How a Hero Lives as a Writer

36 – Α and Ω (5)

The weekend before the cooking competition.

Auchlia was in a more raucous mood than usual.

ㅡ It’s good that the inn was expanded in advance.

That’s right.

As soon as the company confirmed the number of participants in the cooking competition, it seems that they decided that this would be the case and increased the number of inns.

If it wasn’t for that, people who pay to stay at private houses might have come out.

ㅡ Should we start too?

That’s right

It is necessary to prepare food ingredients to be used by the participants in the cooking competition.

Since there are only 200 participants in the event, the upper house must be smiling.

I went straight to the store and found the person in charge.

“This is the cost of ordered food materials, seasonings, cooking utensils, and venue installation.”

“Thank you.”

As expected, I am grateful to the merchants for proceeding on their own as long as they know how to pay.

I didn’t know in case you didn’t know, so I asked for a candidate report for the first step, but it felt like I prepared everything on my own without worrying about it.

According to the staff member’s explanation, she spent a lot of money, but it was new blood compared to the amount I received from Emma in her savings account the other day.

Now that I’ve come this far, I decided to go back after checking the level of management of the venue and food materials.

“This is the venue.”

“Oh….”

I followed the guidance of the staff and there was a fair size competition hall prepared.

About 25 people can cook at a time.

As planned, we can proceed in groups of eight.

“There are also seafood where freshness is important, so the cooking competition will be held over four days.”

“Oh, is that so?”

Looking at the schedule made by the staff, the schedule was divided into morning and afternoon.

25 People are divided into 1 group, 2 groups in the morning and 2 groups in the afternoon.

On the third day, the teams that survived the first and second days compete, and on the fourth day, it feels like the king among the 25 players is chosen.

There are definitely some dishes where freshness is important, so this is right.

I thanked the staff and checked the building one last time.

It was recently built, so the building is clean, and I don’t feel like getting food poisoning due to hygiene issues.

The preparations are complete.

Now, it’s time for the cooking contest!

***

I am a writer, not a cook.

Besides that, my mouth was the youngest to taste jjambab, so being a judge was an important task.

So, the actual judges were the chefs who were familiar with cooking on a daily basis.

I’m also sitting in the same seat, but it’s just a face to face.

ㅡ Is it because of the savory taste of the chemical seasoning?

Yes, because of the savory taste.

I am not confident because my mouth is pickled with modern chemical seasonings.

ㅡ So how is it?

… Delicious.

Honestly, I thought it would be hard to keep up with the flavor of earth’s chemical seasoning flavor.

So I didn’t expect much, but as there are no chemical seasonings, the original taste of the ingredients is alive.

“What dish is this?”

“A soup dish using a fish called Krasak.”

As soon as the word Krasak came out, the air around me turned bloody.

What is Krasak?

ㅡ Poisonous fish.

Oh, is it like a puffer fish?

“Are those ingredients edible?”

If you can get food materials from Oklia, you can bring your own to participate in the competition.

Because of that rule, this person seems to have brought a fish like a pufferfish.

“I have been experimenting with my own body, so no worries.”

What?

“It was okay because I have a healthy body that doesn’t get poisoned easily.”

Uh… There are other races besides humans here, so it must be something like mixed blood, right?

It was a bit embarrassing, but since it was presented as a dish, you should try it first.

A servant near me ate soup from my bowl and ate fish fillets to test for poison.

About 1 minute passed, but I didn’t see any problems.

On the contrary, he looked surprised at the taste of the food.

It looks delicious.

“I will eat well.”

There is a divine power anyway, and in preparation for an unexpected situation, priests from the Holy Land were also invited to this venue.

I won’t die from eating.

I carefully scooped up the soup and ate it.

“Whoa.”

… This isn’t medieval, it’s medieval fantasy.

To be honest, I’m sorry I underestimated fantasy!

I should have known since the time when dwarves made paper and understood the structure of a steam engine… !

I see this as a winning candidate.

The moment you drink it, your whole body becomes warm and your stomach feels refreshed.

It’s a white fish, but the soft and elastic texture feels like a real blowfish.

This is great as a simple dish, but I think it would be great as a side dish.

It’s cold here, so I drink a lot, but that’s good.

Everyone else said it was delicious.

Honestly, I want to eat a little more, but there are so many foods that I have to taste, so I have to restrain myself….

Anyway, this competition is a success enough just to discover this dish.

I thought so….

