Uranium Dragon.
But through my eyes, it was definitely a Glowing King Dragon.
It was shining so brightly that even after Teresa had peeled its skin off while it was still alive, it still sparkled with a slightly dangerous hue.
[That… evil… venerable… comrade… long live….]
“…By the way, that’s definitely a North Korean dragon. Well, as long as it tastes good, that’s all that matters!”
As expected of Teresa.
I thought it was dead, but the Glowing King Dragon was still alive.
So, no worries about the freshness of the meat.
“First, then by the Father, the Holy One, the meat, soy sauce, sugar, and in the name of cooking…!”
“Are you insane, for real?”
“Hey, how could you call it insanity! Teresa! What kind of words are you teaching Shia!”
“You’re the biggest problem, you crazy hero!”
“Wow haha! So this is what a hero, a saint, and a witch looks like! So lively! Way different from what I saw in the fairy tale!”
“………Ahaha.”
Teresa teasing me on the side didn’t stop me—it’s not like I hadn’t gone through countless teases in my previous world.
No mere words like that would interrupt my sacred purification prayer.
A saint is a being who overcomes every adversity and trial to achieve a miraculous feat…
I can’t be interrupted by just Teresa’s jokes!
Even if the Demon King were to appear right before my eyes, nothing could stop my noble will to make a stew out of the Glowing King Dragon!
“Uhuhuh, Shia, you’re truly sacred while praying.”
“Is that what’s sacred? Huh?”
“Sister Shia looks sacred to me.”
“Then am I the one with the strange common sense? Hmm… I guess being stuck in England for too long has made my common sense lacking…”
“Oh, foreign queen. If you sit on the throne, you must gain various experiences and lessons.”
“Um, I see! I understand!”
“Oh my, this is outrageous. Now you’re even infecting people from other countries…”
See!
The majority is on my side!
Teresa is the weird one, I told you!
So then…
Should I try shooting a beam from my mouth this time?
[Miracle-Great Purification]
“Purification Beeeeam!!!”
[Kwuwak…!]
KWA-BOOM!
The freshly purified Glowing King Dragon seemed to have its internal radiation, which sustained its life, completely decomposed and ultimately it died with its eyes rolled back.
The good thing about using a purification beam from my mouth is that it feels refreshing, almost like brushing my teeth.
Well, as a saint who produces no waste, I don’t really need to brush my teeth anyway.
Lilybet, who was next to me, startled and exclaimed, “What the?! Is that a destruction beam!?” but soon hardened her expression when she realized it was just an ordinary purification beam.
Hmm, even I think it might be a little shocking to shoot a purification beam from my mouth.
“Sniffle, I pay my respects to the Glowing King Dragon’s death…”
Especially for just providing me with fresh meat.
Thank you, King Dragon!
“But Great Purification…? This is the first time I’m seeing sister Shia use such a miracle. Can you really fire it from your mouth?”
“That couldn’t be… And that’s a miracle originally used when the Malicious entity of the Demon Lord contaminates the sea or land to an irreversible extent, requiring seven saints to pray and perform a ritual for seven days…”
As Teresa said, this time I used Great Purification instead of just ordinary purification.
It seemed like ordinary purification wouldn’t suffice.
“Wow haha, that’s amazing! To use such a miracle… Uh, um. To fire it from your mouth!”
“Uhuhu, you have good eyes, oh foreign queen. My Shia is indeed quite magnificent.”
“…That pig using that great miracle just to eat meat is the problem.”
“As long as it tastes good, that’s all that matters! Isn’t that right, Menelapie!?”
“Hehe, that’s right, Shia.”
“See! Even Menelapie agrees with me!”
“Honestly…”
Despite looking like they’re no big deal, the Uranium Dragons are quite the monsters.
Usually, ordinary purification can wipe out a decent amount of bacteria, viruses, toxins, or impurities in one go, but after helping those hunters earlier, it became clear that only a miracle on the level of Great Purification can dispel the radiation imbued with dragon mana.
Even if I use purification, the very bodies of the Uranium Dragons act as massive nuclear power sources, continuously leaking radiation laced with dragon mana.
I may say it easily, but dragon mana is essentially an incredible source of magical power and a powerful medium for curses.
No doubt the radiation from the Uranium Dragons is imbued with the malicious curse of dragons too.
Thinking of that makes it understandable why even ordinary purification is hard to pull off.
Even though they were easily defeated by other S-grade hunters, it’s instead the radiation leaking after their death that’s even more threatening.
So, there’s obviously a reason why they’re classified as S-grade monsters.
“Whoa, the Glowing King Dragon…!”
However, we have a problem…
“The light is gone.”
“Yep, it’s all clean now.”
“Isn’t that a good thing?”
“No!”
How could it be good!?
The light of the Glowing King Dragon has disappeared—how can that be good?
