The Personal Chef of the Sorceress Who Can’t Eat Alone

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As Catherine said, to some extent, it was indeed Karem’s fault.

To be more precise, it could be described as negligence.

For most young children, whose minds are still soft and overflowing with curiosity, a secret is practically meaningless.

But what if it had been explained kindly instead of being kept a secret?

They would certainly spread the new knowledge far and wide with a triumphant “Aha!”

Though, truth be told, she hadn’t even asked for it to be a secret in the first place.

The youngest princess of the Felwinter family, Princess Alicia, who was the most discreet in Winterhome, returned to the classroom after consuming her fill of snacks, unnoticed by both the fairy and the slime.

Just in time, her tutor returned, and classes resumed.

Alicia, at a lively age, writhed in boredom, but instead of forcibly pulling her into the lesson, the tutor managed to pique her curiosity and encouraged her to participate on her own.

“When cultivating flowerbeds, one must be cautious. You never know what plants might be hiding among the flamboyant flowers.”

“Huh? Is that true for our castle’s greenhouse as well?”

Coldon, situated in a geothermal area, was relatively warm compared to other regions of Iceland.

And within the castle, there existed a greenhouse where spring water flowed.

“The greenhouse in Winterhome is tended to personally by the Duchess alongside maids and gardeners, so there’s no need to worry.”

“But you say plants are hiding?”

“That’s because dangerous poisonous plants might be growing.”

While explaining the extraordinary reproduction of plants, the tutor proceeded with the lesson.

Young children tend to want to show off the knowledge they’ve just acquired.

And given that the topic overlapped perfectly, Alicia enthusiastically exclaimed.

“Speaking of which, the Fire Witch Finger is said not to be a poisonous plant!”

“Excuse me? Princess, where did you hear such a thing?”

“Karem said it while he was with Zigmeser. He was munching on something that looked like a bright red pickle.”

The tutor knew who Karem was.

After all, he had relentlessly boasted about how delicious the snacks were.

Just a few years older than the princess, yet he was referred to as a chef.

Wasn’t the Fire Witch Finger a poisonous plant that could cause serious trouble if consumed?

Despite conducting a class on plants, she didn’t actually know all that much herself.

Of course, she had something to address first.

“Princess, did you sneak snacks outside of snack time?”

“Uh, oh no! I wasn’t supposed to say that!”

“Hmm, what shall we do about that?”

“Oh, I promise I won’t misbehave during today’s lesson, just not to Papa and Mama!”

“Hmm, shall we continue with the lesson then?”

However, Alicia’s words firmly lodged themselves in her mind.

As the class ended and she left for home, the topic naturally arose in conversation with acquaintances along the way.

“Oh, by the way, do you know about the Fire Witch Finger?”

“Of course. Isn’t it the poisonous plant that causes pain just by touching it?”

“Actually, I heard that it’s not poisonous at all?”

“Excuse me? Who said such a thing…?”

“It was Chef Karem who was with Princess Alicia and the head chef. They even made pickles from it!”

“Karem, you say…?”

“Yeah, that one. The one working for Sir Atanitas…”

“Oh, the Grand Wizard’s chef.”

Naturally, it was to be expected that those who heard such intriguing and amusing news would recount it to any acquaintances on their way home.

“Did you know? They say the Fire Witch Finger actually isn’t poisonous!”

“No way, wasn’t it supposed to cause excruciating pain to the point of death?”

“I wonder… Chef Karem said he even made pickles from it?”

“That sounds completely insane!”

And it was only natural for the information to be twisted by those with half-baked knowledge.

Especially if there was someone who took erroneous information and endorsed it as fact.

“Are you saying the Fire Witch Finger, which is supposed to cause death through pain, isn’t poisonous? What kind of nonsense is that?”

“But they say that’s what Karem, the chef from Winterhome, said?”

“What? Aren’t there plenty of chefs working at that castle?”

“They say he’s the Grand Wizard’s personal chef?”

“It’s hard to believe until I see it with my own eyes!”

With the mediums of communication not being well-established, information spread could not be compared to modern times.

However, the people of the city were always hungry for new information, so it spread faster than the wind.

Especially within the city, even if Iceland had the largest population?

Karem, the Fire Witch Finger (known as a poisonous plant).

It was only natural that this fact would reach even the most insignificant rodents in Coldon.

“They say Chef Karem was chosen by the gods and that it’s safe?”

“I heard he enjoyed it so much he died a long time ago.”

“What on earth am I supposed to make of all this?”

Of course, as this information passed through countless people, the original details were left utterly distorted.

But that’s just how rumors go.

What’s more, the individuals spreading them couldn’t have cared less about the truth.

However, those in power are generally the most sensitive to rumors.

Within a day and a half, the rumor that had spread throughout all of Coldon flew back upstream like salmon during spawning, directly reaching Alfred, the ruler of Felwinter Ridge in Winterhome, the very next day.

“So, is this the pickle made from the Fire Witch Finger?”

In the Duke’s office.

Alfred looked at the cube/Fire Witch pickle placed on the table in front of three people.

He then turned to Catherine, who was sitting on the sofa.

“By the way, Sir Atanitas, is it really safe to eat?”

“Yes, my lord. It’s excruciatingly painful, but it doesn’t kill you.”

“But it’s supposed to be unbearable pain?”

“According to my head chef, it’s a ‘taste’ you can adapt to.”

“A taste….”

Alfred had always believed it to be lethal.

