Episode 707
Episode 707
"Priest."
At Perse's pointed remark, Falkrius belatedly noticed blood dripping from his ladle and looked sheepish.
"Oops! These are all treasures! Thanks, Perse."
"It's nothing, Priest."
"Pfft, I told you to call me casually."
Falkrius placed the ladle back inside and came out.
"Our <Iactus Soup Club> made a deal to explain the club to you first in exchange for serving you one meal. Does anyone know why our club has this name?"
The second-year students of the Blue Dragon Tower exchanged glances.
Some knew the legend of Saint Iactus who defeated an evil dragon with a single stone, but no one could guess what that had to do with soup.
"Was it a soup that Saint Iactus enjoyed eating?"
"Uhahaha! Interesting thought. Close but no. Everyone knows the miracle where Saint Iactus slew the dragon, but few know his other miracles."
The pot-bellied senior priest patted his round stomach as he continued the story.
"This happened when Saint Iactus once visited a village. The village was divided into west and east—the west had a bountiful harvest while the east suffered famine and starved. So Saint Iactus asked the wealthy westerners to share their food."
"I bet they refused."
"Exactly! So Saint Iactus came up with a clever plan. He declared he'd make delicious soup using only stones and water. The wealthy westerners gathered to watch. As he boiled the soup, Saint Iactus muttered, 'If only we had Minotaur shoulder meat, this soup would taste even better.'"
"?"
Lee Han, who'd been nodding along to this typical fable, suddenly paused.
The ingredient mentioned was absurdly high-class.
"Uh, shouldn't it normally be carrots, onions, or potatoes?"
"Pfft, it's an old tale! Maybe they'd recently hunted a Minotaur and had plenty of meat. Anyway, when Saint Iactus muttered that, someone brought Minotaur shoulder meat. Then Saint Iactus muttered again! 'If only we had fairy cave rock salt, this soup would taste even better.'"
"......"
"......"
Even the Blue Dragon Tower students, who'd initially been moved by the story, now tilted their heads in confusion.
Weren't these ingredients too extravagant?
Gainando alone marveled.
"I use that muttering strategy often too! Until they agree to play Wizard Cards with me..."
"Really? Uhahaha. You might become a hero like Saint Iactus. Every time Saint Iactus muttered, the villagers brought ingredients, until finally they made soup delicious enough to feed the whole village! Our club name honors that miracle."
Ashan asked skeptically:
"Is that story really true?"
Several other students also voiced doubts.
"How could one village have both bounty and famine...?"
"And the ingredients seem too high-class."
Falkrius ignored their questions.
"Uhahaha. Old tales might change over time. But you're acting just like the Skeleton Principal now! Whenever he hears this story, he stubbornly insists something's wrong with it!"
"What does he insist?"
"He claims the original story was Saint Iactus threatening villagers with stones to extort ingredients. Pfft. What nonsense!"
"......"
For some reason, Lee Han felt the Skeleton Principal might be right this time.
Falkrius chuckled heartily and continued.
"What you're really curious about is something else, right? More than the club's origin... what the club does and what privileges it offers?"
"Yes!"
When Gye-nando answered honestly, Falkrius burst into booming laughter.
"Wahaha, that's right! Our club gathers ingredients for Einrogard. We cultivate and harvest. We raise livestock and slaughter them. You could say we scrape together everything that can become food. Since we have such a long history, our club owns many fields and ranches. Thanks to that, our club members never go hungry."
"!"
Even the students who hadn't been paying much attention to the senior's words now had a change of expression.
No matter how well Lee Han prepared their meals, their stomachs in Einrogard always emptied quickly, and hunger struck without respite.
If they could join the Kitchen Club, they'd be able to eat far more abundantly than now.
Lee Han, amazed, whispered to the friend beside him.
"That's incredible. I guess having such a long club history makes that possible. Everyone's going to try hard to get in."
"...Why are you telling me this, Wardanaz?"
Adenart looked at Lee Han with a faintly sullen expression on his blank face.
"Ah. Sorry. I just said it because you were next to me."
"......"
Adenart gave Lee Han a slightly suspicious glance.
He had long suspected that Wardanaz saw him as a glutton similar to his half-brother, and lately, that suspicion was turning into certainty.
"Me! I want to join!"
Gye-nando suddenly shot his hand up and shouted. Afraid of losing to him, several other students also raised their hands.
"No! I—!"
"I ranked in the top ten in Alchemy!"
"I've even helped Wardanaz cook before!"
"Pfft. Thanks for the enthusiasm, everyone! But our club isn't open to just anyone!"
Gye-nando swiftly swung his staff to attack his friends.
The others, having expected this, retaliated in kind with their own staves.
"I'm getting in!"
"You bastard, you're the one who mooches off Wardanaz the most—give way!"
Falkrius swung the kitchen knife he was holding through the air.
Instantly, the students flinging spells at each other collapsed face-first onto the floor.
"Savages! This is Einrogard, but that doesn't mean club admissions have to be Einrogard-style too!"
THUD!
Falkrius set down a massive cauldron. Water sloshed inside.
"Grab the handle on the side of the cauldron!"
"Like this?"
"Yeah."
Gye-nando tilted his head in confusion but gripped the side of the cauldron.
Yet the water inside remained perfectly still, showing no change whatsoever.
