Cooking Swordmaster [EN]: Chapter 318

?. The Promise of a Thousand Years Ago

I’ve hated cooking since I was a little kid.

In this day and age, you can easily grab a meal by just heating something up in the oven or microwave.

Compared to that, how much time do you waste when you cook yourself?

First, you have to prepare the ingredients, then boil, stir-fry, or pan-fry them.

If I had that time, I would rather memorize one more formula or swing my sword one more time.

Whether he knew my thoughts or not, my father handed me a kitchen knife when I turned fifteen.

I naturally protested.

I immediately packed my bags, left home as if running away, and entered the academy.

The chubby boy sitting in front of me spoke up.

“Akin, why do you stare at your plate with such a serious expression every mealtime?”

A physique that doesn’t look like a knight aspirant at all.

Orca, who joined at the same time and has been living in the same room for half a year already.

I stirred the trash that didn’t look like food on the tray with a spoon and replied.

“What does this look like to you?”

“Um. French fries, a sandwich, and turkey sausage, right?”

“And what was yesterday’s dinner menu?”

“Are you having some kind of short-term memory loss? It was french fries with gravy and pizza. Oh, and we ate ham too.”

Everything is instant food.

Even if it’s just a nominal position, this is an academy that trains knights to fight demons.

But can we build proper stamina by eating only this?

“Do you even know what you’re eating? This isn’t turkey sausage, it’s Twizzlers [a processed meat product]. It’s a food made with turkey meat as the main ingredient, with lots of fat and salt for flavor. So if you don’t eat it little by little, you’ll completely ruin your sense of taste.”

Moreover, the problem with turkey Twizzlers isn’t just that. The amount of actual turkey meat in it isn’t even 30 percent.

Even I, who have some knowledge of nutrition, don’t know exactly what goes into it.

Yet, the cadets at the academy love it and eat it.

No, they *only* eat that.

That’s not all.

Next to me, they’re eating chicken nuggets made by mixing chicken skin, a large amount of seasoning, and fat, then frying it.

And just a piece of bread with a slice of cheese as a sandwich.

“……Amazing. It’s like food they would have eaten right after a war, when supplies were scarce.”

I don’t even expect fruit.

However, with that kind of diet, it would be a miracle if they *didn’t* get sick, let alone build stamina.

Honestly, even military dogs would eat better.

Orca’s eyes widened at my explanation.

“Isn’t food just supposed to fill you up?”

It seemed like it would be better to show him some solid evidence.

“How many days apart do you go to the bathroom these days?”

“Huh? Um……. Come to think of it, I don’t think I’ve been able to go at all.”

“That’s because you’re not eating vegetables. Of course, protein intake is necessary for muscle formation. But the most important thing is balance. Besides, what you’re eating is garbage that’s not even worth calling meat.”

Then Orca’s face, which had been yellow due to chronic constipation, turned white.

Now he’s a little more presentable.

“Wait a minute. Isn’t this an academy? What kind of training are we supposed to get eating such terrible food?”

I really empathize with that.

If I keep eating this stuff, I’ll have to worry about adult diseases before I even graduate.

“I think I know why my father wanted to throw a bomb at the Twizzler factory and blow it up. I’m really going to die like this.”

However, I can’t go out to eat every day.

The number of outing passes I can use in a month is only four.

I need to eat at least one proper meal.

Then surely my level, which hasn’t changed from 1, will also rise, right?

In the end, I persuaded Orca to go buy ingredients for cooking.

Of course, I don’t want to become a chef like my father. It’s just to survive.

……Yes, that’s all it is.

* * *

“So, what are you going to make?”

“Well, isn’t chicken breast the best for protein intake? Just stick it on a skewer with bell peppers and garlic and grill it. Well, I’ll have to put some seasoning on it.”

“Amazing. Where did you learn this?”

“I watched my father cook at home.”

“Ah, come to think of it, Akin said he was from a commoner background.”

