Cooking Swordmaster [EN]: Chapter 42

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14. Cooking for a Friend

The Yellow Knights were returning to the training camp after three days of survival training and community support.

Able, who had thankfully escaped Saint-Germain, asked with a curious expression:

“By the way, how exactly is the survival training evaluated? The rescue training was clearly a matter of winning or losing, but this time it was quite subjective. Surely not like the Goblin subjugation, where the instructors were hidden in unseen places…”

Able put his hand on his forehead and looked around.

Fortunately, there didn’t seem to be any instructors lying in ambush.

“We’ll be doing the evaluation ourselves.”

“Ah, you mean a vote?”

As Able expected, the evaluation of the survival training was done by the Yellow Knights themselves.

They would write down the names of the three people they thought did the best in this training, and the grades would be determined by the percentage of votes they received.

Usually, getting around 7-9 votes would earn you a Platinum.

That meant everyone except yourself had written your name.

“Then, no matter how well you do, you can’t get a Savior rank. It’s forbidden to write your own name. The most you can get is 9 votes.”

Keinzel chuckled.

“Originally, just getting Platinum was amazing. Wasn’t the Savior rank an incredible achievement, even if you only got it once in the entire Second Season?”

“Ah, right. You keep getting Savior ranks, so I started to think it was normal.”

During this survival training, the Yellow Knights ate delicious food every day, thanks to Keinzel’s efforts.

As a result, everyone was certain to write Keinzel’s name on their ballot.

However, Instructor Bucks’ expression was strange as he opened the ballots.

“What are you guys doing…? What were you thinking, doing this on the ballots!”

Then, one of the members scratched his head and confessed.

“Sorry, Instructor. But the food Captain made this time was so delicious. Before I knew it, I had written Captain’s name on all of them.”

“Ah, me too!”

“Me too!”

In total, Keinzel’s name appeared on 15 out of 30 votes.

Instructor Bucks clicked his tongue.

“Come to think of it, I forgot to say not to write the same person’s name multiple times. But this is a first, so I’m not sure what grade to give him.”

Then, Able raised his hand.

“He got far more votes than the set number, so shouldn’t we give him the Savior rank?”

“Ahem. Does everyone agree?”

“Of course! The Wild Duck Captain made was a real cheat!”

And so, as if it were obvious, Keinzel earned his third Savior rank.

Able and Wigan each received 5 votes, narrowly missing out on the Gold rank.

With the survival training over, Keinzel’s ranking rose to 5th.

@

A week had passed since the end of the survival training.

Keinzel was now in charge of making bread in the kitchen.

He had to bake bread in large quantities for hundreds of people at once.

The Fiery Fist, which could knead and ferment the dough at the same time, greatly increased efficiency.

Before, they had to use bread that had been baked in bulk and stored for days.

Bread that was made hard like hardtack to preserve it for a long time.

They would soak it in soup before eating it.

But when Keinzel took charge of baking, the situation changed. They could finally eat freshly baked bread.

The soft, moist bread didn’t even need butter. It melted softly in your mouth, disappearing like snow.

To think they could eat soft, delicious bread that they thought they could only taste in the bakeries of the capital in the training camp.

The popularity of Keinzel’s bread grew day by day.

After about a week, his baking level finally increased.

[You have completed a 4-star dish, ‘Flaky Crescent Roll’.]

[Your skill in kneading bread dough is excellent.]

[The customer is very satisfied with your cooking.]

·········.

······.

[Your baking level has increased.]

It was only after making hundreds of honey butter sandwiches and a huge amount of bread for distribution that his baking level finally increased.

‘As expected, making dishes of the same grade doesn’t raise the level very well.’

If he hadn’t used the Fiery Fist to speed up the fermentation, it would have taken much longer.

‘Anyway, that makes both cooking and baking 5-star!’

Of course, just because his baking level was 5-star didn’t mean that all the bread he made would be 5-star.

However, as his skill in making bread increased, even if he made the same bread, the results would be better.

Keinzel baked another crescent roll that he had been experimenting with.

A flaky pastry with plenty of butter, named for its distinctive crescent shape.

Crescent rolls are made by stacking and rolling fermented dough several times.

When he took the finished bread out of the oven, even the color of the crust was different.

“Chef Ainkel. Excuse me, but could you taste this for a moment?”

“A croissant. Freshly baked croissants are really delicious.”

Keinzel recalled that crescent rolls were called that in the Gallia region.

Ainkel, who received the croissant, first checked the elasticity of the surface.

“It’s really well-baked. It’s been a long time since I’ve seen such a delicious-looking croissant. Let’s see how it tastes… Oh! The layers that make up the bread feel as soft as a dress! The outside is crispy, and the inside is full of air! What is this? It feels like a ball is being held in my mouth…”

Ainkel covered his mouth and screamed.

‘What do you mean a ball is being held in my mouth? I’m embarrassed just listening to you. Anyway, this will make the honey butter sandwiches I make even more delicious. Count Well-ride will be pleased.’

There was one more thing that changed when he took on the kitchen work in earnest.

Every night, he learned how to decorate the dishes from Joffrey to make them look more abundant.

“What did you do in the survival training? The nobles who are scheduled to visit the training camp are clamoring to eat the food made by Sir Keinzel. What was it, that Wild Duck? They want to eat that.”

Of course, it was field cooking, so it couldn’t be made inside the training camp. More precisely, it could be made, but it was difficult to prepare.

In the end, they decided to make a regular course meal to entertain the VIPs.

And Keinzel decided to make the decorations to be used there himself.

“There’s even a saying that you eat with your eyes. Especially desserts, which should not only fill your stomach but also please your tongue and eyes. I’ll show you an example first, so watch carefully.”

Joffrey took a small paring knife and began to peel an apple.

