Chapter 30

Regarding the cuisine of this medieval fantasy, Ian would go so far as to call it "barbarians who know nothing but the taste of salt," but this was only half true.

As one traveled northward, the prevalence of what Ian called "salted cuisine" increased.

Meat was salted, fish was salted, cabbage was salted...

The appearance of even vinegar or butter felt like discovering a new world of taste.

The northern part of the continent truly was the land of barbarians.

However, the situation in the South differed, as the South had many dishes that had spices.

Not just spices, but real Western-style food made with a variety of vegetables, seafood, grains, and meats could be tasted in the southern part of the continent.

In fact, there are many delicious foods in the world.

Ian was just being unfairly critical.

Perhaps it was Ian's fault for being born a citizen of the Holy Empire.

But Ian also had opportunities for gourmet experiences.

Unlike imperial citizens, wizards, who inevitably wandered the world, could taste the diverse foods that existed in the world.

It was not for nothing that Eredith was good at cooking.

In that sense, the wizard Mani Campbell also had a deep understanding of food.

In her youth, she traveled the world to collect seeds of rare plants.

While traveling in the southern continent, she came across a spice called "garlic" in a kingdom beyond the Coral Sea.

Garlic, a vegetable with a unique pungent and spicy taste, was a favorite ingredient in the cuisine of the Coral Sea people.

Mani was shocked the first time she tasted garlic.

This tingling scent and spicy taste!

Garlic was a stimulating spice not found in the north.

Fascinated by the taste of garlic, Mani brought it to the north and grew it in her garden.

Garlic was difficult to cultivate there, but for Mani, a wizard who grew sunflowers in caves and cacti in snowfields, it was as easy as pie.

"Giggle giggle..."

Mani chuckled eerily, holding the garlic.

At first, she wanted to share this delicious garlic with her neighbors.

But the imperial citizens, these northern barbarians, refused to eat it, complaining it was too spicy and smelly!

They would eat it, but only in such a small amount that it barely added a hint of aroma to the dish.

This was outrageously insufficient to satisfy Mani, who had already become an ardent garlic aficionado.

"If you want my help, you should at least enjoy the meal I prepare!"

Mani personally prepared a meal for the knights who came to seek her help.

She put a whole chicken in the pot and boiled it thoroughly.

Up to here, it was a normal chicken dish.

But then...

She added ginseng brought from the east and a lot of garlic from the south and boiled it!

"Giggle giggle..."

Mani couldn't help but burst into laughter at the nose-stinging smell of garlic.

She used so much garlic that it almost overflowed from the pot!

She added garlic as if it were potatoes!

When the unique, bitter scent of ginseng was added, an indescribably pungent smell enveloped the area.

If a passing farmer had smelled it, they would have clutched their nose and run away.

The garlic smell emanating from Mani's cabin was so horrendous that it was unbearable for the naive nostrils of northerners.

It was the result of infuriating a wizard.

Mani felt a tiny bit sorry for the knights.

They wanted to catch a manticore, righteous guys.

What did they do to deserve such an ordeal?

But soon, she shook her head.

She had to act up like this so the priests wouldn't take Mani lightly.

People who treated wizards as mere tools were utterly disgusting.

She felt a bit sorry for the knights, but...

She had no choice but to feed them Mani's special 'Garlic Ginseng Chicken Soup'!

Mani boiled the soup for a long time until the smell of garlic permeated deep into the chicken.

She expected the knights to run away just from smelling the soup.

...But.

She hadn't anticipated that among the knights would be the black-haired alien, 'Ian Eredith Raven'.

The wizard lived alone in a cabin in a secluded forest.

The Elder explained about the wizard while they were heading to her house.

"Mani Campbell is a famous herbologist."

"Oh. A herbologist?"

Herbology.

The magic of handling shrubs and trees.

Ian was aware of the existence of herbologists.

They were eerily skilled at handling plants, yet strangely, they seldom helped with farming.

Instead, they were proficient in various medicinal herbs and rare plant knowledge, making them capable wizards favored by the nobility.

Well.

