Later, Yulishia asks Kurt to forge her a new sword since her last one was destroyed in the battle against the demon Soulflare. To make the sword, they need rare materials, so Yulishia takes Kurt to the mines where he collects some extraordinary materials as usual — this time, Mithril and Adamantite. Normally, such materials require a highly specialized furnace to be turned into an alloy, but Kurt only uses a cooking pot. A dwarven blacksmith accompanying them can only smile in amazement, having never seen anything like it before. In no time, Kurt crafts one of the best swords in history, which Yulishia uses to effortlessly cut a boulder in half. The dwarven blacksmith, shocked by Kurt’s skill, accepts defeat and leaves to improve his own craftsmanship. Wondering why he was even there in the first place, Yulishia names her new sword Snowflake and thanks Kurt, who smiles back — making her blush and revealing she’s clearly fallen for his charm.
The next morning at the atelier, Yulishia reveals she’s going on a date with Kurt, just like Lee did. She uses the excuse of wanting to study the market. Shortly after, Kurt and Yulishia head out without Auri, who hasn’t woken up yet. Yulishia is glad there won’t be a third wheel this time. Secretly, she confides to the viewers how much she wants to outshine Lee, but she doesn’t know what Lee did to impress Kurt on her date. Trusting her adventurer skills, Yulishia plans to show Kurt the hidden gems of the city to gain an advantage. However, their mission ends abruptly when they encounter local goons wrecking a meat bun stall.
The shopkeeper is on his knees, begging the goons to stop, with his daughter beside him. Seeing their miserable state, Yulishia’s ethics urge her to intervene, but that would ruin the date. Caught in this dilemma, she turns to Kurt, who has already rushed into the fight without hesitation, demanding the goons explain their violent actions. The piggy-looking goon tells Kurt to mind his own business. But little does he know, Kurt is unemployed and has nothing better to do.
Meanwhile, Yulishia realizes a peaceful date with Kurt is impossible and gives up. The bigger goon explains that the shop sold them bad meat buns, and as responsible citizens, they’re wrecking the shop to prevent others from suffering the same. Kurt doesn’t trust this, so he buys a bun and discovers the food is actually good and cheap, proving the goons are lying. The piggy goon, unwilling to admit he’s wrong, pushes Kurt, triggering Yulishia to step in and demand an apology, warning the goons they’re picking a fight with the atelier members. The boss goon runs away, followed by his underlings, saving the day for the shopkeeper.
Noticing the shopkeeper is injured with broken bones, Yulishia isn’t worried since Kurt can heal him. But the unaware Kurt decides to take the man to the hospital instead, ignoring her advice and rushing off with the shopkeeper on his back. Yulishia can’t believe she got ditched on their first date and now has to comfort the shopkeeper’s crying daughter. Buying juice for the kids, she learns from the seller that the nearby Gargel restaurant hired the goons because they don’t want the meat bun stall to win an upcoming cooking competition. Enraged that her date was ruined by the Gargel restaurant, Yulishia wants revenge.
Kurt returns with news that the shopkeeper has been admitted to the hospital and will stay for a day. Being the humanitarian he is, Kurt decides to substitute as the shopkeeper to keep the stall running. Yulishia’s hatred for the Gargel restaurant grows as she wastes her time there. Fired up, she and Kurt decide to enter the cooking competition to crush all competitors, especially Gargel. The only problem is the stall is out of meat buns. If Kurt used his cheat skills to mass-produce them instantly, the shopkeeper wouldn’t be happy. So, they teach the shopkeeper’s kid to make buns using Kurt’s modified recipe. While Yulishia gathers ingredients, Kurt digs underground for a special ingredient: worms.
The cooking competition begins. The judges find the Gargel restaurant’s food exquisite, but their judgment is swayed by bribes from the restaurant’s chef, ensuring Gargel’s victory. However, public opinion shifts as the crowd praises the delicious meat buns, leaving the Gargel chef wondering if his hired goons failed. The restaurant owner is shocked and goes to investigate why his paid goons couldn’t do their job, only to find people enjoying the hot springs nearby — a hot spring right in the city.
