Chapter 403

Standing on Charizard’s back, Haruto gazed out over the boundless ocean and fell into thoughtful silence.

Capturing monsters wasn’t particularly dangerous for him anymore. Given his current strength, even the most powerful creatures lurking beneath the waves would have a difficult time posing a serious threat.

The real problem was finding them.

Kagura’s ability to perceive her surroundings through the wind was extremely useful on land and in the sky, but it was considerably less effective underwater.

After all, there was no wind beneath the ocean’s surface.

And with such an enormous expanse of water stretching in every direction, searching for monsters hidden in its depths would be extraordinarily troublesome.

Haruto pondered the problem for a while before an idea suddenly occurred to him.

“Charizard, find us an island somewhere out at sea.”

“Rooar!”

Charizard responded with a low growl before spreading its enormous wings and flying farther out over the water.

It didn’t take long for them to discover a suitable location.

The island was rather small, measuring only a few hundred square meters. Its rocky surface was mostly bare, with only a few scattered clumps of wild grass growing between the stones.

However, Haruto wasn’t looking for somewhere comfortable to live.

For what he had in mind, the island would do perfectly.

Charizard descended toward the rocky shore, and Haruto jumped from its back, landing lightly on the ground.

“All right. Time to get to work.”

He immediately retrieved a large assortment of cooking utensils and ingredients from the Gourmet Restaurant.

After finding a reasonably flat area, he set up a makeshift outdoor kitchen, complete with stoves, pots, and several preparation tables.

Then he began cooking.

However, these weren’t going to be ordinary meals.

Haruto deliberately chose dishes with especially powerful fragrances, the kind capable of making someone hungry from an enormous distance away.

Red-Braised Rock-Armored Boar.

Black Iron Bull Offal in Spicy Red Broth.

Stewed Two-Headed Snake.

One delicious dish after another began taking shape.

Rich steam rose from the simmering pots, carrying the intense aromas of meat, spices, and flavorful broth into the surrounding air.

Before long, the entire island was filled with mouthwatering fragrances.

Haruto even asked Kagura to manipulate the wind, directing the aromas across the ocean’s surface.

To make the bait even more effective, he poured a small amount of the freshly prepared broth directly into the sea.

The flavorful liquid spread through the surrounding water, creating another trail that nearby creatures might follow.

‘With something this fragrant, we should be able to attract a few sea monsters.’

And sure enough, his plan worked.

It wasn’t long before the water near the island began to churn.

Haruto noticed the disturbance immediately.

“Here they come.”

A smile appeared on his face as he turned toward the shoreline.

Splash!

An enormous creature emerged from the sea.

It resembled a gigantic boulder at first glance, but as it climbed onto the island, its true appearance became clear.

It was a massive Rock Crab.

Its body was protected by an exceptionally thick, stone-like shell, and it possessed a pair of enormous pincers that looked capable of crushing solid rock.

The moment it spotted Haruto and his companions, the creature raised its claws and charged toward them.

“Kanna, I’ll leave this one to you.”

Haruto turned toward the white-haired girl.

The Rock Crab appeared to possess excellent defenses.

Although neither Haruto nor Kagura would have any difficulty defeating it, their attacks would probably damage the creature’s body.

And Haruto wanted to avoid spilling blood if possible.

A strong smell of blood could frighten away other monsters and interfere with his attempts to lure them toward the island.

Having Kanna deal with the crab was the more convenient option.

Kanna nodded quietly.

She turned her gaze toward the approaching monster, and its enormous figure appeared reflected within her eyes.

A faint fluctuation of energy passed through her body.

The next instant, the Rock Crab’s soul was drawn out of its physical form.

Its massive body immediately went limp.

Just like that, the fight was over.

Haruto approached the fallen creature and examined it carefully.

“Hmm… Not bad at all.”

He inspected the enormous claws and the thick shell before nodding in satisfaction.

“This should be excellent steamed whole.”

He immediately transferred the Rock Crab into the Gourmet Restaurant.

One ingredient secured.

However, that was merely the beginning.

As Haruto continued cooking, the fragrances spreading across the water grew increasingly intense.

More and more sea monsters began approaching the island.

There were enormous octopus-like monsters with sharp teeth growing along their tentacles, armored sharks with thick protective plating, electric eel monsters capable of generating powerful electrical discharges, and countless other bizarre creatures Haruto couldn’t even identify at a glance.

