Ch.370Chapter 370 – Beach Cooking Competition – 3

After the kidnapping incident(?) by Epitrina, the cooking competition began once again.

I thought it would have taken them a long time to prepare ingredients while searching for me after I was kidnapped, but surprisingly, that wasn’t the case.

“Ingredients? We were preparing them even when you were summoned by the Great Goddess.”

Apparently, a note had been left at the place where I was kidnapped.

So once they knew it was Epitrina who had taken me, they focused on preparing the ingredients again.

And above all, they had someone they could rely on.

“We left finding you entirely to Sister Hyeryeong. We thought that would be better than all of us searching.”

There was one person who was just as good at finding me as Epitrina.

That person was Cheon Hyeryeong.

The leader of the Cheonma Divine Sect, Cheonma, was exceptionally skilled in martial arts, making her excellent at tracking people.

Moreover, I’m not just an ordinary person without any martial arts training anymore.

I’m someone who received the internal energy cultivation method of the Cheonma Divine Art directly from Cheonma herself.

Thanks to that, my body contained inner energy built up through the Cheonma Divine Art’s cultivation method.

Cheon Hyeryeong was tracking me using precisely that.

“As long as you have cultivated the Cheonma Divine Art’s internal energy method, you can never escape my tracking.”

“That’s fortunate.”

At least it means that even if I accidentally touch something and end up somewhere on the continent, she can still find me.

Considering she was able to catch me falling from the sky, her tracking range must be incredibly wide.

Anyway, during my absence, all the preparations for the cooking competition had been completed.

“Now that all the ingredients are prepared, have you decided what dishes you’re going to make?”

“Yes.”

“You can look forward to it.”

They told me I could look forward to it, but I wasn’t entirely convinced.

‘Even though I have an indiscriminate palate, the food should at least be edible for humans.’

Four people who were good at cooking, and four who weren’t.

And looking at how the teams were formed, each team had one skilled cook and one unskilled one.

‘The skilled ones will handle the cooking, and the unskilled ones will assist them.’

In a cooking competition, those who aren’t good at cooking would inevitably rank lower, which could lead to complaints later.

I think they formed teams this way to prevent any issues afterward.

“By the way, I won’t be watching the cooking process, and you shouldn’t spy on each other’s dishes either.”

This was to prevent excessive competition from being too conscious of each other during the process.

What would be the point of the competition if someone saw what ingredients others were using and copied them just to win?

After all, they had already decided what dishes to make and prepared ingredients accordingly.

“Where will we be cooking?”

“I’ve prepared everything.”

I pointed to the various cooking utensils piled up next to the cabin.

When I opened the storage room behind the cabin, I found all sorts of cooking tools covered in dust.

They were even rusted, so I had to hammer each one with a rusty hammer from the storage to make them like new.

If I hadn’t done that, we might have ended up eating food with iron filings in it.

“You can use the cooking tools here, and you can handle water and fire on your own, right?”

“That much is…”

Each team had at least one person who could use magic, so there shouldn’t be any difficulties with cooking.

“I won’t set a strict time limit, but since we need to prepare for sleep, let’s make it two hours. Complete your dishes within two hours and bring them to me. Of course, there’s no bonus for finishing early. This is all about taste.”

The time limit was two hours, and within that time, the eight people in four teams had to prepare their dishes.

Dishes that would suit my taste.

“Then… begin!”

As I raised my hand, they fluttered their hair and took only the tools they needed from the pile of cooking utensils.

Then they disappeared from my sight, as the cooking locations were far away from me.

‘Well, I’ll wait patiently.’

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As the cooking competition began, the women of Patos had only one thought in mind.

‘I’ll make the best dish!’

They were determined to create the best dish and spend a passionate night with him.

In this world, cooking was considered one of the virtuous qualities of a domestic woman.

It was common sense that men worked outside while women took care of household chores.

Of course, professional cooks were all men, but when it came to home cooking, women were at the forefront.

After all, it was normal to cook meals at home rather than eating out.

Eating out was for adventurers who wandered around, vagabonds, or laborers working away from home who couldn’t cook for themselves.

Even nobles rarely dined out, and meals at high-end restaurants were considered more of a business affair than casual dining.

Therefore, for women, “cooking” was a way to showcase their feminine charm.

The ingredients they had prepared were incredibly diverse.

From basic grains, fruits, vegetables, meats, and fish to rare specialties that could only be obtained here or from somewhat distant places.

The quantity was enormous for dishes meant for just one person.

This was because each of them planned to make different dishes.

“Can you handle preparing the ingredients well?”

“Yes, sister. It’s no different from preparing ingredients for alchemy.”

Regina and Emelda were planning to make “Korean cuisine.”

When Patos was at the academy, all his meals were prepared by Regina.

She had occasionally made Korean food at his request, and it suited his taste perfectly.

It was a cuisine that only Regina could attempt, something others couldn’t do.

In particular, she had recruited Emelda for this cooking competition specifically to make “that.”

‘Patos will be so happy when he sees food with this ingredient.’

Regina smiled, imagining how Patos would react to her dish.

Meanwhile, Cheon Hyeryeong was busy stir-frying something with Aisen.

“The heat must not weaken. You need to create an even hotter fire.”

“Yes!”

Cheon Hyeryeong was preparing a full course of Eastern Continent cuisine.

From Patos’s perspective, these would be what he called “Chinese cuisine.”

For dishes that required stir-frying, deep-frying, or steaming, the most important thing was controlling the heat.

So instead of using her Sammaejinhwa to create fire, Cheon Hyeryeong chose magic that made it easier to control the flame’s intensity.

‘I’m glad I can be of help like this.’

Although Aisen had suddenly become a stove, rather than lamenting her situation, she was grateful to be involved at all.

“Lady Karen. Food is all about sincerity. No matter what dish you make, without sincerity and love, it won’t taste good.”

“But isn’t this too simple?”

Eterna and Karen were chatting while preparing ingredients.

They were making a “meat soup,” one of the dishes often prepared for poverty relief.

Unlike thick and rich stews, this was meant to provide nutrition to many people, so it had clear broth with plenty of solid ingredients.

“Not at all. This requires simple ingredient preparation, but it needs to be boiled in large quantities.”

“I see…”

Of course, the amount they were planning to make filled an entire large pot.

This was enough for about 30 servings, but neither Eterna, who was used to cooking in bulk, nor Karen, who had experience with large-scale cooking, found this strange.

While those two were cooking in bulk, Elena and Mina were taking a slightly different approach.

“Elena, what do you think is Patos’s favorite food?”

“Since it’s summer, wouldn’t he like something sweet and cool?”

“That’s right.”

Elena and Mina had chosen to make sweet and refreshing desserts.

Mina had learned cooking from helping her mother at home and from working at a place during her brief time away from the academy.

She was particularly skilled at making desserts, and what she was planning to make now was a type of dessert called “ice cream.”

“Aren’t there any other sweet and cool foods besides ice cream?”

“It’s only sold in the capital or at the academy. Wouldn’t it be perfect for a resort like this?”

“You’re going for the surprise factor? That sounds good.”

So Elena and Mina began making ice cream using magic.

Two hours is too long for simple dishes.

However, it’s also too short for labor-intensive, heartfelt cooking.

“Well, now that two hours have passed, let’s begin the judging.”

And finally, the much-anticipated judging time arrived.