Cooking Swordmaster [EN]: Chapter 51

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16. Oh, It Turns Out Like This?

[Aura Sword : ★]

“Heh heh······. Hehehe······.”

As he read the words floating on the Joma Mirror, laughter bubbled from his lips without him even realizing it.

Keinzel wiped the drool from his mouth and tucked the Joma Mirror into his arms.

Training knights dedicate themselves to rigorous training to unlock the Aura Sword [a technique that enhances a weapon with life energy].

The reason they learn intermediate swordsmanship from a young age and practice mana cultivation [harnessing internal energy] every day is all for that.

But just by making delicious food, he could wield the Aura Sword like this.

Isn’t that totally awesome?

“Shall we test how great the Aura Sword is? Aura Sword!”

He focuses his mind on the sword he is holding.

Then, the blade became enveloped in aura, shimmering subtly.

Keinzel looked at the large lump of meat in front of him and shouted.

“Here I go! This is the power of the Aura Sword!”

When he swung the kitchen knife, the frozen lump of meat, as hard as a rock, split in half.

It was a truly emotional moment.

“······Kuh!”

Most of the meat that comes into the kitchen is frozen solid with ice magic for storage. It is usually thawed in water before being used for cooking.

However, when using the Aura Sword, even the hardest meat can be easily handled without thawing.

“Besides, since I only need to apply it to the kitchen knife, the aura consumption isn’t that great.”

The source of aura is the life force itself that humans possess.

Of course, the amount is limited. Using it excessively leads to fatigue and requires time to recover.

“At this rate, I think I can use it freely for about an hour a day? But to think that such hard meat could be cut like tofu… As expected, cooking sword… No, the Aura Sword is amazing.”

He felt like he understood why they said you needed an Aura Sword to fight against an Aura Sword.

That’s why the Aura Sword has become an essential ability for anyone aspiring to become a Sword Knight.

Keinzel’s mouth stretched from ear to ear.

The meat brought in for the upcoming Steak Day in two days was piled up like a mountain. Until a month ago, how much did he and the chefs suffer from handling this?

But he wasn’t afraid of anything anymore.

Keinzel finished preparing all the meat in 30 minutes and dusted off his hands.

Then, just in time, Ainkel was seen entering the storage room.

“Ah! Sir Keinzel! Today is the day the meat comes in, right? I’m sorry I’m late! Let’s thaw it right away and prepare it together tomorrow morning! Chef Joffrey will be here soon too… Kkyaaaaaaak!”

Ainkel screamed when he saw the meat that had already been prepared.

He wouldn’t have been so shocked even if he had seen the Holy King Aslan roasting sweet potatoes over a bonfire.

@

The Aura Sword demonstrated tremendous power in preparing ingredients that were difficult to cut.

In addition, the cutting resistance, which had been stuck in the 20% range for a while, rose by nearly 10% at once to 33%.

Now, he could grab the blade with his bare hands without getting hurt at all.

And an incident occurred that fueled the rumors of the Cooking Jester [a mysterious chef known for incredible dishes].

“Sir Vincent! I heard you tasted the rumored Coq au Vin [a French chicken stew], is it true?”

“Yes. I went to Springfield on business, and they happened to be selling Coq au Vin there.”

“Ugh, you mean Springfield? It wasn’t there when I went three days ago! So, how was the taste?”

“It was delicious.”

“Is that all?”

“I even gave them the dagger I was carrying without realizing it.”

“That, isn’t that worth more than 10 gold!”

“It’s probably worth about 20 gold. It’s for ceremonial purposes.”

“······You paid 20 gold for a plate of Coq au Vin and you’re not upset?”

“Yes, because it was delicious.”

That was enough. The taste was so good that the young nobleman Vincent unknowingly paid 20 gold for the food!

That’s how the rumors about Hool began to run wild.

“Please! I, I want to eat it too! Where on earth can I meet the Cooking Jester!”

“But it was definitely Hool, right? Isn’t that the person who caused a sensation at the festival held in Citizen?”

“Huh······. You mean the person who made that Honeymoon Sandwich and shook the whole city.”

“Not Honeymoon, but Honey Butter! I heard he disappeared somewhere after the festival ended, but to think he was making Coq au Vin in a place like this······.”

“Damn it, I’ll give you as much money as you want, so give me Coq au Vin and Honey Butter Sandwiches!”

That’s how the Cooking Jester Hool was becoming a legend at the Stanis Knight Academy.

And the final training of the Second Season, the annihilation battle with the Golden Knights, was postponed by two weeks.

This was because Captain Vincent was not in good condition and needed a break for a while.

And news spread that Hector van Sven, the Sword Master of Temperance [a highly skilled swordsman], would be visiting to meet the training knights.

The Sword Master himself, the object of admiration for the training knights.

On top of that, a hero of the War of the Seven Deadly Sins.

The training knights cheered at the news of his visit.

If they could only please Hector, it would be like opening the way to success.

But there were also people who expressed negative opinions.

“I don’t like the timing at all. Sir Vincent postponed the annihilation battle by two weeks to show his father a great performance, right? Then the other training knights… Especially the Yellow and Black Knights who will face Vincent will be complete extras.”

“Is that the problem now? We can see Sir Hector, even from afar! Ugh! Should I grab his pant leg and beg him to take me to the Imperial Palace?”

So, the annihilation battle in two weeks and Hector’s visit.

In addition, the Cooking Jester Hool, whose popularity has not cooled down yet.

The training center, which had been quiet in the second half of the Second Season, was heating up.

@

“Haaaah! First, a light 1,000 squats!”

Instructor Ian was doing muscle training with a tremendous shout.

