Work Text:
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Rudger was a foodie in his first life. Contrary to popular belief, he didn’t always see eating as a necessity that could be suppressed by magic pills at times. No, he thoroughly enjoyed the savoury flavours of dishes and tempting sweets. Oh, how he adored those sweets.
Rudger couldn’t pinpoint when exactly, but after a certain point in his second life, he started craving food from the 21 st century like a pregnant woman.
Now, he liked the food in this world. Loved some of them, even. The meat was tastier than before, and the vegetables were tolerable enough for a previous veggie hater like himself. However, the problem was as follows: The food simply did not hit home .
He missed the incredible food and sweets that weren’t yet discovered in this world, like crazy. It drove him insane, and he often found himself tempted to search for a convenience store in the middle of the night, yet he returned to his bed in disappointment.
Which is why he learned how to cook his favourite dishes through countless attempts. Although he failed a lot and created dishes that looked poisonous, he eventually perfected his cooking skills and used them whenever the accomplished chefs of this world weren’t enough to satisfy his stomach.
His master, Grander, was sometimes a bit hurt by the process, but it didn’t matter. She could get over a stomach ache, but Rudger couldn’t get over the cravings that drove him insane.
The once-mediocre cooking skills of his were now on the level of Gordon Ramsay, he supposed. His master had reluctantly admitted his dishes were the most delicious she had ever eaten all her life, which was quite long, and the Owens also praised him in the rare few times they witnessed his cooking skills.
It seemed a new person was about to join the appreciation train, and he couldn’t suppress a smile at that.
“Do you want some?”
Rudger asked Sedina, who was innocently eyeing the pieces of mouth-watering brownie on his desk. He’d never brought sweets or homemade food to his office before, but he didn’t have time to eat the mouth-watering dessert as he was called to the office earlier than usual to take care of something related to planning and budgeting.
Don’t mind him eating a whole dessert for breakfast.
“Eh? No! Nope!”
“Don’t be shy. I know it looks interesting, so come and take one.”
Although shy about being caught, Sedina could not refuse such a tempting offer. That dessert looked damn good, and that came from someone who rarely ate sweets.
“I’ll go ahead, then. But, Professor, I didn’t know you liked sweets.”
“Sweets are the pinnacle of taste. And I am simply a man of taste.”
Sedina’s eyes opened wide in admiration. That’s Mr. Rudger for you! Whenever he spoke such words, they sounded eloquent, no matter the content or the context.
Hyped up, she took a bite in great anticipation, and then she froze. She experienced pure bliss in that single moment. One could almost see sparks flying down on her body if they squinted. She could barely chew before her gaze found Rudger’s with an expression that screamed, ‘You’re my saviour.’
“Scrumptious! Delicious! Exquisite! Delicately crisp and velvety! Woah!”
The girl kept yelling words that even she didn’t know were in her vocabulary, and Rudger couldn’t even take a bite of the brownie because watching her scream with fire in her eyes was already enough for him. He felt like a proud dad for a moment.
“Professor! What is this delicacy?! Did you really bake it yourself? For real?!”
Rudger sighed with a little smile. He had some time, so he guessed he could entertain the girl’s questions this once.
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The second time someone from the academy witnessed his groundbreaking cooking skills was when Elisa visited his house on a random weekend. The so-called reason for the visit was that Rudger kept ignoring Elisa’s messages because of their usual bickering, and he had to sign some papers, it seemed.
Although she came with a mission in mind, she was soon mesmerised by the food called pizza , and she was seated before Rudger could even grasp it.
“Say, how did you make this? Such an incredible flavour, unexpectedly from your hands! I want the recipe!”
He had no choice but to write everything down so that the woman would finally leave him alone. Trying to ignore the unexpectedly part, of course.
The next day, he was seated with the other teachers for lunch. He couldn’t take a single bite of it, though. All he could do was stare blankly at the weird Walmart version of the pizza he made the previous day.
“Uh…What the hell is this?”
“It tastes awful!”
“Mr. Rudger, don’t get me wrong here, but I heard this is your recipe. How do you even eat this?”
An uncharacteristic gasp left Rudger’s mouth, which shocked the other teachers on the table. His devastated expression and twitching eyebrows were terrifying.
“This…This is not it, at all! Tell me, is this today’s food for the students, too?”
“Uh, yes.”
