“First, I really do need to cook something.”
“......Huh?”
When I said that—
Howard panicked and rushed at me.
“Y-you clearly said you’d stop cooking...!”
“That wasn’t the promise, was it?”
“What?”
“The deal was that I’d spend half a day thinking about whether there’s some other way.”
Howard looked at me like he couldn’t make sense of what I was saying.
I ignored that and started gathering the tools in the kitchen as I spoke.
“Like you said, I think I’ve been a little worked up all this time.”
“......Yeah, and you still look worked up right now.”
“The dish I’m about to cook isn’t something you need to stop, so calm down.”
“Even if you tell me to calm down.......”
Originally.
I’d planned to use food to put the people attending that meeting under my control.
But.
Since, like Howard said, I’d decided to take half a day to think of another method—
I had no intention of breaking that promise.
“You said you’re so good at reading people, didn’t you?”
“.......”
“Then use that instinct and take a look. See if I’m telling the truth or not.”
At that—
Howard studied my face closely.
“......Haa. I don’t really get it, but I’ll have to trust you.”
He still looked doubtful.
Even so, he nodded.
Heh.
Seeing that,
I just laughed it off lightly and started cooking.
Like he’d said, thinking of another way was good and all, but—
If I was going to think of another way anyway,
‘To think properly, I need cooking.’
For that cooking—
I took out the ingredients I’d stored in my shadow.
“......Huh?”
Howard saw that and asked in shock.
“W-where did you just pull that from?”
“Just think of it as ‘a place like that’ existing.”
“No, fine, whatever with that. What’s that in your hand? It looks like meat.”
“If you’re a chef too, you should be able to see it, right?”
I held the ingredient I’d taken out right up in front of his face and said.
[Frost Hunter Panteron]
[Freshness – High]
“It’s monster meat.”
“......What!?”
Shock spread across Howard’s face.
“S-so the shady thing you were trying to do with cooking was using monster meat......!”
“I told you, it’s not that.”
Ignoring his outburst—
I lit the fire in the brazier as I spoke.
“The reason you’ve never eaten monster dishes. I get it.”
“......?”
Food is something that goes directly into people’s bodies.
Because of that, using unverified ingredients in cooking is something a chef can’t allow.
It’s the mindset of a proper professional.
There are definitely parts there I should learn from.
But.
“In this world, only those who shoulder a certain amount of risk can move on to the next stage.”
“What is that supposed to.......”
“You said you still had food, so you’ve never tried eating monster meat yet, right?”
It was good that they pursued stability.
But thanks to that, they’d stagnated.
“If you wanted to move forward...... then even if you had to shoulder the risk of turning into a monster yourself, you should have tried cooking and eating monster meat.”
“.......”
“I’ll say this flat out. You might be a great chef, but when it comes to [Chef], you’re no different from some newbie who knows nothing.”
At my words—
Howard nodded gravely.
“......I see. So your cooking skills are the result of taking on that risk.”
“Something like that.”
......Maybe.
If I ever got the chance later, I might be able to teach this guy how to cook.
Conversely.
I could learn proper human cooking from him.
If it were possible—
We might both be able to drag the realm of cooking way, way higher.
Of course......
‘That’s only if we actually get that chance.’
Whether that chance came or not.
Depended on whether I succeeded in coming up with another method.
****
Anyway, like that—
[War Cook’s Calm-Emotion Panteron Steak]
“You really cooked monster meat.......”
Once the dish was done—
I put it in my own mouth.
‘......Huu!’
Then.
The mind that had been overheated with the urge to find my parents’ whereabouts was forcibly cooled—
And I could feel my thoughts settling down.
‘I really was insanely worked up.’
Only after forcibly calming that agitation.
Could I really feel how out of my mind I’d been up until then.
‘To find my parents’ whereabouts, I need the strength of the people in this [Association]. That part hasn’t changed.’
Once my head cooled—
My thoughts fell into order, and I could make calmer judgments.
I had to win over the people here—
And make the forces of each Branch voluntarily go after the source of that cold.
