“...That I have to raise the status of chefs. What is that supposed to mean.”
“Exactly what it sounds like.”
To put it bluntly, if the reputation of chefs were properly spread in this region,
I might not have had to hide my Job.
In Gyeonggi Province, the status of the chef Job was way too low.
Thanks to that, the “setting” that I’m from the Inhuman Demon Realm and the information that I’m a chef clash, and I still have to hide my Job.
However.
“From now on we have to pour in every ounce of strength we have and don’t have. We can’t keep doing things the way we have been.”
Now, slowly,
we’ve reached the phase where I have no choice but to use full-scale cuisine.
“...I don’t really get it, but don’t you have the ability to secretly feed people your dishes, Senior?”
“That alone isn’t enough.”
[Force-Feeding] is definitely a powerful ability,
but at its core it’s closer to a power specialized for one-on-one.
It’s a power where I have to go up behind each person one by one, make the food touch their body, and then activate it.
On top of that, if I use the stealth-feeding method, I can only feed them something like a combat ration that I can hide in one hand.
‘If I want to apply it to multiple people, I have to liquefy it through [Elemental Cuisine] and inject it, and that’s about it.’
With that method, more than eighty percent of the liquid just ends up splashed on the ground.
It only doesn’t stand out because I can spread it over a wide area.
In reality, the efficiency drops sharply.
Food is for eating.
I’ve picked up a bunch of tricks via various Skills to make people eat dishes even in situations where they normally couldn’t,
‘but the way to draw out the absolute maximum effect of a dish is just to sit at a table and eat it deliciously.’
The problem is,
that to do that, I have to make them eat monster meat.
“Convincing them to eat monster meat... is that even possible?”
“Whether it’s possible or impossible doesn’t matter.”
Only one thing matters.
“We have to pull it off.”
“...”
I spoke as I watched his face harden.
“Remember what I told you before?”
I thought he wouldn’t understand what I was trying to say,
but Howard nodded with a heavy expression.
“You said that if you’d realized the essence of a chef a little earlier, that assault team wouldn’t have been wiped out so easily.”
“...Yeah.”
Seeing him give that answer immediately like this,
meant he’d been worrying about it himself this whole time.
In that case—
WHAP!
I grabbed his face and spoke.
“But the past is the past. There’s no need to get buried in it.”
“...”
“Speaking as your senior, honestly, I’ve screwed up and failed so insanely many times too. Regrets? I’ve got so many I couldn’t even count them. But...”
THUNK.
I bump my forehead against his and glare at him as I talk.
“I’ve never once repeated a mistake I’ve already made.”
“...”
“What about you?”
At those words of mine,
Howard let out a laugh like he found it ridiculous.
“You do realize I’m way older than you are if we’re going to talk about life experience, right, Senior?”
“...”
“But, well... it’s not like you’re wrong.”
SWISH.
He ran a hand down his face once,
and spoke with a much calmer expression.
“Following the path you’ve taken... that’s what a junior is supposed to do.”
*****
Right.
If they want to survive here, they have to eat proper dishes.
And that’s something a chef has to accomplish.
Except—
“Asking what kind of meat it is... you’re really a mean one.”
Not the Legion’s chef.
The Association’s chef.
“Why are you asking when you already know. Yeah, it’s monster meat.”
“...!”
“That one’s that monkey-looking thing, Panteron or whatever, and that one’s that black panther-looking guy we caught last time...”
This is what Howard has to pull off.
“...You.”
“You were trying to feed us monster meat?”
At those words,
“Hiiik...”
“A-are you insane!?”
even the people who had been drooling as they approached the dishes
went pale and backed away.
SHING!
The gathered Awakeners simultaneously drew their weapons,
brought their blades up to Howard’s throat, and spoke.
“From here on out you’d better watch what you say.”
“...”
When Howard quietly raised both hands to show he had no intention of resisting,
the Awakeners asked with tense faces.
“Why in the world were you trying to feed us monster meat?”
