KITCHEN WARS I

On the twentieth deck.

A group of four men was sauntering down a crowded street, but the others made way for them.

"Boss, those guys from the Knuckle Hounds guild have been too overbearing on our men," a bruised guy was dropping words in the ears of a reddish-skin man. "Just because of their top three members, they think no one can touch them. If we don't retaliate in some way, those punks would even dare brand us as buffoons."

"Mm, it seems like we'll have to fight them sooner or later if we wish to rule this deck. But let's take things slow—"

A little girl, holding a kitten toy in her arms, ran into the red-skinned man, and the bear doll in her hands fell to the floor.

The red-skinned man's eyes rolled down to meet the eyes of the girl.

"Oi, you shrimp!" the other men let their mouths run at her. "Who do you think you just hit! Apologize right now, or ready yourself to face our punches!"

"M-Mr. Geragorn!" the father of the little girl hurriedly came to the spot and kowtowed. Sweat fought for places on his face. "Please forgive my daughter's rudeness. Please accept my apology on her behalf."

"Hmph, be thankful and take your daughter away!" the other men snapped. "Unless you want to face our fists."

"Y-Yes," the father swooped his daughter up and tucked her between his arm and ribs before starting to bustle away.

"Papa, my Teddy," the little girl began to cry.

"Ugh, stop whining!" the father yelled at her. "I'll get you another plaything."

Despite his words, the little girl didn't stop crying. He had to shut her up by placing his hand over her mouth.

"Hold on," Geragorn's voice almost made the father fall to his front.

As the father turned back with a tension-strung expression, Geragorn picked up the doll and walked up to him, making him almost wet his pants.

"I-I'm terribly sorry⁠—" the father was saying.

Geragorn bent his spine a little, then lifted his hand and gently rubbed the tears on the little girl's face with his forefinger. "The world will weep if a little one's wangs stay wet for long." He smiled a little and put the doll in her hands. Though she was still in her father's arms, light rushed into her eyes faster than a heartbeat. She hugged Teddy and no longer cried.

Geragorn stood straight for a moment and stared at the girl before stepping past the frozen father.

"T-Thank you, sir!" the father was still visibly nervous.

"Thank you, uncle," the little girl also voiced her mind.

The underlings of Geragorn snickered among themselves. "Boss, you sure seem to be in a good mood today. Is it because you heard that the scar-faced boy is on death bed?"

"Ah, I wonder what that raw lad is doing now…" Geragorn picked strawberries from the box one of his underlings was holding, and then gorged on them all at once. Red juices slid down the corners of his mouth. "Victory isn't assured until you raise your enemy's severed head into the air. It's a pity that all we can do on this ship is play children's games. Let's reckon he gets here erelong."

"Right, right, Boss. Even if he somehow manages to live, he'll have to pass through this deck one day. You can show him hell when that time comes. After all, he is the reason we've lost our foothold on the tenth deck and are now roaming restlessly on this deck. All we can do is hope he gets here soon and gets his ass kicked, keke."

Meanwhile, on the twelfth deck.

A breeze of disquiet swept against Lirzod's face as he tried to stab a spear into the pool full of fishes, which kept on blasting water bullets at him. The pool was three-hundred meters long and just as wide and hosted more than a hundred gunfishes. It wasn't just Lirzod, but eleven others were also trying to catch the fish. Sean was among them, too.

As close to three-thousand people were watching from the audience glass-rooms, twelve chefs endeavored to catch the fish. Till now, not a single person managed to catch a single fish.

Some threw nets into the pool, but the fish bit through rope nets as if they were butter. Some used worms as bait, but the fish bit through the hook as well. These fish were so aggressive that if anyone approached the pool, they shot water bullets out of their mouths so rapidly that they didn't give anyone any chance. Owing to their pugnacity, they've earned themselves the title of 'Papa Piranhas.'

If the walls of the pool weren't made of hardened steel, these fish would have long drilled holes into the walls, even though that would have gotten themselves eventually killed. Having said that, gunfishes could survive on land for several days, so they always liked to take their chances. These fish first became world-famous when a king put them in his aquarium made of toughened glass but still ended up becoming their food overnight.

Because these fish were so dangerous, not many dared to participate in the chamber of chefs, for they had to deal with these raging fish that considered every other kind with blood in their veins as potential prey.

