Chapter 46: Loss

 

“Oh no, Arthur. The witch bought groceries and said she’s going to cook.”

“Master…?”

Rosemath, who returned to the inn, hurriedly informed Lucius of the situation. She said that she wanted to eat something delicious to celebrate her promotion. Thinking about it, she didn’t say that she wanted to buy something to eat. She never thought that would lead to her ‘cooking.’

“Have you ever cooked, Witch?”

“No. Not at all…”

When she was in the village. When she was traveling. Witch Bell never cooked. She waved her hand as if she hated cooking, and left all the meal preparations to Arthur.

“Then does the witch never cook?”

“Oh, no. That’s not it. Master… doesn’t like to eat food itself.”

“Huh?”

“It’s not that she eats, but rather as a way to extend her life….”

Witch Bell said. She consumes food and breaks down the contents into mana and absorbs them. Then there’s no physiological phenomenon. Hehe. Witch Bell’s diet was the absorption of mana in food.

“No physiological phenomenon…? That means she doesn’t need to go to the bathroom.”

“Is that possible?”

“I developed it.”

“Developed…? Yeah. A body that can absorb all the food she eats in nature into mana. It would be more appropriate to call it modification. Haha.”

They say she absorbs everything she eats into mana, and burns impurities into mana in her stomach.

“She eats to avoid death.”

“That… That can’t be. You ate it deliciously every time we packaged and bought food. You ate it quite deliciously.”

“That’s…”

Lucius thought of the witch’s words.

“The Master said…”

“If you’re alone, you don’t have to eat, but if you’re together, it’s lonely to feed her alone.”

That was all.

Witch Bell grumbled that no matter how much she ate, the mana she could obtain from food would be less than that of a slime, but she always ate the right amount at the same speed as Lucius, and they ate together.

The same thing happened after Rosemath joined. The witch barely ate.

“But you cook? Arthur, have you ever seen the witch cook?”

“No, I haven’t. I’ve cooked everything up until now.”

“Can I trust you?”

Lucius was troubled.

“I objectively think that I’m better than average at cooking.”

Lucius was a hunter. As a hunter, he basically knew how to prepare the animals he hunted, how to drain their blood, and how to roast them over firewood.

“The master left the cooking to him. At first, I was worried, but he just ate the dried meat I brought him and it was delicious. The food my disciple made was delicious. Please make this often in the future.”

And on the day when he used his hunting skills to treat the witch, the witch finished the meal Lucius prepared without any hesitation.

“I can eat just a little. You eat it all. Did you catch a chicken? I… can eat the breast.”

“Huh? Why the breast?”

“I like the dry parts. The legs? You eat both.”

No matter what Lucius prepared, the witch ate it with pleasure.

“It’s the food my disciple made, so I shouldn’t complain. I think I’ll be able to eat this much for the rest of my life.”

Even though there weren’t any proper spices or salt, the witch ate Lucius’s cooking without any complaints.

“The master ate my cooking without any complaints. It was all just grilling meat, and grilling more meat…”

“So you’re saying you’ve never seen her cook?”

“Yes.”

“You know this is usually the case, right?” Rosemath made a judgment based on experience, common sense, and preconceptions.

“Usually, in cases like this, people who can’t cook properly get motivated and end up ruining their cooking.”

“Master is not that kind of person.”

Lucius shook his head with a serious expression.

“Our lunch, can you eat it properly?”

“Sir, I’m sure you’ll make it delicious. I believe it.”

“Arthur, my voice is shaking.”

“Master isn’t the type of person to lie and say he’s good when he’s not.”

“What if he’s someone who believes he’s good?”

 

“Let’s believe it for now.”

Lucius had no choice but to believe it.

“Didn’t the innkeeper allow us to borrow the kitchen? There’s nothing the Master can’t do. He’ll cook, even if it means using magic.”

“Then, let’s go down and see for ourselves.”

“R-Right…?”

“Yes. Are you worried?”

“Oh, no. I’m not worried at all. It’s just that… the Master told me to wait until it’s over, so I’ll wait.”

“Will Arthur die if the Witch tells him to die?”

“That’s not what I meant, is it? This isn’t that serious. And…”

Lucius frowned.

“If the Master tells me to die, he’ll definitely have some kind of plan, or he’ll know a way to revive me, so he’ll tell me to die. The Master isn’t someone who would say something like that lightly.”

“Is the Witch really that trustworthy to Arthur?”

“Yes.”

Lucius confidently patted his chest.

“It was none other than you, Master, who chose me as the Hero of the Holy Sword among so many people. Since you chose me, I will trust you and protect you.”

“What a vicious person.”

Rosemath bit her lower lip and shook her fists.

“But I will tell you this clearly. If the Witch’s cooking is bad, I will go down and cook for you.”

“Huh?”

