- Silas -
I need to learn that magic.
Apparently Daemons from Rimuru's world also had a Skill called Material Creation, something I had gained when I was named. Too bad, I didn't have much time to learn more about it. Just another thing to keep in the list of things to learn.
"Okay, now that everyone has decided on what they want to wear, I have to go and get ready." I got up.
"Going somewhere?" Rimuru asked.
"Yes. I have been invited by Nakiri-san to be a judge at a cooking competition for the students of his school. Setsuno-san and Jiro-san will be arriving here in an hour. I need to get ready before that."
"Oh, a judge." With that they went back to the discussion.
"Hmm, I had asked Sanzaemon-san if he knew somewhere I could hire some staff for my Restaurant. Coincidentally, Setsuno-san and Jiro-san were also in the Restaurant at the time. We were all invited over to his School. There was some sort of competition going on and he wanted to show us his students by having us taste their food as judges. I can then decide whom I want to select to work for me. He was quite excited about the whole thing. Apparently, his school is quite famous in his world."
"Great. Have a good day."
"Umm."
__________________________________x___________________________________
The door to the Restaurant opened and Grandma Setsuno and Jiro-san entered.
"Hohohoho are you excited to see the youngsters of a different world cook as well, Silas? I have been wondering how the new world would look since I got the invitation." Jiro-san laughed.
Today, he was dressed much differently than his normal style. He wore a blue jacket and black trousers while Grandma Setsuno was in her usual pink attire.
"Yes. It's always a fun experience to go to a new world. Till now, I have only been to supernatural worlds but apparently Nakiri-san's world is quite normal. So I don't think you will be able to see any good ingredients."
"Hahahaha good food is cooked when people pour their hearts into it. After all, what's better than sitting around a dining table with your friends and family and sharing food with them?" He said and laughed.
"Yes. I am more interested in seeing people, especially young children compete against each other, pushing each other to newer heights as they explore the flavours of the ingredients which they were blessed upon by the Gods." Setsuno-san smiled.
"Hmm very true. I packed in something as a gift for Sanzaemon-san as well." I said.
The guy was doing me a favour by helping me out with this. It was only natural that I did so.
"You are a good boy, Sil-chan." She smiled.
During this time, the door to the Restaurant opened again and this time it was Erina who came in followed by a purple haired girl.
"Good Evening Silas-sama, Setsuna-sama, Jiro-sama." She bowed politely to us.
I smiled remembering the girl's attitude when she first came to this Restaurant.
"Good Evening Erina-chan. And your friend is?"
"Yes. She is Hisako Arato, my aide." Erina introduced.
The girl bowed deeply. "My name is Hisako Arato. Pleased to make your acquaintance." She greeted us.
"Hohohoho what a polite child. Don't be so formal. We are just an old couple who want to taste some good food today. Just treat us as such."
We followed Erina into a limo outside the Restaurant door.
"This looks like Tokyo. Outer areas." I said, looking around the area.
"Yes. Our Academy owns this area." Erina answered.
"Can you tell me something about this Academy, Erina-chan?" Grandma Setsuno asked.
I too paid attention as this might be helpful to me to understand things better.
- Senzaemon Nakiri -
He stood in front of the group of selected students and staff, each the best of their own fields. The Elite Ten and the three finalists of the Autumn Festival.
Beside him were Gin Dojima and behind the curtains stood another person he hadn't thought he would see in a while but had invited nonetheless and was happily surprised..
"My dear Staff and Students. Today, I have come to present you with a once in a lifetime opportunity." He began loudly.
The start of the speech attracted the attention of everyone present in the room.
"You are all the best of the best which our Academy can offer the leaders of the next generation of the food industry all over the world in this, there is no doubt."
The students paid attention and he continued.
"But the opportunity you can win today is something any chef in this world can only dream of."
Murmurs ran through the place.
"You might not gain name, fame or even immense riches during this" He observed the disinterest appear on the faces of a few people at this but continued nonetheless, "but I, Nakiri Senzaemon, swear this on my name and the honour of the Nakiri Family that the experience you gain from this will be something no one else in this world can provide you with."
