Cooking Swordmaster [EN]: Chapter 242

5. Magnus Basileia

Keinzel offered Seherazade the chicken first, knowing she was eager for an explanation.

“This story might take a while, so why don’t you enjoy this while we talk?”

“Wh-What on earth are you talking about?!”

Why chicken, at such a crucial moment?

Seherazade, about to protest, eventually succumbed to her hunger.

How could she resist the freshly fried chicken with its savory aroma right in front of her?

“……Haa, I actually wanted to eat some too.”

Seherazade grabbed a fork, her face flushed red.

On the large plate were golden-brown fried chicken and seasoned chicken that made her mouth water just by looking at it.

She picked up a plump piece of fried chicken with her fork.

Biting into the crispy batter seasoned with various spices, rich juices flowed out from within.

“……!”

The combination of the oily skin attached to the meat and the tender flesh created an unbelievably intense flavor.

“……How can chicken taste like this…….”

She now understood why chicken was so explosively popular.

However, the oiliness lingering in her mouth felt a bit heavy to keep eating.

Then, Keinzel smiled and placed a few pickled radishes on a small plate for her.

“Try eating these with it.”

“This must be what they mean by ‘extra pickled radish with half-and-half’ [a common Korean side dish pairing]. Hmm……. How good can radish pickled in vinegar be…….”

But the moment she put it in her mouth and chewed, she felt a crisp texture and a sweet and sour taste.

Moreover, the true value of the pickled radish was in cleansing the greasiness in her mouth.

With this, even people who couldn’t eat greasy food could enjoy chicken to their heart’s content.

It was so delicious that she unconsciously kept reaching for it.

Eventually, Seherazade stared at the empty plate, wondering if she should drink the remaining sauce.

“It’s really delicious. I’m sorry, but could I have a little more?”

“A little might not be enough, though?”

“……Yes. A lot, please.”

Seherazade realized why it was called ‘extra pickled radish with half-and-half.’

* * *

After finishing all the chicken, Seherazade looked at Keinzel with a sulky expression.

She never imagined her wish would come true in this way.

“Did you know that most of us Raincallers don’t live past thirty?”

That meant using Amehurashi [Rainfall Technique] put an enormous strain on the body.

And new Raincallers are born, like parents passing it on to their children.

Seherazade took out a book she had been carefully keeping in her bosom. The cover was yellowed with age.

“This is a diary passed down among Raincallers. Would you like to read it?”

“……Is that alright?”

“There’s really nothing special in it. It’s just the childish wishes left by children who couldn’t become adults.”

Keinzel swallowed hard and turned the pages of the diary. Then he understood the meaning of Seherazade’s words.

Eating snacks until their stomach burst.

Helping strangers.

Crying until they run out of tears.

Memorizing multiplication tables up to the tenth row.

Gifting a handmade handkerchief to someone they like.

Such trivial things were written all over the pages.

“What on earth…….”

“It’s a kind of wish list. Things they want to do before they die. Usually, they write down things that are as easy and simple as possible. That way, they won’t have any regrets when their lifespan runs out.”

Moreover, they can gain a sense of accomplishment from having done something, even with their short lives.

Keinzel felt goosebumps as he looked at the diary.

This was the goal, the reason for living, and the proof that Seherazade and many other Raincallers had lived.

“Usually, they say they do about 80% of what’s written there before they die. But I’m very greedy. If you look at the last page, you can see the wish list I wrote.”

Written there were things like:

Eating the most delicious dish in the world and getting an autograph from the great Goethe. Traveling around the continent on foot.

Besides those, there were only things that were much more difficult than the wish lists written by other Raincallers.

And the last line was…….

― Make it rain enough to satisfy everyone.

It was something she wanted to accomplish before her life ended, but she never could.

Seherazade munched on the leftover chicken bones and smiled brightly.

And she drew a V next to the wish list written on the top line.

“Still, I accomplished one thing before I died. I would have liked to meet Mr. Goethe if possible, but there’s no way he would come all the way here.”

Keinzel’s eyes sparkled at the familiar name.

“Mr. Goethe……. Ah, right, the chicken costs 1 gold.”

“Huh? Are you actually charging me?”

“Of course. It’s food I’m selling.”

Seherazade pouted and took off the necklace she was wearing around her neck.

“A diamond of this size should be quite valuable. You don’t have to give me change. It was worth it.”

Diamonds are the hardest of all gems. So, it symbolizes immortality.

Taking off a necklace made of it meant that Seherazade was already prepared for death.

― That size is worth at least ten gold. And it has the blessing of the wind spirit, so it can easily block arrows.

‘……Really?’

It was the highest quality among the rare defensive magic tools. If he could sell it, he could buy one or two castles with a smile.

“I wasn’t planning on ripping you off, but I’ll gratefully accept it since you’re giving it to me. But if I receive such a precious item, I should give you a little service. Hmm……. How about fulfilling about two of your wishes?”

“T-Two, you say?”

“I personally know Mr. Goethe. It might be difficult right now, but I’ll bring him here soon. If a beauty like Seherazade-nim wants to meet him, he’ll jump out of bed and run over here.”

Then Seherazade’s face turned bright red. She seemed very excited at the thought of meeting Goethe.

“Is that really true? Then the second one is perhaps…….”

“Let’s get to the main point. How was the chicken?”

