Chapter 54

No matter how you look at it, she's not at all pitiful.

He picks up the meat and potato stew with his chopsticks and eats it.

It's just as delicious as the miso soup.

The academy cafeteria, which boasts the reputation of being the best academy, serves quite high-quality dishes prepared by verified chefs, but this is even more delicious.

At this point, I think I have to acknowledge her cooking talent, even if I don't like her.

"Mm, it's delicious. You have talent, Nishizawa."

Nishizawa Eri's face relaxes upon hearing the compliment.

She smiles and says, "Hehe, if Master wants, Eri can cook miso soup for you every morning?"

What, every morning miso soup?

Just because I gave her a compliment, her imagination has gone beyond the universe.

Just then, Shinozaki Rin steps in.

"You're being noisy. Clothesline. You haven't forgotten that it's my turn now, have you?"

Nice timing.

Good cut.

"Go ahead. Cow. But remember, this is a battle that Eri has already won."

"Keh, you'll see."

Rin bites her lip and thuds the pot down.

I don't really expect much.

It already seems to be giving off a strange smell.

"Kim Deok-sung, I've specially cooked kimchi stew for you!"

Kimchi stew?

Even though I know Rin can't cook, and she's not making Japanese food but Korean food?

Could it be that the kimchi she was cutting earlier was for this?

I'm starting to feel anxious, not just unexpectant.

"Go ahead, try it to your heart's content!"

Click.

Rin opens the lid.

Inside is an indescribable purple porridge, something you'd only see in an animation.

"W-What is this...?"

Ishihara asks in a trembling voice.

Indeed, what is this?

How can kimchi turn into this purple porridge?

It's not exaggerated in the animation, is it?

Looking closely, I can see pieces of kimchi floating.

Is this even food?

Wouldn't it be better to give it to a dog?

"Anyway, I'll try it. Shinozaki."

Ishihara and Kurosawa take a spoonful of the purple mess with trembling hands.

"Ugh, ugh! Ah!"

Ishihara screams and collapses into her seat.

"M-Mm, it's delicious... Shinozaki... I'm fine... I am..."

Kurosawa, with a pale face, tries to suppress her nausea and speaks.

The exact same reaction as when they ate Rin's poison cooking in the original volume 2.

A true light novel protagonist, maintaining kindness until the end.

"Eat it, Kim Deok-sung."

Rin says with a serious voice.

I don't want to eat this, but to exclude Rin from the cooking duty, I have to give a harsh evaluation after eating it.

I don't like this reality.

With trembling hands, I take a spoonful of the object that Rin claims is "kimchi stew" and put it in my mouth.

"Phew!"

I spit it out immediately.

What the hell is this taste?

It's the worst thing I've ever tasted.

It's terrifying.

It's so cosmic horror-like that even Cthulhu would crawl into R'lyeh after one bite.

"Hey, Rin."

"What do you think? My cooking. Isn't it delicious? I made it specially for you..."

Rin's nonsense makes me even angrier.

You made this and say it's specially for me?

Honestly, I thought the poison cooking in light novels was all exaggerated, but I never imagined it would be so realistically recreated.

People should know their limits.

"Don't make animal sounds and did you even taste this while cooking? If you had, you wouldn't have made such a terrible thing."

"Keh..."

Rin's expression hardens.

I can't lie and say her cooking is delicious like the protagonist.

If I do, I'll end up eating this terrible food for a week.

I can't handle that crazy future.

It's better to be honest.

"Anyway, that's enough. Take this away. Don't cook anymore. Do the dishes or something else you're good at, except cooking."

"Ah, I understand..."

Rin, looking dejected, bows her head.

Her shoulders droop.

I drink water in large gulps.

The cold water makes me feel a bit better.

"Then the result of this contest is decided!"

"Of course, Eri won, right? Right, Master?"

Olivia and Nishizawa look at me.

My head hurts because of that damn kimchi stew.

"Both of you take turns with the cooking duty. Rin, you do the dishes and cleanup with the other one."

Since both of them are above average in cooking, it should be fine to alternate.

As long as it's not Rin.

"Hey, you! J-Just a moment, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I,