Episode 722
Episode 722
Lee Han quickly accepted reality.
Well, it wasn't like the clubs inside Einrogard were all warm and kind.
Tap
—Fortunately, he had packed some food supplies in his backpack before joining the Kitchen Club, just in case.
Eastern Empire butter, salt, pepper, cheese, salted chicken, oil, mushrooms, flour, and more.
Lee Han had planned to prepare two dishes: one with potatoes and one with chicken.
If he'd had more time, ingredients, and helping hands, he might have prepared a wider variety, but this wasn't the case right now.
Lee Han boiled water in a pot, then boiled and mashed the potatoes. After that, he seasoned them with salt and sprinkled pepper over them.
He spread butter on a pan, layered cheese, then added some potatoes and mushrooms, then more cheese...
Most of the seniors were too focused on their own cooking to notice, but one senior beside Lee Han seemed to sense something unusual.
After all, it was already surprising enough that a second-year student had pulled out such high-quality ingredients.
"...Wait. Junior, what exactly are you making?"
"Potato gratin?"
"Potato... gratin...?!"
"Do you not know it?"
"I do, but... isn't potato gratin usually a different kind of dish?"
The Kitchen Club senior, looking confused, explained what potato gratin was like in Einrogard.
Boil and mash potatoes, then layer more boiled and mashed potatoes on top, then even more potatoes, and finally cover the topmost layer with potatoes before baking it in an oven.
"Isn't that... just baked potatoes?"
"W-well, yes... but isn't this also gratin?"
"I don't think so..."
The shocked senior muttered to himself.
—Was that it? Was that gratin? But if so, then what have I been making all this time? Who am I? What even is Einrogard?
The interruptions didn't end there.
After Lee Han finished the potato dish and took out the chicken, another senior—who had been struggling to pluck the tough bronze feathers off a Bronze Goose—chimed in.
"Ah, Rock Chicken. You picked a decent ingredient. It's hard enough to shatter teeth, but if you cook it well, you can at least manage to chew and swallow it!"
Eager to show off his knowledge to the junior, the senior began explaining various methods to tenderize Rock Chicken.
From soaking it in a jar with five different deadly poisons for about a month to borrowing an alchemist's acid.
'It's just a normal chicken I bought outside.'
The more the senior enthusiastically explained, the guiltier Lee Han felt.
It wasn't actually Rock Chicken.
"So, junior. How are you planning to cook this?"
"First, I'll sprinkle pepper and cook it in oil on the pan."
"?!"
The senior was stunned by the sheer extravagance of the dish. Words like pepper and oil were hard to believe in Einrogard.
But the junior, oblivious to the senior's shock, continued explaining.
"In another pot, I'll make a sauce to go with the chicken—simmering broth with butter and flour. I also have some parsley from the garden, so I'll add that. It'd be better with more spices, but since it's the start of the semester... Senior, how would you cook it?"
Curious about the senior's advice, Lee Han asked.
For some reason, the senior answered with a somewhat deflated expression.
"I'd just boil it in water."
"......"
* * *
The Kitchen Club was one of the clubs in Einrogard that hired the most mercenaries within the school.
Not only did they store many precious food supplies, but riots and raids sometimes broke out even during meals.
—Due to the Spirit Flood, today's menu is slightly simpler. First, we have pasta with no cheese or sauce—just seaweed lasagna, seaweed soup, seaweed cookies...—...
"These crazy thieving bastards, they want us to pay gold coins for this!?"
-"You spoiled brats. You should just eat what you're given instead of complaining!"
-"Ha! Toss it! Open the warehouse! Their storage is piled high with meat like a mountain!"
When Einrogard students became excessively hungry, they tended to grow irritable and violent.
And most Einrogard students were usually hungry to begin with.
Thus, whenever the Kitchen Club's menu quality dropped below a certain standard, the dining hall would occasionally turn into a battlefield.
And even when it wasn't that extreme, complaints were always inevitable.
"This is worth one gold coin?"
"Uahaha. If you don't like it, then just—"
"I'd pay ten gold coins for this!"
"?"
Falkrius paused at the student's reaction.
The student's friend beside him hurriedly intervened.
"Shut your mouth! What if they actually raise it to ten coins!?"
"???"
Falkrius grew wary, wondering if this was some kind of trap or new scheme, but surprisingly, more students began reacting the same way.
"Finally, the Kitchen Club has come to its senses! Yeah, this is what the Holy Iactus Club should be like!"
"This is the first time I've eaten something without breaking a tooth! Keep it up like this from now on!"
"??????"
Suspecting that the juniors might have slipped some psychoactive substance into the food, Falkrius headed toward the back.
But to his surprise, a rich and delicious aroma greeted him. All the gathered Kitchen Club members were looking at the junior with eyes full of reverence.
"...What, what happened here?"
"Senior. Look at this!"
Following the members' words, Falkrius received a bowl of the food Lee Han had prepared.
Then, he held out a gold coin. Since Lee Han was a fellow club senior, he politely declined.
"I'm fine."
"Pfft. I'm not fine. Here. Everyone who ate first, hand yours over."
"......"
"......"
The seniors sullenly handed over their gold coins.
Not only had they made no earnings today, but now they even had extra expenses.
