Chapter 382: Hero vs Divine Dragon Queen
"Hoho. I watched how desperately you prepared for our cooking match, Hero, but you still won't be able to defeat me if I do this in earnest."
"We'll see about that."
"Of course. Oh! I won't lay down any additional rules. We should just finish our meals by the end of the day. Do you agree?"
"Yes."
"Then let's begin!"
Erdanti had collected many ingredients by using all the connections she had made over the years.
The cleanest mushrooms, the most delicious meat, the crispiest carrots, and the sweetest strawberries in the world…
I gritted my teeth from such unfairness.
"I expected that much."
Clap!
I carefully dumped selected fresh vertebrae onto the countertop, immediately noting that these weren't dragon vertebrae.
I couldn't feed him members of his own race, now, could I?
Rock salt mined from the dungeons, rare medicinal herbs, and unicorn fillets were placed on the cutting board in order.
"I expected more." Erdanti's expression while she observed me seemed to say that she thought she had already won.
There were all sorts of ingredients on her kitchen table, which was most likely why she had been so confident.
I snorted.
"A large number of ingredients doesn't guarantee your dish will be tasty."
"Oh! You seem to have misunderstood. Unfortunately, I don't know what Green Cake likes, so I'm planning to cook many different dishes."
After provoking the G-Class Righteous Hero, Erdanti began chopping up the ingredients on her cutting board so quickly it was like watching a machine at work.
Not even a spacecraft from Earth could compare to her speed.
In fact, she did it a hundred folds faster!
All of her cooking utensils were made of pure mithril to withstand her strength and speed.
▷ Type: Skill
▷ Name: Cooking
▷ Rank: Z
▷ ZZ: Prevents spoilage of cooked food.
▷ Z: No ingredient cleaning is required for the dish.
▷ SSS: Summons freezer.
▷ SS: Summons bonfire.
▷ S: Prepares food faster.
▷ A: Eliminates toxic substances from products.
▷ B: Eliminates excess cooking odors.
▷ C: Eliminates bitterness in dishes.
▷ D: Slows down the spoilage of cooked food.
▷ E: Enhances the taste of cooked food.
▷ F: The ability to cook well.
I reached Z-rank Cooking in a rush, but even still, while Erdanti was already ZZ-ranked before we even set up this match, she didn't use any of the skill's effects right now. That could only mean that she personally worked with her ingredients.
She finished cooking in an instant. Although it wouldn't make any difference even if she skipped many of its processes by relying on the system's help, not doing so showed her desire to serve the best dishes for my son.
… Well, at least I thought that would be the case.
Clap!
Erdanti blessed the dishes she prepared, enabling them to lift the dead back to life.
"Ah! This will add flavor to them."
That wasn't all.
Education, love, happiness, prayer, hope…
Just as combat-type skills had synergistic effects, subtypes could also be linked and overlapped, which was exactly what she did right now.
I sacrificed many skills to push my Cooking skill over its limit, but I couldn't even think of such a cowardly technique.
"… Okay."
I put the prepared vertebrae in a large pot and filled it with cold water.
Afterward, I began to carefully chop the parpar herb, one of the most popular spices in the world of Fantasy, along with green onions.
It might seem like I didn't really have that much of a need for my Z-ranked Cooking skill, but I upgraded it since doing so didn't just unlock new effects.
It also enhanced existing ones.
In this regard, Erdanti, whose culinary prowess was ZZ-ranked, was in a better position.
⤷ Isis: I had my doubts before, but now I'm sure. That teacher has no chance.
⤷ Luna: Master worked so hard to prepare… Don't give up!
⤷ Gaia: Supporting him won't help.
⤷ Zeus: I thought so.
⤷ Odin: Ha! I thought he was omnipotent, but look how it turned out in the end.
⤷ Allah: Brothers! Let's celebrate!
The mollanphone community was already convinced of my defeat, and the townspeople watching our culinary duel seemed to feel the same way.
They thought the fight was over.
Erdanti wasn't stingy with her ingredients. Quite the contrary, she even flaunted them.
She used everything she had to prepare a
And she still finished first.
What incredible speed.
"There are so many dishes."
"I didn't know anything about your food preferences, so I prepared an array of different ones! Don't be shy. Eat to your heart's content."
"I see. I'll begin, then… Oh!"
Green Cake's eyes widened the moment he tried a vegetable and fruit salad that shared the same color as his hair.
"Well, what do you think?"
"… It's delicious. The dressing perfectly complements the ingredients. At the same time, it isn't too sweet, and the lettuce leaves crunch nicely in my mouth, indicating how fresh they are."
"Now try this."
"Hmmm! I'm not a meat-eater, but I think I can eat anything you cook, auntie."
"Hehe…"
The Divine Dragon Queen's sorrowful face lit up again as she heard the judge's praise.
She constantly served him new dishes as he consumed so much food that an ordinary person would've already had an upset stomach.
However, he could handle such an amount with ease since he was a dragon.
The audience could only watch in amazement as the number of plates gradually decreased.
"Looks like it's already been decided."
"How many plates can his tiny body fit?"
"I'm suddenly hungry too."
