Primordial Draconic Incubus With A Gourmet Chef System

"If you both had simply eaten what was given to you, the dish would have been a delicious balance of flavors. Alas… not only have you both ruined the dishes, but you are now both-"

Suddenly, Fenwick's eyes widened as he tremblingly pointed at James' tongue, "Y-you're tongue… it's turning purple!"

"What!?" James furrowed his brows as he suddenly felt an unreasonable urge to scratch his tongue.n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

"Your tongue is tur-" Fenwick began repeating, only to stop midway through his sentence when he felt a burning sensation coming from his tongue.

"Why does my tongue feel like it's on fire?" Fenwick mumbled to himself as he stuck his tongue out and used Mana Sense. Instantly, his face turned pale when he saw his tongue was rapidly turning fiery red.

Soon, the red coloring rapidly spread to the rest of Fenwick's body, while James' body rapidly began turning purple.

Lily panicked seeing the state of their appearances. She quickly turned to Lucian for help. [Big Brother Lucian, what's happening to them? Please help them. You must have a way, right?]

Faced with Lily's hope-filled eyes, Lucian gently smiled at her. [Don't worry, they'll be fine. It's merely a minor poison that can easily be removed with a Detoxification Potion. But don't tell them that. This can be considered as punishment for them distrusting me.]

'Did Big Brother Lucian poison them?' Lily quickly shook her head to remove that thought. 'No, Big Brother Lucian would never do that!'

"Master, quickly consume this Detoxification Potion!" The only Bone Tempering Realm Mage among James' guards had always kept an eye on his Master and Lucian, just in case. Lucian was too mysterious; therefore, there was no telling if he had a hidden agenda against his Master. He could even be the hidden trump card of another Merchant from the Orchard Family ordered to assassinate his Master.

After all, Merchants from the Orchard Family always fought each other openly and within the shadows. In fact, the Orchard Family even promoted such behavior because only the strongest and smartest Merchants were given positions in the family. Otherwise, they would be relegated to just being nobodies in the family.

James hastily grabbed the potion from his guard and chugged it down. Almost instantly, the itchiness began subsiding, and the color of his body began returning to its normal white color.

After seeing James' appearance had returned to normal once he consumed a Detoxification Potion, Fenwick took out a Detoxification Potion from his Spatial Ring and quickly consumed it.

"Ahh~ Much better." Fenwick sighed in relief once the searing hot sensation began subsiding.

"Consider this a small punishment for going against a chef."

Lucian's indifferent voice sounded from the kitchen, causing Fenwick, James, and the guard to frown.

"Did you poison Master and Sir Fenwick's dishes?" The guard questioned him with gritted teeth. His previous respect for Lucian was nowhere to be seen.

"Big Brother Lucian would never do something as shameless as poisoning his customers," Lily said to the guard.

She trusted Lucian! He was not an evil person!

However, the guard ignored her. She was Lucian's employee, so of course she would defend him. In fact, she might even be an accomplice.

[You all, don't be so hasty to attack him or our families will be doomed. It's fine if we die, but if the Master dies, our families will have to pay with their blood.] The guard hastily told the other guards when he sensed they were channeling their Mana.

Lucian sighed with a shake of his head. "Haah, a Mage's heart is truly fickle. At one moment, you were respectfully bowing, and now you are questioning me about poisoning their dish."

The guard's face blushed in embarrassment, but he continued glaring. If not for the fact he could not sense Lucian's Mage Rank, he would have already attacked him with his fellow guards.

"I obtain nothing from poisoning their food." Lucian shrugged.

The Guard frowned. "Then how do you explain the poison in the dishes that you cooked? Are you saying that we are framing you?"

"When did I say you were framing me? As for why their food contains poison, it's actually quite simple. The red wine used in the Sous Vide Filet Mignon is a Grade Five ingredient from the Titan Drunken Blood Monkey, which contains a special property. "

"The poison only forms under a specific condition — when it is burnt — which I had accounted for in the cooking process. However, I didn't expect someone to know more about cooking than me."

"As for why you both had different reactions to the poison. It's quite simple, every Race is different."

