Overgeared

Idan—he was originally from the East Continent and he was the most famous chef in the entire world. It was because he had the tremendous history of serving as the chef of the Overgeared Palace and the Overgeared Knights. There were even rumors that he was in charge of the lunch boxes of the Overgeared members, including Grid.

He was a one of a kind and unprecedented chef. It was strange that he had the alias of ‘Poison Master,’ but most of the world’s chefs respected him and aimed to be like him.

[I am becoming interested.]

Raiders said after listening to Grid’s explanation. He had a completely different attitude from the other old dragons. Seeing the way he could listen to others, he had at least a bit of common sense.

The golden scales reflecting the light came closer again.

[If it is the best chef of this time by your side, I can look forward to it. He must be a talented person who can ring an alarm bell in humanity’s food culture, which hasn’t changed much even after going through several apocalypses and rebirths.]

“An alarm bell… it is similar.”

“Okay.”

Not long ago, this place was affected by the sea levels that had risen due to the release of Trauka’s power. The huge uninhabited ground, where a few castles could be built, couldn’t handle the weight of an old dragon and gradually sank. Raiders reduced his body weight with magic and nodded after using Polymorph to become a long-haired, handsome man.

“Bring him. There is no need to hurry. Waiting is also a delight of eating, so my patience has been tempered.”

“No. You should hurry and finish your business and go back to the lair to rest. I will hurry.”

It was an existence that was stuffy and uncomfortable just breathing in the same space as it. Dragons were like that to Grid. He wanted to finish this deal and send the dragon back to his lair. In the first place, he had to hurry. The Great Robber of the Red Night said that the time when Rebecca was in the cycle was the perfect opportunity to infiltrate Asgard.

‘I don’t know how he knows that Rebecca is in the cycle.’

Grid didn’t doubt the massive intelligence network power of the Great Robber. It was because he had already seen Hwang Gildong, who had insight into most of the work related to the East Continent. It would be arrogance if Grid recklessly judged or doubted the capabilities of those who were struggling in their respective positions.

“Are you going to mess things up while rushing?”

Raiders’ cold, golden eyes became even colder. It was the aftermath of recalling the common mistakes made by chefs who had lost their cool.

“Cooks are people who are timid and easily lose their cool. They are often startled just by looking at the lid of the pot and easily make minor mistakes, but how will you take responsibility if he leaves cooking utensils or seasonings behind because you are in a rush? Keep in mind that my anger might be directed at you.”

‘...He has a strange bias.’

They were scared because they were cooks... couldn’t Raiders understand the feelings of the chefs who cooked him food? He wasn’t able to understand other people’s positions. It was the typical characteristic of lunatics. Raiders might seem relatively decent, but a dragon was still a dragon.

“I understand. I’ll slowly come back when everything is fully prepared,” Grid spoke politely, contrary to his intentions.

Who was the strongest dragon? At least at this point, it was likely to be Raiders.

Trauka was critically wounded by Ifrit, who had aimed for mutual destruction. Nevartan suffered from madness after falling for Baal’s scheme, and Bunhelier was cursed.

Unlike the other weakened old dragons, Raiders was fine. He hadn’t suffered any incidents and completely preserved his power.

‘There is no historical data to measure Raiders’ power.’

Most of the things about dragons recorded in literature was about Nevartan. He acted without hesitation due to his madness. Even the more aggressive Fire Dragon Trauka had fewer records of sightings compared to Nevartan. Most of it was related to Talima. Raiders’ record of going on a gourmet tour was bound to be much less.

Grid only knew the characteristics of a Gold Dragon thanks to Nefelina’s information, but he had no idea about Raiders’ individual strength.

‘In any case, it is an old dragon.’

He would definitely be stronger than Bunhelier right now. He wasn’t an opponent to become angry at.

“Then... I will be back. I won’t be too late, so please wait here.”

He hoped that the Great Robber of the Red Night, who was hiding his presence somewhere on the island, would remain safe while he was away.

Grid returned to Reinhardt.

“I don’t want to! Are you intending to kill me? Ack! No! I don’t want toooooo!”

A while later, a terrible scream echoed from a middle-aged man in the basement of the Overgeared Palace. He was completely terrified after learning about the situation from Grid.

