Cooking Swordmaster [EN]: Chapter 124

“Then, I’ll wager my cooking skills on it. I will cook Sand Worm meat for you.”

Bluemountain stared at Cainchel with deep eyes.

It was the eye of a craftsman appraising a jewel.

How would the dwarves evaluate his cooking? How heavy a weight would they place on the other side of the scale?

That depended on the dish he was about to make.

At that moment, intense anger emanated from the dwarf next to him, hot enough to make skin tingle.

“······You! How dare you wag that sly tongue of yours!”

“Chelba!”

“Beastist [a dwarven title of respect, often given to master craftsmen]! This is the work of the Chief Blacksmith!”

The dwarf called Chelba raised the axe he had placed beside him. Already, a burning red aura was imbued within it.

“Say it again, human! What? Cook a Sand Worm?”

“Exactly as I said. I will cook a Sand Worm for you. You don’t have to worry about the poison. I know how to detoxify it.”

He answered the question without batting an eye, even in the face of the sharp axe blade.

Chelba, who had made the threat, was taken aback.

“Do you think we’ll be fooled again just because you speak so confidently! Beastist! We should tear out this vile one’s tongue!”

Something seemed off about how the situation was unfolding. Cainchel spoke to Bluemountain, who was still holding the letter of introduction.

“Is this how dwarves greet a guest who comes bearing a letter of introduction?”

It was a sharp rebuke.

Even in a situation of conflict with humans, the man before them had brought a letter of introduction and Sand Worm meat.

This kind of response was not good.

A troubled groan escaped from Bluemountain’s lips, caught in the middle.

“Ugh! Chelba. Shouldn’t you at least explain why you’re acting like this? No matter how much your wife······.”

“······If Beastist says so, I understand. But I will not exchange words with that human.”

“Hmm.”

It was a sight difficult to understand from a human perspective.

Wasn’t Beastist the highest position among the dwarves?

However, that was only a matter of respect, not obedience.

“I apologize for suddenly showing such an unsightly display. You must be wondering why Chelba is so sensitive about Sand Worm cuisine. It’s because…”

Bluemountain told the story of a human who had visited Ironforge some time ago.

The rumor that dwarves wanted Sand Worm meat spread quickly, mainly among merchants.

Then, a man calling himself a chef appeared.

He presented a lump of Sand Worm meat and confidently claimed he could cook it.

“Up until then, Chelba wasn’t like this. Rather, he welcomed the chef with open arms. Chelba’s wife is also from the Osman Empire [likely a cultural reference to the Ottoman Empire, known for its rich culinary traditions], you see.”

“But things didn’t end well, I presume.”

“That guy made excuses and didn’t cook, only seeking treasure. Eventually, unable to hold out, he cooked the Sand Worm meat, but it wasn’t properly detoxified. In the end, those who ate it suffered severe aftereffects.”

Fortunately, it seemed that some of the poison had been removed, so no dwarves died.

However, they had eaten the food they had most wanted in the worst possible form.

The pain must have been immense.

‘If it’s Sand Worm poisoning, I can detoxify it using medicinal cuisine.’

The self-proclaimed chef even tasted it to show that the poison had been completely detoxified.

He must have switched the food right before eating it.

He couldn’t gain Bluemountain’s trust with the same method.

Then, wouldn’t a bolder performance be necessary?

‘Looks like I’ll have to do that after a long time.’

“Would you mind taking a look at this for a moment?”

Cainchel took out a lump of Sand Worm meat and handed it to Bluemountain.

“Sand Worm meat… It hasn’t been detoxified yet. What do you intend to do with it?”

“I plan to do this.”

Crunch-!

He put the Sand Worm meat, which contained potent poison, directly into his mouth. And chewed and swallowed it whole.

The faces of the dwarves watching turned pale.

[Poison Resistance is high, detoxifying the poison of the ‘Giant Sand Worm’.]

The poison resistance he had raised while cooking pufferfish was over 60%. Thanks to that, the Giant Sand Worm’s poison did no harm to Cainchel.

‘Besides, just in case, I cut off a piece of the skin, which contains less poison, beforehand.’

However, he couldn’t show that he was fine here.

Cainchel grabbed his neck and groaned with a painful expression.

“Ugh······, cough······.”

“Y-you madman! Boy! To eat Sand Worm meat without detoxifying it!”

As it became clear that the other party had taken the bait, Cainchel did something even bolder.

Using a booster to contract the muscles near his neck, his face turned black.

Combined with his wholehearted acting, he looked like someone who had been poisoned to anyone who saw him.

“······You said you could detoxify Sand Worm poison. That applies to what has already been eaten as well. Please guide me to the kitchen. Only cooking can heal the wounds received from cooking.”

“F-follow me!”

@

The kitchen was in a building slightly away from Ironforge.

That was because if the heat there touched the ingredients, they would cook immediately.

Cainchel led his staggering body to the cooking table.

“Your condition doesn’t seem very good; can you cook?”

“Don’t worry. I can do it.”

Bluemountain’s eyes widened.

Even in a poisoned state, his passion for cooking did not wane. Truly, the figure of a master.

