Purpose to Cooking

It seems the sadistic teacher can control herself. I haven't been attacked yet so I'd say I'm safe… for now.

There wasn't any introduction thing so that was a relief. We were given a quick tour around the academy. There was a huge courtyard where some classes will be held, a large library, a cafeteria, etcetera.

After the tour, everyone was given a schedule. There are five school days in a week, Monday to Friday. Each day there are five sessions, all of them being an hour and a half. Since today was our first day, all we had to do was just meet our teachers.

The first session was a theoretical class. Geography, history, all that boring stuff. The second session was mana accumulation. I heard that is where we practice using our Spiritos. After that is a break. Yes, an hour and a half long break. It's basically study hall and lunch. Then we have magic practice. I don't need to explain that. And lastly, combat class. No need to explain that, it's in the name.

For today our sessions are cut off so our first session is short and our second, fourth, and fifth periods are mashed together and also short. The first day of school was going to end early since there aren't supposed to be any lessons on the first day of school. If I ever heard that there was homework on the first day of school, I would just leave and pretend school never existed.

Tomorrow morning is when classes officially start.

After our first session ended, we headed towards the courtyard to meet our teachers for our second, fourth, and fifth classes. There were two women and a man in the middle of the courtyard.

"My name is Garamus Dest, and I will be your mana accumulation teacher."

"I am Oki Thuter, and I will be your magic practice teacher."

"And I am Liri Xylos. I will be your combat teacher."

I could've guessed who the two women were but not the guy. Liri was dressed in silver armor like a knight so I'd guess she was going to be related to combat. Oki was dressed in a set of clothes almost relatable to a wizard so no need to struggle with that. It was Garamus that confused me a bit as he didn't look like the type to do mana accumulation. He looks like one of those NBA players with that height of his.

After the introductions, school ended early and we could go home early. It was only the afternoon, so I still have time till I have to go back.

Maybe I should just eat my lunch while I'm at it. I did pack myself some lunch. Sushi and some rice rolls will do alright.

It seems I wasn't the only one that had plans to eat lunch. Walking through the garden, there were people sitting around, hanging out, eating their lunches. I eventually found a spot under a tree and decided to eat there.

I checked if there were any people around before I sat. Then I took my lunch out and began to eat.

Sushi is always better with a hint of wasabi, though I suggest not using so much or you'll start suffocating.

"Greetings again."

A familiar voice spoke and I lifted my head. Aurelia stood in front of me with a friendly smile while holding a small box in her hand.

"Mind if I sit next to you?"

"I don't mind, it's not like I own this tree anyway."

Aurelia chuckled in amusement and sat a few inches next to me. She opened up her box and inside was salad.

As people passed by, I felt the feeling that I was being stared at. Their gazes seemed interested and a bit jealous.

Suddenly Aurelia spoke.

"Mind if I try one of those?"

"Hmm?"

Aurelia was pointing at one of my sushi rolls. Her gaze seemed to be curious. She probably hasn't seen one before.

"I don't mind, go ahead."

She took one of my sushi rolls and tossed it into her mouth. She chewed it for a moment and then she gulped it down.

"It tastes… amazing."

"I see…"

The same compliment, as I expected.

"But…"

But?

"It also tastes bland… and empty. It's delicious but… empty."

"What do you mean by empty?"

"You cook without reason. Yes, you may make your food very delicious and I'm sure everyone has said that as well but I could tell you didn't add any emotion to your cooking."

"And how do you know that?"

"It's just a feeling, I can tell."

This is unusual. No one has ever said that about my cooking. Empty? I've never heard of such things.

"Then how should I fix it?"

"Y-you're asking me?"

"You are the first one to say that about my cooking, so yes you."

"W-well… maybe when you are cooking, you should think about who you really want to cook for or maybe have a purpose to your cooking. Place all your feelings into it."

Place all my feelings…

How the hell am I gonna do that?

***

After school ended, I decided to head back to the inn early. After all, I don't have anything else to do.

Walking back towards the inn, the word "empty" echoed through my head. My cooking is empty… never heard anyone say that before. Not even my teacher.

Recalling what Aurelia said, I need to put more feelings into my cooking. But how?

I would later arrive back at the inn. I took a quick shower and wore my work uniform, which is my casual outfit.

Cooking with affection…

So all I need is to have a purpose for why I'm cooking?

Let's see what happens if I am actually determined to cook. I'll just cook up some quick ramen to see. What goal should I go for? Satisfy the customers? Yeah, let's go with that. I'm determined to make my customers satisfied when they eat my food.

Concentration… maximum.

After finishing the ramen, someone outside at the bar requested one ramen. Good timing, it's one of my regular customers who only eat ramen.

"Here you go."

The man thanked me and took a pair of chopsticks. A while back, I was surprised that chopsticks exist in this world. It seems it's more popular in one of the eastern countries and less common here in the west.

As the man slurped up the freshly cooked ramen, he suddenly gave off a different vibe.

"Whoa… this tastes... different! D-did you change the ingredients?"

"Huh? No, it's the same."

"Really? Because it tastes even more amazing than before!"

Suddenly he began eating like a madman. Whoa, I've never seen him eat like this before.

In just under a minute, he finished the ramen as if it was like taking candy from a baby.

"T-thanks for coming."

I went back into the kitchen and began to process what just happened back there. The last time when I gave that guy ramen, he ate it like any other person would, slow and steady. I didn't put any feeling into any of my cooking previously, but now that I had a goal, he just ate it like he was starving.

I stared at the kitchen knife in my hand.

Or maybe it was just me. My feelings couldn't possibly have made the food better, could it? Well there is only one way to find out.

A cooking battle between me and my doppelganger. After all, my doppelganger doesn't have any feelings, right?

Yeah, I have my doubts about that.

When I summoned my doppelganger, it didn't even look at me. It just left through the back door and played with a stray cat.

I wonder if my doppelganger actually has a mind of its own.

After I got my doppelganger in control, we began a quick battle. Just some quick sushi would be alright. Again, my goal was to satisfy my customer.

After we both finished the same kind of sushi, I waited till a customer came. Luckily, that customer ordered the sushi we were just making. I asked if she could act as a quick judge. I made up a story of my doppelganger thinking it could cook better than me and she accepted.

She first ate one of the doppelgangers roll. She took a while to chew it but eventually swallowed it. She said it tasted the same last time she ordered this.

Now it was my turn.

She grabbed it with her chopstick and placed it in her mouth.

Suddenly, the same feeling that I felt from that guy earlier was emitting from this girl.

"So… who's cooking is better?"

"I would say… your cooking is better. It is ten times better than before. Did you alter the ingredients?"

"No, it's made of the same thing."

So it is true… cooking with a goal is plenty times better than cooking it with empty feelings.

So clearly I won that battle. My doppelganger didn't look at me for half an hour after that. Now that makes me wonder if it really is just another human being.

After that, I gave the girl a free discount for judging.

As time passed on, more customers came in and after eating my food, they had the same reaction as the earlier customers.

Finally, the day ended and I can rest. It's not easy being a chef, especially by yourself. Sure, my doppelganger can do exactly what I can do, but today, there were a lot more customers than usual.

I looked at the wooden clock at it was 10 o'clock. I need to rest. I have to wake up at seven tomorrow. School starts at eight.

I collapsed onto my bed and then dozed off.

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