Isekai Journey Of The Magic Archer

"For the starters, I've made a dish I'd like to call (Crash)."

Small marble like balls, shiny and colorful.

All of them had only a black color to them, a shine unlike any normal shine one might see on a food item made without anything sweet.

"Crash… a unique name. And surely a unique way to present a rice cake."

"Hun?"

"Rice… cake?"

"Isn't that a sweet?"

The marbles themselves had no aroma to them. They were simple looking marble with no special smell or look to them.

Surely the shine they had was something unique, but that was all there was to this unique dish. Ultimately, it was something one would not pay much attention to even if it was dropped somewhere on the floor.

"Death, right?"

"The experience of death. Yes."

I was not expecting the students to understand this dish since, well; they were just students.

"Explain."

But, as I expected already, miss Cleo readily knew what these small balls presented as something so normal… yet possessing such a unique feel to them represented.

"I used fine ground rice paste to make the surface. Ah, the rice used was a unique kind of golden rice that only grows in the higher mountain regions of the eastern continent.

The inside is made into six unique sections, one being made with fresh eggs from various creatures not limited to birds.

Some eggs used are rare, and difficult to find but, they have their own unique characteristics.

Additionally, I've used fresh cuts of meat, including the meat of the giant fire boars.

The fire drake blood was used as the very core of the dish, so you might not get the complete experience of it until you have the entire thing at once."

It was the most simple dish out of the three courses, so I made a lot. Enough for every single person present to have at least one.

Though, I did not do the plating for all of them.

They just got it on a simple plate while the judges and the teachers were served in a special wine glass along with a special fluid that will help them when they start crying.

"This simple dish was made with the intention of reflecting the powerful experience of death, the sorrow loss brings, and how even within the most mundane lives, a darkness could make its place.

Hate is a powerful emotion that some might experience towards the cause of that loss. However, this dish was not made to represent loss or hate. But, simply the void, the darkness it contains. And how beyond that darkness, the colors and flavours one has longed for reside."

Thankfully, I did not have to explain to them how I had made those things.

They all saw me using the elemental spirits to temper, process, and create these things, and since they knew talking about the creation process before the students was not going to be of any use, they all just moved on, and observed the small marbles before them.

"Hmmm… let's have a taste then."

She could see the emotions that might have led to the creation of such a unique dish, but since she did not know my story or my past, she could not relate to these potent emotions.

'To understand them, she would have to correlate them with her own experiences, and that would make the emotions one might feel after having that simple thing even more vivid.'

A sentient mind was said to possess a unique memory that did not require one to remember every single thing that they experience on the daily basis.

But that did not mean the mind discards all the things that it feels.

Somewhere deep within the mind, there is always the record of that particular memory, emotion, and experience stored.

They just cannot experience them since it is not needed for the regular daily functioning, some of them might even be harmful to one.

But they still existed there.

"..."

When one eats that simple ball of emotions, they experience the strong void that they might or might not have known to have experienced.

'It was a strong emotion, so not many people would have known of its existence, either.'

That's just how the mind worked, anyway. And experiences like birth, the occasional near death experience, or the strong mixtures of positive-negative emotions are mostly blocked as well, so, in normal circumstances, one would never remember about them.

But… after eating that simple grenade of flavours, that changes.

"What…"

"Mom…"

"...no."

"Uhun. Uhun."

The kitchen was suddenly filled with small murmurs, an eerie silence, and some muffled voices of cries.

Some students were blankly staring down as they chew on the marble, some had unintentional tears in their eyes, some were suddenly clenching their fist, while some just became still.

The memories and emotions that one felt while eating it were subjective, but the strong flavors one tasted were all the same.

It exploded on their tongues, and the harmony of the flavors made their minds go blank for a moment.

'I was afraid some might experience strong negative things after having that, so serving it without the fluid that only the judges and teacher Cleo had was the right decision.'

Without that complimenting fluid, one only experienced those emotions until they were having that marble momentarily.

This surge of emotions did not last for long, and just vanished as soon as they had completely ingested the little marble.

And, as the nature of mind went, they all would completely forget what exactly they had just experienced, with only the faint memory of that strange experience remaining.

"I was not expecting this, Lucifer."

She only called me by my name this time.

"This… was not what I was expecting."

Her eyes were almost wet with tears as well, but she wiped them while finishing the last bit of the fluid left in the wine glass.

"Sorrow… if this is 'my' interpretation of sorrow, I must have made a mistake giving you all such a difficult theme."

The whole point of creating this dish was to make it possible for them to experience the theme of sorrow itself. Not to show what my sorrow was or what I thought sorrow was.

'Every person has a unique interpretation of an emotion. So if the theme was just the sorrow in its definable form alone, there was no need to show what I thought sorrow was or what I thought it could be represented as.'

Everyone had a different interpretation of it, so everyone had the right to understand it for themselves as well.

"You know… this experience might have been a blessing for many of us?"

"I…"

I did not really think too deeply when I made this. But, after making it and having it for myself for the first time, I knew this little ball of flavours was much more unique than just a food item.

'For the artists all over the world, this dish could just be a capsule of inspiration.'

I had only tried expressing sorrow with this one, but it was possible to make someone experience any kind of emotion or feeling I wanted through this dish.

"I would be happy if someone is blessed thanks to the food I made. It would be the biggest compliment for me."

What is art if not a canvas that inspires others?

It was not my intention at first, but as she said, that momentary experience surely must have been an experience comparable to a blessing for someone else.

And they got to experience it without any cost, so I might come out as some selfless person. And, this time, there was nothing wrong with it.

"You're more amazing than you know, Lucifer."

I just made what I wanted. And I liked it, so I wanted the others to try it as well.

There was nothing too deep about it, but I know it will be helpful for them. And, since they must have it for free, I know they will want to somehow repay me for it.

"Well, you're fun."

She asked me to present the main dish with her eyes and with a bow, I presented three courses to her, and placed three others on the table beside me, and invited Rein, our two presidents, and Zoe to join us.

The amount was limited, so the presidents would have to share it among themselves, but they were looking forward to it for a while now.

'Cradle would beat me if I can't let her have it, and president Zod would be upset that he and SanSan couldn't have such a special experience.

They had already asked me for it before, so I made some extra plates for them as well. And i know the other students and teachers would want to have it after having that appetiser, but there's nothing I can do about it.

With the limited time, this was all I could come up with.

There was no extra portion of the sweets anyway so, only the judges will get to have the sweets, and I know for damn sure they are not going to share it with anyone else.

'It was not something one could let go of anyway, so they were going to have it for themselves.'

And that was for the best.

Not everyone will be able to handle the dessert that I've prepared this time, so until one is mentally as strong as those people, it was better for them to not have it at all…

'They might lose their minds if they still dared to try it.'

So, it was best to limit the portions for the dessert…