That day the Western-style mansion we had just purchased as our new home was wrapped in a uniquely intense heat.

A vast estate.

A stately stone-built exterior.

But the kitchen in one corner alone had turned into something like a battlefield’s forward command post.

“…Deployment complete. Firepower check, okay.”

I Akutsu Jō stood with my arms crossed looking down at the scene before me.

The renovation crew wouldn’t be coming in until next week.

Normally this place would have been little more than a ruin with an old sink and dust-covered worktables.

But not now.

Three commercial tabletop burners I’d brought in were lined up and ingredients freshly procured from the market bone-in shank meat piled high vegetables in heaps and dozens of kinds of spices were stacked everywhere with no room to spare.

“From here on we begin the first prototype of the decisive weapon against Sumeragi Foods... ‘my curry.’”

When I declared this in a low voice the people at their respective stations nodded with serious expressions.

“Yes! Prep team ready at any time!”

Ai tightened her frilled apron and tied her hair up with a triangular bandana. [TL: The raws have him listed as her here, going to keep as it isn’t important atm.]

Her favorite petty knife was already gripped firmly in her hand.

“…Filming team standing by. Angle secured.”

In the corner of the room Yū sat atop a step ladder.

A laptop rested on her knees and a handheld camera in her hand.

Her languid eyes however never left me through the lens.

And at the entrance to the kitchen.

“…Perimeter secure. No abnormalities. Proceed at any time.”

Saotome stood ramrod straight in a black suit and sunglasses.

“Good... we’re at war.”

I shrugged off my leather jacket leaving just a black T-shirt.

I tied a salon apron around my waist.

At that moment my consciousness switched into combat mode.

* * *

“Ai onions! Slice them against the grain! As thin as humanly possible!”

“Yes master!”

At the same time as Ai’s reply a brisk rhythm rang out.

Ton ton ton ton ton ton!!

Fast and precise.

While I grated garlic and ginger Ai turned the mountain of onions one after another into transparent thin slices.

Without shedding a single tear and with machine-like accuracy.

“…Amazing.”

I couldn’t help admiring her without stopping my hands.

“Have you worked in a kitchen before?”

“No! But I made meals every day for my big sister!”

Ai kept her hands moving and showed a smile that bloomed like a flower.

“And if it’s to be useful to you master, a hundred or two hundred onions are nothing!”

That’s way too earnest for a little brother.

This technique is the real deal.

Prep work that would take me an hour alone was done in just dozens of minutes thanks to Ai.

“That helps... you’re the best partner.”

“Hehehe... ♪”

At my words Ai blushed and tightened her grip on the knife.

Her pace sped up even more.

“…The footage looks good.”

Yū muttered quietly while filming.

“Master’s muscles and Ai’s cuteness... the contrast is emotional. This will blow up.”

“Don’t mess around, make sure you film properly too. I’m keeping records of the spice ratios.”

“…Roger. I won’t miss a milligram.”

I faced a massive stockpot.

Inside were beef bones and shank meat from the market along with plenty of aromatic vegetables.

First was making the base soup a fond de veau.

For the next several hours.

Skimming the scum, adjusting the heat and extracting every bit of umami.

It was plain work but an absolutely essential process where no corners could be cut.

“…Alright. We strain it once.”

I put on thick mitts and tried to lift the scalding stockpot that must have weighed dozens of kilos.

Inside was boiling soup.

If I lost my balance it wouldn’t end with just a burn.

Just as I dropped my hips and braced myself.

“—Please wait.”

A hand extended smoothly from the side and stopped my arm.

It was Saotome.

“I’ll do it.”

“Huh? No this thing’s heavy. And it’s hot.”

“Precisely because of that.”

Saotome looked straight at me sincerely through her sunglasses.

“During cooking your fingertips are a chef’s lifeline. We should avoid any risk of burns or muscle fatigue that could throw off your delicate senses.”

“…You’re overprotective.”

“I’m your bodyguard.”

She smiled faintly then took hold of the stockpot handles in my place.

Her arms were slender and supple like a model’s.

But.

“Hmph.”

With a short exhale she lifted the iron mass weighing dozens of kilos with ease and without the slightest wobble.

The center of gravity didn’t shift at all.

Her core strength was abnormal.

“Would that counter over there be fine?”

“Y yeah... please.”

Saotome moved the pot and set it down gently.

Not a single drop of soup splashed.

Perfect transport.

“…Thanks. You’ve got good strength.”

“I train.”

She said it casually then returned smoothly to her position at the entrance.

Her back seemed to say no thanks necessary.

…They’re reliable.

* * *

With the soup prepared we finally entered the stage of shaping it into curry.

