Poncho Panacotta

Poncho Panacotta (ポンチョ・パナコッタ, Poncho Panakotta) is a recurring character of Genjitsu Shugi Yuusha no Oukoku Saikenki series. He is currently the Minister of Agriculture and Forestry of the Kingdom of Friedonia.

Appearance
Poncho is a middle-aged, heavyset man, with short hair and a rounded face. He has a large belly, and is seen constantly sweating

Personality
Initially, Poncho had very low self-esteem and self-confidence in himself, since he was ridiculed for spending his money solely in the pursuit of finding food. He has a habit of ending all of his sentences with the word 'yes.' As time goes on and his talents are recognized as valuable, he gains more confidence in himself.

Biography
Poncho Panacotta was one of the five people that were selected during Kazuya Souma's call out for talented individuals. His special talent is not only being the best eater, but also due to his long history of eating all types of food from all over Landia. Kazuya considered him to the be the key to solving the Elfrieden Kingdom's food crisis and immediately gave Poncho the title of Minister for the Food Crisis.

Poncho would spend two weeks, using one of the royal wyverns as transportation, to fly over Landia and collect various foodstuffs. He would then host the first Jewel Voice Broadcast program with Juna Doma, demonstrating the various items that can be eaten and how to prepare them. His most important contributions would be the method to harvest and cook Gelin Udon, the discovery of Hishio Sauce and Hishio Water, (Landia's version of Soy Sauce and Miso), and showing that even the octopus can be eaten.

After the success of that program, Elfrieden's food crisis would later be solved, and Poncho would eventually invent even more delicious foods with some knowledge from Kazuya's memories from Earth. This would eventually create such dishes such as Instant Ramen, which would become a hit among the troops as a combat field ration.

After the One Week War and the occupation of the city of Van, Poncho would provide food aid to the citizens with the Lily Root Dumpling. At that point, he became well-respected by the starving citizens and especially among the struggling housewives. He would earn the nickname, Lord Ishizuka.

After the annexation of the Principality of Amidonia and the creation of the Kingdom of Friedonia, Poncho would earn the title of Minister of Agriculture and Forestry and would temporarily govern the city of Venetinova.

Due to his position as one of Kazuya's inner circle of advisors, Poncho rapidly became a target for nobles who sought influence to either marry or marry their daughters to. Poncho was seen as an easy target by such individuals due to his original commoner heritage and due to the presumption that because of his appearance he likely had not received much attention from women. As the castle was being flooded with proposals for Poncho, both Kazuya and Hakuya recognized this potentially dangerous situation and sought to aid in protecting Poncho from devious individuals by assigning Serina to serve as an aid for him. She would stand in on the marriage meetings that Poncho would have and due to her aura, would drive away the devious individuals. Unfortunately, Serina's presence also drove away more benevolent candidates as well. Serina was later joined by Komain as an aid to Poncho during such meetings, though results remained the same.

Eventually, Komain would present herself as a marriage candidate to Poncho, which though he was surprised by, he would accept. Komain had attempted to hint to Poncho that Serina was likewise interested in him, but he would fail to pick up on the hint. After some urging, Serina would confess her own feelings to Poncho, citing that she would allow him to care for her, something she was not used to. Komain, having foreseen this, would allow Serina to be head wife. Poncho married Serina and Komain on the same day as Kazuya's own wedding and coronation as part of the joint celebration across Parnam.

At the wedding reception, Serina quickly began suggesting that they should have children as she wanted to be ahead of the coming high-influence-officials baby boom, going so far as to offer Poncho as selection of foods that were said to increase virility. Poncho would experience a notable loss of weight over the next several months, which started to cause concern from others like Kazuya. However, as now both Serina and Komain are expecting, he has been returning to his previous size.

Poncho is currently continuing to serve as Minister of Agriculture and Forestry and temporary governor of Venetinova while studying to increase his own knowledge in these areas.

Food Knowledge
Due to his long history of visiting other places in his search for food, Poncho has gained a vast knowledge and expertise on what can be eaten, how to harvest it, and what its nutritional value is. His motto is, "If it was edible, I ate it."

Master Chef
Along with having a vast knowledge of different Cuisine, Poncho is just as capable of preparing them, proving to be a first class chef. He can create simple but amazing dishes that can easily captivate anyone who has tried them. He could even reproduce dishes from Kazuya's world that Kazuya couldn't make himself using just what Kazuya told him.