Tilea's Worries

I'm seeing human cooks for the first time.

What kind of cooks are they?

I heard the details from Gil-san in the carriage heading to the royal capital.

Originally, Tilea herself had been making meals for this Demon God Army.

At first, I couldn't imagine the top person making meals. Usually that's the job of underlings.

However, cooking was apparently Tilea's hobby, so I somewhat accepted that such things could happen.

I don't really understand human customs.

And apparently the subordinates were always embarrassed when Tilea served them meals.

They felt sorry for troubling their superior.

They seemed to say they'd make it themselves, but Tilea wouldn't allow it. She said it would be wasteful if amateurs cooked and wasted ingredients.

So the subordinates thought about it.

Then they should bring professional cooks.

A military council was immediately held, and each would gather excellent cooks.

The person who brought the most excellent cook worthy of Tilea's approval would receive this month's [Demon God Honor Award].

Come to think of it, Ortissio threatened with tremendous force, "Win even if you die!"

He must really want that award.

The other Demon God Army executives seem to be the same.

They're bringing capable cooks for that reward. Famous restaurant head chefs and popular cooks that humans pay big money to eat from.

These people are those skilled cooks...

I bowed nervously.

"Ah, um, nice to meet you. I'm Shiro, clan leader of the wolf tribe from Vegeta Village."

I, a good-for-nothing, introduced myself as clan leader and greeted them.

If Gau had heard, he would have widened his eyes and beaten me to death.

"Hey, why is there a beastman here?"

"Eh!? Ah, um..."

The human cooks showed not a fragment of interest in the word [Clan Leader].

If these were beastmen, they would first intimidate me to gauge my strength level.

Haha, Gil-san was right. Here, [Clan Leader] means nothing.

It's different from beastmen customs.

"You, can you cook?"

While I was confused and couldn't say a second word, one cook asked a question.

He looked sharp-eyed and intimidating.

"Hey, are you listening?"

"S-sorry. Yes, I can do it somewhat."

"Hmm, then what's your rank?"

"Rank? Uh, um, what does that mean?"

"Hey hey, seriously? You don't have a nationally certified cooking license!"

"Ah, but I've been cooking in the village all along."

"This is hopeless. Listen, only those with nationally certified cooking license A-rank or above are gathered here. Unranked people aren't welcome."

Hearing "unranked," the human cooks looked at me suspiciously.

"B-but I'm good at cooking."

"Good at it, huh~ Do you have experience training at any restaurant?"

"No. But I made all the village meals."

"Tch, that's all? Then you at least know the [stir-fry] [smoke] [grill] [steam] cycle, right?"

"Cycle... what's the point of that?"

"No good. There's one low-level guy mixed in here."

"Eh, eh!? But I don't understand what cycle means."

"Hey, we're professional cooks among professionals. Amateurs should stay quietly in the corner!"

I don't like arrogant people.

I'd be in trouble if I got hit. I quietly moved to the corner.

But cycle?

What was that person talking about?

There are various types of ingredients. Even within the same type, considering size, luster, freshness, plus temperature and humidity... there's no way cooking could have a cycle.

The procedures are different each day.

I really don't understand human customs.

After moving to the corner of the room for a while, the human cooks began cooking.

Let me learn anyway.

What kind of cooking do human cooks make?

I sat cross-legged and observed the human cooking.

Are they nervous?

That was my first impression.

And then...

This is too... ah, ah~ ah, ah!

Why... so terrible.

Thirty minutes had passed observing the human cooking.

I was gradually becoming unable to bear it.

Potatoes cut without considering humidity or temperature at all.

Wild plants boiled without considering size or luster.

The ingredients were screaming.

What sloppiness, what bungling.

Do humans pay big money to eat cooking made by such people!

Unbelievable.

A-grade ingredients were being ruined one after another.

"Hey, if we make bad cooking, we'll definitely be punished, right?"

"Probably. Knowing those terrifying people, they won't give lenient treatment like dismissal. Whipping, no, if we're unlucky we might be killed."

"Hyoeee! Seriously? How terrifying."

While cooking, the human cooks were cowering.

...Are these people really cooks?

The nervousness I initially felt was completely gone.

What I had instead was anger and disappointment.

No matter how much I was beaten, no matter how much I was insulted, I had endured with a silly grin to survive.

Because I was weak, because I was pathetic, it couldn't be helped.

But regarding cooking, it seemed different.

Haha, I had such emotions too.

Terrible!

What's the point now.

Of course you'd be killed for making bad cooking.

Had these people been cooking without risking their lives until now?

No wonder they could only make such tasteless, terrible cooking.

