Lith, Ralph, and Dennis were unfazed by this situation. If they wanted to, they could easily take Dennis away, it was not a big deal.

But doing so would have them miss out on a certain adventure which Dennis had just triggered.

This trio, although belonging to the highest order in the world, was much different than the average young master of a big clan.

They believed in gaining experience from every little thing and learning. They were well aware of how boring it would get once they were older and hence they tried to do things on their own as much as possible.

Miwa was an ordinary mountain town girl who could not fathom the sophisticated thoughts of her noble friends.

What seemed like a perilous situation to her was just another random adventure for the three.

There was a lot she was yet to learn, but simply by being around these guys and basking in their calm and unfazed auras, Miwa's panic vanished.

Lith looked at the old man and said, "Understandable. We all will take on your challenge together then."

Miwa, Ralph, and Dennis shot Lith a surprised look while the old man stroked his beard and laughed.

"Ho ho, all are going to cook? Very well. I sure do hope at least one of you beats my noodles."

The ropes around Dennis loosened up and stretching as if he had not just been taken as hostage, Dennis said softly, "Should we run, Your Highness."

Smack!

"Owf. Ralph why'd you"

Smack!

"Owf! Your Highness you too"

SMACK!

"OWW! WHAT THE FUCK!?"

Dennis got smacked in the head one by one by Ralph, Lith, and Miwa respectively.

"You already got shamed so much and now you're thinking of running? Have some pride." Ralph said calmly.

Dennis rubbed his head and squinting his eyes, said to Ralph, "Bozo, aren't you a Lust demon? Is it not blasphemous for you to teach me about pride?"

Ralph ignored Dennis because indulging more in a conversation with him was as good as hitting one's head on a wall.

Lith added to Ralph's comment by saying, "Didn't that old man hit you? You should pay it back before leaving."

"Oh Right, right, he did hit me!" Dennis answered.

Dennis forgot about the hits because he internally knew he deserved them for being so stupid. But with his own Prince telling him that, his opinion changed immediately.

Dennis then turned to Miwa, who was whistling and looking around, and said with knitted brows, "How did your short hands even reach my hand?"

"Huuuuh?" Miwa's calm fa?ade broke as annoyance and anger took over her again. She could tolerate anything but not a slander over her height!

Miwa was an average height Human lady alright? There was nothing wrong with her and nobody had the right to say otherwise!

Before Dennis and Miwa could indulge in a banter, the old man cleared his throat and said,

"Ahem, before you begin with the cooking, you should know what you're competing against. Here, have a taste of my authentic cooking."

In front of the four appeared tables and chairs, on the chair was a fresh and hot bowl of ramen along with some fried chicken, veggies and a bowl of miso soup.

This was a typical Beast Kingdom's lunch set, or what Lith liked to call a Japanese lunch set.

Lith, who has had this food many times made freshly by his home cooks, felt it may not be as good as them and decided to give it a go.

Right as Lith slurped the first few strands of noodles, surprised flashed in his eyes.

"Woooaaaahh Dis Iz Guffdd!" Miwa, while aggressively chewing on the noodles, exclaimed.

Being a small town girl she didn't have access to world class cuisines like this one. It was her first time trying it and she was absolutely impressed.

Meanwhile Ralph and Dennis had a similar surprised reaction. The ramen was too good for them to not feel in such a way.

Ralph, who didn't like anything besides sweet, actually felt this savory and salty food was amazing while Dennis who was having it for the second time felt he just couldn't get enough of it.

It was only Lith who thought, 'Damn This cooking is on the level of Miguel and Juan'

This may sound good, but it was really bad news for them all.

Miguel and Juan were like the pinnacle of cooks. There was nobody who Lith found better than them and this was what made them so special.

Right when Lith had those thoughts, he stumbled across a true master who could challenge those two guys.

Lith, at this point realized he and his friends were fucked if they competed in the cooking challenge.

A frown formed on his face but except him, the rest showed an ecstatic look on their faces as they had their noodles.

A minute later when the rest had finished the ramen and turned to look at Lith, they saw the frown on his face and wondered what was up.

As Lith had the attention of the rest, he got out of his stupor and said, "Emergency meeting!"

Ralph, Dennis, and Miwa gathered around Lith and formed a circle.

Lith slowly said to the three, "Alright, I have some good news and some bad news."

The three wondered how Lith got news for them out of nowhere, but nudged him anyway to speak about it.

"Good news first, Your Highness."

Smack!

Smack!

"The fuck!?" Dennis looked at Ralph and then down at Miwa. "What is wrong with you guys?"

"You ask the bad news first, don't you know?" Miwa said, as a matter of fact.

Ralph nodded in agreement and made Dennis look at him hatefully.

"Curse you two!"

"Alright, since you asked the good news, it's that this old man is really talented and his cooking is on par with the chefs of my clan." Lith said.

The three wondered how this was supposed to be good news, only until

"and as for the bad news, my clan's cooks are the best in the world."

'. . . ???'

'. . . ?'

'What!?'

Miwa and Dennis couldn't process the statement from Lith and the smart one who could, became stressed about their current predicament.

Lith looked at the two idiots and knowing full well they didn't understand anything, elaborated, "The old man is too skilled is what I'm trying to say. I can't cook like him and neither can any of you. We are doomed."

Dennis froze hearing that. "W-W-What!?"

Miwa, who was slightly offended by Lith's comment, was about to bash him for it, but then realized what he said wasn't wrong, hence kept her mouth shut and tried to ignore this topic.

Ralph, trying to find some hope in this situation, asked, "Is there no way?"

Lith thought about it and said, "I mean We can always kill this guy and pretend nothing happened"

The comment didn't bring out any emotion from any of the three, rather incited a thought process within themselves.

Dennis, after a bit, said, "That'll just make us losers."

Ralph and Miwa nodded their heads.

"Tru" Lith agreed as well. "It's decided then. We'll hit that old man with the tastiest ramen of his life."

The three nodded their heads in agreement. They were fired up and ready to go!

"Uhh wait I haven't cooked anything beyond instant ramen in my life" Miwa, who got her adrenaline shot down, pointed out.

Dennis's expression turned grave hearing that. "I'm even worse. I never even made tea"

"Wait, really? Didn't you make tea in school?" Ralph asked, surprised.

Dennis shook his head. "It was always His Highness in the first year and then you in later years."

"Shit." Ralph exclaimed.

"Major shit." Lith exclaimed as well.

"Damn Doesn't even know how to boil water Now that's something new" Miwa showed her best disappointed look she could muster up.

"Anyway, nothing to worry, I'll handle this." Lith said and then turned to look at the old man.

The three did a thumbs up and pushed Lith to go talk to the old fart.

Donning a calm persona, Lith said to the old man, "The boss here wants ramen that can outdo his ones, right?"

The old man nodded. "Correct."

"Alright. Does it matter if I call someone else and have them make it?" Lith asked straightforwardly.

"Absolutely not." The old man answered in a straightforward manner as well.

"Sucks. Anyway, me and my friends are amateurs and don't have any experience in cooking. You are just wasting your time and ours as well. How about we settle"

"No." The old man said it straight. He turned around and while walking away, waved at Lith and said, "If you wish to, you kids can leave. This is anyway not something of your caliber. Oh yes and I've removed the spell, you're free, child. Make sure to carry enough money next time."

"what?"

""

""

"What just happened"

Everyone was surprised by this sudden development and also shocked with how things turned in their favour.

However, after the initial shock, something clicked them all and they thought,

'This sly old fox'