Cecil's Culinary Catastrophe
Cooking is what?
It is the art of preparing ingredients with various tools, applying heat to transform them into a single finished dish.
Without any doubt, it is one of the most intricate creations in the world.
Pang!
Kkak!
...So, normally, when cooking, magical explosions never occur.
"...It's okay, right?"
"Uh-huh, I'm fine. The pot lid flew off."
The pot lid flew off, and you're saying it's okay?
I wanted to grab him by the collar and sit him on the couch right then, but the face that had boasted and expected things kept flashing before my eyes, so I couldn't do it.
He had seemed to have reached the 2nd Realm back then, so I figured he had a safety net or two.
First, I should focus on my cooking.
I pulled out the seaweed from the DMart I had bought earlier.
Just now I had confirmed that besides the seasoned seaweed, there was also something labeled "seaweed for gimbap."
If I had bought the wrong kind, it would have been a disaster.
I laid out some appropriate-sized seaweed on the side, and the ingredients... uh.
I should have started by prepping the ingredients.
Long, thin slices would do, I thought.
I should start boiling water for blanching the spinach.
While the water heated, I tore the radish into long, thin strips.
The cross-section looked square, but the sides came out like lines.
I sliced the fish cake and ham the same way.
The ham was lightly roasted without any oil, on a moderate fire.
The ham in the pan, and the water was almost boiling.
I had to be careful here.
I wasn't boiling the spinach—I was just blanching it.
I dipped it in the boiling water briefly, took it out when the color changed, and drained it.
Shhhshh-.
The rice was also perfectly warmed.
I took out the ham from the pan, and the gimbap was ready.
Clang!
"...It's okay, right?"
"Mm... I'm fine, but the cup's not okay. Do I have to spit it out?"
"What? You broke it? Move aside, I'll clean it."
"Eh, no way!"
The kitchen in the cooking studio had two spaces.
They also faced each other to cook, and I saw Cecil bring a partition from somewhere and set it up.
She must have wanted it to stay a secret, I thought.
I hadn't bothered to confirm it before.
"Shattered to pieces. Not injured, right?"
"Ung... I just dropped what I was holding."
The glass cup I personally examined—no, it had been a glass cup—had been beyond tragic.
It was so shattered I could believe a window had been pulverized in one go.
"Move over there. Just in case I step on any shards."
"Ung..."
The only saving grace was that it had broken in a corner, not on the path to the living room.
I stirred up an updraft to clear the large fragments, then used water manipulation to wash away the remaining glass dust completely.
Just in case, I even activated some anti-gravity magic, but nothing came out.
"Ow."
Hmm.
Anti-gravity magic might still be too much for me.
"I did clean everything up, though?"
"Yeah, yeah."
"Be careful not to drop anything."
"Yeah... sorry."
"No need to apologize."
I had volunteered to clean it myself, since I was the one who had insisted on doing it. I let it slide when she offered an apology.
Since I would be even more careful now, that was that.
"But... did you see?"
"See what?"
"What I made."
"I smelled it, but I didn't look."
"Hehe. The smell is fine, right? Since I took it into account. So it's okay."
What exactly was she trying to do?
I was puzzled, but I didn't bother to look anyway.
I had to smell it, but even that didn't give me any clue.
It felt like something from the old days.
First, I should finish wrapping the gimbap.
I lightly seasoned the rice with salt and sesame oil, spread it on the seaweed.
Then I placed the ingredients in a neat line and wrapped it up.
I had heard it was quite difficult even for beginners, but once I reached the 5th Realm, I could do almost everything with my body.
So one line, two lines... before I knew it, I had six gimbaps ready.
"...Is it too much?"
Sion and Bail were both going, so four people in total, but they said they had brought something too.
"Eh? Four of you are going?"
"Didn't I say?"
"I didn't say... "
Oh.
"Well, it's fine if a lot go."
"...Yeah."
I didn't want to be dragged along any more, though.
The main reason Cecil had become so bold was because she now had time alone with just the two of us.
Without Sion or Bail, she could do whatever she wanted without watching the surroundings.
That wasn't allowed.
It felt good, but that was separate.
Cecil was a classic glass cannon.
She boasted overwhelming firepower, but she shattered the moment you touched her.
Even her own power could break her if she couldn't handle it.
So, it would be best to take a little more time and approach slowly.
That was my conclusion.
...Now that I say it, it sounds a bit arrogant.
What could I do. This was my way of thinking about love. Please respect it...
"I'm done here. What about you, Jedan?"
"Ah. I just finished too."
In the meantime, Cecil had also finished her cooking.
I sliced the four gimbaps into container-sized pieces and cut the remaining two into larger ones.
From what I had seen before, she liked to pack a full bite into her mouth, but since her mouth was small, she couldn't manage it well.
So I had cut them from the very beginning to match her size.
Cecil rattled a little and headed to the living room to set up the food.
...That's why it didn't make sense to keep it a secret.
In the end, we would eat dinner together, so everyone would find out anyway.
Well, it didn't matter much.
I carried the plates and moved to the living room.
"Whoa. What is this? It's so round and cute."
