"It's simply unbelievable! The three judges who've spoken so far haven't given out a single score below six, and one of them even handed out a perfect ten!" The host worked to whip up the enthusiasm of the audience inside the arena. "Now then—what scores will our remaining two judges give him?"
The judge with the long white beard and the kind, gentle face spoke up. "Young man, let me ask you—the food called 'rice noodles,' is the process of making it complicated?"
"Not at all. As long as you know the steps, anyone can make it easily."
"Hmm… easy to prepare, easy to pick up, easy to spread around. I'll give it a nine."
"An-another high score!!!!"
At the host's astonished cry over the speakers, the audience in the arena roared even more wildly. Every one of them wanted to know whether this dark horse—who had been crushing the field with his scores so far—could squeeze a high mark out of the final judge as well.
"Ahem… you fellows have asked every question worth asking, and you've already heaped on all the praise… so what's left for me to say?" The last judge, a portly man, shot a glare at his friends beside him and sighed helplessly. "Well, fine, let me ask one simple thing: how satisfied are you with this dish of yours?"
"If the highest score is ten, then I'd give it a ten."
"Good. Confident. A chef should believe in the dishes he makes. I give it a nine."
The host thrust his left hand high into the air and shouted into the microphone, "It's happened!!!!!! For the first time ever, a contestant has cleared the first round with full top marks across the board!!!"
"Ohhhhhhh!"
The roar inside the arena nearly drowned out Jhin and Pecorine standing on the stage. The two slapped a high-five to celebrate their flawless advance through the first round, and the host teased, "My my, this little couple really does love to be all lovey-dovey—the moment they advance, they're already celebrating together. Well then, let's move along to the next contestant before we disturb them any further."
Pecorine had been completely engrossed in slurping down noodles a moment ago and hadn't heard a single word the host said. Only now did she realize that everyone had mistaken her and Jhin for a couple. Unfortunately, beneath the wall of cheers, her flustered denials never made it to the host's or the audience's ears, and all she could do was keep her cheeks burning red and pretend to keep on eating.
Just as the competition was at full boil and the first round was drawing to a close, a mass of black cloud suddenly shrouded the sky above the arena. Accompanied by extraordinarily arrogant laughter, a bizarre creature with a human body, a goat's head, and three pairs of bat wings descended out of the dark cloud and hung suspended in midair.
"Hmph hmph hahaha~ Little ants, having such fun in this newbie village, are you? I, the Gourmet Calamity—Saurius—have come to play with you!"
"It's actually a Demon King's Army officer—Saurius! Rumor has it that wherever this demon appears, many rare ingredients and culinary methods are stripped away, turning the land into a gourmet wasteland. For him… for him to appear at the Grand Culinary Conclave this time—could he be trying to wipe every last dish off the face of the continent?"
Jhin felt sincere admiration for this host, who, even faced with a Demon King's Army officer, still dutifully commentated for the audience. He stretched out an arm in front of Pecorine, signaling her not to make any rash moves for now.
They still didn't know what Saurius's main purpose for coming was. Charging in recklessly would only mean losing the initiative—better to watch quietly and see just what kind of trick this thing was about to pull.
"Hahaha~" Hearing the host's introduction, Saurius grew even more smug, his three pairs of bat wings quivering with laughter. "You human seem to have quite the silver tongue. I rather like you. How about it—care to consider entering my service?"
The host forced out a smile uglier than a sob and answered, "N-no thank you, I still have a family I need to look after."
"Tch—this is exactly why humans are boring. Throwing away a golden chance to become my subordinate, all for the sake of some pointless 'family.'" The goat-nosed creature snorted contemptuously. Saurius drifted slowly down to the ground, sweeping his gaze around with his bat wings spread wide. "Is there anyone else who'd like to enter my service?"
The audience in the arena had long since fled without a trace, leaving only the chefs on the stage, frozen in place by his overwhelming aura. Jhin waved his hand toward the contestants' lounge ahead of time, halting Kokkoro and the others who had been ready to rush out and save him. He wanted to see for himself just how this demon—a Demon King's Army officer, far stronger than an overlord-class monster—went about turning a place into a gourmet wasteland.
The stage fell into silence. Most of the chefs who'd entered this competition were proud-spirited types. Even if it was a Demon King's Army officer, threats and pressure alone weren't about to make them bow their heads.
"Hoh, so not a single one of you wants to keep on living?" Saurius didn't actually look all that surprised; he'd seen this exact sort of situation more times than he could count.
There was always a portion of humans like this—the kind who, for the sake of some so-called conviction, treated their own lives as worthless. And what stood gathered on this stage was simply a clump of those death-courting fools.
"I've already given you all your chance—pity none of you took it." The goat-headed demon shook his head in a parody of gentlemanly regret. "You can't blame me for this one. If you want someone to blame, blame yourselves for taking your own little lives so lightly."
With that, Saurius let out a thunderous shout, and a powerful blast of wind erupted outward from him, blowing the food and people across the stage clean off their feet. The chefs with the quickest reactions grabbed onto the edges of their stoves to keep from being swept away, only to be slammed heavily onto the ground a moment later.
Jhin pulled Pecorine down to crouch behind a stove and continued to observe this Demon King's Army officer.
Surveying the mess he had personally wrought, Saurius threw back his head and roared with smug laughter. "Just as I thought—picking the moment when the Knights' Order had gone off to crush a monster lair was the right call. Little ants—fear me, dread me, despair!"
"Your lives shall remain forever upon this stage, and your souls shall be gathered into the demon realm, where you'll cook for me lifetime after lifetime, hahahaha!!!"
His laughter cut off, and he clapped a hand to his head. "Oh, right—I seem to recall this little competition of yours has a grand prize, doesn't it? Well, then, I'll just have to help myself! As first place, taking the prize that belongs to me—perfectly reasonable, wouldn't you say?"
Saurius strolled at a leisurely pace toward the grand prize set up at the very center of the arena. A scheme plotted over so many years was finally about to come to fruition, and it gave him the same surging thrill as the days of his youth, when he'd boldly stormed the Succubus Den.
Just as he shattered the glass case and was about to take the beverage recipe displayed inside, a hand suddenly came to rest on his shoulder. "Hey—aren't you getting a bit full of yourself?"
Jhin had been watching for a long while now, and seeing that Saurius had let his guard down completely and was reaching for the recipe, he'd decided that now was the moment to act.
"Hm?" Saurius hated being interrupted like this. He spun around, snarling, "And where did some snot-nosed brat like you crawl out from? Didn't you hear that idiot's introduction of me just now?"
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🔥 New history: Path of Elation in Warhammer 40K
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