Chapter 275: Today's Cooking Class
Chapter 275: Today's Cooking Class
Early morning, when the chirping of birds dominated the house.
Seated in the Dining Hall, I stared blankly at the pile of Blue Leaves stacked before me.
I had come out here with a firm resolve, but seeing them in person, only one thought came to mind.
Why am I doing this?
It wasn't enough that I’d woken up early; the reason I was standing in the kitchen for the first time in ages was for someone else's sake.
I felt like I had to do it, which is why I was preparing all this, but wasn't Un-ho living a bit too luxuriously for his station?
As that thought took hold, my motivation began to plummet.
I shook my head to clear my mind and pulled out a kitchen knife. If I moved my body and focused on the task, I’d be able to forget these idle thoughts.
Let’s see, what else do I need besides this?
A cutting board. A sieve. A pestle. A blender. A pot.
And various seasonings, honey, milk, and so on to mix in.
I placed the knife on the countertop and went to find the supplies.
I’d lived in this house for quite a while, so I generally knew where everything was. Finding them shouldn't have been a problem.
However, I realized a major problem only now.
…I can't reach.
I could barely reach the countertop where the board and the Blue Leaves were.
But no matter what I did, I couldn't reach the upper shelves or the cupboards.
Even using the step stool my disciples had bought a long time ago, the height was still out of reach.
How did I usually get things out?
It’s not like I’ve ever cooked anything grand, but I’ve made ramen or heated up cold chicken before.
As I searched my memory, I soon remembered why I’d never cared about the height before.
The simple tools I mainly used were within arm's reach.
And whenever I occasionally needed to use a cooking utensil I didn't use often, A-bin or Lin would naturally get it for me.
But right now, it was the crack of dawn.
A morning when no one else was awake.
…What do I do?
For a moment, the thought of waking one of my disciples crossed my mind.
But I quickly realized how foolish that was.
I have my pride; wake a disciple just because I can't reach something?
If they were already awake, it wouldn't matter. My height could be considered a disability of sorts, after all. I wouldn't mind a little help.
But waking a disciple just for that?
As a Master and as a senior Magical Girl, it was unacceptable.
Then, what choice did I have?
It was simple.
It’s not like I don't have hands or feet.
I just had to climb onto the sink and open the upper cupboard.
I felt a bit of resistance to putting my feet where food is prepared, but no one was watching. I could just wipe it down thoroughly after I got everything out.
Good.
Let’s go with that.
Having convinced myself, I climbed onto the countertop via the step stool.
Straightening my posture, I opened the cupboard and began searching for the items.
The honey is here, and I found the pestle.
Clatter. Clatter.
I rummaged through the cupboard excitedly, feeling a sense of satisfaction as I tucked the items I found into my arms. Just as I was about to climb back down—
“…What are you doing?”
A bewildered, deadpan voice came from behind me.
I wanted to believe it was a hallucination, but there was no way.
Therefore, to minimize the mental shock, I composed myself, climbed down from the countertop, neatly set down the tools I was holding, and slowly turned around.
There stood the person I expected from the voice.
Han A-bin was there, looking like she’d just woken up, wearing pajamas with her hair slightly disheveled, staring at me with wide, surprised eyes.
* * *
Fortunately, A-bin was the only one awake, so I avoided the catastrophe of showing this sight to the others.
Furthermore, after hearing my desperate explanation, A-bin understood what I was trying to do.
“To summarize, those vegetables you brought from the Magic Kingdom contain nutrients necessary for a Mascot, but Un-ho is a picky eater, right?”
Well. Summarized like that, yes?
I thought I’d explained it quite vaguely, but she understood perfectly.
All I’d said was that they were from the Magic Kingdom, Un-ho had to eat them but wouldn't, and while it wasn't strictly mandatory, it would be good to feed him at least a little.
Oh well. As long as she understood, it was fine.
“Lin-ssi ate some on the first day, so I tried them out of curiosity too. They definitely aren't something you'd want to eat as they are.”
Saying that, Han A-bin acted as if it were only natural for her to help. She quickly washed up and stood beside me as I was blankly wielding the knife in the kitchen.
“Hmm. I guess the biggest problems are this bitterness and the strangely conspicuous blue color. How much have you tested so far?”
If you could call it testing.
I’d just eaten them for fun in the Magic Kingdom or when they came as a side dish in a meal.
“For starters, cutting or tearing them doesn't change the taste or color. Even if you grind them up, they stay a vivid blue.”
