"Everyone out! If you can't even tell salt from sugar and are turning meat into candy, then pack up and get out of my kitchen this instant!"
The massive kitchen.
Normally, the fairy chefs would elegantly sprinkle flower pollen and honey, creating visual works of art, but now, wearing aprons and driven to terror by Kay's ferocious roar, they were scrambling out the door.
"Now, now! Please calm down and step outside for a moment! Lord Kay never compromises when it comes to cooking!"
Flustered, Britomart comforted the fleeing chefs and ushered them out, then shut the kitchen doors. Inside the enormous kitchen, only Kay and Tamamo remained.
Kay rolled up his sleeves as he surveyed the mountain of premium beast meat, mysterious herbs, and other ingredients native to the Fairy Kingdom.
"The ingredients are so good they might as well rot, yet up until now they've been treated like garbage. What a colossal waste."
Tamamo was already dressed perfectly as Kay's cooking assistant, wearing a white apron and chef's cap.
"Aaah~♡ Cooking alongside my darling in the kitchen, just the two of us—this is the very dream of newlyweds, isn't it?"
"Feels good to team up again. You're my backup."
"This wise and virtuous fox will be your hands and feet, sir, and support you flawlessly!"
"Alright. Crank up the heat on that oven to maximum. Then take this rainbow stag meat, drain off the blood, and rub the surface roughly with pepper, garlic, and herbs. Sear it over high heat to lock in the juices."
"As you command!"
Tamamo's blue mystic flames began heating the oven, and Kay's large kitchen knife sliced through vegetables and meat in midair at lightning speed.
At last, in the Fairy Kingdom's kitchen—where only the sweet scent of sugar had lingered—the savory aroma of meat undergoing the Maillard reaction and the cheerful sound of oil popping began to spread.
Just as the kitchen was heating up.
"Hmm~ So this is what I smelled, huh?"
At the kitchen entrance, Bavanshi appeared, leaning on one bent leg with a mocking smile.
Harboring a grudge against Kay for treating her like a roadside pebble earlier, she had come to see what he was up to. Her face reeked of mischief and intent to ruin the cooking.
Kay, eyes never leaving the oven, flipped a frying pan and asked casually, "What is it? Hungry? Come for a taste?"
Bavanshi's eyebrows twitched at his nonchalant reply.
"Ha! Do you think I'd eat the garbage you make? What I want is… the warm, suffering blood of a conceited human like you!"
Pah!
No sooner had she finished speaking than Bavanshi lunged at Kay's back. Her sharp fangs flashed as she clamped onto the nape of his neck.
KAAANG!!
"…Yowch?!"
The sound that echoed through the kitchen wasn't flesh tearing, but a dull clang as if teeth had struck solid steel.
Bavanshi staggered backward, jaw aching. Kay's neck was untouched—not a single scratch or mark.
"What… are you?! Your skin at the nape is harder than rock?! What kind of freaky body is this?"
Bavanshi exclaimed in shock.
Kay's body, honed by Scáthach's hellish training, was the pinnacle of human muscle—a marvel that could easily repel the fangs of most beasts when caught off-guard.
"You want blood, you say? Should've said so earlier. Don't go biting people from behind and screwing up my cooking."
With a sigh, Kay drew the demon sword [Cúrdinn Alternative] from his waist.
"Hey, hey, that's a weapon! Are you planning to fight in here?!"
"Shut up. Get me a bowl."
Kay dragged the blade's edge lightly across his left palm. Only then did a gush of dark red blood appear.
He caught some of his blood in an empty bowl, then mixed it in an instant with fairy milk that Tamamo had heated, a touch of honey, and a coagulating agent.
"Just bleeding yourself for me is beneath a cook's dignity. If you're a real vampire, eat this."
Kay handed the blended red liquid to Tamamo, who instantly flash-cooled it.
In just a few minutes, the result wasn't British black pudding, but a glossy, crimson blood pudding—jiggly and smooth like jelly.
Kay scooped it onto a small plate and slid it in front of Bavanshi.
"Eat. And don't bother me again—get lost."
Bavanshi stared blankly at the red pudding.
"You really think a toy-looking thing like this will satisfy me? Don't underestimate a blood-drinking fairy…"
Grumbling, yet unable to resist the lure of the blood, she scooped up a spoonful and popped it into her mouth.
Slurrp.
"…?!"
Bavanshi's red eyes grew as wide as saucers.
The moment it hit her tongue, the texture was a sublime melt-in-your-mouth sensation.
All fishiness was perfectly banished, and the luxurious sweetness from the fairy milk was followed by the hero's blood's deep, iron-rich undertones, striking the back of her palate with tremendous force.
The taste was more exquisite and addictive than any human blood she had ever consumed in her life.
"…Well, I'll be damned. It's actually… pretty good."
Bavanshi tried to maintain her composure, but her spoon moved frantically, emptying the plate in seconds.
"More… more of it! Is this all you made?! Squeeze more of your blood out right now!"
She slammed the empty plate down and demanded.
Kay flipped the meat in the frying pan and replied coldly, "I told you I'm busy. I have to feed the other fairies too. If you want more blood, come back when I'm free. Now get out."
"What?! You're going to give food to those puny fairies over me?!"