Lirzod, who was standing more than twenty meters away from the pool, remembered Hundred's words from before the competition began.

"Hey, those fish look dangerous," Lirzod said. "What if they end up killing someone?"

"Then that's that," Hundred replied. "On this ship, a man killing a beast doesn't go against the rules. Similarly, a beast killing a man is not murder but just a hunt as long as there's no mastermind behind the beast. That said, if a beast goes out of control, it will be put to death, of course."

Thinking back about the conversation he had with Hundred, Lirzod couldn't help but sigh. "A life is a life whether it's of the man or the beast. Each of these fish costs five silver even though they won't even weigh a kilo. Does their price speak for their skills or taste?" At that moment, the fish started jumping out of the water on and off while shooting bullets at those who were closing in. Their mouths extended out as if to resemble the barrel of a gun. Seeing their desperation, Lirzod gripped the spear tightly. "This makes me wonder… How would humans have fared if our roles were reversed? Hunting an already cornered prey is no fun and fair, but I doubt these fish would spare someone just because they slipped into the water. Well, not quite that, but at the end of the day, when men and beasts are at war, it's all about survival, about who ends up on whose plate."

After contemplating the issue at hand, Lirzod felt a bit relieved.

Lirzod looked at the other competitors. (He warned me that the floor near the pool is slippery. Then a spear would be a wrong choice, but it's still better than having nothing.) "Now then, how am I supposed to catch them if I can't even get close to the pool?"

Hundred, who was sitting among the audience, frowned a little. His view, just like that of any other audience, was screened by a glass. "Gunfishes… these cold-water fish are rumored to be one of the smartest among their kind. And, to make things worse, it seems these fish haven't been fed in weeks."

"Yeah, they kept eating each other," the man in the adjacent seat replied excitedly. "Their number fell from a thousand to only a hundred or so. No wonder, the remaining ones look like freaks funneled down the hell itself."

"There aren't even any remains left," Hundred shook his head. "They must have eaten others down to the bone, and these last hundred must be the strongest of the swarm. Once they wound their prey, they are going to come at it like locusts. And what's more, their noses and eyes are said to be highly sensitive to blood. The first one to shed the blood is definitely doomed, but who would that unfortunate person be?"

Just as Hundred was wondering, two water bullets struck one of the competitors at his neck, and blood poured out, startling everyone, but what happened next was the real shocker.

All the hundred or so gunfishes flew out of the pool and attacked the wounded man, and he desperately tried to fight back.

"What?" Lirzod was taken aback. "T-They can fly!"

And as his enlarged eyes witnessed, all the fish tore the wounded man's body into bits and pieces, causing him to fall to his knees, and he couldn't even properly howl in pain. "M-Meeka…" As he was trying to utter a word, a fish flew into his wide-opened mouth and came out from the other side, leaving a fist-sized hole in its wake. The crunching of his bones brought chills to some other competitors. The human was dead in a matter of seconds. Almost all the fish continued to feast on him. Though the audience was shocked briefly, they eventually roared out of thrill. Lirzod, however, looked dull and downhearted. The guy who just got devoured by the fish had come up to him before the event started and thanked him for giving the opportunity to surprise his girlfriend with the reward. But now, seeing that fellow perishing right before his eyes, all Lirzod could do was grind his teeth in difficulty. It was too late to do anything.

In the meantime, a few fish went after other individuals and forced them to be on defense. The fish kept bouncing off the floor and the glass wall to keep themselves in flight.

"Don't attack them blindly!" Sean said aloud. "Attack their weak point, starting with the wings!"

Thanks to Sean's words, some attacked the fish wings and eyes instead of going for other body parts. The target was small, which led to many failed attempts, but those men with swords eventually cut down the fish, and those with spiked clubs clobbered them into a mass of mess covered in translucent blood.

Sean, on the other hand, caught a fish with his bare hand and squeezed it while making sure its mouth wasn't pointed in his direction. The tough scales weren't so easy to crush, and it hurt his hand a bit, but he stopped not.

Hundred, who was watching that, felt nervous. (Those fish have light but very durable bones. Crushing those fish must be harder than crushing an apple with a single hand. He's showing us that he doesn't need to go after their weak points, huh. This commander surely isn't simple.) He then looked in Lirzod's direction.