“The Glowing King Dragon is valued for its brightness, allowing it to be recognized for its rarity and worth!”
“…By who?”
“By me!”
“Ah, I see…”
Seeing Teresa nod in agreement, it appears she’s on my side.
As expected of Teresa!
Even if she says she doesn’t like me, it’s clear she cares!
“Since this has happened, I’ll have to use another Glowing King Dragon as material…!”
“What…?”
“Excuse me? What did you just say, sister?”
“Yep, yep, what Shia said is right.”
“Oh, my head…”
This Glowing King Dragon is now trash!
Thus, I approached the new Glowing King Dragon that’s hanging in Teresa’s power chamber.
It was much larger than the last one.
Should I say it’s the size of a Jurassic-era sauropod?
Seeing its abnormally long neck and massive size, this one could easily be called a Glowing Brachiosaurus.
The Glowing Tyrannosaurus might also taste good, but this giant Brachiosaurus also sounds tempting.
Now that I think about it, it’s usually said that the meat from herbivorous animals tastes better than carnivorous ones, right?
“All of them are carnivorous, you idiot.”
“Ah, is that so?”
Well, it makes sense since they are dragons…
Anyway, this time, I planned to weaken the intensity of Great Purification just enough to remove the toxic substances while maintaining the glimmering radioactive glow.
“…But isn’t the radiation still dangerous?”
“Oh queen, you may not know this, but all the food we eat… even bananas contain trace amounts of radiation!”
“Whoa!?”
The queen’s eyes widened at my words.
She probably didn’t know all this time.
Silly queen.
“Is that really true!?”
“A saint does not lie! Therefore, consuming a level of glimmering radiation that’s not harmful to the body poses no problem!”
“I-I see… I never knew that!”
Anyway, the body of the Glowing Brachiosaurus glimmered more brilliantly than any jewel I’ve seen.
It exuded the kind of aura that you’d expect to see in a cooking manga, causing me to swallow unconsciously.
Let’s properly start cooking now.
The ingredients are beef… no, Glowing Brachiosaurus meat, a bunch of chili peppers, about 3kg of shiitake mushrooms, 5 liters of water for the broth, soy sauce and cooking wine, sugar, rice syrup, plum, and just in case there might be any fishy smell, more cooking wine.
Fortunately, most of the ingredients are already there, so all I need to do now is chop up a lot of green onions, onions, and garlic.
Taking the portable table and cutting board from the transport drone, I put the prepared green onions, onions, and garlic on it and pulled out my tentacles, chopping up all the ingredients piled on the five cutting boards at the same time.
Chop, chop, chop, chop!
“Wow, sister Shia, you’re chopping the green onions so fast now?”
“Hehe… right? Doesn’t it look like I’m a chef, Yeonhwa?”
“Originally, she’s someone who can learn physical tasks quickly.”
“Uhuh, I do it really well… very much so. Uhuhuh…”
“Watching you chop is just like our house’s chef! You could even be called a cooking saint.”
“Indeed, you have a keen eye for quality, oh queen.”
“Wow haha! Thank you, hero!”
Right, if I were to weigh all the green onions and onions I’ve chopped, it’d easily surpass one or two trucks.
Even the cadaver of starlight has now gotten used to slicing garlic as well.
[Tap!]
[Clap!]
Well, it’s fine if the tentacles sometimes stop chopping to sneak a bite of garlic or onion.
After all, my braised dish is one of the few dishes I can boast about having definitely succeeded.
There may have been many viewers on the Hunter Gallery who were drawn in by the wyvern egg braised dish as well. Because the results from the first dish turned out so delicious, I could confidently proceed with cooking.
If the wyvern egg braised dish had failed, I would have probably lost my confidence and opted to pay a restaurant to prepare my ingredients instead of doing it myself.
‘No, on second thought, even if I’d failed that, I probably wouldn’t have given up…’
Chop, chop, chop!
For the meat, the low-fat cuts are ideal.
If we’re talking about beef, the tenderloin or flank would be great, but since I don’t know the flesh of the Glowing Brachiosaurus well, I’ll target its tail and leg meat, which seem to be the most active.
“Teresa!”
“I’m not doing it…”
“Hmph, Menelapie.”
“Just say it, Shia.”
“Can you cut that leg for me?”
Swish!
Before I could finish my sentence, Menelapie sliced off the giant hind leg of the Brachiosaurus, and my tentacle that was chopping garlic brought the leg right before my eyes.
Naturally, it had undergone Great Purification, so all the tainted radiation and blood had disappeared.
If I were to eat it like this, I’d likely get contaminated with radiation, so I need to be careful even if it retains its glowing quality.
“Put the meat into a large pot. Pour in water until the meat is submerged… and then toss in onions, green onions, whole peppercorns, bay leaves, and lots of garlic…”
For reference, the more onions and green onions, the better!
