Chapter 48: A Showdown Between Cuisine and Divine Wine!
Shirou had broken free from the control of the divine wine.
Though he still staggered a bit as if trapped in a hallucination piercing his cerebral cortex, his eyes radiated unwavering determination. It was clear that he had not been affected by the divine wine brewed by Soma.
"..."
Witnessing this, not only was Soma shocked, but even Loki, Hestia, and the others looked utterly stunned.
Especially Lili and Zanis, who had personally drunk the divine wine—they knew better than anyone the terrifying power it contained. Just one drop was enough to drive someone into uncontrollable madness.
Overcoming its effects required an immense, almost superhuman willpower, usually over the course of several days.
Yet Shirou had done it almost immediately after drinking the wine. That was something they couldn't begin to comprehend.
"What the hell are you…?" Soma asked, unable to believe what he saw.
He even started to doubt whether what he had given Shirou was truly divine wine. But no matter how he reassessed it, it could only have been the real thing.
While Soma's mind was in turmoil, Shirou was becoming increasingly clear-headed. Having fully recovered from the wine's influence, he looked calmly at the god before him.
"Looks like I won," Shirou said, a slight smile playing on his lips. "Lord Soma, your divine wine had no effect on me. With that, may I ask you to apologize to my goddess Hestia for your earlier behavior?"
"…You…" Soma couldn't make sense of the situation. However, he wasn't a god overly obsessed with pride. He quietly turned to Hestia.
"My apologies, Hestia. Perhaps I spoke too harshly earlier."
"It's… it's fine," Hestia stammered.
To think Shirou had forced Soma to apologize—whether it was Hestia herself or the others present, their expressions were complex.
But this wasn't necessarily a victory for Shirou.
Because Soma quickly fixed Shirou with a cold stare and spoke again.
"I don't know what you are. Maybe you were born with some kind of immunity to divine wine. But I still stand by what I said earlier—because at the end of the day, humanity's ugliness is inescapable."
"I see," Shirou nodded thoughtfully. "So what you're saying is, I resisted your wine because I'm an outlier, and thus I don't count as a typical example, right?"
"Hmph. Exactly."
Though Soma's words were preempted, his stance remained unchanged. He had seen too much of human depravity during his time running the Soma Familia. One extraordinary exception like Shirou couldn't shake his beliefs.
Shirou understood this and calmly responded: "In that case, how about we make a wager?"
"A wager?"
"You believe wholeheartedly in the power of your divine wine, that anyone who drinks it will fall under its spell, right?"
"I do."
"Then I challenge you. I will pit my cooking against your divine wine!"
"What?!"
Everyone around was stunned—Soma, Hestia, Loki—all couldn't believe what Shirou had proposed.
"Are you serious?" Soma looked at him in disbelief, as though he had heard something outrageous. "You intend to challenge divine wine with human cooking?"
"That's right," Shirou replied without hesitation. Everything he had done up to this point had been to set up this final gamble.
He turned to Loki and said, "I'd like this bet to be witnessed by the god Loki, and have her guarantee the fairness of the proceedings."
"So that's why you asked me to come, huh?" Loki's eyes narrowed as realization dawned. Still, her nature was always one to enjoy a good show.
"Fine," she said. "If both of you agree, I'll serve as the witness."
"Loki…" Soma frowned. He felt like he was stepping into a trap, but his confidence in his divine wine left no room for doubt.
He took a deep breath and looked at Shirou. "So you're serious. What are your terms?"
"If I win, Lord Soma, you will never again sell your divine wine—directly or indirectly—not even a single drop. If you win, I'll allow you to name any condition."
"Hmph. Such a boring proposal," Soma scoffed, though he didn't refuse. "Fine. If I win, none of you may interfere with my winemaking again. Especially you, Loki. You and your familia are forbidden from setting foot here ever again."
"Eh? I'm involved too?" Loki complained. She still seemed eager for a sip of that wine.
But seeing how serious both sides were, she had no choice but to accept.
With that, the rules of the wager were set.
Shirou proposed using the Hostess of Fertility tavern as the battleground. Soma's divine wine and Shirou's food would be sold there, and customers would be chosen at random to taste both.
After sampling, the judges would decide which left the greater impression—this would determine the victor.
