Strongest Noble's Daughter Uses Water Magic

Hungry Hungry Shrew Pt. 2

After making that challenge to Sheera about making a dish she had never seen before, I made my way to the kitchen. As Sheera was a noble, I had high doubts she ever had that one dish I can think of. I had been to plenty of restaurants with Mindy these past years, and before that I had eaten various meals with my family, and from the menu I saw on the board, that dish- at least the concept of such a dish coming to be- does not seem to exist here. Nor were several other dishes from my previous world, but that is a story for another time.

Once I arrived to the kitchen area, I noticed the chefs had recovered from their exhaustion and had huddled together.

“Head chef! What do we do?!” one of them asked.

“She does not look the least bit satisfied with anything we give her! Even though we had been giving her such big portion! At this rate, there will be nothing to feed the rest of the students!” another one of the chefs exclaimed.

“And not just for today, either, but the rest of the semester!” exclaimed another.

“I know that!” the biggest chef of them all, the head chef from the sound of it, shouted. “I know but… Unfortunately, the headmaster already warned me about this girl and her appetite. If I were to refuse to serve a dish and something happens to her because of that, he’ll have my head!”

Hearing that made me feel more and more pity towards the chefs. If it was the headmaster’s order, I suppose there was no helping them there. Although, for the headmaster to give such a command, it must mean this school is financially stable. Either that or he’s underestimating Sheera’s stomach. My gut is leaning more towards the latter.

Regardless, I shook off what I heard and approached them. “Excuse me,” I called.

They all turned at me with a raised brow, except the head chef, who only sighed. “If you’re going to order something, I’m afraid you’ll have to wait. We have a little situation with someone else already,” he said, clearly assuming me to be a customer.

“I’m not here to eat. I want to borrow your kitchen,” I corrected.

The chefs, including the head, all looked at me with wide eyes at my request.

“Huh?! Are you stupid or something?! A kitchen is a place where chefs work, not some playground for kids like you!” 

“You may be a young adult, but you just turned into one from a child! Don’t think you can suddenly do as you please!”

“Besides, we need every inch o an this kitchen to feed that damn crossbreed!”

I felt my eyebrow twitched at these accusations. “Then let me put it this way. Would you rather continue to feed an endless black hole, or take a chance and let someone else try to quell her hunger?”

That made them all go silent. From how they were glancing at each other, then to the feasting Sheera, it was quite clear which was the lesser of the two evils.

The head chef then placed his hand on my shoulder. “If you can do something to stop her… Please do it!” he begged, perfectly displaying how desperate he was in wanting Sheera to leave then be.

I could only let out a light nervous chuckle at his desperation. “I’ll do my best…” I then said.

Looking around the kitchen, I noticed they were really running low on some items, no doubt by Sheera’s stomach. Thankfully, there was enough for the dish I wanted to make, and I got to work on making it.

******

Not long after, I set my dish down in front of Sheera, just in time for her to finish her lasagna. As she looked at my dish she gave me the very same look the chefs did when they watched me make this.

“What is this? Some pasta with soup?” Sheera asked.

“That’s one way of calling it. Another way of calling it is ‘ramen’,” I introduced.

“‘Ramen’? Never heard of it, but this does not look satisfying. Furthermore, this portion looks quite small.”

I could only sweat drop at that, for her definition of ‘small’ is actually a normal size for many other people. “Well, there is only one way of knowing the taste. Go ahead and take a bite.”

Sheera did not hesitate to do as requested, as she picked up the fork and spoon I had placed before her. Before she attempted to even do the form into the bowl, I spoke up.

“Oh, before you go for the noodle or toppings, try the soup first,” I advised, causing her to raise her brow at me. “Trust me. If you want to try ramen, especially for a first time, the soup is a must to try first.”

The suspicious look in her eyes did not leave as the crossbreed continued to stare at me. When her stomach let out a growl, though, she broke eye contact and dipped her spoon in the broth first. She took the spoonful in her mouth, and widened her eyes at the flavor. She then proceeded to dip her fork in and was about to twirl the noodles around, when I spoke up once more.

“For the noodles, don’t twirl them around the tines so much. They’re best eaten by slurping them in your mouth.”

That made her and the eavesdropping chefs flinch in surprise at what I said. Well, not that I blame them. After all, what noble would ever slurp upon eating noodles? Soup is one thing, but there was none of the slurping sound coming off from it. For noodles? Not only was there the sound, but it also looked ‘barbaric’ in their eyes.