Orca started looking at me with a strangely distant look.

Cheh, isn’t the academy a place that doesn’t ask about background or status?

Fortunately, Kebab was something my cooking-obsessed father made so often that I remembered the recipe.

Kebab, which means meat grilled on a skewer, was one of the dishes enjoyed in the Ottoman Empire [historical Turkish empire].

It’s great when wrapped in a tortilla.

I started cutting the unseparated chicken and bell peppers into cubes.

The unfamiliar knife skills made the chicken ragged, but this is fine.

At least it’ll be tastier than chicken nuggets made with garbage ingredients, right?

‘But it smells a bit fishy?’

I should have soaked the meat in cold water to remove the blood before cooking.

Of course, there wasn’t enough time for that, so I boldly skipped the troublesome process.

Well, it’ll be fine once it’s grilled.

I sprinkle salt and pepper on the meat pieces that used to be chicken. Then marinate it for a while in a seasoning made by mixing cumin powder, chili powder, and paprika powder.

Originally, it should be done for about 2 hours so that the flavor of the seasoning permeates the meat.

But I boldly skipped that too.

Instead, I tripled the amount of spices, so it should be fine.

As expected, the unpleasant smell disappeared completely because I added strong-smelling spices.

Then, spread a sauce made by mixing ketchup and Greek yogurt appropriately.

“Now all that’s left is to grill it.”

Then Orca, who had been watching from the side, widened his eyes.

“It looks pretty good? Isn’t it going to be super delicious?”

“Well, at least it’ll be better than the school food, right?”

After alternating bell peppers, garlic, and chicken on wooden skewers.

Spread olive oil evenly on top.

Then, as soon as I put it on the grill, the sound of sizzling started to fill the entire warehouse.

But how long should I grill it for?

Well, as long as it doesn’t burn.

‘Alright. It’s done.’

When I put the moderately grilled kebab on a plate, it looked so appetizing that my mouth watered just looking at it.

The time it took to get here was about 30 minutes.

It’s a bit of a waste, but it’s a time worth investing in to build stamina.

“Okay, shall we eat?”

“Can I eat too?”

“Of course. We went out and bought the ingredients together.”

“Ooh……! I’ll enjoy it!”

“It’s a little hot because it’s freshly grilled. Let it cool down before you eat it.”

Orca’s eyes sparkled as he grabbed three kebabs at the same time.

I made it, but it’s a kebab that looks so delicious.

It’s definitely on a different level than the garbage he usually eats.

Orca took the kebab made of bell peppers and chicken to his mouth and chewed it whole.

And as expected, praise…….

“U, ugh……!”

Instead of praising, he spat out the meat he had put in his mouth.

“……I told you to be careful because it’s hot.”

But Orca’s condition was strange. His eyes turned red and he was emitting murderous intent.

“Hey, you son of a bitch……. I was wondering how far you’d go, so I hung out with you, but you dare feed Orca Wilhelm such garbage? Damn it, I can’t stand it anymore.”

“O, Orca?! What are you doing? Drawing your sword against a fellow cadet is a clear violation of the school rules!”

“Do you still see me as a friend of a commoner like you? I can’t take it anymore. I can just ask my father to clean up the mess anyway. I was going crazy because I had to share a small room with you. This is a good opportunity. I’ll make sure you can’t even set foot in the academy again.”

I swallowed hard.

Even though I skipped a few steps, it’s a dish made according to my father’s recipe.

How bad could it be for Orca to react like that?

“Then die, commoner!”

Dodging the sword strikes Orca was wielding, I grabbed the kebab on the plate.

And I took it to my mouth in one go.

‘……U, ugh…….’

I almost spat out what I put in my mouth.

The chicken wasn’t cooked properly, so it was mushy, and the smell of blood made me nauseous. On top of that, the spices were just disgusting.

It was a food so bad that it made me lose my mind. Is this really the dish I made?