The more you add, the less likely it is to fail.
If it is anything like that, with my divine power, the flames burn hotter than ordinary fire, making it boil quite swiftly.
Then, once the water starts to boil, pour in a whole bottle of cooking wine.
Even with just the vegetables alone, it helps remove any unwanted odors, but adding a whole bottle of cooking wine also makes the meat more tender.
“Hmm, should I add another bottle of cooking wine?”
“…Why are you asking us?”
“Then let’s add more!”
After pouring in two bottles of cooking wine, it should boil for about 30 minutes, but in the meantime, what I need to do is prepare the seasoned soy sauce.
First, boil about 10 liters of broth, according to the amount of meat.
Then, using my tentacles, I pull out three bottles of dark soy sauce from the transport drone, adding sugar, cooking wine, rice syrup, and plums, then reduce it down all together.
Originally, I’d have to braise it together with the meat, but since the meat needs to be boiled for a little longer, the seasoning requires a longer reduction as well.
“Oh, this is quite nice, huh? Aside from the pot full of glimmering meat, of course.”
“Oh, the smell is delightful! Is this the Korean traditional meat stew?”
“The smell is nice…”
“Uhuh.”
Exchanging happy smiles with Menelapie made my mood lift as well.
Watching the pot of meat boil, I was already excited to see the glimmering glow radiating from it.
Just like with gemstones, even cheap raw stones gain value when polished or if they shine more brightly, the same principle applies to food.
Pretty food is tasty food, isn’t it?
Let alone this is a braised dish made from a dragon’s flesh.
It cannot even be compared to a wyvern.
Materials derived from the dragon’s body hold inestimable value, and I’m creating a braised dish that had been successful before.
Just to make sure I wouldn’t confuse the soy sauce with the cooking wine like back in the Kurtala Mountains, I’d even stuck a post-it note on the soy sauce bottle indicating its purpose in giant letters, so now I can’t mess it up even if I tried.
“Hehehe, I’ve completed the seasoned soy sauce!”
You see, the secret behind braised dishes is in the taste of the seasoned soy sauce.
No matter how poor the quality of the meat, as long as the seasoning is excellent, it can cover up the taste, and if the meat itself is delicious, even better dishes can be produced.
With this, there’s absolutely no way I could fail.
If by some slim chance I do fail, then that’s truly a problem with the person.
‘Sadly, it seems I won’t be able to harvest dragon eggs since they’re all male dragons.’
Since it’s a braised dish, I’d love to boil and add the dragon eggs I have longed for, but unfortunately, all these dragons are male.
First, I tasted the soy sauce.
“Hmm, this is a success.”
Great. Perfect.
I’m drooling already.
Just tasting the soy sauce made me salivate, so the finished Glowing King Dragon braised dish is definitely going to succeed.
It’d be a real problem if it were to fail.
‘Surely about 30 minutes have passed now?’
Alright, time to unveil the Glowing Brachiosaurus!
“O-oh, it’s glowing.”
“…Is that really? It’s okay, right? It won’t explode?”
“If it explodes, the pig saint will just have to clean it up herself.”
“How cruel you are, black witch! If Shia is in trouble, wouldn’t you help her too?”
“If you want to help, help yourself…”
Hah haha! Teresa looks like she wants me to fail, but this is definitely going to succeed!
When I pierced the meat with chopsticks, it went in so smoothly.
Nice. Perfectly cooked meat.
Everything is just perfect.
Now that the seasoning is good and the meat is perfect, it’s time to combine them and let’s braise it.
SIZZLE!
Pouring the reduced soy sauce over the boiled behind leg meat of the Glowing King Dragon.
“By the way, with such a huge quantity, are you going to share with other hunters?”
“Shia will probably eat it all!”
“…Eh..?”
“Looking at her appetite, it’s not that big of a deal.”
“Uhuhuh, today Shia is eating lightly.”
“…Huh, huh?”
Lilybet’s expression turned awkward as she looked between Yeonhwa, Menelapie, Teresa, but I doubt anyone among them would notice anything strange.
Haha, Queen! You’re the only one being weird here!
Is it ‘common sense’ for a saint to eat 50 servings!?
During this time, the braised dish began to reduce further.
“Hehe…”
As time passed, the delightful smell spread nearby, and it eased my mind naturally.
Looking around, I noticed I was sitting with Teresa, Menelapie, Yeonhwa, and even Queen Lilybet, as if we were having a picnic around the massive pot.
I suspect the cleanup of the Hunter Train hasn’t even finished, so they likely have plenty of time.
Then let’s boil it for a bit longer.
15 minutes…
10 minutes…
5 minutes…
Alright.
Let’s open it up.
“Ta-da! It’s done!”
“Oh…!”
“Uhuh, as expected of my Shia.”