The presence of a dragon—even a man who was usually so bold turned into a coward when it came to dealing with dragons. Even Dragon Slayer Hayate was afraid of dragons. Grid thought that Jude was probably the only human being in the world who could maintain calmness against the dragons, especially an old dragon.

“Why is Sir Idan acting like that?”

“I heard that on His Majesty’s recommendation, he is going to cook food in front of the Gourmet Dragon...”

“Hah. Is that true?”

The faces of the whispering knights gradually brightened. All the members of the Overgeared Knights had eaten Idan’s food for at least a year. Thanks to this, they were strongly resistant to poison, but at the same time, they had a heart that resented Idan. It felt like they had been tortured for a long time.

Of course, it was a feeling that they weren’t aware of themselves. How could they laugh at a time when a person was going to be dragged to a slaughterhouse?

The faces of the knights darkened as they felt disappointed in themselves. Then Idan’s screams finally stopped.

"I understand. If I can’t avoid it, then I will accept it. I will faithfully obey Your Majesty’s will, as I have always done.”

He was filled with desperation. There was no light in his black eyes that were common in natives of the East Continent. It was a look like he was giving up his life.

Grid tried to clear up the misunderstanding. “There is no way you will be harmed. I will stop it.”

“You will stop it... then there is a chance that the dragon might try to kill me.”

There was a reason why Idan had no energy. Coincidentally, he now knew that his dishes were tasteless. He couldn’t help noticing after years of staying in the palace and cooking for hundreds and thousands of people.

He had heard it many times. The knights whispered that Idan’s cooking was the worst. It was eating food, but it felt like eating poison. This sort of thing… making a dish for a dragon called the ‘Gourmet Dragon? This was more like deliberate murder.

‘If he tells me to die, then I will die...’

The amount of books Idan had read was surprisingly considerable. He used to run a restaurant without customers, so he read books because he had nothing to do. Thanks to this, he knew the history of many kingdoms. The first thing that supreme rulers did when they became kings or emperors and wielded uncontrolled power—it was to behead the generals who worked hard during the founding years in order to monopolize power.

‘Use it when you need it and throw it away without mercy when you don’t need it.’

Idan didn’t know the reason, but it was clear His Majesty held him in high regard and was afraid of him. Only then could he understand why His Majesty was pushing him to death...

‘I should’ve left when Yan Fei left... I was stupid.’

Yan Fei, who came with Idan from the East Continent—she left the palace last year.

The young woman had entered the workforce before she was old enough in order to take care of her brothers. She managed to climb to the position of maid of honor in the Overgeared palace, but she had a desire to live a normal life before her youth ended.

She left this wonderful and splendid palace to live a life of hardship as a commoner again... Idan couldn’t understand it from his point of view.

However, now he knew. She probably realized that she would have to live a life on pine needles.

‘It is my sin for not understanding the subject. His Majesty has shown my great kindness, so let’s not complain and accept it.’

Yes, the grace he had received so far was very great. He wanted to return the favor and leave. This way, he could curse at death.

‘The last dish I am going to cook... it will go down in history.’

Idan’s prayer changed. He felt like a completely different person. It was a dying flash.

‘I will put away my stubbornness and make a dish that suits the public’s taste.’

Idan was obsessed with the ‘natural taste of ingredients.’ It contained the meaning of admiring the human taste that could revere the ingredients created by nature and savor them. It was the spirit of craftsmanship. For him, spices were filth that spoiled the taste of the ingredient, and flavoring with salt was an act of deceiving the tongue.

However, nobody understood even at the last moment. People’s ridiculing laughter rang out like an auditory hallucination. Therefore, he wanted to show it only at the last moment—the reason his cooking wasn’t to their taste wasn’t because he couldn’t cook...

‘I will show you a dish that will become legendary to your taste buds.’

‘What is he thinking?’

First, Idan shed tears while holding his breath. Then he became determined before laughing in a crazy manner. Grid felt uncomfortable at the sight and urged him, “Let’s go. The place is an uninhabited island in the Red Sea. There is a lot of clean sand, so you don’t need cooking utensils, right?”

Idan didn’t use heat cooking very well when cooking. Even if it was used occasionally, he used sand heated by the sun. He would hold a fan in his hand when things weren’t going well or when inspiration came to them, but that was really rare.

