Chapter 185

As Kurt, it was an unfair situation because the smile he made was with good intentions, but Liche, upon seeing that smile, could only grow more hostile towards him.

“Hmph. How long can you keep up that calm demeanor? Even if I have to set aside my pride as a chef, I will definitely leave a critique of this steak.”

And then, Liche began to cut the steak with her knife.

Swish, swish.

“…Huh?”

“What’s this? The way the meat cuts feels strange…?”

But as she sliced the steak, the texture she felt under her fingertips was completely unfamiliar.

The sensation of the steak being cut was unlike any she had ever experienced before. Unintentionally, Liche let out a sound, and Kurt, seeing her reaction, smiled as if to say, “Do you understand now what makes my steak different?”

“Oh, do you get the specialness of that steak? People who know how to cook really have a different eye for detail. The cooking method used for that steak is… No, it’s no fun to reveal it before you taste it. Go ahead and eat.”

“…”

But Liche didn’t respond to Kurt’s words and focused on the meal.

She had no intention of engaging with Kurt’s provocation (or not).

However, her resolve was in vain as she couldn’t help but be even more surprised upon seeing the cross-section of the steak.

‘What on earth is this…?’

It was a steak cooked uniformly on all sides.

It was as if heat had been applied simultaneously to every part of the steak’s internal structure.

No, saying it was uniform on all sides isn’t quite right.

At least the surface was properly seared and browned.

But when she used the knife to cut through the side of the steak, what she saw was a steak so uniformly cooked inside that she wondered if she had been hit by an illusion spell cast by Karina and Serena.

It was the sous-vide steak Kurt had made using an artifact he found in the ruins of the ancient empire.

When he had a meal with Arisa before, he deliberately didn’t sear the surface to maximize the sous-vide flavor.

But this time, to bring out the Maillard reaction normally, he finished the sous-vide, wiped off all the juices on the surface, and then quickly seared just the surface on a hot plate.

Seeing the cross-section of the steak, Liche suddenly remembered something.

‘Come to think of it, when I first saw this steak, I felt an inexplicable sense of incongruity. Was this the source of that incongruity!?’

The steak looked ordinary on the outside, but there was always this strange sense of incongruity.

Seeing the internal cross-section, Liche finally understood the source of that incongruity.

The steak was perfectly seared on the top, bottom, and even the sides, but it felt like something entirely different, as if it had been cooked once more to look like a steak.

She couldn’t even begin to guess what kind of magic was used.

Surely, she was the mage here, but instead, she felt like she was the one being played by a mage. Liche looked at the steak with disbelief.

But no matter how much she stared at the steak, she couldn’t figure out what magic had been used.

Finally, as if making up her mind, Liche slowly picked up a piece of the steak.

Whether it was to diminish Kurt’s cooking skills or simply to taste his culinary prowess, Liche herself didn’t know.

With a confused mix of emotions, she put the steak in her mouth.

Haaap.

Chew, chew.

Gulp.

And then.

Clang.

She didn’t even notice the knife falling from her hand onto the table as she numbly savored the taste of the sous-vide steak in her mouth.

What Liche felt upon eating the sous-vide steak was…

‘Distant… and high.’

There was no room for analysis; it was just that.

When you eat truly delicious food, you don’t smile comfortably; you can only tremble at the shock of it…

Liche realized.

‘Ah… How, how can such cooking be…?’

From the surface of the meat, she could feel the savory and umami flavors of a steak cooked to perfection, something she was well acquainted with.

It was undoubtedly a splendid achievement, and there was nothing particularly wrong with it.

But that was all.

It was a level of taste she could somewhat replicate herself.

At best, it was delicious within the realm of expectation.

In fact, as she ate the surface, Liche felt her expectations waning.

Compared to the seemingly special interior of the meat, the taste was excellent but still within the range of what she knew.

It was undoubtedly great, but she, who had steeled her heart, could still force a critique.

But when her teeth passed the surface and reached the inside, Liche felt goosebumps all over her body.

It was a new taste she had never experienced before.

It was definitely the taste of meat, but…

The juiciness and the tender texture as it chewed.

It was a completely new sensation.

If she had to force a comparison, it was similar to the tender texture of smoked ham.

It wasn’t the exact answer, but it was very close.

In fact, sous-vide involves exposing meat to low heat for a long time, allowing the heat to penetrate to the core, somewhat similar to smoking, where heat is transmitted through low-temperature smoke.

But that wasn’t enough.

There was a crucial difference between sous-vide and smoking.

Smoking exposes meat to hot air for a long time, drying out all the internal moisture and resulting in very dry ham, whereas sous-vide seals in the moisture, minimizing the loss of the meat’s juices to the extreme.

And while smoking uses indirect heat from burning smoking materials, making temperature control difficult and preventing control over protein denaturation, sous-vide artificially controls temperature, allowing the chef to control protein denaturation as intended.

Thus, while the texture is similar to ham, it’s more tender and incomparably juicier.

And Liche didn’t even know about such a cooking method.

Having lived alone in the mansion since childhood, preparing her own meals.

If you count her cooking history, it’s almost 20 years.

But even in those nearly 20 years, none of the dishes she had made were similar to what she was eating now.

What she felt was shock.

The vivid taste of the sous-vide steak, something only a chef could understand, and all the more shocking because she was a chef.

Having never thought she would lose to anyone in cooking, Liche could only silently shed tears as her pride was shattered by the taste of the sous-vide steak.

But she didn’t even notice the tears streaming from her eyes, forgetting that she had to critique Kurt’s cooking.

She trembled at the taste of the sous-vide steak swirling in her mouth.

“What… What kind of magic did you use in cooking…?”

Even she, who had used magic to cook more conveniently than ordinary chefs, couldn’t have imagined it.

A new cooking method she hadn’t even thought to attempt, despite having the ability to use magic.

She thought she had mastered most dishes, but…

The world outside the mansion was this vast.

She had underestimated the Lizardman’s cooking skills, but in the end, it was her complete defeat.

“Li, Liche!? Are you crying now?”

“Wh, what? Clarice!? You’re trembling, is something wrong with your body!?”

“What’s wrong! Did you bite your tongue or something?”

“Or maybe the food didn’t suit your taste…?”

The table became chaotic with concern for Liche, who was crying.

But Liche ignored the four people’s panic, trembling, then quietly wiped her tears and stood up.

“…So.”

“What?”

“I won’t admit defeat because of this!”

With that, Liche pointed at Kurt and fled to her room on the second floor.

“What, what’s going on…?”

“Who knows…”

After Liche left, the four people sitting at the table could only mumble in confusion.

.

.

.

By the way, after pointing at Kurt and leaving, Liche came back down 10 minutes later and took the adventurer test from Karina.

And then she silently ate her remaining portion of the sous-vide steak.

Her grade was Bronze.

Her skills were not lacking, but her personality shown during the interview needed more evaluation, according to Karina.