I cook risking my life. I put my life into every meal I make.

Grandmother...

Kind, warm, always watching over me.

It was grandmother who taught me how to cook.

She taught me, a crybaby and coward, how to survive in a village where might makes right.

She was a far superior cook than someone like me.

Even during famines, she magically cooked rotten things, poisonous things, ingredients that weren't really food into delicious, nutritious ingredients.

Grandmother was the best and greatest cook...

But even the most excellent cook has an end.

Grandmother's five senses dulled with each passing year.

Her hearing became poor,

Her eyesight became difficult,

Finally she lost her sense of taste.

She couldn't cook anymore.

No, that's wrong.

Even if she lost her sense of taste, she had abundant recipes. The experience accumulated over many years was indescribable skill.

Grandmother was more than sufficiently an excellent cook.

But still...

If only I had been competent.

I couldn't serve as grandmother's replacement.

The year grandmother lost her sense of taste, a great famine occurred around Vegeta Village. It was an unprecedented food shortage.

Rotten food, things that couldn't really be eaten - even those were lacking.

Every village was impoverished and fighting over food.

The village warriors were always in bad moods from hunger.

Even the clan leader of that time was hungry.

Just being able to serve meals in such a situation was a miracle.

It was a great achievement that only grandmother, who was a great cook, could accomplish.

But grandmother, whose sense of taste was paralyzed, made a cooking mistake with the salt that day.

And when the cooking was thrown at her for being tasteless,

Grandmother was... killed.

Ugh, ugh, damn, damn it!!

A-rank cooks?

Famous restaurant managers?

Who's the amateur! Don't mess with me!

These guys don't understand anything about cooking.

Grandmother, who was a great cook, was killed, so why are such terrible cooks getting honor and acting arrogant?

This isn't cooking.

They're just pointlessly kneading ingredients around.

It's unfair, unfair.

Tears are coming out.

Frustrating, frustrating.

The emotions I had sunk to the depths of my heart were swelling more and more.

You people don't even reach grandmother's feet.

Ah, I understand. I understand the true nature of this anger.

Such terrible cooks claim to be the best cooks.

They say they'll show professional cooking among professionals.

I understood by observing these guys.

The best cook is grandmother. No one else.

These guys don't have the right to call themselves [the best]. That belongs to grandmother.

I'll show Tilea, who said cooking was her hobby.

I'll show her the difference in dimension!

I'll show true, ultimate cooking!

"Hey, that beastman is insolently glaring at us."

Hah!?

"Leave him alone. He's probably sulking. More importantly, cooking. We can't slack off."

I came to my senses at the human cook's words.

...What was I doing!

Calm down, calm down.

That's right. I understand. This is just taking it out on others. It's not these people's fault.

It's the fault of immature me who couldn't serve as grandmother's replacement at that time.

Don't think about grandmother anymore. Thinking about it makes me strange.

It couldn't be helped.

If I made bad cooking even once, I'd die.

Hoo~ I took a deep breath and calmed down.

Suu~ haa, suu~ haa... yeah, I'm okay.

I'm calm.

That was dangerous.

I was about to make the same mistake as when Gau seriously injured me before. At that time too, grandmother was insulted and I showed anger following my emotions.

As a result, I almost got killed.

This is the harsh Demon God Army's base.

I must act even more carefully than in Vegeta Village. I absolutely must not show emotions on the surface.

I must live.

I seal my emotions in the depths of my heart.

Yeah, I don't care about others anymore.

I think they'll definitely be killed by Tilea if they make such tasteless cooking.

But I don't care.

Let me do my job.

I was told not to approach the kitchen, so I'll use my handheld knife and pot.

What about ingredients?

They seem to be in a box called [refrigerator].

Those terrible cooks would probably get angry if I approached.

I don't want to be hit.

Hmm, ah!? That's right!

There are ingredients that the terrible cooks threw away in the garbage!

The terrible cooks kept throwing away ingredients they didn't use for cooking, like eggplant stems, meat fat, fish scraps.

I thought it was wasteful.

Originally, ingredients can be used without waste. Especially with A-grade ingredients, there's virtually nothing to throw away.

I can sublimate even F-grade industrial waste into cooking.

I moved to the garbage bin.

When I opened the garbage bin, I could hear the breath of the ingredients.

Amazing.

As expected of A-grade ingredients. With this much freshness, it's sufficient.

I took out my knife and placed the pot.

I waited for the fat meat's surface to change to brown, then quickly drained the moisture. Then I ground up cabbage scraps and eggplant stems, mixed them with fish scraps, and boiled them.

After that, I watched the timing and turned off the fire.

Ei!!

