Food from Kenji's world

I was in the cafeteria of the academy wondering what I should cook for them. The cuisine here was more... European like than anything. So I should try maybe Mexican or any type of Asian meals. Asia is massive so maybe we can start with something simple. RAMEN!

It is not exactly 'simple' to make and is really time consuming so I have to be quick. It was still night time so I had a few hours before my team would wake up.

I started with the dough and hand made the noodles. It wasn't that difficult but the main issue was meat. They didn't have those kinds of ovens we do so I have to be careful not to burn the meat in stone oven. I've personally never used one so I have to keep checking every 10 minutes. Spices weren't all that necessary... mostly because there were none. Soy sauce or sesame oil didn't exist at least in this kingdom so I had to make do with whatever I had on hand.

I got a massive shoulder cut and used whatever spices I had at hand to marinate it and let it rest while I put broth on stove. I think 3 hours is enough for the broth.

I should cook some side dishes like fried fish and dumplings. I had some dough left over so I would use that. I'm not the best at making dumplings but I have tried it a few times... although I failed a lot and I still can't get the shape right but I can get the taste right.

Once I was done with the cooking, the sun had already come up and staff were already in the cafeteria too.

I asked a maid there to help me take the food to my room and she obliged. My team was sleeping together in one bigger dorm room. We entered the room and I woke them up.

"Guys! I cooked breakfast. Go brush your teeth and be quick." As I announced, all four ran to bathroom to brush their teeth. They were really excited to try out meals from my world.

Once they had freshened up, we all had the breakfast.

"Oh my! Who would've thought pasta could go with soup like this. And this meat and eggs. Perfect! Perfect! Perfect." Leisha was just as energetic while Barbara was more elegant. I think she was taught to act in a really specific manner. Old habits die hard, I guess.

"I'm now even more interested in your world. This must be a luxurious dish there, right? For royalty and aristocrats?" Sunri asked and I laughed a bit.

"No. This is like an everyday meal. Also there is no monarchy in my world... except a few countries."

"So who rules the nation?" Rosaline asked.

"Basically there are parties and they do campaigns and stuff to get people's attention and talk about their goals and such for people to vote for them. Whoever gets the most votes wins."

"So... anyone can become the ruler? Isn't that... stupid?" Leisha asked.

"As in?"

"As in... anyone with enough money and attention can totally dominate these campaigns and win. Not only that, royal family are raised in a very specific manner where they are destined to rule a country so they receive specific education. Do these people you talk of have that kind of education?"

"Interesting. I wonder. The country where I come from... It was a mess. I do agree with your opinion because a few intellectuals in my world held a similar opinion too." I responded.

"Also Leisha and I know you can get uncomfortable with dating two... or well three women at the same time. Is there a particular reason?"

"Concept of polygamy does exist in my world but to a degree, people look down on it. They call it perverted and some even call it infidelity. Having grown up in such an environment, you develop similar opinion too. Even if you disagree with the opinion, you still feel uncomfortable going against it."

"Since royalty doesn't exist, I think concept of nobles doesn't exist either? So polygamy could become pointless." Sunri added his two cents.

"Yup. In my world, polygamy was mostly done for two reasons. Since medical field was not advanced, women could die during pregnancy so the more the better and second was to strengthen the relationship between two houses. They became pointless so polygamy fell out of culture."

"So anyways, what kind of meals can you cook?" Leisha asked.

"I can cook a lot of meals actually." I answered. I learned how to cook mostly because I didn't like my mom's cooking. I'm a decent chef.

"Also, did the role of women change in your world then?" Barbara asked.

"Yea. Women have almost same rights... except quite a lot of countries but things have changed for the better and women can do whatever they desire... societal pressure still exists so it's still difficult."

"Would you bring the same change here?" Barbara asked excitedly.

"Of course." I responded. My entire goal was to bring freedom to the people after-all.

"It would not be an easy task considering people in power would not want commoners to revolt." Sunri added in.

"I know that too well. I know it could lead to war but that's something we all have to accept. Back in my own world something similar did happen and in the end, people who wanted to be treated equally won. I'm hoping for the same result here too but in your case, I'm the apostle so people would take my side even if they're not necessarily loyal to me."

"We have to get the remaining crystals soon so you can at least level up to 40. We would have to make it quick. People have already started doubting the temple ever since disappearance of their Friar. But that village near the mountain range also seems to be vary of temple too since that incident. But one or two incidents would not make a difference. We have to completely destroy their trust in the temple." Sunri said.

