70 – Magical Cooking Competition (4)

“It is complete, so it is.”

Taishe’s confident grin.

However, the magical girl judge, for her part, didn’t smile at all.

“……”

The Magical Nutrition Officer watching on also didn’t crack so much as a twitch.

“Uh……”

The magical girl judge.

The Magical Nutrition Officer.

Despite their difference in location – the judge’s seat versus the viewing platform – both began to display the same reaction.

Their pupils, trembling and wide, darted wordlessly between Taishe and the dish.

Well, in a way, it was a natural response.

The dish’s overall impression had drastically changed.

The addition: sausage.

Just the kind of sausage you could find anywhere.

But, because of that single sausage, the dish that had been ordinary until just now began to appear utterly different.

Something terribly blatant and… embarrassing.

“What… is this?”

“It is the Magical Sausage, so it is. A specialty from the country where Magical Buddhism began, so it is.”

“I understand that it’s a German-style sausage… but the imagery… it’s… that…”

“It is modeled after the Magical Prayer Stick wielded by the Magical Dharma Guard when enforcing discipline, so it is.”

There was no hesitation in Taishe’s explanation.

Upright, and assured.

“Ah… I see.”

In the end, the magical girl judge was forced to grudgingly accept it.

Criticizing it any further would only make her look like a strange magical girl herself.

But the Magical Nutrition Officer, who was watching all this, wasn’t accepting it at all.

‘No, that’s not a Magical Moktak Chae…’

That was… attached to the man. The Magical Mess Officer clutched his head, muttering.

Of course, he couldn’t point it out.

She was merely an observer, not a participant.

In that instant, Sora narrowed her eyes and began to scold Taishi.

“Taishi, what on earth do you think you’re doing!”

“What’s the matter, I wonder?”

“Don’t you know you can’t do that? It could create a Magical misunderstanding!”

The judge, a magical girl, offered an awkward smile, quickly agreeing with Sora’s words.

“Ah, haha… Yes, you’re right. I almost let some strange thoughts cross my mind.”

“Is that so, I wonder? Hmm… I understand, I wonder.”

Taishi wore a disgruntled expression but, for the time being, nodded and stepped back slightly.

In response, Sora stepped forward.

“So, I’ll salvage this by applying a Magical Japanese cuisine that handles the essence of seafood.”

“Yes, please do.”

At Sora’s words, the judge, the magical girl, offered a relieved, forced smile.

The Magical Mess Officer let out a sigh of relief.

“Whew…”

Just a moment ago, thanks to that crazy b*tch, a truly irreversible situation almost occurred. It was already so precarious, to begin with.

But at least it hadn’t gotten any worse.

He’d managed to somehow just barely salvage it.

‘There’s at least one sane person.’

That was a relief.

“It’s truly finished! It looks much better now, right?”

‘Hey, you fucking b*tch!!!’

It wasn’t a relief.

Salvaged, my ass.

It was only getting worse.

Unless they were sprinkling seaweed all over, sticking it only in certain places made the picture look strange.

At the very least, it wasn’t all-ages. A rather lewd sight.

“Just *why* are you sticking the seaweed on like that?!”

He might as well have not bothered at all. The Magical Catering Officer tore at his hair with all his might.

Meanwhile, the judging Magical Girl looked at Sora with eyes that trembled even more violently than before.

“Why… why did you apply the seaweed like that?”

“Magical Japanese cuisine demands it. The aesthetics of concealment are important, you see.”

“No, well…”

The judging Magical Girl trailed off.

Even though she wanted to refute it, Sora’s eyes shone with conviction. A powerful assurance, strong enough to make her feel pressured without meaning to, filled those amber eyes.

And the lingering suspicion that, if it really was Magical Japanese cuisine, then perhaps that *could* be the case also played a part.

But was that really true?

Was it concealment, or perhaps Magical censorship?

She didn’t know. And she wondered if she even *needed* to know.

“Uh…”

As the judging Magical Girl shifted her gaze here and there, lost in thought, for a brief moment.

“Haa…, never mind.”

She sighed, then forced a weak smile.

“S-So long as it tastes good, right!”

Adding her own touch of self-rationalization.

No matter what, it was a type of food she was seeing for the first time. Curiosity moved her body even more strongly than any sense of aversion.

Besides, even if the appearance was strange, when it came down to it, wasn’t each ingredient in itself a superb combination?

That alone was enough.

Things couldn’t possibly get any worse from here.

Thinking that, the judging Magical Girl bravely extended her chopsticks.

However.

The instant the judging Magical Girl touched the octopus with her chopsticks, she no longer showed any hint of expectation or excitement.

She simply stared, completely bewildered.

Wordlessly, with eyes that had utterly died.

Likewise, the Magical Catering Officer, who had been on the verge of a breakdown until just moments ago, also froze in place, watching the scene with sunken eyes.

Well, it was inevitable, after all.

– *Blerp*.

It was the octopus’s form; so grotesquely twisted it had become.

The shape, so brazenly explicit.

Not a word could escape, not even a sigh.

Undeniably, a magical obscenity.

“……”

The Magical Provisioner quietly clutched at his head.