I turned off the fire, added two pinches of salt, and it was complete.

[Fish Scrap Soup]

It was much easier than when I was in the village.

The ingredient quality is too good.

With the village's poor ingredients, I'd need thirteen more processes just to make soup stock.

Looking around, the human cooks seemed to have completed their dishes one by one.

They were praising each other's efforts.

Saying it was an honor to be able to cook such ingredients,

That they'd rise up in the Demon God Army,

That they made the best cooking and would surely receive praise,

They were saying carefree things.

Indeed, both the cooking utensils and ingredients were super first-class. However, if the cooks handling them were third-rate, it was unbearable to watch.

All were dishes unbearable to look at.

The ingredients were crying.

The human cooks' level was too low.

Only two could barely be called cooking.

One was an old man with a long beard.

His name was certainly...

"Mochikichi-san, thanks to you I could make the best cooking!"

"That's right, that's right. What's the point of fearing punishment! The chance to handle such ingredients is rare. It's a cook's honor. Enjoy it, enjoy it. Just enjoy it thoroughly and make cooking."

"Yes!"

Right, Mochikichi.

The cooks who had been fearing punishment regained their spirit through this person's leadership.

"How's this? My masterpiece [Flower Road] is complete."

"Amazing! What beautiful fried rice!"

"That's right. Those who control flame control cooking. Cooking basics are decided by fried rice. Remember that."

"Yes, as expected of S-rank cook, Taste King Mochikichi-san. Perfect fried rice."

"Of course. If I made bad cooking, I couldn't face Nielsen-kakka."

"I see. Mochikichi-san came here on the recommendation of that Senior General Nielsen-sama."

"Oh yes. I fell for that person's thoroughly stoic nature. My skills exist for that person."

"I see. We can't lose either for Myuhen-sama who recommended us. Mochikichi-san, it's a match."

"You guys, that's the spirit."

The cooks were getting excited around Mochikichi.

Perfect fried rice?

That's wrong.

He hasn't fully controlled the flame. Not all ingredients are cooked with the best fire. This fried rice is sixty points.

Mochikichi is undeniably still being helped by the ingredients. I wouldn't think to pay big money to eat it.

However, well, compared to others, Mochikichi's fried rice could still be called cooking.

Because the others are too terrible.

And one more person.

The one whose cooking was still decent was a girl with long red hair.

Her name was certainly—

"Hey, is it okay to be spacing out?"

"Ah, me?"

"That's right. You. You said Shiro, right?"

"Yes, I'm Shiro. Uh, um, you are—"

"I'm Jan."

Right, Jan.

She had been silently cooking without joining Mochikichi's group.

"So Jan-san, do you need something from me?"

"Need something, you... do you understand the situation? You seemed to be doing something in the corner of the kitchen. If you don't come to the kitchen and cook seriously, you'll really be punished."

"B-but I'm a beastman and was told not to approach the kitchen—"

"Don't worry about that. I was originally a slave too. What matters here is just cooking skill. Background doesn't matter."

The red-haired girl Jan declared this.

Her speech is rough, but she was worried about me, right?

I'm happy. I rarely encounter such kindness in the village.

"You're kind. Thank you for someone like me."

"S-stupid. It's not like that. I need to show I'm the best cook here. It'd be bad if someone forfeited without fighting."

Jan-san said such things while blushing.

"Jan-san, but it's okay. My cooking is complete."

"Complete—you barely gathered any ingredients."

"It's fine. More importantly, could you show me your cooking, Jan-san?"

"Sure. You can use it as reference, but the recipe is secret. For cooks, sauce is life."

I observed Jan-san's dish [Garagara Bird Sauté].

It was made by steaming the breast meat of the finest Garagara bird.

Steaming is good, but the skin's grilling is insufficient. The stuffed spices are also biased toward spicy. Moreover, the Shama leaves are too strong, making the overall balance bad.

This ruins the sauce's flavor.

At this rate, Jan-san might also be punished...

Punished and killed.

I thought it didn't matter if human cooks died.

But Jan-san, who was kind to me, is different.

"Jan-san, please immediately remove the Shama leaves on top of the Garagara bird."

"What? Are you trying to complain about my cooking?"

"Just hurry!"

"What are you saying that makes no sense? If you interfere, I won't let you off easy."

Ah, no good.

The aroma is being damaged more and more.

I want to make it from scratch for her.

But that would be against the rules. I can only give advice and provide emergency treatment.

"Then you should add anchovies and olives and steam it again."

"Anchovies and olives? If I add such strong-flavored things, the sauce flavor will be ruined. If you criticize my cooking any more—"

"Please. Listen to me. It gets ruined because you steam it normally. If you apply pressure and let the meat juices escape, there's no problem. Think carefully about the essence of aroma."

