Cluna wasn’t feeling very good. The fact that everyone was preparing food meant she could monopolize the Commander all to herself. However, that time wouldn’t last long.
Helia had pushed her way in. The Commander, Hans, had personally entrusted Cluna with mediation. As much as she wanted to teach a lesson, this time she couldn’t do that.
Since it was a matter where Hans placed his trust in her. If she were to fail again here, it would definitely lower her score too. The experience she had built up until now was not wasted.
Thanks to that, Cluna reluctantly decided to exert her mediation skills to the maximum. The first thing she chose was fairness. An environment where everyone could cook fairly.
And she mediated the problems that arose in between as best as she could. Besides, the other members knew that if they caused trouble here, they wouldn’t get to see the Commander’s face, so surprisingly, they cooperated willingly.
“The important thing is the pure taste of the ingredients, right?”
Dragons, including Yuren, mostly preferred meat. Of course, preferences could vary from person to person. But even that was just a matter of whether to eat the meat raw or cooked.
Fortunately for Hans, Yuren liked to cook her meat. However, the difference from regular meat dishes was that Yuren didn’t use any seasoning and just grilled it as it was.
Thanks to Cluna’s mediation, they were able to procure decent food ingredients. So, Yuren chose a whole roasted pig. Cluna opened her mouth with a flick of her tongue.
“Indeed, I can certainly say it’s a dragon-style dish.”
“What’s so special about cooking? Just grill it over fire and that’s cooking!”
“Dragons might think that way.”
After all, it’s not unusual for dragons who directly swallow meat whole. Cluna thought so. Yuren lifted an entire pig and placed it on the campfire to roast it.
“Ugh, that’s barbaric…”
“You’re talking nonsense. The true flavors of the ingredients taste way better that way.”
“I sometimes ate like this back with the Beastmen.”
The dwarfs and beastmen who enjoyed their meat praised Yuren’s whole roasted pig. On the other hand, the elves shook their heads vigorously. Of course, being an elf didn’t mean they didn’t eat meat.
Changing the eating habits of elves, who have eaten only natural foods for a hundred years to several thousand years, was a very difficult task. Rather, Cluna was an unusual case.
“Mom, aren’t you bothered at all?”
“I’ve eaten plenty of that before.”
“You’ve eaten plenty?! How?!”
“When you feel like you’re starving to death, you eat whatever you can get.”
“……”
Cluna was definitely smiling at her lips, but the darkness radiating from behind her was very deep. Clara subtly avoided Cluna’s gaze. She regretted asking—didn’t want to get the backlash.
“Anyway, my cooking ends here.”
“You don’t plan to serve this to every table, do you?”
“Um, can’t I?”
“Aren’t we in a war?! And it’s been going on for quite a while!”
Giving a whole pig to each participant at the racial alliance meeting was certainly a luxury. To be precise, they could afford it, but with people starving right now…
It wasn’t good to indulge in such luxury just for appearances’ sake. Plus, the most important thing was the symbolism of the Royal Knights’ members preparing and serving the food themselves.
If one whole roasted pig was fine, they could fill the rest with chicken or turkey. After finishing her calculations in her head, Cluna nodded and acknowledged the food Yuren provided.
“Not bad. I’ll give it a passing grade.”
“Um! Thank you!”
“I also did proper preparation this time!”
“You’re… eating meat too?”
While Yuren had roasted a whole pig, Ruby chose to cook using beef. Dwarfs have been able to handle fire like a ghost since ancient times, and Ruby was no exception.
Making the outside slightly charred while keeping the inside moist—compared to handling iron, this was pretty easy. Above all, it was thanks to Ruby herself practicing her cooking.
Then, adding vegetables and roasted potatoes, it was finally complete. Ruby confidently plated her finished steak. Cluna pure admiration emanated from her—it was quite a dish.
“Your skill in handling fire is impressive. Plus, it seems the practice you’ve been doing all shines through.”
“That’s right!”
“But why did you suddenly become interested in cooking?”
“Th-That’s a secret!”
“Huh? You’re not saying you want to serve a homemade dish to someone you like… for some fresh reason, are you?!”
“Uh, Mom! Calm down!!”
Clara barely managed to calm down Cluna, who began to rage for some reason. Anyway, Ruby and Yuren had successfully passed. Now only Bayard and Clara remained.
“I, I prepared a dish that our bear tribe enjoys!”
“The cuisine of the Beastmen varies from tribe to tribe, and some tribes are known for their unique tastes. Bayard, is what you prepared the specialty of the bear tribe?”
“Y-Yes.”
What Bayard presented on the plate was meat—raw meat. The only difference was it was neatly sliced like vegetables and garnished with sauce next to it.
“This is a dish called Yukhoe.”
“Ah, do you know it?!”
“I had it once when I visited the Beastmen. If I remember correctly… it was probably meant to look down on me.”
“Don’t say that so casually.”
Elves generally don’t like meat. Moreover, serving raw meat on a plate to an elf was not just rude; it was close to an outright insult.
“But I enjoyed it quite a bit!”
“You ate raw meat like this?!”
“Yep, believe it or not, it actually tastes pretty good.”
“I… I don’t even know what’s what anymore.”
Clara, filled with confusion, shook her head left and right, denying the reality in front of her. Regardless, now only Clara was left. As her turn approached, Clara shouted loudly.
“The food I prepared is apple pie!!”
“Wow, it must not have been easy with the cooking tools. How did you prepare it?”
“You can do anything with sheer determination!”
“The cooking condition is better than I expected.”
The apple pie made with apples and dough was giving off a pleasantly fragrant aroma. Cluna nodded. She was worried, but she never thought she’d grown this much already….
Just then, the last person to submit their dish was Helia. Cluna was surprised when she saw the dish Helia submitted. It was chicken stew.
“What is this dish?”
“I made this for you before, remember? You ate it all without leaving a single bite.”
“Very good, you’ve successfully submitted your dish. Now, there’s only the evaluation from Commander Hans left.”
*
For sure, with Cluna, who had a goal, everything was moving swiftly. Hans never expected he could receive the dishes so quickly, just two days into this chaos.
But the problem came after that. Cluna gave passing scores for all the dishes. In other words, that meant the winner would be decided by Hans’s choice alone. What did that mean?
It was no different than saying everyone gathered here was focused on Hans’s decision. Hans swallowed hard and looked at the dishes before him. They all appeared delicious.
He especially never expected to see Yukhoe in a place like this, so naturally, he found himself reaching for it. Of course, he never forgot to taste the other dishes as well.
“Everything is good. I can feel the dedication put into the cooking.”
“Thank you!”
“Th-Thank you!”
“But the dish I liked the most is… this one.”
Yukhoe, roasted pig, steak, apple pie—all these dishes were delicious, but what finally moved Hans’s heart was Helia’s chicken stew. Hans smiled contentedly.
“You’ve managed to cook it much better than before, Helia.”
“Thank you! Teacher!”
“Ugh, it can’t be helped.”
“Well, things from the start were a bit tangled up.”
Surprisingly, everyone was in a mood to admit it. At the time when emotions were running high and interfering with each other, it was Helia who quietly went on cooking alone.
And above all, he found it shameful to show such a disgraceful image in front of such a young girl. Noticing that no one had any objections, Hans spoke up.
“Good job, Helia. Is there anything you would like?”
“What I want is….”
“Go ahead and tell me.”
“……I’ll tell you later.”
But for some reason, even though Helia was clearly the winner, she turned down the opportunity to tell her wish with a bittersweet smile. Hans didn’t know why, but that kept nagging at him.
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