Cooking Showdown (19)

“No, that’s not true!”

Le’a-In Saint was startled, collapsed, and broke into a cold sweat, and at the same time, Le’a-In Deron and Le’a-In Seren also lay flat on the ground.

In a domain, the lord is the king.

In a class society, the lord’s command is the law. Until just earlier, Count Belhel had been on the same side with them after devouring the money, but the situation had changed. So, they pretended not to know. That is the specialty of the nobles.

“Who fed money to the Market Association Leader?”

When he asked the other judges, they all trembled and simultaneously pointed at Le’a-In Deron.

“Y-Your Lordship! It, it’s him!”

Startled, Le’a-In Deron raised his head while still lying down, trying to explain himself.

“Please, spare me!”

“Judges, listen carefully.”

“Yes, yes, Your Lordship!”

Count Belhel calmed down slightly. For now, the issue was not to upset anyone’s mood.

As soon as he thought there was no need to explode and cut off the funding, he changed his expression slightly and called the judges over.

If they could leave without upsetting anyone, that would be the best outcome.

“Judge fairly based on skill right now. Bring the results back! I made it clear. Judge strictly based on the taste of the dish! Understand?”

“Y-yes, Your Lordship!”

The judges trembled as they rushed back to the judging table to score. Everyone was sweating profusely.

As a result.

The first place was claimed by Merli’s eastern branch due to a fair judgment. The lord had only ordered a fair decision and gave no hints. However, since the dish had already been tasted, the result was clear.

Instead of the Market Association Leader, the next highest-ranking judge stepped forward and tasted each skewer, doing a mukbang¹ and then explaining the taste.

As he elaborated on the harmony of the texture, the spectators began to show great curiosity.

Thanks to this, curiosity grew immensely, but the first day of the festival ended just like that. Since they couldn’t taste the dish, the curiosity of the people only increased.

Le’a-In Deron, enraged by the result, began throwing furniture and decorations around the house indiscriminately.

“What the hell is that bastard Count Belhel doing after swallowing all that money from the shop? Suddenly telling me to do it fairly, that damn bastard!”

Crash!

As decorations shattered, Le’a-In Seren, beside him, also showed support and chattered along.

“Right? Is he crazy? Did he suddenly lose his mind while eating the dish?”

“I don’t get it. I don’t get it. I really don’t get it!”

“Did Father tell him to do that?”

“How could Father move Count Belhel? He just follows the situation. Didn’t you see him really nervous earlier?”

“That’s true. It was unbelievable.”

“Damn, I’m so pissed! I should have been born a noble or something! Damn it!”

Le’a-In Deron fumed as he started pouring alcohol into his mouth.

“What happened to the ones we sent back then? Where did they go? What the hell happened?”

“It seems they hired not just cooks but also bodyguards… Even when increasing Merli’s branch sales, they seemed to be doing some sly things. Could it be that they’re trying to become a concubine and get in Count Belhel’s good books?”

“That’s not it. If that was the case, he would have casually suggested to pick this one right away, would he have acted like that? Anyway, this is a big problem.”

“Then, since they are probably guarding now, how about we go to the restaurant and ruin all the ingredients? It’ll take a long time to prepare again. Even if we participate late in the afternoon, we won’t be able to beat their sales!”

Le’a-In Seren, who considered herself a strategist, suggested the idea, and Le’a-In Deron began to agree.

“That’s a good idea! Send someone right away! No, wait, I’ll go myself. Just pick a few strong ones.”

“I’ll go too!”

Thus, the siblings led their subordinates and took advantage of the early morning to move in front of Merli’s eastern branch.

“Is there no one?”

“Yes. There was no one.”

“Good. Fine.”

Le’a-In Deron grinned wickedly and approached the Merli restaurant.

“There’s probably some prep work done for tomorrow. I’ll burn it all.”

“Yes!”

Then, he looked around.

“Luckily, the restaurant isn’t being guarded, just as you said.”

“They’re probably intoxicated by the lingering victory. The victory they got by luck thanks to the Lord’s whims! They probably took everyone to protect themselves.”

“Hehe, that became our last hope.”

“Yes. By the time they prepare the ingredients again, the sales will already be irreversible! Hohoho.”

“Once I confirm the fire spreads, I’ll head back.”

Le’a-In Deron pretended to be cautious, stepping out in front of the building and observing the situation.

Boom—!

But from the Merli branch, which was supposedly empty, a loud explosion suddenly occurred, piercing the roof, and everyone was sent flying into the sky.

No one came out.

“What’s this? An explosion?”

Le’a-In Deron and Le’a-In Seren were shocked.

Did they plant explosives too?

The two blinked in disbelief, thinking how meticulous this was. This was beyond reason.

The impression made on Count Belhel worked.

That bastard Count Belhel was someone who, during the war, almost died when he tried to speak to Rurin, and after that, he couldn’t even speak and participated in the battlefield as an insignificant man.

After recalling that he was the lord of this city, honestly, there was no more worry about the festival.

And as expected, we won first place.

Ricent, unsure whether to believe it or not, jumped around excitedly, unable to believe the result.

And even now, she was still unable to calm down from her excitement.

What bothered me was that her condition was a mess, possibly because of her excitement.

“How did you get so beat up in just one day? Did you get attacked by those Le’a-In bastards?”

“Ah, no…!”

Right, it’s impossible that she was attacked. I had set up a protection system.

