School Transmigration: I, Chosen as the Saint by Dragons at the Start-Chapter 237 --The Food Festival

Blushing, Alison pushed Armando away, "Stop it, I... I’m not playing along with you anymore."

She then ran towards the direction of the marketplace.

Armando called out loudly, "Alison, wait for me."

"I’m not waiting for you!" she yelled back.

Quickly catching up, Armando argued, "But all the money is with me! What can you buy on your own?"

Realizing he had a point, Alison conceded, "Fine, leave the money with me, and I won’t be mad anymore."

Armando readily agreed, "Really? Well then, great!"

He pulled out a pouch of gold coins from his bosom and handed it to Alison.

Holding the pouch in her hands, Alison said, "Hmph, I’ll forgive you this time. But if there’s a next time, I won’t bother with you anymore, understood?"

Armando, all smiles, assured her, "Of course, there won’t be a next time. I promise."

"Fine! We’ll leave it at that for now. Oh, and," Alison’s face showed concern as she continued, "I heard about what happened at the dueling grounds today. It scared me to death. Please, don’t duel with that Second Prince anymore. He’s such a narrow-minded person. If something were to really happen to you, what would I do?"

Armando’s face lit up with a content smile, "Don’t worry, Alison."

Knowing Armando to be both stubborn and decisive, Alison knew he wouldn’t heed her advice, shaking her head in resignation, "Suit yourself! I won’t bother with you."

Changing the subject, Armando suggested, "Let’s not talk about that now. Let’s head to the market and see if there’s anything you like."

Alison responded eagerly, "Yes, yes!"

Hand in hand, Armando and Alison made their way to the marketplace.

The Brown Market, the largest market within the empire, was home to an array of oddities and a variety of exquisite dishes from across the continent.

With its dazzling array of goods, one could spend days, if not weeks, exploring all it had to offer.

The Brown Market, the empire’s largest marketplace, boasts over 4,000 shops, divided into three distinct areas.

The first section is the "Women’s Paradise," dedicated to items specifically for female clientele.

Here, one can find an array of jewelry, jade items, and luxurious clothing that dazzles the eye.

The second section is the "Men’s Aristocracy Area," not exclusively for the nobility despite its name.

Here, anyone, be it a commoner or someone from another empire, as long as they possess the means, can find everything a man might desire.

From attire and accessories to armor and weapons, and even services ranging from beauties to gambling dens, this place has it all, making every visiting man reluctant to leave.

The third section is the "World’s Delicacies Area," aptly named for its vast selection of diverse and delicious foods.

It gathers a wide variety of the continent’s finest dishes and renowned chefs from different regions.

"Armando, come here! I want to buy this, and that, oh, shopkeeper, I also want that one over there, yes, that one," Alison excitedly called out.

Armando, carrying bags of all sizes filled with various, bizarre items he didn’t even know the use for, grumbled with a darkened expression, "Alison, Alison, Alison."

After calling her name several times, Alison seemed not to hear him, lost in her shopping spree.

Finally, Armando snapped, "Alison!"

She turned, nonchalantly asking, "What’s wrong?"

With a resigned tone, Armando said, "Look at me, with bags big and small. I really can’t carry anymore. Can we please stop buying things?"

Blushing slightly, Alison conceded, "Alright! Let’s go have some delicious food. My treat!"

Alison led the way, with Armando trailing behind with a gloomy face, muttering, "Isn’t that still my money? Sigh, being a man is truly hard! Especially for someone like me, it’s even harder!"

He sighed while watching Alison’s figure ahead.

Lethargically following the lively Alison, he mumbled under his breath.

Upon reaching the World’s Delicacies Area and seeing the crowd, they were puzzled.

It wasn’t usually this crowded.

Armando wondered why.

But then he thought, "Who cares! Let’s eat first. Carrying all these things is almost killing me."

Alison, however, hadn’t noticed the unusual number of people today.

She pondered, "What should I eat? The vegetarian roasted goose from last time, the windtail fish fin, or the clear-broiled shark skin? Such a headache!"

Unable to decide, she just laughed quietly to herself.

Annoyed, Armando asked, "What are you laughing at?"

Swallowing her saliva, Alison pouted, "I’m hungry, I want to eat something delicious. Hurry up and take me to eat."

"Alright, alright," Armando replied with a grimace.

However, after walking a few more steps, Armando still felt something was odd.

