Coming of Age Day

A month had passed since winter vacation, and it was the first day of the second month of winter.

Sheila was standing in the kitchen, at a loss.

In front of her was a large pile of ingredients. Some of the ingredients were of such a high quality that they were rarely seen.

The reason for the quantity and variety of the harassingly full range of products was, of course, Jornwerner. But this wasn’t to say that he alone was responsible for this.

Sheila turned her gaze to the person standing beside her with her arms crossed.

“…. Why did you take Jornwerner-sensei’s side this time, Clauschezade-sensei?”

Clauschezade tilted his head as if to say, what an obvious question.

“Today is Coming of Age Day. Isn’t it only natural to celebrate a national holiday?”

“Ah… So, that’s why there are even turkeys.”

In the Kingdom of Steitz, it was customary to eat turkey on celebratory occasions.

Coming of Age Day wasn’t only the day to congratulate all those who had already reached the age of maturity, but also the day when the whole nation turned one year older. It was common for every family to celebrate with a whole roasted turkey.

But was it selfish of them to wish they had prepared a cooked turkey? Sheila took one look at Cody and Zechs, who were probably feeling the same despair as Sheila, and sagged.

Coming of Age Day was a public holiday. No matter what kind of work you did, today was the only day you were allowed to take a day off. In the royal castle, the work was suspended, and the nobles, civil servants, and even His Majesty the King were enjoying a brief respite.

In such a situation, it was only natural that one significant servant was also resting.

“What are you going to do with all this without Lulu…?”

Even though all the people remaining in the academy had gathered, there were about three nobles who had never held a kitchen knife. The commoner Zechs could barely help, and he didn’t even know how to cook.

Even Sheila couldn’t cook that much by herself.

‘I’m not sure if I’ll be able to make it work with this group of people…’

She didn’t know what to do.

As she sighed tiredly, Jornwerner smiled.

“Don’t even think about getting a servant to help you. It’s a cooking showdown.”

“Eh….?”

An unexpected word came out, and Sheila hurriedly raised her head.

That’s right, the day she invited Zechs to lecture for the first time, she felt like she heard those words from Jornwerner.

“That wasn’t a joke?”

“I’m so offended. Do you think I’d make such a silly joke?”

“I see you as a person who basically says nothing but nonsense and obscenities.”

Sheila nodded back at him flatly, and he shrugged his shoulders in amusement.

Next to Sheila and Jornwerner, who continued their silly exchanges, it was Clauschezade who spoke up in astonishment.

“Wasn’t the statement about wanting to cook yours….?”

Judging from his reaction, he was probably persuaded by Jornwerner to cooperate in the procurement of ingredients. “Since they’re all talking about cooking together, it’s our job to arrange the ingredients,” he said. The wrinkles between his eyebrows were deeper than usual, clearly showing his irritation with his rotten friend.

However, he also showed the slightest hint of regret and immediately apologized.

“I’m sorry. It was a blunder that I could be accused of having played a part in. It was foolish of me to trust this man’s story, even a little.”

The earnest man had probably been put in a tight spot many times before by Jornwerner’s tricks. His apology was so graceful and quick that I could picture the scene vividly.

“Clauschezade-sensei, at least you’ve been swept up in the new year in a good way.”

“It’s a nightmare to be tangled up with Jornwerner-sensei so early in the year, isn’t it?”

Sheila and Zechs, unable to find words of comfort, sympathized with each other.

Cody, on the other hand, was desperate to cheer up the knight he worshipped.

“I-It’s okay! I think a cooking showdown with everyone would be a wonderful idea! When you become a knight, you’ll have to go on expeditions and such, so of course it would be better if you could at least cook for yourself!”

But Clauschezade’s face only grew gloomier.

“I wasn’t the one who suggested the cooking showdown….”

“Yes, yes, I’ve done a great job. It’s going to be another fun year, isn’t it, Clauschezade?”

“It’s all in your head….”

Clauschezade’s eyes were dead as Jornwerner held him by the shoulders. Even so, being able to squeeze out the sarcasm was a result of their long-term relationship.

“Just because you’re one year older, it doesn’t make you an adult, does it? Even though you’re almost 30, we’re still friends like normal students, Clauschezade-sensei.”

“I’m only 25, and we’re not friends. Even though you’ve turned 16, you’re still as rude as ever.”

“By the way, Clauschezade-sensei, what did you do today?”

“Paperwork.”

“If you don’t take a good rest at least on holidays, your scalp will start to get affected soon.”

