"So, Lucifer. What are you going to use?"
She was looking at me with a particular interest in her eyes.
It was obvious that she was not the same with me as the other students present here.
Perhaps some students had revived some different treatment before me but she was openly smiling at me with that obvious interest.
Even the students around me got goosebumps when they looked at that expression of hers.
"I'll be using some Giant fire boar with a little flame drake blood as the main ingredients, miss."
-Clung—clunggg-clank!
As soon as those words left my mouth, sounds of utensils dropping, glass shattering, and things dropping to the ground reverberated throughout the kitchen.
And, not just the people around me, even the ones at the far back that might have barely heard my words looked back at me with a flabbergasted look.
"Did I hear that right? Giant fire boar and, did you really say flame Drake blood?"
"That is correct, teacher."
What I wanted to make, what I wanted to portray through that dish needed something that could hold the strong taste of all the ingredients together.
Something that would be refreshing, and at the same time, something that anyone could taste even with all the stupidly strong ingredients.
"Hoh. When will you stop surprising me, young one?"
She was happily smiling, as always.
And as always, she had questions for me that she just couldn't avoid.
"Then do tell us from where you are going to obtain that fire drake blood, vice captain Lucifer of Wisdom Phoenix? I don't think we have something even remotely close to that thing in these inventories."
She was saying that in a mischievous voice as if she already knew that I had what I was talking about.
And she was right as well.
"I do have it with me, so there will not be anything to worry about. Then… if you will please excuse me."
Bowing down to her with a calm expression, I picked up the big basket, wrote down the things that I needed on a piece of paper, and carefully walked through the narrow path covered in broken glass and utensils.
The others were still surprised and were looking at me dumbfounded as if I had said something that should not be true in the first place, however, as someone that knew me well, Lizzy and others had already resumed their work despite their initial surprise.
They knew wasting time doing nothing was not going to make the three course meals that they were supposed to have.
They were only going to waste their time and fall behind others with all that they were thinking about, so just like me, working instead of just standing still was the better choice.
"Hahaha, I'll look forward to what you do from now on then~ vice captain Lucifer~."
Her strangely positive attitude towards me was the very reason nearly the entirety of this class didn't like me.
But, then again, my good cooking and the things that they get to taste were the reason they could not hate me either.
It was a bittersweet relationship… but they all should better go back to cooking.
"Next. What ingredients are you going to use?"
"Hun? Hunn? Oh! Yes!"
The one who was next after me brought everyone out of their daze, and those who were still looking at me collecting the ingredients along with the helpers got their senses back and went back to work.
They had to first think what they were going to make, start preparing utensils for it, and then get the ingredients to start the making process.
Time was ticking and even though the kitchen was full of advanced equipment, there was nothing that would work on its own or do things for us.
We had to do everything on our own and without many of the things prepared with long preparations, things were going to be difficult for all of us.
Still, we had to make what we wanted to make somehow.
Lizzy was starting her work with some fine wheat and other stuff used to make flour.
She wasn't using pre-made things and seemed like she was going to use ingredients to make everything by hand starting with a flour.
She had prepared some vegetables and spices along with fruits so it seemed like she was starting with an appetiser and, since she had meat and oils on the side, she was already preparing for the main course simultaneously.
'That was the right thing to do under the time constraints, so… looks like she's doing well.'
Zoe told me to help her out if I can, but, from the looks of it, it doesn't seem like she needs my help or anything.
In fact, she looks more focused than ever for some reason…
'It's not a bad thing at all though so, this is good.'
Captain Alpha was doing great as well.
'He was one of the people that got the most attention after me from ma'am, so there are people betting on who will get better scores among us.'
Well, of course though, Lady Rosette was also one of the most popular among the class as someone hailing from a family of prestigious chefs.
She was considered a cooking genius and similar to lady Cleo, she had a hypersensitive tongue that could understand and tell apart each ingredient from the other.
'She was very good at cooking as well, so I know the others will have to look out for her as well.'
And Lady Ezra was going to take things slow as usual anyway. There's no need to worry about her for this test.
"Shall we start then?"
The ingredients I will be using for the appetiser would be some golden rice, along with a few special eggs, some fish, and some meat from various different sources.
It would be a light thing, but since the theme is sorrow, there will be a few things that I'll have to look after.
'The texture has to be smooth with the appetiser while the taste itself has to be strong.'
It has to explode not while eating, but right after one ingested it— almost similar to a potent poison.
Then, for the main course, I'll be making a vegetarian dish— an experimental dish that I've never made before.
'It will be full of textures, flavours, themes, colours, the presentation of it though, will be very simple looking.'
It will be something similar to Lady Cleo's 'soup' but I'll be extremely careful with it since it will not be possible to make as much as three portions at once.
'It's going to be a complicated process…'
I don't know what kind of excuse I'm going to make when I start doing what I'm planning to do, but, since Lucy was sure there will be no great problems, I'll just go ahead and do it without worrying.
"As for the dessert…"
I'm thinking of something simple… something that will have the feelings but not taste. Something that will correlate to the memories and emotions that the one eating it will have and not something that I feel or know or understand.
'It's going to be something I have experience with, like my special elemental ice creams that our friends have had a few times in the past.'
But since the creation process for that will be complicated as well, we will have to pay a lot of attention to the minor details.
'One mistake and the entire portion will be ruined.'
The risks were high with this one, but I have special ingredients that the others do not have. And since there is no restriction on using anything, I'll just go ahead and use what I can to get the perfect results.
[{ *I am always ready, master.* }]
She was there to help me with all that she can help with. And this time, since the methods I will be using are not the best things to show off in a small kitchen, I'll have to ask for her help.
Taking out a certain device from my storage space that neither the students around me nor the teachers were expecting to see, I placed the disc-like thing with many jewels embedded in it on the table before me.
And, right after channelling some Aura through the device, a unique purple protective barrier covered exactly my working area.
"What is the meaning of this, student Lucifer?"
The same teacher that was calling me 'vice captain' until just now looked at me with a serious gaze as she asked that question.
However, instead of answering her question directly, I simply materialised my Aura, took out a Mana crystal, an Aether core, an Arcane crystal, and a condensed materialised mana bead for all six main elements and placed them on the table before me.
"I apologise for my actions from now on, teacher. However, I pledge to respectfully follow all rules, so I'll ask for your understanding and support."
The cooking methods I used to normally make things were already complicated enough that the others hardly understood them, but with such an opportunity before me, there was no way I would just stick to the basics and make something mediocre.
The timing was right, the environment was perfect, the cake like 'soup' was an inspiration, and there was an itch on my hands that wasn't going to go away with just the normal food.
There were some things that I'm going to make from now on that might or might not reflect the theme from a general idea of Sorrow, but, for me… these things will be a perfect representation of what 'sorrow' actually is.
And, I want Her to taste them as well, so… these things have to be perfect.