Selina’s answer crushed Rudger’s spirit as he left his seat in a daze. No, this can’t be. It couldn’t be.
“Where’s he headed to?”
“There’s only the chef’s kitchen in that direction, no?”
The three teachers exchanged glances, and they simultaneously left their seats to tail the man. Was he going to scold the chef for fucking up his recipe?!
“Mr. Rudger, don’t do it! The chef just follows…oh?”
Merilda’s yell was cut in half at the sight of Rudger removing his coat and rolling up his sleeves. As he washed his hands, his defined muscles said hello from under his white shirt, which debuted only at that moment, and the trio felt shockwaves hitting them.
“Hot damn.”
Merilda’s whisper was way too loud in the silence, and she had to realise that fact through the stares she received from the teachers and the staff. Rudger didn’t care about it, though. Instead, he kindly ordered the staff around to bring him the necessary equipment and the ingredients, and soon enough, the otherworldly sight of him cooking like a high-class chef became the main topic of the day.
“Uh, Mr. Rudger, may I ask what you’re doing?” asked the elder teacher, the author doesn’t care to remember the name of.
“Isn’t it obvious? I’m cooking.”
“Yes, but why?” asked Selina.
Rudger stopped for a brief moment to inhale. Why? Why?
“Why, you ask? Ms. Selina, one cannot understand the true, infinite value of pizza until they taste it themselves. And that hideous thing from before—no offence to the chef—was far from ideal! Blasphemous! Unacceptable!”
The chef sweated a little at the nasty side-eye he received from Rudger and straightened up his back in an attempt to save face.
The always-stoic Rudger making such bold and certain remarks was a surprise to all. Did this man care so much about this so-called pizza that he’d go to such lengths and insults?
“Don’t even distribute more of that to the students. I’m so ashamed as it is.”
Thus, Rudger continued making pizzas under several gazes. It was just the teachers and the staff at first. As word got out of this phenomenon, more teachers soon entered the large kitchen. Of course, some nobles wanted to see him fail, so they dropped whatever they were doing and rushed there. Nobody knew how, but the next thing they knew, students also flocked to the kitchen to watch Rudger. Especially Flora, Rene, the Idiot Quartet, and Rudger’s other students.
The teachers didn’t even have it in them to scold the students. They also deserved to witness such an iconic moment, after all.
“Professor is cooking?”
“It smells so good!”
“I was wondering whether Professor’s incredible magic came from the hideous food he’d been eating, but I was wrong.”
“Can we eat those, too?”
“We have to! I’ll commit several crimes if I can’t eat that thing called pizza!”
Under curious eyes and relentless whispers, Rudger’s cooking show ended up with a perfectly mouthwatering smell. The way he worked was meticulous, as the stalls were sparkling clean by the time he was done with everything.
He inwardly smirked at the success, knowing damn well he was about to change the lives of the people present in the large kitchen from then on. Nobody could undermine the power of pizza under his watch.
“Here. Taste test.”
Exclamations could be heard from all around while he cut the pizza skillfully to serve pieces of it to the teachers. The satisfying contrast from the fake pizzas from earlier was worthy of praise even before tasting.
“Thin dough base, savoury tomato sauce, the heavenly mixture of flavorful ingredients...”
“Am I ascending to heaven? Is this what it feels like?”
The reactions were much wilder than he anticipated. The delicious pizza had the teachers almost on their knees while the students gave Rudger miserable looks, as if wanting to experience the same feelings. What could Rudger do? He sliced up some more and had everyone taste them.
The next thing he knew, his students were looking at him like he had just divided a mountain in half. Was this the power of food? He’d never seen such looks in their eyes, even when he saved them on multiple occasions.
“Teacher… Please open up a restaurant!”
“Huh?! Do you want him to stop teaching?!”
“He can do both! He’s so talented!”
“Yeah, do you want these pizzas to stay locked up in the professor’s basement?!”
Basement ? He wasn’t even gatekeeping the recipe! He side-eyed the oblivious students who praised and unknowingly talked shit about him at the same time.
“Mr. Rudger, who taught you how to cook?! Incredible!”
“Yes, please share the name of that amazing person with us!”
His head turned to Selina and Merilda, and he wondered how he could ever answer such questions.
