Cooking Swordmaster [EN]: Chapter 261

‘……No way.’

He was walking slowly behind Arslan, like a shadow.

Kainchel knew who it was.

Piety, patience, mercy, diligence, philanthropy, temperance, chastity, and…

―――Pain Hound, the Sword Master of Sacrifice. No, Jistad.

A man who had sought a way to seal the avatars of the Seven Deadly Sins throughout his life, and eventually found it.

He had met Hector, who died in the battle for the Gate of the Demon World, so it wasn’t that strange.

However, Kainchel’s heart began to pound harder than ever before.

The two were still dozens of meters apart, but close enough to have a conversation if he shouted loudly.

Perhaps he had overcome a thousand deaths to reach this place for this meeting.

His father, who had given him ‘Chicken Soup for the Soul’ [a collection of inspirational stories] when Kainchel was cursed with sloth.

What would his reaction be if he saw him as a Sword Master?

Paine smiled, a pleased expression on his face.

“……You’ve grown up well, Kainchel.”

“Fath…….”

At that moment, the world turned white.

He was back in a space that was all too familiar.

[Welcome to the Tower of Trials.]

[You are currently on the 18th floor.]

― Oh my gosh……. Is this really happening? Not only did you survive this incredibly difficult trial for so long, but everyone survived! I’m sorry, examinee. Can I get your autograph? ……Oh, I don’t have a body, do I?

Kainchel smiled bitterly as he looked at Iris, who was excitedly chattering.

He had only heard one word from Paine, but that was enough.

Wasn’t he here to move forward without being tied down by such things anymore?

“Thank you, Iris. Thanks to you, I had a very good dream.”

Iris’s chattering voice suddenly stopped.

She also knew.

That if he had been given just one more minute, he could have had a lot more to say.

But he couldn’t.

― ……I’m sorry. That’s beyond my authority. But I can tell you one thing. If you clear the 18th floor, you will remember the ○○○ you had to sacrifice…….

And Kainchel’s consciousness was completely ejected out of the Tower of Trials.

* * *

― Partner! Wake up, partner!

When he opened his eyes, he was back at the entrance to the Tower of Trials.

Bishop’s voice, shouting loud enough to hurt his ears, told him that the trial was completely over.

‘……Stop it, Bishop. Anyway, it’s nice to see you after a long time. But why do your tentacles feel more supple? You must have been eating well while I was gone.’

― I couldn’t move an inch to protect my partner’s body, so what are you talking about! Anyway, to survive in the Tower of Trials for half a year is unprecedented. I’d like to ask what kind of experience you had.

‘What, half a year?!’

Kainchel swallowed dryly. It seemed that more time had passed than he thought.

When he opened the door and went outside, familiar faces greeted Kainchel.

Elizabeth, who was cooking, ran over with a kitchen knife in one hand.

“Kid……! Do you know how worried I was because you didn’t come out for half a year!? If you had come out just a week later, I would have destroyed the tower and everything with 광익 [Gwangik, likely a powerful magical ability]!”

Ian, who was chopping firewood with his bare hands, scratched the back of his head.

“That’s a lie, Kainchel. I’ve been trying to stop her from doing 칼춤 [Kalchum, Korean sword dance, here meaning a destructive rampage] every day for months……. Ugh, ugh, ugh!”

Elizabeth smiled bashfully, blocking Ian’s mouth.

“Anyway, welcome back. But what kind of trial did you go through inside that you stayed so long? Wait a minute, don’t answer. Well, with your skills, you must have climbed up to at least the 5th floor. How about it? Am I right?”

When Kainchel shook his head, Elizabeth’s eyes widened.

The Tower of Trials is not a place where you can climb high just because you are strong.

Rather, the higher the level you reach, the greater the penalty, making it harder to climb.

“I went up to the 18th floor and was kicked out.”

“What, the 18th floor?! Is that real? I’ve only been to the 7th floor so far!”

It seemed that he had done something more amazing than he thought.

Kainchel looked at the food Elizabeth was making.

Potatoes that had been peeled in some way and turned into bean-sized pieces. And next to it was a pile of shattered onions.

Kainchel’s eyes narrowed, and Elizabeth blushed.

“Oh, that? Oh, I really think onions are weird. I kept peeling them, but in the end, there was nothing left.”

“……That white stuff is the flesh. You can eat all of it.”

“Oh, really?”

“I guess I’ll have to show you the results of my hard training in the tower.”

Elizabeth looked at Kainchel with expectant eyes. Was she suddenly asking for a duel?

But there was no reason to refuse. If he had climbed to the 18th floor, he would have become noticeably stronger.

Kainchel called Asura, who was playing with Abel, and got back the cooking utensils he had left with him.

“It is painful to carry out an important mission.”

“……You’ve had a hard time too.”

When he held the Mithril Kitchen Knife after a long time, he felt a sensation of it sticking to his fingertips.

Elizabeth asked in surprise.

“What, you were going to have a duel, but why are you suddenly holding a kitchen knife? You have that Durango or whatever you usually use, right? Are you going to fight with that from now on?”

“What are you talking about? Not a duel, cooking, cooking.”

“……Oh, really.”

Leaving the bewildered Elizabeth behind, Kainchel looked at the prepared ingredients.

On the simple cooking table were bacon, onions, asparagus, cheese, consommé [a rich, clarified broth], and milk.

It seemed that she was going to make cream stew.

“But what wind blew you to cook?”

“……Well. I feel sorry for always getting food from you. I wanted to make it for you sometimes.”

Kainchel pointed to the potatoes, which were trembling in his hands and were so messed up that he couldn’t eat them.