What kind of wizard would be disliked by the nobility?

"To hunt a strong monster like a manticore, a powerful poison is needed."

Herbologists were also skilled poison masters. They knew how to combine plant toxins to create terrifying venoms.

"Then it should be simple. We just go and get the poison, right?"

As Ian said this, the Elder smiled bitterly.

"It won't be as easy as you think. Since the church forced her cooperation, she's probably full of spite."

"It's funny. Why do we have to clean up the mess the church made?"

"...Because the knight order took the church's money."

Money.

Then it can't be helped.

Ian shrugged.

The knight order's suspiciously well-armed background hid the secret of the church's financial support.

"Well, it won't kill us! When she sees your face, she'll probably go easy on us!"

"No..."

The Elder seemed to think of Ian as a sort of talisman to ward off a wizard's anger.

Actually, it did serve that function.

She likely knew of the name Eredith.

While they chatted, they soon approached the wizard's cabin.

"...What is that smell?"

One of the knights grimaced, covering his nose.

An indescribable stench wafted from the wizard's cabin.

"Must be the herbologist at work. Smells like boiling plants."

Suddenly, everyone became less talkative.

All were too busy covering their noses.

Except for one.

Ian was the exception.

'...Ginseng chicken soup?'

There was an oddly familiar smell of ginseng chicken soup coming from the wizard's cabin.

And not just any soup, but one heavily infused with garlic!

'Ah... I want some chicken soup...'

The smell of garlic chicken soup made saliva pool in Ian's mouth.

Since Ian had landed in this uncivilized medieval fantasy world, he had been forced to eat nothing but super salty food.

However, the soul of Ian, who was Korean in his previous life, constantly craved spicy foods.

Spicy! Salty! Spicy and hearty!

In fact, many Koreans don't even like chicken soup. Why drown perfectly good meat in water?

But Ian liked chicken soup as much as he liked chicken.

No, he didn't bother to differentiate between the two.

Silly child.

Chicken and chicken soup.

Both are chicken.

Why discriminate between the two?

Stop the hate and discrimination.

Peace and chicken.

Amen.

"Ugh...!"

"Elder! Let's just go back!"

Unlike Ian, who was lost in deep nostalgia, the Santiago Knights were visibly shaken.

They hadn't even seen the wizard's face, but some were already whining about going back.

For northerners, who had lived without knowing spices, the pungent smell of garlic was too much to bear!

"Want to go back? Fighting a manticore without the wizard's deadly poison is foolish. And if we run away scared of a smell, what would the church think?"

"But...!"

As the knight order became unsettled, the Bord brothers stepped forward.

"The heavens watch over us..."

He began singing a hymn titled "The Heavens Watch Over Us."

Amid the vibrating stench of garlic, he marched forward with the power of faith and belief.

The knights looked at Bord's back with moved expressions and joined in the hymn as they headed towards the cabin.

"The sun shines brightly!"

"God is with us!"

'Hmm. Is that all it takes?'

Ian found the actions of the knights hard to understand.

All this fuss over the smell of garlic.

The knights bravely stepped into the wizard's cabin.

But as soon as they entered, they stiffened up.

"Kekeke! I've been waiting! Knights of Santiago!"

In an atmosphere where Latin background music seemed likely to play, an old wizard who looked like a witch greeted the knights.

"Mani Campbell?"

While speaking with Mani, Elder couldn't take his eyes off the bowls and pots on the table.

What in the world was this horrific smelling soup, as if boiled in the fires of hell!

'This is bad.'

Even though the Elder himself had told the knight order not to retreat, seeing the 'meal' Mani had prepared made him despise everything.

In a way, Mani's soup had magical power in it.

It even instilled a strong will in the Elder, enough to make him want to catch a manticore without the wizard's poison.

The knights seemed to share the Elder's sentiment, looking at Mani with expressions that said, 'Surely she's not going to make us eat that...'

But bad premonitions always come true.

"You must be hungry after your long journey! I have specially prepared some food, so please enjoy!"

Mani pointed to the food piled up on the table.