It was the moment Cainchel’s evaluation rose another level.

‘But the state of the kitchen is really terrible. Just organizing it properly would make it much easier to work.’

Uncut vegetables were left on the cutting board, and a sauce of unknown origin was visible in the pot.

It was a sight that made him understand why Gordon [likely referring to celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay, known for his emphasis on kitchen cleanliness] was so obsessed with organizing the kitchen.

Good food can never come out of such a kitchen.

Cainchel sighed and used Freshness Restoration on the completely unmanaged vegetables.

As a bonus, a drop of Mimir’s Well water [a reference to Norse mythology, where Mimir’s Well grants wisdom].

Then, the ingredients that had been like garbage transformed as if they had just been picked from the field.

‘Since there’s no ice, I can make witch’s soup instead.’

Cainchel used the vegetables left in the kitchen to make a dish that would cure the poisoning.

“Huh! How long has it been since he started cooking, and he’s already completed a plausible soup······.”

“At that rate, he could make food for hundreds of people in an instant.”

“If a chef like that had remained, the situation wouldn’t have turned out like this······”

An incredible speed that even dwarves, famous for their high dexterity, admired.

Witch’s soup, made with cabbage, tomatoes, onions, carrots, turnips, etc., has detoxification and immunity-boosting properties.

And it has the effect of discharging waste products accumulated in the body.

When he strengthened it using aura, a ‘Special Detox Soup’ was born.

Cainchel filled a pot with witch’s soup and took it to the dwarves in small plates.

‘Ah, I have to pretend to be poisoned.’

“Ugh! I, if you eat this, you can quickly recover from the side effects of improperly cooked Sand Worm meat.”

“What are you trying to explain with such a dying face! Eat it quickly, boy!”

Cainchel admired his own acting skills and drank the witch’s soup from the plate.

“Hoo!”

As he relaxed the muscles constricting his neck, his corpse-like complexion returned to normal.

It was as if a dead person had come back to life.

“He really neutralized the poison with cooking······.”

“Can you believe that I can cook Sand Worm with this much skill?”

“Of course! I almost turned away a precious guest who came from afar with my own hands!”

Chelba, who had said he wouldn’t even talk to humans, subtly asked.

“Hmm, hmm! Human scum······. No, human. Can you really cure the aftereffects of the poison by eating that soup?”

“Of course.”

“Cough, cough! Cough!”

Chelba fidgeted, coughing for no apparent reason, as if he was very embarrassed.

His wife was suffering from severe side effects after eating the Sand Worm meat cooked by the fake chef.

If she drank just one sip of that soup, wouldn’t she be able to regain her health?

Eventually, Bluemountain couldn’t stand it and intervened.

“······How much would you sell that soup for?”

“A thousand gold.”

“Wh-what?!”

“However, if you exchange talents with me, I can make as much of this soup as you want. What do you say?”

“Ugh! It’s an offer I can’t refuse. Alright, boy. Then, first make one more pot of that soup. I’ll look at it and reconsider the weight of the scales.”

@

People suffering from poisoning symptoms regained their health after eating the witch’s soup.

Bluemountain, who had been watching the scene, gestured to Cainchel.

“Unfortunately, it doesn’t seem like they’ve been completely cured.”

“Yes. The poison has penetrated deep into the bones. To recover completely, they will need to eat witch’s soup for another month.”

Then, Bluemountain spread out one finger as if he had made up his mind.

“One year.”

“What do you mean?”

“If you cook here for a year, I will give you the treasured sword passed down in our clan. How about it?”

It was a proposal he could make because he knew Cainchel was a Sword Knight.

An ordinary chef could not handle ingredients at such an incredible speed.

Impossible movements without strengthening the body with aura.

“Are you perhaps talking about Roland’s sword, Durendal [a legendary sword from the Matter of France, associated with Charlemagne’s paladin Roland]?”

“So you know about it.”

“It’s a weapon that appears in so many heroic tales.”

Durendal was a famous weapon, the beloved sword of Roland, Charlemagne’s right-hand man.

Like a sword made by gathering moonlight, it has the ability to store aura.

However, after Roland’s death, it was said to have returned to the hands of the dwarves who made the sword.

He never thought he would hear the name of that famous sword.

Cainchel swallowed hard.

Perhaps he could obtain a weapon that could face Meliot without becoming a Sword Master.

But one year was too long.

Even with skill concealment, he could only avoid the Count’s eyes for ten days.

A month at most.

He had to get everything he needed and escape Crolltra before that.

“I’m sorry, but one year is too long. How about a month?”

“Ha! I never thought there would be a knight who would bargain for Durendal! ······But I can’t help it since I desperately need your cooking. However, then I will add one more condition. One month later, I want you to do me a favor before you leave. It will be an opportunity to check Durendal’s performance.”

“What favor?”

“I’ll tell you then. But if it’s a boy who hasn’t shed a drop of sweat in Ironforge, he should be able to do it. You have fire resistance, don’t you?”

Bluemountain realized not only that Cainchel was a Sword Knight, but also that he had tremendous fire resistance.

Beastist, the First Forger, had discerning eyes.