When I was worked up, I’d chosen that solution.
As [Special Sauce].
‘But, when you think about it...... they already have countermeasures set up.’
Thinking about it with a cool head—
It was unbelievably foolish.
‘Each Branch in Gyeonggi has at least three leaders.’
Like what Gang Jaeho went through.
In this world, it wouldn’t be strange for someone to be controlled or replaced by a monster.
It was a measure put in place so that even in that case, the organization wouldn’t be shaken.
At first, I’d thought, “Is that really necessary?”
‘Even if I took control of the minds of the leaders gathered here, if they start acting weird because of my food, the leaders left behind in each Branch could stand up and oppose it.’
Now that I was about to become the one doing the controlling, I could see it was a very reasonable measure.
To fix that problem, I’d have to feed food to all the leaders.
And that side would actually take much more time.
‘The fact I didn’t even think of this.’
I was just dumbfounded at myself.
Realizing that the method I’d been planning actually wouldn’t work—
That part was fine.
The problem was what came next.
‘What do I do?’
My job is chef.
Up until now, I’ve solved most problems through cooking.
But this time, it was questionable whether this was even something that could be solved with cooking.
There.
I remembered that man.
The words Howard had said.
—If you’ve got abilities like that, maybe there’s some other way.
Abilities like that......
‘What abilities do I even have?’
Sitting down on the kitchen floor—
I closed my eyes blankly and tried to recall the other means I had.
‘Methods that use cooking like Force-Feeding or Elemental Cuisine ultimately all end up at [Special Sauce]. That’s off the table from the start.’
But.
If you strip away methods that use cooking like that—
What’s left for a chef who takes cooking away?
‘......I see.’
Right as I was thinking that—
I realized.
That I’d been mistaken about one thing.
I might be a chef.
But more fundamentally, I’m......
‘A mess hall soldier.’
I cracked my eyes open and looked at Howard, who was staring at me anxiously.
‘His Skill set, unlike mine, was all °• N 𝑜 v 𝑒 l i g h t •° purely for cooking.’
Unlike Howard.
The reason a chef like me could fight at the same time—
Was because my identity as a mess hall soldier had influenced my job.
I was a chef and at the same time—
A soldier.
And.
Me, not as a chef, but as a soldier......
‘Come to think of it...... it’s been just about a week since then, hasn’t it.’
Had more strength than I’d thought.
“Hey.”
“......Mm?”
Once I’d reached my conclusion—
I spoke to Howard.
“Like you said, I’ll temporarily stop trying to solve this problem by abusing cooking.”
“A-are you serious?”
“In exchange, everything that happened here is a secret.”
“A secret......?”
“If you try to leak it, I’ll have no choice but to kill you. Be careful.”
“O-okay. But.”
Howard spoke, sounding puzzled.
“If I’m supposed to keep it a secret, you need to tell me clearly what exactly you mean by that, don’t you? Otherwise how am I supposed to keep it or not.......”
“It’s simple. The fact that I’m a chef, and that I was going to cook here.”
“Ah, that? I don’t really see why that needs to be a secret, but, hmm. And?”
“And...... what’s going to happen from now on too.”
“......Huh?”
Leaving the confused Howard behind—
I looked into my shadow.
“Come out.”
“......?”
That’s what I said.
“It’s time to work. Get out here, you punks.”
“Who are you even talking to.......”
Then—
“Yes!”
“Master’s master!”
From inside the shadow—
Two humans popped out.
“W-what the......!?”
Leaving Howard on the verge of fainting from shock behind—
“You two, as fast as possible.......”
I decided to pass my orders on to them.
****
“Excuse me, General?”
“Mm?”
Normally.
This meeting, which also doubled as trade between the Branches, would end as soon as the trading was done.
But.
This time, the Northern Branch had unusually brought far more food than usual.
Because of the increased volume, the trading had gotten a bit more complicated than usual.
Thanks to that, the number of days people from each Branch would be staying at Central increased by one.
