"Listen up! You're the leftovers! The trash that didn't make the cut! That's why you're here! Got it?!"
"Yes, ma'am!!!"
"From now on, I'll take you useless trash and turn you into the strongest, most versatile trash! By the time I'm done, you'll be trash that no one can defeat! Can you handle it?!"
"Yes, ma'am!!!"
"Good! Now, question—where are we?!"
"The kitchen of the Light Church, ma'am!!"
"That's right! And I am Bea Bento, the head chef of this kitchen! Here, I'm not just the head chef—I'm your captain. No, I'm your god! Understood?!"
"Yes, ma'am!!!"
"This is the beating heart of the Light Church's meals. The food we prepare here sustains the priests, the knights, even the Founder! If any of you think this is just meaningless grunt work, I'll drown you in the sea of Pacific! Breakfast is a battle! Lunch is a battle! And dinner? That's a full-blown war! Sometimes, we even have to prepare emergency meals for the Knight Corps. If you work hard here, you'll become proper cooks of Light!"
"Yes, ma'am!!!"
"Y-Yes…ma'am."
And that's how I, Jack Dawson, found myself peeling potatoes in the kitchen of the Light Church.
After the Element Board needle broke when it tried to read my element—because, well, I'm the Seraphim of Darkness—it was decided I didn't belong in the Ilocos Knight Corps. Instead, I was sent here, to work as an apprentice chef. Apparently, all those who failed the entrance exam and didn't align with the Light element were dumped into "miscellaneous" duties like this.
"This… this is not how it was supposed to be," grumbled the guy next to me, who was also peeling potatoes.
His name was Snow. Like me, he failed the element test and was sent here. Now, the two of us were stuck in the back of the kitchen, moving our knives in quiet misery.
"In my plan," he continued, "I was supposed to pass the exam with flying colors, join the Ilocos Knight Corps, stand out immediately, rack up achievements, get popular with the ladies, and live a flowery life. But no—here I am peeling potatoes. This doesn't build a career at all!"
"You should probably avoid saying that where Chef Bea can hear you," I warned. "She'll toss you over her shoulder without hesitation."
Snow sighed dramatically. "You're probably right."
Though his words were bitter, I couldn't really dislike the guy. He had a loud mouth and a questionable sense of humor, but he was easy to get along with.
"Look," I said, "even potato peeling can be fun if you focus on doing it perfectly. There's a kind of satisfaction in it."
"What I want to peel isn't potato skins—it's the clothes off girls!" Snow shot back.
"Yeah, with lines like that, you'll stay single even if you become a knight," I replied, rolling my eyes.
Still, I had to admit, his sense of humor helped lighten the mood. Over time, we became fast friends. His antics, coupled with Bea's no-nonsense leadership, made life in the kitchen more entertaining than I expected.
"By the way, Jack," Snow said suddenly, "why are you here?"
"What kind of question is that? Are you being philosophical?"
"No, not that kind of question. I mean, you're pretty famous among the newcomers. Everyone's talking about how you fought the captain during recruitment and nearly sent him flying."
"I didn't send him flying," I corrected. "I stopped before it came to that."
"Still! You were 90% winning, right?! So why'd they dump you here? With your strength, you could've been assigned to a better role—or even the Knight Corps!"
Ah, so that's what he meant. "I'm fine where I am," I said simply. "Cooking is fun."
"You're a man with no ambition! If you're stuck here, at least aim high—like dating Chef Bea!"
"Wait… you're interested in Chef Bea?"
"…How old is she, anyway?"
"I heard she's 30."
Snow grinned. "Thirty, huh? Barely within my strike zone."
His shamelessness was both impressive and terrifying.
As we worked, a familiar long white bearded man suddenly appeared. It was Ponce, the vice-captain from the entrance exam.
"Howh," he said, eyeing Snow with amusement. "You've got interesting taste, kid."
"W-What do you mean?" Snow stammered.
