Cooking Swordmaster [EN]: Chapter 72

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“You’re planning to make a roast lamb using a leg of lamb.”

As someone who had run a tavern for ten years, Percival recognized the dish Cainchel was trying to make just by looking at the ingredients.

Cainchel answered while skillfully trimming the lamb to expose the bone.

“Yes, it’s a truly enjoyable meat to eat. Sweet, tender, and juicy.”

Then, he took a large amount of ginger from his dimensional pouch and began grating it.

He applied it all over the meat, allowing the aroma to permeate.

From the second basement level of the dungeon, the miasma [a noxious or poisonous atmosphere] becomes stronger, and monsters that actively use poison begin to appear.

Lamb, which has stamina-boosting effects, and ginger, which has detoxifying properties.

Eating dishes made with them will make it much easier to endure in the dungeon.

Cainchel preheated the oven and seasoned the lamb. Then, he piled on mint to cover the entire meat.

“The aroma is really good. It’s amazing how you got so much mint this season.”

“I bought a lot while I was in Citizen.”

Even though this place is in the north, mint is still easily obtainable in the south.

Putting plenty of it in and baking it in the oven makes the already tender lamb even more tender.

And this time, he took out goat cheese, one of Mino’s specialties. He chopped it finely and placed it on top of the mint. This allows the mint’s aroma to permeate the lamb even better.

“Doing this makes the goat cheese turn the lamb into a high-quality cream.”

“Haha, I feel bad just watching.”

Rather, he was grateful for that. From preparing the ingredients to plating the dish.

All of it is valuable experience.

Cainchel rolled the meat so that the herbs and cheese wouldn’t leak out, then tied it with string.

And he massaged olive oil all over the meat. Now, putting it in the oven and baking it will create the best roast lamb, with a moist interior and a crispy exterior.

Cainchel said as he put the lamb in the oven.

“Now, it’ll be done in about 40 minutes. Let’s warm up a bit before that.”

Then, as if they had been waiting, Abel and Kundam stood up from their seats. Perhaps drawn by the smell of the lamb. The two werewolves had come right next to them.

“Krrr, krrr······.”

The 2-meter-tall giants, covered in fur all over their bodies, gave off a strange sense of intimidation.

As if to prove that they were human until recently, they were wearing tattered rags.

Percival clicked his tongue.

“How unfortunate that they came down here on a full moon night. I’ll take one of them.”

Werewolves are frighteningly dangerous monsters. They possess tremendous strength, and their hides are also thick.

Wounds inflicted by ordinary weapons heal in an instant, thanks to their excellent regenerative abilities.

On top of that, they still retain the intelligence from their days as humans, even though they have become ferocious.

Truly monsters worthy of the title of being as strong as a hundred men.

Abel groaned.

“That’s strange. Werewolves aren’t monsters that occur naturally, are they?”

Then Kundam, who was having a staring contest with the werewolves, nodded.

“That’s what I’m saying. Besides, if such dangerous guys were wandering around one floor below, there would definitely be rumors.”

The guys were hiding in the darkness, just watching the group, and didn’t attack rashly.

They were cunning and meticulous.

And how long had it been? The werewolves hiding in the darkness disappeared.

It seemed as if they had received a retreat order from someone.

“Those guys weren’t just simple monsters······.”

The name of a group that was trapped in the White Mountains and then released flashed through Cainchel’s mind.

Perhaps one of them is here.

Fortunately, there was a mercenary who participated in the War of the Seven Deadly Sins right next to him. Asking him would give a clear answer.

“By any chance, are there any lycanthropes [werewolves] among the Great Sin Church?”

Percival widened his eyes as if wondering why he was asking such a thing, then answered in a heavy voice.

“There are. I know them well because I’ve fought them a few times. But I know that His Majesty, the Holy King Aslan, took care of them all.”

“But they were alive.”

A groan escaped from Percival’s mouth as he heard the story of Antares attacking Vincent.

“Good heavens! Are the ghosts possessed by the Seven Deadly Sins still alive······? To face the arsonist Antares and come out unscathed is amazing.”

“I was lucky. Sir Hector came to support me, or it would have been dangerous.”

“That alone is a great thing. The only people who can face him and survive are the Seven Virtues. Anyway, if the Great Sin Church has been revived, then the one here is probably Sirius, the Heavenly Wolf Star.”

“Heavenly Wolf Star?”

“A very vicious guy who calls himself the King of Wolves.”

Percival gritted his teeth and explained about Sirius. Every time he opened his mouth, murderous intent spewed out instead of his voice.

The lycanthrope Sirius is considered a small fry in the War of the Seven Deadly Sins, where many Sword Masters participated.

He had power and regenerative abilities that transcended humans, but there were even more powerful monsters.

The reason he was called vicious was different.

“Sirius usually hides, but when it’s deep night, he appears and starts hunting. He only targets young women and children. It’s a great relief that there hasn’t been any damage yet.”

Cainchel quietly nodded.

Perhaps he is hiding deep in the dungeon, recovering his strength.

“The fact that werewolves have crawled up to the second basement level means that they are almost ready to come out.”

And they will start massacring the mercenaries who were hunting monsters.

“What are we going to do? If Sirius is here, we need to revise our plan.”

“First, let’s inform the mercenaries that there are werewolves here.”

“That would be good.”

In the end, Zeke, who had the best speaking skills among the group, went up to the first floor as a representative.

And he came down scratching his head after only 5 minutes.

“It’s not working. They’re rather questioning which mercenary group paid me off. I felt like the boy who cried wolf.”

It seemed difficult to persuade the mercenaries unless they showed them the corpse of a werewolf.

Kundam widened his eyes and shouted, uncharacteristically.

