Cooking Swordmaster [EN]: Chapter 225

Knock, knock, knock!

“Kainchel! I know you’re in there! If you don’t hand over that beef stew, there will be bloodshed!”

“Lady Elizabeth! Your wound is really serious! If you keep moving like that, your severed arm won’t reattach!”

“What?! You want to eat it too, don’t you! I’ll let you have some, so just watch me quietly.”

The beef stew needed to simmer a little longer to be perfect.

However, for those waiting outside the door, it felt like an eternity.

Caroline had been enduring her craving for a full two hours.

But she finally gave up, grabbing Kainchel’s sleeve with a flushed face and pleading.

“Haa… haa… Sir Kainchel… Is it not ready yet…?”

Even if she had asked for the most delicious food, this felt too extreme. The desires of countless people kept pouring in, making it impossible to endure without eating the dish right away.

“I apologize. Even if you want to eat it, please bear with it a little longer. It needs to cook a bit more to become so tender that it melts in your mouth the moment you taste it.”

“That’s too much!”

Caroline glared at Kainchel with resentful eyes, but he wasn’t scared in the slightest.

“The stew is finally cooked to perfection. Now, I’ll take it out of the oven.”

The long-awaited beef stew was placed in front of Caroline on a plate.

She was about to lift the plate and drink the broth when she accepted the spoon Kainchel offered, giving an awkward smile.

“Ahaha… Surely, a princess of a nation wouldn’t just pick it up and eat with her hands. It’s just that the smell was so good. Really. Please believe me.”

“There’s plenty, so you can take your time eating.”

“…I’m sorry, but I don’t think I can manage that.”

Caroline sniffed, muttering to herself without realizing it.

“Ah, this smell… It feels like my whole body is melting, even before I’ve tasted it…”

The profound flavor created by the mixture of various ingredients made her mouth water. The complex aroma of meat, vegetables, and various spices wafted from the plate filled with beef stew.

Caroline first scooped up a spoonful of stew and brought it to her mouth in one swift motion.

The rich taste of the soup, filled with the condensed flavors of meat and vegetables, spread throughout her mouth. This flavor must have come from lightly frying and simmering it until it was tender.

“…It’s really delicious!”

With one bite, the string of reason she had barely been holding onto snapped.

Caroline began devouring the beef stew at a speed that was hardly befitting of an imperial princess.

The various vegetables and meat melted in her mouth the moment she put them in. Caroline didn’t particularly like vegetables, but she welcomed them as long as they were soaked in such a rich broth.

“Now, for the main event, the beef…”

The beef, simmered over low heat for a long time, could be cut with just a spoon, without the need for a knife. She carefully lifted it and moved it to her mouth.

“…!”

She couldn’t say a word.

The thoroughly cooked, melt-in-your-mouth beef was infused with the taste and aroma of vegetables and spices.

*Ah,* so this was what she had been longing for during those three hours of anticipation.

In the end, Caroline had no choice but to admit it. This was a delicious dish. Moreover…

Before she knew it, large teardrops were streaming down both of Caroline’s eyes.

To be able to feel such immense emotion from eating a single dish.

That was because the beef stew contained the hearts of countless people she didn’t even know.

In the end, Caroline finished the entire plate of beef stew and leaned back in her chair, savoring the aftertaste.

“To become this happy just from eating a dish… What I ate wasn’t just a simple dish. This is…”

Kainchel deactivated the intensely vibrating Joma Mirror [a magical communication device] and put it into his two-dimensional pocket [a pocket with seemingly infinite space].

There was no need to rely on magical tools anymore.

Just looking at Caroline, who was smiling with a happy face, was enough to know the grade of this dish.

[8-star dish ‘Happiness-Inducing Beef Stew’ has been completed.]

Kainchel began to put beef stew on plates for the people who were waiting.

At that moment, an unexpected man appeared.

“U-Umm… Your Majesty Aslan!?”

Chef Sanders, who had barely regained consciousness, fainted again. Anyone would react the same way if they opened their eyes to find the Holy King Aslan staring intently at them.

Aslan was looking at Caroline, who was eating the beef stew, with eyes filled with various emotions.