I’d doubted my eyes when something blatantly blue appeared next to a meat dish. When I asked, they said they’d just ground up the leaves.
“Hmm. Well, how finely did you cut them?”
“About the size of a finger joint.”
Not very finely, then.
“Then let’s try julienning them first. And how much did you grind them?”
At my answer, A-bin scattered the leaves on the cutting board and busily moved about, putting leaves into the blender.
Feeling like my job had been taken away, I quietly stepped back so as not to block her path and answered.
“There was still a bit of a chewy texture left.”
“Hmm, then let’s go finer. Maybe if we blend them with water and then drain the moisture, the bitterness will fade. Though the nutrients might wash away too.”
Saying that, Han A-bin naturally picked up the blender and started filling it with water.
After that, A-bin set up the blender full of water and vegetables and turned it on, then began julienning the leaves on the board.
Since she usually handled the cooking, her movements were extremely natural.
But both of those were originally my tasks.
Thinking that made my conscience prickle.
No matter if I was the Master, wasn't it too much to work a disciple like this for no big reason?
So, I looked around for something I could do and soon found it.
I should wash the leaves and boil some water.
With that thought, I placed a pile of leaves in a sieve and filled a pot with water, setting it on the induction stove.
A-bin glanced at me curiously, but since she was handling a knife, she didn't look for long.
Since she didn't say anything, it seemed like it was okay for me to do it.
After rinsing the sieve full of leaves thoroughly with water, I swirled them around with my hand to make sure they were washed well. Then, I gave the sieve a hard shake to get rid of the water.
Thwack.
As the sieve hit the edge of the sink, blue scattered everywhere.
And a thought flashed through my mind.
Ah, I messed up.
Perhaps because they weren't ordinary leaves, the Blue Leaves flew through the air as if they were heavier than normal vegetables, absorbing the impact of the sieve.
No, maybe the problem was that I’d put too many leaves in the sieve.
Or maybe I’d just used too much strength.
Whatever the cause, one thing was important.
If I left it like this, the leaves would fall everywhere—into the sink, onto the floor.
If that happened, all the leaves I’d worked so hard to pick would be unusable.
But it wasn't a big problem.
My body wasn't just for show, even if something was simply scattering through the air.
Cognitive Acceleration.
The moment I grasped the situation, the mana I immediately sent to my brain expanded my field of vision. In the slowed-down time, I could see the Blue Leaves falling.
Matching that, I moved the sieve quickly and caught every single leaf.
“Phew.”
Exhaling, I felt a sense of satisfaction from my brief labor.
Well, this is how it’s done.
I caught all the leaves and washed them. Now, if I just put this back…
Everything is solved—
“Se. nior?”
Apparently not.
I don't know why, but an angry-sounding voice came from beside me.
“What is it, A-bin?”
I turned my head, trying to project that I’d done nothing wrong, but I immediately understood what my mistake was.
A-bin was wet in various places, though not completely soaked.
It was likely thanks to me violently shaking the sieve before the water had even drained.
“You did something wrong, didn't you?”
Water droplets trickled down A-bin’s hair.
“I’m sorry.”
Clear evidence that I had to admit to.
“Then please go sit at the table and wait. I’ll bring things over one by one as they’re finished, so just check them for me.”
“Okay.”
There was nothing I could say to refute A-bin’s firm words.
I sat obediently at the table and quietly watched Han A-bin’s back.
* * *
I feel like I’m going to die.
If I looked at my tongue, it would probably be stained blue.
Julienned leaves? They were pointless.
Even when put in a dehydrator and turned into powder, the bitterness and that characteristic cobalt hue remained.
The result of blending them with water, removing the blue water, and leaving only the fiber?
The color faded slightly, but for some reason, the bitterness became even more intense.
As a bonus, the water that had taken the blue from the leaves was just as bitter.
When steeped in hot water, nothing changed except the water turned blue.
Furthermore, meat cooked in that water also turned blue and replicated that specific bitterness.
Even when ground in a mortar and mixed with honey or milk, that characteristic bitterness overwhelmed all other flavors and asserted its presence.
A-bin and I, now stubborn, tried cooking methods that shouldn't even be applied to plants.
Cooking over fire?
For some reason, instead of burning, they became harder. Of course, the bitterness remained.
We tried pickling them in salt water for a short time.
Again, the same.
They just became crunchy, perhaps because the moisture was drawn out. On top of that, the bizarre combination of saltiness and bitterness was absolutely inedible.
We tried baking them in bread.
Blue bread came out.
