Cooking Swordmaster [EN]: Chapter 216

Keinzel decided to restrain Tartaros’ movements first and observe the situation.

But something was strange.

Its appearance, a mix of human and various beasts, was as he remembered, but it was horribly distorted, as if it had been splashed with sulfuric acid.

Its eyes, gleaming with madness, had burst blood vessels, and purulent blood was flowing out.

It was a monster that was hard to even call a Chimera anymore.

“Merlin, that bastard… What the hell is he doing here!?”

However, perhaps its core essence hadn’t changed, as it couldn’t move properly once its feet were frozen.

Asura also took out his rotating blades with a tense expression.

Perhaps it was because Keinzel had taught him basic swordsmanship whenever he had the chance.

His movements had become quite smooth.

He seemed capable of putting up a decent fight against Tartaros.

“That poor and pitiful me will struggle with you!”

“Of course! Then let’s go!”

The use of Fragarach was limited due to the narrow space. However, the opponent was also having trouble moving.

Kkkkkkk-!

With the sound of gears turning, Asura jumped into the middle of the Tartaros horde.

Each time his alchemically enhanced body threw a punch, the monsters’ heads were smashed.

Literally, an Iron Fist.

Where the blades protruding from Asura’s arm passed, Tartaros’ bodies were scattered like rags.

In an instant, nearly ten Tartaros were turned into minced meat.

Keinzel felt a strange sense of pride seeing Asura move better than he had expected.

“Asura has gotten stronger, but does it also seem like the opponents have gotten too weak?”

Keinzel’s eyes narrowed as he touched the corpse of a monster torn to shreds.

The Chimera, Tartaros, which gathered only the strengths of numerous monsters, had skin that was tougher and harder than steel.

It was difficult to cut it without an Aura Sword.

Moreover, even if you managed to damage Tartaros’ body with difficulty, it would regenerate in an instant.

In the end, you had to use a large-scale skill that could wipe out a certain area at once.

But what was in front of him was a monster that was worse than even Tartaros, let alone Erebus.

It had only become more hideous in appearance.

“Wait a minute.”

Keinzel activated Fallen Star, feeling an ominous premonition.

After obtaining the Aura Blade Signature, the range of Fallen Star had increased dramatically.

And he sensed hundreds of hostile presences wandering around nearby.

If this place wasn’t uniquely dense with Chimeras, how many Tartaros would exist throughout the Abyss?

The surprises didn’t end there.

‘Two hostile presences collided, and one disappeared… Did it eat the other?!’

Keinzel shook his head. He couldn’t even imagine what Merlin was doing in the Abyss.

After roughly checking, the structure around here was close to a maze.

Two of the witches had no combat abilities at all. He had to find them before Tartaros harmed them.

“Ah, if I use that, I can easily find Morgana. I was going to give it to Abel as a gift, but I can’t help it.”

Keinzel took out a small wooden box that he had carefully hidden in his two-dimensional pocket [a pocket dimension or storage space accessible only to him].

It was sealed with beeswax as if it contained something that should never be opened.

Nevertheless, an overwhelming stench that stung the nose emanated from it.

Carefully melting the beeswax covering the outside with Flambe’s flames, something that looked like a lump of meat revealed itself.

“Boulette d’Avesnes. As expected, it has a tremendous presence.”

Among the specialties of Gaul [ancient region of Western Europe, encompassing present-day France, Belgium, Luxembourg, and parts of Germany and Italy], the most famous is cheese made from fermented goat’s milk. Among them, Boulette d’Avesnes boasts such a foul smell that it is called the Devil’s Suppository.

It is made by aging cheese coated with herb powder for about two to three months.

The scent is so intense that even Gauls who enjoy cheese find it disgusting.

Keinzel grinned and activated Effect Amplification while blocking his nose with one hand.

The scent of Boulette d’Avesnes is said to spread up to hundreds of meters.

It had become several times stronger.

Now, this area was literally a crucible of stench.

“Ugh, it’s disgusting even when I breathe through my mouth. I could really use this as a weapon.”

As if to prove it, Tartaros’ movements became more violent.

Morgana’s sense of smell is as good as a dog’s, if not better, than a human’s.

There was no way she would miss such an intense scent. Just then, a sharp scream echoed from somewhere.

“…Koho! My Kohoooo! Rot, rottttt!”

And as if hearing thumping sounds, a small woman jumped down as the ceiling shattered.

“You were right above us. I found you sooner than I thought.”

“Keinzel, you! Are you trying to kill me with shock?! What is that terrible stench…!”

Her face, already pale, had turned even whiter, as if she was forcibly holding her breath.

‘I shouldn’t have used Effect Amplification. Well, it’s done since I found her.’

“This, you see, is a cheese called Boulette d’Avesnes that Marquis Beast specially shared with me to savor. The smell is a bit intense, right?”

Morgana, unable to hold her breath any longer, took a deep breath.

And she covered her mouth and gagged after being directly hit by the scent of Boulette d’Avesnes right in front of her nose.

“Ugh… Is that a bit intense?! If it had been much more intense, I would have died of shock…!”

It sounded like a joke, but she was serious.

“The smell is a bit disgusting, but the taste is really good. Would you like a bite?”

“Keinzel, you eat it all yourself!”

Goethe staggered down through the ceiling that Morgana had smashed.

He shone his eyes as he looked at the cheese that was emitting an unbelievably intense smell.

“Wow. Isn’t that Boulette d’Avesnes? The shape, texture, and smell are all perfect! Where did you get this precious thing?”

“It seems difficult to seal it again, so let’s just eat it here.”

