“That’s enough.” The king raised a hand, and the entire palace immediately fell silent.

  “Seeing as Chef Mag doesn’t wish to remain in the royal kitchen, I won’t force him to stay against his will. Even so, the three dishes he offered today were still the best I’ve tasted, and he’s very much worthy of the best dish award.” The king turned his gaze toward Mag, and said, “He will be rewarded 1,000 dragon coins, as well as a plaque that says ‘Best of the Royal Banquet’ that can be hung up in his restaurant.”


  “Thank you, Your Majesty.” Mag extended a grateful bow toward the king, but he was internally grumbling, How the hell am I supposed to hang up a plaque like that in my restaurant?!

  The king nodded, and continued, “Seeing as you’re held in such high regard, and you’re the father of Krassu’s disciple, as well as a genius mathematician in Byron’s eyes, there’s no need for you to go back to the kitchen. You’ll be granted a seat here in the palace for the duration of this banquet.”


  “Thank you, Your Majesty,” Mag said in a respectful voice. He had never been to a royal banquet before, so he was naturally very interested in such an event.

  “His Majesty agreed to let him leave!”


  All of the officials were rather surprised by this turn of events. However, they were even more surprised by the fact that so many powerhouses were willing to stand up for Mag.

  Thus, Mag emerged victorious at the conclusion of this minor conflict.

  A genius mathematician? He could barely discern one number from another three years ago! Could it be that aside from learning to cook, he also learned mathematics during these past three years? Irina was looking at Mag with a curious expression, wondering what other surprises he had up his sleeve.

  Sean wore a rather gloomy expression as he sat back down in his seat. He had well and truly hit a brick wall this time. Not only was he unable to cause any trouble for Josh, he had instead pushed Krassu and Chaos City toward Josh.

  In contrast, Josh was barely able to contain his elation. He was the one who had introduced Mag to cook for the king, yet he thought that he was just a chef. Who would’ve thought that he would have so many powerful backers?

  The group of education officials led by Byron Field had always been the most stubborn fence-sitters, absolutely refusing to take any sides in the battle for the throne.

  If he could get Mag to infiltrate and convince them to support him, his influence would further expand.

  Byron sat down, and Luna had already poured him a cup of tea while she wore a gleeful smile on her face.

  “You’re this happy just because I spoke out for him?” Byron accepted the cup of tea as he looked at Luna with a rather resigned expression.

  “Mr. Mag is a man who loves freedom, so Chaos City is more suitable for him; of course I’m happy that you decided to speak out for him, Grandpa,” Luna replied with a nod and a smile.

  “I don’t think that’s all there is to it.” Byron took a sip of tea as a meaningful look appeared on his face.

  Mag cupped his fist in a salute toward Byron before making his way over to Amy and the others. By then, a servant had already prepared a chair for him beside Krassu.

  Right after Mag sat down, he immediately turned to the two great magic casters, and said, “Thank you for speaking out for me, Principal Novan, Master Krassu.”


  Novan looked at Mag and shook his head as he said, “I should be the one thanking you for being willing to return to Chaos City.”


  “There’s no need to be so polite with me, Boss Mag.” Krassu waved a nonchalant hand in response.

  “Father!” Amy leaped into Mag’s arms with an elated expression. Even though they had only been apart for several hours, she still missed him deeply.

  “Good girl.” Mag settled Amy on his leg as he patted her head with a smile. He took a glance at Irina before abruptly turning his gaze away at the sight of the slightly threatening look in her eyes. She really was a rather scary woman.

  The intimate interaction between the father and daughter duo drew many an envious gaze from the nearby guests. It was every man’s dream to have such an adorable yet prodigious daughter, and it was every woman’s dream to be sitting on Mag’s leg as Amy was doing.

  Amy cupped her hand against Mag’s ear, and whispered, “Father, I think Big Sister Irina has already fallen in love with you.”


  “Hmm?” Mag faltered slightly upon hearing this.

  “She looked super happy when she was eating your three dishes, so she must’ve already fallen in love with you. No woman can resist your food,” Amy analyzed in a serious manner.

  Mag couldn’t help but chuckle as he gently flicked Amy’s forehead. She really did dare to speak her mind.

  Thus, the minor conflict concluded following intervention from the king.

  So this guy was the one who swindled Tauros and Dracula, and made our demon race lose such a key island. What a deplorable bastard! The representative of the demon race, Gajeel, was looking at Mag with a dark expression. The conflict between the two races several months ago had ended in a peaceful manner, so all of those demon race warriors had died for nothing.

  Could it be that he’s the miraculous chef that Jinx was talking about? In contrast, giant Golden Dragon Bruno was looking at Mag with an intrigued expression. He nodded as he thought to himself, Jinx really wasn’t lying; his food really is extremely delicious. It’s just that the samples are a little too small.

  Mag was also surreptitiously sizing up the people within the palace. There wasn’t much to say about Josh and Sean; his four times spicy grilled fish was just the beginning to the revenge that he was going to serve up. He had also met Richard the day before, and the latter was currently glaring at him with an expression that suggested he wanted nothing better than to kill him.

  The orcs, demons, forest trolls, dwarves, goblins, elves, and giant dragons had all sent important representatives to attend the birthday banquet.

  Mag’s gaze settled momentarily on a burly man in a suit of golden armor with a golden scaled dragon tail trailing onto the ground behind him. This tail presented quite a familiar sight to him—it was the same as the tail that would sprout from Miya’s body after eating roujiamo!

  Could it be…… that Miya really is a half-dragon with the bloodline of a giant Golden Dragon? Mag thought to himself with a hint of surprise in his heart. As he did so, he committed this Golden Dragon’s appearance to memory.

  If Miya wanted to go to the dragon islands to find her father, perhaps he would be able to speak to this Golden Dragon representative to have that arranged.

  Of course, if he had already recovered to the heights of his powers by that time, then he wouldn’t mind handing a brutal beating to that irresponsible Golden Dragon who had left his daughter and wife behind.

  “His Majesty’s birthday is a grand occasion celebrated by the entire nation, with guests coming from all corners of the continent to attend this birthday banquet. Now, it’s time for our guests to offer their birthday presents to His Majesty!”


  A loud announcement rang out from the main attendant in the palace. Everyone immediately fell silent as they turned their attention to Josh and Sean.

  The presents offered by everyone else were rather inconsequential, but the presents offered by the two princes were a competition in itself.

  “Hurry up, idiot! If we get there too late, then our preparations would go to waste!”


  Sean was just about to rise to his feet when an urgent voice sounded from outside the palace.