The Possession-Spoon Chef Feeds the Empire - Chapter 96

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————

Chapter 96
The Blade Strait—the most dangerous sea in the world.
It was far more than a mere treacherous passage.
Between towering rock formations, relentless wind shears collided with whirlpools erupting from the Magical Power cores at the sea’s depths, creating a zone of death that ordinary ships could not approach.
Within such violent friction and tangled Magical Power, the seawater passing through the Blade Strait absorbed extraordinarily high concentrations of Magical Power, and the salt it produced retained all that power within itself.
For adults, it was merely salt with a bitterness strong enough to repel the palate, but when an infant consumed it, peculiar symptoms of addiction appeared.
Those who tasted food seasoned with it developed a preference for it, and even in adulthood, failure to consume it periodically made recovery from wounds and illness difficult—such were its effects.
The side effects were troublesome enough that one might expect the entire continent to move against it, yet no such effort had materialized. The reason was simple.
Most ships passing through the Blade Strait were pirate vessels, and most of those addicted to the salt were pirates themselves.
‘…That’s what Mother told me, and it seems it was all true.’
Luciel thought to herself.
Watching Kale stare at the choux pastry with eyes threatening to burst from his head.
“This salt… procured with such difficulty…”
“Hnngh.”
Before she could finish speaking, Kale shoved the pastry in his hand into his mouth with desperate urgency.
“Cough—”
Luciel thrust a glass of juice toward him as he choked on the choux.
Kale gulped it down noisily, draining it in moments.
One bite, another bite.
The tremors of his body—profound, transcendent.
The choux pastry vanished without a trace.
“…How long has it been since I tasted something… real.”
Kale murmured to himself as he finished eating at last.
His complexion improved noticeably in an instant, and his face took on that peculiar vitality of someone who has just savored something delicious.
“So this means…”
Having licked the very last trace of cream from his lips, he seemed to return to himself and looked at Luciel.
“You made an extra one of these… fluffy confections… specially for me?”
When Luciel nodded, he let out a bewildered laugh.
“Where did you learn who I am?”
He asked again.
“If you’ve gone to such trouble procuring salt from the Blade Strait and making something like this, it seems you must have known my origins all along.”
Whatever the buff’s effects were—his mind and body now at ease—he showed no sign of wariness.
Everything laid bare, his gray-toned eyes had even softened into something gentle.
“Merchants speak of a man named Kalik who joined the Knight Order. Though the rumor mill is closed now.”
Luciel answered.
“The Imperial Knight Order has many who change their names upon becoming knights, so at first I couldn’t be sure.”
“…So you brought the Direct Line from the Duke’s Household.”
He gestured toward Bael with his chin, muttering.
“To identify me among thirty knights, and assess my abilities in the bargain?”
“Exactly. Other methods existed, but this was the most reliable.”
Luciel nodded.
In truth, she had considered using her Status Window to display each knight’s information one by one, but it would only have created confusion, so she had rejected the idea.
Among South Sea pirates, only a handful showed signs of salt addiction, and she had no way of knowing in advance whether Kalik would manifest such symptoms.
The fact that she had made this choux pastry separately was purely a matter of her own foresight.
“You must want something from me.”
Kale spoke quietly.
“Since you command even the Patriarch of the North, you must have already considered how to use me.”
“I simply need you on my side.”
Luciel said it plainly.
“Especially inside the Imperial Palace where the Crown Prince resides. Every time I come and go, something dangerous seems to happen.”
Kidnapping attempts with culprits she could never identify, schemes she nearly found herself ensnared in.
Luciel recalled the events of recent years.
It was always Serion’s doing, of course.
Like a man experimenting with a trapped mouse, he placed her in a different trap each time.
“So you wanted to acquire an entire knight order?”
He asked in a tone mixing admiration and bewilderment.
“Not just any order—the 7th Knight Order where you serve. And there are other matters I need handled as well.”
“…”
“From the start, it was you I wanted. As it was for all the pirate crews of the South Sea.”
“…”
For a moment, Kale’s gray eyes wavered.
“You… know quite a lot.”
After long silence, he finally opened his mouth to speak.
“I do my background research diligently.”
“…Hah.”
The corners of his mouth rose in a faint smirk.
“Why?”
“Miss—no, Captain—seeing you reminds me of someone. Though that’s not important.”
With renewed vigor coursing through him, Kale straightened his posture and crossed his arms.
“Do you have more of this bread?”
“I can make it for you once a week.”
“Exactly like what I just had?”
“Exactly the same would be no fun…”
She began to say she’d vary the menu, then stopped herself.
A shadow of disappointment flickered unmistakably across his eyes.
“I’ll make it. The same one.”
“You’ll need to make three: one with custard cream, one with chocolate cream, and a third with whatever looks good that day.”
“…Pardon?”
Just salt would be enough to make him rejoice on his own?
“Why the surprise? Did you think a sprinkle of Blade Strait salt alone would make me wax poetic?”
A natural spy, then?
He spoke as if reading her mind.
“Don’t mistake me. What matters is flavor—flavor. The salt is merely a condition that lets you taste it. Even with that salt, if it tastes bad, it tastes bad. Throw it on some old fish and see what happens…”
‘So this is what a difficult customer looks like.’
Luciel stuck out her tongue.
This pirate Kalik was the most demanding customer she had ever encountered.
Fastidious, shameless, and the moment he sensed that she needed him, he had the audacity to rattle off his demands without hesitation.
“…If you do that, I’ll do whatever you ask.”
He finished speaking.
So easily, so smoothly.
“Whatever I ask? How far does that go?”
“As far as the most dangerous thing you can imagine.”
“…”
“Why make such a promise so easily?”
He asked again, as if he knew her questions before she asked them.
“I was born and raised in the most dangerous sea. I don’t die easily in ordinary circumstances.”
Kale answered his own question with a slight smile.
“Those of us who are brothers of the sea carry the Goddess’s Protection. I’m confident I won’t fall to most things.”
With arms crossed, looking down at her, his face was arrogant and unflinching.
As if he knew his own abilities all too well.
“So give me your orders. Dangerous or otherwise.”
He said.
“That’s why you came looking for me, after all.”
“…I see.”
Luciel smiled faintly.
Her chest swelled with satisfaction.
Either way, it was his agreement.
“Then let me make my first request.”
She met his eyes and cleared her throat.
It felt strange to think of herself as the commander of a knight order.
“Tell me anything.”
Kale nodded.
As if to say, go ahead.
“Whether it’s bodyguarding, assassination, or retrieving treasure during the next Monster Subjugation…”
“Check whether the fish at the new market on the south side of the Imperial Palace are fresh.”
“…”
Kale’s face, which had been flushed with anticipation, turned cold and hard.
‘Is this… difficult?’
Luciel regarded him awkwardly.
Though surely, being from the South Sea, he would know fish well.
She had brought him aboard as someone who excelled at everything, but the most urgent need was this.
“…Very well.”
Kale answered after a long silence.
“I shall investigate it thoroughly.”
His expression suggested his pride had been wounded.

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————