Elysion Online ~The Dragonewt and The Summoner~

I'm currently on my way to the event hall of a high-class restaurant, the venue for the cooking contest battle. Lily and the others are spoiled. Apparently, it's because of what happened earlier.

"Ehehe~. Takuto earlier was really cool"

"Yes. He was very nice"

"That's Takuto-sama"

The three of them hugged me while saying that, making it difficult to walk. Also, I feel like the stares of the people around me are hurting.

"But Takuto, are you okay?"

"I'm fine"

I feel like the chefs who have been teaching me how to cook part-time are saying that to me. They want me to beat him to a pulp.

"I believe in your cooking skills, Takuto-san"

"What are your odds?"

"Hmm? But I'm already convinced of victory"

When I said that, the three of them gave me a question mark.

"Are you sure you will win when you have no chance of winning?"

"Yeah. Well, you'll just have to wait and see"

I said that and we arrived at the venue.

We entered the store and headed for the event platform. When I entered the venue, there were ten chefs acting as judges. I greeted each of them, got their permission and looked at the ingredients on display. We had real vegetables, meat, fish, and seasonings. There were no curry roux, powdered soup stock, dipping sauce, dressing or consommé ingredients. If I want to use these, I guess I'll have to make them myself. It seems like this cooking battle is a real battle using real ingredients. There's so much here, it's worth the effort.

And they even have all the cooking utensils. Amazing...there's even a cooking stove and a rice bowl...even though there's a rice cooker...there's even a real gas griddle, a crepe cooker and a takoyaki (octopus dumpling) cooker. It's got everything. Wow, I've never seen anything like this on TV.

After I finished checking everything, the handsome blond man came into the hall. Then the first male judge introduced himself.

“Once again, I am Glass, a five-star chef from the gastronomic town Donos. On behalf of the judges, I would like to explain the rules of this cooking contest battle”

Donos, the city of gastronomy...probably taken from the real San Sebastian in Spain. The name of this place is called Donostia by the locals, according to an Italian brother who took care of me when I was working part-time at an Italian restaurant.

Still, I've never heard the name of a town other than the town of Fasto. As a cook, I'm a little curious about this town. While I was thinking about this, the brass chef continued his explanation.

"First of all, each judge will have ten points to judge the dishes. Each of you will be judged on the appearance, taste and originality of your dishes. I expect both of you to present dishes that you are not ashamed of as chefs"

"Yes"

"Leave it to me"

After we replied, the explanation of the rules continued.

"There will be five types of dishes: salad, soup, meat, fish and dessert. We'll take turns serving each other one dish at a time. Since this is the first time for Takuto-san, is it okay to serve it later?"

"That would be great"

"Huh. I'll show you the difference in quality"

"...Then, since you're both okay with that, Takuto-san will be the rear attacker"

It's been a while now...and the chefs around me changed the atmosphere for a moment. After all, what you should check is that you are checking firmly.

"You can use any of these ingredients you like. There is no time limit. This time we have prepared a special item that allows you to pass time at will. Please feel free to use it"

Hee, this is an interesting item. I'd like to have it. It means I can use it to make fish sauce right away, right? Too convenient.

"That's it for the explanation. Do you have any questions?"

I raise my hand.

"May I ask you a question?"

"Sure"

"Can you give me a clear definition of what you mean by 「Cuisine」?"

For example, curry rice. If you define it as a soup, I would like to know the criteria.

"I see. The basic requirement is that the main course must be suitable for the dish. For example, a salad can have a small amount of fish slices in it, but if the main dish is a salad, then the dish is a salad. On the other hand, if fish is the main dish and vegetables are used for garnish, then it is a fish dish.

"What about vegetable soup?"

"Yes, it contains a lot of vegetables, but it is only a soup, so in that case it is a soup. If you ask me which category the dish will be classified as, we will make a decision each time. So please don't worry about your skills"

"I see. Thank you very much"

"Do you have any other questions?"

"It's fine"

"No"

"We will now begin the cooking contest battle"

And so the cooking contest battle began.