“Since that’s how it turned out, there’s going to be another meeting between the Branch leaders today as well...... Is that all right with you?”
“Huh.”
Since they’d ended up staying one more day—
They were going to continue the meeting that had been cut short yesterday.
“I don’t know what good it’ll do, but.......”
To be honest.
Jo Beomseok felt a bit uncomfortable about that meeting.
The strange unease he’d felt from the monsters that had attacked them on the way to Central Branch.
Because of that unease—
He’d wanted to return to the Southern Base as quickly as possible.
‘And now another meeting.’
He couldn’t help wondering if there was really any point to it.
“But today is that day. Including that as well.......”
“Mm? Ah! I see.”
After hearing what the man from Central Branch said—
Jo Beomseok nodded.
“If that’s the reason, hmm. Then it can’t be helped. I’ll attend as well.”
“Yes, sir!”
What the man from Central Branch had brought up—
Was something that normally never came up in trades that ended in a single day.
‘Since we’re staying one more day like this, the dates ended up overlapping.’
Thinking it was quite a coincidence, he headed toward the central building where the meeting would be held.
He could already see people from the other Branches gathered.
‘......Ahem.’
Among them—
Was the Northern Branch leader he’d had a slight clash with during yesterday’s meeting, Park Junggu.
And the outsider who’d come with him.
“You’re here, General.”
“Mm.......”
“There’s something I’d like to say for a moment.......”
The moment their eyes met, he had a bad feeling.
Sure enough—
Park Junggu immediately came over and spoke to him.
Jo Beomseok shook his head and said.
“I don’t know what you’re going to say, but save it.”
“General...... don’t be like that.”
“Sorry, but I don’t think anything is going to change my mind from what I said before.”
At that—
Park Junggu spoke in a grave tone.
“Like you said, General, I was the one who supported the Chair’s offensive last time. I admit that decision was a mistake. And that a reckless expedition is bad, just like you said.”
“Well, that’s a relief.”
“But that and this are two different matters. If we don’t properly dig into the source of that cold, something really terrible could happen.”
“......Haa.”
With a sigh, Jo Beomseok spoke.
“To be honest, I think there’s logic to what you’re saying too.”
“In that case—!”
“But. Please understand. There’s a reason I can’t follow that proposal.”
“Sir? A reason?”
“......Hmm.”
Jo Beomseok silently studied Park Junggu’s face—
Then shook his head and said.
“No, it’s no good. I don’t think I can tell you that reason.”
“General......!”
“I’m sorry, but just know that I have no intention of changing my stance easily.”
“.......”
At that firm refusal—
Park Junggu eventually backed off.
“Aren’t you going to try persuading me?”
Behind him, that outsider stood with his arms crossed, just watching the conversation between the two of them.
“I don’t think you’re the kind of person who’d listen to my persuasion. I don’t want to waste effort for nothing.”
“Hm?”
Jo Beomseok found that unexpected.
‘I thought that man would be the one to come try to persuade me.’
At yesterday’s meeting—
The one who’d made the more persuasive argument had been that man.
His words hadn’t carried authority because he wasn’t a Guild member.
But inside, Jo Beomseok had nearly been convinced by them.
He’d turned him down because there was no helping it.
But he’d been worrying about what to do if the man came again today to persuade him.
‘Yesterday...... he came at me like he had some reason that he absolutely had to do it.’
But for some reason—
Today he felt a bit calmer.
Thinking that he wasn’t going to come at him like that this time—
Was at least a relief.
“Everyone’s here.”
Once everyone had gathered—
Yunseong from Central Branch, who was presiding over the meeting, entered the room.
“Then, as we notified you in advance, before we start today’s meeting.......”
In his arms—
Was something large.
“We’ll begin by listening to the Legion’s radio.”
“Mm. If we listen to the radio and there’s new information, we discuss it...... That’s what this meeting is for, correct?”
“Yes. That’s right.”
In a world where radio waves had been cut off, it had once been something almost useless.
But recently, its value had shot up dramatically.
The radio.
