"Hmm, at first glance, it looks like just an omelette, but let's try it for now.

With that, the judges put their knives in front of the omelet that Fitis had prepared, one after the other, and brought it to their mouths.
And the next moment, an exclamation of deliciousness overflows from their lips.

Is this ...... a pumpkin sauce on top of this omelet?

That's right. It's a jack-o'-lantern cream sauce that grows in Mr. Keogh's garden.

Yes, Phytis chose to use a jack-o'-lantern that grew in my garden as a sauce for his omelet.
There were many choices for sauces, including a killer plant tomato sauce, but there were of course good reasons why Fitis chose to use pumpkin sauce.

Sometimes the sauce is too strong and kills the taste of the omelet, but it's just a gentle taste to accentuate the guest of honor, the omelet, and above all, the pumpkin sauce matches the buttered rice in the omelet nicely.

Yes, the guest of honor in this dish is only an egg omelet.
For that reason, Fitis had brought out the true flavor of the omelet with the gentle flavor of pumpkin sauce.
And that wasn't her only hidden card.

The judges, including the lord, had already noticed this and were devouring Fitis's omelet, and when they had finished their fill, they opened their mouths.

Now it's time to move on to the judging. The three of us will each vote for the best egg dish. Are you ready?

He checked with the other judges and the cooks, Fitis and Kasarina, and as soon as they all nodded their heads, each one indicated a name on a piece of paper.

And when they opened the paper, the names on it were all the same person's names.
That is--PHITIS.

Lily, Mina, Dora-chan, Jack and the rest of us were excited to see the results.
On the other hand, Kasarina, who had been completely defeated, was accepting the result in a nonchalant manner.

"Well, I didn't expect to lose unanimously," she said.

But he didn't seem convinced by her attitude, and turned to Phytis, pointing to her food and asking, "What is the dish that I broke?

The dish that defeated me. May I taste it?　It's Phytis.

No problem. Please taste. Master.

With that said, as if she had expected this to happen, Fittis held out an omelette she was making for Kasarina.
Kasarina takes a bite of it with her form and brings it to her mouth.
At that moment, the change in her face was astonishing.

"No way, this isn't ......

What trickery was there. Kasarina must have imagined that this was the reason for the victory. But it wasn't.

The egg--what a good one!

There was a simple egg flavor.
It was probably the best egg she had ever known, and it tasted more like an ingredient itself, surpassing the eggs of colored fish, let alone basilisk eggs.

It was the frying pan for omelet rice that Amanes had made for me that helped me bring out the flavor of the eggs.
It was rounder than an ordinary frying pan, making it easier to cook the batter, which made it easier to cook the rice omelet without sacrificing the taste of the egg itself.

But of course, that alone could not reproduce such a taste.

"Phytis, the egg. What in the world did you use?　A demon that lays these delicious eggs must be of a very high rank.

In this case, the demon egg I used is this.

The egg that is at the core of this omelette's deliciousness. What was placed in front of Ms. Kasarina was a plain egg that belied her expectation of what it looked like.

A cockatrice egg?

Seeing this, a puzzled look appears on your face.
It's probably just as well. The cockatrice is a D-ranked mediocre monster. The eggs are so-called ordinary and should never be this good. That's what they think.

''Master's question is understandable. To answer that, it will be faster to show you in person. Please follow me.

With that said, Fitis and Kasarina lead us to the place where the cockatrice is raised.
It's not a new shed that I built for raising cockatrices, but a garden where I let them run free.

Hmm, this is ......

It's a method of rearing that gave the chickens freedom in a large yard outside, called "grazing.

And I explained to the scene that unfolded in front of me.

This was the result of natural rearing of the cockatrices outside in the garden, which was not intended from the start, since they could not enter the hut.
But thanks to Phytis, I also realized the real effect of this breeding method.

Creatures are often stressed by keeping them in buildings. Especially when it comes to these egg-producing creatures, keeping them crowded together in a small building can be very stressful. Of course, the management and production of eggs is definitely better in a building, but the quality of each egg is degraded to be worth it.
But cockatrices that grow up without stress by being allowed to spend time outside in the garden are much healthier than usual, and the eggs they produce are also of incomparably better quality.

I've been so focused on production volume that I've neglected these basics.
It was all thanks to Fitis that I realized this.
Kasarina looked convinced by my explanation, but she still had a question that she couldn't quite understand.

I can certainly understand that. The quality of these outdoor animals is probably better than the ones kept inside the confines of a small room. But then, so are many wild beasts, right?　The basilisks I captured are of course wild monsters, and the eggs they laid are in the same condition as the cockatrices here. So why did they taste so different?

The reason is simple. Many wild demons are always under stress.

"What?

"Think about it, Mr. Kasarina. As you said, many of the wild demons are constantly being hunted by you brave men.



Kasarina realized at those words, "Ha!

"So many demons live side by side with danger all the time. They are the brave men who hunt them, and the same demons, so many and varied. There are many times when you can't sleep soundly because you are always on the lookout to protect yourself and your eggs.

Yes, wild demons are not supposed to be at ease.
Just like wild beasts, they are always on the lookout for something.
That is to say, they put themselves under a lot of stress.

In addition, the ranks that are currently set as the value of a demon's deliciousness. Perhaps many of them are lower than their current level of deliciousness.

"What?　What does that mean?

Kasarina asks me to bite into my words.
To that, I answer as if I were tracing my previous explanation.

That is, the answer and the reason are directly related. It's a good thing that many of the demons nowadays have their flavor reduced by half due to the stress of being targeted by brave men and women.

Kasarina is astonished by my answer.
But she also has some idea of what it is, and nods her head quietly.

So, what is the true meaning of the grazing that these cockatrices are doing?

Yes. By giving them the confidence that they are absolutely safe here, we are eliminating the stress of the close proximity to death that many demons suffer, and bringing out the true taste and flavor of the demon.

And the result is this free-range cockatrice.
Perhaps this is the true taste and value of the cockatrice.
The value of their current cuisine is comparable to a B grade.

By the same logic, the jack-o'-lanterns you grow are also far more valuable than the wild ones. I'm the first one to come out of my brother's field.

Jack also pointed to the way he had evolved in such a short period of time, as proof of this.
Seeing this, Kasarina also learned the secret of the deliciousness of the pumpkin sauce made by Jacques O Lantern, and showed her admiration for the technique of evolving the taste of the ingredients themselves.

I see. So, on the one hand, the basilisk egg I prepared was an unwitting deviation from its original value.

Understanding and convinced of everything, Kasarina quietly turns to her apprentice, Phytis.

"You have done so much research on demon biology, Phytis.

...... This is all thanks to Keogh-sama. It's only because Kyou-sama dared to raise two different cockatrices in different environments that I realized this.

No, I didn't mean to do that, but let's not go into it.
Kasarina smiled at Fitis's words and, as she had done the last time she held out her hand to me, she held it out to Fitis in front of her.

That's nice. Phytis. I think you're more than capable of handling a bigger job than I am. Go forth and represent me in presenting your cooking to the demon king.

Receiving the master's words, Phytis also squeezed his offered hand back.