"What is the Hero preparing there?"
"Lanuvel Beef Broth? That's what he called it."
"Is that the recipe lovely archaeologist Lanuvel taught him?"
I hated to break it to them, but they were wrong. Lanuvel didn't teach me this recipe. She served as its main ingredient.
While in the Demon Realm, I tried a large number of beef soups based on her vertebrae, the taste of which even Lanuvel herself, tired of durians and coconuts, couldn't help but acknowledge.
"I'm almost done."
It took quite a long time to make a good vertebral broth.
In addition, I had a unicorn fillet.
Many people mistook them for a benign divine beast, allowing only virgins to saddle them, but the unicorn I caught assisted an outlaw who kidnapped little boys.
Even my Perfect Holy Sword could become a Demon Sword in the wrong hands.
⤷ Sieg: Be honest. Who decided to eat during this broadcast?
⤷ Leon: Me!
⤷ Zeus: That's so childish. Me.
⤷ Piko: Mollan!
⤷ M. Satan: Don't you feel satiated just by watching how Green Cake tastes all the food?
I began cooking rice imported from the Eastern Continent.
I didn't try looking for the best kind but instead just bought the first one I came across while walking through the market, which was hulled rice.
But the Z-rank Cooking effect helped me.
▷ Z: No ingredient cleaning is required for the dish.
The husks covering the grains were automatically and magically removed.
"Well, it turned out nicely."
After the rice finished cooking, I opened the lid, causing hot steam to rise out of it.
"Is that food from the Eastern Continent?"
Since she followed the Central Continent diet, which mainly consisted of meat and vegetables, Erdanti showed little interest in it.
Upon looking at the cooked beef broth rice soup, her smile widened.
She was already certain of her victory.
I finished the dish by sprinkling fantasy spices on the resulting dish.
"You can try it now, Green Cake."
"Yes."
He scooped his spoon through the plate, picking up as much rice as he could, and brought it to his mouth.
"Smells delicious."
"Because I found quality vertebrae."
"Aaahhm."
"…"
"…"
Green Cake's shoulders suddenly began to shake. Within a few moments, he began crying.
What was wrong with him?
"Are you really that impressed by how delicious the Hero's dish was?" The Divine Dragon Queen hastily tasted the soup.
"… It's not bad, but its taste isn't so impressive as to cause tears of joy. Hero, you didn't put something strange here to affect Green Cake, have you?"
"No! What do you take me for?"
"I take you exactly for what you are. I'm talking about what you have been doing for the last month. Many bandits came running to me asking for help."
"Ah! I'm sorry. I should have been more careful with them. I must have missed a few by focusing too much on cooking."
"Well… Haha. I'm talking about an entirely different matter."
While I argued with my best friend's wife, my son finished all the beef broth rice soup.
For dessert, he had the unicorn beef tenderloin, which didn't cause as dramatic of a reaction as the main dish.
Afterward, the time for evaluation came.
"Aunt Erdanti's dishes were impeccable. It's been a very long time since I of flavors, and I'm honestly delighted that you gave me yet another chance to do so. Please accept my sincerest gratitude."
"Hehe…"
"But I give my vote to the Hero's dish."
"Why?"
"All it took was one spoonful, and I immediately remembered the taste of my father's crude dishes, which he improvised using ingredients we found during our adventure together."
"Ah…"
"Aunt Erdanti's dishes were much better in terms of taste. You didn't know what I liked, but I felt your sincerity and care in all the different dishes you prepared. It definitely warmed my heart. If I weren't the judge, you would have easily defeated the Hero. I'm really sorry."
Erdanti, who seemed slightly discouraged, returned to her former state.
"Thank you very much for your honest answer. I love your honesty."
"You're welcome."
"Many people in this world lie in an attempt to please others. I would've been disappointed in you if you said the Hero's dish was tastier."
"I'm sorry…"
"Don't be. I do not regret choosing you as a judge. Weren't you happy to try all the dishes I made? I put my whole soul into it, prepared it as if I was doing it for my own child. That's why I can admit defeat. I cooked without considering your life experience."
"Thank you for understanding."
"Come again anytime. I want to keep cooking for you."
"If I get the chance…"
I thought Divine Dragon Queen Erdanti would be furious like a third-rate villain, but she humbly admitted defeat.
Justice emerged victorious!
However, the students who later tried to please Green Cake by copying my recipe didn't get good marks from him.
No one could replicate his father's style.
[Closed Topic] Beef Broth Rice Soup of Memories.
[Author] Green Cake
[Appendix] Culinary Duel.mp4
[Priority] S
[Closed Topics are usually used to shorten the time Heroes spend observing a certain agenda by sharing information about it, but today I'm using it for a more personal purpose.
This was the first time I saw someone cooking for me so seriously and passionately. It gave me a feeling of happiness that can't be described in words.
Today I ate alone, but I hope to feast with my father, mother, and younger siblings next time. It will definitely be fun.
Oh, I've also reached a decision.
I will kill the First Hero, who's holding the real Erdanti captive, by tearing him apart with my own fangs.
I hope everyone who watched the attached video shares the same feeling. Mollan.]