“I was jumping around excitedly on my own, falling over and over… No! I didn’t fall! This is…well, it’s an honorable wound!”

She suddenly changed her explanation after saying how she got hurt.

In the end, she had been running around, bumping into things, and that’s how she ended up like this. Anyone would think it was domestic violence.

“But will people really come?”

“Of course. Imagine yourself as an ordinary citizen. The judges praised the dish so highly yesterday, so people will naturally gather. Besides, people are weak to rankings. It’s natural psychology to want to taste it in the first place. Even I feel that way.”

“That’s true, right? I still can’t believe it. Surely, you bribed the judges, how did we win first place?”

“Well, they must have recognized the taste. It’s the victory of justice.”

“…Hmm. I think it has something to do with Count Belhel stopping by briefly! From my investigation, I don’t think the Lord is that fair…”

“Well, I did pull a few strings, but it’s a secret. Anyway, the truth is that Count Belhel suddenly grew tired of dishonesty and ordered a fair evaluation.”

“I’m not sure, but…never mind. Thinking about it, you carry around the sorceress like you own her, so you must be more amazing than I thought.”

“That’s not true. I’m just an ordinary person.”

“What are you talking about! You’re not ordinary! But thanks to you, I achieved what I wanted…for that, I’m grateful. But since it’s not a revenge I did myself…it feels strange.”

“That’s not correct either. I told you before, didn’t I? I had already achieved something by running the restaurant well, right? I only helped because you ruined it. It’s just a delayed result that you should have earned. Why not use this as an opportunity to grow more? By the time I’m your age, I’ll have someone better than me to take my place, and that’ll ease my frustration.”

“That…sounds good! By the way, where’s the sorceress? Is she sleeping again?”

“Don’t worry about her. She’s a free spirit.”

“Well, because she’s a mage, I guess she is a free spirit!”

Ricent agreed.

It seems she figured out that I have a secret, but she doesn’t seem interested in prying.

I think it’s because of her personality that I helped even more.

So we started grilling the skewers with enthusiasm. Ricent had already become quite skilled at flipping the skewers. She was doing it convincingly.

“Let me see…then could you pick that one up for me?”

“Yes!”

Just then, two uninvited guests appeared in front of us. They were huffing and puffing, and it looked like they hadn’t slept, with deep dark circles under their eyes.

“You…! You…! Ricent!”

They looked like zombies.

How rude, pointing fingers like that.

Are they here to make their last stand, unable to accept defeat?

But Ricent remained calm. She responded to the siblings in a composed voice.

“What’s the matter?”

Of course, it was Seren and Deron who exploded. Deron shouted loudly.

“You, you! What’s the meaning of this? Is this for real!”

Watching it made me frustrated, and I waved my hand, signaling them to go away.

“Hey, you two are loud. Are you trying to ruin our business?”

“What? You, you dare!”

This time, they glared at me. It was just funny, so I laughed. Then I handed the skewers I was grilling to the two of them.

“The reason we won yesterday was because of the taste of the skewers. Would you like to try them? Taste them and give us your evaluation. We’ll gladly accept even the harshest criticism. If there’s something to fix, please tell us.”

“Hmph, this is a mess, probably tastes like trash!”

Le’a-In Seren said that and then took the skewer into her mouth. It seemed like she was planning to taste it and tear it apart.

Le’a-In Deron, beside her, also tore into the skewer with the same expression.

If they were going to criticize, at least they had to pretend to eat it first.

“Alright, I ate it! This has no taste at all! The worst… Ugh, aahhh!”

“Th-this…m-my mouth!”

At the same time, the siblings began twisting their bodies.

“My advice: you’d better go back and drink something quickly. Or else…you’ll die.”

The two of them were speechless. It was natural that they couldn’t speak since their mouths were burning.

“AAAHHH!”

In the end, they screamed and fled. In this unexpected turn of events, Ricent asked me.

“What, what was that? What did you give them?”

“I gave them the same spicy skewers you ate, Ricent. Actually, I used even spicier peppers than that time. The devil’s spicy taste, as they say! After eating this level of spiciness, they’ll probably come to their senses.”

Ricent, remembering that taste, broke into a cold sweat and was horrified.

“I…I really shouldn’t make you my enemy… It’s scary to think that there was a time when we were enemies!”

“So, do you dislike the result now?”

“No! I love it! I feel like I could fly! Did you see their faces? All the frustration of ten years is gone!”

“They tried to find fault with the taste, and ended up getting what they deserved.”

“Really! …Thank you.”

“Oh, you’re admitting it honestly?”

“Gratitude is gratitude.”

Ricent began to smile brightly. It seemed like a sincere smile, and I felt a bit awkward.

“Hey…”

Someone spoke to us, so we turned our heads.

“Huh?”

“H-huh?”

Ricent and I blinked in surprise at the same time.

I had expected this, but I didn’t think it would be like this.

“Since when have you been selling these skewers?”

It seemed to be a customer who had attended the cooking event yesterday, asking with an eager look on his face.

“Ah, yes. Of course…we’re selling them from now on.”

“That’s right!”

We quickly prepared to sell.

It wasn’t just that one customer. The reason we were shocked was because a long line had formed all the way to the entrance of the festival grounds.

Especially since today was the last day of the festival and the last day of the special holiday.

I heard that this was the day when the most people had gathered.