“……It was the best. The skin is crispy, but the inside is tender and moist……. And the juice was rich. How do you fry it to make it taste like that?”

Keinzel smiled and explained the secret to the taste.

Of course, it wasn’t something you could do just by knowing.

“The secret is to slowly cook it using the heat from the underground of Byzantium before frying it. Then you can eat meat that has perfectly preserved its taste, shape, and juice.”

“Wow……. I knew the sunlight in the desert was strong, but I didn’t know it was enough to cook meat underground.”

“No. The heat underground in Byzantium is not due to solar heat. It’s due to the heat emitted by ‘something’ deep underground, or geothermal heat to be exact.”

A temperature of 60 degrees and a vacuum using meringue combine to create the most delicious chicken.

At first, he thought the heat came from a nearby volcano or solar heat.

But it wasn’t.

The owner of that heat is…….

“Do you know why White Dragons nest in snowy fields?”

“Hmm……. Isn’t it because they can obtain mana more easily in a climate that matches their attributes?”

“That’s usually the case. But in the case of Ancient Dragons who have lived for thousands of years, it’s the opposite. Just by absorbing mana, they dye the surrounding environment with their color.”

Thanks to Nimue’s painstaking efforts, the World Tree Yggdrasil was able to take root in northern Britannia.

Then, bright green vegetation began to grow through the snow.

The same is true for Ancient Dragons.

If there is a White Dragon who has lived for thousands of years, snow will fall there even in the middle of summer.

And currently, there is only one Ancient Dragon in the continent.

“……Are you saying the Dragon Lord is here?”

“Yes. And he is also the cause of the great drought.”

“……?!”

The only living creature that has lived since the age of mythology and an absolute being with near-infinite power.

That was the Dragon Lord.

Even Calliope, a White Dragon, did not know his name or even where he was.

‘But to think he was hiding in a place like this.’

Santos himself had no idea what was heating up the Central Subway.

It was only natural.

It had been hot there since Santos’ grandfather’s grandfather’s time. He just thought it had gotten a little hotter recently.

Keinzel used the heat from the subway to bake over a thousand chickens every day.

And he tasted a little to make sure they were cooked properly.

The Gourmet skill tells you more detailed information about ingredients that are familiar to your tongue.

And when he baked over 20,000 chickens. Finally, the Gourmet skill told him information it had never shown before.

[Chicken Baked at Low Temperature in a Vacuum]

* Baked using the heat emitted by ‘Magnus Basileia’, the taste, shape, and juice are perfectly preserved.

* It is in an ideal state for frying fried chicken.

“Magnus Basileia. That is the name of the Red Dragon sleeping deep in the Arabian Desert.”

“R-Red Dragon?!”

Keinzel recalled the face of Calliope, who would be sleeping for the next thousand years.

That area is strictly managed to prevent those like the Seven Cardinal Sins from waking her up.

‘So, I naturally thought the Dragon Lord would also be in the White Mountains. But…….’

The Dragon Lord’s job is just to supply mana.

His main body was in the Arabian Desert, which could be said to be on the opposite side of the continent.

‘The long drought in the Ottoman Empire started 12 years ago. And for the past few months, not a single drop of rain has fallen.’

Everything coincided with the time when the Dragon Lord was helping to close the gates of the Demon World.

“Ancient Dragons change the surrounding environment by absorbing mana. It seems like he needed more mana than usual to protect Calliope.”

Then, with a thud, Abdullah stood up from his seat.

“Th-Then are you saying the great drought was caused by the Seven Cardinal Sins War?!”

“Yes. I’m sure of it, betting my kitchen knife and chicken and beer.”

“……Strangely, that sounds trustworthy.”

The Ottoman Empire did not provide any support to the Seven Cardinal Sins War. But to think they were paying the price in this way.

Abdullah looked at Seherazade with a blank look. If he had strongly insisted on helping Britannia, would a different result have come about?

Seherazade put her trembling arm around Abdullah’s shoulder and said.

“Don’t blame yourself, Abdullah. The Dragon Lord didn’t nest here to take revenge on you. He has just been living here for a long time. It’s just bad luck…….”

In the end, it was as if the curse of the Seven Cardinal Sins had fallen on the entire Ottoman Empire.

Keinzel looked at the shadows of the two people shedding hot tears in the face of the tragic reality.

“I appreciate your feelings, Seherazade-nim. With this, we can solve the great drought.”

“……What do you mean by that?”

In the end, the great drought occurred because the Dragon Lord was absorbing too much mana.

Just like Calliope, the Dragon will also be able to recover mana through Keinzel’s cooking.

Then there is only one thing to do.

“If we can feed the Dragon Lord a dish filled with your heart, it will rain again.”

Seherazade and Abdullah’s eyes widened. If that happened, Keinzel would become a hero who saved the entire Ottoman Empire.

“But you said the Dragon Lord is nesting deep in the Arabian Desert. Even the dwarves who live underground don’t know where he is, so where are you going to find him…….”

Then, as if answering Seherazade’s question, a languid voice was heard.

“Haaam……. Who said my true name……. I was going to sleep soundly for about a hundred years, but you woke me up too early.”

As if a hot heat blew in, a young man with burning red hair appeared.

It was the sudden appearance of the Dragon Lord Magnus Basileia.