“Were you trying to wipe us out? Why all of a sudden?”
“If you’ve got some kind of grudge or something built up against us, say so. It might be hard right now, but once this fight is over we can talk about it as much as you want.”
They were questioning him like they were dealing with a terrorist.
At that, Howard sighed and spoke.
“It’s true I exaggerated a bit. But I never lied.”
“What?”
“I thought this battle was important, so I wanted to feed you. Every word of that was sincere.”
He looked off into the distance,
staring at the city hidden beyond the blizzard as he spoke.
“Everyone’s feeling at least a little anxious, right? About the number of monsters you saw back then... about whether we can really win like this.”
“...”
“Even if we give it literally everything we’ve got, we still don’t know if we’ll win or lose this battle. So I’m just trying to do the very best I can.”
“What do you...”
“I’m a chef. And... nobody has ever come to harm because of the food I made.”
Even with a blade pressed against his throat,
Howard spoke without a single tremor in his voice.
“It’s true I made it with monster meat, but you’re not going to turn into monsters just because you eat that.”
“Nonsense! Did you forget the Starland Mall incident!?”
In the past,
survivors fleeing from monsters had all crowded into a big-box mart,
only for the outside to be surrounded by monsters so they couldn’t escape.
There were so many people packed inside that the mart’s food supplies were exhausted in an instant.
In the end, when all the food was gone,
those who were on the verge of starving to death were handed a menu with only two options: other humans, or monsters.
Back then, the choice humans made was monster meat.
“Only after the Chair and Central Branch went all-out did they barely manage to wipe that place out!”
They’d thought they were raiding a simple monster nest, and there they found a journal.
Inside it, the process of people turning into monsters one by one was written in detail.
The Starland Mall incident.
It was infamous enough that there wasn’t a single Awakener in Gyeonggi Province who didn’t know about it.
“Which is why I said it’s fine if it’s a chef.”
“Fine, you say...!”
RABBLE RABBLE RABBLE!!!
RAAAAAAAARGH!!!
After that as well,
people kept shouting that what he’d done was insane,
and that he should at least explain his reasons even now, and on and on it went for quite some time.
“...Sigh, damn it. Of course there was no way I was going to talk you into it.”
Howard let their words go in one ear and out the other, sighed, and opened his mouth.
“You, what’s your level.”
“...That’s a rude question. Somewhere in the high level tens.”
“Yeah? I’ll just be upfront about mine. I’m level 22.”
“...!”
People’s eyes changed, a bit surprised.
They apparently hadn’t realized he was that high level.
“A warrior in the high level tens. You can probably pull off those superhuman feats you only ever see in movies without even getting out of breath.”
“Not quite to that extent, but...”
“Well, the important part is this.”
Howard said that, then—
GRAB!
“!?”
he caught the blade pressed to his throat in his bare hand.
“Think about what kind of world this has become.”
“W-what are you doing!?”
“It’s a world where a human who couldn’t even beat a big dog a year ago can now knock down monsters bigger than a bear. A world where even a barbell junkie would struggle to lift this sword with both hands because it’s heavy as hell, but now we can swing it lightly with one hand.”
SKRRAAAAPE.
Blood ran down from the hand gripping the blade.
“In a world like that, think about what a chef might be able to do...”
“...”
“Well, even I’m only saying this because I only realized it a little while ago myself...”
Howard said with a bitter smile.
“I realized it way too late, and I took a ridiculous amount of losses because of it.”
“...”
“I’m planning to make up for those losses from now on.”
Instead of pushing the blade in his hand away,
he pushed it toward his own throat.
DRIP...
The blade sliced lightly into his skin,
and blood seeped from his neck.
“W-what are you doing!”
“Stay just like that.”
Howard, still in that position, reached his other hand to the side,
CRACK.
grabbed a piece of the monster meat he’d cooked,
and shoved it into his mouth.
“!?”
CHOMP, CHOMP.
He chewed and swallowed the meat, then opened his mouth.
