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“D-do I really have to eat this…?”

Anne hesitated as she looked at my meat pie, speaking in a voice that hinted she didn’t want to eat it.

Ah! So, the competition was decided just by looking at my dish.

Well, it’s no wonder. For someone like Anne, who has only ever grilled meat, seeing my pie’s presentation would be quite intimidating.

Indeed, they say the protagonist always appears last, and my turn fittingly came at the end.

“How does my meat pie look? Doesn’t it look delicious?”

I proudly showcased the pie, which would never be the same once cut.

“Th-this was a meat pie…?”

“Then what was the meat pie I’ve seen all this time…?”

Heh. Even Selian and Yuli, who have tried plenty of dishes from top chefs, had never experienced a meat pie like this.

This meant my cooking skills had surpassed those of a top chef.

To meet the trio’s expectations, I placed my knife on the pie and scratched the surface.

Crack crack!

The crispy sound was music to my ears.

With its visuals, aroma, and crunch, this was truly a perfect meat pie.

To divide it into portions, I tightened my grip on the knife to cut it exactly in half.

Crack!

Hmm?

Did I overly crisp the surface? The knife didn’t cut well.

Being too perfect can be a problem sometimes.

If I forced the cut too hard, it might ruin the shape, so I lightly sprinkled aura over the knife.

With just a bit of pressure, the knife glided through the pie as if cutting pudding.

After four cuts, I managed to get exactly eight pieces, perfect for plating.

With four of us and eight pieces, each person could have exactly two pieces.

Since I divided it evenly, there wouldn’t be any fighting over who gets more of my meat pie.

“Uh, um… Elysia?”

Just as I was about to move a piece of pie onto Yuli’s plate with a satisfied look, Yuli slyly pulled her plate back and said,

“Could you… cut it a bit smaller? Like… sixteen pieces, thirty-two pieces… or even sixty-four would be fine…”

It seemed a bit ridiculous as eight pieces looked just right, but for some reason, Yuli wanted it cut smaller.

“But if I cut it smaller, you won’t taste it properly. The filling will ooze out.”

Perhaps she was worried she’d wanted to savor each bite.

However, my pie was perfect when cut into eight pieces. I regrettably couldn’t fulfill Yuli’s request.

“A-ha… right? Th-thank you… I’ll enjoy it…”

I moved a piece of pie onto Yuli’s plate, now it was Selian’s turn.

Once again, I lifted a piece using my fork and knife, keeping one small enough not to attract attention.

Gulp, I could hear Selian swallowing her saliva again.

Of course, how could I stay still when it was Selian wanting to eat it so badly?

I casually set aside the first piece I had picked up and slid the largest piece of pie onto Selian’s plate.

Noticing I had secretly given her the larger piece, Selian looked at me with a slightly surprised expression.

Winking with one eye to keep it secret from Yuli and Anne, I gave her a subtle thumbs up.

Considering all Selian has done for me, this was no big deal.

This little act would probably elevate her fondness for me.

Now it was Anne’s last turn.

However, before I could pick a piece, Anne was staring at the pieces, comparing them as if searching for the largest one.

Sorry, Anne. The largest one has already been given to Selian.

With an apologetic heart for the disappointment I was sure she would feel upon knowing the truth, I picked the next largest piece and placed it onto Anne’s plate.

Still, this piece was denser than the one I had given to Selian, which likely meant more meat inside.

If Anne, who loved meat, got this piece, she would surely be satisfied.

Anne seemed so touched by my consideration that her hands were shaking.

“Okay, everyone, enjoy! Feel free to give an honest assessment.”

Of course, I knew my friends wouldn’t do that, but I thought they might begrudge my superior meat pie compared to their dishes, so I encouraged honesty.

However, my friends just stared at the pie pieces, lacking the courage to take a bite.

“Um… there’s still one piece left for each of you, so you don’t need to hold back…”

At my words, the three flinched. It seemed they had just realized they could eat what was on their plates and still have one more piece each.

“I guess I have to eat…?”

“Yuli! Selian! Want to share? I can give you mine!”