“Wow, it really smells good… but the color is a bit scary, isn’t it?”
“…Is this not some explosive?”
Teresa made a suspicious expression, but every cooking step had been flawless.
There’s no possibility of failure.
“Here! First to Menelapie, who always cheered me on!”
“Is this true?”
“……”
Teresa frowned slightly, seemingly dissatisfied, but if you’re mad, then go cheer me on too!
“Hwup. Um….”
Chew, chew.
Once I took a bite, Menelapie’s expression brightened immensely.
“Okay, Teresa too!”
“Uh, no… wait a minute…”
“Come. Open wide~”
“……Fine.”
So Teresa took a bite as well.
“You idiot!”
“I’m not an idiot!”
“But you have ‘idiot’ written on your forehead?”
“Eh, really?”
“No.”
“Sister! Hwup?!”
I fed the braised dish to a startled Yeonhwa, who shouted at me with her mouth wide open.
“Your Majesty, would you like to try it?”
“Sounds good! This is also a new experience and challenge! Bring it! I am prepared!”
“No need for such preparation…”
I waited for everyone to eat the braised dish, anticipating their reactions.
It’s delicious, right?
It should be delicious!
“Hehehe, Shia.”
The first to react was certainly Menelapie.
“This is quite delicious?”
“Really?”
In my ability to differentiate lies from truth, I could easily sense that there was a hint of honesty in Menelapie’s expression.
“It’s not just tasty! It’s a flavor I’ve never tasted before!”
“Oh, oh!?”
A taste she’s never experienced before?!
And she’s still praising it as delicious?
With Menelapie’s high praise, the corners of Shia’s mouth began to rise.
‘Ah, no. I need to hear the opinions of the others.’
Menelapie has a pretty wide tolerance in terms of taste.
She was the most noble emperor in her previous world, but even before becoming my comrade, she was involved in a massive war against the Demon Lord’s army.
So throughout the war, as long as it’s not completely inedible rubbish, she would manage to eat it well.
“Um, well. It’s quite okay. Chew, chew… while it has a unique taste, it’s pretty good?”
“Whoa!?”
Teresa?
Teresa said it’s delicious!?
‘Ah, no, I shouldn’t let my guard down…’
In fact, while on the surface, Teresa can be very naggy, internally she’s quite generous and broad-minded towards me.
Probably…
But anyway, the black witch is undeniably the black witch.
Having to study all those forbidden alchemy and magic, stirring up a grand cauldron, and tasting ingredients incomparably weirder than mine from time to time makes my cooking seem like a relative angel compared to those forbidden ingredients.
So, even if I had made all kinds of bizarre dishes throughout my life, Teresa would quietly nod and eat.
Thus, I couldn’t let my guard down just yet.
“Idiot! What about you?”
“Um, chew chew… a bit unique, but this is really good! It’s the first time I’ve tasted something like this… Chew, chew, it suits my taste!”
“What about Your Majesty!?”
Gulp, “Wahaha! This is my first time! If you ask whether it’s tasty or not, of course I’d say the former!”
“!!”
Great.
Great!
“I, Elizaveta IV, guarantee it! You are a splendid cooking saint! This is exceptionally tasty! Wahaha!”
“Th-thank you~!”
It’s delicious!
Everyone says it’s delicious!!
With delight, I grabbed the soy-sauce-coated chunk of the Glowing King Dragon’s hind leg.
Hwup!
And savored it.
Chew, chew.
My masterpiece….
My masterpiece…?
‘What is this flavor…?”
It starts sweetly.
And ends clean and refreshing, finishing with a crisp aftertaste…
How could it produce such a flavor even when I made a braised dish?
The moment it hit my mouth, it turned explosive.
The sweetness of the soy sauce mingled, and at the same time, there’s something bouncing in my mouth, feeling strangely refreshing.
‘What is this? Can this be a flavor from meat?’
“Wahaha! I want more!”
No, the queen seriously thinks it’s delicious?
Even the others are genuine.
Not one amongst them is lying.
“Thank you, saint! Hwup, Chew, chew… Mmm! Right! It’s an impressively unique flavor!”
‘What? Did my tongue get weird…?’
“It tastes like mint chocolate coming from the meat; it’s such an unusual flavor!”
“…….?”
Huh?
What did you just say?
Mint choco…?
In that moment, I realized.
Why does eating this meat give me a refreshing feeling?
Why does the braised dish feel like my mouth is being cleansed while eating?
Why does it taste strangely sweet as I chew?
This…
“Mint… choco… flavored… braised dish…?”
Ah…
And then I blacked out.
“Uh, sister!?”
“Shia!”
“Chew, chew, what’s wrong with her?”
“Wahaha! The saint must’ve lost her mind over how delicious it was! Chew, chew~”
No, you crazy people!!!!