“Before you cook, you need to practice preparing the ingredients first.”

“……Hmph.”

Kainchel was an endlessly picky man when it came to cooking.

Stew alone is not enough volume. Kainchel decided to make soup pasta to test his newly acquired skill.

‘Okay, let’s start by making noodles.’

As Kainchel pulled out the pasta noodles as if possessed, Elizabeth’s mouth dropped open.

“Oh my! What is this……. He’s putting pasta dough into a frame made of aura and pulling out noodles?!”

“This is my newly acquired cooking skill, Pasta. Isn’t it really awesome?”

“……You’re good at everything, kid, but I wish you could do something about thinking about everything in terms of cooking.”

In less than 30 minutes, enough pasta noodles were made for dozens of people.

Kainchel dried the pasta noodles aside for a while and prepared to make the soup.

First, put bacon, onions, asparagus, mushrooms, minced garlic, and olive oil in a pot and stir-fry lightly.

The method of letting the aroma of minced garlic permeate the heated olive oil is the same as with aglio e olio [a simple Italian pasta dish with garlic and oil].

And when it’s stir-fried to some extent, add water and consommé.

Consommé is a type of broth made by adding ground beef, meringue, and various vegetables and boiling them thoroughly, then filtering the broth through a cloth to make it clear.

It tastes much richer than the chicken stock you usually use.

When the water starts to boil, add the slightly dried fresh pasta noodles.

Elizabeth exclaimed.

“It definitely looks very moist because it’s fresh pasta that’s just been pulled out. The savory smell is really good?”

When the noodles are all loosened and the water is reduced, add 4 liters of milk. The amount of ingredients was enormous because thirty people had to eat.

When the milk is about to boil over, add plenty of sheep’s milk cheese.

Then the savory taste of the milk becomes even richer due to the cheese, making it a very delicious soup pasta.

“Now, boil it for about 5 minutes and sprinkle with pepper and parsley powder to finish.”

Kainchel looked at the pot of soup pasta boiling with a satisfied expression.

Thanks to his newly acquired skills, he was able to quickly produce a huge amount of high-quality fresh pasta.

‘I should make more different kinds of pasta in the future. Then I’ll have more skills to use in swordsmanship, right?’

Elizabeth, who was holding a plate in one hand and a fork in the other, cleared her throat.

“Oh, the smell of the soup boiling is so good that I almost forgot the important thing. Then let’s talk about the recent situation of the 푸르뎅뎅한 [pureudengdeonghan, likely a descriptive word for the orcs, possibly implying a greenish hue] guys for a while before the cooking is finished.”

“……You mean the Argon of the United States?”

“That’s right. Those dirty orcs…….”

While Kainchel was inside the tower, the orc attacks had become more severe.

Even if they are riding wyverns, they need a considerable amount of food to cross the ocean.

However, in order to fly far, they must reduce the amount of luggage they carry on the wyverns as much as possible.

Besides, they cannot receive supplies from across the sea.

The orcs solved this very simply. They started looting in order to obtain everything they needed to operate in enemy territory.

“It’s a common method, but it’s not for those who are being attacked. Besides, they fly in the sky. Their mobility is so great that when we hear they’ve appeared and rush over, they’ve already run away. They don’t engage in all-out war and are eating away at Britannia’s power with hit-and-run tactics as much as possible.”

In particular, western Britannia is in a serious situation and is said to be half-destroyed.

“Besides, they never come close to Nana Roen Green, who has long-range artillery. I think they’re using magic to scout.”

Orc shamans can turn their bodies into frogs or raccoons.

They are using this to steal military information.

“Oh, by the way, what happened to the request for support from El Acard?”

Before entering the tower, Kainchel had sent a letter to the elf queen Eirene.

El Acard is the only country bordering Britannia that has flying troops.

With the griffon riders, known as the Knights of the Sky, the sky would no longer belong only to the orcs.

Elizabeth shook her head with a bitter expression.

“El Acard seems to be in a very bad situation right now. You know that most of the Knights of the Sky were under Gottfried’s command, right?”

“Yes. But I heard that he is recuperating in the countryside.”

It’s more like confinement than recuperation.

Originally, he should have been executed for poisoning the princess.

However, for the reason that blood could not be shed in harmony with the elves, he was deprived of all authority and power and ended up being confined to a villa.

‘Grand Duke Vlad’s influence was also considerable.’

Even if he was a human supremacist and committed treason, Gottfried is a descendant of Princess Leia.

If he were to lose his life, he would be completely at odds with Dracula.

“But a large number of Knights of the Sky, who had sworn allegiance to King Phidley again, deserted. And after recapturing Gottfried, they defected to Argon. It seems that the dragon’s blood that creates bloodlines was stronger than I thought.”

Of course, if you order your subordinates through the dragon’s blood as a medium, they will never disobey.

But that power was completely sealed when he lost the battle for the throne.

At that moment, something flashed through Kainchel’s mind.

“……Or something else may have intervened.”

“Something else?”

“I met a person possessed by the Crossroads Demon in the Ottoman Empire.”

Kainchel briefly explained Muhammad to Elizabeth.

Elizabeth’s face turned white at the mention of a monster made of insects.

“Ugh……. It’s horrible just to imagine…….”

Even if she is a half-succubus and a Sword Master, she seems to hate bugs.

“Anyway, I should eat soup pasta and go meet Eirene.”

It seems that the moment to use his newly acquired power has come sooner than he thought.

“There’s no need for that, human.”

Kainchel’s eyes widened at the sudden voice.