Volume 24 - CH 37

In the northwestern grazing country of Toran, we are engaged in a fierce battle over precious sugar.

It's not a battle, but a cooking competition.

Today is also the birthday of the royal family of this country, the Baan-Toran royal brothers, who are said to have a sweet tooth, but the trouble is that Serina has used all of her bargaining power to buy up all of the sugar here, so we are forced to face off.

Of course, we've got Cerberus, the watchdog of hell, coming up next, for our fourth trial.

Cerberus is also said to have a sweet tooth, so we'll have to win this one to get our hands on some sugar.

So far, I'd say it's been a close game between the two of us.

The average score is in our favor, but unless the king's little brother himself admit it, we will not be able to win the match.

The fourth assassin(contestant) from the Kingdom of Vernia is Fianna, a homely clergywoman with kind sky-blue eyes.

At this point, I was already convinced of victory.

She is a woman who is always attentive to the physical condition of everyone in the party.

I'm sure her food will be fine and tasty.

However, ...... hmmm, come to think of it, I haven't had one of her homemade dishes yet.

Today is a good opportunity.

「Baan, you better be prepared for her cooking. She's a good woman.」

I was a little proud of myself, but I had to check him out.

「Houuh」

「Please stop it, Alec-san. It's embarrassing. ......」

Fianna's embarrassment is cute, but now, the plate she's prepared――

Hmm?

Hmmm?

There is something squishy and hard to describe on the plate. ......

「Fianna, what is this?」

The pastry was unfamiliar to me, so I asked for an explanation.

「Yes, I've heard of doughnuts from Serina-san, so I made them.」

But no matter how you look at it, it doesn't look like a doughnut. If I had to compare it to a doughnut, I would say it was a soft-serve ice cream with green tentacles growing out of it.

.............

「Did you explain it to her properly, Serina?」

「Y-yes. I even drew a picture and gave the recipe to Fianna. ......」

Serina also looks doubtful, but there must have been some mistake. She's also good at drawing. I can only assume that there was some kind of slight mistake that we didn't know about. ...... Ummm.

「I know it doesn't look good, but I hope it's edible. What are the ingredients?

The king's little brother seemed to feel uncomfortable and asked with a frown on his face.

「Yes, I added flour, sugar, milk, eggs, a little salt, and baking powder (baking soda) as written in Serina's recipe.」

「Mumurhh, no, but this color is――」

When I heard the ingredients, it became even more puzzling. How can green be produced with the ingredients she have now?

「Oh, and I added green shiso for flavor, sweet vinegar and cucumber slices for health.」

All the mysteries were solved.

「Ehh? Fianna, did you put vegetables in the pastry!?」

「Yes, I did. Look, there are pumpkin pies, right? The children at the orphanage would be happy to eat vegetables in that, fufu」

It's true that there are sweets made from vegetables. But I've never heard of cucumbers being made into sweets.

「Anyway, it's all about the taste. It doesn't matter if it's healthy or not, if it doesn't taste good, it's not a snack!」

The King's little brother made a good argument and ate the self-proclaimed doughnut in one big bite.

「Ugh!」

He puffed out his cheeks and his eyes peeled back, but this is obviously not a good reaction.

I said to him as he tried to reverse the situation.

「Don't throw up. You're in the middle of a public place, and as royalty, you'll have to behave in the least.」

「Gugu, you bastard, King Vernia. ......」

They glare at me with bloodshot eyes, but it's because you eat them all at once.

Well, maybe it's because I recommended it so confidently. ...... Forgive me.

「Um, did it not suit your palate? I wonder if I put to much salt in it. ......」

「Oh no, Fianna, did you serve it without tasting it first? That's the number one mistake that beginners who are not good at cooking tend to make.」

Saki shrugged, but there's another rule of thumb for beginners: don't try to follow the recipe.

I took a quick ...... taste of the creepy cucumber doughnut.

The uncooked cucumber and the dough gave off an unpleasant taste that made me want to throw up.

「Phew, Fianna, next time serve the cucumber vinegar and doughnuts separately. You don't have to mix them. It's the same thing if you eat them separately.」

「Yes, I will. ...... Ugh, this taste! Uuhhh.」

Fianna held her mouth after tasting it herself, but she's a someone who doesn't make the same mistakes, so she should be fine now.

「I'll teach you how to cook next time.」

Serina said with a wry smile.

「Okay, thank you very much, Serina-san.」

That made the atmosphere warm and cozy, but...

「Hmph, what kind of thinking is it to bring an amateur to this place? King Vernia, that's a negative ten points!」

As you can see, the King's little brother of the Toran can't seem to get over his annoyance.

「I apologize for that. But - Saki, you can do it, right?」

I ask the black-haired girl who is watching with a fearless smile on her face.

「Of course! If I lose, I'll be giving up the virginity of one of my friends, the situation is at a complete disadvantage, and it's the perfect scene for the true hero to appear. Darling, you should see this. I'll give you the most beautiful virgin in the Toran.」

「I'm counting on you.」

「That's a lot of confidence. But if you lose, I'll take that girl.」

The girl that the King's little brother of Toran pointed to while glaring at her.

That's――

「What! ME!? No-no-no. Sure, I'm a virgin, but, Ehh? But there are so many other girls here!」

Yuria was in a panic, but I guess she didn't realize that I was already having sex with all the other girls.

「Don't worry about it, Yuria. There is no such thing as defeat in my dictionary.」

「No, no, no, it's just that your dictionary is defective!」

Saki laughed at Yulia's serious and misguided comment, snapped her fingers, and had the Toran officials bring out the plates.

「We have prepared two dishes. Whether you cry or laugh, this is the last dish. Now, everyone, let's have a hearty meal! Let's compete!」