“If I turn into a monster... just push it straight in. Simple, right?”
“What in the world are you...”
As they watched him continue to chew and swallow the meat,
people braced themselves for the birth of a new monster.
“Damn, this is insanely good...”
“...”
“You people were stubbornly refusing to eat food that turned out this damn good.”
There was still no wavering at all in Howard’s voice,
and his eyes
were shining more clearly than ever, not becoming those of a monster at all.
It was a scene bordering on madness.
But—
‘This won’t cut it.’
Watching that scene, I thought to myself.
‘His spirit isn’t bad, but in the end it’s not enough to shake people.’
This is common sense rooted deep among the survivors.
It’s something we have to rip out by the roots.
It’s a completely different level of difficulty compared to my unit, where people just didn’t eat monsters because it felt creepy.
Just this much was still nowhere near enough.
‘...If only there were just one person.’
I didn’t need many.
Just one person.
Someone who could respond to this change
and shift the atmosphere.
If I just had one person like that...
But,
everyone was just flustered, not knowing what to do in the face of this sight.
When I started to think that, at this rate, I might have to come up with some method myself—
“...Mr. Howard.”
someone from further inside the formation
scratched his head and stepped forward.
*****
“To be honest, I still don’t really understand why you’re suddenly doing something like this.”
“...?”
“But even so, there are at least a few things I do know.”
He was someone whose face was familiar even to me.
He was probably one of Central Branch’s Awakeners.
“How hard you’ve worked to manage the kitchen.”
“...”
“How much you’ve struggled to make good food out of those dog-crap ingredients.”
While the other Awakeners were too busy surrounding Howard to notice,
he walked up to the cart Howard had brought, picked up a fork,
and spoke with a tense expression.
“And that a guy who’s as serious about cooking as you are... isn’t the type who’d ever screw around with food.”
“Good grief...!”
“Stop!”
Ignoring the people rushing over to stop him,
the man put the meat into his mouth.
“...Ghk!?”
And then,
his expression changed abruptly.
‘Dammit...!’
‘Are we seriously going to have to fight some other monster right before an important battle...?’
As people panicked
and hurriedly took up combat stances,
“W-what the hell is this...!”
“?”
the man who’d put the meat in his mouth
rapidly moved his fork and spoke.
“This is so damn good...!”
“...”
*****
CHOMP CHOMP.
The man kept shoveling meat into his mouth.
The people watching him muttered.
“...What the hell.”
“He looks totally fine, though?”
Someone other than Howard, who had been insisting it was fine, had stepped forward and eaten the dish for the first time.
And,
the change that one person created was considerable.
“Oh, Gyeongtaek...! Why are you suddenly jumping in by yourself like that.”
“If you were going to do it, we should’ve done it together. You really scared me.”
Following behind the man who’d gone first,
several people gathered near the cart.
‘Central Branch people...’
They were the ones who’d been eating Howard’s food longer than anyone.
And since Howard had been more serious about cooking than anyone all this time,
“Well, if that guy says it’s fine, it’s probably fine.”
“I couldn’t step up because I was too conscious of the people around me... but this actually worked out.”
The trust he’d built up over a long time
was shining right now.
“...”
“Those people look fine too...”
The murmuring among the onlookers grew louder and louder,
and by the time all the Central Branch people had begun to eat,
“...Come to think of it, Mr. Youngjun said he lived on nothing but monster meat beyond the Inhuman Demon Realm, didn’t he.”
“Doesn’t that just mean we didn’t know the proper way to eat it, and as long as we handle it the right way, it’s fine to eat?”
Next,
the Northern Branch people, who’d heard my story and knew about it, stepped up and took out their utensils.
And then,
“What is this...!”
“It’s insanely good...!”
As the people crowded around the cart all started eating with a crazed fervor,
the atmosphere began to slowly change.
‘Meat... how long has it been since I had meat.’
‘Awakeners might not die from a lack of nutrients, but... eating nothing but fruit and oatmeal mush every day does get old.’
