After spending some time in their room, Lilia and her friends were in the ryokan’s dining room. In this ryokan, thanks to Makina’s power, authentic dishes could appear simply by Lilia operating the display but……
[……Even if I saw these dishes’ names, I wouldn’t know what they are.]
[You’re right. I don’t think anything weird would be served to us, but since we’re at it, let’s just make it ourselves.]
[Right. With me and Sieg around, it won’t be a problem. Lili, please just watch over there.]
[……Eh?]Yes, because almost all the dishes had Japanese names, LIlia and the others couldn’t tell what dishes they were, so they decided not to have their food prepared using the display and the three decided they would do the cooking.
Sieglinde is skilled at cooking, and there’s also Lunamaria who, being a maid, is also proficient in cooking. Moreover, Makina has provided explanations on how to use the kitchen utensils, and with ingredients inside their magic box, there are no problems.
[U- Umm, I’m going to help too, okay? L- Look, I rarely had the opportunity to cook during our time in the Knight Order……]
[Of course, Lili was a Division Commander, and even if you remove that title, you were a princess.]
[I mean, you don’t have any experience of cooking other than when we were knights, right? I heard that when you went on a trip with Miyama-sama, you presented a rather ghastly spectacle?]
[Ugh…… B- But umm, being the only one left in a situation like this is……]
The fact is that Lilia has no experience in cooking. While she did gain some experience when she traveled in the Demon Realm with Kaito, it wasn’t enough for her to be called proficient…… She even went as far as chopping the cutting board while chopping ingredients.That said, she feels awkward just watching and waiting for her two best friends to cook, so she looks at them with expectant eyes, wondering if she can at least help them in some way.
Thereupon, Sieglinde and Lunamaria exchanged looks with each other, and after a moment, they wryly smiled.
[……Luna, wouldn’t things be alright if we guided her? Especially with strength moderation and such……]
[I suppose so. It would take a lot of work to teach her completely from scratch, but if it’s at least something simple……]
[Luna…… Sieg……]
Seeing the two who agreed to let Lilia participate in the cooking, Lilia seemed to be overwhelmed with emotion. Just like that, the three of them split up and prepared the ingredients and cooking utensils, teaching Lilia how to cook……
[……T- This is rough.]
[This is even worse than I thought. No, I did expect things to turn out this way, considering I’m teaching someone who’s cooking for almost the first time in her life but……]
Lilia is a former princess and the Head of a Duchy…… even after her independence, she really has no experience in cooking. That being the case, even if Lunamaria and Sieglinde provide her guidance, it’s unlikely that Lilia will become proficient in cooking immediately.
As Lunamaria contemplates this, Sieglinde suddenly looks as if she has come up with something and speaks.
[……Lili, this is just a suggestion…… but here on out……]
A few minutes after Sieglinde’s suggestion, Lilia uses a knife on the chopping board as if she were a skilled craftsman, cutting the ingredients cleanly. She then proceeds to the frying pan in a fluid motion, lightly flambéing the food as she cooks it……
[……Completed! Whitefish meuniere and sautéed seasonal vegetables…… Fufu, I think I’m getting the hang of it a bit now.]
[……Lili.]
[What is it, Luna?]
[Can I punch you once?]
[What’s with that!? Eh? Did I make a mistake somewhere?]
[It’s the other way around. It’s so perfect it kinda pisses me off…… How long did it take me to get to that level of knife handling and cooking, and then this genius just got the hang of it……]
Yes, Lilia’s knife skills and cooking movements are so impressive that even Lunamaria, who is highly skilled, can only express admiration. Seeing Lilia being able to achieve that within just an hour of starting to cook, she couldn’t help having an unsettling feeling.
[N- No, I was only “mimicking Sieg and Luna’s movements”, so I think the amazing one isn’t me, but you two…….]
[You’re the only one capable of perfectly mimicking our movements after seeing them once…… You really are a genius on an unreasonable level.]
[Hmmm. I’m the one who suggested this, but I didn’t think it would go this well…… Lili is dexterous, so once you understand how much force you use, you can easily apply that to other things, and if you just repeat this a few times, I think you’ll be able to cook normally.]
Yes, Sieglinde’s suggestion was to show Lilia how she and Lunamaria cook, and to have her copy their movements exactly.
Normally, this wouldn’t have been possible, but Lilia is an extraordinary genius, so unless an act exceeds the limits of her own physical capabilities or special abilities are required, it’s easy for her to perfectly imitate the movements she has once seen.
And once she gets the hang of her power, her rate of improvement is extraordinary. By the time all the preparations for today’s cooking are finished, she has reached a level of expertise comparable to a skilled chef when it comes to simple dishes.
<Afterword>
Serious-senpai : [W- Well, indeed, with Lilia’s talent, tracing others’ movements is something she can easily do…… I feel like it was also the same way for Eulpecula…… Talent cheats are what they are.]
