Cooking Swordmaster [EN]: Chapter 289

[Sou Vide: ★]

Like the Brilliant Road, its simple appearance, devoid of any explanation, immediately caught my attention.

However, recalling the circumstances when I filled the slot, I could make a reasonable guess about its ability.

To obtain the Brilliant Road, Cainchel had to create five entirely new dishes, ones that had never existed before.

And when he touched ingredients, he gained access to countless recipes that could be made from them.

Among them were even recipes that seemed to transcend the boundaries of time and space.

‘So, Sou Vide must be the ability to preserve something in its current state,’ I mused.

The best way to understand how it works is to use it directly.

Cainchel retrieved the leftover potatoes from his cooking and peeled them. Then, he activated the Sou Vide skill.

“……”

However, nothing seemed to happen to the potatoes. They simply continued to gleam under the light.

Just to be sure, he pressed one with his finger. It felt soft and left a slight indentation.

‘The hardness is the same… Oh, wait a minute.’

Cainchel was applying enough force that the potato should have split in half.

But it only left a slight mark. Moreover, it quickly returned to its original shape.

“……Could it be?”

This time, instead of his finger, he took a mithril knife and attempted to cut the potato in half.

Then, an astonishing thing occurred.

The potato couldn’t be cut, even with a mithril knife imbued with Aura [magical energy].

The outer surface hadn’t hardened, and it wasn’t repelling the blade.

However, even after using Onion Swordsmanship [Cainchel’s unique swordsmanship style] to try and chop it to pieces, the potato remained intact.

Cainchel’s eyes narrowed. He might have stumbled upon an incredibly powerful skill.

“The knife doesn’t work, but what if I try baking it?”

Holding the potato in his left hand, he unleashed the full force of Flambe [a cooking technique involving flames].

It was firepower capable of cooking even the tough meat of a Giant Sand Worm in an instant.

However, the potato remained raw, exactly as it was after peeling.

Only then did Cainchel fully grasp the true power of the Sou Vide skill.

It was maintaining the state of something exactly as it was when the skill was activated.

Cainchel felt a shiver of excitement.

A shield with Sou Vide applied would never be destroyed, and a fire would continue to burn indefinitely.

And water would flow forever.

Of course, there was a limit, determined by the amount of Aura he could channel.

Just to be sure, he checked if the skill could be applied to things other than ingredients. Unfortunately, it seemed that only things related to cooking were subject to Sou Vide.

However, the scope of what Cainchel considered “cooking” was remarkably broad.

Orc warriors made armor using the tough hides of monsters.

In essence, they were wearing ingredients.

“……Depending on how I apply it, I might be able to achieve things I’ve never even imagined before.”

Just then, the Orc chefs entered the kitchen carrying buckets filled with milk.

“Chef, we’ve milked all the goats we’re raising,” one of them announced.

Since saving the Crushed Heart Tribe, the Orcs’ respect for Cainchel had grown even stronger.

His position as a great warrior, a hero of the tribe, was now firmly established.

“Hmm, how much milk is there?” Cainchel asked.

“About a hundred liters.”

“That seems a little short, but let’s get started anyway.”

When cheese is made from milk, the volume is reduced to about 1/10th. To feed as many Orcs as possible, he had to carefully consider which cheese to make.

‘So, should I make cottage cheese?’

Cottage cheese is a type of fresh cheese and a very simple food to prepare.

When you boil milk in a thick-bottomed pot, it begins to clump together.

If you add lemon juice at that point, it will clump further. Then, if you strain it through a cotton cloth, you get cottage cheese.

It was a dish that paired well with salads or soups, offering a fluffy texture and a slightly sour, clean taste.

‘Hmm, the Orc chefs could easily make that, but it doesn’t involve fermentation or aging, so it’s not quite worthy of being called earth cuisine.’

In the end, Cainchel decided on Camembert.

It’s a cheese that represents Galia [a fictional country], easily recognizable by the white mold on its surface.

It’s characterized by a strong aroma, and once you acquire a taste for it, it’s hard to enjoy other cheeses.

In addition, it tastes best when aged underground for about a week to fifteen days.

It could be considered the perfect cheese for earth cuisine.

“When aging Camembert cheese, you need to pay close attention to the color of the mold. If it’s made properly, snow-white particles will form on the surface, but if it turns blue, it means the humidity in the storage room is too high, or the cheese isn’t drying properly. And the most dangerous sign is the appearance of black mold……”

Cainchel and the Orc chefs continued to make cheese long after the sun had set.

* * *

Cainchel’s days were so busy that he barely had time to sleep.

During the day, he made Camembert cheese with the Orc chefs, and whenever he had a spare moment, he taught them how to knead bread.

“If you only have unrefined wheat and water, you’ll starve to death. But if you grind the wheat into flour, knead it with water, and make bread, you can eat and live a good life. It is the wind that makes such magic possible.”

If you mix water with flour and let it sit, bubbles will form within a few days. That was the basic principle of making bread. The better the dough rises, the softer and more delicious the bread becomes. This is because the natural enzymes in the air create gas inside the bread. In other words, bread was one of the oldest foods and most closely related to the wind.

“Then, shall we start kneading lightly first?”

“Yes, Chef!”

The Orc chefs began to make bread dough using only flour, salt, and water.

Then, an amazing thing happened. The dough swelled up almost instantly, even though they hadn’t used yeast or levain [a natural leavening agent].

Cainchel’s eyes narrowed.

‘It seems there’s a lot of yeast in the air in the Orc settlement. Even so, that speed……’

Just to be sure, he touched Royten’s palm, who was sweating profusely as he kneaded the bread dough.

