I, reincarnate as the leader of the villainous knight order

Chapter 8: Lecture

“Oh, Vice Commander! Hurry up and bring the dishes! The Commander will be surprised when he tastes them!”

The one who appeared was Vice Commander Orel. It seems he just returned from the outdoors. Despite Cassius not being scolded by Orel for carrying his own lunch, he spoke to him as if nothing had happened.

“Seasoning by the Commander…!?”

Orel looked at me with a puzzled expression. Due to my status as a son of a Marquis , I hardly had any experience going through the usual apprenticeship period to become a knight. Therefore, he knew that I had no connection to things like cooking.

Thanks to Cassius’s unnecessarily loud voice, Orel, who had brought his own lunch, had accompanied us to the cafeteria’s head chef. Although he was smiling, his aura revealed his wounded pride and indignation.

“Commander Justin, what do you mean by this?”

Vice Commander Orel, despite being five years older, perhaps because he was the son of the Baron Luminar, treated me with the most polite demeanor among the subordinates.

“The skills of the chefs are not bad, but due to the high cost of seasonings, the flavor tends to be subtle, right? We were just suggesting that we pool our money together little by little to buy more seasonings. For example, like this…”

Just like with the other subordinates, I added salt and pepper, and shredded basil into the soup.

“Come on, Vice Commander, hurry up and mix it and try it!”

“Uh, okay…”

Prompted by Cassius, Orel, still bewildered, mixed the soup and tasted it.

“……!!”

He didn’t say anything, but his expression said it all. Those who had already tried the seasoned soup were grinning as they looked at Orel.

“Um, Vice Commander Luminar, may I also have a taste, please?”

Timidly making the request was the head chef. Usually, he wouldn’t come near us, but apparently, he was very curious about the taste.

“Oh, for the future of our cooking, it’s better to know the taste, right? It’s quite different from usual.”

The head chef, using a spoon he had prepared, took a sip and his eyes widened.

“I knew that using high-quality pepper and seasoning it richly would make it delicious, but… What’s with this unique flavor! I think I’ve seen these leaves at the apothecary’s…”

As he swallowed, the head chef muttered while pondering.

“That’s basil sold at the apothecary’s. I’ve bought several things that can be used from the apothecary. Want to see?”

“Yes, please!”

“Uh, okay… Then, let’s go to the kitchen after finishing the meal.”

“Thank you! We’ll be waiting!”

The pressure was unexpectedly strong. Perhaps because they were employed by a lord, the chefs seemed to have an exceptional passion for cooking.

“Wow… It’s like Commander Justin is missing…”

“That’s right. I wonder if he’s been replaced by someone else since yesterday.”

Arnault and Simon, who witnessed me crying yesterday, were whispering to each other. They apparently came to the cafeteria together after being under Orel’s command and touring the territory today.

Afterward, the others also slyly seasoned their meals and agreed to contribute money for the seasonings. Yes, indeed, deliciousness knows no bounds.

After the meal, we headed to the kitchen, where we were greeted by the tense-looking chefs.

The third knight order, unlike the large group of the second knight order that protects the entire capital, has about fifty members. In their dormitory, there are four cooks and one apprentice.

“Don’t be so nervous. I only know a small part of it myself, so I’m not that knowledgeable.”

“But using medicinal herbs in cooking is brilliant! Please, come over here and teach us!”

I remember there should be an episode in the latter part of the novel where a saint who appears spreads various experiments she tried in a remote village with herbs… But it’s tough to keep eating subtle dishes until the saint appears. Well, it can’t be helped, yeah, it can’t be helped.

As I made excuses to myself, I took out the items I bought from my magic bag and lined them up on the countertop. When I brought out the salt and black pepper, the cooks swallowed audibly. Well, of course, it’s because it’s enough salary for a month of the knight commander.

“This is thyme, mainly used in fish dishes but also used in meat dishes to remove odor and as decoration. Rosemary here is also used as decoration, but it’s rubbed into meat dishes for pre-processing or used fresh to steam with meat to add fragrance. Laurel is for stewed dishes, both to remove odor and add fragrance. Basil can be used for flavoring in various dishes.”

As I explained while lining them up, the head chef was diligently taking notes. The cooks who weren’t taking notes probably couldn’t write.

Amidst the restless expressions of the cooks after hearing the explanation, the apprentice boy spoke up.

“Um, Knight Commander Vandière, how do you know all this!?”

The cooks around him had expressions that seemed to say they were eager to hear as well. When asked how I knew, it was because in my previous life, if my whole family went out to eat, it would cost a fortune, so I used to make what you might call “cafe-style meals” to give them the feeling of dining out.

Especially because my mother was delighted with fancy plates, I always made herb-based dishes for Mother’s Day or birthdays. I couldn’t possibly talk about my previous life, so what should I say?

“It’s because I was taught various things as part of my education, including herbalism. It was necessary to have knowledge to counteract poison, so I just remembered that.”

“Wow, as expected of a noble like you!”

Well, well, as long as it’s not a complete lie, it should be fine. I definitely learned about various herbs and poisonous plants that were close at hand.

While lecturing the cooks like that, I would only come to know a few days later that the fact that I had been called “big brother” at the training ground in my absence had spread within the knight order.