“Y-Your Majesty?!”

“Guinevere… No, it’s better to call you Caroline. My dear…”

He wanted to say something, but he couldn’t get the words out.

The past 12 years, during which he had lived abandoning all desires.

It had been such a long time that he had forgotten how to convey his feelings.

Caroline elegantly wiped the stew from her mouth and bowed politely.

“It’s okay if you don’t say anything. I already know how much Your Majesty cherishes me.”

“I’m really sorry… No, thank you…”

The time of the Holy King Aslan, which had been stopped, began to flow again.

Aslan looked at Kainchel, who was taking the knight’s salute.

“May I have a bowl as well?”

“Of course, Your Majesty.”

Aslan, who had received the bowl Kainchel handed him, began to eat the beef stew.

Then, the hearts contained in the dish began to fill his empty chest.

The people gathered in the kitchen watched Aslan eat, not even daring to breathe.

Aslan, who had only eaten tasteless food since the end of the War of the Seven Deadly Sins.

He was now eating the dish made by Kainchel with such a happy face.

Aslan, who had finished all the beef stew, said.

“It was a truly delicious dish. Thanks to you, I was able to have a happy time. Thank you, Kainchel. No…”

“…Father!”

Aslan’s words were not finished.

It was because Caroline, with such a happy expression, was hugging him.

However, Kainchel knew what Aslan wanted to say.

It was already a very familiar word.

Kainchel smiled and looked at Aslan and Caroline, father and daughter, who were making such happy expressions.

“I’m really glad you enjoyed it.”

Epilogue. Gordon Lambolton

Magee was a trainee chef at Agapé [Greek for unconditional love], a restaurant opening today in Citizen.

Contrary to his young and cute appearance, he had a rather sturdy body, perhaps because he had worked as a forester since he was young.

The head chef and owner of Agapé was Gordon Lambolton, a former imperial chef.

*How* wonderful it would be if he could become a chef as great as that person.

After the Holy King Aslan declared that he must eat chicken and pork at least once a week, a culinary craze began in Britannia.

Numerous restaurants were springing up here and there almost every day. Chefs became the most sought-after profession along with knights.

With the opening approaching, Magee was a little anxious.

‘No matter how famous Gordon is, what if the business fails and goes bankrupt?’

But that was just a needless worry.

With nearly an hour left until opening time, the front of Agapé was packed with customers.

A bright smile appeared on Magee’s face, as if he himself had been praised.

But the customers’ appearances were unusual.

A female knight with honey-glazed, sparkling hair trailing down to her waist was seen. She seemed to be waiting for someone with an anxious face.

But her appearance was so beautiful that he couldn’t help but keep looking at her.

At that moment, a voluptuous beauty with blue hair trailing down to her waist hugged the female knight from behind.

“What are you doing here, Abel? You clearly said you were busy with guild matters today, yet you’re leisurely lining up in front of a restaurant?”

Then, the female knight called Abel replied in a curt voice.

“What about you, Master? What are you doing wearing such a beautiful dress?”

“Well, little one… No, I came to congratulate Kainchel’s teacher for opening a restaurant. Hmm? But by any chance, is that you’re holding a ladle made from a branch of Yggdrasil [the World Tree in Norse mythology]? Don’t tell me…”

“T-This is just a simple gift! I’m definitely not trying to confess to Kainchel…”

“What? A confession? Puhahaha! Our cute disciple has finally grown a pair. Come on, shall we have a little conflict in that secluded place over there?”

“I’m sorry, but I absolutely cannot yield on this. I would even change my gender for Kainchel…”

“Ugh! I’ll pretend I didn’t hear that last part! Damn it…! If I hear things like that, it just makes me look like a petty woman!”

In addition, many other people had gathered to celebrate Agapé’s opening.

As expected of a former imperial chef’s connections.

At that moment, Magee’s eyes widened.

*Wait* a minute. Is there enough prepared food for all these people?

He rushed to the food storage in a frenzy, where Gordon Lambolton was standing.

“…You’ve arrived, Chef!”

“Hmm, for a trainee, your skills are quite decent. The condition of the prepared ingredients isn’t too bad.”

“T-Thank you.”