“There may only be vegetables and fruits, but it will at least be better than burnt steaks or things that you can’t even feel when you chew them. So…”

Knock, knock.

There was a knock outside. Lucius carefully opened the door, and outside was the innkeeper standing with a dazed expression on his face, carrying a wooden cart full of food.

“Excuse me, sir…?”

“Enjoy your meal. What an…envious person…”

The innkeeper looked Lucius up and down and clicked his tongue. Lucius was dumbfounded by the sight of the wooden cart full of food.

“T, what is all this?”

 

“One of your companions gave me a great opportunity to learn from them while they were teaching me a recipe. Oh my. Someone with cooking skills that would win a place in the Royal Capital…”

“Wow, the Royal Capital…?”

“That’s right. However, what’s unfortunate is…” The innkeeper shook his head slightly with reddened eyes. “No, it’s nothing. Enjoy your meal… sigh, please.”

“Um, why is the Master…?”

“He said he was going to make dessert, so the two of you should eat first. Sigh…”

After the innkeeper left, the two gulped at the feast of food that filled the table.

“Um, um…”

“…There’s more amazing food than you’d find at a restaurant in the Royal Capital…”

It was as if a feast of food would come out of a first-class restaurant in the Royal Capital.

“…”

Rosemath clenched her fists at the food that looked so delicious.

“This… is too much…”

***

Cooking.

It is the ultimate act of satisfying one of the three great human desires, appetite.

Back in the days of the Demon Realm, cooking was not my hobby.

However, when I learned that I could deal with warriors through cooking, I started learning how to cook.

The trigger was the annihilation of a certain warrior party.

While sleeping after lighting a campfire, one of the party members collapsed after foaming at the mouth and having a seizure.

The second party member was paralyzed and unable to move, and the third party member suffered from mental confusion, killing the second party member and committing suicide.

And the fourth party member, the porter, leisurely dispersed into the darkness.

The trigger of their deaths was food.

The porter was in charge of making the food, and he put poison in the food that the party members were going to eat.

If two people had cooked together, at least one of them would have discovered the poisoning.

However, the warrior party, which left all the miscellaneous work to the porter, had a great time together, and eventually got poisoned by the indignant porter.

Huh? If I’m in charge of the food for the warrior party, won’t I be able to poison them easily?

If I just mix paralyzing poison into the soup as a spice, I can take them all down in one go?

This… isn’t it great?

Through this, I became a member of many warrior parties and had a lot of fun poisoning them whenever I had the chance.

Warrior! That guy put something in their food!

Don’t lie!

There’s no way a guy who makes such delicious food would do something weird!

I’ll eat it first, Keuheugh!!

I’ve been caught. Gyaaaaah!! Warrior, warrior’s body?!

Kuhaha!

I put in the gender-changing drug! Now the warrior you guys loved is gone!

It’s better.

Everyone, attack!!

If you make delicious food, they don’t really suspect anything.

Even if they were suspicious, if you mixed the poison well or made the poison taste good, no one would notice.

In the process of dismantling warrior parties with food, my cooking skills improved.

In order not to be suspected, and to naturally take on the role based on the expectation that ‘she’ll make delicious food, I practiced cooking.

In order to prepare for the day when I would cook for Lucius’s party, I had to lightly appeal that I could cook in advance.

That way, later on, I could give her medicine without any suspicion.

But that doesn’t mean I can cook food from 500 years ago.

And while I was living in Normans, I quickly learned the method by borrowing a cookbook from this era.

No matter how much time has passed, basic dishes haven’t changed much, and rather, as time passed, cooking culture declined, so I thought that the food I made might become quite popular.

“I have to be careful.”

Acedia didn’t think much of it, but ‘Oh, this is the food served when I was a prisoner of the Demon King’s army 500 years ago? Whoever makes this must be related to the Demon King!!’

Some crazy guy might notice my identity and say that. So, I arranged modern food in my own style as much as possible.

Squeak.

I grabbed dessert and opened the door.

“What, why aren’t you eating? The food is cold.”

“How can we eat first when the teacher isn’t here?”

“You can eat first.”

“Excuse me, Master.”

“Yes, why?”

“Master, how good are you at cooking…?”

Lucius seemed to notice my cooking skills just from the scent of the food.

Oh, by any chance, that guy.

Is he protesting that I beat him up for cooking?

In that case, I’ll throw out the excuse I prepared in advance.

“Back in the day, when I retired, I was going to open an inn and cook in the kitchen. It’s an old story, though.”

“Huh?”

“I don’t have a sense of taste. I lost it.”

That’s true. After all, I’m an undead.

“Then, this is…”

“The innkeeper checked the taste, and there shouldn’t be a big problem. He said it was delicious.”

“How can I not have a sense of taste…?”

“Well, that’s it.”

“Because my hands remember.”