Chapter 79

“Seira! Fry six more!”

“On it!”

“Seira! Pass one over, diced, for this dish!”

“Got it!”

It was a smashing success—no, at this point, it could only be called a frenzy.

…It all started quietly.

A noble and their child had ordered the Dàzhàpái and requested it be served plated. So, we served it with vegetables used in a tortilla-style dish the other chefs had developed called Legumrulé.

Seeing that, other customers began ordering the same dish, and gradually, the dining hall filled up.

But the moment the first customer took a bite… it began.

With a thunderous cry of:

“Whaaaa… What iiiis thisssssss!!!!”

Then followed by:

“I don’t knoooow this!!! I’ve never had this before!!! But it’s delicious!!!”

Apparently, the loud one was something of a gourmet—known for hiring and discarding chefs from the guild after a few uses.

Whether his fame preceded him or not, others began digging in as well—and offered similar high praise.

They were captivated by the new experience of five-spice powder and the crisply fried Dàzhàpái.

Soon, the dining hall was completely full, and even the nobles were eating street-style—holding a Dàzhàpái in one hand and sipping craft cola with the other.

Naturally, students were also placing non-stop orders, and the meat was flying off the shelves.

There was even a new dish that wrapped diced Dàzhàpái inside the Legumrulé, and it sold just as fast.

Apparently, it was created to combine the best of both dishes.

“This is a battlefield. I didn’t expect it to sell this fast.”

“Yeah! And seriously, you’re amazing. No uneven frying, no burning. How do you manage this many portions at this pace?”

“Experience. Okay, three just finished! I’ll dice one—take the other two!”

“You got it!”

I could feel the fire of determination burning in my mind.

It’s Seira—definitely Seira who’s fired up by this situation.

…Of course, she is. A true-born chef. She once sold massive quantities of food in the game market and built up a fortune of 10 billion in a day.

…Thanks to that, my side character leveling progressed like crazy.

“Just two more hours and the rush will slow down—let’s hang in there, everyone!”

Meanwhile, back at the greenhouse behind the school, the area was quiet. Almost everyone had moved to the dining hall.

There, Melt was exploring the greenhouse with a student.

“Amazing… It’s not just the petal colors. Even the colors of the stamens and pistils are distinct depending on the variation… To think they’ve managed to stabilize such minute mutations as species…”

“It’s incredible, right? Apparently, they barely used any magic. They repeatedly separated and tested the resulting species, crossbred them with close relatives, tried different soils… That’s how they slowly increased the variety.”

“Woooow… All I could do was categorize petal colors… I guess being able to fully manage pollination in a sealed environment really makes a difference…”

“Um… are you a scholar?”

“Nope, I’m an adventurer. My grandma was a researcher though. I used to help her and imitate her since I was a kid.”

“An adventurer…! This is my first time speaking with one!”

“And this is my first time talking to a student!”

The two of them shared a laugh.

The hooded student, seeing Melt’s cheerful expression, couldn’t help but feel a bit of admiration.

So free. So full of talent.

Likewise, Melt looked at the student with a bit of envy.

How nice it must be to attend a place like this.

“It’s wonderful… This beautiful flower garden—this would never occur naturally.”

“That may be true. But I think wildflowers blooming freely in nature are wonderful too.”

“You’re right. Hey, I’m Melt. What’s your name?”

“Ah, I’m… Verjus. I’ve been here three years… This is my final year.”

The phrase final year made Melt realize—there’s a limit to how long you can attend this school.

And then—

“So, Verjus-chan? What will you do after you leave school?”

“…I’ll return to my hometown. Probably… because I won’t be able to become anything.”

Melt didn’t realize it yet, but that question had just touched a deep wound.

“Huh… Really? You’re going back? But this town is so big—there’s everything here! I bet you could become something.”

“…Even so… I…”

Conflict. Doubt. Problems. The kind of darkness that only an individual carries.

It was still something Melt, in her innocence, didn’t fully understand.

“Um… I should be going. Melt-san, it’s almost lunchtime—you should get something to eat before it gets too crowded.”

“Ah! You’re right! Verjus-chan, come with me?”

“No, I have… something to do, so I’ll stay here.”

“Got it! See you, Verjus-chan! Thanks for teaching me so much!”

Melt cheerfully left the greenhouse.

Left alone, Verjus touched her face under her hood and pressed a hand to her eyes, muttering softly.

“…People who can be adventurers… are so lucky. I… if only I could too…”

A whisper filled with resentment, jealousy, and sadness.

It wasn’t directed at Melt—just a small, bitter hatred toward herself and the world.

Bursting out of the greenhouse, Melt relied on her sense of smell and rushed toward the food stalls and cafeteria.

Along the way, she came across a booth selling strange-looking fruits—likely another student project—and quickly bought a few.