Clink, clink!
Falkrius, having emptied his bowl, teared up with emotion as he stared at Lee Han.
To think someone could make food like this inside Einrogard.
"The reincarnation of Saint Iactus has entered our midst!"
"That's not it."
"Pfft, it's a metaphor, a metaphor! Come here, junior!"
Falkrius pulled Lee Han into a tight hug. A creaking sound followed.
Lee Han considered himself extremely fortunate to have learned swordsmanship and practiced mana circulation in his body.
Otherwise, he might have died right there.
"I'm overjoyed! Should we just go fight the other clubs again?"
"That might be a bit..."
"Uahahaha. Just kidding! Anyway, junior. It'd be great if you came out and cooked often. With you around, dining hall raids would drop by half!"
After giving Lee Han a few hearty pats on the back, Falkrius left laughing.
The remaining seniors stared at Lee Han with gloomy expressions. He could already sense the impending hardship.
'Just as I thought.'
While Lee Han had elevated the Kitchen Club's reputation, he had also monopolized the earnings that would have gone to the other seniors.
Unlike Falkrius, who wasn't particularly greedy, the other seniors couldn't help but feel dissatisfied.
Bracing himself for magical combat, Lee Han waited for the seniors to speak.
"...Wardanaz junior."
"Yes."
"...Hire me!"
"Huh?"
Lee Han was taken aback by the unexpected request.
Not a duel, an ambush, or a threat—but employment?
"No, I mean it! Hire me! You saw me secure that Bronze Goose today, right? That guy collapsed after picking mushrooms!"
"Are you out of your mind? All you did was pick it up!"
Just as Lee Han had anticipated, a magical battle broke out...
Between the seniors themselves!
The Kitchen Club seniors began swinging their staffs and brawling.
Calmly observing the chaos, Lee Han swiftly slipped out of the kitchen and fled from Falkrius.
"Senior!!!!"
"Hmm?"
Falkrius, who had been walking away in the distance, turned around in puzzlement when Lee Han came running toward him.
"Did you have something else to ask?"
"The seniors are fighting! Please stop them!"
"Why?"
"......"
Seeing Lee Han's expression, Falkrius burst into uproarious laughter.
"Just kidding, kidding! Wahahaha!"
"Haha. Very funny. So will you stop them?"
"No?"
When Lee Han glared at him, Falkrius quickly explained.
"With fights like that, it's better to wait a bit before jumping in."
"Ah. So their emotions can cool down and they can reconcile...?"
"No, so they'll tire themselves out and be easier to subdue."
"......"
Falkrius truly waited until the noise inside died down a little before swiftly rushing in.
After several loud crashes and pitiful screams, Falkrius shouted:
-Wahaha! Come in!
All the seniors were on their knees with their wands confiscated. Some members muttered resentfully.
"Grrk... If we'd known Senior Falkrius was coming, we would've prepared."
"Pfft. Yeah, right. But losers don't get to make excuses!"
Laughing, Falkrius asked why the members had been fighting.
Lee Han grew slightly nervous at the question. 'Please don't let me get dragged into this.' From the perspective of Falkrius, who led a club with tradition, seniors brawling to work under a junior might be unacceptable.
And truthfully, Lee Han still didn't fully understand why the seniors had fought over working under a junior in the first place.
"They fought over working under a junior?"
"Yes."
"So who won?"
"You arrived before a winner was decided."
"Tsk tsk. Then they didn't get to choose who'd join!"
Falkrius lamented.
It would've been cleaner if only the winner could join.
"...Senior. Senior."
"Pfft. Ask away. Ask away. What?"
"Well... it's just. Is it really okay for the other seniors to work under me?"
"Wahaha! When mages conduct research, they don't assign assistants based on age, do they!"
At Falkrius's words, the seniors nodded in agreement, putting on exaggerated smiles.
They hadn't tried to work under a junior because they feared the exhausting competition for ingredients.
They simply understood—like true mages—that skill mattered more than age.
"But research is... different from..."
"It's similar! Many members collaborate even now!"
Kitchen Club members didn't always cook alone.
Just as they gathered ingredients in parties, they often cooked together too.
When preparing large dishes, it was customary to hire several members for the task.
And members often preferred stable pay over bleeding for ingredients...
"Pfft. What a predicament. No winner emerged."
"Hmm. Then how about we pretend it never happened?"
Not wanting to order the seniors around, Lee Han cautiously suggested.
But Falkrius shook his head vigorously.
"Nope! Decision made."
"What is it?"
"All present members shall join!"
"......"
As Lee Han stood aghast, the seniors sighed in relief and applauded.
The new junior was nothing short of a god of provisions.
Who else but a god of provisions could keep pulling out such quantities?
They'd been anxious about taking more hits and missing out, but this was truly a leader's judgment.
"As expected of Senior Falkrius!"
"Truly fair, worthy of the Phoenix Tower!"
Lee Han urgently whispered to Falkrius:
"Isn't it too much for me to order the seniors around?"
"Hmm... no! You can do it! Wahahaha!"
It was fortunate Lee Han had witnessed Falkrius demolishing the scene earlier.
Otherwise, he might have lost his mind and attacked the senior.