“Good! This cheese has a taste as intense as its smell. That’s why it goes so well with dark rye bread. Do you happen to have any?”

“Of course.”

Keinzel took out pumpernickel bread made from coarsely ground rye from his bag.

It was made only with rye, so it had no stickiness at all, and the texture was rough, but it was a bread with a subtle sweetness.

“Oh, this is really perfectly wonderful. This cheese, you see, you cut off the moldy parts appropriately and eat only the soft part inside.”

Goethe explained as he placed the cheese on top of the halved pumpernickel bread.

“If the smell is too much, you can cover it with bread like this and eat it. Now, shall we eat?”

As he bit into the pumpernickel bread, he felt a crumbly texture without any stickiness.

However, the more he chewed, the sweeter his mouth became.

As saliva began to collect in his dried mouth, he began to eat the cheese in earnest.

A very slight nuttiness felt on the surface and a heavy, thick texture.

“Kuh, the cheese melts softly in my mouth and passes smoothly down my throat. It goes really well with this rough rye bread. It’s so delicious.”

The flavor of the cheese with a subtle sour taste and the rough and sweet taste of rye.

The two foods, which seemed like they wouldn’t match at all, played a melody that was like a dissonance, yet strangely addictive.

Goethe ate the large bread in just three bites. And he muttered with a happy expression.

“I don’t know where this is, but there’s delicious food, so it’s paradise.”

Morgana glared at Goethe, wondering how he could eat such food.

Keinzel had no choice but to bake buttered potatoes for Morgana.

“You can eat this, right?”

“…Yes. It’s really delicious.”

It was a brief respite that they were able to enjoy thanks to the majesty of Boulette d’Avesnes, which drove away the Tartaros that were nearby.

* * *

Keinzel told Morgana and Goethe what he had found out so far.

Then Goethe, as if something had occurred to him, put his chin in his hand and said.

“The Abyss, where time and space are mixed up arbitrarily… And there are countless Chimeras wandering around in it, right?”

“Yes. But their condition was a bit strange. It seemed like they had deteriorated greatly.”

“Hmm. I think I know what Merlin is doing. Do you know the word ‘Gudok’?”

Keinzel shook his head.

But Morgana’s reaction was unusual. She covered her mouth with her hand and turned her head sharply to the side.

“Oh. Lady Morgana seems to have something in mind. As expected, she’s in charge of virtue with bluff….”

Morgana glared at Goethe with resentful eyes and shouted.

“Please cover that mouth of yours and talk. I feel like I’m going to throw up.”

“…Ah. I’ve brushed my teeth several times, but it seems like the smell of rotten cheese is still coming out of my mouth.”

“Ugh….”

Morgana’s extrasensory perception is a truly amazing ability. But to think she had such a weakness.

Keinzel recalled a recipe he had accidentally seen through the Brilliant Road [likely refers to a skill or knowledge source].

It was a dish called fermented skate, and its smell is said to be even more intense than Boulette d’Avesnes.

‘I should try making it next time. I wonder what it tastes like. But where do I get the rice straw for aging?’

Leaving Keinzel, who was out of his mind thinking about making a new dish.

Goethe’s explanation continued.

“Gudok is a type of curse mainly used in the East, also called Mugo. You gather a bunch of poisonous animals like snakes, centipedes, scolopendra [a genus of large tropical centipedes], and toads and put them in a large box. Of course, you don’t give them any food at all. What do you think will happen if you leave them like that?”

“They will eat each other according to their instincts.”

“That’s right. After repeating the law of the jungle in the box, only the strongest individual survives. But the concentrated poison becomes so strong that it will die soon. The poison collected from there is Gudok. It is considered the worst curse along with Yeomma.”

When asked what Yeomma was, Goethe shook his head. He said he wouldn’t tell because you would only feel bad if you heard it.

Merlin is a life alchemist who has made creating the strongest creature his greatest wish.

“Moreover, I don’t think that’s the only thing happening here. You said the Chimera’s condition has deteriorated considerably, right?”

“Some of them had bodies so twisted that they looked deformed.”

“That’s a symptom that appears when you repeat incest and crossbreeding. I wonder if that’s why the number has increased so much.”

According to Bishop, time here is incredibly slow compared to the outside.

It has already been almost a month since Merlin disappeared. How much time has passed inside during that time?

‘Hundreds… No, it might have been tens of thousands of years.’

Keinzel felt an overwhelming chill that he couldn’t explain.

The Chimera’s lifespan is short.

That means the cycle of life is fast. What kind of tragedy has been repeated here in the past month?

‘Surely there were some Chimeras with humanity left. But what’s here is….’

If they were released outside, something terrible would happen.

“Merlin, that bastard is so pitiful. The result of reaching the end of his greatest wish to create the strongest creature is only those monsters that have become mere scraps.”

“But it’s better to be careful. If you repeat breeding, a real monster may be born. And if there is infinite time, the possibility close to zero becomes one hundred.”

At that time, the chilling roar of a monster was heard from somewhere.

■■■■■■■■■■――――!!!

It contained such a terrible ominousness that it could be called a baleful sound.

Goethe narrowed his eyes and muttered.

“If Tartaros was Erebus, then the only thing left is Chaos. It’s a really perfect name for a resident of the Abyss.”

If it has eaten and survived countless Tartaros for nearly infinite time.

Surely it would have become a Chimera worthy of the name of the strongest.

Merlin, who thought that was not enough, must have imprisoned Keinzel here to feed Chaos.

“It seems like we need to find the remaining witches before Chaos approaches.”

“But Bathory and Calliope don’t have good noses like me.”

Keinzel smiled and handed Morgana a honey butter sandwich he had made in advance.

“Using this.”