by Road Warrior
As expected, Aaron began his announcement in front of 300 soldiers.
“Lord Marquis Martin Breggas has permitted the 13th Crusaders of Salvation to pass the Frontlines into the demon world. Countless units competed for the honor of providing support to their cause, and rejoice! We, the 8th Suicide Unit, were chosen to become their support unit.”
The announcement was like a bolt out of the blue, but no one brought up any objections.
–
The Crusaders of Salvation entered the Suicide Unit’s encampment in the late afternoon. Sungchul who had been synthesizing in front of an Alchemic cauldron saw their large flag with a greatsword in the shape of a cross fluttering in the air and knew that what had to come had finally arrived.
They came quickly. It must mean that this matter was already agreed upon beforehand.
Sungchul scanned the Crusaders to estimate their numbers. They were approximately three hundred members, similar to the Suicide Unit, but the number of combat-capable soldiers was barely over a hundred. Experienced men were far and few between, and they were mostly comprised of untested youth. They looked to be mostly sons and daughters of prestigious families.
Complicated emotions ran through Sungchul’s mind as he watched Aaron head over to greet their leader.
“Oh, my. You’ve arrived? It must have been rough travelling for so long.”
Aaron was full of smiles as he continued bobbing his head up and down in an attempt to suck up to the leader of the Crusaders. But the apparent leader of the Crusaders of Salvation was a youth who just barely looked like he reached the cusp of adulthood.
“You’re Aaron Genghis? I’ve heard that you begged to escort us along our journey.”
The youth, who was riding on top of a pure completely unmarred white stallion, had a graceful and suitably haughty expression on his face. He spoke his mind and didn’t care about the opinions of those around him.
“Truthfully, I wanted to enter the Demon Realm through the battlefront kept by the Elves rather than the Storm Battlefront managed by the Dwarves. I personally dislike dwarves.”
Aaron’s face became visibly distorted at the youth's words, but he could say nothing in response. The boy looked over the bleak encampment of the Suicide Unit and spoke as if he was spitting. “Goodness, what an inelegant unit in an inelegant place. Does such a unit really deserve the honor of escorting the Crusaders of Salvation?”
This was the moment that signified the end of the peace and the coming of the storm for the Suicide Unit.
***
The Crusaders of Salvation set up their camp in the dead centre of the Suicide Unit’s encampment. The retinue was responsible for their manual labor.
Here and there, the sound of posts being driven into the ground and the sound of workers shouting could be heard. The Crusaders of Salvation, who had little else to do, gathered in small groups for idle chat or wandered around their surroundings. Some of the Crusaders visited the tent where Sungchul performed his Alchemy. Three men and two women, all so young it looked as though they had narrowly avoided the Curse of Extinction. One of them discovered the Alchemic cauldron and called the others into the tent in excitement.
“Hey, look over here! There’s an Alchemist here!”
“What? There’s an Alchemist in a place like this? Weird.”
“Should we go check out what he’s making?”
Sungchul was standing right before them, but they continued without according him any respect. It was because of the prisoner number attached to his ragged coat. Sungchul peeked over at the unwelcome guests and continued what he was doing. He was making a Level 4 alchemic item called the Jug of Purification. It was a jar created from the clay found in the Demon Realm mixed with the Kaolin clay found further south.
The Jar was able to purify water into drinkable water, no matter how dirty or impure it was. It was an invaluable item within the Demon Realm where fresh water was difficult to find. Not only that, its Alchemic level was four. In the Other World where Alchemy was looked down upon, it was a significant level of difficulty.
WHOOSH. WHOOSH. WHOOSH.
Sungchul continued to grow the flames beneath the Alchemic cauldron by stepping on the bellows with no particular expression on his face. The jar inside the lidded cauldron was beginning to take a solid form as it was baked. When the jar was properly baked, Sungchul opened the lid. The steam that had been circulating within flew out with fearsome vigor. Sungchul placed a spoon inside the cauldron with the jar and began to stir.
