Seeing Sanji accept Menchi's unexpected and sudden challenge, Alex does his best to remain calm, barely able to restrain himself from openly facepalming.
Thankfully, I am wearing my mask... I need to stay calm and not smash my face against a hard object. This is so silly... what is Menchi even thinking? Also, why are they here in Alubarna? This goes against the timeline.
Alex quickly steps closer to Benezia and whispers, "What is going on? According to the timeline, this shouldn't even be poss—"
"Forget the timeline," Benezia cuts him off. "This might be a good opportunity to learn more about the current situation here. Menchi's bounty is so low that she probably won't even be recognized, so we should calmly observe and listen. Just relax."
Fine...
I guess we are in for a food fight! Get it? Hehe.
Princess Jewel will be the judge! She always wanted to complain extensively and call things fucking raw. Maybe she can even call someone a Peasant Idiot Sandwich. Princess Jewel can't wait to test the dishes.
I sincerely regret giving you your own smartphone, and I regret even more that I shared my YouTube Account with you...!
Also, I meant a different kind of food fight, you know, the one... not the ones you're thinking of. Also, you never even watched the full episodes of his shows; you just watch funny YouTube compilations where he insults people.
What else does Princess Jewel require to be a Judge?
"..."
Alex can feel Benezia turning toward him, glaring through her veil, her gaze directed slightly above his head.
Benezia does not qualify to be a judge; she can maybe deliver the food to Princess Jewel in her sleazy nun outfit. It will play well to the Peasant atmosphere.
Seeing Benezia's eyes briefly glow in biotic Energy, Alex immediately panics and steps away from her, carrying Jewel with him.
Jewel... enough. It's not happening!
You'd better stay on my head and don't move an inch! Focus on maintaining Zetsu or you'll cause a damn incident and ruin everything.
This is not fair, Soulmate! Princess Jewel wants to be the judge!
"So, how do you want to compete, my lovely lady? I'd gladly cook anything for you," Sanji asks, still looking lovestruck.
"Sanji-Kun, we don't have time for this. Are you out of your mind?!" Nami yells, her face immediately turning awkward.
"Sanji, Nami is right! Not at this time. We need some supplies and prepare ourselves for... you know. This is important, you know it yourself," Vivi adds, agreeing with Nami.
"Nami-san, Vivi-san, sometimes a man can't fight fate. As a cook, as a man, I have no choice. I need to accept this challenge," Sanji declares, his face completely serious, before turning slightly flushed.
"You lecherous... just because she's a beautiful woman?" Nami asks angrily before turning toward Menchi. "You... are dressed weirdly. Come to think of it, I rather like those clothes."
Menchi steps forward, facing Sanji, deciding to ignore Nami. "Whatever challenge you choose, I'm up for it. If you beat me, I'm even willing to give you a generous reward."
"A... a reward?!" Sanji asks, his face now completely back to looking perverted.
Not the reward you are imagining... idiot.
"I'll hand over a precious [Blue-Finned Elephant Tuna]. It's extremely rare, and it's in perfect condition," Menchi promises.
"A Blue-Finned Elephant Tuna? I cooked one before, but a certain glutton ate it without sharing. I didn't even get to taste it myself," Sanji laments. "That's mighty generous of you, my beautiful lady."
What is she doing? That thing is Light-Blue, it's worth a lot of FC. Maybe she could even prepare a valuable dish with it. I... no, I can't interfere. This is her challenge. She hasn't asked for anything in particular, and I don't have the right to shut her down. If she loses the fish, it's her right.
"Of course, I accept!" Sanji declares.
"Wait a minute, Sanji-Kun..." Nami says, her face twisting in annoyance, barely able to hold back her anger. "As soon as a beautiful woman is involved, you easily fall for scams..."
"You!" She yells, now staring and pointing at Menchi. "What do you want if you win? Do you want to scam us?"
Menchi shrugs, seemingly uncaring. "Give me some recipe, or some advice, I don't care. I just want this challenge to be serious. I am not interested in some casual friendly contest. This is a real showdown, which is why I'm willing to offer you something I deeply value. If I lose, I deserve to lose that as well."
A small crowd of people gathers around them, obviously interested in their little challenge—others simply stare at them out of curiosity.
Upon hearing Menchi's dedication, Sanji's expression suddenly turns serious. All the fun and lewdness are gone.
"How about a fair and completely even contest?" Sanji suggests, pulling out a few coins and bills from his pockets.
"I got 18,700 Belly," he says. "It's not much, but we both get 9,350 Belly. Then we can both buy our ingredients from this market, and we can have our dishes judged."
"Hahaha, that sounds funny."
"I want to judge!"
"I did something like that in my youth as well."
No! These Peasants want to steal Princess Jewel's role as the judge!
A bunch of elderly shopkeepers are yelling over each other, getting way too excited.
A middle-aged man steps forward. "You can use my store. I'm closed for today anyway, since I'm all out of ingredients. I got some pans, oil, salt, and spices you can use."
"Perfect. Now we just need a few judges," Sanji says. "Also..." He stares at Alex, Benezia, and Tereza. "Are these your acquaintances? They can follow me to make sure I'll abide by the rules. Nami-san, Vivi-san, can you follow my beautiful challenger? Please, Lady, tell me your name."
"I'll tell you if you impress me enough," Menchi says, smirking. "As for your rules, I'll gladly accept. You can pick the judges."
"I want to judge myself," Sanji finally says. "You seem to be confident, and you seem to know me for some reason? I guess my reputation from Baratie still follows me around. How about we both test our food? I'm sure we can come to a conclusion—you seem passionate and honest, I don't doubt your judgement. As for the theme, forget it. Let's each cook whatever we want. We'll be judging on taste, texture, uniqueness, and presentation. How about 90 minutes combined preparation and cooking time?"
