Wataru was in mortal danger! “Rrrrrraggghhhhh! I have no other choice!”
Wataru couldn’t use magic, either! He had no way of using some sort of fire spell to heat his rice! However...! One didn’t have to be a magic user to produce extra heat!!! The man standing in this kitchen right then was capable of producing heat much more powerful than any fire spell!!!!!
“Rbb!!!!!” Wataru shouted, and grabbed the edge of the pan with his left hand!
“W-Wataru!?” Aria was shaken!! What human would grab a burning-hot pan with their bare hand!?!? Never try this at home, kids!!
“If there isn’t enough heat... I’ll have to make more!!!!!”
Behold! Wataru’s left hand appeared to be motionless upon first glance, but if one were to imagine that one’s mind’s eye zoomed in closely on his hand—closer... closer than that... that’s a little too close! Back up! There! That’s close enough!—one could discern through careful observation that it was actually vibrating incredibly rapidly! This move was none other than Hot-Blooded Vibration*, a skill from the Russian fighting style, Systema!!!
(*Hot-Blooded Vibration — A Systema move in which the user vibrates their hand at supersonic speeds to assault their opponent with incredible friction. Legends tell that the fighting masters of arctic Russia warmed their bodies with this move to survive the winters. It goes without saying that this is the first move any student of Systema learns in Russia. [8])
“All right!!! Here’s my chahan!!!”
Just as Wataru plated his chahan, Psjohn called out from across the kitchen! “You finished cooking, Wataru!? My dish has just been plated, too! Let’s see which of us will end up on the chopping block!”
Wataru and Psjohn each brought their dish to the table where Résistance was waiting! The fateful tasting was about to commence!!!
“Mine first.” Psjohn placed his plate before Résistance! The steam of the dish and the enticing scent of melted butter filled the air!
“Ooh, this looks good...” Résistance couldn’t help but lick her chops!!
“An A5 top-cut cerberus steak, seasoned only with butter and a sprinkle of rock salt so as to not overwhelm the luxurious taste of the meat. This perfectly curated culinary experience is my masterpiece, with every detail from the heat to seasoning carried out with exacting detail!” Psjohn proudly rattled on!
Résistance took her fork and knife, and carefully cut a piece off of the steak! Meat juice poured out of the cut! Anyone who saw it couldn’t help but wish to swim in a pool full of that meat juice!!
“Here goes...” Résistance slowly raised the bite-size cut of steak to her mouth! As soon as her lips closed around the steak, Résistance fell speechless!! Then...!!!
Rrrrrrrrrriiiiippppppp!!!!!
How could this be!? Résistance’s clothes were torn to shreds by the sheer deliciousness of this one bite of steak!!!
“Hey! Résistance’s clothes are all torn up!! We can see her midriff now!!!” shouted Wataru!
“Don’t worry, Wataru! Even though her clothes were torn, the important parts are covered!”
Indeed! Résistance’s breasts were covered by her armor. Even though the clothes she wore under it had shredded themselves, nothing had been uncovered that may affect the rating of this book! This is a family-friendly light novel!
“Th-This steak... is amazing! The meat juice strikes my mouth like lightning at every chew! Thanks to the simple seasoning, the layered flavor of the meat directly hits my taste buds!” Résistance was thoroughly impressed!
Psjohn let out a victorious chuckle!!! “Ckckck... I have a chef’s and nutritionist’s license here, in the Wind Continent... No one stands a chance against me when it comes to cooking delicious yet healthy dishes! You were doomed to lose this cookoff from the start, Wataru!”
Still, Wataru did not give up! “The cookoff isn’t over, yet! Résistance! Try my chahan!” He placed the steaming plate of chahan before Résistance!
“All right. I’ve never had this chahan before... But here goes.” Résistance picked up a spoon and took a bite of Wataru’s chahan!
What say Résistance!?!?!?
“...It’s okay.”
“...Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?” Wataru was utterly dumbfounded!
Who could have expected the protagonist to lose like this! I can practically hear your audible gasps, Dear Readers!!!
“I mean, it’s good... But it doesn’t come close to Psjohn’s steak. He’s an officially licensed chef and nutritionist.” Résistance mercilessly delivered the cold-hard fact!
