants of the Ottoman Empire.

It hides deep underground and suddenly jumps out to devour people and horses.

A truly unavoidable strike.

To show such overwhelming power against such a dangerous monster!

“This is the end!”

Mithril reacts to the user’s aura and changes its form. Before he knew it, Kainchel’s sword had become thin but long.

A sword made to fight monsters, not humans.

He used it to peel off the opponent’s hide and burn its vulnerable flesh.

In the meantime, the 15 Merangs protected the wagon.

Kainchel’s sword defeated the Giant Sand Worm.

@

“Ha, haha······. Hahahaha······.”

A hollow laugh escaped from Tass Merchant’s mouth. The moment the Giant Sand Worm attacked the wagon, he had resigned himself to death.

It was that dangerous of a monster. And the location was bad too.

The opponent has tremendous jaw strength, enough to shatter even large rocks in an instant. It uses that to create tunnels and move.

Perhaps this tunnel itself was a trace of the Giant Sand Worm’s movements.

“Are you alright?”

“······I twisted one foot a little, but the rest is fine. I’ll try to assess the damage first.”

“I’ll support you.”

Tass Merchant blushed and bowed his head.

“I survived thanks to Sir Kainchel. Thank you so much.”

It wasn’t just empty words, but genuine gratitude.

If Kainchel hadn’t been here as a guard, they would have been buried with the tunnel.

“Let’s save those words for after we get out of here.”

“Yes, I understand.”

Tass dragged his limping foot and began searching for the people trapped inside the tunnel.

Fortunately, most of them had minor injuries, and no one had died.

And Zeke, who had been hiding somewhere, scratched the back of his head and appeared.

“Brother. The situation isn’t very good. Not only the exit but also the entrance we came in from have collapsed. I didn’t expect a Giant Sand Worm to attack so suddenly.”

“Perhaps the person who was supposed to be guarding us ran away because of this.”

Mercenaries live with death as their companion.

That’s why they sometimes step into the realm of extrasensory perception.

Could they have instinctively sensed the presence of the Giant Sand Worm hiding deep underground?

Tass Merchant didn’t despair despite the desperate situation and completed what he had to do.

He gathered the injured and gave them first aid, and sent people to assess the situation.

And he shared the gathered information.

“Alright everyone. Let’s summarize the situation first. Thanks to the efforts of the free knight Sir Kainchel, we were able to defeat the Giant Sand Worm that attacked the caravan. However, the entrance and exit were buried in dirt due to its rampage.”

“Heo······. Did we barely manage to survive only to be trapped alive underground?”

“Fortunately, we have shovels and pickaxes, so we should be able to create an escape route by digging a tunnel.”

Fortunately, the tunnel was wide enough, so there was plenty of air. But no one knew how much they would have to dig to get outside.

“But do we have enough food?”

“······.”

Tass Merchant lowered his head with a desperate expression.

That was the biggest problem right now.

There were emergency rations, but they would only last for about two days.

The cargo for this trip was magic stones.

If they were sold in Krolltra, they would bring enormous profits, but now they were worth less than pebbles.

“Let’s dig with hope for now. Who knows? Maybe we’ll be able to get out soon.”

So the merchants didn’t sleep a wink and dug like crazy for two days.

But they couldn’t get out.

Eventually, the remaining food ran out.

@

Even digging until the muscles all over his body screamed, the outside was not visible.

Then, desperate words came out of the mouths of the merchants holding pickaxes and shovels.

“Damn it, when can we get out!”

“We can get out, right? I don’t want to be buried alive in the ground and die!”

“I, I’m too hungry to move anymore······.”

“W, we’re all dead! We’re dead!”

Fortunately, they could drink as much water as they wanted thanks to the trickling groundwater.

Kainchel silently swung his pickaxe.

Thanks to the strength enhanced by the booster, the rocks blocking the tunnel were shattered with each swing.

Before he knew it, all the merchants except Tess Merchant were lying on the floor.

“I’m sorry, even Sir Kainchel, who is our escort, is digging like this······. It’s all because of my inadequacy.”

Kainchel always carried plenty of food in his two-dimensional pouch.

But now, it only contained dragon meat that couldn’t be properly cooked.

Zeke, who was shoveling, wiped away sweat and said.

“Brother, is there anything to eat? I think I could eat my shoes deliciously right now.”

“······.”

Kainchel narrowed his eyes. There was something they could eat.

In the center of the tunnel remained the corpse of the Giant Sand Worm that Kainchel had defeated a few days ago.

If he cooked that meat, the people here could eat it for a year.

However, Sand Worm meat contains potent poison. Moreover, the poison is in the flesh itself, so it can’t be eaten even if the organs are removed like pufferfish.

‘In the Ottoman Empire, they bury Sand Worm meat in the ground to eat it and purify it for nearly half a year. But there’s no time for that now.’

He could somehow cook it if it were Lizardman meat. But the poison in Sand Worms is several times stronger.

But it was worth a try.

‘When I cooked Lizardman meat, my cooking level was 5 stars······. But now it’s 6 stars. There must be something different from then.’

Kainchel narrowed his eyes. If he was going to cook, he had to do it while he still had the strength.

“I’ll try cooking with the Giant Sand Worm.”

Then, a merchant who was lying down widened his eyes and shouted.

“A, are you crazy? Sand Worm meat is not something you can eat······.”

Kkulleog!

A loud noise echoed from the merchant’s stomach.

“I’ll cook it as edible as possible. You don’t have to eat it if you don’t want to.”

“······.”

“I’ll eat it. Brother has always made amazing dishes with any ingredient. Besides, we would have all died when the tunnel collapsed if it weren’t for you.”

“Zeke, uncle······.”

Tass Merchant, who was looking at Kainchel with strangely sticky eyes, also nodded.

“I’ll eat it too. Isn’t it the same whether we starve to death or die from poisoning?”

So Kainchel began to cook the Giant Sand Worm.

When he removed the thick hide with the Disarm skill, the pitch-black flesh appeared.

What kind of dish could he make with this? What is the best thing to make?

Kainchel quietly activated Brilliant Road [a skill that shows the best recipe].

This should show him the best recipe even if the ingredient is monster meat.

As he walked down the brilliantly shining path of light, a recipe came into view.

“Th, this dish is······.”

There, a method was written to remove the Sand Worm meat’s foul odor and detoxify the poison at the same time.

Special Dish #3