Insulted, Bavanshi's eyes flashed red with murderous rage. Frustrated at her unmet thirst, she gathered her magic, stamping her foot as if ready to smash all the kitchen ingredients.
"Fine, if you won't, I'll just destroy this kitchen and tear you apart—alive—!!"
Pop!
Just as she prepared to rampage, Kay's figure blurred and vanished from her sight.
"Uh…?"
In the next instant, Bavanshi felt her body flip through the air like a feather.
Kay had grabbed her collar with one hand and hurled her skyward. At the moment she was upside down, Bavanshi's red eyes locked with Kay's indifferent gaze.
He formed a perfect V with his thumb and forefinger and closed his fist.
Wham!!
His V-shaped fingers struck Bavanshi's slender throat in midair with brutal precision and weight.
"Ugh… gah…!!"
With a horrifying impact that choked off her breath, Bavanshi was flung like a cannonball, bursting through the thick oak kitchen door and crashing into the corridor beyond.
"Gurk! Guh… ugh…!"
She rolled across the hallway floor before coming to a stop, coughing up blood. Trembling, she clutched her neck and stared in horror through the shattered doorway at Kay.
'W-What… How can a human be this strong?! I thought he was just Britomart's level… This is a whole different dimension!'
As Bavanshi coughed and staggered away, Kay shook a spatula at her in warning.
"I said I'd do it next time. I don't spare anyone—man or woman—who flips the table. Now scram."
Realizing the stark difference in power, Bavanshi bit her lip and fled in disgrace.
Some time later, in the grand banquet hall.
The heavy doors opened, and Kay, Tamamo, and Britomart entered, pushing an endless line of food carts.
The dishes set on the tables looked nothing like the rainbow-colored, jewel-like creations the fairies used to make.
There were stoutly sliced steaks with clear grill marks, a bubbling brown meat stew, seafood golden-browned in butter, and the savory aroma of spicy seasonings.
"…This is cooking? The colors are so dull."
"Not beautiful at all. It looks like dirt or tree bark."
The fairy nobles murmured among themselves, disappointed by the plain, rustic hues they had never seen before.
But then—
"Allow me to taste first."
Queen Gloriana rose from her seat, lifted her fork, and put a perfectly cooked slice of venison steak into her mouth.
Silence fell over the banquet hall. The fairies held their breath, watching the queen's reaction.
Chomp.
The moment she bit into the meat.
"…Ah."
Through parted lips, an involuntary gasp escaped, as if the thread of her reason had snapped.
The world before her eyes transformed.
BOOOOM!!
In Queen Gloriana's mind, a colossal explosion of flavor went off.
Hot juices, locked in by perfect fire control, burst across her tongue like a waterfall.
Perfectly balanced salt and pepper battered her dormant taste receptors, and the rich flavor of butter and garlic pierced her nostrils and seeped into her brain.
An illusion unfolded before her eyes.
The great fairy queen herself, riding the back of a wild stag across a rugged field, soaring into endless skies—
Within the overwhelming storm of umami, her noble queenly robes fluttered away, leaving her naked to drift through the cosmos in pure gustatory ecstasy.
"Haaaaah…♡♡"
Queen Gloriana blushed deeply and collapsed onto her throne. Beads of sweat on her brow, her eyes glazed, her expression one of dizzying rapture.
Her gown physically tore apart, revealing her undergarments.
"Your… Majesty?! Are you all right?!"
Britomart rushed over in panic, but the queen, panting heavily, stretched out a trembling hand toward Kay.
"T-This… What kind of magic is this, Lord Kay? An army of ruthless and perfect flavors has invaded my tongue! Ah, my tongue, my body—they've been utterly conquered by your cooking!!"
The queen's shocking and intense praise.
The fairy nobles, seeing her, raised their forks doubtfully and started eating in rapid succession.
"Oh… the meat is melting!!"
"It's salty—yet unbelievably delicious! Is this what they call umami?!"
"Wooooah! I can't stop! More! Bring more bread!!"
For the fairies who had lived on pure sweetness, Kay's feast—with its masterful harmony of salt, sour, spice, and umami—was nothing less than a mind-altering drug.
The once elegant banquet hall transformed into a wild mukbang scene, with fairies devouring the food voraciously.
Even Britomart was shedding tears of emotion as she ladled stew onto her plate.
"Sniff! Lord Kay… This is on a different level from anything I've eaten before… It's incredible!"
Watching the food disappear at an alarming rate, Kay folded his arms proudly and wiped the sweat from his brow.
Thud. Thud. Thud.
From one corner of the now-chaotic hall, heavy, oppressive footsteps approached Kay.
A towering figure at least 190 cm tall. Under the hair flashed the predatory gleam of a boar-like beast-woman knight.
She was the queen of the fang clan and the Black Dog herself—[Bagest].
"Mmm… So he's the one who made this."
Bagest chewed and swallowed Kay's steak, then let her eyes wander over his firm physique and broad shoulders with sticky, greedy hunger.
A predator's instinct drew her to a strong fighter with such physical allure.
"Strong, a good cook, and most of all, you smell amazing."
She licked her lips and stepped toward Kay from behind.
"As I thought… I'll enjoy you even more than I thought."
Basking in the Fairy Kingdom's praise, the chef—Kay—smiled. But the sweet aroma of his meat had awakened a new predator's appetite: her desire to devour him whole.