The dish emitting the pungent smell of garlic was Mani's 'Garlic Ginseng Chicken Soup'.

Ian was surprised to see the dish.

'Ginseng chicken soup? It is ginseng chicken soup, right?'

...But let's call it chicken soup to avoid sounding too Korean.

It looked like ginseng chicken soup, but it was, in any case, chicken soup.

The knights, upon seeing the chicken soup, grimaced.

"Wizard Mani. We are already aware of your reputation as a distinguished herbologist. We think there's no need to prove your abilities in such a manner."

The Elder said, attempting to be diplomatic.

In summary, he was essentially asking, 'Are you out of your mind?'

Even if wizards take pride in their eccentricity, wasn't this a bit too much?

However, Mani snorted in response.

"I don't understand what you mean. I'm merely offering my guests my favorite food. I've prepared a valuable dish with crops I've grown with care. If you have any shame, you wouldn't pretend not to understand."

"..."

"Well, if you're not guests, then feel free to leave."

Mani exuded the aura of a game master, adept at presenting devilish choices.

Would they partake in the foul-smelling chicken, accepting her hospitality, or forfeit their guest status and flee with their tails between their legs?

Either option was a severe loss for the knight order.

'It can't be helped.'

The Elder sat down at the table with a grave expression.

It was a place where his spirit was needed.

Once the Elder sat, the rest of the knight order hesitantly followed suit and took their seats.

"Ke... Eat your fill!"

Mani let out an evil laugh and took a big spoonful of the 'Garlic Ginseng Chicken Soup'.

'Hmm...'

After a moment, she made a complex expression.

Was it too sharp?

Maybe too much garlic was added...?

Though it should probably be called garlic soup rather than chicken soup, Mani nonetheless enjoyed her portion.

What does it matter if the garlic was a bit excessive?

The sight of the knights in discomfort was worth it!

"Cough, cough!"

"Ughhh!"

"...Water! Get me some water!"

As expected.

Following Mani's lead, the knights who tried the soup were in utter turmoil, suffering terribly.

The result of boiling garlic as if it were potatoes was this.

The Elder, having sensed the crisis early on, pretended to eat while actually encouraging the others.

'...Huh?'

But then, something out of place caught the Elder's eye.

Above the table, where everyone was panicking due to the intense smell of garlic...

One man was furiously devouring the garlic soup.

Not furiously, but as if he had gone mad.

The wizard.

The act Ian Eredith Raven was performing transcended human reason and ventured into the realm of madness.

"...You."

Humans feel fear in the face of ignorance.

For a brief moment, the Elder felt fear towards Ian.

He looked at Ian as if he were a monster.

"Are... Are you okay?"

The Elder wanted to ask 'Is it delicious?' but could not bring himself to shatter his worldview and common sense, so he opted for the next best question.

Because it was impossible to think that anyone could find the broth, saturated with the smell of garlic, 'delicious'.

The word that came out of Ian's mouth was pure chaos and disorder, enough to shatter the Elder's sanity.

"F*cking..."

"F*cking?"

"F*cking delicious, right?"

"..."

The Elder had forgotten.

Ian Eredith Raven was an outstanding wizard who could command drakes like limbs.

He had been acting so normally up until now that it slipped his mind...

Ian was truly a wizard.

'Unspeakably eccentric.'

The Elder, along with the knight order, put down their spoons and watched Ian eat as if they were spellbound.

The entire knight order felt a similar sense of astonishment.

Wow. That guy. He's insane...!

If Ian wasn't a wizard, this level of madness was unexplainable.

With such madness, one could believe Ian was not a summoner of drakes, but the owner of a drake ranch.

And it wasn't just the knight order who was surprised.

'This is delicious?'

Even Mani Campbell, who had cooked the meal herself, was shocked by Ian's madness.

It couldn't possibly be delicious, right?

While some were horrified and others sent incredulous looks...

Ian was the most at ease at the table, happily enjoying the chicken soup.

Wow! The taste of home after so long!

Mani Campbell, was it?

She might cook better than my master???

Ian was the only one beaming, relishing the taste familiar to Koreans after so long.