"Gimbap. Dad's hometown food."
"Oh, Dad's here too? You're doing well for yourself."
Cough.
She came in with a bang.
Anyway, Cecil's cooking was... what?
When you go to a restaurant, there is something shaped like a semi-circle used to cover the plate, and I couldn't tell what it was covering.
"Want to guess?"
"Of course."
"Then guess."
Hmm.
Guess.
You made a mistake.
I smiled slyly and maxed out my observation.
I listed a few dishes Cecil could have made.
By the smell and sound, I inferred the cooking process and eliminated some.
Looking at the bowl size, it seemed like a medium pot, so I eliminated things that wouldn't fit.
The conclusion was.
"Hmm...?"
Unknown.
Could not be determined.
It looked like soup or stew, but the smell was quite different.
But maybe I didn't know that particular stew.
"...Stew?"
"Wrong!"
No.
Blergh, what is it.
I couldn't think of anything.
"Huhuhu. If you give up, you'll have to go to the dessert shop as a penalty. Are you sure?"
"...? You said you'd go anyway."
"Anyway!"
Well, I had nothing to go on, so I raised both hands to my head and opened my mouth.
"Give up. Surrender. I don't know."
"Hihihi, you'll be surprised when you see it?"
"Cooking, right?"
"Of course. You'll be shocked because I'm so familiar with it."
"Let's see."
Cecil boldly said, and after counting down, she lifted the semi-circle covering the pot.
And inside...
"......"
"How is it? Remember...?"
Bread, sausage, unknown vegetables, and emergency crops were floating. This was food you wouldn't eat even if given away now.
But.
"......"
"Um... don't you remember?"
When I was very young.
That is, before I was picked up by Luke.
I had seen food while wandering the back alleys, where a good day was one where I could at least fill my stomach somehow.
***
"What is that? Where did the meat come from?"
"An adventurer uncle gave it to me because he thought I was pretty! Hehe, jealous?"
"Yeah."
"Then you should have been born as a pretty girl like me?"
"If I could choose how I was born, I would have been born to parents who wouldn't abandon me."
"Hehe. Let's not say good things."
In my childhood.
Cecil had gone around with one boy.
I didn't know his name.
He was always called "you" or "hey" like that, and Cecil was the same.
The reason they met was simple.
Mutual aid.
The boy was quick on his feet and good at deceiving naive adults.
If there were no big problems, he could eat two meals a day easily.
He also fought well among his peers, so he was noticed in the Double Knife brother clan.
It wasn't because everyone agreed that a single man like him needed a wife...
Like just now, Cecil often ate something special.
It was around the time she preached at the church about how good deeds always return good.
Everyone said it was the priest's words, superstition.
But adventurers were people who risked their lives for money, so there were those who wanted to cling to superstition even if it was.
Giving leftover meat jerky to a pretty orphan would have been a pretty good deed.
At least that's what she believed.
But Cecil was a girl.
A pretty one, at that.
To be blunt, no matter what dangerous things happened in the back alleys, that was just how life was there.
The most reliable way was to go to the Double Knife, but like the street kids, Cecil had long since abandoned meaningless hopes.
Going there would only make her prey.
That was the point.
So she made a deal with a boy who was a bit strong in the area.
"I know you're good at something, and I know you eat two meals a day, but even so, the bread is tasteless, right?
I'll share the precious food I get sometimes, so protect me.
"—Something like that.
Actually, it was quite a risky gamble for Cecil.
Her only income was irregular, relying on uncertainty.
On the other hand, he could do anything he wanted to her if he just thought about it. It wouldn't be a big deal.
However, fortunately, he accepted the proposal, and this ambiguous relationship began.
"Eat."
"Ah, yes."
And now, Cecil sometimes regrets that deal.
It wasn't that she was unsatisfied.
She ate one meal a day thanks to the boy, her suspicious gazes toward her lessened a lot, and...
"Uh, uwaa!"
"I told you. If you catch my eye again, I'll break your ankle."
The contract to protect her had been carried out thoroughly.
But.
It was a bit different from what I had imagined.
Who he was.
A pickpocket if he picked, a scammer if he scammed, a fighter if he fought.
He was like a full-fledged entertainment for suspicious orphans this month.
And he claimed he had never done anything rough to a girl.
Cecil had long since cleared the flower field in her head, but she was just a girl her age.
Even if it wasn't a prince on a white horse, romantic love stories would naturally come to mind.
Of course, the boy didn't seem to think that way.
So it oddly didn't sit well with her.
At the time, Cecil hadn't noticed, but being ignored by the boy she liked was quite pride-wounding.
So Cecil used every possible method.
She flirted, cuddled, tried to be friendly with "I worked hard for you," and even swallowed the food she got as a special.
Of course, he thanked her, but that was it.
No rational progress.
That day, Cecil lay in bed and thought.
Maybe it was obvious.
It was hard to tell a pretty boy and a tough girl apart.
If I got a little bigger and time passed, that feeling would naturally sprout in the boy too.
So.
Just one.
Just one more.
If not, then give up, but take enough time.
And Cecil deeply regretted that thought.
For a very long time.
**Young Cecil**