Magee bowed his head, sweating profusely.

To think he would hear such words from Gordon, who rarely praised him.

“But it seems more customers have come than expected. It seems we’ll be short on ingredients.”

“I’ll prepare more right away, Chef.”

“No. You won’t have enough time on your own. That’s why I’ve called in reinforcements.”

“R-Reinforcements?”

“He’s a trainee chef who used to work under me, and he’s quite skilled.”

“Could he be the owner of that spot?”

There had been an empty cooking station in Agapé for a long time. It had the name Kainchel written on it, but the other chefs had never seen his face.

Just how skilled of a chef was he for Gordon to say such things?

Magee felt a strange sense of competition and waited for the reinforcements to arrive.

What arrived was a black-haired young man who didn’t seem much older than Magee.

Magee, who had been expecting the face of a more experienced chef, shrugged his shoulders.

“I’m Kainchel. I heard Agapé was busy, so I came to help out for a while.”

“I’m Magee, a trainee chef. Nice to meet you.”

But no matter how much he thought about it, he felt like he had heard the name somewhere before.

“Surely, one of the Seven Virtues has a similar name to that person… Well, it must be a coincidence.”

For Magee, who had only recently moved to the city from the countryside, the city was just a series of surprises.

Magee took Kainchel to the mountain of ingredients that had been piled up.

“There’s a bit of a lot, but let’s work hard and do it together.”

Then, Kainchel shook his head.

“It’s okay. I think I can finish this alone in 10 minutes.”

“Excuse me? Did I hear you wrong?”

Magee doubted his ears. And a little later. He saw the god of ingredient preparation.

* * *

Eight kitchen knives moved as if dancing on the cutting board. Each time, the mountain of ingredients that had been piled up was decreasing.

Kainchel looked at Magee, who had a dazed expression.

It was as if he was looking at himself during his knight training days.

“Chef Kainchel. How can you cut herbs so cleanly? My cutting board just gets dirty…”

“Ah, this? When preparing chives, it’s important to cut off the ends a little first. That way, the aroma doesn’t escape. When cutting, put your middle finger in front and the other two fingers behind, and then lightly cut like this. You can cut it very easily with just basic knife skills.”

Magee tried cutting as Kainchel had taught him.

Then, the herbs were cut surprisingly cleanly.

“And if you put too much force on the hand holding the chives, they’ll get crushed. Gently embrace them… Ah, like that. You’re learning really quickly.”

Only finely chopped chives were neatly placed on the cutting board.

“Ehehe…”

Magee scratched his head as if he was embarrassed.

Kainchel felt the same strange feeling.

He was reminded of the time when he learned to cook from Gordon and Jeokwoon.

To think that the day would come when he would be teaching another trainee chef.

At that moment, Gordon, with a flustered face, entered the kitchen.

But a man wearing a turban was with him.

“This customer said he had to meet you no matter what, so I brought him here.”

“Me?”

“Yes. He said he came all the way from Osman [likely referring to the Ottoman Empire]. I told him to wait until the opening, but he was adamant.”

The man wearing the turban said.

“Duke Kainchel. I apologize for coming here so rudely. I am Mehmet, here to deliver the Sultan’s message.”

He looked vaguely familiar, and then he remembered he was the man who had been with the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire during the award ceremony.

He was definitely said to be the leader of the Janissaries [elite Ottoman soldiers].

“It seems like it’s a really urgent matter. You look very thirsty, so let’s have a glass of water and talk.”

“It’s alright. The empire is on the verge of collapse, and I cannot quench my thirst alone.”

“On the verge of collapse?!”

Mehmet grabbed Kainchel’s hand and bowed his head.

“(The Ottoman Empire is in danger now. If things continue as they are, everyone will starve to death in less than a year. The only thing that can stop it is…)”

Magee looked at the two people talking with an astonished expression.

Duke Kainchel?

No way, no way…!

“I, I remember now. I clearly heard that there is a Sword Master in Britannia who is better at cooking than any other chef…”

Mehmet, who had been silent while looking at Kainchel, continued.

“…The cooking Sword Master, that’s you.”

End of Part 1 of .