I don't even understand the principle anymore.
Clearly, when kneading the dough, there were only blue accents here and there, but after baking, the bread was entirely blue.
The rice was the same.
Blue rice—who on earth was supposed to eat this?
Of course, it went into my mouth, but I absolutely refuse to eat it again.
And at this point, this operation was no longer a secret.
It was only natural.
After all this commotion, a lot of time had passed.
The others, seeing the state we were in, left one by one after leaving a comment.
“Why don't you just give up?”
“Wow, that looks really unappetizing.”
“Oh? Is lunch ready already? I’ll eat well!”
For the record, Baek Si-hyun, who picked some up and ate it, showed the disgrace of spitting the food back out.
I didn't scold her much.
Since what she’d picked up was blue bread sprinkled with dried powder, she must have seen hell the moment it entered her mouth.
“…Even for an Otherworld plant, this is impressive.”
“I was thinking the same thing.”
How could there be an ingredient that asserted itself so stubbornly?
A thing that retained its bitterness and even contaminated other ingredients no matter how many thousands of ways it was processed.
If we wanted to test anything more, wouldn't we have to use a centrifuge to find out the components, then exclude the bitterness and refine only the nutrients?
“Should I give up…?”
I was tired.
Rather than finding more cooking methods, it would be faster to just shove them into Un-ho’s mouth.
Lin said they have their own flavor once you get used to them, so I could just make him do that.
To think that after all this fuss, the answer I got was forced consumption.
“Sigh.”
I sighed and took a drink of the water in the cup to moisten my mouth, which was parched from eating so many bitter things.
Then, I tasted sweetness.
There was a slight bitterness, but there was an inexplicable familiarity to it.
Following that, a refreshing sweetness and a mild heat flowed down my throat.
What kind of drink is this?
I looked at the cup again at the taste I’d never experienced before, but there was only a clear liquid sloshing inside.
Unable to identify it, I held up the cup and asked the person who might know what it was.
“A-bin, what kind of drink is this?”
“Huh? I didn't leave any drinks out… though….”
At my question, A-bin immediately stopped what she was doing and turned her head toward me to speak.
But before she could even finish her sentence, Han A-bin’s face turned blue.
Just like this table.
“Senior…. Did you…. drink that?”
A trembling voice followed from that blue face.
“Yeah. It was tasty?”
What on earth is this for her to overreact like that?
I thought so, but—
“Spit it out. Quickly. Now.”
Han A-bin threw down her spatula and grabbed my body, shaking me back and forth.
“Something terrible might happen. Quickly. Before I stick my fingers in….”
She must have been in a real hurry, as her voice and actions grew faster.
It was a reaction as if I’d been fed some kind of poison, but could you even get something like that at home?
No, in the first place, most poisons wouldn't even cause a reaction in this body.
“No, A-bin, calm down. I’m fine unless it’s something like Oxymoron-level poison. More importantly, what is that for you to be in such a fuss?”
When I said that, A-bin finally seemed to calm down.
She stopped her fingers, which she was about to shove into my mouth, and after checking my body here and there for a moment, she finally spoke.
“…It’s ethanol.”
“What?”
“It was high-concentration ethanol I put leaves in to try and strip their color….”
“Uh… so… you mean it’s alcohol?”
“No. It’s high-concentration ethanol for cleaning or experiments…. You’re absolutely not supposed to drink it.”
Why did you leave something like that on the table, A-bin?
What if Si-hyun had drunk it?
It’s a relief that I was the one who drank it.
I thought of what to say for a moment, but then something strange crossed my mind.
“You said you put leaves in it?”
“Yes.”
“There aren't any?”
I looked at the cup again, but there was still only clear liquid sloshing inside.
“Huh, I definitely soaked them…?”
A-bin seemed flustered by that and hovered about.
But anyway, isn't the way to check simple?
I picked up one of the leaves lying around the Dining Hall and tossed it into the cup.
About a minute passed after the leaf was tossed in and A-bin and I focused our gaze on the cup.
“…It’s dissolving.”
“So it is.”
As if its stubbornness until now was nothing, the leaf quietly dissolved into the ethanol.
Without leaving behind any blue color or bitterness.
Thus, after a long time of wasted effort, we had the answer in our hands, but—
“What would happen if we fed that to Un-ho?”
“Wouldn't he throw up and cause a scene?”
Probably, right?
Let’s just shove raw leaves into his mouth.
And so, we ended this long experiment without having gained anything.
It was a peaceful morning.
No, probably lunch.