"If you don't believe me, try it yourself." Lucian threw a bottle containing a drop of blood from the Titan Drunken Blood Monkey at the guard. Of course, it was provided by the System, which had collected it from the Titan Drunken Blood Monkey before they left his restaurant.

After catching the bottle, the guard frowned but did not hesitate to open it.

*Woosh*

The restaurant was instantly enveloped in a delicious wine aroma.

"I'm not much of a wine enjoyer, but this is truly remarkable!" James sniffed the air with an intoxicated expression.

As for the guard, he quickly surrounded himself with a layer of Mana before examining the liquid with his Mana Sense.

"Now burn the red wine, then drink it." Lucian indifferently instructed.

"Wait!" James hurriedly shouted, stopping his guard.

"Give the bottle back to the Senior."

The guard was confused but did as told when he saw the look in his Master's eyes. It was a look that promised a certain death if he disobeyed.

Of course, the deadly glare did not go unnoticed by Lucian, but he acted oblivious to it. He wanted to see where this was heading.

Once James saw the bottle disappear, he spoke, "Senior, there is no need for us to do a test. I believe Senior wouldn't harm us. Like Senior said, it was our fault."

As a Merchant, he had a keen eye for people. Although he could not read the mysterious owner, he was confident that he had not poisoned his food. There were three reasons why. Firstly, he had tasted a piece of Sous Vide Filet Mignon before, and nothing happened to his body. Only after the dish changed, he became poisoned. Secondly, the feeling Lucian gave him was that of an expert.

If he wanted to harm him, there was no need for him to poison his food. Just a simple attack would kill him. Thirdly, if he was poisoned to death, Lucan would be the biggest suspect. So it made no sense for him to go to such lengths to kill him.

[That was… surprising.] The System said all of a sudden in a confused tone.

[He wants to recruit me as a bodyguard, or his personal chef… or probably both.] Lucian explained indifferently.

[Wow. He's quite ambitious, yet equally naive. How can the future Transcendent Chef be someone's lackey?] The System snorted with disdain.

Lucian merely shrugged, and said to James and Fenwick, "By the way, unless you enjoy drinking poison. I suggest throwing away the food."

They nodded with reluctance. Throwing away fifty Low-Grade Mana Stones was not something ordinary Mages could do. Fortunately, they were not ordinary Mages. However, it still left a bitter taste in their mouths. Of course, not from the bitter-tasting Sous Vide Filet Mignon.

They felt bitterness because they could not savor the dish.

In the end, they could only console themselves with the fact that the Secret Realm did not appear to be opening any time soon. Thus, they had plenty of chances to try his dish.

After a moment, James placed fifty-five Low-Grade Mana Stones on the table and said to Lucian, "Senior, I'll be leaving now. This is my payment for the Siren's Melody Poached Egg, and I'd like to pre-order the Sous Vide Filet Mignon for tomorrow at six in the morning, as well."

"Alright, remember to be here tomorrow at 6 in the morning." Lucian nodded as he placed the Mana Stones into his Inventory.

<{194 Low-Grade Mana Stones —> 249 Low-Grade Mana Stones}>

<{Congratulations! You only need 991 customers until the Quest is completed.}>

Lucian was inwardly speechless by the System Notification. Serving that many customers would take ages, which he did not have the required time for.

'A month's time is just too short unless everyone that came to Moon Grove Forest is rich. Alas… I doubt that.'

After hearing Lucian's words, James left with an expectant smile.

[Are you coming, Lily?] Fenwick asked after noticing Lily was standing still.

[Lily will first help Big Brother Lucian close the restaurant and then go to sleep.] Lily responded.

[Okay. Make sure you're not out for too long.] With a sigh, Fenwick also left.

With that, only Lucian and Lily remained in the restaurant. And of course, the guards who were diligently patrolling the area.

[Lily, is something bothering you?]

Lily nodded and, in her beautiful voice, replied, [Lily wanted to know why the red cloud didn't appear again.]

'The red cloud?' Lucian frowned as realization dawned on him why Lily had been anxious before. She was worried about the Universal Tribulation and confused when it did not descend.

After chuckling, Lucian explained, [The reason why the Universal Tribulation descended before was because of Maximillian's son's Soul accidentally being added to the dish. Without a powerful Soul messing with my dish, the dish came out as intended.]