"Woah woah woah, it's Keogh! You came to me today instead of running away. Am I right in assuming that you are prepared?

Hey, come on over any time.

And the day of the decisive battle. The final battle of this long but short demon king cooking battle, the general's battle, was coming up.

Now the fifth and final round of the battle, the general's battle, will begin. I expect both sides to cook better. Then--start!

Hel and I start to move at the same time as the gourmet master declares.
Helu lays out countless monsters on the table and throws them into the pot.
I see...so this is a game of pots and pans. This is going to be a fun game.
I also put the demons I've raised on the table, but the judges are slightly surprised when they see it.

It's a good idea to have a similar demon as Helu: ...... No, wait!　What the hell was that all about?

The judges scream in confusion when they see the sea and mountain demons I've spread out on the table.
That's probably right. Because all the demons we've prepared here--

"Those are all unmarketable, substandard monsters!　Aren't they all misshapen and wounded demons?

Yes, I prepared the Devil Carrot, eggplant, killer plant fruit, and colored fish, but all of them are misshapen and some of them are damaged on the outside.
The Devil Carrot was a three-legged misshapen one, the eggplant was overweight and torn, and the color fish was damaged here and there.
Helu, who was watching from the other side of the room, lets out a giggle.

"Huh, what the hell do you think you're doing?　It hurts me that you would try to beat my cooking with such a badly made demon.

"Well. It's not what it looks like. You'll find out soon enough. By the time you stop talking in the kitchen.

I'm not sure if she was annoyed by my response or not, but she blushed and hurriedly countered.

Bu, rude!　This is the venerable dialect of our dark demon tribe!　Don't lump them together with such a rude word as "chiji"!

Do you know what the word "kitchen" means? Hmmm, the common sense of this world is becoming more and more mysterious.
Anyway, I also finished processing the ingredients and put something on the table to join the main course.
It's the same one Helu put down earlier.

This is interesting. Is this a one-pot meal for both of us?

Yes, I had also chosen the same Japanese cuisine as Helu, namely nabe.
It was interesting to see which one of us could make the best nabe dishes, but it was also interesting to me, and I didn't even know it, as my fighting spirit was fired up.

Eventually, both sides were ready to finish their nabe dishes, and at about the same time, they made their declarations.

"This is Keogh, the special seafood rice dish is ready!

"Dark Master" Helu, also known as "Dark Master" Helu, made a tofu dish.

Although the ingredients in both cases were slightly different, the underlying dish was the same, Mizutaki, and the two pots were placed simultaneously in the jury box.

I see. I see. Both of them came up with boiled rice dishes. Very well, let's move on to Helu's tasting first.

With that, the other members, including the judges, grabbed the pot and brought the ingredients to their mouths.
In the next moment, the judges' mouths were filled with the autumn scenery of wild plants. A melody of flavors, which can be called the art of the ingredients, was played.

This is great!　Each one of them intertwines beautifully with the flavor of the dashi while retaining the flavors of the ingredients!

This ponzu is also wonderful. It tastes different from soy sauce. A slight sourness spreads in the mouth, but it enhances the flavor of the meat and wild vegetables. Best of all, when mixed with the broth in this pot, it's a broth of its own!　Drinking it down with the food will give it an irresistible depth of flavor!

It's certainly ...... delicious. The ingredients themselves aren't supposed to be so contrived, but just boiling them down in a pot of water will give them such a rich flavor ......?

Hel's boiled water was so excellent that all the judges were raving about it, but Fitis was right: there is no way that this much flavor can ooze out of mere boiled water, but the gourmet master, who noticed the trick, pointed it out with a smile on his face.

I see, so the secret lies in the water in this pot.

That's right.

That said, Helu was holding a piece of tofu in her right hand.
No, that's not just any tofu!　That's the secret tofu my mom used to beat my dad in the first game!

"So, you're a peanut butter tofu.

Yes, the trick was in the tofu dissolved in water.

