Cooking Swordmaster [EN]: Chapter 248

“No way?!”

Behemoth finally registered the state of his left shoulder.

To think it would cause such devastation in such a short time.

Even with shock absorption through sandification proving impossible, the sheer speed was still unbelievable.

Kainchel maintained a relaxed expression, but he was also reaching his limit.

The efficiency of Fish and Chips [a skill or technique] was worse than he’d imagined. Before he knew it, even the aura he had filled with hot dogs was dwindling.

However, he couldn’t afford to leisurely replenish his aura. If he showed even the slightest opening, Behemoth would instantly try to regenerate the damaged area.

Kainchel summoned the ego-sword floating around him.

And he gripped Durandal, which now felt like an extension of his own hand, tightly.

‘I can do this. No, I have to.’

Avel had already attempted attacks using the unfamiliar fire spirit twice.

Only time could restore the mental strength consumed by the spirit.

In the end, only one chance remained.

However, Kainchel believed. In his swordsmanship, in Durandal, in the Mithril Kitchen Knife.

That’s why he decided to bet everything on this one strike.

“Double Booster…!”

As he crammed the remaining aura into every muscle in his body, he was enveloped in a brilliant light.

Kainchel pointed his sword at the struggling Behemoth.

The target was the crystal sphere glittering through the melted and hardened sand.

That was Behemoth’s core.

“…?!”

At that moment, time seemed to slow to a crawl, as if Bishop [a character or entity] was connected to a neural network.

His entire nervous system became so sensitive that he could even feel the individual grains of sand brushing against the tip of his sword.

The small, potato-sized core looked enormous.

That’s a watermelon… No, it’s like a mountain.

Before he knew it, a smile appeared on Kainchel’s lips. With a target that size, how could he possibly miss?

Behemoth let out his final, desperate cry.

“N-no way!”

“Way!”

Crack-!

With the sound of something shattering, Behemoth’s core broke into pieces.

“――――!”

As the vessel of its soul was destroyed, Behemoth could no longer maintain its massive form.

No, it was no longer a dragon-type golem. It was just sand mixed with glass shards.

Kainchel, who landed safely on the ground, widened his eyes in surprise.

‘What was that feeling just now? It was as if I had become one with the sword…’

“Cough!”

Just as he tasted blood, it flowed from between his lips, having passed through his throat.

At the same time, he felt a tingling pain throughout his entire body, including his muscles and internal organs.

He must have injured his internal organs by forcibly drawing in aura.

Avel, seeing Kainchel spitting blood, perked up his ears and ran over.

“Kainchel…! Are you alright?”

“Hmm, don’t worry. I’ll be fine after I grill some Gorgon [a mythical creature] and eat it.”

Avel shook his head, unconvinced.

In the end, they had won with just the two of them, without Abdullah’s help.

That gave Avel the greatest satisfaction.

For some reason, white powder was falling from the sky. Avel’s eyes widened as he looked up.

“Huh? Is it snowing?”

“Look closely. It’s sand. The particles that made up Behemoth are scattering as the core disappears.”

“I see. But I prefer to think of it as snow. The experience of seeing snow falling in the desert is not something you get every day.”

Kainchel smiled and nodded. Avel was right.

He placed his hand on the shoulder of his little friend, who was covered in burns but still wanted to be his strength.

“Yeah. That’s a better way to think about it.”

* * *

“Ugh…! To think Byzantium would be destroyed like this…!”

Abdullah seemed more shocked by the ruins of Byzantium, devastated by Behemoth’s attack, than by his own tattered body.

The buildings were destroyed, leaving only rubble, and a large crater had formed in the square.

Moreover, the ramparts were gone.

How much blood and sweat would his people have to shed to restore this?

As if sensing that the battle was over, Scheherazade and Sinbad ran over.

“Sir Kainchel!”

“We won! We defeated that super big golem!”

Sinbad grabbed Kainchel’s hand, his expression moved.

“Kainchel is good at cooking and incredibly strong! I wish Sinbad could live with you forever!”

Scheherazade, knowing that was impossible, scolded Sinbad with a gentle expression.

“Sinbad. Sir Kainchel is only staying temporarily to help the Ottomans. Now that everything is over, he must return to the north of the continent.”

“Isn’t even the position of Janissary Captain [elite Ottoman soldier] enough?”

Abdullah’s face turned white at that.

The head of the Janissaries was the very position he held.

“Hehe! I was just kidding. After all, Abdullah is fun to tease!”

“Sultan…”

Sinbad wiped the playfulness from his face and looked at Kainchel.

The bronze-skinned young Sultan would have to work tirelessly to restore Byzantium for a while.

But there was something he had to do before that.

The Sultan, the king of a nation and a spiritual pillar, bowed his head.

“Thank you so much for avenging my father.”

“Please raise your head. What am I supposed to do if you do this?”

“No! Kainchel deserves my gratitude!”

Sinbad knew how much Kainchel had done for the Ottoman Empire.

If it weren’t for the Chimaek [Korean fried chicken and beer] Kainchel made, the Ottoman Empire would have been divided into two and fought until its demise.

Moreover, he had even defeated Zoid, who could be considered the enemy of the former Sultan.

“I have only done what I should have done as a knight. I hope that Britannia and the Ottoman Empire will remain on good terms in the future.”

“Of course! Kainchel and Avel are both my close friends! So I want you to accept this!”

Sinbad took out a small jar from the pouch he wore around his waist.

It seemed to be a very precious item, as he had taken it with him even while evacuating from the castle.

Abdullah’s eyes widened.

“S-Sultan! That is… could it be the elixir of immortality…!”

“…?!”

