The Possessor Mistook the Genre for 20 Years

87 – The Heroines’ Cooking Contest (2)

Following Arian, Yuna, Eustia, and Hera arrived at the mansion’s kitchen.

“Wow, so this is the kitchen. It’s bigger than our house…?”

Yuna said, looking around in amazement.

As she said, the kitchen was quite large, larger than the average commoner’s house.

And it was equipped with a variety of ingredients and cooking tools.

In other words, it was perfect for a cooking contest.

At that moment, Eustia, who was also looking around the kitchen, spoke.

“Do we really have to do this…?”

Eustia was not pleased with the situation.

She had provocatively mentioned her engagement to Franz out of annoyance, but now she wondered if it was really necessary to go this far.

If asked whether she liked Franz, she honestly wasn’t sure yet.

‘It’s not that I can’t cook….’

Who was in charge of meals in the hero’s party with Franz?

None other than Eustia.

She knew his tastes well and was quite skilled in cooking.

It was just that she didn’t like the idea of competing for him.

But Arian wasn’t one to let Eustia’s comment pass quietly.

“Oh, so now you’re going to tuck your tail and run away? Yes, go ahead. Come to think of it, didn’t the Tower Master say his ideal type is a domestic woman who cooks well? Well, it seems the Saintess is already out of the running.”

“…I’ll do it.”

“Excuse me? I can’t hear you well.”

“I said I’ll do it! What’s so hard about cooking?! I can do it!”

If Justia had a knack for cooking, Arian had a knack for getting under people’s skin.

It was a blatant provocation, but Justia’s competitive spirit couldn’t stand it.

In fact, if she had quietly let it go, Justia would have lost her chance to appeal to Franz, so Arian, due to her personality, had unnecessarily made an enemy.

“Oh, the ingredients are quite excellent. With this, I can make something delicious.”

“Ah-! How can you start touching things before we even begin?!”

Hera admired the vegetables placed on one side of the kitchen, and Arian scolded her for it.

“Let’s set the rules first. Just one dish, any theme. One hour. How about it? If there’s anything you don’t like, speak up now. Don’t complain later.”

The other three nodded at Arian’s proposal.

It was quite a reasonable rule, so there was no reason to refuse.

“If there’s anything you don’t know or need to find, ask our family’s chef over there.”

Arian pointed somewhere with her finger, and there stood a man, stiff as a stone statue.

When the three’s gazes turned to him, he bowed his head.

It was shocking enough that the eldest daughter of the family had barged into the kitchen, but to have a cooking contest with the hero party? It was like a bolt from the blue. It was no different from being struck by lightning.

“Then let’s start right away.”

At Arian’s words, everyone began to move.

They were careful with the cooking tools and necessary ingredients, not taking anything lightly.

Arian grabbed the best-looking potato and thought.

‘I will win…’

The opponents were a hero, a saintess, and an elf.

The saintess must have been raised with precious treatment, so she probably can’t cook properly.

The elf might have made and eaten various foods in the forest, but she wouldn’t know the ingredients of the barren north well.

The biggest obstacle was, of course, the hero.

She had been personally guaranteed by Franz to be a good cook.

Moreover, from what she heard, she seemed to have grown up in an ordinary family, so she must know how to cook to some extent.

But I will win.

It wasn’t just her who heard that it was delicious.

‘He said my sandwich was delicious too.’

Moreover, this is the North, and she was born and raised in the North.

With such advantages, she had a good chance of winning.

Unfortunately, Arian was under a very big misconception.

First, Justia was not raised in luxury. And although it was true that she hadn’t cooked recently, she had enough basic knowledge. When she was young, she even helped the director cook at the orphanage.

Secondly, Hera had a good grasp of most ingredients. She had read a lot of literature recorded by the elves.

And lastly, Yuna had no particular thoughts.

She was just happy to be able to serve food to Franz with everyone.

Tak tak tak-.