YouTube, several ingredient books, and watching cooking shows on TV at times? Using the huge kitchen at the Bretus Kingdom at night because nobody cared about his whereabouts as long as he stayed out of sight? Through his experiments on Grander and making a centuries-old vampire sick?
“His name was Remy. I owe him everything I know. He even has a signature dish called Ratatouille.” And he was a rat living in Paris.
He tried to put some sentiment into his voice to make sure he didn’t sound too indifferent, as always. This was his master, although fake and a rat, after all.
“Wow. Seeing you speak of him so highly, he must have been an amazing person.”
“Indeed. He had a habit of pulling my hair whenever I did something wrong, but still.”
He had to bite the inside of his cheeks to stop himself from laughing after that. Being a pathological liar in a parallel universe was quite fun. Man, he missed watching those movies without a care.
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Rudger’s popularity as a chef skyrocketed and echoed through the whole realm.
Okay, maybe that was an exaggeration, but he surely made a huge impact in Ledervelk, especially in Ceorn. Ever since the pizza incident, his students and some teachers (not including the nobles, of course) have kept praising his skills everywhere. Alright, his pizzas were delicious, but were they that delicious for them to be so vocal about it? That he couldn’t say.
What annoyed him were the irritating students gazing at him with hunger like wild animals and asking him to cook for them. How shameless!
“Yes, you have homework. Revise everything we did today. No, your exam will not be postponed. No, I will not cook for you; I’m your teacher, not your private chef. Class is dismissed.”
Disappointed looks covered the students’ faces while Rudger exited the room at a fast pace. The brats had been asking him the same question after every lesson, and he was having none of it.
“Oh, but you will cook for them.”
“Eek!”
He hurriedly took a step back when a sudden presence emerged right before him in the long hallway just after he left the classroom.
“Eek? Seriously? You get scared like that?”
“What’s wrong with ‘eek’? I’m not ashamed of it!”
Elisa chuckled at Rudger’s reaction, her mischievous eyes glowing with a hint that she wouldn’t leave this topic alone.
“Ahem. Why were you waiting outside the class?”
“Oh, right! As the head of the planning department, you have quite an important task to fulfill.”
With stars in her eyes, Elisa placed both hands on Rudger’s shoulders and intently stared at him while smirking. The passing students sent them questioning glances but carried on with their activities as usual.
“Oh? What is this important task you’re speaking of?”
“You’re going to cook for us at the spring festival.”
“Cook as in...”
“Prepare a dish. In fact, several dishes.”
“And why would I do that? How is that related to the planning department?”
Each day passed with people surprising Rudger more and more, especially Elisa. Why did this woman always have such bizarre requests? Meanwhile, Elisa acted as if she were being asked for a very obvious answer.
“They are related! If you cook such delicious food for visitors, people will invest more, and the quality of the food will increase!”
“You’re reaching right now.”
“What does that even mean?”
Ah, right. Damn these earthly terms, and damn these people for not understanding him.
“Never mind. Look, Chancellor, I’m not cooking for anyone. Just hire a chef. You just ate one dish that I cooked anyway. Have a good day.”
Rudger intended to quickly leave before the woman could stop him, but Elisa was faster. The cunning woman matched his steps with an ungiving smile as she cornered him with her words.
“Just cook some pizzas, then! Say yes, and I’ll help you with a request related to Ceorn, no matter what you wish for!”
He abruptly stopped after that, making Elisa crash into him as the woman grunted and rubbed her hurting nose.
“You’d do anything?”
“Why do you sound so creepy?”
Rudger cleared his throat and suppressed his smirk. Ceorn had some good stuff to offer him, so he’d use this chance well.
“I accept. Let’s talk about the details later. Just pizza, though; don’t forget.”
He left a rambling Elisa behind as he made his way to his office with a satisfied smile. He could entertain a small crowd with his cooking, after all. It’s not like there’d be that many people watching a boring cooking show. Sedina had a lot to do as the mighty assistant, though.
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Some women kept whispering while sending Rudger heart-eyes.
“I’d work 24/7 if it meant I’d get to come home to him .”
“I want him to father my children.”
“Smash or pass, Ruby?”
“Are you even asking? Just put me in a room with him.”
“I wonder if he’s single.”
“I heard he is. Such a dedicated man to his work, he’s not interested in love affairs!”
“I bet he will be when he sees me.”
“Don’t be delusional, lady.”
“Who are you calling delusional?!”