In a frying pan we sautéed the massive amount of onions Ai had chopped.

Driving off moisture thoroughly until they went past candy-brown and into dark umber.

Then I added the spices I had carefully selected at the market and ground myself.

Juwaaaaa!!

At that instant the air in the kitchen completely changed.

The wildness of cumin.

The refreshing clarity of cardamom.

The sweet temptation of coriander.

The deep richness of clove.

All of it mixed with heated oil and exploded into an overwhelming aroma that dominated the space.

Yū holding the camera jolted her chair.

“…What is this? Just the smell... it’s shaking my brain... I’m starving.”

Her eyes went unfocused and I heard her swallow.

“Hawawa... I can see a flower field...”

Ai stopped her hands and breathed in the air with an enraptured expression.

And at the entrance Saotome too.

She maintained her rigid posture but I didn’t miss the slight twitch of her shoulders and the way her nostrils flared.

Behind those sunglasses she was desperately fighting her reason.

“Heh, good reactions.”

I grinned and shook the pan.

This aroma was the essence of spice curry.

A legal narcotic that directly punches the human instinct center.

Into this we poured the rich soup from earlier, returned the shank meat and let it simmer slowly.

Koto koto koto koto...

As time passed the kitchen filled with a violent scent called happiness.

“…It’s done.”

When I turned off the heat everyone’s eyes locked onto the pot.

Yū had already set down the camera and was holding a spoon.

“Let’s do a tasting. Bring plates.”

I served white rice and generous portions of nearly jet-black brown curry onto three plates.

The rising steam and aroma went after the last restraints of their reason.

“““Itadakimasu!!”””

The three voices overlapped.

First was Ai.

The moment she took a bite with her small mouth her face lit up as if flowers bloomed behind her.

“Mmm! It’s delicious~”

Ai pressed her cheeks with both hands writhing in bliss.

“It’s spicy but sweet and deep... The meat is so tender it melts without chewing! Master, is this magic!?”

Next was Yū.

She silently brought a spoon to her mouth and froze.

A few seconds later.

“…It’s a bug.”

Yū muttered with a straight face.

“It’s too good my verbalization function is throwing errors... precious. Impossible. Seconds.”

No sooner had she spoken than she started moving her spoon at a ferocious pace.

Like a vacuum cleaner.

Then Saotome.

She accepted the plate and hesitated for just a moment.

Perhaps conflicted about eating while on duty as a bodyguard.

But when I said “Consider it part of the job including poison testing” she nodded lightly and brought the spoon to her mouth.

She chewed.

Then swallowed.

At that moment her iron-mask-like expression gently crumbled.

“…Delicious.”

It was an unadorned heartfelt word.

She slid her sunglasses down slightly and looked at me.

Her eyes held not their usual sharp light but a warmth like a fireplace flame.

“It’s a flavor that warms a chilled body from the core... not just spice stimulation. Akutsu-sama’s... kindness seems to seep through.”

She looked at the spoon and added a little shyly.

“…I’ve never eaten anything this delicious before.”

At those words something deep in my chest warmed slightly.

For someone who lived suppressing her emotions to smile and say delicious like this.

As a chef there was no greater reward.

“…I see. I’m glad.”

I smiled quietly while scraping the bottom of the pot with a wooden spatula.

But, I myself took a small plate and tasted it.

Layers of complex and profound spices spreading across my tongue.

The rich umami of beef shank.

Perfect heat control.

It was certainly delicious.

Among all the curries I’d made in my life this could be called a masterpiece.

Ai’s reactions weren’t lies.

But—.

“…It’s not enough.”

At my mutter the three of them looked up.

“Huh? Even though it’s this good?”

Ai tilted her head in confusion.

“Yeah... it’s good. But it’s too much of an honor student.”

I set down the spoon.

“With this it’s no different from the perfectly data-optimized curry Sumeragi Foods will bring out... it stops at ninety points.”

That empress Reiko Sumeragi’s scientist group would undoubtedly create a one-hundred-point dish for the masses.

To beat that a hundred points wouldn’t cut it.

It needed a one-hundred-and-twenty-point impact that burned itself into memory the instant you tasted it and could never be forgotten.

“…Something. Something’s missing.”

I crossed my arms and looked up at the ceiling.

The market hag’s face came to mind.

The spice shop owner’s face came to mind.

“…We still have time. Improve it.”

I lit the burner again.

The three exchanged looks then nodded happily.

“Yes! I’ll follow you master!”

“…Recording capacity still has room. I’m in.”

“…My stomach capacity also still has room.”

Saotome said that with a straight face.

We laughed together and once more immersed ourselves in the heat-swirling battlefield.

Six days until the showdown.

The journey to the ultimate dish had only just begun.