Because Aoi Kujou was one of the judges, the role of host for the cooking contest was taken up by Alice Nakiri, who volunteered herself for the job.
Once the final contestant had finished preparing their dish, Alice—dressed in a stunning gown—appeared directly on stage, standing between the judges' table and the contestants' cooking area.
"Alright, all contestants have completed their dishes. Now, let's proceed with the scoring in the order they finished."
Alice, clearly enjoying herself, looked energetically at the group of contestants in front of her. Although this was her first time hosting, she had seen plenty of hosts while competing in past contests, so she was more than capable of copying their example to showcase her hosting skills.
Besides, in her opinion, hosting a contest like this wasn't particularly difficult.
"The first to finish is... contestant Nene Kinokuni, and the dish she chose to make is soba noodles!"
As soon as Alice finished speaking, four maids approached Nene Kinokuni. Each of them helped carry two servings of soba noodles to the judges' table.
The remaining maids brought the rest of the soba to the audience area, distributing it to every spectator present.
Once they reached the judges' table, Nene respectfully presented the ten portions of soba—carried by herself and the four maids—to Eriri and the others.
"Kinokuni-style, ninety-percent soba, paired with assorted tempura made from Sakura shrimp. Please enjoy!"
Looking at the tray on the table—which held a serving of soba, a small bowl of dipping sauce, and a small plate of tempura—Eriri's expression didn't change. She simply closed her eyes and gently inhaled the aroma of the noodles and tempura.
Though she hadn't yet taken a bite, the fragrance alone was enough for her to determine that this soba dish was still far inferior to the one Aoi Kujou had once made.
However, that comparison only applied to Aoi. Compared to other chefs, Nene Kinokuni's soba could definitely be considered top-tier.
After all, she had once assisted Aoi Kujou in the kitchen for a few days. Her current culinary skills had already far surpassed her peers.
Eriri reached out with her fair right hand and picked up the chopsticks from the tray. With her left, she lifted the bowl of dipping sauce, then gracefully picked up some noodles, dipped them in the sauce, and slowly brought them to her mouth.
Seeing this, Nene Kinokuni immediately became a bit nervous.
While doing her best to resist Eriri's overwhelming charm, she also eagerly anticipated what kind of expression Eriri would show after tasting the soba. She sincerely hoped her dish would earn Eriri's approval.
Unfortunately, what she had hoped to see did not appear.
After taking that bite of soba, Eriri showed no expression of delight. However, the smile on her face did deepen slightly.
Next, Eriri didn't continue eating the noodles. Instead, she picked up a piece of the Sakura shrimp tempura and, with equally elegant movements, took a few bites.
"Mmm, not bad. Nene, compared to before, your soba has improved a lot. And being able to make so many servings at once while still maintaining such good noodle texture shows a solid foundation..."
Eriri casually offered a comprehensive critique and praise for Nene Kinokuni's soba, like a seasoned chef with years of experience in the culinary world.
After finishing her comments, a look of approval appeared on Eriri's face, causing Nene—who had been staring straight at her—to look away shyly.
"Thank you for your praise!"
Although she hadn't seen the look of pure enjoyment she had hoped for, just receiving compliments and affirmation for her cooking made Nene Kinokuni extremely happy.
Next, she shifted her gaze to Aoi Kujou, who was seated to Eriri's left.
"Lady Kujou, I look forward to your guidance!"
Looking at the well-mannered girl standing in front of her with a humble attitude, Aoi Kujou's expressionless face finally showed a hint of a smile.
"Mhm, just as my lady said, compared to a few months ago, your culinary skills have improved significantly."
Next, Aoi Kujou offered her evaluation of Nene Kinokuni's dish from the perspective of a professional chef, providing detailed commentary that supplemented areas Eriri hadn't covered, and giving her a great deal of praise.
But of course, after addressing the strengths, the weaknesses couldn't be ignored.
"However, you mustn't become complacent. For an ordinary chef, your skills are already quite good, but the path ahead of you is still very long."
She then pointed out multiple flaws she had observed in Nene's noodle-making techniques—many areas were still rough and could be improved.
Without any reservation, Aoi highlighted these shortcomings one by one and then offered various suggestions for improvement.
Nene Kinokuni listened intently. This wasn't her first time being taught by Aoi Kujou.
She understood that if she could properly implement these suggestions and master them through practice, her soba-making skills would certainly reach even greater heights in the future.
If not for the inappropriate setting, she would've liked to record Aoi Kujou's suggestions with her phone and rewatch them repeatedly to study.
Of course, even if the situation allowed, she wouldn't have dared to record a video—she could only think about it in her heart.
Unlike Eriri and Aoi Kujou, Yuna, Haruno, and Fumino Furuhashi reacted in a way more in line with Nene's expectations. After finishing the soba and tempura, their faces all lit up with expressions of genuine enjoyment.
They also didn't hesitate to praise Nene Kinokuni.
However, their compliments were mostly simple comments like "very delicious," "refreshing," and "nice noodle texture."
As for more professional critiques—that was asking too much from them.
Finally, the judges gave their scores for Nene Kinokuni's soba dish:
8.5, 8.2, 8.9, 8.9, 8.9, 8.8, 8.7, 8.6, 8.8, 8.9.
Total: 87.2 points.
Eriri was the one who gave the 8.5, and Aoi Kujou gave 8.2.
Even Arifureta and the others didn't give particularly high scores—the highest was only 8.9.
Although they all praised the soba and tempura as delicious, they were used to eating Aoi Kujou's cooking.
