Chapter 50: Cuisine That Surpasses the Divine
As Shirou approached with the dish he had prepared, every eye in the room immediately turned to him. Up until this point, very few had believed that Shirou had any chance of reversing the tide of the contest and defeating a god. But simply the courage he displayed by challenging a god had already earned him deep admiration from many present.
After all, everyone understood the vast difference between mortals and gods. That gap was so immense it defied rational comprehension. While the gods' lifespans stretching over hundreds of millions of years hadn't made them omniscient or omnipotent, the chasm between gods and mortals in their respective domains was nothing short of insurmountable.
This abyss was beyond anything reason could grasp — no one could cross it.
"Still want to persist?" Soma looked at Shirou as he approached. "To be honest, at this point, I really can't understand you. Do you truly believe you can defeat me in a contest like this? Do you honestly think your few decades of experience can overcome the divine wine I've perfected over hundreds of millions of years? If you even have the slightest notion of that, I really have to wonder if there's something wrong with your head."
"You're right," Shirou nodded, accepting Soma's words.
He did not deny the gap in experience between himself and the god of brewing. Nor did he deny the reality that it was virtually impossible to defeat Soma head-on.
Seeing Shirou's calm attitude, Soma furrowed his brow. He was becoming more and more unable to comprehend this man in front of him. If he knew the truth, why was he still doing something so utterly foolish?
"..."
As Soma was about to speak, Shirou stopped him with his actions and quietly said, "It's about time. The aroma of divine wine now permeates everything — this is the perfect moment."
"Moment?" Soma looked puzzled. And just like him, none of the gods or spectators present could understand what Shirou meant.
Except for Syr, who stood nearby smiling as she watched everything unfold. Her eyes were locked onto Shirou and the dish in his hands, as if she saw something shining within it.
While everyone else was still confused, Shirou placed the freshly cooked egg fried rice on the table.
Just as many had expected, Shirou's fried rice appeared extremely ordinary. In terms of both appearance and aroma, there was nothing remarkable about it. It looked like the kind of meal a regular household would casually prepare.
No one believed such a simple dish could compete with, let alone outshine, divine wine.
But Shirou didn't seem to care about others' judgment. Silently, he divided the fried rice into five portions and placed them before the five diners who had already tasted the divine wine.
"It's about time," Shirou quietly said.
No one understood what he meant.
But what happened next made everyone open their eyes in astonishment.
As the seemingly ordinary dish was placed on the table, its aroma began to waft and spread with time. Though simple, when the scent of the fried rice mixed with the fragrance of the divine wine, it created a brand-new aroma — one that had never been smelled before.
"What is this?!" "Heavens, it smells amazing!" "I feel like I'm seeing the heavens…" "I saw my late mother." "There's my wife… and child…"
Voices came from all directions. Even just smelling the scent was enough for people to feel an unprecedented sense of bliss and wonder.
"What the hell is this?" Even Loki, the god acting as judge, hadn't expected this.
As a god, even she felt a previously unknown stirring deep within upon smelling the fusion of fried rice and divine wine.
It was a feeling akin to the miracle of birth — or the genuine fulfillment of reaching a pivotal moment in life. Human lives are made of countless memories. Most fade, and only key events can bring back the distant past. While gods have far greater memory than mortals, even they struggle to recall most of their countless years, usually only remembering the past hundred years or so. Anything further is like silt submerged beneath the sea — impossible to recover.
Yet this dish achieved the impossible.
Just from the aroma, Loki was suddenly flooded with memories long forgotten — moments that had moved her deeply throughout her existence.
These were not things that even the spirit could normally touch. They were buried deep in the soul, suppressed by the vortex of consciousness — not things meant to surface.
And yet now, they boiled over like oil in a pan, bursting forth from her mind.
This sensation was unlike the sharp, piercing stimulation of divine wine, which sent the spirit soaring into the clouds. Instead, it was like a mother's embrace — a dreamland of gentle comfort and warmth that every person once longed for and can never quite let go.
"But how was this even done?" Loki's question was the same one in everyone's heart.
They had all smelled the scent that penetrated nerves and touched the soul — but no one could understand how this had happened. How could a human possibly create a dish of such near-divine quality?
Even Soma, the one who had brewed the divine wine, couldn't understand. His confused eyes betrayed the turmoil in his heart, as he faced a reality that should not exist.