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1. A Guest from the Desert

Today, a guest from a distant foreign land visited the newly opened restaurant Agape.

A turban and cloak covered in dust.

And the bronze skin visible under the clothes was not a common sight in this area.

The man’s skin was very rough, as if he was exhausted from a long journey.

However, the eyes that flashed between the turban were burning with a strong will.

Greeting the guest was Gordon Lambolton’s acquaintance, the owner and head chef.

He was supposed to work as a sous-chef to help Agape, which had been short-handed for a while.

But what the guest wanted was not food.

“…The cooking Sword Master, that’s you.”

The eyes of the half-elf Abel Carterus, who was entering the restaurant, narrowed.

She was a long-time acquaintance of Kainchel Van Zistad, who was more famous for his unprecedented title of ‘Cooking Sword Master’.

“Hmm, Kainchel… I didn’t know you liked bearded old men. You should have told me if that was your taste. I’ll have to tell Nimue to reattach it.”

Only then did Kainchel realize that the man in front of him was caressing his hand with an affectionate expression.

“…I’m sorry, but please step away a little. And Abel, I don’t know what you’re imagining, but it’s not like that. You’ve been hanging out with Bathory, what have you learned?”

“Oh dear…! It seems I have unintentionally committed a discourtesy. I think I’m just tired from the long journey.”

Abel squinted and asked Kainchel who the turbaned man was.

“He’s a guest from the desert.”

“Really? Every time you go somewhere, you bring back a bunch of rivals as guests… Cough, cough! I think you’re busy, so I’ll wait in the hall.”

First, Kainchel decided to ask about the word that bothered him in the man’s words.

“But if it’s a long journey… Could it be that you, Mehmet, came all the way here from the Ottoman Empire to see me?”

“Please, call me Abdullah. I am the one who should bow.”

Abdullah took off his turban and bowed his head.

Then, a disheveled, self-cut hairstyle appeared.

‘Why is his hair so short?’

Ottoman warriors also grow their hair long. They wrap it up and put it in a turban.

The only times they cut their hair is when they lose a duel or suffer a great disgrace.

In the end, you can tell how strong a warrior is by the length of their hair.

Short hair is a warrior’s shame. There is even a saying that they would rather cut their necks than cut their hair.

What on earth happened to make Abdullah, the leader of the Janissaries [elite Ottoman soldiers], have such hair?

But there was something more urgent than that right now.

“First, let me briefly explain the situation.”

“Before that, this is a restaurant. I can’t just leave someone who looks like they haven’t had a sip of water for days.”

“I told you. I…”

“You said you couldn’t drink water alone when the empire was on the verge of collapse.”

“…That’s right.”

The Ottoman Empire is located in the vast desert area that occupies most of the southern part of the continent.

Unlike the dry image that comes to mind when you think of a desert, it rains quite a bit during the rainy season.

At that time, grass grows lushly in the vast meadows.

I heard that there are quite a few nomads who raise sheep or goats using it.

Kainchel looked at Abdullah’s face. As he said, his dehydration was getting worse, as if he hadn’t had water for a while.

He was holding on with a strong will, but he would die if he didn’t drink water any longer.

‘Then there’s only that dish.’

Kainchel made up his mind and recalled the recipe he had learned from Jeokun.

“In Britannia, there is a tradition called teatime, where we chat while drinking tea and eating snacks. You said you can’t have water, so let’s have a simple dessert while we listen to the details.”

Abdullah frowned deeply.

He had only refrained from drinking water, but he had eaten fruits or soup on the way here.

If it’s a dessert for teatime, ‘that person’ would understand.

“I understand. If that is the tradition, I will follow it. It doesn’t seem polite to refuse any further here.”

Kainchel’s eyes lit up. Abdullah’s body clearly wanted moisture.

If he ate it, he would surely regain his lost energy along with the moisture.

“Then I’ll make you a dessert of paradise, so please wait a moment.”

“A dessert of paradise?”

“You’ll understand when you eat it.”

What kind of dish is it that he is so confidently guaranteeing?

Soon, Abdullah realized that it was meant literally.

* * *

It had already been three months since the gate to the Demon World had closed.