There is a thing called a tofu casserole. There is a thing called "Tofu Nabe. As the name suggests, the tofu is dissolved in a pot and eaten. The water itself has its own special name, the Tofu Water. The tofu dissolves well and mixes with the water to create a flavorful, rich water.
In fact, after the tofu is dissolved, the tofu is still delicious in the water.
Helu has done just that.
Use the tofu water beforehand and add the peanut tofu to the water until it is completely dissolved.
Then, by adding the ingredients, the water was absorbed into the ingredients, making the flavor many times richer.

The star of the pot is the ingredients. Water is a decoration, no one sees or tastes it. But it's brilliant how you enhance the flavor of the whole pot by allowing it to take on its own flavor. "It's Helu, the dark princess."



Not only the ingredients, but also the water is made to taste good.
The water in this dish was so rich and delicious that I wanted to drink it all with the ingredients in ponzu.

Now let's move on to Kyou's side of the pot.

The gourmet master said, and everyone, including the judges, put their mouths into the pot I had made.

"Hmmm, this is...

"It's surprising. Those ugly demons all have a nice touch to them.

I was secretly happy to hear the judges' impressions, and I was glad to have passed the first stage of the competition.
There were several tricks in my pot this time, and whether the judges noticed them or not would make a big difference in the judging.
But I'm sure the gourmet master, who noticed my tricks at the big cooking competition, will notice what I've done with this dish.

"Hmm. Unlike Hel's, this one has more of a seafood flavor, which is very tasty.

But it's a little bland. It's not as good as Helu's cooking," he said.

That was the honest opinion of everyone, including the judges.
Since they were the same hot pot, I have to say that they were less impressed with me since they ate Helu's elaborate Mizutaki earlier.

"Hmm. The fact that the flavor of the ingredients itself is worthy of recognition, but if that's all there is to it, Helu's is still better than me with the addition of the water in the pot: ......

Eventually, when the judges had finished eating all the ingredients in my pot, the moment they were about to move on to the judging, I said, "Wait.

"Wait. I haven't finished cooking yet.

When I approached the judges' table after finishing eating, I took the empty pot from them.

What?　But what more would you prepare a dish for ......?

"There's no need to prepare . This is the finishing touch to this dish.

With that said, I took out the hot rice I had prepared and dumped it into the pot without hesitation!

Now, it's done. I call it rice gruel with water.

The rice is thrown into the pot for everyone here, including the judges, and lightly mixed into the ojiya.
The seemingly violent finish to the dish was immediately overturned when the judges, including the gourmet master, took a sip of it and shouted in admiration.

!　Hey, that's it!

The seafood-flavored broth goes really well with rice!

What was just a normal soup for a one-pot meal becomes much richer when it is mixed with rice!

It was like a chrysalis hatching into a butterfly, or a dorky girl from the countryside making her debut in a dress, taking off her glasses and making a spectacular change to the pot.

"I see, for this 'clincher' we have made a simple dashi, squeezed out of the flavor of the ingredients so that we can keep the juice.

That's what I mean.

The gourmet master noticed my gimmick and smiled with amusement as he did some time ago. In his eyes, I can see another part of my spirit, and I'm sure that I've passed the second and final checkpoint with my uncle's closure.



I will now announce the results.

After a brief discussion, the judges, led by the gourmet master, were about to give their final verdict.

First, let me give you my assessment of the dishes of both sides. "Dark Princess" Helu. The cooking method of bringing out the flavor of the ingredients by using a special kind of soup called "Tofu Juice" in the nabe soup was really excellent. In terms of flavor, the Lord wins!

Heru is proud of his reputation as a gourmet master and rightfully so.

And "Grower" Keogh. A simple nabe with a focus on the flavor of the ingredients. At first glance, it seems to be an ordinary nabe, but the last one, the ojiya, is another dish that is full of simple flavor. The fact that we pursued only the flavor of the ingredients is really worthy of recognition.

Me and Helu. After the evaluation of both sides, the Gourmet Master has finally decided the winner of this match, the Valkyria side and the Demon King side. The winner will be decided.

The winner will be...

The lips of the gourmet master opened and his name was announced -.