He asked Alison, "Have you noticed how unusually crowded it is today?"

Alison now also paid attention to this issue, "Yeah, why are there so many people? Why?" she asked in return.

Armando decided, "Never mind, I’ll ask someone else."

He approached a tall, handsome young man and inquired, "Brother, why are there so many people today? What’s the occasion?"

The young man answered indifferently, "Today is the annual Food Festival of the World’s Delicacies."

"Oh! I see, thank you, brother." Armando thanked him with a bow, an idea forming in his mind.

Before long, Armando and Alison found themselves seated at the judges’ table.

The host announced, "Today, we will determine who will earn the title of the top culinary spot at the World’s Delicacies. The competition has now entered its final battle."

"Our challenger, hailing from Brown Tavern and known as the Culinary God, is Wall, and defending the title for the third consecutive time is the Culinary Lunatic, Lloyd. Let’s look forward to the pinnacle showdown between the Culinary God and the Culinary Lunatic!"

Alison mumbled, "It’s already the finals? Does that mean we’ve missed out on a lot of delicious dishes?"

Armando shook his head but did not reply.

The host continued to passionately introduce the competition, "Look at Culinary God Wall’s dish for today, garlic-butter split prawns. Choosing such a common dish for today’s battle, why is that? Let’s discover the secret behind it!"

"What ingredients has he selected? Fresh deep-sea blue prawns, yes, the very rare deep-sea blue prawns from the Great Sea of the Southern Flame Empire. Only waters as clear as sapphires can nurture such deep-sea blue prawns. Seeing the main ingredient is deep-sea blue prawns, I believe this garlic-butter split prawns dish is anything but simple."

Culinary God Wall then produced a set of exceedingly luxurious knives.

The host exclaimed in surprise, "Could this be the legendary Celestial Realm blade?"

The Celestial Realm is a name for a set of knives, crafted by a master weaponsmith from a block of Millennium Frost Iron found in the snow realm, using leftover materials from the creation of an Ice Sword.

The Ice Sword’s current owner is well-known to be the Second Prince of the Northern Mountain Empire.

"It’s unexpected to see the Celestial Realm blade in the hands of Culinary God. We’ve never seen him use it before. It seems he highly regards his opponent today."

"It truly proves the saying, ’Fine clothes make the man, and a fine saddle makes the horse; a good chef uses a good knife.’"

"Now, let’s turn our attention to the three-time champion and bearer of the title Culinary Lunatic, Lloyd. What kind of surprise will he bring us today?"

"Today’s setup by Lloyd is peculiar. His table lacks any special ingredients except for a bag of rice and various seasonings. What is he planning to make? Let’s wait and see."

Wall used the Celestial Realm blade to gently slice open the shells of the deep-sea blue prawns.

The unique properties of the Millennium Frost Iron were evident as the Celestial Realm blade emitted a chilly mist, ensuring the ingredients remained fresh.

Wall then slit open the back of each prawn, removed the intestines, and placed the prepared blue prawns into a steaming basket to cook on low heat.

Meanwhile, Lloyd was busy cooking a large pot of rice porridge, periodically adding a variety of seasonings.

The only peculiar aspect was the porridge’s color, which kept changing from red to green to purple and other hues in a mesmerizing display of transformation.

The host loudly announced, "The competition is nearing its end. Contestants, please prepare your dishes for presentation."

Lloyd served bowl after bowl of his rice porridge, while Wall’s Garlic Butter Split Prawns were also ready, both dishes exuding irresistible aromas.

Staff members delivered the culinary creations from both chefs to the judges’ table for the public judges to taste.

Alison was among the first to pick up a prawn, savoring it and remarking, "Delicious, so delicious."

Armando also tasted a prawn and commented, "It truly is delicious, even better than what we have in the palace."

No one at the judges’ table chose to try the rice porridge first; they all went for the Garlic Butter Split Prawns.

"10 points, 10 points, 10 points, 10 points..."

The host, thrilled, declared, "From Brown Tavern, Wall scores a perfect score.

Truly worthy of the title Culinary God!"

Gradually, the judges began to try Lloyd’s rice porridge, each one engrossed in their servings, ignoring the host’s repeated requests, "Please, judges, give your scores."

"Scores, please, everyone."

Witnessing this scene, Wall approached and took a bowl of the porridge to taste.

After a long silence, Wall admitted, "I’ve lost."