Chapter 14: The Cooking Exam
[You personally witnessed the process of making mashed potatoes.]
[No matter what dish or ingredients, in Gawain's hands it always became mashed potatoes.]
"He did so well earlier, why did it still end up as mashed potatoes! Is this some kind of curse of transformation!?"
Faced with their bewildered faces,
Gawain explained earnestly, as if it were obvious:
"Perhaps because when alive I made too many mashed potatoes, it engraved itself into my Spirit Origin. For the rest of my existence, I cannot make any other dish. This must be what they call an 'Innocent Monster.'"
"Innocent Monster my ass, it's just 'Mashed Potato Monster EX,' don't go engraving nonsense on your Spirit Origin!"
Eikou sighed heavily.
Just moments ago he had dared hope in Gawain's dish—proving he was still too naive.
"Brothers, Gawain is finished. From here on, it's up to us three."
Eikou dumped the mashed potatoes into Shinji-kun's mouth, then scanned his teammates.
"Any ideas for dishes? Tristan, Oberon?"
"Actually, I don't really know how to cook, just slightly more self-aware than Sir Gawain." Tristan said. "But I can play harp and sing behind you, to boost morale."
"This is a cooking class, why would you sing here? That's just annoying."
Oberon suddenly stepped forward: "I have an idea."
"Oh? You've got a plan?"
"Since Emiya-sensei said we can repeat attempts, let's just submit the mashed potatoes. Consider it like buying a lottery ticket."
"No, that dish will definitely fail!"
Oberon gave a mysterious smile: "Leave the rest to me. I'll find a way to make the judges give high scores."
"You mean some kind of illusion to trick their taste, or Magecraft to make it delicious…?"
"Haha, who knows."
Oberon replied ambiguously.
"Just wait and see. I may not make food tastier, but I have many ways to boost the judges' evaluation."
This sounded way too shady—but unexpectedly reliable. He exuded the aura of a scumbag, but at least a trustworthy scumbag at Merlin-level.
Oberon carried the dish of mashed potatoes straight to the judges' table of King Arthurs.
"Sorry to keep you waiting, Artorias and the King Arthur from another world, please enjoy."
He smiled brilliantly as he opened the tray before their expectant eyes.
"Here it is…"
Besides the ugly mashed potatoes, there were also two 100-QP bills.
On them was written:
"I can also add 5 more QP, but that's all I have."
"What the hell are you doing, Oberon!" Eikou shouted. "Who told you to bribe the judges like this? That's filthy!"
And you can't even afford food but still think of bribing—trying to use 205 QP to trade up for 5000 QP!?
"..."
The smiles on the group of Artorias' faces vanished.
A minute later, Oberon returned, holding a red penalty card, dejected.
"…Negotiation failed." Oberon sighed.
"Of course it failed," Eikou muttered. "You tried to bribe the King of Knights with pocket change—seriously, who could you possibly bribe with 200 QP? Even I wouldn't take it."
"I miscalculated. If only Wild Boar Artoria (Caster) were among the judges, it would've been easy…"
"..."
Clearly, Oberon was useless too.
Eikou quietly rolled up his sleeves.
"…Haah, in the end I'll have to do it myself."
"Sir Eikou, are you really good at cooking?" Tristan asked.
"Not really," Eikou replied. "But I'll try. There are always more solutions than difficulties."
"I see…"
But just then, a stir erupted among the judges.
The Artorias all raised high score cards for the next contestant.
"French Queen's team, average score 89!"
"What, already someone scored that high!?"
Eikou paled, looking toward the judges.
[Besides the Britain class, the France class was also taking the exam today.]
[The team led by Queen Marie, though not specializing in cooking, won the judges' hearts with an elegant upper-class tea party. Not only the food, but also the atmosphere and etiquette affected the judges' ratings.]
[The French Queen's team scored a high 91.]
"Damn, the French Queen team again…"
Eikou still remembered how difficult they were last time.
Before he could say more, the Artorias raised even higher scores again.
"Fairy Knights team, average score 93!"
"???"
Unbelievable—even higher!
The four boys were dumbstruck.
But seeing Barghest as the representative, it made sense.
Barghest's cooking was truly excellent, especially for large portions and meat dishes, perfectly suited to please the Artoria judges with bottomless stomachs.
A worthy opponent indeed.
"Losing to Barghest isn't shameful, but for us it's still humiliating,"
Eikou said sternly to his teammates.
"Think about it: French nobles and Fairy Knights easily won the favor of the King Arthurs, while our Round Table knights don't even have a place at the table. Isn't that disgraceful?"
"!"
His words ignited fighting spirit in Tristan and Gawain—their eyes burned with determination.
Even Oberon, though not Round Table, burned with just as much desire to win.
"You're right, Sir Eikou…"
The Round Table Knights clenched their fists without hesitation.
"For Our King, no matter what, we must win!"
Oberon stroked his chin thoughtfully: "But how do we win? Eikou, do you have a plan?"
"I've thought of something,"
Eikou answered.
"I've decided to copy others' cooking techniques right on the spot!"