Yet, when he thought about it, he had never actually seen anyone who had eaten it.

While Alfred was mulling this over, Karem, sitting to the left of his employer, was suffering a taste of his own medicine.

I didn’t expect this rumor to spread so quickly.

That was a statement made out of ignorance regarding the Fire Witch Finger.

After all, the Fire Witch Finger was a plant that would make anyone capable of feeling pain recoil in horror, and monsters were no exception.

There had even been attempts to use it to drive away monsters, believing its powder could chase them off, but the danger of enraging monsters through pain proved too high, leading to its quick abandonment.

It causes unbearable pain, yet the chances of driving a monster away were fifty-fifty.

It does have repellent properties, but there were other herbs far more effective.

An ambiguously useful poisonous plant had become the subject of avoidance, entangled in all kinds of jumbled information due to its distinctive appearance and name, as well as humanity’s usual penchant for bending the truth.

Karem, having compiled the fragmented information from the conversation between Alfred and Catherine, who sat across from Mary, who was standing with her eyes closed, thought to himself.

“Hmm, it seems I’ve dug my own grave again.”

Normally, this would have been a casually fleeting piece of information.

However, given that it was festival time, and Winter’s End had only recently passed, revealing the actual facts was seemingly of little importance to those unwilling to return to their mundane lives.

Karem realized quietly that living in peace was no longer an option.

Well, thinking about it, it had been over since he signed the employment contract with Catherine.

If he wanted to live quietly, he should have stayed away from the center of power.

Meanwhile, as Karem tossed aside his original objective, Alfred’s interest shifted towards him.

“So, Karem. Can you show us?”

“Excuse me? Ah, of course.”

Understanding the implication, Karem swiftly grabbed a fork beside the dish and sampled the cube he had brought from the Wizard’s Tower’s kitchen.

Nom. Crunch, crunch!

In that brief moment, perhaps his senses had adapted, as it wasn’t as spicy as before.

Just a bit prickly and hot?

However, it still seemed evident that his body reacted, as warmth surged to his skin accompanied by a flush, and beads of sweat began to form.

Seeing Karem empty the dish nonchalantly caused Alfred’s eyes to widen.

“… Indeed, that’s remarkable. Did anything happen when you ate it?”

“First of all, if you do not adapt, it’s spicy enough to be painful.”

“Spicy? That would mean…”

“Cautiously, it’s similar to onion, garlic, or pepper, but it’s a distinctly different kind of spiciness.”

“Hmm. Indeed…”

A shift in perspective.

Thinking about it this way, as Karem described, it did make sense.

While Alfred pondered, his eyes suddenly lit up at Karem’s next statement.

“And when you eat it, your body heats up, and your temperature rises—”

“Wait? I never heard that before?”

“Sir Atanitas, did you wonder why I was sweating?”

“No, I thought it was just because it hurt.”

“Perhaps you should touch it for a moment.”

Alfred took Karem’s hand with interest.

Catherine did the same, grasping Karem’s contrary hand, whereby they both sensed something unusual.

Though the inner walls of Winterhome were heated by flowing spring water, Karem’s hand was far too warm, to the point it was quite hot.

Even when they released their hands and stepped back slightly, a gentle warmth lingered.

To think that simply eating something could generate this heat. It might come in handy.

After a moment of contemplation, Alfred decisively spoke.

“It would be advisable to quell this ridiculous rumor as quickly as possible. After all, they’re already calling it a blessing from the gods. Besides, Sir Atanitas, I trust you don’t enjoy having such stories circulating?”

“That… Hmm….”

A groan involuntarily escaped Catherine’s lips.

Naturally, if the subject of rumors was the Grand Wizard’s personal chef, it would only lead people to wonder about who the actual wizard was.

Catherine did not wish to face any embarrassing pasts.

While she was shuddering at the thought, Alfred turned back to Karem.

“It seems I just thought of a way to quell this wild rumor sooner rather than later.”

“Thank you, my lord.”

Karem had no intention of refusing Alfred’s proposal.

After all, there were plenty of things weighing on his conscience.

Such as his age, the gaze of the gods, and all that.

If they let distorted rumors run unchecked, they might likely converge into a grotesque fusion.

However…

“But I never expected things would escalate to this extent.”

“This time, I’ll pity you, little one.”

Catherine, suffering from the resurfacing of an amusing yet embarrassing part of her past, sincerely empathized with Karem.

She felt that the current situation was not so distant from her own experiences.

In any case, Alfred’s solution was simple.

Empty rumors could be overshadowed by creating a bigger event.

It would be even better if an incident emerged that was related directly to the rumors.

Thus, Karem found himself standing there.

Before a crowd that likely numbered in the hundreds.

And on the stage he stood upon, the seats were filled with Alfred and Duchess Elizabeth, among other Felwinter family members and esteemed guests.

“Is that little one really the source of the rumor? A true little one?”

“Beer is only ten pence! If you buy now, you get free snacks!”

“The Fire Witch Finger is definitely poisonous! That little one is going to die soon!”

“I’ll put a shilling on the kid dying!”

The spacious plaza, usually quiet in winter, had attracted people from other streets and squares, and amidst the gathering crowd, the commotion only grew louder.

Karem felt his mind going hazy, but he steeled himself.

“Ah, whatever. Let whatever happen happen. I’m done thinking.”

Karem picked up the basket containing the Fire Witch Fingers and climbed up the steps to the platform.

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