“Don’t take offence, darling; delusion is the only solution.”
“I want him to feed that thing called pizza to me with his hands.”
“I’d drink poison if he fed me.”
Some students also kept whispering while inspecting each of his movements with dedication and awe.
“I want to be like him when I grow up,” said Aidan.
“Relatable,” said Iona.
“Cheryl, are you noting each movement down?” asked Flora.
“Don’t worry, we’ll learn how to cook pizza like the professor instantly!” replied Cheryl.
Rene simply watched in amazement while Erendir and Freuden tried to look unimpressed. Why did this man have to be so talented in everything?!
“I hate that nothing he does looks or sounds bad.”
“Yeah. He’s my worst enemy.”
Some teachers also kept whispering while watching him. Nobles were filled with immense jealousy at the crowd’s reaction, while others supported his skillful show.
“Tch. I bet I could do it better.”
“There’s an empty space there. Why don’t you try it?”
“...I wouldn’t want to steal his spotlight…”
“Ha! Check those cowards out,” said Merilda while side-eyeing the nobles.
“Indeed, everyone’s all talk these days. They could only dream about competing with Mr. Rudger!”
Unfortunately for him, Rudger heard every little whisper. He tried to look presentable, although his mind was buzzing with violent thoughts. Why did he have to agree to this in the first place?! He thought twenty or thirty people at maximum would watch him, get bored, and leave—not hundreds checking his every movement out and talking about licking off his sweat .
‘These people are insane,’ he thought to himself while checking out Elisa’s knowing smile. That slick fox always had the last laugh somehow. Maybe Rudger should practise smiling and laughing as nonchalantly as she does to reach the same spiritual level.
The tasting of the pizzas brought even more unwanted attention and reactions. Did they really have to groan and grunt while eating a damn pizza? Were these people in a commercial? Was his food really that good to be doing all that?
“The taste is immaculate, Professor!”
He turned around to see his one and only assistant staring at him with big eyes. Well, at least there was someone who could eat in a normal way among the unwavering crowd.
“Oh, you like it?”
“Like it? Like it?! It’s otherworldly!”
Indeed, it is.
“But still, that dessert you baked, that brownie, is still on top for me.”
“For me, too, Sedina.”
Sweets were always on top, no matter what. He was kind of sick of cooking pizzas already, so he’d try for another dessert later. Unfortunately for him, the crowd had no intention of letting him go.
“Brow-Brownie? What may that be?”
“Even better than a pizza, she said.”
“Professor, please cook that delicacy for us!”
“Yeah, please!”
“Ugh, he’s such a show-off.”
“Stealing our precious time like this.”
Meanwhile, a few noble professors grumbled as they always did, catching the attention of some newly formed Rudger-defendants.
“Stop being jealous, you little garden gnome!”
“Yeah, you wish you were as talented!”
“Handsome people can show off as much as they want!”
“Yeah, let him cook!”
Ah, yes. The pretty privilege. Rudger would be lying if he claimed he didn’t like and use it at times. Though, hold on, did he have to bake now?!
He sighed, feeling the headache visit him slowly. Time for some mana pill overdose , he supposed.
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The public’s interest didn’t waver over the days, and even weeks, at all. Rudger was hoping it would, but several people knocked on Ceorn’s huge doors, thinking Rudger was doing some charity and they could get him to work anytime. That sucked, to say the least.
Some highly acclaimed chefs also visited Ceorn for a bit of a different purpose. They wanted to challenge Rudger for some duels, it seemed. The outsiders could not believe he could cook so well to drive people into ecstasy, so he wanted to prove them right. Yes, right .
He was sick and tired of the attention already. Even students were bold enough to ask him to cook for them. Not even for recipes, they literally thought of him as their private chef at some point.
Noodles, sushi, pasta, cakes, Korean fried chicken, whatever. He loved cooking, so he went along with the wave, but today was the breaking point.
“As expected from Mr. Rudger! Incredible flavours are dancing in harmony.”
Huh?
“You never miss, Professor!”
Huh??
“I’d pay millions if it meant I could eat these every day.”
Huh??? Huuuuh?
Didn’t he mess with the recipes? Weren’t they disgusting? Were the teachers acting not to hurt his feelings? But, in that case, the chef who challenged him wouldn’t look that sour, would he?
“Do you like the food? Really ?”