Falkrius, who had been laughing heartily just moments ago, completely shifted his expression and shot Gye-nando a look brimming with contempt.
"Trash!"
"Huh? Wh-what, Senior? What did I do wrong?"
"Get lost! Don't even talk to me. You're polluting my ears!"
Falkrius chanted a spell and shoved Gye-nando away.
"Next! Grab it!"
"I-I've got it."
When the next student held it, a single tiny bubble rose from the water in the cauldron before vanishing.
Falkrius gave him the same scornful look.
"You look like someone who's never once cooked for another person in your life. Trash! Get out!"
"......"
"......"
The once-warm atmosphere instantly turned icy. Not a single one of the eager volunteers passed—they were all driven away.
The Kitchen Club students in the back nodded approvingly with satisfied expressions.
"As expected of Senior Falkrius."
"No mercy for the unworthy."
The admission process for the Iactus Soup Club was simple.
Grab the cauldron of Saint Iactus and make the water inside boil—that was all it took to succeed.
Of course, making the water boil wasn't easy.
For one, once inside that cauldron, no magic or external means would work.
Only the deeds of the mage themselves could make the water boil.
Had they ever cooked for others, or hadn't they?
Mages who had lived complacently without ever dirtying their own hands could never pass this test.
"Fail, fail, fail, fail... Oh. Not bad?"
When it was Yoner's turn, Falkrius stopped his disdainful expressions and instead gave her a favorable look.
The water inside the cauldron was bubbling moderately.
For someone from the Blue Dragon Tower, achieving such results wasn't easy.
"Are you interested in joining our club?"
"Can I take some time to explore other clubs before deciding?"
"Pfft, of course! Take all the time you need to look around and decide!"
Senior Falkrius was an exceedingly generous person toward qualified juniors.
When Yoner expressed her wish to explore other clubs before making a decision, he readily accepted.
Seeing this, Lee Han felt slightly relieved.
'He seems like a reasonable person, unlike Senior Diret.'
Though he had the authority to recruit, he didn't wield it arbitrarily.
"Fail, fail! Fail!! Fail!!! You lazy piglets!"
Falkrius went on another round of failing students.
Then, it was Lee Han's turn.
"Grab hold of it!"
"Yes."
As the water in the cauldron began to bubble, Falkrius looked at Lee Han with an approving expression.
At that moment, the water transformed into steam and erupted violently from the cauldron.
Whoosh!
"......"
"......"
Falkrius, Lee Han, and even the Kitchen Club students watching from behind blinked in stunned silence.
What...
What in the world just happened?
"...Pass! You pass! To think I'd meet a junior like you in my lifetime. This is the miracle of Saint Iactus!"
Falkrius grabbed Lee Han firmly by both shoulders and shook him back and forth while roaring with laughter.
Lee Han, being shaken vigorously, stammered,
"Se-Senior, I-I-I also w-want to ex-explore o-other c-clubs b-before d-deciding."
"Huh?"
Once the shaking stopped, Lee Han could speak normally again.
"I also want to check out other clubs—"
"What nonsense! No way. You're joining right now."
Watching Falkrius immediately call for the paperwork, Lee Han thought to himself,
'Hmm. I misjudged him.'
He was just plain crazy.
As Falkrius and the Kitchen Club students left, overjoyed at having secured such a treasure of a junior, the remaining club seniors cleared their throats awkwardly.
"Rare sight. It's not often Senior Falkrius gets that excited."
"Honestly, I didn't expect anyone from the Blue Dragon Tower to join the Kitchen Club this year."
Perse nodded in agreement.
Even in hindsight, it was hard to believe someone had passed the test like that.
Just how much cooking had he done?
"Well, it's good for both the Kitchen Club and that junior."
"You shouldn't just forcibly recruit someone like that! You'll regret not stopping him!"
Gainando grumbled.
The seniors clicked their tongues at his behavior.
"Getting jealous just because you couldn't get in."
"To think he calls himself a friend."
"Alright. Now, let me explain the Polo Club."
With the Kitchen Club's turn over, Perse spoke up.
The clubs gathered here today had planned to take turns introducing themselves.
"Before I begin, by any chance, is there anyone here who, during last year's first semester, charged through monsters on horseback and made it all the way to the desert? It would've been during Professor Lightning Step's exam."
All the second-year students turned to look at Lee Han.
Lee Han, who had been racking his brain over how to get out of the Kitchen Club application, belatedly noticed the odd atmosphere and raised his head.
"What's going on?"
"The senior is looking for you, Lee Han."
"Senior Falkrius?"
"No. That's Senior Perse over there."
"!"
As it seemed Lee Han was about to be singled out by the Polo Club right after the Kitchen Club, the other club seniors felt an instinctive unease.
A senior from the Library Club, breaking the order, spoke up.
"Wait. Let me ask one thing. Is there anyone here who fought a Rock Drake in the library last year?"
"We all fought it together."
Contrary to Lee Han's words, all his friends turned to look at him. Ignoring Lee Han's response, the senior took the students' reactions as his answer.
"Then, is there anyone here who built a fortress and held their ground in the library last year?"
"That was also all of us—"
"I see. Someone call Falkrius out here."
The Library Club senior pulled out his staff and hid it behind his back as he shouted.
Seeing this, the other club seniors also quietly drew their staves.
How dare they try to steal another club's junior so brazenly?