GULP...
Everyone’s gaze turned toward one spot.
There had been an incident partway through, sure,
but he was still the one serving as this Expedition’s commander.
‘When I first heard it was monster meat, it made me feel sick to my stomach, but...’
Feeling all the eyes gathering on him, Jo Beomseok
muttered inwardly.
‘The smell really is no joke...’
He shifted his gaze slightly
and looked once at the ringleader of all this, Shin Youngjun’s face.
‘I don’t know what he’s thinking, but if that guy is just quietly watching, it must mean there’s no problem.’
He let out a small sigh inwardly,
then nodded and spoke.
“It doesn’t look like there’s any big problem, so everyone, go ahead and eat.”
“...Yes, sir!”
None of them probably realized it,
but this was the first time since the Association had formed in Gyeonggi Province
that a proper meal was being supplied.
******
“This is seriously good...!?”
“No, but why is there only this much!?”
The people who had initially only bristled with wariness at the phrase “monster meat.”
Seeing them put the dishes into their mouths with delighted expressions—
‘...How long has it been since I’ve seen a scene like this.’
As Howard watched that sight,
he felt an emotion he hadn’t felt even once since Doomsday.
“...Don’t worry about the amount! I’ve prepared enough for everyone to stuff themselves until their stomachs burst and still have some left over.”
Saying that, the man moved off to go get more dishes.
His steps were light beyond compare,
and contrary to the reputation that he only knew how to lose his temper, his face was full of a smile.
“...So.”
As
a meal began to be supplied to the entire Expedition,
Jo Beomseok quietly moved his feet and came to stand beside one man, then spoke.
“Is this really all of it?”
“Sir?”
“Feeding the Expedition... I’m asking what other operations there are besides that. No matter what, this can’t be all of it...”
At that question,
Shin Youngjun gave a light smile and answered.
“This is all of it, though?”
“What?”
“It’s not like I’m some genius strategist. You think I’d come up with anything beyond this? Feed them food. That’s the entirety of the method I came up with.”
At those words, Jo Beomseok answered with a disbelieving expression.
“What could those ordinary dishes possibly do!”
“They’re not exactly ordinary, are they? We used monster meat. You yourself were absolutely horrified when you first heard that.”
“...At the end of the day it’s still just food! I have at least a rough idea of the kind of efficiency a meal can produce.”
“...General, you really are a high-ranking soldier, right?”
“What are you talking about?”
“Well, it’s been quite a while since you were discharged... so I guess you might have forgotten.”
With a faint smile on his face,
Shin Youngjun clasped his hands behind his back and ◆ Nоvеlіgһt ◆ (Only on Nоvеlіgһt) spoke as he watched the people start to eat.
“If this mere sergeant may offer the General a bit of instruction.”
“...?”
“The core of strong military power comes from stable supply, and soldiers’ strength comes from nutritious meals.”
Jo Beomseok had said he roughly knew about the power of food.
But,
“My view is a little different.”
“...Huh?”
“General, you don’t actually know anything. But you don’t have to worry.”
As if to ask what that was supposed to mean,
General Jo Beomseok shifted his gaze to where Shin Youngjun was looking.
“Because from now on... you’re going to learn what real food is.”
“What in the world is that...!”
The General’s expression changed rapidly as he looked there.
“Heh, heh, I don’t know how long it’s been since I ate until I was this full...”
“Yeah—it’s been a long time since I had a satisfying meal.”
“Uuurp...”
It was no wonder...
because over there, already,
“Now that I’m full... I feel like I need something to help me digest.”
GRRRRRRRR... GLRK? GLRK GLRK!!!!!!
“Ha ha, you’re definitely right!”
[Joint Course Meal Filled with the Radiant Courage of an Intermediate Chef and War Cook]
[Course Name – War]
“Hunting stray specters is perfect as a bit of post-meal exercise!”
KIIIIIEEEEEEEEK!!!
The change
had already begun.