The emphasis on the final word caught Selina off-guard as she chuckled lightly while admiring the food before her.
“That’s a silly question, Professor. How could we not like it?”
Huh. There were still a few more dishes for them to try. No need to panic, right? Surely, he could get them to despise his cooking skills at some point.
“Breathtaking! I’m ascending to heaven!”
It turns out he could not get them to despise it. No matter what ingredients he added or got rid of, he was physically unable to create a bad dish. Was this his curse?
The food lover inside him prevented him from going to huge lengths, too, so he could do nothing but cry internal tears.
“Professor, how about opening up your own restaurant?”
Elisa’s question attracted a few gasps and satisfied nods. That could benefit not only Rudger but every one of his customers, after all.
“I will invest in your place, Professor! Just say the word, and you’ll have a worthy place ready!”
“And I will provide the fresh ingredients!”
“I will advertise it!”
“Me too! Me too!”
Watching grown men with whiteish beards fight for his attention would normally be funny, but Rudger was too fed up to laugh at anything. A restaurant? No way. Never.
“Thank you! Thank you, but I have no intention of doing so. I have a class to teach, so I’ll be taking my leave now.”
He hurriedly escaped the crowded room without waiting for a response. He didn’t have a class to teach, but he needed a breather.
Later that night, he finally met the U.N. Owen members after some time of absence. It was clear they wanted him to cook, but the soulless look in his eyes deterred them from any further inquiries.
“The leader looks so dead.”
“It’s like life slipped out of his eyes.”
“Right? He’s aged by a few years.”
“You still look handsome, Leader!”
“Thanks, Sheridan.”
Uncaring of his posture, he spread out like a starfish on the cold floor. Carrying himself to a nearby couch sounded like the hardest job ever.
“I didn’t think it’d be so draining, brother.”
“It’s like I’m in a loop, and I don’t know how to escape it. People are even asking me to run a restaurant; can you believe it? Ugh, as if.”
“Oh!”
Violetta’s exclamation caught curious eyes as she focused solely on Rudger to present her idea.
“There's your answer, Leader.”
“Sorry?”
“If you open a restaurant, you can just have staff work there, and nobody will bother you at Ceorn anymore.”
Alex, Sheridan, and Violetta all smiled at the idea, while Hans was already thinking of a business plan and writing it down.
“And you can have it on Royal Street! Hans will manage it well in your absence, too,” Alex exclaimed happily.
“Huh? Well, I guess I’d have sponsors too.”
“Indeed! Let’s do this, Leader!”
Rudger contemplated his options for a moment and realised how limited they were. These people probably wouldn’t leave him alone anyway, so diverting their attention and making some good money from it would be good for Royal Street, too.
“Alright, then. Inform the others, too, and let’s think of a plan.”
He had a whole cookbook anyway, so he could make good use of it. He became a chef, huh? Maybe it wouldn’t be that bad.
Two weeks later, the restaurant opened with an incredible attendance rate. Did these people have nothing better to do with their time? But, then again, eating great food was a satisfying activity.
The vibes were better than he imagined, as he thought of a devastating scenario, but everyone was quite cheerful instead. He had to greet everyone, but it wasn’t all that bad. Plus, he saw familiar faces all around from Ceorn, too.
At first, he wanted to ignore the students, but their unblinking eyes were hypnotising. He gave in with a sigh, and all the students who got the signal flocked to him with questions.
“Professor, professor! Can we have a cooking class, too?!”
“Yes! Please teach us!”
“Can we have a discount?”
“That’s shameless.”
“Hey, we’re merely broke students.”
“Professor, please give us a cooking class.”
The commanding voice took Rudger’s attention as usual. Flora, as competitive and determined as ever, repeated the request Tessy made a few moments ago. Everyone else backed her up, knowing she could be pretty persistent.
“Only one class, and then I’m done.”
Their cheers were loud, hurting Rudger’s head, but he wasn’t too bothered by it. He guessed he had accidentally adopted these students.
Their next lecture together was in the chef’s kitchen. Surprisingly, even the staff were taking notes as Rudger gave a class on some basics. He wished this would be the last lecture in his cooking journey, but he knew deep within his heart that he was wishing for the impossible.
(Elisa went on to add a new lecture to the curriculum named Cooking 101 , but Rudger chose to ignore it until it had to actually happen, for his own sake.)
The end
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(me to you guys)