A gunfish came flying at his face but ended up eating the spearhead instead.

Whew. Hundred breathed a sigh of relief. (Their hunger must be making them quite desperate. This first round will be over if he catches five more, but it's not going to be that easy.)

"That's one under the belt," Lirzod glanced down at the dead fish. "It's been a while since I put a fair friend to sleep." He stooped down and stared at the struggling fish, which was trying so hard to cling to life. Lirzod lay a soothing hand on its puffing body as if to offer peace in its last moments. "Rest rightly." At that moment, he couldn't help but remember a conversation from the past.

"Mother, we have crops, and they give us those tasty nuts and a lot of food," Lirzod asked Valli when he was only a little boy and was at a dining table, graced by four people in total and with meat dishes waiting to be dined upon. "Then why do we kill animals? Didn't you once tell me to treat animals and trees like my friends? Then doesn��t that mean we're feasting on our friends now?"

"Mm, that's a tough question," Valli pulled his cheek. "My Little Lub is growing up fast."

"Just tell me, Mother, or I'll not eat this dish," Lirzod pouted. "You all can have it."

"I can't let that happen," Valli pondered for a moment. "How should I put it… We don't kill them just for food. Animal skin gives us clothing and shelter, and so does plants, but I'm looking for a better answer. Hmm, listen, Lub, we are all part of nature, so we should treat everything in it with proper respect. Sure we are killing animals, but many animals kill other animals for food, and if they get a taste of our blood, they will not hesitate to kill us, humans, either. Even though we are better than animals in the hierarchy of living things, but still, at the end of the day, it all comes down to survival. If not for winters visiting one's doorstep every year, many tribes and clans in the world would have probably given up on hunting for food, but that's not how the years go by. We are all part of the natural order of things, not separate from it, and certainly not above it. And for that reason, the men of the old did what was necessary to survive. Nothing less. Nothing more. Now, men make a business out of every imaginable thing whether it goes into the mouth or comes down from—" she cleared her throat. "Ahem, starting with the closeness with nature, the average man has lost much, if not all. The ever-changing cultures have cut them off, and they've become mechanized in their ways. I don't like to say it, but the few good martials, if there are any, may really be the saving grace left of humanity. That said, even for them, it won't be easy to change their cultures much less the world."

Lirzod paused for a moment and then asked, "What if we go above it?"

Valli was a little surprised but then smiled and pulled his cheek again. "Forget even thinking about going above that until you can't go above your hunger without eating what's on your plate."

"C-Can you say that again?" Lirzod asked, rubbing his cheek.

"Eat."

Thinking back on the conversation, Lirzod sighed. He looked in the direction where the swarm of gunfishes was feasting on the man, who was no longer recognizable. "So many versus just one. It's like the law of the jungle is in effect. Can he rest rightly?" His jaw made a hard line as he witnessed the awful death of a competitor. All that was left of that person were bits of flesh and bones. "Where would the souls of those who suffered an undeserved death go?"

The gunfishes slowly but surely began to bounce their way back to the pool.

"This is the chance. Attack them!" some contestants roared and attacked the fish in groups. Sean, however, stood right where he was and took care of more fish with his bare hands.

Lirzod gripped the spear tightly and was about to step forward, but a gunfish ricocheted off the glass wall and came flying at him from behind.

Hundred's eyes expanded. "Behind you!"

Though Hundred's voice didn't reach Lirzod because of the glass wall in between them, Lirzod still managed to step to his left. The fish failed to bite him, but its wing, however, scraped past his neck.

Lirzod swung the spear and smacked the gunfish away and into the glass wall.

"Whew, that was close," Hundred's hands were perceptibly shaking.

Lirzod stood straight and placed his hand over his neck, and he could feel a slight burning sensation in the neck, thanks to a newly-formed thin scar. A second later, the redness on the scar intensified. His eyes drew in more light, and he quickly turned his head toward the pool.

"Hm?" As Hundred was watching, Lirzod fully turned in the direction of the pool, and there was sudden unrest among the gunfishes in the water. Tens of them leaped in and out of the water and darted at the teenager while drooling blood.

"You've gotta be kidding me," Lirzod's eyes froze at the sight of what was unfolding.