“No. I have many things to prepare.”

Idan shook his head and entered the kitchen. He packed all types of cooking utensils that he normally wouldn’t bother to look at. Finally, he grabbed salt and pepper.

“......?”

Grid’s face hardened when he noticed this.

“It is the first time in my life that I am cooking dragon meat. There is a possibility that conventional cooking methods won’t work, so I have to be fully prepared,” Idan explained.

It was an explanation that hid his intention to make delicious dishes. He intended to surprise Grid.

‘I want to see it. I want to see you belatedly regret it after eating the food I cook and being surprised by how delicious it was.’

After that—

Contrary to Grid’s expectations, it took quite some time for the two of them to arrive at the Ruins of the Martial God. Raiders’ eyebrows that protruded from his small face twitched slightly. He was inwardly surprised when he saw that cook that Grid brought. It was a slight loss of composure that was unlike an old dragon.

‘There is a very intense look in his eyes.’

It was a look where no fear could be felt. It seemed that he wouldn’t waver even if death was just around the corner. It was the first time Raiders had ever seen a chef with such eyes.

‘That is how proud he is of his skills.’

Raiders’ expectations were amplified. Eventually, he even asked with a faint smile on his face, “Tell me how you plan to cook this precious ingredient?”

Raiders placed Trauka’s arm along the coast and took out a knife as he spoke in order to help. After all, it was an ingredient that couldn’t be handled by human cooks. Raiders was going to help. He thought the ingredient and the chef who would use it were worthy of it.

“Please turn the scales into a handful of powder. Cut the skin into pieces thin enough to be transparent.” Nôvel/Dr(a)ma.Org - Content owner.

Idan had nothing to fear. He looked closely at the dragon’s arm, touched it, and confidently demanded things.

“Cut the lower part of the armpit while preserving the shape. Then cut the flesh just above it into cubes. The thickness is around this much... additionally, I will use the bones and tendons of the wrist. From here to here. The back of the hand should be thinly sliced...”

“Hmm...”

Raiders met all of Idan’s demanding requirements while Grid watched leisurely. In any case, he knew that Idan’s dishes didn’t look good. Furthermore, it was the first time Idan was cooking a dragon’s arm, which could be used for many things. It was impossible for him to cook it properly.

‘A worse than usual dish will come out.’

In the meantime, what satisfied him the most was that the amount of materials Idan used was based on humans. Raiders had polymorphed into human form, so Idan seemed to have momentarily forgotten that he was a dragon. Raiders didn’t mind. He was a gourmet, not a glutton. He preferred to eat deliciously, even if the amount was less.

After a while—

“I will start.”

Idan’s cooking began. He used various spices as Raiders heated up the pan with magical flames.

‘What?’

It was a very normal recipe, unlike the usual. It even looked fancy and skillful. It looked like a very good chef was cooking.

‘Is he going to make it delicious?’

How was that possible? Unlike the semi-doubtful Grid who was gradually becoming nervous, Raiders’ expectations were amplified...

“Eat in this order.”

A large table was set up. It was a dinner with dishes that maximized the conflicting textures of the thick tendons and scales fried until the point just before it became mushy. An immensely delicious smell spread in all directions.

The Great Robber of the Red Night, hiding in a corner, gulped. Grid was also filled with a huge sense of hunger.

‘I want to try it.’

It was a moment when he had an unexpected desire...

Grid sensed that the plan was ruined while Raiders started to slowly savor the food. After a while—

Clink.

Raiders put down the fork and knife and murmured, “...Trauka is a guy with no advantages whatsoever.”

Raiders’ beautiful face was distorted in a frightening manner as he silently spat out the steak he had chewed a few times and wiped the corners of his mouth.

“It doesn’t taste good from start to finish. Every time I chew, my mouth fills with a certain smell. The texture is also terrible and none of the flavors are right.”

“......”

“Don’t worry, Chef. I watched you do your best. It isn’t your fault. It is the ingredient. I won’t hurt you,” Raiders reassured Idan, who had paled and stiffened, but Idan didn’t find any consolation.

“My best... I really tried my best...! Sob...! Sob sob sob!”

People without talent wouldn’t be able to do it no matter how hard they tried.

It was a terrible reality.