Chopping ingredients on the cutting board.

Sizzle-.

Cooking on the heated pan.

The kitchen started to fill with familiar sounds and appetizing smells.

Arian, while stir-frying vegetables with familiar movements, glanced sideways to check the progress of the others.

‘What, why is everyone doing so well…?’

Arian slowly began to realize.

Things were not going as she had thought.

She had thought it would be an easy win, but it seemed it would be a tough fight.

Feeling the tension, Arian pushed herself harder in cooking.

She grilled the properly cut meat until it turned a golden brown, then poured water and boiled it with the pre-stir-fried vegetables.

She didn’t forget to season it with spices in the middle.

After a long time of hearing the bubbling sound from the pot, the ingredients had become tender.

They were soft enough to be easily mashed by hand.

Arian’s masterpiece, the stew, was complete.

Looking at the clock, the promised hour was almost up, so Arian quickly plated the stew.

To avoid it being too greasy, she grated a bit of fresh herbs on top at the end.

Having finished her cooking, Arian turned to look at the other three.

She hadn’t noticed while focusing on her cooking, but the others seemed to be in the final stages as well.

As everyone finished plating, the promised hour was just about up.

Arian’s confidence began to rapidly diminish after seeing the results of the other three.

Honestly, she didn’t want to admit it, but they looked delicious.

The saying “a good-looking rice cake is also tasty” was surely true.

But having come this far, she couldn’t give up.

Whether it worked out or not, she had no choice but to give it a try.

Who knows? It might just suit Franz’s taste perfectly.

Having organized her thoughts, Arian looked at everyone and said,

“I plan to score the dishes without revealing who made them to ensure fairness. Does anyone have any objections?”

Everyone shook their heads at Arian’s words.

Soon, four plates of appetizing food were placed on the carrier.

Arian pulled the carrier and left the kitchen with everyone.

Now, only Franz’s evaluation remained.

Arian’s heart pounded loudly.

She was quite nervous.

In contrast, Yuna was just smiling, enjoying the situation.

Justia regretted falling for the provocation in the past, and Hera was worried that it might not suit the master’s taste.

In the end, all of this was just Arian’s shadow boxing.

Though she herself didn’t realize it.

* * * * *

Shortly after they left for the cooking contest, Franz, left alone in the room, stared blankly out the window.

It was so boring that he wondered if there had ever been a moment like this.

Since he entered the Magic Tower at the age of 16, this was probably the first time he had such leisure.

Boredom for the first time in ten years, even without his secretary or the hero party members, just alone.

‘It’s so nice…’

He wondered if this was how married men felt when they ran away from home.

This moment of doing nothing was so blissful.

At that moment, a thought suddenly struck Franz.

‘Should I tell Justia…?’

When he touched the sealed blade, didn’t he meet the god Justia served?

He wasn’t sure if he could answer what Justia was curious about, but wouldn’t it be better to tell her anyway?

But then again, upon further reflection, didn’t Justia hate the goddess?

Then perhaps there was no need to tell her.

Franz continued to ponder as he took the spear blade out of his bag.

Indeed, it was a holy relic, the blade emitted a dazzling light.

The goddess had asked him to gather something similar to this, but how many of these were there?

Could it be, 99 of them…?

If that were truly the case, he might lose his mind.

As Franz gazed at the blade and sighed, he sensed a presence outside.

Franz quickly put the blade back into his bag, and at the same time, the door opened and everyone who had gone out for the cooking contest returned.

“Master of the Tower, you must be very hungry?”

Arian said as she placed the dishes on the table one by one.

There were a total of four dishes.

All of them were filled with appetizing food.

“Please try them all and give us your evaluation.”

Everyone had worked hard to make them, so it seemed unnecessary to rank them…

But it didn’t seem like a situation that could be passed over so lukewarmly.

So, what could he do?

He had no choice but to comply with their wishes.

Franz picked up the spoon and fork.