The act of stirring was more for the purpose of allowing the mana to flow into the Alchemic item, which granted the item a life of its own, rather than actually mixing the ingredients. He wasn’t aware of it at first, but it was knowledge he acquired through continued practice. The spoon appeared to touch the jar, but it didn’t. The spoon simply passed through the jar and stirred the bottom of the cauldron as though the spoon and the jar were on separate planes of existence. It was quite literally a miracle that was taking place inside of the small cauldron, but it must have appeared unremarkable to the onlookers.
“Boring.”
“I thought it might be interesting, but it’s some useless jar?”
“I thought he was making a bomb or something.”
“It looks cheap.”
Each onlooker made their complaints before leaving the tent.
“…”
The pride of Sungchul, for whom everything had been going well recently, crumbled. It affected the results poorly.
[Synthesis Failed!]
With a poof, the jar inside the cauldron shattered into countless pieces before turning into black dust.
“Those fucking bitches…!!” Sungchul’s face became twisted as he headed towards the members of the Crusaders of Salvation.
“Woah, calm down.” Bertelgia shook her body within his pocket and spoke to him softly as she continued, “Failure is the mother of success! A true Alchemist can create the Philosopher's Stone even in the midst of a busy market place.”
“…”
Sungchul clenched his teeth as he left the tent. Non-commissioned soldiers nearby saw Sungchul and threw out their greetings.
“Hey! Alchemist! Is it going well?”
“So-so.”
Sungchul went towards the back of the tent. There was a separate brazier and preparatory table installed here. It was a private kitchen which Sungchul sometimes used to cook. He glimpsed around his surroundings before he pulled out the ingredients from his Soul Storage. It was the Mandragora kimchi he had made in a small pot with blood pudding made of the blood of the Man-faced Beast he had beaten in the Demon Realm.
The meat of the Man-faced Beast was tough like leather, and when one bit down on it, the abscess within it exploded with unpleasant flavor which made it impossible to eat. However, blood pudding made of cooled and hardened fresh blood of a recently killed Man-faced Beast was an excellent cooking ingredient.
He pulled out the ingredients onto a simple counter to the side, then headed over to the food storage with three low-grade healing potions.
“What? Another trade?” The storage manager, prisoner number 132, peeked over at Sungchul’s healing potions then handed over a portion of the rations. Dried sausages, ham, and an unknown bird’s carcass were traded for three healing potions. Sungchul took the exchanged materials to his own barracks to begin cooking.
Even though it was called cooking, there wasn’t much to it.
The mountain bird’s bones were boiled to make meat stock and left to simmer as the alchemic cauldron’s lid was set upside down and used as a pan to fry the blood pudding of the Man-faced Beast.
Once the blood pudding was cooked to a certain extent, succulent juices burst out from within. Sungchul put the Mandragora kimchi and the sausages and ham he had obtained earlier on top of the juice, and over everything he poured in the broth he had made by cooking the bones of the mountain bird and brought the mix to a boil. After it had boiled enough, he added in t
he spices and adjusted the flavor. This was the Demon Frontline version of sausage stew.
Unfortunately, Sungchul’s cooking wasn’t popular within the barracks. It was because the food was seasoned heavily with spices that the Other Worlders weren’t familiar with. Their opinions might have changed if they had given it a chance, but the soldiers of the Suicide Unit weren’t feeling very adventurous when it came to their meals.
Sungchul gave no heed to such criticisms. His food was made for his sake anyways. However, unfamiliar onlookers arrived as he was putting the finishing touches. He briefly wondered who they were, but quickly realized it was the same five members that watched him do Alchemy.
A freckled girl with blonde hair looked over at the bubbling sausage stew and popped her question. “Huh? What’s this, Alchemy?”
To call it Alchemy… thought Sungchul.
The fact that the girl called his dignified cooking Alchemy meant that she didn’t see Sungchul’s food as food.
“Whatever it is, it reeks. Is he making something dangerous?” A blond youth oozing with pomp clenched his nose and made a disgusted expression. The fellows next to him had things to say as well.
