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Fantastic food. That’s the only way to describe it.

I don’t know how others might feel, but at least Kana evaluated her food that way.

She had tasted hundreds of different spices before, but she had never encountered a combination of spices that produced such an aroma, and the rice grains with just the right amount of char that didn’t overpower the taste, along with each ingredient, were dancing on Kana’s tongue.

Kana knew, as she had seen the inside while going to get the food herself. Only a single person was cooking alone inside the booth called “Food that makes you stronger”.
Moreover, she remembered the list of backed-up orders that had been densely filled above.

Surely, being so busy that there was no time to even blink, it wouldn’t be strange if there were some flaws here and there, but the dish she made didn’t have a single flaw.

A dish made with sincerity and soul from start to finish.

That’s why Kana decided. Without even needing to buy multiple meal tickets to try food from other booths, she made up her mind.

She would definitely learn cooking from her. From her, who was more skilled than any cook she had ever seen before!

Because of this, Kana waited inside the cafeteria until the end of lunch time, then followed the red-haired woman who came out of the “Food that makes you stronger” booth, and even raised her voice, which she usually didn’t do, to ask her to teach her.

She, who had affirmed that she was Professor Aria’s sister. She, who introduced herself as Yeonhwa, smiled readily at Kana’s request, and Kana was about to smile back at that smile which seemed to indicate success at a glance.

“Damn it… Is this the right place?”
“Yeah, I’m sure! According to what we investigated, this is where there’s no people movement…”

If only it weren’t for the two students who suddenly appeared.

A male student and a female student emerging from the bushes. A heavy silence descended on everyone’s heads at their appearance.
Well, anyone would react the same if suddenly unknown people crawled out, parting the bushes in front of them.

And while it was the same for Kana, Arin, and Yeonhwa, thanks to Yeonhwa who recovered from the confusion first, the silence that had settled didn’t even last 5 seconds before being shattered by Yeonhwa’s curse.

“What the fuck are these now?”

Yeonhwa spat out a curse in a tone dripping with annoyance. At her attitude that seemed to genuinely find the two in front of her bothersome, the two who had crawled out of the bushes raised the veins on their foreheads but soon stood up, brushing off the leaves stuck to their uniforms.

Responding quite calmly compared to the awkwardness just moments ago, the two bowed their heads towards Yeonhwa.

“We’re sorry. We mistook the path and entered the wrong place.”
“We’ll leave right away.”

Kana felt something strange about the two apologizing in a rather stiff manner, but as it was an understandable situation, she didn’t stop the two who were turning back.

Indeed, she felt that if she were in the same situation as them, she would have shown a similar appearance.

Arin seemed to have the same thought as Kana, as she let out a small sigh but didn’t chase after them, but Yeonhwa stopped the two who were about to leave without incident.

“Ah, now I remember. I was wondering why there was suddenly a stench… It wasn’t the smell of food waste, but your smell? Right? Our demon race lapdog friends.”
“Demon race?!”
“Wh-what are you saying…!”

The two people stopped in their tracks, flinching at Yeonhwa’s words.

Kana and Arin shouted that it was nonsense at Yeonhwa’s incomprehensible words, but the two students themselves who heard those words were glaring at Yeonhwa silently, to a frightening degree.

And at that sight, Kana turned to look at Yeonhwa with a “No way,” and simultaneously held her breath at her smile that overlapped with someone familiar.

A smile that slightly revealed her teeth and pulled up the corners of her mouth.

Indeed, as expected of a sister, Professor Aria’s smile that she had seen countless times was right there on Yeonhwa’s face.

“Arin…”
“…Yeah.”

It seems this wasn’t just Kana’s feeling, as when she turned her head, Arin was also looking at Yeonhwa with a similar expression, and the two briefly met each other’s eyes before quickly retreating behind Yeonhwa.

As they both had a lot of practical experience until now, they instinctively realized that if they stayed between Yeonhwa and those students who had stopped at her words, their own safety wouldn’t be guaranteed.

And as if she had been waiting for the two to retreat behind her, Yeonhwa drew out the kitchen knife that had been hanging at her waist as soon as Kana and Arin moved back.

“Originally, I said I wouldn’t kill people while working here with my sisters, but…”

Yeonhwa’s wavy-patterned kitchen knife gleamed brightly.

Yeonhwa seductively licked her kitchen knife and exhaled a breath that had been deep in her lungs.

“Since you’re demon race lapdogs, it should be fine to kill you, right?”

Hyeonghyeongsaeksaek wasn’t just an ordinary育成 game where you only study and grow within the academy.

As the max level quest was the Human-Demon War, it was inevitable to be entangled with the demon race.

And the first time you get entangled with the demon race is right at the very beginning, on the first day of the academy after the prologue ends.

It’s a quest that occurs when you attend afternoon classes after taking morning classes and finishing lunch, and this is the first quest in Hyeonghyeongsaeksaek where you get involved with the demon race, ‘Quest: The Demon Race’s Signal Flare’.

I had only seen it during the育成 of my main character Aria, and had been skipping it since the育成 of my sub-character Yujia, so I almost didn’t remember it for a moment, but I was able to recall it due to the faint magical crystal of demon energy I felt from the two of them.