“I told you I’m only 25.”

When she met Clauschezade’s staring gaze, Sheila straightened her posture and bowed her head.

“Anyway, Happy New Year!”

“Yes, you too. May this year be a wonderful one for you.”

Clauschezade uttered the standard congratulations. When Sheila returned the gesture with a smile, he smiled slightly.

“Alright. Let’s do our best to cook so that we don’t waste Clauschezade-sensei’s concern.”

Sheila rolled up her sleeves, and Cody, in sync with her, began to prepare the cutting board and knives. But Zechs seemed unenthusiastic.

“Zechs, you should wash your hands quickly too. I know it’s frustrating to let Jornwerner-sensei have his way, but…”

“Eh? You don’t like the cooking competition? I’m very motivated. By the way, how am I supposed to wear this apron thing?”

“I didn’t ask you, Jornwerner-sensei. And please don’t touch the apron if you haven’t washed your hands.”

As expected, it seemed better not to count people who didn’t know the basics of cooking. Sheila looked at Zechs again with a rather wistful feeling.

“If Zechs doesn’t do his best, all the ingredients here will go to waste. The rest of us don’t have any experience in cooking, you know?”

“Cody can do it to some extent. When you were a kid, didn’t you do things like peeling potatoes?”

Zechs reminded her of that. Cody was a member of a baron family, but he was raised in the downtown area.

When Sheila turned to look at Cody, he smiled embarrassedly.

“But there’s really nothing I can do about it except peel potatoes.”

“Is that so?”

When Sheila looked at Zechs, scheming to somehow rouse him, he scratched his sandy-colored hair languidly.

“You know…. cooking with other guys is really just atrocious, isn’t it?”

She couldn’t help but laugh at his irrepressibly typical reason. But if that was all, it was easy to control.

Sheila made a confident smile.

“You’re an idiot, Zechs. Even boys nowadays have to be able to at least cook to be popular, you know?”

“――You’re right.”

This was the most effective aspect.

Seeing Zechs trembling with shock, the word ‘simple-minded’ flashed through the minds of everyone present.

Thus began their cooking preparation.

Breakfast and lunch were made in time, but the staple food had already run out. Sheila took on the task of baking bread as well as roasting the whole turkey.

When she checked in again, the turkey had already been prepped. The hollowed-out parts had been washed well.

The process of decapitating and gutting the turkey wasn’t difficult for Sheila. However, the process of soaking the turkey in salt water for half a day or so would take too much time.

She cut potatoes, onions, carrots, and celery into bite-sized pieces and stuffed them into the turkey along with the herbs. Sheila didn’t put in too much, calculating that the meat would shrink. When she finished stuffing, she tied the legs and body parts tightly.

The oven was kept at a low temperature, so the heat passed through the meat slowly.

In the meantime, she made a herbed butter with sage, thyme, rosemary, and garlic as the secret ingredients. Spreading this on the surface of the turkey enhanced the flavor and improved the browning. From there, it was all about the heat.

While the turkey was cooking, the next step was to make the bread dough.

The flatbreads that were popular in the village could easily be made by Sheila. She kneaded the flour while paying close attention to the oven.

The work was progressing smoothly, but she was busy in a sense because Jornwerner was constantly gazing sideways at her. She wished he would learn from Clauschezade, who was keeping calm in the cafeteria.

“Jornwerner-sensei, I won’t get angry if you don’t help me, so can you at least get out of my way?”

“Eh? I’m trying my best to cook, though?”

“That’s what’s distracting me. What’s with that stinking pot?”

In a large iron pot over the fire, there was an algae-colored liquid that made an ominous bubbling sound. What kind of ingredients could be used to produce that pungent smell? The rising steam was also too frightening, as it stung and hurt her eyes.

Jornwerner, standing in front of the pot, tilted his head, seemingly unbothered.

“Hmm, did I burn it a little?”

“That’s definitely not the smell of burnt food.”

No matter how she tried to tell him, he was insistent, so a murmur of near resignation escaped her. She could only hope that no more ingredients were wasted.

Sheila glanced around to see how her friends were doing.

Zechs was constantly chopping up vegetables and there was a mountain of potatoes piled up next to Cody. What a chaotic situation.

Would the feast for Coming of Age Day be completed successfully? And would Jornwerner’s mysterious food cause food poisoning and ruin the holiday?

Sheila gently averted her eyes from her various concerns, with a benevolent smile as if she had attained enlightenment.