Some possessed strange horns or unusual fins, while others had bodies covered in spines, scales, or natural armor.

Their appearances varied enormously, but they all seemed to share one thing in common.

They had been attracted by the smell of Haruto’s cooking.

The sea monsters charged toward the island one after another, only to encounter Kanna waiting for them.

Whenever a creature came close enough, she would calmly extract its soul.

Haruto would then collect the lifeless body and transfer it into the Gourmet Restaurant.

Their coordination was remarkably efficient.

Before long, the waters surrounding the little island had become extraordinarily lively.

Waves surged against the rocks as enormous sea monsters surfaced one after another.

Their roars and cries echoed across the ocean, only to stop abruptly whenever Kanna dealt with them.

Haruto kept cooking while collecting the ingredients that arrived, thoroughly enjoying the process.

“Not bad. Not bad at all!”

He couldn’t suppress the broad smile spreading across his face.

‘Sea monsters are much more straightforward than the ones on land!’

He’d cooked plenty of delicious dishes while traveling through the Great Forest of Jura, but their aromas had rarely attracted more than a handful of monsters.

The creatures living in the forest were apparently much more cautious.

The monsters inhabiting the ocean, however, seemed perfectly willing to rush toward anything that smelled delicious.

Haruto certainly wasn’t going to complain.

He paused briefly and added several more spices to one of his simmering pots.

The already powerful fragrance immediately became even richer.

“Come on, then. The more monsters, the better!”

He was already looking forward to adding even more high-quality ingredients to his collection.

However, just as he was considering how to attract another wave of sea monsters, he felt a gentle tug on his sleeve.

Haruto turned his head.

Kanna was standing beside him, looking up with her usual calm expression.

When she saw that she had his attention, she spoke quietly.

“The souls… are full.”

Haruto blinked.

Then he immediately understood.

Although Kanna possessed the ability to absorb souls, the number she could store wasn’t unlimited.

He’d previously considered experimenting with soul-based cooking, so he’d asked her to preserve quite a few monster souls rather than simply releasing them.

Now, after absorbing so many additional souls from the sea monsters they’d captured, she’d finally reached her storage limit.

That was only to be expected.

“In that case, let’s release some of the weaker monster souls—”

Haruto stopped halfway through his sentence.

He’d been about to tell Kanna to discard the excess souls.

After all, they already had more than enough, and there was no particular reason to keep storing every single one.

However, the mention of souls reminded him of something he’d wanted to investigate for quite some time.

Soul cuisine.

His eyes narrowed thoughtfully.

In most of the worlds Haruto had visited, souls were extremely difficult to work with.

In some worlds, they were intangible, mysterious existences that couldn’t be directly observed or manipulated through ordinary means.

In others, anything involving the soul belonged to such an advanced level of power that Haruto hadn’t yet been qualified to explore it properly.

But this world was different.

Here, the Voice of the World existed.

It could recognize unusual abilities, assign names to them, and establish them as formal skills.

If Haruto could successfully develop a method of preparing souls as ingredients, there was a very good chance that the Voice of the World would recognize his achievement and turn the technique into an actual skill.

And that wasn’t the only advantage.

This world already possessed numerous abilities related to souls.

Even the process of evolving into an Awakened Demon Lord required an enormous number of human souls as nourishment.

In other words, the fundamental laws governing this world were particularly accommodating toward the manipulation and use of soul energy.

If Haruto wanted to experiment with soul cuisine, this might be the best environment he could possibly find.

The more he considered the idea, the brighter his eyes became.

His earlier enthusiasm for capturing sea monsters immediately took a back seat.

Right now, he was far more interested in discovering whether souls could actually be prepared as ingredients.

“All right. That’s enough hunting for now.”

Without another moment’s hesitation, Haruto opened the entrance to the Gourmet Restaurant.

He gathered the dishes he’d already prepared but hadn’t gotten around to eating, then carried them inside.

Compared with capturing a few more sea monsters, investigating soul cuisine was clearly the more interesting opportunity.

Kagura, Kanna, Gardevoir, and Charizard exchanged puzzled looks.

They weren’t entirely sure why Haruto had suddenly lost interest in hunting, especially when his bait had been working so well.

Nevertheless, none of them questioned his decision.

They simply followed him into the Gourmet Restaurant.