In an instant, flowers bloomed on the plate, and a bird flapped its wings.

It was as if Joffrey was a craftsman carving jewels.

“You’ll need much more delicate hand movements than you’ve used to trim ingredients so far. First, let’s start by making a rabbit.”

“Yes, Chef.”

He didn’t have the brilliant inspiration and artistic sense of a master, but he had a decoration level to make up for it.

“Applying salt water to the surface can prevent the apple from discoloring. Besides, salt makes the sweetness feel even better.”

“Yes, Chef.”

And so, every night, Keinzel learned plating techniques from Joffrey to make the food more beautiful.

Joffrey was a patissier who made cakes so beautiful that nobles lined up to eat them in the capital.

His artistic sense was almost as good as Gordon’s.

In an instant, his decoration level, which had been 2-star, became 4-star.

In the morning and evening, he worked in the kitchen, and during work hours, he wielded a sword with the other trainee knights.

As the days passed, Keinzel’s cooking skills were growing at an incredible rate.

@

“I lost.”

“It was an honor to cross swords with Enatos Xiphos of the Carters family.”

Able weakly lowered his sword and paid his respects to his sparring partner.

A ranking match where you could challenge a higher-ranked player.

Able Carters, who received a challenge from the 3rd-ranked rookie, used all his swordsmanship but narrowly lost.

It was a close call.

What decided the match in the end was stamina.

Able’s sense of swordsmanship was as good as Kundam’s.

However, his stamina and endurance were low, so he couldn’t wield his sword for long.

To make up for it, he ran up the mountain every morning with military gear, but his stamina didn’t improve easily.

Able’s eyes searched for Keinzel.

Keinzel was warming up in the corner of the training ground. If he won this ranking match, he would become the 4th-ranked rookie.

Right below him, who had just become 3rd today. Moreover, there would be no special training until the next ranking match.

That meant that Able and Keinzel would likely cross swords in the next ranking match.

Able lowered his head and muttered.

“Keinzel. Let’s have a proper fight, so we don’t have any regrets as friends. This isn’t good… The loser buys dinner! That’s not it either. It sounds too playful. Damn it… If I think about losing to Keinzel, I don’t think I’ll be able to see him with a smiling face like before. Haa…”

He knew that something like this would happen someday.

Keinzel’s swordsmanship was getting stronger day by day.

The only flaw was that he hadn’t learned proper rising swordsmanship.

But before he knew it, Keinzel was naturally using the Carters family’s secret swordsmanship.

He must have copied the profound mysteries contained in the secret swordsmanship just by watching it.

He thought that only Elizabeth, the Swordmaster of Philanthropy, could do such a thing. But to think he was so close.

And in an instant, Keinzel’s ranking match was over. There was no need to use onion swordsmanship.

The weight on the sword was already different.

And so, Able was confirmed as Keinzel’s next ranking match opponent.

Able lowered his head with a darkened expression.

“Maybe my father was right… Maybe I’m not cut out to be a knight…”

He had refuted that and entered the Stanitz Knight Training Camp, but he had only seen his limitations.

Thud.

Someone sat down next to Able.

“…Keinzel?”

It was Keinzel, who had just returned after winning his ranking match.

Able said in a businesslike voice.

“Congratulations. It was a really clean strike. With that, I’ll be fighting you in the next ranking match. Ah, this isn’t fun. I’m definitely going to lose, right? At this point, I might as well quit the training camp and go home…”

Keinzel grabbed Able’s shoulder without a word.

And he looked at Able’s face for a while.

It was as if he knew everything Able was thinking.

In the end, Able turned his head and avoided Keinzel’s gaze. Keinzel’s heavy voice reached Able’s ears.

“I’ve heard rumors, so you might know. I was a slow learner until half a year ago.”

“…”

“I know how you feel right now. Because that’s how I felt.”

“…”

“I visited the Carters family before coming to the training camp. You were wielding a sword in the dojo at that time. All I could do was simple swings. But Able, your sword was really beautiful. So I wanted to be like that too. I came to admire your sword. And since then, I haven’t stopped swinging my sword every day.”

“…We’ve met before?”

“It was already three years ago, and it was just a passing encounter, so it’s natural that you don’t remember. I wanted to thank you when you came here. But at that time, I had just learned that I was a slow learner who couldn’t raise his level no matter how much I swung my sword.”

“Yeah, that’s right. That’s what happened…”

“So I was happy when you asked me to be friends. That’s what I wanted to say first. Able. I’ve been swinging my sword while looking at your back until now. I’ve finally been able to stand side by side with you. So I hope you don’t say you’re leaving the training camp.”

“Haa… Hearing you say that makes me want to win. Tch, just you wait. I’ll draw at least two more swords by next week.”

Before he knew it, Able’s eyes were moist.

There was nothing Keinzel could do for Able.

No, there was one thing.

“…Able.”

“What? I have to go practice swords, so hurry up and say it.”

“If you’re free this weekend, there’s a dish I want to make for you.”

“What kind of dish?”

“It’s a dish just for you. So I hope you’ll eat it.”

Able smiled mischievously.

“You idiot. You should say something like that after I’ve calmed down a bit.”

Keinzel grabbed his sword and left the training ground.

This was a new feeling.

Until now, he had cooked for himself.

Because his swordsmanship would get stronger by cooking. He held a kitchen knife for that purpose.

But now, none of that mattered.

He just wanted to see Able eat the food he made and smile, saying it was delicious.

For the first time, he wanted to make a dish for someone else.

‘A dish for a friend… It should be at least 5-star… No, the grade doesn’t matter. It’s enough if Able says it’s delicious.’

Suddenly, a certain ingredient came to Keinzel’s mind.

Cooking for a Friend #2