Biting into a bizarre, colorfully patterned apple, she looked around and mumbled:

“Hmm… This apple isn’t very good!”

“I agree, young lady. It’s not very juicy.”

A stranger responded to her mumble.

When Melt turned around, she found a man dressed like a gentleman—long coat, silk hat—but with a hint of suspiciousness in his demeanor.

“You think so too, mister? What even is this?”

“Probably ornamental. The appearance catches the eye, after all.”

“Makes sense… I bet it’d be delicious if it was cooked! My friend is an amazing cook!”

“Oh my, how lucky you are to have such a friend.”

“Right? Today, she’s serving food at the cafeteria! It’s suuuper delicious—you should definitely try it!”

“Hmm, I’m quite interested now. Thank you, young lady.”

“You’re welcome~!”

The man headed toward the cafeteria.

Melt also rushed off toward the kitchen—but curiously, she never saw him again, even though they should’ve crossed paths.

“A rare sight indeed… So there are still silver foxes left on this continent. If she’s harmless, I’ll leave her be… Harmless, I presume. Besides, she gave me useful information.”

The man watched from the school rooftop, gazing down at Melt.

Not with malice—just curiosity.

Then, with a large bite, he devoured a Dàzhàpái.

“…Yes, quite delicious… Come to think of it, Lord Allheus was buying them in bulk earlier… Ah, perhaps as a gift for those buffoons. How fitting—to feed clowns.”

Crunching once more with a satisfying sound, leaving behind only the scent of five-spice powder…

The man vanished from the rooftop—without a trace.

“Finally… The crowd’s settling down.”

“Yeah. Almost all that’s left is cola orders.”

“Man… we should’ve had some baked sweets ready too. Something that goes with cola. Seira, got any ideas?”

“Hmm… not sweets, but heavily salted French fries go insanely well with it. Thin cuts or even thin slices.”

And so, Seira was now on a mission to spread the deadly combo of ‘fries and cola’ to this fantasy world.

I’m seriously exhausted. Super tired. I don’t want to hear frying oil ever again.

But… without a doubt, I’ve cooked more than enough to meet my goal.

And with this… my role as Seira is finally complete.

“One Dàzhàpái, please! And one of the ones with vegetables wrapped in too, please~!”

At that moment, a cheerful and familiar voice rang out with an order.

“Oh, Melt-chan! Smart timing—just when the crowd’s thinning out.”

“You’ll want a cola too, right?”

“Yes, please!”

The chefs, now well-acquainted with her, quickly got to work preparing Melt’s food.

I also picked out a slightly larger piece of meat and fried up a Dàzhàpái for her.

“Seira, seriously, it’s time for a break. You’ve been standing in front of the fryer all this time, haven’t you? Melt-chan’s here too—go eat something in the cafeteria and take a breather.”

“Are you sure? Then I’ll take you up on that, Head Chef.”

I’d been standing and frying for nearly five hours, so I was definitely feeling it.

Seriously, thank goodness… The number of orders was finally dwindling, and the festival itself was gradually winding down.

In another two hours, it’ll probably be over.

I changed out of my chef coat, grabbed a plate, and sat next to Melt.

“Ah, Seira! You worked hard today, huh?”

“Yeah, I’m exhausted. Really. So, Melt—are you enjoying the school festival?”

“It’s been amazing! I got to read all kinds of interesting documents, and I even saw a beautiful greenhouse! They had tons of variant Frose Orchids—from blue to white, red to yellow. And you won’t believe it—there were some that were almost green! Can you imagine!? Green! Not leaves—flowers!“

“That’s incredible! I can’t even picture a green flower.”

Melt beamed as she enthusiastically shared her experiences from the festival.

Bringing her here had been absolutely the right call.

…But what if Melt ever said she wanted to attend the academy?

Would I be able to make that happen somehow?

For her intellectual curiosity, for her emotional growth—if she ever truly wanted it, could I help make it a reality?

“Melt, have you ever thought about wanting to go to school here?”

“Hmm… That’d mean I’d lose a lot of my free time, right? I’m not really sure yet.”

“Got it. That was a weird question, huh? Anyway, the festival’s almost over, so I’m gonna go help clean up in the kitchen. What about you, Melt?”

“Can I wait for you? Let’s go home together!”

“Alright, sounds good.”

Yeah, that makes sense.

Melt still needs her free time. And honestly, I want to go on more adventures with her too.

It’d be a shame to take that freedom away.

“Melt, today marks the end of ‘my role.’ Next, I’ll bring in a friend who’s good with music.”

“! So they’re finally coming…! But… that means I won’t get Seira’s cooking for a while, huh…”

“Haha… I should at least be able to make the basics, so I’ll do my best to make you happy.”

