Ch.60Ruide’s Cooking Class (2)

“…Why are there so few people today?”

Ruide looked around the empty classroom. The number of students had been reduced by half. Looking closer, he noticed the entire Swordsmanship Club was missing.

Hersy raised her hand quickly.

“Amelia and ten others went to the Mellan Mountains to gather ingredients.”

“??”

“She told me they would be skipping today’s class for that reason.”

Ruide had gone straight home to sleep yesterday. Having just woken up and come directly to class, this was the first he’d heard of the situation.

“…But skipping class to gather ingredients defeats the purpose.”

“What? Are we actually cooking today?”

Ruide nodded as if it were obvious.

Hersy stammered in confusion.

“B-but don’t we usually have breaks between practical sessions? The ingredients you requested couldn’t be gathered in just a day or two.”

“But I have all the ingredients right here.”

Ruide pointed to the mountain of ingredients piled in the center.

“…This was just meant for inspection.”

“You did well. Everyone gets three merit points.”

Clap, clap, clap. Ruide applauded and began sorting through the ingredients.

Cabbage, wheat cakes, red pepper powder, and more. It was truly perfect. Hersy was indeed competent.

“W-what?”

Ruide wasn’t sure if Amelia’s group was abnormal or if he was. Normally, people don’t skip class to prepare materials, do they? That would be putting the cart before the horse. But judging by Hersy’s reaction, this was truly unexpected.

“P-Professor Ruide? Shouldn’t we postpone this?”

Ruide imagined how Amelia would react if he proceeded with the class without her.

She would probably feel very hurt. Though Amelia acted tough, she was actually quite sensitive.

‘It should be fine.’

But being foolish, she wouldn’t stay upset for more than a day.

‘I just really want to eat tteokbokki right now.’

After years of bland stew and tasteless rubbery meat, just thinking about the red sauce made his mouth water.

Slurp. He couldn’t wait any longer. Ruide decided to start cooking immediately.

“Everyone, gather your ingredients and follow me.”

Hersy squeezed her eyes shut.

‘I’m sorry, Lady Amelia…!’

**

‘Tteokbokki without fish cakes is a bit disappointing, but…’

Ruide’s cooking class students moved to the backyard. With only magic students present, everyone had their own way of carrying ingredients.

Some cast physical enhancement spells on themselves to carry more.

Sophia honestly struggled, grunting as she dragged her ingredients.

Hersy used wind to slightly levitate her ingredients, pushing them smoothly like a superconductor.

Damon floated his ingredients using telekinesis, maintaining an arrogant posture.

“Damon, what happened to your lips?”

The noble former crown prince’s lips were quite swollen, as if he’d been biting them.

“The anguish of the absolute is always profound. Commoners would find it difficult to understand.”

“?”

Ruide regretted not turning on a voice recorder. If he relayed this exactly to Lucius, something very entertaining would happen.

“More importantly, don’t you have something to say to me?”

“What should I say?”

Damon silently nodded toward a sack.

The perfectly sealed sack emitted the distinctive smell of red pepper powder.

When Ruide failed to catch on, Damon clicked his tongue and said:

“This is an ingredient that only imperial personnel can obtain.”

“…Ah.”

‘Is he looking for praise?’

Ruide clapped his hands in response.

“Wow.”

For the record, there was zero enthusiasm in his reaction.

“Very good job.”

“Do you think I went through all that trouble just to hear praise from a brat?”

Damon subtly drew a circle with his hand.

It was a universal gesture, but in the Empire, it meant “profit.”

In other words, Damon was openly asking for compensation. Ruide didn’t dislike his honesty.

“Two merit points for the red pepper powder.”

“…Stingy.”

“Why do you even need merit points, Damon?”

Damon waved his hand dismissively.

“None of your business.”

Ruide wanted to maintain formal speech while teaching, but that decision almost crumbled just now.

“…Anyway, if you want more merit points, work harder.”

‘The power of being a prince is impressive.’

In truth, Ruide was quite impressed.

From what he’d briefly heard from Hersy, red pepper powder seemed quite difficult to obtain.

He hoped Damon would continue bringing difficult-to-find ingredients in the future.

“Now, let’s start cooking. Everyone, place your pots in front of you.”

Ruide also took out a pot from his spatial storage. He levitated the pot using telekinesis and heated the bottom with a fireball.

He summoned three water droplets and poured them into the pot.

Sizzle-

The water evaporated slightly, creating steam.

“Everyone, please follow my lead.”

“……”

The students stared at Ruide with blank expressions.

Follow him?

How??

‘As expected of Ruide. Cooking was just an excuse.’

Hersy began following Ruide’s actions with a tense expression. Unable to do everything at once like Ruide, she proceeded step by step.

“Hmm, not bad.”

Watching Hersy, Damon snapped his fingers. Three different spells manifested simultaneously, exactly like Ruide’s.

“Wow… as expected of his skill.”

“The imperial blood is truly superior.”

“Silence, worthless commoners.”

Despite his words, the corners of his mouth turned upward, apparently pleased with the praise. Ruide looked at Damon and thought:

‘So nobles call others commoners too.’

Come to think of it, they referred to ordinary people as livestock. Is this slightly better…?