To prevent people from becoming addicted to the divine wine, Loki said she would enlist the Dian Cecht Familia and other alchemists to create special antidotes that would block addiction.
This showed Loki's responsibility as a deity maintaining Orario's order, despite her otherwise playful demeanor.
With the rules confirmed, Shirou and his group left the Soma Familia compound, agreeing to meet the next day at the Hostess of Fertility for the showdown.
.
.
.
"Shirou, are you really serious about this?" Hestia asked on the way back, still struggling to believe he had dared challenge a god.
Even though deities couldn't use their divine powers in the mortal realm, their essence was still far beyond human reach. Just as Hephaestus remained the unrivaled peak of blacksmithing, Soma, the god of wine, possessed an unfathomable mastery built over millennia.
No human could hope to match that in a single lifetime.
"I'm serious," Shirou said calmly. "This is the only way to make the divine wine disappear."
"Why do you want that so badly?" Lili asked. Her expression was complicated—Shirou's resistance to the wine had deeply shocked her.
Shirou responded quietly, "Because I don't want to see innocent people suffer—whether it's those driven to madness and violence by the wine, or ordinary people caught in the aftermath. This evil should never have existed."
"You think the wine is the true culprit? Not the people who drank it?" Lili asked in disbelief.
"No. The sins of those who drank it remain. They are accountable," Shirou replied, his expression solemn. "But the wine amplifies people's desires, turning kind people into monsters. That's why it must be destroyed."
Lili fell silent.
She had never thought that far.
She had simply been led astray by her own growing desires under the wine's influence. Now, she couldn't even remember where she had first gone wrong.
All she knew for sure was that the moment she drank Soma's wine, her fate was sealed.
And so, she began to wonder—what if the divine wine had never existed? Could she have taken a different path? Could she have become someone better?
In that moment, she finally understood what Shirou was trying to do.
"Lili will accept judgment," she said, taking a deep breath. "After this is over, I'll turn myself in to Lady Loki and accept punishment. That's why I want you to win, Lord Shirou. I want to see a world without divine wine…"
"I will," Shirou nodded.
He didn't offer promises or speeches. Just a quiet nod filled with unwavering resolve.
Everyone was deeply moved, though they couldn't quite put into words what made his presence so powerful.
If Loki had been there, she might have immediately recognized what it was.
It was the aura of a true hero—someone who had resolved to see a noble task through to the end.
And such people often became legends in Orario.
.
.
.
The night passed quickly.
The news of the showdown between Shirou and Soma—between cuisine and divine wine—spread like wildfire, though no one knew exactly how it had leaked.
By early morning, the Hostess of Fertility tavern was already packed with an unprecedented crowd.
Adventurers and tourists flooded the area. Somehow, word had gotten out that a mere mortal was going to compete against a god.
Even other gods came to spectate, including Takemikazuchi and Miach—deities who knew Shirou personally.
Most people, of course, were just there for the wine.
Yes, in all of Orario, Soma's divine wine was a legendary beverage. Everyone dreamed of tasting it, but never had the chance.
This showdown, limited as it was, offered a rare opportunity to drink it—no wonder the crowd was massive.
"Damn it, why is it only humans who get to drink? We gods want a sip too!" a god complained.
But whining wouldn't change the rules.
After all, the point of the wager was to prove that divine influence couldn't override human will. Letting gods drink the wine would be meaningless.
"I can't believe it's become such a spectacle," Mia muttered, regret creeping into her voice. She was the tavern owner.
Had she known it would be this insane, she would have demanded Shirou work there one day a week in return.
Still, she didn't sit idle. She immediately ordered the tavern staff to maintain order and prevent the rowdy adventurers from trashing the place.
And in truth, this was exactly why Shirou had chosen Hostess of Fertility as the venue.
A normal tavern could never handle such a crowd—the event would've fallen apart before it began.
But the Hostess staff were all highly capable, not just the seemingly ordinary waitress Syr. The rest were seasoned adventurers of high rank.
Even Mia herself was someone Shirou didn't dare underestimate.
With such people keeping the peace, even the most hot-tempered adventurers behaved, waiting patiently for the contest to begin.
And they didn't have to wait long.
As if on cue, Shirou and Soma both appeared at the tavern—ready to begin their showdown between man and god.