What he’d stuffed inside, he couldn’t know. Utterly beyond prediction. Truthfully, he didn’t want to know.

He only wished to rewind time.

That alone, he desperately longed for.

‘Really, please, goddamn it.’

In contrast, the judging Magical Girl reacted quite differently than the Magical Provisioner.

She cast a blatant, unspoken gaze that demanded explanation. What, in the name of all that was holy, was now oozing from the octopus’s orifice?

Then, Leia, who had been silent until now, spoke.

“Whipped cream, insert.”

“…Why, precisely?”

“American salad style.”

“…………”

The judging Magical Girl ran a weary hand down her face.

The more she spoke, the more she did, the worse the situation became.

What in the world was the problem?

Was it that she’d agreed to be a judge today?

However, Leia interpreted the judging Magical Girl’s actions differently.

“Ah, maybe it’s not your vibe? Then, just a moment of waiting. I’ll change the sauce.”

“…What are you planning to do?”

“Substitute strawberry jelly and chocolate instead—”

“A-ah, no! Don’t do it! Please! That would only make it worse!”

The judging Magical Girl frantically cut Leia off.

If whipped cream was already unacceptable…

Then strawberry jam and chocolate?

She had no confidence in being able to look at it even remotely sober.

Anyway, having recovered some semblance of composure, the Judge Magical Girl delivered her verdict.

“Eliminated.”

The food was whisked away without her taking a bite.

To keep looking at it would surely incite Magical Corruption in her eyes.

Besides, there was no reason to eat it in the first place.

Nor did she desire to.

Not only was its appearance grievously flawed, but even if the individual ingredients were passable, the single dollop of whipped cream alone guaranteed a taste of utter despair.

“This is a Magical Calamity of the culinary arts.”

A Magical Calamity.

An assessment that did not feel undeserved.

In the end, the three Magical Girls returned to their places without even receiving a proper evaluation.

However, considering the mark of elimination they now bore, their expressions were surprisingly unclouded.

“Sora, we’re a drop.”

“Guess so? Unexpected. Let’s hurry back, then.”

“This is why Little Miss suggested submitting Magical Temple Cuisine.”

They merely acknowledged it, accepting it calmly.

Rather, it was the Judge Magical Girl and the Magical Nutritionist whose expressions darkened. An outsider might think they were the ones eliminated, so how grave must the situation be?

Especially for the Magical Nutritionist, it was a desperate predicament.

But, surprisingly, there was a loophole.

Because the Judge Magical Girl had concluded the Magical Examination with a relatively mild reaction, the attention of the other Magical Girls had not been drawn.

In other words.

‘If I can just manage *her*…’

If he could prevent it from becoming a Magical Public Matter, it would fade away uneventfully.

‘Then…’

A few rounds of Magical Favors should suffice. The Magical Nutritionist’s mind raced.

It would be a large expense, but unavoidable. It was a necessary investment compared to the impact that would come later.

‘At this level, well…’

Not bad. The Magical Nutritionist, having completed his cost-benefit analysis, gave a faint smile.

Because somehow, he had managed to end it within a range he could handle himself.

Truly, it was fortunate.

It’s true, a person’s luck rarely runs out completely.

But.

The Magical Quartermaster had overlooked something.

“So-ah, seriously, what are you doing?”

“Seo-bin, try some of this.”

That the world contains acts of God.

Two General-Rank Magical Girls, Jin So-ah and Lee Seo-bin, arriving late to observe the Magical Cooking Competition, had noticed the existence of that dreadful dish.

“…Eat what, now?”

“No, really, the taste isn’t bad, I’m telling you!”

“That’s absurd.”

They had cleaned up quickly, but the dish, being fresh, hadn’t gone straight to the Magical Food Waste Bin; it had been left unattended in the Magical Kitchen for a moment, and that was the root of the problem.

“Even if the appearance is a bit… unusual, the taste is complex, not bad at all. It’s perfect as a Magical snack with drinks.”

“…This crazy woman looks like a Pomeranian but has the appetite of a mutt.”

And.

“Everyone absolutely *has* to try this.”

As fate would have it, Jin So-ah became interested in the food and actually *liked* it.

There was some commotion afterward, but the Magical Salad somehow ended up being counted as one of the Magical picks.

Of course, there was a problem.

It wasn’t a dish that had received a proper evaluation, and Jin So-ah hadn’t even participated as a judge.

“Wouldn’t it be good if everyone could eat this?”

“Well… um… this is a Magical Procedure…”

But what could they do?

Like most administrative procedures in the world, Magical administrative procedures weren’t much different.

“Hey, so is it okay? Not okay? Just tell me that, yes or no.”

“…Okay.”

Rank could push anything through.

That was the so-called Magical back-of-the-envelope operation.

In the end, it went as Jin So-ah wished.

A bit later, on Magical No-Leftovers Day, the Magical Salad became a mandatory dish in the dining halls, regardless of rank.

And it was accompanied by a Magical warning label.

Underneath the Magical Lieutenant, skipping meals was verboten, and leaving food unfinished? Unthinkable.

The direction of the magical girls’ pent-up rage was, naturally, not hard to guess.

And so, the magical girl unit remained, as ever, peaceful.