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Chapter 30
“Ugh!”
“Ah, did it hurt? Sorry. I was just in a good mood! You’re quite an ambitious little one, huh?”
Wick burst out laughing.
“Do you understand how I feel, sir?”
“Understand? Of course! I lived like that when I was young too!”
“Then, could you at least let me hit the back of the head of the perfectly fine chef once?”
After hearing Heli’s location from Wick, I waited for an opportunity, then struck the back of Wick’s head hard and ran away.
Then, I called the guards and rescued Heli, who was captured by Kuize.
That was my escape plan, one I thought was at least somewhat feasible.
And as always, I said:
“Hng.”
“Sir?”
“Well, it won’t work.”
Reality rarely goes according to plan.
“Why not?”
“Because you’re going to die here.”
Wick said this playfully while stroking his chin, but his eyes didn’t smile at all.
It was clear he really intended to kill me.
“Is there any option where I don’t die here?”
“Heh heh. Nope.”
“What if I give you this ring?”
I raised my right index finger to show it.
It’s a shame the ring was not on my middle finger.
The king’s ring, just by its craftsmanship and the jewel set in it, was quite valuable.
Wick, who liked money, noticed that too, staring greedily at my finger.
I read somewhere that to turn a person who only cares about money onto your side, you just need to offer more money.
“If you die, it’ll be mine anyway. So why would I?”
“Wow. That’s so despicable.”
“What did you say?”
“I just found my future dream. No matter how old I get, I won’t become an adult like you. A worthless human, trash.”
“This brat has lost all fear…!”
Swish—
I secretly grabbed some dirt and sand from the ground with my left hand and threw it into Wick’s eyes.
While Wick lowered his head from the stinging sensation, I grabbed a sturdy piece of firewood I had spotted earlier and slammed it into the back of his head.
“Ugh!! What the—!”
Ignoring Wick’s agonized scream, I rushed out of the building and ran straight ahead.
“Ah! Somebody save me—!!”
“Ugh…”
Heli opened his eyes amid a headache.
When he came to, his body was tied to a chair, and a familiar face he hadn’t seen in a while sat in the chair opposite him, looking at him.
“Kuize?”
Kuize, who had studied under the same master, was a fellow student of Heli’s.
He was ambitious but lacked skill.
In the end, he resorted to cowardly tricks, stole a client, and got scandalized.
“Why are you here…? More importantly, what day is it now? What time? Do you know how the competition, the Antoine Dessert Competition, went?”
Heli wondered why Kuize was there.
Just then, a memory from just before he lost consciousness flashed in his mind.
He was practicing the dessert he was supposed to present in the finals.
And then… nothing else.
“Surely the competition isn’t over?”
It must not be.
It was an important occasion to present the revolutionary dessert developed by the Saintess to the world.
“It’s desperate, Heli. The finals haven’t started yet.”
The finals hadn’t started yet. Heli breathed a sigh of relief.
“But you don’t have to worry. The victory will be mine.”
“You? Winning? You don’t have the skills.”
Kuize smirked.
“Do you know who the most successful chef in the empire is right now? It’s me. So the victory should have been mine, but then suddenly Heli Montblanc joins the competition?”
“…”
“If you come back to the empire after entering the palace, it’d be very inconvenient for me, wouldn’t it? A legendary chef should remain a legend.”
“You’re still talking to yourself.”
“Heh heh. Heli, you seem confident. You do have a trump card, don’t you? I even brought your assistant. There’s no one who can replace you in the finals.”
“Assistant…?”
“That pretty foreign girl. Her hair was brown, right?”
“…Ku-Kuize.”
Heli’s widened pupils shook noticeably.
Kuize looked quite satisfied with that.
“Nervous now?”
“I-I heard… you kidnapped her…?”
“Exactly. I told my partner to kill your assistant. She was asleep when I left, so maybe she’s dead already. Don’t worry too much. You’ll die soon too. After I show you my victory.”
“O…ooh… Kuize, what the hell have you done…”
Heli’s body trembled like a trembling leaf.
He ended up sobbing, crying out Kuize’s name in anguish.
Watching him, Kuize felt an indescribable pleasure spreading from his dantian through his entire body.
He had lived half his life in a defeatist mindset.
Because of this genius, Heli Montblanc.
But look now. Who is the winner? Who holds the life line?