Kainchel had recently been immersed in tea ceremony.

It was to raise the tea ceremony skill level, which had not been rising easily since he became a 5-star.

Using the knowledge he learned from Jeokun, a confectioner from the Ming Dynasty [Chinese dynasty that ruled from 1368 to 1644], he boils tea with ingredients that are not available in Britannia.

Kainchel looked at the bright red fruit on the counter. It was a fruit called Omija [Magnolia berry], one of the specialties of the East.

Spicy, salty, sweet, bitter, and sour.

It is said to be called that because one ingredient has five flavors.

And honey.

‘If I boil tea with these two ingredients, I can replenish the moisture lost due to dehydration. But that’s not enough.’

Kainchel used the effect amplification skill on pumpkin, strawberry, cinnamon, and chlorella.

From now on, he was going to use these to make five types of elemental rice cakes.

If you don’t drink water, it doesn’t just end with being thirsty.

Toxins that are not excreted in the urine accumulate in the body and damage the internal organs.

Drinking water alone is not enough to restore lost physical strength.

That’s why Kainchel is making desserts using ingredients with different effects.

― As expected of my partner. Chlorella detoxifies the body, pumpkin helps to excrete it, and strawberry and cinnamon supplement damaged internal organs. It’s a perfectly wonderful dessert.

‘I forgot one thing. The scent of cinnamon enhances brain function and cognitive ability. Then you’ll feel the pleasure of replenishing the deficient moisture very vividly.’

― …You’ve become more wicked after fighting demons. But that’s what makes you my partner!

Kainchel began to make the five-colored elemental rice cakes in earnest.

First, sift the glutinous rice flour through a sieve and divide it into five equal parts, then mix in the prepared ingredients and knead.

At that time, it is important to use hot water to lightly cook it. This is to bring out the chewy texture.

Then, start boiling tea by adding honey and omija to the water.

Then, Abdullah’s lips, who had been folding his arms with an indifferent expression, rose slightly.

The sweet and refreshing scent of omija honey tea, so sweet that it seemed to melt his whole body, was conveyed.

‘This should be enough to work, right? After the tea is boiled, I’ll use Durendal to cool it down, and then I need to make the filling to put inside.’

The filling is made by mixing tangerines pickled in sugar, finely chopped walnuts, and jujubes [dried Chinese dates].

Kainchel did not forget to add a little cinnamon powder and honey to enhance the taste and aroma.

Put the filling inside the rounded rice cake dough, coat it with potato starch, and boil it in hot water.

The eyes of Magee, the apprentice chef who was watching the cooking process, widened.

“Chef Kainchel! You just kneaded and boiled glutinous rice, but it’s so smooth and pretty! It’s like a small pebble!”

It felt like watching a dog that follows well.

If you lifted his butt, you would surely see a huge tail moving at an incredible speed.

“That’s because I used green starch. When you soak potato starch in water, sediment settles at the bottom, and that’s what I dried. If you put it in the batter, you get a very crispy fried food, and if you boil it, it has a transparent and smooth elasticity like this.”

“Thank you, Chef!”

It was all techniques he learned from Jeokun. In the first place, the five-colored elemental rice cake itself was a dish served as a dessert on the king’s table in the East.

That means it’s delicious and good for quenching thirst.

Magee’s mouth was constantly filled with exclamations at the skill of shaping the rice cakes into bite-sized pieces.

“It’s like jewels are being made from your fingertips! It’s really the first time I’ve seen a dish like this… Ah! It’s not because I’m a country bumpkin! Chef Kainchel’s cooking skills are really! Really amazing… !”

However, the greatness of the five-colored elemental rice cake is not only in its appearance.

Kainchel took out the well-boiled rice cakes and rinsed them in cold water.

This is to bring out the soft and chewy texture.

He put it in omija honey tea and decorated it with some nuts, and the dessert of paradise was completed.

Abdullah’s eyes widened when he brought a plausible dessert in less than 20 minutes.

Inside the light pink liquid, there were beads full of jewels.

The dish containing the dessert was a porcelain with mysterious patterns engraved on it.

When he received it, he felt a cool energy from his fingertips.