“Slaughtering civilians in war is a son of a b*tch who deserves to die! I can’t forgive him as a human, not as a knight!”

Kundam was an orphan from a commoner background. And the War of the Seven Deadly Sins created countless children who lost their parents.

Without even asking, it seemed like he knew why Kundam was angry.

Abel also braced himself.

“Now that it’s come to this, I need to become a Sword Knight as soon as possible.”

To do that, he needs to catch monsters and obtain the magic stones they possess.

Cainchel, who checked the inside of the oven, shouted as brightly as possible.

“The meat is done. Let’s eat first. We can’t fight on an empty stomach.”

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The lamb with plenty of ginger and mint was so tender that it didn’t need a knife.

If you take a big bite, the cheese inside melts like whipped cream.

The harmony of flavors created by the southern herbs and northern goat cheese made it impossible to stop eating.

“Hmm······. The taste is amazing.”

“It’s incredible, brother. It tastes good and blocks poison, so I have to eat until I burst.”

“It would have been more delicious if it weren’t for the werewolves. It’s a shame.”

The group who were eating meat nodded in agreement with Kundam’s words.

Cainchel also felt the same way.

[5-star dish ‘Stamina-Boosting Lamb Roast’ has been completed.]

[Your skill in roasting meat is very high.]

·········.

······.

[You have completed a dish using fire!]

[Fire resistance slightly increases (+0.1%)]

······.

···.

[You have completed a dish using herbs!]

[Poison resistance slightly increases (+0.1%)]

It was a 5-star dish made after a long time. How nice would it be if everyone could enjoy the cooking.

Kundam, who finished his meal, stroked his bulging muscles and said.

“I feel strangely energized after eating the dish made by Cainchel. Then let’s go mine magic stones right away.”

Abel wiped the grease from his mouth and muttered.

“I want to have a cup of tea, but I can’t help it.”

As the werewolves retreated, the monsters that had been suppressed by their murderous intent began to roam.

Mainly ratmen or imps that flowed in from the outside. Even giant ants, insects that have grown to enormous sizes, popped out.

Percival, who was wielding a huge glaive [a polearm weapon] with one hand, shouted.

“Giant ants move through the sandy floor! Be careful not to be surrounded by those who suddenly pop out!”

The ants, which have grown hundreds of times in size, crush everything that touches their mouths with their tremendous jaw strength.

Cainchel threw the half-baked lamb into the center of the dungeon.

Then, more than a dozen giant ants rushed towards it.

As monsters with poor eyesight but developed tactile and olfactory senses using their antennae, it is common to catch them using decoys.

“Haaah!”

As Percival swung his aura-filled spear, the giant ant instantly turned into pieces.

“Oops, my hand slipped and the magic stone broke.”

“It’s okay. We’re not going to sell it anyway.”

Abel was dealing with the giant ants with the agility unique to elves, as if he were doing acrobatics.

He couldn’t imagine how strong he would become if an aura sword was added there.

“Kundam! Two behind you!”

“Roger!”

Cainchel and Kundam were steadily reducing the number of giant ants with their backs to each other.

“Booster!”

As he swung his strengthened left arm towards the giant ant that suddenly popped out, its body exploded with a sonic boom.

Kundam, who was watching Cainchel fight over his shoulder, exclaimed.

“Amazing. Isn’t that a technique that concentrates and explodes the aura that was defending the whole body at one point?”

An animalistic sense that penetrates the essence of the technique just by seeing it a few times.

That’s what made Kundam called a genius of the sword.

With Cainchel’s Fallen Star and Kundam’s animalistic senses combined, they were able to deal with the giant ants without difficulty.

When the fight was over, everyone’s bodies became sticky with ant fluids.

Abel frowned and muttered.

“It’s unpleasant. I want to take a bath, but wiping with a wet towel is the limit.”

Then he took off the armor he was wearing and started wiping the ant fluids off his body with a towel.

Kundam, who was watching it, coughed with a strangely restless expression.

Next to the group, there was a mountain of monster corpses. Now they have to mine magic stones from there.

Percival, who was familiar with monster hunting, showed an example.

“Usually, magic stones are crystallized in the part where the heart is. In the case of insects, it’s the second segment. The shell is thick and cannot be cut with a knife, so you have to use an aura sword.”

Then he took out a small dagger and infused it with aura.

Then he was able to easily split the giant ant’s body in half.

“Look. This is a magic stone.”

How big is it, about the size of a small walnut? Several opaque crystals were embedded in the giant ant’s body.

It was a crystal that contained pure magic power and could be absorbed using mana cultivation.

Kundam, who received ten magic stones, carefully took them and moved to a safe place. While using mana cultivation, he becomes completely defenseless.

That’s why you need an escort when using magic stones. Abel decided to take on that role this time.

But there were eyes watching Cainchel’s group mining magic stones.

Percival whispered in a small voice.

“There’s a rat. What are we going to do?”

“We have to catch him.”

Perhaps another mercenary came down to see the situation.

They went down to the 2nd floor, which they can’t go to, with confidence, so they must be curious about how many magic stones they will mine.

If they see even a little gap, they might draw their swords and attack, demanding that they hand over the magic stones.

They couldn’t just let him go here.

Cainchel focused his aura on his legs.

And when he stepped on the accelerator, he shot forward at a tremendous speed like an arrow leaving the bow.

Cainchel, who grabbed someone’s collar hiding behind the wall, threw him to the floor and pointed a knife at his neck.

“You better be careful. A knife filled with aura is very sharp. I might accidentally cut off something very important.”

Then a shrill scream rang out.

“Kyaaaa!”

There was a face Cainchel knew there.

Cooking Meat in the Center of the Dungeon #3