The shocked expression did not remain on Sheera’s face for long, as she simply scooped up some noodles in her fork, with her spoon acting as support. As she slurped up the noodles, her eyes widened, and she chowed down on the ramen. Once she got to the toppings, she glanced at me. 

It didn’t take me long to know she wanted to know how the toppings were to be eaten, after I had stopped her the previous two times.

“You’re free to eat the toppings however you want to eat them.” At those words, she took a slice of pork in her mouth.Within minutes, the crossbreed finished the ramen, broth and all, and slightly leaned back with a soft sigh.

"How was it? With how you were chowing down, I think it's safe to say you like it," I asked.

Sheera only remained silent in response to my question. Several seconds passed, then minutes, and I started to grow concerned for her.

"Hey... Are you okay?" I questioned.

"Hey..." she uttered out instead, before suddenly lunging at me and pulled me close to her by the collar. "What the heck did you put in that 'ramen' thing?!"

I was taken aback by this sudden action and could only utter out, "Huh? Wh-What do you mean?"

"I have eaten many pasta dishes and drank a number of soups, and ate bigger portions of those toppings you added to the ramen. In fact, as you can clearly see, I had eaten a bunch of food, and never felt remotely full before. Heck the amount here is not even a quart of what I usually eat daily! But this?! This is the first time I've ever felt full from one small meal!"

While my eyes had bulged out around the second half of what Sheera said, it was the last one that caught me off guard. "Huh? Wait, you've never felt full before?"

"No, never. Half full, I understand, but I don't feel the need or urge to want to put anything else in my mouth after this dish. What in the world did you put in it that is different from the many pasta and soup dishes I have had?!" she demanded.

I was just as lost. I didn't use anything rare or unusual in the kitchen, as far as I knew, and it was just a simple pork and soy sauce ramen, which while filling is not usually enough to make one feel that full, especially not someone with a big appetite like Sheera.

"It's because of that Water Magic of hers!" a chef called from the kitchen.

"Yeah! Instead of using normal water from the sink like we do, that girl went and used her magic to boil the noodles, and even made the soup with it!" another chef called.

From the tones they had used, I had a feeling they were expecting this girl to beat me up for making such an unknown dish. For the crossbreed herself, though, she only widened her eyes in shock at what they said.

"Magic? You use Water Magic?" she asked me.

"Well, yes. I'm pretty much used to using my own water rather than the one from the faucet or a well," I said. "The water I make is very pure and clean. Perfect for taking in all the flavor from the stock. Though I don't think that is reason enough to make you feel full... I mean, sure, there is also the fact that the soup may also contain mana- my mana- but I don't know if that is the reason either for your full stomach..."

As I tried to explain myself and my magic, Sheera only stared at me, still quite baffled with the explanation. If I were in her shoes, I would, too. I mean, I had made plenty of meals with my magic before, and the dishes often taste better than if I had used normal water, but for appetites? How was I supposed to explain that?!

It seems I did not need to, as a grin had formed on the shrew crossbreed's face. "All right! I've decided!" she spoke, releasing me. "You be my personal chef!"

"... HUH?!" I and the chefs all gasped, extremely shocked at the sudden proposal.

"Not 'huh'! Like I said, I've never felt so full before in all my life! My parents had been concerned with our financials being wasted on nothing but food, even though my mom is one of the richest person in the kingdom, and though we have many chefs in our house, they can barely keep up with my and my dad's appetite. But with you as my chef- my family's chef- you can help solve those problems! That... and my mother is expecting me to do well during my time at this academy, but I can't do that if I focus so much on my stomach rather than whatever lessons we'll be given. Plus, that 'ramen' thing was way too good!"

While I did feel as though I was taken advantage of at that second to last part, I was still happy to hear those words. "So does this mean you'll join on our training?" I asked.

"Only if you agree to be my personal chef," Sheera insisted, causing me to sweat drop at how serious she was about that.

"While I can't exactly promise you that, I can promise that I will provide you with- Wait..." A thought crossed my mind then, as I remembered one of the many members of the training group. "Actually, there may be one other person who can also help fill that stomach of yours."

That got her attention, as her ears perked up. "Wait, seriously?! Then take me to that person, and consider me a member of that group of yours!"

A smile formed on my face upon hearing that last part, and I held out my hand to her. "All right then. Consider yourself welcome."

Sheera smiled in response to my greeting, and took my hand into hers.