Anne, who normally wouldn’t share her meat dishes, was surprisingly offering her whole piece to the others.

But Selian quickly blocked Anne’s fork with her own like they were dueling, and Yuli turned her back altogether to thwart Anne’s move.

“No! We can’t let you have all this delicious dish to yourself, what Ely gave you is for you to enjoy!”

It was a meat pie she had wanted to eat badly, yet Selian swiftly rejected Anne’s offer.

Such good camaraderie we have here, folks.

Tick tock tick tock

But even after that, only the ticking of the clock filled the room as we hesitated, watching each other, unsure of who would take a bite first.

“I-I’ll be the first to try it.”

The one to break the silence was none other than Selian.

Seeing her so eager to eat, she was the first to step forward.

She lifted her fork to cut a bite-sized piece from the eighth cut.

Crack!

No, she was trying to cut it.

Now that I think about it, even I had trouble cutting it before due to the overly crispy surface…

Perhaps she had never encountered such a pie before, as she seemed perplexed by the crunchy sound alone.

But soon, she regained her composure and, like I did, sprinkled some aura over her fork to slice it down to size.

After a moment of staring at it, Selian took a deep breath.

Finally prepared to take a bite of my dish, she lifted the cut piece to her mouth.

It must have been an astonishing flavor, as her eyes widened in surprise—a look I would never imagine from the usual Selian.

Then, as Selian’s mouth closed around the piece and she began to chew—

Thump!

“Selian!?”

“No! Don’t die, Selian! You must survive!”

Selian suddenly collapsed.

A panicking Anne shook her shoulders, while Yuli somehow began cheering her on.

The Sword Master Selian’s body was strong inside and out.

Such a person wouldn’t faint easily, and her body could even resist deadly poison.

For her to faint from such a delicious meat pie…

What the heck did I just make? My cooking skills are scaring me now…

Regrettably, I shouldn’t think about opening a restaurant. If I did, there would be countless guests swept away by my cooking skills.

Knock knock

Now, no matter how impressed I was, what to do about Selian suddenly fainting? Just then, someone knocked on the door.

I opened it to find two people who were shouting at Selian.

“Hey there, Hero! I’ve come to deliver good news!”

With a cheerful voice, the one entering the room was the Saint, Mariel.

“Heh heh… I brought something perfect for you, Hero… Ah!?”

As expected of Mariel, it looked like she was here to sell me something again. She opened her hands to reveal a mystery item when she suddenly noticed Selian lying behind me, gasping in shock and rushing toward her.

Seriously, it’s just because the dish was too delicious that she fainted…

“Is this a case of poisoning!? How could there be poison in the Academy? Could it be that the Demonic Race has infiltrated the Academy?”

But for some reason, Mariel began saying strange things.

Poison? Toxic? Demonic Race?

“I’ll heal you right away. Just bear with me a little.”

While I was still confused, trying to understand the situation, Mariel knelt down before Selian and began to pray.

“…and thus, please take care of this young lamb. Cure!”

As expected of a Saint, a very bright light enveloped Selian’s body from what seemed like a simple cure magic.

But Selian wasn’t poisoned; she just fainted from the taste…

“Yikes!”

However, for some reason, Selian, to my surprise, sprang up with a light scream.

“What a severe case of poisoning… What on earth is happening… Huh!”

Mariel, still uttering incomprehensible phrases, had spotted my meat pie sitting on the table.

Sure enough, even Mariel couldn’t resist my delicious-looking meat pie.

“This is the cause of the poisoning symptoms! Such a horrendous appearance and ominous feel that seems cursed just to look at… but in front of a Saint, not a chance!”

However, once again, contrary to my expectations, Mariel was shouting with a serious face, completely uncharacteristic of her usual playful demeanor.

“Oh goddess Serena, there exists a being that harbors darkness in this world. With your mercy that embraces even darkness, please wrap this curse away with your light. Purification!”

Mariel’s purification magic descended onto my meat pie.

But what could possibly happen to my dish, which was merely delicious…

Woosh!

…Wait, what?

 

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