Come to think of it, Sheele wasn’t too great at cooking, for some reason.

…Even with the same inherited skills, I guess there really are personal differences.

After finishing up the cleanup, the Cooking Guild, having received the academy’s official “Festival Closing” announcement, began heading back to their headquarters.

But I stayed behind to say goodbye to everyone.

Even the Head Chef looked a little sad to see me go, and that got to me more than I expected.

Though… to be honest, some of those goodbyes felt like “mourning the loss of valuable labor,” at least to my ears.

“I won’t be going too far, so I may be back if needed. I imagine you’ll be receiving requests from nobles wanting to serve today’s menu at formal events, so… good luck, everyone!”

“Damn it! I thought this didn’t concern me…! If you come back, Seira, you have to drop in!”

“Yes. And next time, teach us something new again—maybe something about sweets. I’m actually a pastry chef.”

“I usually specialize in seafood. I’ll be posted to a port town soon.”

Everyone had their own area of expertise.

It was a real honor to have been included in that circle of craftsmen.

“Alright then, I’ll be going. Thank you all. Great work today.”

With that, I went to fetch Melt, who’d been killing time in the cafeteria.

…Her idea of “killing time” usually means grooming her tail.

It’s honestly kind of cute to watch. And the fact she always carries a brush with her is funny.

Let’s go home together, Melt.

“Okay, I’m gonna log back into Shizuma for a bit.”

“Okay. Oh—did you lock the door properly?”

“All good. There was no one around.”

“Perfect! Then… just in case you collapse again, let’s head to the sofa?”

“Fair enough.”

Melt sat down on the lounge sofa and for some reason patted her own lap.

“You can lie down here if you want!”

“I’m good.”

“Ehhh—”

…I’m embarrassed, okay!?

“Alright then—logging back into Shizuma now.”

I selected Log Out from the menu screen.

There was a brief moment where my consciousness slipped away.

…It’s fine. That last time I briefly returned from Silent, I was okay then too—

See? I’m fine this time.

It’s probably because I didn’t do anything more strenuous than cooking, and also because Seira’s thoughts and personality were mostly still my own throughout. That must’ve helped a lot.

“You okay? Your head doesn’t hurt? You can rest it here, y’know?”

“I’m good, really. No pain or anything.”

“Ehh~?”

Why do you sound disappointed!? I’m not a little kid!

Anyway, first things first—I opened up Shizuma’s status screen, to check my stats in my true form.

[Shizuma’s Status]

• Health: 120
• Strength: 120
• Magic: 70
• Mental Strength: 90
• Agility: 70

[Growth Rate: Max – Fully Applied]
[Blessing of the Silver Fox]
[Keen Eye]
[Basic Enchantment Magic]
[Survival Instinct]
[High-Speed Movement]
[Throwing]
[Gourmet] ← NEW
[Cooking Lv4] ← Rank UP
[Crafting Lv1]
[Sewing Lv1]
[Swordsmanship Lv3]
[Archery Lv1]
[Hunter’s Knowledge Lv1]
[Scholar’s Knowledge Lv1]
[Thief’s Knowledge Lv1]
[Swordsman’s Knowledge Lv1]
[Warrior’s Knowledge Lv1]
[Mercenary’s Knowledge Lv2]

Alright, I’ve successfully inherited [Gourmet].

Now I finally have a foundation to grow as Shizuma.

At the very least, I won’t run out of stamina for five hours even on a light meal.

But there’s still one more thing—one last step left to complete.

To draw out the remaining ex-classmates… and to gain an advantage in future battles.

“Okay, mission complete.”

“Um… This is for Shizuma to get stronger, right…? It’s a safe method, right? You’re not doing anything dangerous or turning into a bad person, right…?”

Apparently remembering what I said before, Melt looked at me with a worried expression and asked gently.

“It’s fine. Just like with Seira, I’m only accepting powers in forms where I can still be myself. It looks like I got a bit of Seira’s power—my cooking skills even improved a little.”

“Hmm… Maybe I should start learning how to cook too…”

“Let’s start with something easy, and take it slow. I think I can teach you a few things.”

“Really? Then… the Dàzhàpái I had today… that might be too hard, right?”

“Yeah, frying is definitely tricky… But the veggie wrap version? I think we could manage that.”

“Really!? Then you have to teach me next time! I loved the pumpkin inside it!”

“Right? That was so good… Alright, then—time to switch into the musician you’ve been waiting for, Melt!”

“O-oh! Finally, the piano’s true potential will be unleashed!”

Alright then… time to transform into one of my more eccentric characters—a bit of a joke character, half production class, yet still ends up on the front lines.

I switched to one of my more unique avatars:
“Hash.”

Previous chapter | TOC | Next chapter