"Let meat juices escape? If I think about the essence of aroma—no, I see. If I apply pressure, certainly. There was that method for preserving aroma."

Jan-san understood my advice.

She returned the sauté to the frying pan and began re-steaming.

While watching that, I gave Jan-san sequential instructions for her cooking.

"That's right, then while applying pressure to the breast meat, do [smoke] and [grill] in a three-to-one ratio and sprinkle anchovies."

"Y-you say that casually. You've been demanding quite advanced techniques."

"...Advanced?"

"Yeah, it's absolutely impossible without the skills of old man Mochikichi or me."

Jan-san says that, but... what I'm saying is quite a simple method.

Really, I need to cook much more precisely.

Ah, I want to make it for her.

And then...

[Garagara Bird Sauté Revised] was complete.

"Perfect!"

It's a failure...

Jan-san happily shouted "perfect," but to me it's a failure.

The anchovy aroma is strong.

The mixture seems to have been insufficient.

Even though it's cooking I instructed someone else to make, this is the first time I'm presenting cooking I can't be confident about.

Ah, teaching others is difficult.

I understand how careful and skillful grandmother's teaching was.

Is there no time to start over from the beginning?

"Shiro, you saved me. You're good. I never thought my confident work would turn out this well."

"Uh, um, I didn't really... I couldn't help."

"Hey hey, being too modest is annoying. Anyway, I owe you. I always repay debts."

"Ah, yes... thank you."

"Hehe, perfect cooking. This sauté will become my confident work. Dryas-sama will surely be pleased with this."

Dryas!?

Jan-san was brought by [General] Dryas.

The person Ortissio called a damn staff officer.

Didn't Ortissio say we absolutely had to beat the cook Dryas brought?

Does this mean I gave aid to the enemy?

Well, this much is okay, right?

My [Fish Scrap Soup] won't lose to anyone.

I put the completed fish scrap soup on a tray.

"Hey, Shiro! You, that!"

"Yes, what is it?"

"What is it—you, that soup is fish scraps, right? That's failed!"

"No, it's not failed."

"Shiro, this is quite a serious place. If you submit a failure, who knows what will happen to you."

"Jan-san, thank you for your concern. But this is really fine."

"No, boiling fish scraps is forbidden. When you boil fish scraps, the stock gets absorbed. With your skills, you couldn't not know that... no, I see. You couldn't use the kitchen. You could only boil with your handheld pot. Alright, use my station. It'll be a late submission, but it's better than submitting a failure."

"Jan-san, it's fine."

"H-hey, wait. Is it really okay!"

Jan-san frantically warned me, but it's okay.

That's the completed form of [Fish Scrap Soup].

Then I killed some time.

Tilea was eating the dishes we submitted.

My cooking will be fine.

It's incomparably better than the other dishes.

If anyone gets killed for being tasteless, it'll be those terrible cooks. If Tilea is severe, Mochikichi will probably be killed too.

Jan-san's sauté is questionable.

I provided some emergency treatment, so I think it became better cooking than Mochikichi's.

But I wonder if she was satisfied with that level?

I can't bear for kind Jan-san to be killed.

If I could have taught her better...

I'm regretting it.

While sitting cross-legged with such feelings,

I heard footsteps running down the corridor.

I also heard Ortissio's voice calling "Tilea-sama, please wait!"

Could it be that Tilea is coming here!?

Not a messenger, but coming to complain directly.

Everyone tensed up.

The door opened with a bang and Tilea appeared.

A blonde woman.

Uwah, beautiful.

Beautiful long silky hair, distinct double eyelids, perfectly arranged features.

Surprising, so surprising. Tilea had such a cute face.

She's the sovereign Ortissio serves. I had imagined a more terrifying demon-like face.

Completely different from my imagination... cute.

However, that face is... angry?

At least I can tell she's very excited.

She's breathing heavily through her nose, and her eyes seem bloodshot.

Ah, she probably came to complain about the bad cooking after all.

Same as with grandmother.

That's why I hate those in power.

There will be bloodshed.

I looked down, imagining the scene that would probably unfold.

I'm not used to seeing blood.

I bit my lower lip and prepared myself.

It's okay, it's not me. I made soup that surpassed all the other cooks here combined.

I just pray it's not Jan-san's cooking.

"Who made this fish scrap soup!"

Fish scrap soup!?

I looked up in surprise at Tilea's voice.

No way!!

It's the dish I made! Why!?

What the tyrant Tilea, incarnation of power and destruction, was holding was the [Fish Scrap Soup] I had made.