The footsteps of the Mustard Soldiers echoed across the stone pavement, fading into the distance. Clatter, clatter, clatter——. Yuuki remained pressed against the wall, unable to move, until the heavy sound of armor turned the corner and disappeared. He held his breath, feeling the cold stone against his back, his fingertips gripping the mayonnaise tube tightly. A moment ago, that taste auditor had seen his face. The shouted words—"Dispatch an alert across all territories for a suspicious individual suspected to be the Taste Guide"—still lingered in his ears. All territories. All of them. (What am I doing, arriving in another world just hours ago......) Yuuki looked up at the sky. Gray. An endless, heavy gray. "......Let's go," Recipe said softly from his shoulder. A small, fluffy ball of golden light—a spirit that governed culinary wisdom, currently serving as Yuuki's guide. The round eyes at its center held a serious expression. "Where to?" Yuuki asked. "A hiding place. Two alleys in from Gray Market Street. There's a staircase leading underground," Recipe replied. "......I can trust you on this, right?" Yuuki asked. "Trust me," Recipe said simply. Yuuki pushed off from the wall and began running along the shadows of the alley. ◆ Gray Market Street—once called "Rainbow Market Street," according to legend, this was the main thoroughfare of Gratinée. Now only 47 approved food items and dishes lined the shops, making it feel cramped and suffocating. The stone pavement bore no decoration, and no one at any shop counter was smiling. Only the shop signs faintly conveyed the vibrancy of the past. From that street, Yuuki turned into one alley, then another. It grew darker. Narrower. The sleeves of his white shirt brushed against brick walls, becoming soiled. Eventually, Recipe pointed downward and said, "Here." A decaying wooden door sat embedded in the stone pavement. The entrance to the underground. When Yuuki pulled it, the rusted hinges squeaked. Air rose from within. Dust, and then—something nostalgic. Flour? Butter? Old and faint, but unmistakably the smell of cooking. "This is it?" Yuuki asked. "A forgotten kitchen. A cooking space no one has used for twelve years," Recipe replied. Yuuki descended the stone steps. One step, then another. The ground was hard to see in the darkness. He reached the bottom. Yuuki's eyes adjusted. The space was perhaps thirty tatami mats in area. The ceiling was low, made of roughly-cut stone. In the center sat a large cooking counter—now a gray mass covered in dust. Along the walls, rusted cooking tools hung, having waited twelve years for someone to return. In the dim light, one section of wall caught his eye. Words carved with a knife or something similar covered the entire wall. Recipe brightened its light slightly to illuminate them. Yuuki could read them—barely. "Mother's fresh-baked bread, dough at 300 grams......flour should be slightly coarse-ground......just a single drop of honey......" "That......" Yuuki said. "Toast Hakushaku carved that when he was training here as a young man. His real name is Brion Crust," Recipe said quietly. Yuuki stared at the words. The man who had imposed the Dark Unified Cooking Decree twelve years ago had once learned to cook here. He had treasured his mother's bread recipe enough to carve it into the wall. (Why would someone like that......) "It doesn't matter now," Yuuki said. "Right. Now we focus on helping the princess," Recipe replied. "I know," Yuuki said. Yuuki sat on the edge of the cooking counter. Dust swirled, but there was no time to worry about that. "Tell me about the Mustard Soldier patrols," Yuuki said. "Six soldiers patrol the royal dungeon corridors at all times. They change shifts only once, at 2 AM. For just four minutes, the corridor is unguarded," Recipe explained. "Four minutes," Yuuki said. "If we move quickly, it should be enough. Probably," Recipe added. "Probably......" Yuuki repeated. "Yeah, probably," Recipe confirmed. Probably. Well, fine. There hadn't been a single "absolute" since coming to this other world. Yuuki stood up. "Alright, perfect plan!" he said, stepping forward— Crack. The floorboard gave way. "Ah," Yuuki gasped. He sank to his knees through the floor. His left leg dangled. His right knee scraped lightly against wood fragments. It hurt. Recipe peered down from above. "......Are you okay?" it asked. "I'm not okay at all," Yuuki replied. Pushing against the floorboards, he extracted himself in an undignified position. His white shirt had turned completely gray. His slacks had accumulated dirt on the knees—he'd lost count of how many times today. Recipe floated silently, saying nothing. That silence felt oddly kind. ◆ Night deepened. Yuuki waited in a dim corner of the kitchen, rolling the mayonnaise tube in his hands. Outside, Mustard Soldiers occasionally passed by. The sound of armor, footsteps, distant shouting. The search was still ongoing. Recipe said "it's time" when the air had grown coldest. Yuuki climbed the stone steps and emerged into the alley. Nighttime Gratinée was gray overlaid with darker blue. Crouton Castle—a five-story tower surrounded by toast-colored walls—was visible in the distance. Caramel Hime was in the third basement level of that castle. "Let's go," Yuuki said. He ran. Recipe followed behind. From alley to alley, shadow to shadow. Halfway through, they nearly collided with a group of Mustard Soldiers and had to slide into the shadow of a bread basket used as a trash bin. Holding his breath, Yuuki waited for the footsteps to fade. (This is seriously dangerous......) He circled around behind the castle walls. The hidden passage to the supply entrance that Recipe had told him about—an inconspicuous door used to transport food ingredients to the kitchen. It was unlocked. Such small entrances rarely had guards watching them. Inside. A stone corridor stretched ahead. Torches extended