Kainchel was also surprised and groaned. Could the elixir of immortality really be inside?

Certainly, even though the entrance was completely sealed, it had a strangely pleasant smell.

Kainchel carefully took the jar and examined its contents.

There was a small amount of an unknown translucent liquid inside.

“What exactly is this?”

“That is very amazing!”

“So…”

In the end, it was Abdullah’s job to explain.

“I’m sorry for raising false hopes. It’s not the elixir of immortality. It’s just a byproduct of the wishes of countless people who wanted it.”

Those who believed in the brother gods were now completely declining and divided into numerous small tribes.

“But originally, the Arabian Desert belonged to their ruler, the Pharaoh.”

“Pharaoh?!”

“That’s right. The Pharaohs believed that they could remain eternal kings by perfectly preserving their bodies in the pyramids, their massive tombs. What Sir Kainchel received is the crystallization of that belief.”

They achieved dazzling prosperity for a long time. However, in the end, they mobilized an excessive number of people to build the pyramids, which led to a rebellion and their demise.

Kainchel swallowed hard and looked at the liquid in the bottle.

This was the elixir that prevented the body of the ancient Ottoman ruler, the Pharaoh, from decaying.

Bishop, seeing the liquid in the jar, popped out at an incredible speed and put a tentacle on it.

― T-this is…?!

‘What’s wrong, Bishop? Do you know what this is?’

― Of course. This is embalming fluid.

‘So, you’re talking about something like salt?’

― It’s similar to salt but a little different. I’ll have to experiment to know exactly, but this is the first time I’ve seen an embalming fluid with such tremendous efficacy.

‘Wait a minute. This is to preserve the Pharaoh’s body… Ah, it’s definitely similar.’

Even Bishop, who had created numerous magical tools, was shocked.

Just how potent was this embalming fluid to cause such a reaction?

Perhaps he had received an unbelievable gift from Sinbad.

Food is precious, especially now.

However, if it is not properly preserved, it will easily rot and become inedible.

The methods commonly used in Britannia to preserve food ingredients were smoking and pickling.

However, smoking is limited to certain ingredients, and pickling alters the original flavor.

― Perhaps the elixir in this small jar will rewrite the history of continental cuisine.

“Thank you so much for giving me such a great gift.”

“Do you like it, Kainchel…! I think you will definitely find a use for it!”

Kainchel put the Pharaoh’s special embalming fluid he received from Sinbad into his two-dimensional pocket [a magical storage space].

First of all, he was going to test its performance after returning to Britannia.

He couldn’t just go back after receiving such a precious thing.

Kainchel gestured to Scheherazade, who was still shocked by the sight of the destroyed Byzantium.

“Scheherazade. I’m sorry, but could you come with me for a moment?”

“Yes? What is it?”

Kainchel took Scheherazade’s hand and headed to the place where the remains of Behemoth had fallen.

There, the particles that made up Behemoth’s body were piled up.

Kainchel picked up a little and put it on his tongue.

Then, the Gourmet skill, which had reached 7 stars, told him what it was.

“Do you recognize it? This is not just sand, but a substance called culture soil.”

“Culture soil?”

“Yes. It is a special soil in which horticultural plants such as flowers and vegetable crops grow very well. The constituent material is alive, so it has good ventilation and contains tremendous minerals and nutrients. Perhaps the properties of the sand changed as it turned into a golem.”

“Then does that mean farming is possible in Byzantium?”

“Yes, that’s right. If you give this culture soil enough water, you can grow potatoes, carrots, wheat, barley, etc., right now. Besides, we haven’t recovered the remains of the Titan yet. If you combine that, you can do quite a large-scale farming. If you add the ability of Amehurashi [a rain-summoning skill or entity], the Ottoman Empire will never starve again.”

“!”

Behemoth had not only left despair.

Most of the Ottoman territory is barren desert.

So they were always suffering from food shortages. What could solve that at once had fallen from the sky.

“Sir Kainchel not only ended the Meat War… But even secured food for the future… How can I ever repay this grace…”

“If you feel burdened, you can repay me when Britannia needs Amehurashi. Besides, I can’t take all this soil to the Gistad territory [Kainchel’s territory].”

Scheherazade smiled brightly like a flower and nodded.

“Ahaha. That’s right. Then call me anytime. I’ll run to wherever Kainchel is, even if it’s the Demon Realm.”

‘That’s a bit…’

Of course, it was just a metaphor, but to Kainchel, who had fought a life-or-death battle in the Demon Realm, it didn’t sound like a joke.

“Anyway, I have to say goodbye to Chef Jaime and everyone and start preparing to return to Britannia.”

“Are you leaving already? You should rest for a few days…”

“There are a lot of people waiting for my cooking.”

Besides, he was worried about the embalming fluid he received from Sinbad. He wanted to test its efficacy right away.

Then, a voice mixed with annoyance echoed from somewhere.

“Didn’t you forget something, human? No matter how much embalming fluid you received, how could you forget the Special Reward from the Main Dragon?”

And the shadow of Ancient Dragon Magnus appeared from the empty air.

“Ah.”

Certainly, he had agreed to receive something he wanted in exchange for defeating Behemoth.

He was so out of his mind that he had forgotten for a moment.

However, Kainchel replied with a brazen expression.

“How could I have forgotten? The subjugation of Behemoth isn’t over until all the cleanup is finished. I was going to see you soon anyway.”

“Your words are eloquent. Anyway, let’s get straight to the point. Tell me what you want from the Main Dragon. I’ll grant it as long as it’s not something absurd like asking for a Dragon Heart.”

Anyway, he had already come to a conclusion about that.

Kainchel said what he wanted to Magnus without hesitation.