Anyway, Ruide had used the magic without much thought, but seeing that everyone except Hersy and Damon was struggling to follow, he decided to help.

“Magic is confidence.”

“…!”

“Absolute certainty that you can do it. That’s the most important thing.”

The students’ eyes wavered.

They all had the same thought.

The help was appreciated, but wasn’t this a matter of magical power?

“Magical power is a shackle. It’s an obstacle that makes you believe you can’t do something. Don’t set limits for yourself. I can see it. You all have enough magical power to do this. If you can’t believe in yourself, believe in me.”

Ruide spoke with strong conviction. The students’ expressions changed after hearing his words. They concentrated intensely and—

“I-I did it.”

Most students succeeded. They had performed double-spell magic, supposedly only usable by experienced practitioners.

“M-my goodness, how did I manage this?”

They looked bewildered by their own success.

“The idea that double-spell magic is difficult is an outdated prejudice. With today’s optimized spell formulas, anyone can do it.”

Ruide spoke matter-of-factly.

Using magic is itself magical.

Logic intervenes to use more of it, but the foundation is human imagination.

Naturally, the more difficult a spell is perceived to be, the harder it becomes to cast.

Well, in the case of double-spell magic, it wasn’t just prejudice…

‘Shh.’

He’d helped them a little. He raised his index finger slightly to Damon and Hersy, who seemed to have noticed.

But not everyone succeeded. Just one person still couldn’t levitate the pot and create fire. Despite Ruide’s subtle assistance.

It was Sophia.

Ruide walked over to Sophia.

“I-I’m sorry.”

Sophia bowed her head deeply.

“Hand.”

“…Pardon?”

“Your hand.”

Ruide extended his hand.

Sophia hesitated slightly before taking Ruide’s hand.

Ruide let his magical power flow to guide her more directly.

“…!”

Clatter-

Ruide guided Sophia’s magic by letting a bit of his own flow through.

After just a moment, the pot levitated and a fireball appeared beneath it.

“Easy, right?”

“Ah, ah… y-yes.”

Sophia answered stiffly.

Ruide nodded and turned to head back to his position.

His eyes met Hersy’s.

“……”

Crash-

Hersy’s pot fell.

“Um… I’m not sure how to do this. How does it work again??”

Ruide looked at Hersy with narrowed eyes.

“Pick it up.”

“…Yes.”

Hersy dejectedly slumped her shoulders and levitated the pot again.

“…The cooking method is simple. First, add the rice cakes.”

With a rumble, Ruide poured in the rice cakes.

“Then add red pepper powder, fish sauce, and sugar in ‘appropriate amounts.'”

Hersy asked:

“How much is an appropriate amount?”

“I don’t know either. Just, by feeling?”

Ruide was the type to cook by intuition.

The students wore bewildered expressions.

“So there’s no fixed amount. I understand.”

‘…Damon is surprisingly enthusiastic.’

Though he seemed least likely to participate, Damon was quite focused on making tteokbokki.

“Add the rest of the ingredients and wait. That’s it.”

‘It’s a shame there are no fish cakes.’

The tteokbokki was boiling vigorously.

Making it in medieval times gave it a unique significance. The visual appeal was good. The smell was also excellent.

“It’s like the fires of hell.”

“A-are we supposed to eat this?”

…Though it seemed the people here weren’t finding it easy to accept.

Ruide was certain. They would definitely find it delicious after tasting it.

“Hmm. Now I understand your intention. Are you testing our ambition to endure this food? What a pathetic challenge. I will not succumb to a mere Finance.”

Damon was already jumping to conclusions.

‘That’s not it.’

Ruide decided not to correct him.

By the way…

‘I wonder what my sister is doing right now.’

Ruide thought he should take some for her.

…Maybe one paper cup’s worth?

**

Midway up the Mellan Mountains.

“Hold on a little longer! Our destination is just ahead!”

“Yes, Captain!”

The Swordsmanship Club members were engaged in unexpected mountain climbing.

Gilbert, gasping for breath, asked Amelia:

“C-Captain. Did we really need to come all the way to the Mellan Mountains?”

“Of course. This is the only place near the institute with year-round snow.”

Amelia smiled.

“Ice fish live in year-round snow mountains. My brother really loves those ice fish. At Windsor Castle, he would walk around with fish in his mouth. He was so adorable. Only those who have seen it…”

After bragging about how cute and lovable Ruide was for nearly 10 minutes, Amelia finally reached her conclusion.

“Since we’re bringing ingredients anyway, I thought it would be nice to bring fish that Ruide likes.”

A satisfied smile.

The Swordsmanship Club members all gave Amelia cold stares.

“……”

“…Ahem.”

They felt wronged.

‘Why am I even here?’

‘Damn, I should have known to avoid the captain when it involves her brother.’

She had suddenly gathered them at dawn saying they needed to go somewhere, but no one had imagined they would be climbing mountains to find cooking ingredients.

“This is too muuuch… Ame, this is too cruel.”

Irina, apparently exhausted, spoke while panting. Hearing Amelia’s explanation made her feel even more drained.

Amelia tilted her head and drew her sword.

“Do you have any complaints?”

“No! None at all!”

The hierarchy of the Swordsmanship Club remained peaceful today as well.