“It looks like some kind of food? Look. There’s some sausage and ham floating on the red liquid.”
“Uwek.”
The conversation between the five fell right into Sungchul’s ears. Sungchul felt humiliation on a level he had never experienced before.
Making such judgement of a High-Class Chef’s dish. What arrogance, when the most they amount to are mere nobles.
Judging strictly by ability, Sungchul was a level above the average royal chef. Chef itself was a rare class, and not just anybody could become a high-class chef which was a rarity among the chefs. Sungchul had actually spent considerable effort to become a high-class chef, and he had great pride in his own recipes, and those five had dared to mock his food.
Bertelgia could feel something big rumbling from Sungchul’s psyche and began to shake strongly as she whispered softly, “Hold it. Woaaah… Relax.”
However, Bertelgia’s words didn’t reach Sungchul’s ears. Sungchul turned to face the group of five. An incredibly heavy aura exuded from his person, and the five leaped up from the sudden change in atmosphere. Sungchul slowly opened his mouth. “Why not give it a try?”
He held a ladle with the Man-faced Beast stew with pieces of ham and sausage within towards the group.
“Go ahead and eat some.”
The faces of the five froze at Sungchul’s sudden suggestion.
Sungchul continued to insist. “Hey. Why don’t you have a bite before you make a judgement? See if it tastes good or not.”
Despite Sungchul’s repeated insistence, the group of five remained distant.
“Let’s go.” The blond youth spoke coldly before turning to leave. The other four followed suit without question. Callous voices could be heard from their backs.
“How could anyone eat something like that?”
“Not even dogs would eat that slop.”
Sungchul was unperturbed. He only smirked to himself. “Rejecting a meal prepared by a High-Class Chef; they're throwing away a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.”
Sungchul returned to his place and swallowed the stew in his ladle in a single gulp. The clotted blood exploded with savory flavors and melted on his tongue like soft tofu as the sausage and ham that had a chewy texture filled his stomach. The Mandragora kimchi complemented the soup nicely with a deep vinegar flavor. It was truly a feast of flavors in his mouth. Sungchul wore a satisfied expression on his face.
I give it an 87.
However, his class didn’t rate it so highly.
[This recipe is… 34 points.]
I don’t know who is managing this class, but I really want to see his face just once, Sungchul thought to himself as he pulled out a bottle of hard liquor from his supplies and downed it. The bursting flavor in his mouth mixed with the strong drink as it moved into his stomach. It was heavenly. It felt like all the fatigue he had built up had evaporated all at once.
They rejected something this good. They’re truly pitiful.
Sungchul was still dining in this way when he felt someone’s gaze. He turned around to see if the five from before had returned, but it was someone unexpected.
This guy is…
Curiosity rose in his eyes. His visitors were the blond male who was the head of the Crusaders of Salvation and a blonde woman who looked just like him.
“I thought I smelled something funky. It looks like it was the cooking of a Summoned,” said the youth as he approached Sungchul then looked over at the boiling sausage stew in the cauldron lid with a sharp gaze. Sungchul didn’t reply and continued to look up at him.
The youth looked young and delicate, but his eyes were bold and prudent.
He looks like he’s got some spunk. I don’t know how it’ll be in reality though. Sungchul shifted his gaze toward the girl who was standing behind the youth protectively. She had similarly pale blonde hair and piercing blue eyes, and she was already looking at Sungchul. The moment their eyes met, Sungchul was reminded of a freshly honed blade of a knife.
The siblings are quite something despite their age. Sungchul finished judging the unwelcome guests as the youth who was observing his food began to speak.
“Hmm. This red soup, and this provocative smell. It feels similar to the food they serve at the Order of the Iron Blood Knights.”
“…”
“The food didn’t taste good, and I forced myself to eat it, but it was quite spicy and striking. It felt like I was looking at the Order of the Iron Blood Knights itself; elegant facade with no substance behind it.”