"Hey, you were just talking to that kid Emiya, weren't you?" Mia looked at Syr, her eyes sharp and questioning.
"Yes, we talked about cooking." "You noticed something about his dish?"
"Well, a little," Syr replied without evasion. "I had an idea, but seeing it happen with my own eyes was still quite a shock."
"What's the truth then?" Mia asked, confused. "Can a human really make something like that?"
"Of course not," Syr shook her head. "No matter how gifted a human is, no matter how much talent they possess, their short lives still limit how far they can go. There are places they simply can't reach."
"Then how did that Emiya kid create such… absurd food?"
Mia couldn't even put it into words. That scent had an almost magical allure. Even she, upon smelling it, was suddenly reminded of many long-forgotten memories — precious, buried moments from the distant past.
"Did you know, Manager Mia," Syr said with a complex smile, "that human cuisine isn't just about food?"
"What do you mean?"
"For example, in our tavern — even though we focus on food, what we sell isn't just food, right?"
"Of course. We're a tavern, after all."
Mia nodded, then suddenly realized something, whispering in surprise, "Wait, are you saying… that kid used the divine wine?"
"That's right," Syr smiled.
"Humans can't surpass divine wine with food alone. No matter how advanced their skills, they can't defeat a god's creation honed over hundreds of millions of years. But this wasn't a wine vs. wine contest — it was a match between wine and cuisine.
Wine is wine — intoxicating and stimulating. But cuisine is a broader concept — and it includes wine.
Most gods don't need to eat, so they don't think much of food. For stimulation, they prefer alcohol. But humans? Humans need food to live — to survive. Wine can give fleeting pleasure, but real happiness comes from meals that nourish and satisfy.
For humans, eating requires food. Alcohol is a supplement — a luxury. Soma's greatest mistake was accepting this contest in the first place. Because he didn't face just Shirou's dish, but a combination of divine wine and cuisine."
"..."
Syr's words stunned Mia.
Even the tavern staff nearby, who overheard the conversation, stared wide-eyed — shocked that all of this had been part of Shirou's plan.
But even if he planned for it, defeating divine wine still required absolute skill. If Shirou couldn't make 1 + 1 > 1, then none of this would've worked.
Divine wine was already a perfect ten. So what kind of dish could possibly exceed that perfect score?
As everyone watched in awe, the five diners, still under the influence of the divine wine, began to rise from their seats.
They seemed drawn by the scent of the fried rice. Even though they weren't fully conscious, their instincts took over — and they picked up their spoons and took a bite.
The moment they tasted it, their bodies stilled. It was an absolute contrast to before.
Where they had just been twitching from divine wine's intense stimulation, now they appeared to drift into a dream — experiencing the deepest and purest human softness.
Tears streamed down some of their faces — not from complex emotion, but from sheer soul-stirring impact.
Lily's expression, especially, was complicated.
The moment she tasted the food, she was brought back to her childhood. To a time so far in the past it was barely within memory. Yet the perfect pairing of divine wine and fried rice brought it vividly back.
She remembered being taken in by Soma's familia — the gentle god who cared for her like family. Back then, Soma hadn't created his divine wine yet. Their lives were poor and difficult, but everyone in the familia was united, never abandoning one another.
It was her happiest time — a memory only the food had been able to stir up. That warmth completely erased the intense stimulation of the wine. The once overwhelming alcohol became a gentle balm to the soul.
Gradually, the diners broke free of divine wine's grip. Tears streaming, they kept eating the fried rice — as though it were the finest delicacy.
In reality, had they never drunk the divine wine, they wouldn't have found the fried rice that impressive. It would've seemed simply decent.
Yes, Shirou had crafted this dish specifically in response to divine wine. He distilled the experience of drinking it the day before and deliberately created a dish to complement it.
The dish itself wasn't extraordinary. But it neutralized the wine's overwhelming stimulation, leaving only its pure warmth.
Thus, the warmth the diners felt — didn't come from the dish. It came from the divine wine itself.
Shirou's dish merely stripped away the danger, leaving behind the comfort.
"It's so delicious… really… so delicious…"
But only Shirou and Syr knew this truth. To the average onlooker, watching the diners weep as they ate proved one thing:
Shirou's dish had surpassed Soma's divine wine — a miracle where a mortal defeated a god.