We all agreed to him for now. Aristocracy is backing up the temple and going against them means starting a civil war. It's not an easily decision since civil war leaves a country open to outside attack. We would soon be travelling to different nations so I would get a better idea of when to start a war.

We all finished our meals and got to our classes as usual. I was thinking of making butter chicken and naan for dinner. I would have to start right after school is over.

...

I was in cafeteria cooking yet again. I wonder if I could open a restaurant here and earn a living. Not that I needed it since everything is free for the summoned ones.

As I was kneading the dough, Jennie walked into the kitchen.

"Long time no see." She caught my attention.

"Needed something from the kitchen?" I asked. I instantly realized that I might've sounded distant even though we are technically friends.

"Same as ever, huh? Anyways, I heard you met up the Kristine. Any reason? Is she any better?"

"I wanted to check up on her. She was a friend of mine but no change for now. She is still the same. I wonder what happened but I can't do much. I don't have magic, y'know. Delving into such incident might only bring bad news for me."

"James and I were planning on investigating and wanted your input." Jennie's clique wants my advice? I mean aren't they all smart as well? I mean I did do better in classes so I wonder where I stand compared to them in terms of intelligence.

"Since it's not a curse, we have to assume it is a change in personality that came from internal factors. Kristine somehow got obsessed with me and almost killed someone who insulted me. My hypothesis for now is she got corrupted from sudden power. I mean who wouldn't be, right? I mean look at Liam. If he had same powers as our 'hero', he would've done worse things than even Kristine. It is disappointing but that's how I see it."

She rubbed her forehead as if she was having a bad headache. As she was about to say something, James and his group walked in.

"Hey, Kenji, we were just talking about you." Varun joked. "But in all seriousness, wasn't expecting you here. Did your two girlfriends make you cook dinner?" He asked in a sarcastic tone.

"Rosaline and Leisha, was it? Both are good looking but to be expected from our prince charming to woo multiple women right after dating Kristine." James sounded a bit annoyed.

I kept kneading the dough.

"He thinks she is just drunk off her newly obtained powers." Jennie informed the group.

"A possibility for sure. Expected from Kenji to not sugarcoat it." Trish said.

"So, going to do anything?" James asked me but I shrugged.

"You're the hero, not me. You are meant to bring about the change in people. So focus on that." I said and checked his status. He is only level 4.... others are around level 2 and level 3.

"I never even wanted to be a hero... it should've been you. You're much suited to be a leader." James sighed.

"You don't know that. In reality, I don't see myself as the leader. I'm thinking of passing off leadership of NIGHTFALL to Sunri. I'm a good strategist but a leader is totally different."

"Sunri, student of head hunters, Rosaline, former holy knight, Leisha, a genius at using bows and Barbara who is exceptionally good at healing. And then Kenji, who learns and strategizes remarkably good. I have a feeling that you have surpassed up by a wide margin." Juan said and I nodded.

"I'm level 20 already." I responded and heard a bunch of loud gasps.

"You can beat us even without magic then. Not fair! But also no wonder since the team itself is so impeccable. Each member does fit a very specific job but they are also exceptionally good at that." Trish said.

"We won't let you stay ahead of us forever. Soon, we will be the strongest team in the world." James declared a competition, I guess.

I just nodded and let the dough rest while I cooked chicken.

"You guys want butter chicken and naan?" I asked and they all agreed. "Go sit there. My team would be arriving soon.

I added cloves cashews, curry leaves, cardamom, tomatoes, onions, salt and pepper. I let them boil for about 15 minutes before using a wooden spatula to crush everything together. Usually you take out the wholes spices out before crushing the tomatoes because their taste is too overpowering. Once I had roughly crushed them, I added chicken and let it cook for another 15 minutes or so. I had found mint recently so I had to make mint chutney to go with the dinner. It was simple too. Just blend mint, green chilies, black pepper, salt and yogurt. Again, mint has a really overbearing flavor and yogurt helps keep it under control.

Once the meal was ready I served NIGHTFALL and my friends dinner.

All-in-all, they enjoyed it as expected. I'm getting even more confident in my cooking skills.

This uneventful day was definitely needed. But is it really uneventful, I was still thinking about different strategies with NIGHTFALL and also with Kristine and bunch.

This weekend, a new boss enemy fight for Sunri to go past level 20. I'm excited because I will have 4 out of 7 crystals needed for me to increase my level cap.