Chapter 201: Cooking ordeal of the Gourmand

We proceeded along the labyrinth in the solitary island.

Even though we’ve reached the third underground floor, no monsters had appeared yet. I couldn’t sense any presence of monsters at all even after raising my antenna to detect using the Presence Detection skill.

“There’s really no monsters around. Is it because it’s currently an unused labyrinth?”

“I don’t think so. There were a ton of monsters when I came here thirty years ago as Famiris and moreover,”

Miri breathed in heavily and exhaled. As if she was taking a deep breath.

“There’s plenty of miasma that promotes the birth of monsters so there would definitely be monsters nearby … there’s a chance somebody came by and exterminated the monsters within a couple of hours ago.”

“But that’s strange. If somebody was here, we would have seen a small boat anchored at the island.”

“That’s not necessarily the case. It is possible that they left before we arrived.”

Well, I guess that’s a possibility too.

“Onii, if you want to fight monsters, maybe we can deviate from the path? Even though it’s a petrification disease, it’s a disease that will take days or months to cause death so I think we have plenty of time.”

“No, I don’t have to go out of the way just to fight … ah, but are there any Lore Monsters here?”

Lore Monsters were monsters that will allow one to gain access to a job by defeating them in a specific way.

“Lore Monster? Ah, now that you mention it, Onii has the Boxer job huh. I see, you’ve defeated Roo‧Kanga.”

Miri recalled my jobs as she nodded in agreement.

“Miri, you know Roo‧Kanga? Oh, by the way, I heard that Famiris‧Raritei was friends with the Cat Siths.”

The Cat Siths pointed me to that labyrinth so it wasn’t strange that Famiris‧Raritei, who interacted with the Cat Siths, had conquered that labyrinth too.

“Hmm, there is a Lore Monster here but I don’t really recommend it. Since the luck element required is too strong.”

“Leave it to me if it relies on luck.”

I could raise my Luck by changing to Hunter and Philanderer. Previously, I could win in rock-papers-scissors against Suzuki who had the Saint Knight job known to have high Luck stat and I could also win at the slots. I’ve also never gotten a scourer as my dungeon clear bonus.

“Well, it’s on the way so I don’t mind.”

Miri said unenthusiastically.

In the end, we arrived at the fifth underground floor without encountering any monsters and Miri stopped before a door.

“This is the place.”

There was a signboard.

Gourmet Dining Hall?

“A dining hall?”

“Yeah, however, it’s not a dining hall for us to eat but for us to cook for the monster called Gourmand. Oh, you also can’t use dishes that you brought over from outside. The Gourmand will unlock the job for you if your dish is up to the Gourmand’s liking. And if it doesn’t like it, it will attack you. The job that can be unlocked is Outdoor Chef.”

Outdoor Chef huh.

I see, you can certainly call yourself an Outdoor Chef if you can cook up a delicious meal inside a labyrinth that isn’t outfitted with cooking equipment.

“Hn? But you said that there is a strong luck factor?”

“Onii, you still don’t get it? The other party is not a human but a monster. You have no idea what it likes right? The food they like differ for each Gourmand monster — if I must choose, it is said that they like cooking with strong flavors.”

“I see … heavily seasoned dishes huh?”

I started assembling a menu inside of me like I was in a cooking programme.

A heavily seasoned dish. I wonder if Chinese cooking will work? How about pepper steak?

No, the heart of Chinese cooking lies in the strength of the fire. Flames produced by magic would be too strong while the strength of the fire from a bonfire would be insufficient. In that case …

“By the way, Miri. You mentioned that you brought a large quantity of Japan ingredients and kitchenware right? Did you bring them along?”

Every Japanese person would know about it but getting my hands on it in this world would be difficult so I asked about it.

※※※

So that’s a Gourmand?

It looked just like an ordinary red octopus.

The octopus was seated in a chair at a table far away as it stared at us intently.

“It will become hostile if you approach it without cooking.”

Miri warned me.

I nodded and started preparing to cook.

To make the fundamental dish for outdoor cooking.

And, fifty minutes later.

“Sorry for the wait!”

I placed the dish on the table. The spicy fragrance spread across the room.

It was a dish that if one had never heard of it before, just the sight of it would terrify a person and it won’t seem appetizing at all but once they smell it, it would make most people’s stomach growl.

That’s right, it was curry. This time, I didn’t steam any rice so it was purely just curry.

The octopus-like monster — Gourmand stared at the curry before it picked up the plate and the spoon.

『Ge』

It placed the whole plate into its mouth.

Incidentally, it ate the spoon too.

After chewing for a short while, the Gourmand spat out the shattered fragments of the plate as well as the crooked spoon. All of them were covered in curry and mucus such that nobody would think of touching them with their bare hands. I assumed that it was a failure since it spat it out but,

【Job: Outdoor Chef has been unlocked】

I heard the announcement. Ooo, it looks like I passed.

“Since it didn’t turn hostile, Onii, did you pass?”

“Yeah, it looks like it was satisfied with it. Will Miri be going next?”

“Yup, even though this is the seventh challenge if I include my previous life, it’s all right. I have grasped the trends and countermeasures. This is my prided dish!”

Miri held her plate and place it on the table!

“Fried Crickets!”

She placed a dish of processed fried cricket (served with tartar sauce).

When the Gourmand saw it, its bright red face turned even redder and it spat out ink.

“Ah, you haven’t even tasted it! Onii, beat this guy black and blue!”

” … Em, I understand why the Gourmand is angry though.”

I unsheathed my sword towards the Gourmand as it stretched out its eight tentacles.

It looks like even monsters can’t comprehend Miri’s strange tastes.