Kuize was intoxicated with the feeling of victory.
“I will inherit your achievements, so don’t worry about that either. Do you know people these days call you the ‘Chef of God’? Because you serve the Saintess. It’s ridiculous. If the Saintess tasted my cooking, she would surely acknowledge me over you.”
“The Saintess…!”
Heli lunged at Kuize.
But since his legs were tied to the chair, Heli couldn’t move forward.
He looked Kuize’s arrogant face straight in the eyes with bloodshot veins.
The end of Heli’s voice trembled with rage.
“Kuize… you will regret today with tears of blood.”
“Ah, seriously! Sir, we were getting along just fine until now!”
I shouted backward as I ran through the forest.
That bastard Wick was coming to his senses quickly.
“Huff, huff. What kind of little kid is this quick?”
“If you don’t have stamina, just give up!”
“I can’t!”
“Your persistence is insane. If you used that persistence for something other than killing people, you’d definitely succeed!”
“Shut up!”
This isn’t a thriller movie chase scene in the mountains.
Ahhh! Your Majesty, a man with a sword is chasing me—!
The place I was held captive was a small cabin deep in the remote mountains.
It’s no surprise coming from the despicable Wick.
He even picked a place where there were no signs of people around.
But thankfully, my body felt loosened up today.
I may not have holy power, but there are four things I’m confident about more than others:
Stamina, eyesight, hearing, and my devotion to His Majesty.
When playing hide and seek with the kids, I used all my senses and had headaches, but now all I need to do is run.
My legs feel like they’re going to fly off. I feel like I’m going to die soon—!
“Ah, ah.”
Huff. Almost fell.
There was a cliff hidden behind thick bushes.
I hurriedly stepped back and grabbed a tree to stop my momentum.
My reflexes were perfect.
“Where will you run now? No more places left.”
Before I could even change direction, Wick appeared leisurely.
So annoying.
I stepped back a few steps to avoid the cliff and faced Wick approaching me.
“Sir. I have one warning.”
“Warning? Go ahead.”
Wick chuckled as if it was ridiculous.
“If you kill me, there’s someone who’ll really be angry, okay? That person is as perfect in skill as in appearance, and people like you won’t stand a chance.”
“So?”
“Just think carefully. You don’t care about other lives, but you care about your own, don’t you…!”
Do you think His Majesty would let a person who killed his subordinate go free?!
Even if I’m the Apricot Saintess now, how usefully His Majesty is putting me to work!
“I have to be used by that person whenever they want!”
“You… how dare you say that so confidently…”
Poor kid, huh?
Wick spoke pitifully as he drew his sword.
The sharp blue blade reflected light with a sinister gleam.
If you’re pitiful, I should spare you—why try to kill me!
‘I wanted to die looking at His Majesty’s face—!’
That way, I’d have regrets and could run to see His Majesty’s face even as a spirit.
Honestly, I didn’t want to die.
I’d understand if I could see His Majesty living happily, but this is too soon.
But Wick showed no mercy.
“Regrettably, goodbye, little one.”
I couldn’t face my end with my eyes open, so I buried my head in my arms.
Thud.
“…?”
Strange.
Normally, when you get cut by a sword, there’s a slicing sound or something.
What’s this dull thudding sound?
And,
‘It doesn’t hurt…?’
I slowly lifted my head.
Wick looked at me with a puzzled face, his sword stopped mid-air.
“Are you… a holy power user?”
Holy power?
“I don’t have something like that…”
“But to me, Wick, holy power doesn’t matter.”
Before I finished speaking, Wick swung his sword again.
If this were a sport, Wick would have been permanently banned.
Swish. Thud.
Swish. Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud.
Wick’s sword kept striking the air.
Is this what it would be like to experience a first-person training dummy’s point of view?
“…Sir, what are you doing?”
“What… What am I doing? Huff… huff… Trying to kill you…”
Exhausted, Wick panted heavily.
“Come out of the barrier and fight. Fair and square!”
“Wow. No conscience at all.”
But I could somewhat understand why Wick was so feisty.
The translucent hemispherical barrier surrounding me blocked all of Wick’s attacks.
And the cause was probably—
‘I thought it was just diamond, but it was holy stone?!’
The ring I had to return to His Majesty.
The white holy power flowing from the ring created this barrier.