To summarize the story of the ‘Demon Race’s Signal Flare’ quest, it’s simple. Two demons acting as meat shields and scouts for the demon army secretly infiltrate the academy and try to collapse the academy using the magical crystals hidden in their possession.

However, the player character who happens to be nearby discovers them due to being late, and stops them together with the afternoon class teacher.

In the game, they should have been around the practical training grounds, but seeing them here, it seems they infiltrated through the back of the cafeteria.

Indeed, the back of the cafeteria is a place where neither cafeteria staff, teachers, nor students pass by, so it would have been suitable as a route for secret infiltration.

The only problem was that now, there was an irregular like me, and Arin and Kana who got tangled up because of me, here as well.

Seureu-reung──

“Originally, I said I wouldn’t kill people while working here with my sisters, but… Since you’re demon race lapdogs, it should be fine to kill you, right?”

And having fully grasped the situation, I wasn’t stupid enough to let these guys go with my eyes open.

Although game and reality are clearly different, these guys appear in the very early story, so it should be enough with Yeonhwa’s body.

Thinking this, I drew out the kitchen knife from my waist, and at my clear hostile attitude, they gritted their teeth and pulled out the weapons they had hidden in their uniforms.

“I don’t know how you found out, but we’ll kill you quickly and carry out the plan again.”
“Heheh, then do you want to take on that cook? I’ll handle the little ones in the back.”

As they drew their weapons, their skin color changed. The two whose skin color had been no different from humans until just now began to turn pale, and Arin and Kana, who had each drawn their weapons behind me, shouted with wide eyes.

“Th-they really are demons…?!”
“Um… If they’re really demons, wouldn’t it be better to request support first…?”

“What are you talking about, there’s no need.”

When they realized that those two were really demons, Kana asked if it wouldn’t be better to request support, but I firmly shook my head and answered.

“What?! B-but…!”
“Calling for support here would only increase confusion. Besides, the fact that demons have infiltrated Lua Academy is a major issue, so it’s better not to spread it unnecessarily. And lastly.”

We don’t need support to deal with such weak opponents, right?

“Wh-what?”

Kana blinked her eyes, thinking she had misheard my words. Well, I suppose it’s okay to let her know one thing in advance here.

I twirled my kitchen knife and pointed at the demons, addressing Kana who didn’t understand my words.

“Everyone thinks that cooks just need to be good at cooking, but being good at cooking doesn’t mean everything’s okay.”

A cook is someone who makes food, but there are always factors that interfere with cooking.

Examples of this are the two demons standing right in front of us. Other than that, there are powerful magical beasts living near special ingredients or dangerous dungeons.

And to be a true cook, you need to have the power to perfectly handle such things as well.

“…Pardon?”
“Hmm… It can’t be helped.”

However, even after explaining it so easily, Kana still didn’t seem to understand properly. In that case, it would be faster to show her with her eyes rather than explaining with words.

Idiots need to fully understand the theory before moving on to practice, but talented children can understand even unknown theories with just one practical experience.

So here’s one question.

Why aren’t those two moving despite me talking so much?

Until just now, they were fully prepared to rush at me with their weapons drawn, but they were still standing in place as if their feet were stuck with gum.

And the answer to that was because where they were standing wasn’t ordinary ground, but on my cutting board.

‘『Laying the Cutting Board』’

This was an attack preparation technique of the cook job class, whose skills are mostly for cooking. It recognizes a certain area as a ‘cutting board’ and allows everything on the cutting board to be recognized as ingredients.

Additionally, when an enemy with an extreme level difference steps onto the cutting board, it forcibly applies a stun effect.

In other words, the moment they entered the skill range, they were already ingredients on my cutting board.

Arin and Kana, who are also on the cutting board, might not be able to see it, but they should be able to feel it. The invisible kitchen knife floating above this cutting board.
I soon gripped the kitchen knife that hadn’t been sharpened and extended it towards them, and the two who had been standing still due to the stun effect finally felt the blade approaching their necks and collapsed on the spot.

“Urgh… Gack, uurgh, argh…”
“Khaak… Pl-please spare us…”

The two demons begging me for mercy, choking and unable to breathe properly.
At their pitiful sight, I gave them one last grin and swung the kitchen knife I was holding.

“The ingredients are talking?”

『Diagonal Cutting』

With a swish. The former demons, diagonally sliced, fell to the ground as meat pieces. At the same time, the sweet smell of blood unique to demons filled and spread throughout the back of the cafeteria.
It might be a cruel sight for students in some ways. But it seemed to be a familiar sight for Arin and Kana already, as they jumped up and down in admiration of me who had killed the demons in an instant, rather than being shocked by the gruesome corpses.

“A-amazing! That was really amazing! If you have time after teaching Kana cooking, could you also teach me that kind of swordsmanship…!”
“M-master! I admire you!”

Although they must have entered the academy at the age of 15, Arin and Kana were bouncing around like 5-year-old children.

I held my forehead, getting a headache just thinking about calming them down.

I really should go with a concept of hiding my power next time.