But even so, it’s definitely not normal for a person to change like that in an instant.

I had no choice but to draw the sword I was wearing on my waist.

At least I had to protect my body.

It was that moment.

“That’s enough. Orca.”

When I looked at the place where the voice came from, a huge man wearing an iron mask came into view.

There’s only one person in the academy with such a strange taste.

“……C, Iron Mask?!”

The instructor in charge of beginner magic engine operation and basic physical training. Commonly known as Iron Mask.

When Iron Mask gestured, a chain suddenly popped out from somewhere and wrapped around Orca’s body.

It was an appearance at a timing that would have been impossible without watching the whole situation from the beginning.

“Tsk. I can’t believe the demon factor [latent demonic power], which has been weakened for hundreds of years, has awakened because of such terrible cooking.”

Demon factor?

It was a name I had heard somewhere.

“L, let go! Do you know who I am! I am……!”

Iron Mask lightly ignored the struggling Orca and approached me.

“I didn’t expect the one who inherited the name of Gistad to make such terrible food. You need to learn how to use a knife again.”

Then Orca’s eyes widened. He wouldn’t be so surprised even if the Seven Deadly Sins were resurrected in front of him.

“G, Gistad?! Only the royal family can use that surname……. S, surely……!”

I sighed quietly and nodded.

“……N, no way?! You’re royalty?! Damn it! Then I’m against royalty……!”

“Well, friends sometimes fight. If you make a few promises, I’ll make sure this doesn’t become a problem.”

“Kuh-heuk!”

Orca, who was completely panicked, lowered his head and couldn’t say anything.

There is not a single person in Britannia who knows my identity.

That means the Iron Mask in front of me is a spy my father planted.

“Instructor. I’m sorry, but would you please keep it a secret that I’m the heir to the throne?”

Then Iron Mask put his hand on his waist and laughed heartily.

“I accidentally leaked your identity. I’m sorry, partner. I’ve been holding back for so long.”

“What do you mean by partner?”

“Hmm. It seems like you haven’t heard anything. Let me explain it simply. As you expected, I am an instructor planted by the predecessor. To teach you the basic skills you need for cooking after you grab a kitchen knife.”

“……I’m sorry, but I came here to become a knight, not a chef. To add my name to the countless heroic tales created by the countless heroes who have protected the continent until now.”

“Is that so? But no matter how much you swing your sword, your swordsmanship level hasn’t gone up at all, right? Am I wrong?”

As expected of an instructor planted by my father, he seemed to know all my secrets.

“Still, if I keep swinging my sword, it will eventually go up, right? I’m sorry, but I hate cooking.”

“But you’re still looking at nutrition books. Besides, you just grabbed a kitchen knife of your own will. With that, we can finally fulfill the covenant. The founder will be very happy to hear this news.”

“……That’s.”

“Of course, I know you want to become a knight. The founder did too. But what if you could get stronger by holding a kitchen knife?”

Get stronger by holding a kitchen knife?

What on earth is he talking about? Is Iron Mask crazy?

Then Iron Mask took out a thick book from his pocket and threw it.

“It’s too long of a story to explain everything one by one. So I asked Mr. Goethe [famous German writer] to make it into a book like this. Read it. Everything is written there.”

The spirit emanating from Iron Mask was so strong that I unknowingly took a step back.

“Tsk. I can’t believe such a weak descendant would be born right before the millennium-long covenant is realized. Well, it’s kind of cute, though.”

I don’t understand what he’s talking about at all.

Surely Goethe is the great writer who wrote *The Sorrows of Young Werther* and *Faust*, right?

But he wrote another book?

If this fact is revealed, there will definitely be a huge uproar.

“……But what exactly is this book?”

“You should read it yourself. It’s no fun if I tell you the ending in advance.”

I swallowed hard and looked at the cover of the book that Goethe wrote.

There, in clear letters, was the title *The Cooking Swordsman*.

The End