from the walls every few meters, their orange flickering light illuminating the passage. It smelled of mold. The air was heavy. The stone was damp, and footsteps echoed slightly. Yuuki walked on his toes. Recipe guided him in a whisper: "Right." "Left." "Stop." Down through the first level, then the second. With each descending staircase, the air grew colder. The number of torches decreased, and visibility darkened. ——Third level. "The special detention area is ahead," Recipe said, its voice tense. The corridor opened to several doors unlike the others. They were made of iron, thick and heavy. The keyholes had an unusual shape—not ordinary locks. Something distinctly unique. "A taste lock......" Yuuki said. "Right. Toast Hakushaku's custom design. Ordinary keys won't work. It's designed to unlock only through taste magic," Recipe explained. "Taste magic......" Yuuki said. "But I still can't use it properly." "You infused the mayonnaise with magic earlier. Same principle," Recipe said. Footsteps echoed in the distance. Still far, but approaching. (No time.) Yuuki examined the keyhole. A narrow, oval-shaped opening. He pulled out the mayonnaise tube. He inserted the tip into the hole. He pushed. It was stiff, so he applied more force. More force. Too much force. SPLOOOOOSH!! "Huh?" Yuuki gasped. Mayonnaise far exceeding the keyhole's capacity gushed out across the stone pavement. White and oily, the quantity was absurd. It spread along the grout lines of the stone, extending endlessly. "......The sound!" Recipe panicked, its light turning pale. A voice came from the distance. "Hey, did you hear something?" a Mustard Soldier called. (It's over——————!!) Yuuki screamed internally. The footsteps accelerated. They were getting closer. The light from a torch began extending around the corridor corner—— At that moment. The mayonnaise spread across the stone began glowing softly golden. Slowly, but unmistakably. The white liquid transformed to golden hue, the light spreading throughout the corridor. That light flowed toward the keyhole, concentrating—— Click. "It opened," Yuuki breathed. He grabbed the door. It actually moved. With his mayonnaise-covered hands, he pulled the door open and tumbled inside. "I'll explain later!" Recipe said. Recipe closed the door behind them with its light. The torch light vanished. ◆ The cell was dimly lit. A small window high in the ceiling let in only the night air. Straw covered the stone floor. The stone walls bore marks of something being stirred. Fragments of a pot and a well-worn wooden spatula. And there—— A girl sat quietly. Her posture was perfectly straight, hands folded on her lap. Golden hair gleamed even in the dim light, though it bore the dust of three months in captivity. Amber eyes regarded Yuuki calmly. Not wary, not frightened. Simply calm, composed—with only a strong light dwelling in their depths. In her hands, she held a small bottle. Golden liquid glowed faintly within. "Are you......the Taste Guide?" she asked in a polite, unhurried voice. "I......I think so......" Yuuki replied, hearing how uncertain he sounded. The girl's expression softened slightly. "......Thank you. I have been waiting," she said, her voice trembling just a little. That tremor alone conveyed the weight of three months. "You're Caramel Hime, right? Um......" Yuuki started, unsure what to ask. But the princess began speaking first. "Three months ago, I gave a speech resisting Toast Hakushaku in front of the people. I wanted to protect free cooking. But——I was captured on the spot and brought here," she said. The princess glanced once at the cell wall. "Even in days where I could do nothing......I didn't want to abandon cooking," she continued. She lifted the bottle slightly. The golden sauce caught the light and shimmered. "I continued making it here with a honey jar and leftover ingredients. My special caramel sauce," she said. Yuuki stared at the bottle. In a cell, alone, she had continued cooking. (She's amazing.) He thought it genuinely. He too loved cooking, had come here wanting to make people smile through food——the same thing mattered to this person standing before him. "That's incredible......" Yuuki said. "Um......" Caramel Hime began. "Huh?" Yuuki replied. "Um, there are Mustard Soldiers coming," Recipe interjected quietly. Footsteps echoed beyond the door. "We need to escape!" Caramel Hime said. "Let's go!" Yuuki replied. Both ran toward the door simultaneously. ◆ The moment they emerged into the corridor, they locked eyes with Mustard Soldiers. Four of them. All in yellow mustard-colored armor that caused pain on contact. "F-Found them!!" one shouted. (What do I do!) Yuuki instinctively thrust his hand into his uniform pocket. The remains of the sandwich from earlier——bread crumbs still lingered. He scattered them across the corridor. Scatter, scatter, scatter—— "What is this?!" the soldiers cried. The heavy armored feet stepped on the bread crumbs. The next moment, they slipped. All four Mustard Soldiers tumbled spectacularly. Armor clanged against armor as they fell. "Run!" Yuuki shouted. Both sprinted in the opposite direction. Recipe flew ahead. Following its voice—"Right!" "Climb there!"—they raced up the stone steps. The princess ran alongside Yuuki, her heavy skirt gathered slightly, moving at full speed. Despite her unhurried appearance, she was fast. They'd climbed to the second level when a voice came from around a corridor corner. "Stop right there," it commanded. A low, cold voice. Three figures emerged: Pickle Knights, the earl's elite guard. Their entire bodies were clad in deep green armor, and they wielded swords that glowed the same green. Those blades caused intense sourness to course through the body, paralyzing anyone they touched. "......This is seriously bad," Yuuki muttered, his usual phrase slipping out. The swords turned toward them, advancing slowly. The green blad