Even those like Haruno and Fumino Furuhashi, who didn't live in the Saekano world, often dropped by during mealtimes to enjoy Aoi's food.
So by comparison, it was difficult for them to give Nene Kinokuni's dish a higher score.
When the score appeared on the giant screen behind the stage, the remaining twenty-nine contestants were all stunned.
From their perspective, the score was far too low—not even a single rating above nine, and the total didn't even break ninety.
This was one of Tōtsuki Culinary Academy's top students!
Even Rindou Kobayashi, Momo Akanegakubo, and Hisako Arato—who had also improved significantly—were surprised by the score.
They had expected Nene's score to reach at least 95.
That realization made them start doubting themselves as well.
Meanwhile, those who knew their cooking couldn't compare to Nene Kinokuni's began to worry—especially Megumi Tadokoro, Ryouko Sakaki, and Yuuki Yoshino, who all wore anxious expressions.
They were beginning to fear their own scores would be too low to bear.
As for those in the audience who had never tasted Aoi Kujou's cooking—such as Shizuka Hiratsuka, Miharu Kirisu, and the mahjong players like Teru Miyanaga and Sumire Hirose who had stayed after the tournament, the Flügel, even the mermaid girls from the Martial Arts World—all were shocked after tasting the soba served by the maids.
To them, the soba was more delicious than any noodle dish they had ever eaten before.
If they had been the judges, giving a perfect 10 wouldn't have felt excessive.
Over the next period, the remaining twenty-nine contestants received commentary from Eriri and the others, followed by Aoi Kujou's suggestions for improvement.
Though most of the scores weren't particularly high—some were even under 60—the feedback they received from Aoi left them feeling the contest had been rewarding nonetheless.
Only a few contestants received higher scores than Nene Kinokuni—just four, in fact.
They were: Hinako Inui, known as the "Mist Empress," a former 2nd seat of the 80th Tōtsuki Elite Ten; Rindou Kobayashi, who had also assisted Aoi Kujou in the kitchen for a few days; Momo Akanegakubo; and Hisako Arato, who had made significant progress under Erina's guidance.
That said, their scores weren't significantly higher than Nene's.
By this point, the final rankings for the cooking contest were out:
1st place: Momo Akanegakubo – 88.8 points
2nd place: Rindou Kobayashi – 87.9 points
3rd place: Hinako Inui – 87.5 points
4th place: Hisako Arato – 87.3 points
5th place: Nene Kinokuni – 87.2 points
6th place: ...
Unlike the mahjong tournament, where the top three received special prizes, the cooking contest offered a special reward only for the champion.
Thus, the final prize went to Momo Akanegakubo.
And based on her score, it was clear her progress over the past few months had far exceeded that of Rindou Kobayashi and Nene Kinokuni.
Just a few months ago, Rindou held a higher Elite Ten ranking than Momo.
"This concludes the cooking contest! Let's give a big congratulations to Momo Akanegakubo for taking first place!"
"Now, please welcome our beloved Miss Eriri to present the award to Momo Akanegakubo!"
Alice Nakiri shouted enthusiastically, clapping along without missing a beat.
Following her lead, the audience and remaining contestants burst into applause—some even waving and cheering loudly from the stands.
Amid the waves of applause and cheers, Eriri left the judges' table and walked up to Momo Akanegakubo.
"Little Momo, congratulations on winning! How does it feel? Happy?"
Looking at the petite girl who was more than a head shorter than herself, Eriri smiled and patted her on the head.
Though Momo Akanegakubo had the appearance of an elementary school loli, she was actually older than Eriri.
In fact, she might well become a full-fledged legal loli in the future—and continue walking further down that path.
"Mhm! Little Momo is very happy. Thank you, Lady Eriri!"
Momo nodded obediently, showing no awareness that she was older than Eriri.
And being in such close proximity, plus receiving Eriri's affectionate head-pat, left her adorable face glowing with excitement.
"Alright, as promised, your special reward—the 'God's Tongue'—has now been granted to you. Go ahead and experience it for yourself."
Eriri gently patted Momo's head again, silently upgrading her tongue into a version of the 'God's Tongue' identical to Erina's—while also removing all the negative side effects.
Then she raised her left hand, and in an instant, a creamy mousse cake materialized on her palm.
"Here, this is your bonus prize~"
Seeing the cake appear before her, Momo's eyes instantly lit up.
Even without tasting it, the sweet aroma and adorable design alone were enough to make her mouth water.
She subconsciously swallowed and carefully extended both hands to receive the cake.
"Thank you, Lady Eriri!"
Momo thanked her again, but she didn't rush to eat. Instead, she looked up at Eriri curiously and asked:
"Lady Eriri, was this cake made by Lady Kujou?"
"Nope." Eriri shook her head and smiled. "This cake was created by me—so you can think of it as my handiwork~"
Upon hearing this, Momo was stunned. A sudden impulse arose to preserve the mousse cake as a collectible.
But she quickly gave up on that thought—after all, cakes don't last long.
Rather than let it spoil, she might as well eat it now and merge it with her body.
With that in mind, she stopped hesitating, nodded firmly, picked up the small fork next to the cake, cut off a small piece, and popped it into her mouth.
In that instant, a supreme flavor, amplified countless times by the God Tongue, spread through her entire being.
Overwhelmed by the taste of that single bite of creamy mousse cake, Momo Akanegakubo rolled her eyes, trembled all over, and fainted on the spot.
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