Alas, the cook-off had been decided by the difference of Psjohn having governmental license! Of course, any kind of official license was a certification of one’s technique or talent. This is extremely important, especially in Japan, where a certificate or license could drastically affect your chance of getting a job and/or your starting salary!! You can even apply for different departments depending on the licenses you have! I strongly encourage you Dear Readers to apply for all the national certificates you can get your hands on!!!
“Fwahahahahaha! It’s over, Wataru! I win!” Psjohn laughed, puffing his chest out with pride!
At this moment, a thought struck Wataru!
(...What do I care who won the cook-off!?!?!?)
Come to think of it, the cook-off was something that Psjohn had forced upon them! It didn’t matter at all, at the end of the day!! While it may seem despicable to go back on their deal and fight his way past Psjohn anyway, Psjohn had poisoned Wataru’s sandwich in the first place! They would merely be getting even for that low blow!!!
“...Take this!!!!!!!!!!” Wataru suddenly took a slice of lemon he had hidden in his pocket and squeezed it so the juice squirted right into Psjohn’s single eye!
Sprasfhraghlaprsh!!!!!
The concentrated juice of the otherworldly Wind Lemon stung Psjohn’s eye!!
“Grrrrraghgragh! My eye! My eye!” Psjohn instinctively covered his eye with his hands!
“You’re wide open!” Wataru just punched Psjohn in the stomach!
“Greh!” Psjohn fell to the ground, knocked out by the punch! His governmental licenses couldn’t help him now! Anyone would be knocked out from taking such a punch in the gut! Violence always wins! That’s a universal truth!!!
“Phew... It was a tough battle, but we won!!”
Aria immediately jumped in with the compliment! “You’re amazing, Wataru!”
“Hm. Incredible, Wataru. You really defeated the third Master, fair and square.” Résistance was impressed!
“Oh, yeah! I’m a hot-blooded fighter, after all! Ain’t nothing but a thing!”
Wataru struck a victorious pose with a brimming smile!! He had somehow succeeded at defeating the third of the Four Masters!! But he was yet to find out... the true terror of the fourth of the Four Masters...!!!
Meanwhile, in the Demon Lord’s castle... the blue slime messenger came jiggling in as the Demon Lord Deus was sitting comfortably at his throne, eating his chocolate parfait.
“M-My Demon Lord! Master Cyclo Psjohn, the third Master, has been defeated by Wataru!”
Deus frowned. “He’s even defeated Psjohn... Om nom... We only have one Master left, then... Gulp...” He stared out into the air.
“My Demon Lord! Aren’t we in danger!?” the slime cried out with concern, jiggling his gelatinous body as hard as he could.
Deus simply smiled confidently, a tiny blob of chocolate staining the corner of his mouth. “Hmph. Worry not, little slime. The final Master is an extremely powerful monster. Not even Wataru will have an easy time against that one.”
“I sure hope so...”
“I’ll give the order to take care of Résistance while we’re at it... chomp chomp...” Deus quietly announced, taking another bite out of his parfait.
Résistance, now that she had betrayed him, was no use to Deus.
The slime spoke up with another jiggle. “M-My Demon Lord... I don’t think that chocolate parfait is very good for you...”
As our Dear Readers very well know, a chocolate parfait boasts a murderous amount of calories and sugar. The slime had spoken up out of concern for the diabetic Demon Lord’s health, but Deus completely ignored the comment.
“In any case, that Wataru... I never expected a human to get this close to me... Hmhmhm... Interesting...” Deus chuckled, his shoulders quaking...
“M-My Demon Lord... I don’t think you should have any more sweets...”
“Perhaps... Perhaps... I may end up fighting Wataru myself... Ahahahm... How exciting...”
As the Demon Lord held his parfait, an evil flame roiled within his eyes...
To be continued in the next chapter: “Wataru VS the Fourth Master! Beware the Werewolf!!”
*Sources:
[7] The Iron Stomach ~ Make Your Digestive Tract Supersonic — Isekai Tensei Publishing
[8] The History of Systema: Revealed! — Isekai Tensei Publishing