“Chef?!”

“Wait a minute. There’s something I need to check.”

“……Ah, I understand.”

Orcs had a much higher body temperature than humans. It felt like touching a fire.

Of course, it wasn’t enough to complete fermentation in ten minutes like Cainchel could. However, it took half the time for the dough to rise compared to dough made by a normal human baker.

‘Even that is at a level that human bakers can’t compete with. Besides, that savory and mellow smell from the dough will turn out fantastic when baked into bread?’

He never thought Orcs would have this kind of advantage.

When he heard that, Royten’s eyes widened.

“Haha, I didn’t know the tribe had such a talent. But it’s surprisingly fun to knead the dough.”

Because his palms were large, he could knead a lot of flour at once. In addition, raising body temperature is impossible unless you have fire resistance like Cainchel.

If they could successfully achieve independence, it would be easy to find Orcs baking bread all over the continent.

Cheese and bread.

These two dishes would be key to saving the remaining Orcs from the brand and Dreamland [a place of oppression].

Besides, Cainchel had other tasks to attend to.

Even the armor made of mithril, the strongest metal, had been destroyed in the battle with Karak.

And he hadn’t found a replacement yet.

‘I should make a new one while I’m at it. The armor I’m wearing now is just for disguise, and it’s cumbersome.’

Cainchel took the leftover Gorgon leather to the Orc craftsman.

The craftsman, who was sewing several pieces of leather together, looked up.

“I’d like you to make some armor out of this. Please exclude any unnecessary decorations so that it’s as easy to move around in as possible.”

“Oh, no need for honorifics, Great Warrior Gray. I was waiting for you to come anyway.”

Gorgon leather is similar in nature to cowhide, but it’s much tougher and harder.

Even without using Aura, it can easily deflect stray arrows.

In addition, it has some elasticity, so it can be worn even if your body shape changes.

‘It’s a bit too tight on the body, but I’ll have to put up with it since I can wear it even when I return to human form.’

While waiting for the leather armor to be finished in the tanning room, a brown-skinned woman approached with a determined look.

She began to stare at Cainchel with reddish-brown eyes. It was like the gaze of a predator sizing up its prey.

Because of her well-defined muscles, she resembled a leopard.

“I’m glad I caught you, Gray. I don’t think I’ve heard an answer to my proposal to become my mate yet.”

She was Dana, the daughter of Chieftain Talmus. She was one of the top five warriors in the tribe, and although she hadn’t yet mastered Mystic Arts [magical abilities], she was strong enough to hunt Ogres with her bare hands.

This was another change that had occurred over the past month. Dana, as well as other unmarried women of the tribe, had been actively pursuing him, asking him to become their mate.

A great warrior at a young age, a hero who saved countless members of the tribe. Moreover, he wasn’t tied to anyone.

A somewhat slender appearance was a minor disadvantage, but in reality, he was incredibly strong, so what was the problem?

It was only natural that the women of the tribe were fiercely competing for his attention.

“I thought I made it clear that I politely decline.”

“A strong female should be tied to a strong male. Surely a strong child will be born. It’s necessary for the tribe.”

“I’m sorry, Dana, but I already have someone in mind.”

Then Dana bared her teeth and growled. The sight was so similar to a feline beast that Cainchel smiled wryly.

“Hmph, I guess you don’t like me because I’m still weak. Wait a year. Once I awaken Mystic Arts, I’ll tie you up by force.”

And it wasn’t just Dana who was passionately courting him. Even if he stood still, monster meat and various valuables were piling up around Cainchel like mountains.

It was hard enough just to reject them one by one.

There was an Orc who was carefully observing Cainchel. It was Chieftain Talmus.

He called Cainchel to a secluded spot, away from the other tribesmen, and asked directly.

“Gran Gray, I can’t think of you as an ordinary Orc. Your amazing swordsmanship could be explained as something you learned while working as a cowboy, but you’re also excellent at cooking and mercenary tactics. I don’t understand how such a thing is possible.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Cainchel replied.

Cainchel’s eyes narrowed. He had already become an indispensable hero in the Fire Raiders tribe.

Even if he denied it, there was nothing Talmus could do.

However, if he revealed the truth, he might be able to gain more active support.

“Besides, I’m certain that there’s no Orc in the tribe who can resist my daughter’s charms. She’s truly beautiful, just like me. Ultimately, that means you’re something other than an Orc. Also, you said you have a mate in mind. Orcs, you see, strong men often have several women. Well, humans have similar habits, but for Orcs, it’s a very natural thing. There’s no reason to feel repulsed.”

Talmus himself had four wives.

Cainchel weighed the benefits of revealing the truth against the reasons for continuing to hide it.

The deciding factor was how much Talmus could be trusted.

Talmus, as if sensing Cainchel’s thoughts, said with shining eyes.

“Even if you’re a demon, it doesn’t matter. What you’ve done so far is enough to earn you the title of a great warrior, one that will be passed down forever. But I’m saddened because it seems like you’re not fully demonstrating your skills because you’re constrained by your disguise.”

As expected, he possessed the insight of a chieftain who leads many tribes. Cainchel had been avoiding the use of certain weapons to conceal the fact that he was human.

Furthermore, he wasn’t receiving cooperation from Gawain.

Cainchel could handle James Van Jackson alone, but James had many subordinates. Gawain’s assistance was essential to face them all.

Finally, Cainchel, having made up his mind, opened his mouth.

“Then let me ask you just one thing first.”