“What?! Grunt cooking!”

The chef next to me, who had an amazing reaction, opened his mouth wide and shouted.

No, what is a grunt?

ㅡ It’s like a plant monster. It exudes a sweet smell from its body and sucks up nutrients from creatures that approach it.

Ugh….

I can understand why people around me react like this.

“Grunt roots are nutritious and sweet.”

The cook who made the grund dish explained the dish with a confident expression.

The face of the servant who had to check the poison next to me turned white.

He seems to be hesitant to know what kind of creature Grunt is.

But what can I do?

If you can eat it, you should eat it.

With that feeling, the waitress put the food in her mouth.

Then he looked down at the dish again in disbelief.

This is a guarantee that it is delicious.

I carefully put the grunt dish prepared by the chef into my mouth.

“Haa….”

This is also delicious.

The stew with chicken is softer and tastier than the previous stew.

Of the 5 stews I’ve had so far, it was the best.

If there is a difference, it is the root of this monster called Grund.

It seems to be a food ingredient that exudes a subtle sweetness when cooked like carrots, onions, or radishes.

That’s why the stew has a deeper flavor.

Everyone seemed to have the same sensibility as me, so they all looked happy.

After that, it was a series of strange dishes.

Unlike Grund, there was also a dish made by boiling wood and eating it like a pancake.

It was more like a dessert than a dish, but I felt regretful that the sweetness of the syrup was a bit lacking.

“This thing… ?”

“The meat of the serpent.”

A dish that looks like an eel with wings like a dragonfly appeared on its back.

It had a texture that felt like a bit of tough chicken.

It was a mystical experience as a lot of unique and novel dishes popped out.

“Whoa.”

All of the ingredients used in this competition were fantasy-like.

If you think about it, it might be natural.

The reason people ate poisonous plants or fish on Earth is, ironically, for survival.

I would die of starvation even if I didn’t eat, so after trying to die of eating, it was said that it became a food ingredient.

I think people here probably have similar reasons.

It’s no wonder the chefs reacted strangely.

Because the food ingredients and recipes studied for survival would have been consumed only in a limited area.

In that sense, this cooking contest was already a success.

There are many things where the source of food ingredients is a little mysterious, but this will greatly improve Oklia’s dietary problems.

Of course, I’m worried because there are a lot of ambiguous dishes for nobles to enjoy.

***

The second day of the cooking contest.

I thought there would be a lot of unique dishes today, but this time, more ordinary dishes were more common than I thought.

It’s probably because the second day is full of Elven’s cooks and cooks from aristocratic families.

Because they were people who were in an environment where they didn’t have to find challenging ingredients.

Maybe we should split them into two groups and evaluate them separately.

ㅡ What are you going to do?

For example, those who presented unique dishes were delicacies, while those who pursued extreme tastes were like Mimi (美味).

Nobles most likely won’t eat the dishes from Day 1.

But you can’t ignore the purpose of this contest and choose a dish exclusively for nobles attending the academy.

I came up with this on the fly, but I think this is correct.

If the dishes on the first day felt like a hidden restaurant, the dishes on the second day felt like a high-class restaurant.

I continued the evaluation while enjoying the delicious taste….

Finally, I was able to meet Damien’s cooking under the name Ian.

“This is a dish made from plants that I have improved myself.”

You improved it yourself?

“The plant I named Ian after me. It grows well in the cold climate here in Oaklea.”

I thought he was a moody person, but he was surprisingly deep.

There were traces of worrying about resolving the food situation in Oklia.

I put in my mouth the gratin that Damien made.

This… !

ㅡ What flavor is it?

Mimi (美味: very good taste)!

… It is a strong sweet potato.

But sweet potatoes are weak against the cold, but they say this one is strong against the cold.

The sweetness seems to be a bit strong.

The flavor of cheese and butter, plus a strong sweet potato.

This was a combination that couldn’t be tasteless.

I didn’t expect too much from Damian, but he turned out to be a dark horse.

I felt like I would be mentioned as one of the candidates for the championship, whether I like it or not.

The same goes for the reactions around you.

The cooking contest came to an end after fierce judging.

The cooking contest was changed due to my sudden suggestion, but no one expressed dissatisfaction.

I was the one who held the contest, and I want to reward more people.

No need to complain.

It seems that nobility students entering the academy will no longer suffer from dietary problems.

The vague theme park was slowly approaching its completion.

And finally, Lady’s 4th volume was released.