“What do you want to say?” Sungchul downed another shot of alcohol as he retorted. Even dogs should be left alone during their meals. He wasn’t feeling hospitable as these unwelcome guests were buzzing around him during his meal.
The corner of the youth’s lip rose as the hand of the girl behind him reached for the hilt of her blade. A thick aura of hostility flew out from her. The youth waved his hand towards her.
“Sophia. Stop. I am the one in the wrong here.” He slightly bent his neck towards Sungchul to express his apology for his disrespectful behavior.
“I apologize, unknown soldier. I smelled the scent of such foreign food, and I unknowingly overstepped my bounds.”
The fact that the same man who treated even Aaron like a bug was now apologizing to a no-name low-rank soldier was a very unusual occurrence. He seemed to be a better man than he looked. Sungchul took a ladle and offered a portion of the soup towards the youth. “Don’t just apologize with words, try some.”
At Sungchul’s sudden action, the youth briefly froze.
“Brother.” The woman behind him had a worried expression and approached him. She glared towards Sungchul with a frosty gaze and shouted, “You. Summoned! Who do you think he is that you can shove your slop of garbage towards him?”
Her blade was already pulled halfway. Sungchul made a bitter smile as he saw the shining blade and put the ladle back into the pot. “Don’t eat it, if you don’t want to.”
His words brought forth a great rage upon the lady's face.
“This bastard…”
The youth restrained the girl once again. “Sophia. Restrain yourself. How long do you intend to remain hysterical?”
Unlike the fuming girl, the youth sat next to Sungchul with a relaxed expression on his face and said, “Could I give it a taste?”
Sungchul made a faint smile and handed over a small bowl filled with the stew. The youth made an indecipherable expression as he stared at the contents of the bowl for a long while.
“It won’t taste as good if it goes cold,” said Sungchul.
“Brother. You can’t eat this.” The girl objected, but the youth smirked and swallowed Sungchul’s dish in a single gulp. However, his attitude was like that of someone forcing himself to try and eat something that wasn’t food. It was like th
e characteristic recklessness of youth.
The youth who had the stew in his mouth began to chew a few times before his face turned to stone. The girl who was watching the scene became pale. “Brother!”
At that moment, the youth let out a soft exclamation, “Huh…?!”
Sungchul crossed his arms and made a smug expression on his face as he observed the change. I made it. There is no way it’ll taste bad.
The youth who had a mysterious expression on his face looked behind him with a happy expression and spoke in a cheerful voice. “It’s good!”
The mood changed completely.
***
“Delicious! Sophia, you must give it a try! The way this black clump melts in your mouth... this is a delicacy!”
“I don’t believe you.”
“It’s the truth. It’s really good.”
Sungchul silently listened to the bickering of the siblings while taking in his drinks. He could feel the injured pride of a high-class chef slowly being healed. After the brief intermission, the youth formally introduced himself.
“This has been thoroughly enjoyable, Mr. Number 34. It wasn’t my original purpose in coming here, but I was treated to a gourmet meal. I am Elijah Breggas.”
Curiosity filled Sungchul’s eyes. Breggas?
A particular man’s face appeared in his mind. The Sixth Champion of the Continent, Lord Marquis Breggas. It was because the youth had the same family name as the man who supervised the frontline of the Demon Realm, but the chances of him being the man’s son were low. There was just no way that Martin Breggas, who knew the survival rates of the frontline of the Demon Realm better than anyone else, would send his direct family into the Crusaders of Salvation which had less than 10% chance of survival.
Elijah and Sophia Breggas took their leave during Sungchul’s silence. After finishing up his meal, Sungchul headed toward the medical tent where the veteran soldiers were gathered.
It wasn’t hard to distinguish the medical tent. All of the tents looked similar to each other, but the medical tent was adorned with the numbers of the fallen soldiers. Sungchul noticed the number 700 among the countless numbers attached to the large tent as he entered and figured that the Suicide Unit had been much larger in scale before.