Alex briefly checks the mission counter, noting only 63 minutes remaining.
"We only got an hour," Alex mutters, loud enough so Menchi hears him.
"Make it 60 minutes," Menchi announces. "Starting... now!"
Grabbing exactly 9,350 Belly out of Sanji's hand, she turns around and rushes into the markets.
"Hey... wait!" Nami yells, following after her, Vivi looking embarrassed but following along anyway.
Alex sighs.
What are we even doing?!
Sanji stares after Menchi, who's quickly disappearing. Despite the time limit, he is not moving, briefly closing his eyes.
Why is Sanji sleeping? Is he stupid? Princess Jewel does not understand.
"He's probably putting a recipe together, thinking what he can reasonably buy for ingredients with that meagre budget," Alex guesses. "Or he wants to calm down," he quickly adds.
"Could also be that he is a total idiot," Alex says, smirking behind his mask, his voice a little lowered.
"Hehe," Sanji laughs, glancing at Alex. "Follow me, and you'll see for yourself, mask guy."
"We'll stay here," Benezia comments, Tereza looking around awkwardly.
"Why do I need to follow this guy around?" Alex asks, reluctantly following after Sanji anyway.
"You... what is your relation to that lovely green maiden?" Sanji immediately questions him, pulling out a cigarette and lighting it.
"It's... complicated?" Alex responds, a little surprised by the sudden question. "Why do you care?"
"Of course, I care!" Sanji states. "The fire in her eyes, the passion in her voice, the way she was carrying her knives! I can see it all! Passion, love, hopes, skill, ambition, dreams. Such a perfect goddess. You must be her servant, following after her, right?"
"I don't think you can say that, it's kinda the opposite... not really... let's just say I support her with money and a lot of expensive and rare cooking ingredients while she cooks all day trying to improve and travelling around with me. I guess she also hands me some of her works to eat and sell."
"I see," Sanji says, nodding along, taking a deep drag from his cigarette. "An ambitious lady. Well, since you seem to be in charge of ingredients, maybe you'll learn something today. Observe."
"... why can't you be like that in front of women, huh?" Alex mutters to himself.
Together, they quickly go from stall to stall. To his surprise, Sanji doesn't actually buy anything. The first stand he stops at is a fruit stand. He sees some squeezed oranges and politely asks the vendor, "do you need the pressed out oranges?"
"The pressed out ones?" the vendor asks, raising an eyebrow. "That's just garbage... not even the animals will eat the bitter skin, they are in the bin over there. Take them if you want to help me dispose of them."
Grabbing an empty bag from the vendor, Sanji swiftly bags a load of oranges. Sanji quickly moves on. Walking between stands, Sanji keeps asking the merchants for leftovers, not slowing down.
This guy... is he really gonna pull that stunt? I vaguely remember something like this, but I won't let him pull that crap! He will not disrespect Menchi that way.
"Bad parts of fish, bones from various meats with still a little bit of tough flesh on them, fatty meat parts, potato peels, vegetable trimmings..." Alex recounts. "Dude, what are you doing? I get that wasting food is bad, but she challenged you for real. This is a real challenge. This is a cheap move; even if she wins, it won't count, and she won't be satisfied. Drop that bullshit, will you? You are insulting her. Do you think you are that far above her? I warn you, if you underestimate her, you won't just lose, but you'll piss her off as well."
"Hmph, a true cook can cook a delicious meal with anything. Wasting food is a sin, and I won't stand for it," Sanji says, his expression slightly changing as Alex rebukes him. "However... it seems you truly care about your employer. Fine, I'll spend some money as well, since I don't have a main ingredient yet."
Walking up to another meat seller, Sanji looks around, before his gaze settles on a large brown-red piece of meat.
"I see... oy pops, give me my money's worth in meat," Sanji says, handing over his entire stash of money and pointing at the large lump of meat.
"Camel meat, huh? You look like a visitor, trust me, it's not an easy ingredient to cook with," the meat vendor replies, looking a bit sceptical.
"I can handle it," Sanji declares, receiving the meat.
"This will be fun," he says, smiling, satisfied with his purchase.
Back at their initial starting point, Alex sees Menchi already standing in a tent, speedily chopping various ingredients, licking her lips in satisfaction.
As Sanji and Alex arrive, Nami immediately yells. "She is cheating! She took a bunch of stuff for free; she begged for it! She then had more money to use for other items."
"Uhm, Nami, she only received things the vendors were planning on throwing away," Vivi corrects her, looking a bit torn.
Sanji walks into the tent, his smile growing wide after hearing about Menchi's strategy. He sees a small cooking station prepared for him and immediately gets to work.
"This is so much fun," he says, grinning for real after seeing Menchi at work.
"Menchi is looking incredibly focused, almost fanatical," Tereza says to Alex, both standing a little distance away. "I'm not sure if this is a good thing or a bad thing."
As both people cook, Alex steps a little closer and pays a little more attention, keeping an eye on both of them.
"We can only wait and see... I for one trust her!" Alex says.
Not that this silly, dumb contest matters to me... but it does for her.
Without someone prestigious like Princess Jewel as the head judge, this Peasant contest lacks class and is completely hopeless.
"..."
------------------------------------------------
A/N: Always thankful for Power Stones, Comments, and Reviews. Thank you for reading!
If you are interested, then please support me at patreon.com/FRWriter
85+ Early chapters available - I will still release on WN daily!! Thank you!
New Chapters every Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday!
Bored? Complains? Demands? Check out the Discord: https://discord.gg/puVqWsf3y9
Thank you for supporting the story with Power Stones! Every bit of help is appreciated.