Grimgal of Ashes and Illusion - Volume 14.2 - Chapter 1.06

6. Bad Behavior

“...Um.” Moguzo lowered his head. “I-I’m kinda sorry about this, Haruhiro-kun. Making you do something so weird...”

“Ah...” Haruhiro scratched the back of his head. His eyes looked sleepy. “Well, it’s fine. I mean, this isn’t even your fault, right? I don’t think you’re the one who needs to apologize. What I’m getting at here is, this is all on Ranta, isn’t it?”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whooooa!” Ranta put his left hand on his hip, and pointed with his right at Haruhiro. “Man, don’t you go dissing me like that, Parupiro! You try to make everything my fault!”

“I mean, whenever something happens, it almost always is.”

“That’s prejudice! If Moguzo didn’t accept, this battle wouldn’t be happening! Therefore, we need a witness! And for a contest we need judges, too! Ideally an odd number! Because with an even number, there could be a tie!”

At the competition site set up in the courtyard of the volunteer soldier lodging house stood a total of six people: the contestants, Moguzo and Ranta; the witness, Haruhiro; and the judges, Manato, Yume, and Shihoru.

Moguzo and Ranta stood facing one another with Haruhiro standing in between them.

Manato, Yume, and Shihoru sat a little distance away.

“On that note!” Ranta puffed out his chest and cleared his throat loudly. “The rules of this contest are easy! They are clear and simple! Me and Moguzo will each prepare one dish, and the three judges will taste them! Then, they decide which was tastier! Judges must side with one or the other! Then it will either be 3-0, or 2-1, creating an inevitable difference! This makes victory and defeat clear!”

“Question.”

Manato raised his hand, and Ranta pointed at him.

“What, Manato?! Keep it brief!”

“Are we just deciding a winner and loser here? Is there any benefit to winning?”

“Of course! Obviously, there’s got to be, right?! The winner can make the loser do anything! That’s pretty normal!”

“Well, in that case...”

“Hey, Yume, don’t speak without raising your hand!”

“Oh, shush. It’s fine, isn’t it?”

“It is not fine!”

“Fine, Yume won’t say nothin’ then.”

“Say it! You’ll leave me wondering what you meant to say! What if I can’t sleep because of that?! If you start saying something, you have a responsibility to finish it!”

“Not Yume’s problem! If you can’t sleep, you don’t have to.”

“If I don’t sleep, I’ll suffer from sleep deprivation! My health relies on sleeping well, shitting well, and boasting well!

“Boasting well...”

When Shihoru repeated the last one with a look of exasperation, Ranta glared at her with a vein throbbing on his forehead.

“Huhhhh?! You got a problem with that?! If you do, pleeease, say so! Come right out and saaaay it! It pisses me off when you act like that!”

“You know, Ranta...” Manato said with a smile, “I’ve been thinking this for a while, but you’re a natural, you know that? You have an incredible gift.”

“...Oh? Y-You think? W-well, sure, I guess? It’s true I’m not just talented, I’m a real genius.”

“You have a gift for rubbing people the wrong way.”

“Heyyyy! Manatoooo! I don’t need a gift for that!”

“You can’t really help it...” Haruhiro sighed. “You just happen to have been born with a gift for pissing people off. I guess genius comes at a price, huh?”

“Hm... Genius comes at a price? I like the ring of that. It sounds cool...”

Ranta put a hand to his jaw, looking not just a little satisfied. He’s so blissfully simple, Moguzo thought, but he didn’t say it. He didn’t want to be like Ranta, but he did envy him a little.

“Okay, I more or less get the rules, but...” Haruhiro probably wasn’t actually tired, but his eyes really did make him look sleepy. “So, um, a witness? That’s why I’m here, right? I’m the only one who’s not a judge. Does that mean I don’t get to eat any of the food?”

“Exactly!”

“What the hell? Moguzo’s is sure to be delicious. I want some, too. I don’t care about yours, though.”

“Whaddaya mean you don’t care about mine?! Expect it to be great! Do it!”

“Even if I did, you wouldn’t let me eat any, right?”

“It’s punishment! Punishment! Divine punishment for the guy who said he doesn’t care about my ultra-special dish!”

“Ha-Haruhiro-kun. I’ll make enough for you to have some, too...”

“Hey, Moguzo! Don’t try to buy off the witness with a crass bribe!”

“I’m not one of the deciders here, so there’s no point buying me off anyway.”

“That’s not the point! I can’t stand how nice he is!”

“Just how warped is your personality, man...?”

“Shut up! Be quiet! I’ve had enough of you and your sleepy eyes! Go to sleep, Haruhiro! Permanently! Bye-bye! Okay, Moguzo! Let’s get this show on the road!”

“Oh, uh, sure...”

“...Just do whatever you want, geez.” Haruhiro seemed to be sulking. For some reason, everything was going crazy.

“Okay.” Having read the situation, Manato stood up. “I’ll give the signal to start. —Allez cuisine...!

That clear, dignified voice gave Moguzo the push he needed.

“Show him who’s boss, Moguzo!”

“...Moguzo-kun, you can do it!”

With Yume and Shihoru, who had helped him pick out ingredients, cheering him on, Moguzo rose to the challenge.

“O-Okay...!” Moguzo slapped his cheeks. He did it too hard and it hurt, but that helped him focus.

“Heh...” Ranta pointed at him. “You better prepare yourself, Moguzo. I’m gonna utterly demolish you! Expect no mercy!”

“S-Since we’re doing this, let’s have a good match...!”

“You dolt! There’s no good or bad in a match! The winner is always right, and the loser is nothing but pitiful! That’s why I’m definitely going to win!”

Had he put a lot of work into his recipe, and that was where this confidence came from? Or was he full of baseless bravado? Ranta huffed and puffed as he headed to his cooking station.

Whatever the case, Moguzo was just going to do his best. Unlike Ranta, he didn’t go to the cooking area. Moguzo would prepare his dish here. In addition to the cooking area, the courtyard also had a stove that was blessed with a rustic simplicity. Moguzo’s dish of choice only needed boiling, so he was fine out here in the yard. He had his ingredients ready, too.

Next to the stove was—

“Err, first I use this, and... Huh?!”

“What’s wrong, Moguzo?” Haruhiro asked as he came over.

Next to the stove there were ingredients lined up in baskets. Moguzo had prepared them all in advance.

One of the baskets was empty for some reason.

“It’s gone! Gone! I know I left a hunk of ganaro meat in this basket! It was here when I checked before, so why...?!”

“No way, was it him...?!” Haruhiro looked towards the cooking area. “I don’t want to think he’d go that far, but... This is Ranta we’re talking about, after all. I’m going over to his space to ask him about it. I am technically acting as the witness here. If he’s cheated, there’ll be a price to pay for it...”

“No.” Moguzo shook his head. “It’s fine... It must have been a mistake on my part.”

“But it’s a hunk of meat, right? If this were a spice or something, I’d understand. It’s not a little thing. How could you misplace it?”

“It’s fine! I’ll manage... I’ll do this somehow. I want to make something tasty for everyone to eat.”

Moguzo picked up a basket full of rice. What he had bought at the marketplace was uncooked rice that had just been threshed, but polishing rice took a long time, so he had done it last night.

“I want Ranta to eat it, too. I don’t care if this is a contest or whatever. That’s what cooking is about for me.”

“Moguzo...” Haruhiro frowned. “...But, man, just how scummy can that guy be?”