And next to him, there was a training knight who was silently following Instructor Ian in basic physical training.

“······Hoo. Oh? It’s Keinzel. When did you come?”

“I’ve been doing physical training next to you for the past two hours.”

“Hahaha! I must have been too engrossed. Keinzel! What is the most important thing for building muscle!”

“Hot sweat! And passion and effort!”

“Joooah! As expected of my disciple! Hahaha! Then, a light 500 deadlifts!”

“Yes! Instructor!”

Keinzel sweated like rain and followed Ian in basic physical training.

It had already been three years since he started doing basic physical training with Ian.

There were no other training knights in the physical training area.

Most of them finished building their bodies in the early part of the First Season and then devoted themselves to intermediate swordsmanship and mana cultivation.

Keinzel had neither intermediate swordsmanship nor mana cultivation.

All he could do was basic physical training and simply swinging his sword.

That’s how he spent three years.

In the end, Keinzel realized that he had to cook to raise his level.

Nevertheless, Keinzel did not stop his basic physical training.

‘Moving your body helps you forget things you want to forget. Besides, all my stats are raised by cooking. To get used to it, I have to move my body a lot.’

“Four hundred and ninety······, five hundred!”

Keinzel, who had finished his deadlifts, fell backwards.

Keinzel’s stamina was already at 42, but he couldn’t beat Ian.

Ian, who sometimes couldn’t be distinguished from a human or a bear, had crazy stamina.

The only man Keinzel thought he could trust and follow in the Knight Academy.

Such Ian cleared his throat and approached Keinzel.

“Hmm, hmm······. I heard about the annihilation battle. Vincent’s father is visiting to watch.”

Instructor Ian gritted his teeth as if he was resentful. The annihilation battle is just training for the rookie class.

But at this rate, it looks like they are using the rookies to promote Vincent.

“I thought your efforts were finally bearing fruit… Damn it! I keep reporting to the director to adjust the schedule, but he doesn’t even read it!”

“······.”

Keinzel’s nose tingled.

He never knew that Instructor Ian thought of him this much.

Ian was the only one who recognized Keinzel, who had been working hard for three years.

Ian was the one who cried with joy when he saw his improved swordsmanship.

Keinzel couldn’t hide the fact that he could use the Aura Sword from Ian.

“······Instructor Ian.”

“Anyway, don’t worry about anything. I’ll make sure to negotiate with the director so that we can have the annihilation battle tomorrow as scheduled.”

“It’s not that, I’m planning to win against Vincent in this training.”

“······No matter how strong you’ve become, to fight against the Aura Sword······.”

“It’s possible.”

Keinzel grabbed the training iron bar and activated the Aura Sword.

Then, aura subtly formed on the iron bar, which was just a simple iron rod.

“Ugh, ughaaaaak! W, what is this!”

“It’s still only 1-star, so this is the limit, but it’s definitely an Aura Sword.”

“······.”

Ian hugged Keinzel without saying a word.

Being hugged by a bear like Ian made it hard to breathe.

But it wasn’t painful at all.

“······Keinzel.”

“Yes, Instructor.”

“You’ve encountered a lucky chance.”

“Yes.”

“I won’t ask for details. But this brother wants to hear about the miracle that happened to you someday if the opportunity arises.”

“······I will definitely tell you someday.”

“Hmm hmm!”

Ian cleared his throat a few times, as if he was ashamed of his disgraceful behavior, and returned to his instructor’s face.

“Keinzel. No one among the training knights has worked as hard as you in basic physical training. Most of them were only focused on the Aura Sword and trained in intermediate swordsmanship and mana cultivation. But they are forgetting the basics that a healthy aura resides in a healthy body. Explain what you can train with push-ups, Keinzel.”

“Push-ups are a full-body exercise that can train all the muscles in the waist, abdomen, buttocks, pelvis, and thighs, as well as about 20 muscles such as the diaphragm, spinal erector muscles, latissimus dorsi, rectus abdominis, and lumbar multifidus.”

Ian nodded with a satisfied expression.

And he looked at Keinzel’s face with a serious expression.

“Good, that’s the correct answer. If a miracle happened to you and you could use aura, there was something I was going to pass on to you.”

“······Isn’t Instructor Ian a basic physical training instructor? I’ve already learned everything I can from you······.”

“That’s right. You are the only training knight who knows all the physical training methods I know. It’s only natural since you’ve been training with me for three years. There is something you can do because you are like that. Is the Aura Sword just an ability to strengthen the sword?”

“No. The Aura Sword is a sign that you have become able to handle the life energy aura that exists in the body. Its true ability lies in strengthening the body.”

“That’s right. Sword Knights gain several times the strength and speed of ordinary humans. Tell me the reason, Keinzel.”

“Because aura activates the muscles.”

“But almost no one does it with their own will. To do that, you have to train to use all the muscles in your body for several years. But that doesn’t mean you’ll see any visible results. When you activate the Aura Sword, your body is naturally strengthened.”

Keinzel nodded quietly.

All the content he had learned to the point of boredom in class.

When the Aura Sword is activated, the activated aura strengthens the muscles and skin in the body.

That’s why most training knights want to realize the Aura Sword in a short time through mana cultivation.

Because once you can use the Aura Sword, you can get a body of steel.

“From now on, I will show you that your three years of effort have not been in vain.”

Ian slowly took off the T-shirt he was wearing.

Then, the muscles that had been trained to the limit twitched.

“This is how someone who has trained their muscles to the limit uses aura!”

Ian took a slow, deep breath.

And he stared at the sandbag in front of him and muttered.

“······Explosive Fist!”

Then, a storm raged around Keinzel.

Oh, It Turns Out Like This? #2