"Just a warning," Ponce said, smirking. "Don't mess with that Amazon. There was once a knight who slapped Bea's butt as a joke. She axe-kicked him so hard he's still in the hospital."
Snow paled. "N-Noted!"
Wouldn't it be more practical to recruit someone like Bea into the knights? I thought to myself. But for now, I focused on my task—peeling potatoes and dodging the chaos around me.
"Vice-Captain, did you have some business here? To show up in the back of the kitchen like this—don't tell me the knight corps has nothing better to do?" I asked, eyeing him skeptically.
"That's a cold way to put it," Ponce replied, crossing his arms. "But no, I've got my reasons. Let's just say there are… certain women in the Light Church you don't want to anger. Last time I messed up, so I'm here to smooth things over."
"Certain women?" I tilted my head, confused.
Without clarifying, Ponce leaned in conspiratorially. "Jack, I've brought something interesting for you. There's no one else around, right?"
"Well, we're at the back of the kitchen," I said. "If you go inside, there are plenty of people. Want me to call them?"
"No!" Ponce hissed. "I only want to deal with you!"
His suspicious behavior made Snow, who was peeling potatoes nearby, perk up. "Oh, what's in the bag? Something… spicy?"
"Shut up!" snapped Ponce. "Fine, you can see it too. But you better keep quiet. Not a word about this to anyone, especially the captain!"
Snow nodded eagerly, his curiosity piqued.
Ponce pulled a rectangular object from his hemp sack. It was a metallic box, about the size of a small chest.
"What's this?" Snow asked, his excitement dimming. "Doesn't look spicy at all."
"This," Ponce began, "is an element measuring device."
"Element measuring device?" I repeated, raising an eyebrow.
Ponce explained with a hint of pride. "Unlike the element board used in the entrance exams, this device is far more advanced. It uses ethereal energy to measure your elemental affinities with precision."
"Wait, ethereal energy? Isn't that… a machine?!" Snow exclaimed, his eyes wide.
"Exactly," Ponce confirmed, glaring. "Which is why I said not to tell anyone! Especially the captain!"
Snow flinched under his intense stare and backed down. Meanwhile, I tried to focus on the explanation.
"So, this device can measure all elemental affinities in greater detail than the element board?" I asked.
"Precisely. Let me show you. Snow, you're first," Ponce said, pointing at him.
"Me?!" Snow looked startled, but nodded.
The device powered up, its surface displaying five empty frames. As it scanned Snow, numbers began to appear in each one:
[Earth: 105] [Water: 130] [Light: 128] [Fire: 214] [Wind: 309]
"Whoa!" Snow gasped, staring at the numbers.
"Your strongest affinity is Wind, followed by Fire," Ponce said. "That's impressive. If you'd applied to the Wind Church of Barasoain, they'd have snatched you up for the Tornado Raid Corps without hesitation."
"Seriously?!" Snow's eyes sparkled. "I'll go now!"
"Too late. You've joined the Light Church, so you're stuck here," Ponce said with a smirk.
"Damn?!" Frost wailed, slumping in despair.
I couldn't help but chuckle. "So this device shows all elemental affinities as numbers, instead of just pointing to the highest one like the element board?"
"Exactly," Ponce confirmed. "The element board only picks your strongest element. But with this, we can see the full picture."
"That's interesting," I mused. "But doesn't that mean some people who failed the entrance exam might actually have strong Light affinities as their second element?"
Ponce's expression darkened. "…You're right. The element board is flawed. If your strongest element isn't Light, you fail, no matter how high your Light affinity might be. That's the system. Even if someone has a Light score of 300, if another element scores 301, they're rejected."
"That's ridiculous!" Snow burst out. "Why is it like that?!"
"It's not just the Light Church," Ponce replied grimly. "This is how the entire world operates."
His words left a bitter taste in the air, but I had no time to dwell on it as Ponce turned to me.
"Now it's your turn, Jack Dawson," he declared. "Let's see what the great anomaly shows on this device!"