“It’s amazing. It doesn’t seem like you put ice in it, but how did you cool it down like this?”

“Like this.”

Kainchel grabbed Durendal and infused it with aura. Then, an extreme cold that froze everything was emitted.

“…As expected of the person who ended the Seven Deadly Sins War with cooking. But that thing, no matter how I look at it, it looks like Sir Roland’s Durendal.”

“That’s right.”

“…”

Who would have thought that there would be someone who uses such a divine artifact to make food?

But what does a dessert chilled with Durendal taste like?

Abdullah carefully picked up a spoon and first took a spoonful of the strangely thick liquid and brought it to his mouth.

Perhaps because it was chilled, the texture was like a soft jelly.

The moment it touched his tongue, an unbelievably sweet taste spread throughout his mouth.

Sweet, bitter, sour, and spicy.

At the same time, it was strangely astringent, which made the sweetness of the honey feel even better.

Who knew that a sweet taste with a refreshing acidity could be so delicious?

The heart, which had been heated by the heat of the hot sunlight and weighed down by worries, cooled down in an instant.

Now it was time to eat the round and pretty jewels.

The colorful spheres, which had been delicately processed for easy eating, floated in the clear omija honey tea.

It reminded me of well-groomed rubies, emeralds, and lapis lazuli.

It was a beautiful dish that I could admire no matter how many times I looked at it.

“Surely, you wouldn’t have put real jewels in it…”

When he touched it lightly with a spoon, he felt a strange elasticity. Abdullah took a spoonful of the elemental rice cake with omija honey tea and brought it to his mouth.

And he was shocked.

“… !”

It was so soft that it seemed to melt and disappear in his mouth, and it had a strange elasticity that made it chewier the more he chewed.

The surprise didn’t end there.

Inside the elemental rice cake was a savory and sweet filling, which gave it a tremendous flavor.

The smooth-textured elemental rice cake slid down Abdullah’s tongue and disappeared into his stomach.

And what he felt was an unbelievable sense of satisfaction.

The great drought that had continued for 10 years.

In addition, the whereabouts of the person who could be said to be the lifeline of the entire people were unknown. Nevertheless, Abdullah wanted to continue eating this dessert.

He was shouting no in his heart, but his body was honest. He kept scooping up the five-colored elemental rice cakes and bringing them to his mouth.

This was the first time he had experienced this.

In the end, Abdullah had to stare blankly at the empty porcelain.

He was just going to eat a bite out of courtesy. But he ate it all as if he was possessed by something.

He couldn’t stop.

“It’s quite edible, right?”

“Hoo… I enjoyed the meal… The people of the empire are suffering from the great drought, but I feel like I’ve committed a great sin.”

“Then would you like to take a look in the mirror for a moment?”

Kainchel smiled and held out a small hand mirror in front of Abdullah.

Abdullah, who saw his reflection in it, got up from his seat.

“I, is this me?!”

The rough skin was shining so much that it was unbelievable. It felt like looking at a glazed porcelain.

Not only that.

The eyes, which had been blackened by fatigue and worry, had also regained their original appearance.

Even the dry hair had become smooth.

If he shaved his thick beard, he would look at least 10 years younger.

“The moment you put the five-colored elemental rice cake in your mouth, you couldn’t stop eating it, right? That’s because Abdullah’s body wanted food. Of course, it would be difficult and painful to turn a blind eye to the suffering of the people of the empire and put food in your mouth. But the more you do that, the more you should take care of your own well-being. If something happens to Abdullah, who will complete the mission?”

“…”

Who would have thought that he would receive such advice from a young man who was 10 years younger than him? But it was all true.

If he lost his strength and failed the mission, he would not even be a laughing stock.

Abdullah replied with a strangely refreshed face.

“…I just ate a bowl of food, but I feel like I’ve come back to life.”

“That’s why we call it that. It feels like you’ve really come to paradise, right?”

Abdullah’s expression as he looked at Kainchel softened. He could trust this man with the fate of the Ottoman Empire.

“Before we get to the main point, let’s talk about the great drought and the Rain Man first.”

Kainchel swallowed dry saliva without realizing it.

Rain Man was a word he had heard from Jeokun.