He had never seen one before and wondered if the spring was a new attraction the owner had added to get good reviews. But right now, that was the least of his worries. He had to focus on winning the competition first. Standing there in awe, he crashed and whined. As expected, the judges came to taste the food as well. The crowd’s excitement made them hopeful something great was happening, so one judge suggested they buy some food to judge. Gargel protested immediately, saying the bun looked black inside and might not be safe to eat. Well, what else would a hater say?
Before he could convince the judges against the store, Luna appeared with a tray of snacks. Recognizing the judges, she asked them to try her food. Gargel begged them not to, insisting it was poison. Luna agreed it looked black but explained it was because of the ingredient used: enko made with caucus. They used red beans that Kurt had brought, telling them that preparing red beans in a hotring would produce honey, making every bite delightful. She convinced the judges, who took a bite and felt like they were in paradise. The meal was truly a pleasure, and they were amazed by its taste. Gargel also tried it and immediately understood why people queued for hours just to eat it. He didn’t care; he just wanted to win.
Before he could speak, Yulishia arrived. Gargel asked how they made something so beautiful. She explained the entire process, and he doubted anyone could do that in hours. He thought Kurt was no ordinary person. Yulishia revealed the meals were made with hot water from an underground spring—meaning they had dug under the city. No one could dig the city so easily, but she insisted Kurt did it. Gargel’s next excuse was that even for the atelier, digging the city required Margrave Taicone’s consent. To his shock, they had gotten that consent. Homuros Liselotte had met with Taicone and obtained permission. The hotring Kurt dug wasn’t useless; it would serve as a leisure center for the kingdom.
Realizing he lost, Gargel pulled the judge he had bribed, reminding him of their deal to block the restaurant’s win. But how could the judge lie when the truth was so clear? The judge refused the money and admitted the restaurant deserved the win. Frustrated, Gargel spotted the thugs he’d hired and urged them to destroy the restaurant, promising to bail them out if arrested. Unknown to him, he was talking to an illusion created by Liselotte. His gang had already been arrested, and now he would be too.
Yulishia appeared, revealing they had uncovered Gargel’s crimes: supplying Margrave Taicone with ingredients, using leftovers from the margrave’s kitchen, which was illegal, and even lacing food with drugs to addict customers. Gargel was stunned. How had they discovered everything? Turning around, he saw Liselotte had taken his form. She explained they had impersonated him and interrogated the chefs, who confessed all.
Facing arrest, Gargel panicked and tried to attack Liselotte with a knife. That escalated his crimes from minor offenses to treason—attacking a princess! He didn’t know who she was until Liselotte introduced herself. Guards dragged him away as he cried, lamenting that all he ever wanted was to fight some buns, and now that had ruined his life.
Yulishia wasn’t satisfied with how the day ended; she had dreamed of a lovely date with Kurt, but it ended in chaos. Liselotte laughed at the misfortune, but it wasn’t all bad. She saw how happy Kurt was, and even little Luna was thrilled. That was enough for her.
News of Gargel’s arrest reached Margrave Taicone, who wasn’t surprised. He probably wouldn’t be shocked if he were involved himself. He also learned all chefs linked to the scandal were arrested, so he worried who would cook for the tea party honoring Liselotte the next day. His assistant told him the judges had announced the cooking competition winner—they could hire that person. A convenient solution.
Still, something nagged at him. He worried about what Liselotte was planning. Maybe she had uncovered his secret and knew what he hoped to gain from meeting the atelier master. For now, he brushed off the suspicion.
Meanwhile, Liselotte, Yulishia, and Kurt met with Rikuto. They showed him a map of the margrave’s house and tasked him with sneaking into the kitchen to find out if Hildegard was being held there. That way, they could confront Taicone with proof and demand her release. Rikuto agreed and assured Kurt he had it covered.
Kurt was told to return to help at the bun shop. After he left, Liselotte dropped the illusion. Illusions can only exist if the creator holds the sword, but illusions can’t hold objects. That made things complicated—Liselotte couldn’t hold the sword while with Taicone, and Rikuto might need to hold or move things too.
So, here was the plan: Liselotte would create illusions of herself and Rikuto, while her real body, holding the sword, would remain invisible and follow Rikuto closely to assist when needed. With the plan set, they headed to Taicone’s house. As they approached and Liselotte summoned the illusions, they received a shocking update: Kurt had been hired by Taicone as the chef for the event.