As the group disappeared, the extraordinarily tempting fragrances surrounding the little island gradually faded.

The sea monsters that had been drawn toward the shore continued circling the area for a while, apparently searching for the source of the delicious smells.

Unfortunately, their target was gone.

With nothing left to attract them, the creatures eventually dispersed, returning reluctantly to the depths of the ocean.

…

Inside the Gourmet Restaurant, Haruto and his companions sat down and enjoyed the dishes he’d prepared earlier.

The red-braised boar, spicy bull offal, stewed snake, and other dishes were quickly polished off.

Once everyone had finished eating, Haruto led Kagura, Kanna, and Gardevoir out of the Gourmet Restaurant again.

They returned to the rocky shore of the little island.

This time, however, Haruto wasn’t interested in preparing ordinary food.

“Kanna, release one of the weaker monster souls first.”

Kanna nodded.

She extended one pale hand in front of herself.

Her delicate palm gradually took on a crystalline appearance, becoming almost transparent.

A moment later, something emerged from within it.

It was the soul of a sharklike monster.

The spirit was translucent, possessing a faint grayish-blue color.

It floated in midair, maintaining the general appearance of the creature it had been while alive.

Its mouth was still filled with sharp teeth, and it continued struggling instinctively as though attempting to escape.

However, Kanna’s control prevented it from moving freely.

Its movements were sluggish and strangely restrained.

Haruto rested a hand beneath his chin and slowly walked around the floating soul.

He circled it twice, examining the unusual existence from several different angles.

‘Souls really are strange things.’

The creature was clearly visible, yet it possessed no ordinary physical substance.

Something that could be seen but not touched couldn’t be handled like conventional meat or vegetables.

Normal physical methods were practically useless against it.

If Haruto wanted to prepare a soul as food, the first problem he needed to solve was how to process the soul itself.

“Now then… How am I supposed to cook something like this?”

He considered the question for a moment.

Then Myriad Worlds appeared in his hand.

Haruto took a deep breath, adjusted his grip, and swung the kitchen knife toward the floating shark soul.

The blade passed straight through the translucent body.

There was no resistance whatsoever.

It felt almost exactly like cutting through empty air.

However, immediately afterward, something unexpected happened.

A distinct cut appeared across the shark’s spiritual body.

At the same time, the soul’s color began fading.

Countless tiny particles of spiritual light escaped from the wound, drifting into the surrounding air like scattered sparks.

“AAAAARGH!”

A soundless scream erupted directly inside Haruto’s mind.

It wasn’t a physical cry carried through the air, but an agonized wail originating from the soul itself.

Haruto watched carefully.

The shark’s spiritual body was rapidly growing thinner and more transparent.

Its outline became increasingly indistinct as more fragments of light broke away.

Within moments, the entire soul dispersed completely.

Not even the smallest remnant remained.

Haruto stared at the empty space where the shark had been floating.

Clearly, his first experiment had failed.

He glanced down at Myriad Worlds, then scratched his head with a troubled expression.

“Looks like I can’t just process a soul directly with Myriad Worlds.”

The knife was indeed capable of affecting souls.

That much had been confirmed.

However, there was a major problem.

Although Myriad Worlds could inflict wounds on a soul, the resulting damage caused the entire spiritual body to disintegrate.

That made it impossible to preserve the soul as an ingredient.

It was rather like trying to crack an egg with a hammer.

Technically, the hammer could break the shell.

Unfortunately, by the time the blow was finished, the entire egg would have been smashed beyond use.

Haruto frowned and began considering other approaches.

‘Direct cutting doesn’t work…’

‘Then what if I use some kind of energy to assist the blade?’

An idea immediately came to mind.

Appetite Energy.

The energy generated by his Gourmet Cells was an extraordinarily unusual form of power.

Unlike ordinary physical energy, Appetite Energy could interact with phenomena that extended into the spiritual realm.

In a sense, it already possessed certain properties connected to the soul.

Perhaps it could provide the missing element needed to process souls without destroying them.

The possibility was worth testing.

Haruto immediately began circulating the energy within his body.

Using his control over the various powers he’d acquired throughout his travels, he gradually shifted the energy toward its appetite-based form.

Once the transformation was complete, he directed the concentrated Appetite Energy into his right hand.

From there, it flowed through the handle of Myriad Worlds and spread across the surface of the blade.

A moment later, the kitchen knife began emitting a faint golden glow.