The room erupted in a cacophony of noises at his proclamation. He raised his hand and the room slowly calmed down. He continued.
"We are about to receive a few guests today. They are coming here to see the Academy and one of them is planning to choose a few students to work in his Restaurant. You all will be giving your best shot and presenting the guests with a dish of your choosing. The winners will be decided by the guests. Obviously, you are allowed to reject. No one will be forced to do anything against their wishes. I would still ask that you consider this opportunity seriously."
He dictated the terms of the performance and left the room.
"Just what is so special about this opportunity, old man? With that oath you just took, even I am curious now."
"Pay respect to the Director, Jōichirō." Gin scolded but he could see the curiosity in his eyes as well.
"They are an old couple and a young man who owns a small Restaurant."
"What?"
He then went on to explain what he had experienced and the mysterious place which the Crossroads Restaurant was to his close students.
"They might look simple but they are anything but. For the likes of us, they might as well be higher beings. Anyone who gets selected by them will be able to experience the ingredients and cooking styles of different worlds, of Chefs who can tear apart continents and planets just for the sake of cooking an ingredient, of worlds where cooking is everything. It's both a dream and a nightmare for Chefs like us."
"Are they dangerous?"
"They are strong but that doesn't always mean harmful. They are very humble and easy to get along with."
As he was explaining everything to them, the phone in the room rang. Erina had called to let them know that she had brought them to the Academy and they were heading over there.
"They are here. Get ready."
- Silas -
What the fuck is this place?
Isn't this too big for a cooking school?
I mean I knew Nakiri-san was a big deal, what with the limo and the food bills he offered so casually but I was of the thought that he probably owned other businesses or something and the Academy was only one of these establishments.
But as it turns out, this Academy was the best in the whole world.
Grandma Setsuno and Jiro-san didn't even blink an eye.
A pass rate of less than ten percent.
I guess this must be what people meant when they said 'Hell's Kitchen'.
We stopped in front of what looked like a huge auditorium.
"This is Chandra's Room. Please come in." Erina led us.
On the gates of the auditorium was a known face.
Mana Nakiri stood there waiting for us.
Erina went and joined her as she bowed lightly.
"Setsuna-sama, Jiro-sama, Silas-sama, please welcome to our humble Academy. We hope you will enjoy your time here." She greeted us.
The surrounding people all paused as if they were in a dream as they gawked at us or more precisely, the scene of Mana greeting us.
I guess it could be due to her being the daughter of the Academy's director.
We were led inside and the place was huge. It was in the form of a stadium where all the seats were already full of students and thirteen students stood in the middle of the stadium.
Nakiri-san and two other people welcomed us.
"We have arranged for an exhibition from our best students of this batch. I sincerely hope you will like them."
The exhibition started as we sat along with Nakiri-san and Gin-san. In the meanwhile he introduced us to another Chef, Jōichirō Yukihira.
That guy reminded me a lot of Rimuru in his happy go lucky style.
"What do you think of our students? Are they to your liking?" Nakiri-san asked.
"Hohohoho they are all so young and energetic, bursting with so much potential. If they are trained well and provided with good food, I can see some of them growing to much greater heights….in a few decades." Setsuno-san commented lightly.
"A few decades?" Gin asked.
I sensed he was more surprised than angry at what might be considered an offending statement on this occasion.
So I looked at Nakiri-san and asked, "Do they know?"
He nodded. "Gin is the Head Chef of the Nakiri Group of Hotels and a former student of mine. Both him and Jōichirō have been among the best this Academy has ever produced. I trust them fully."
"Good then." I turned towards them and explained. "This is a very high praise from Grandma Setsuno. In her world, people can live to great ages as long as they eat good and delicious food. A couple hundred years is really not an exaggeration. I know of people who have lived for thousands of years. To reach such a level in a few decades, don't you think this is a good enough praise for everyone?"
Their mouths were wide open at the reveal but none of them questioned anything.
Nakiri-san explained about the students and their speciality while we observed them.
Grandma Setsuno took a liking to a red haired girl who was currently gutting a baby alligator in a way which made me have weird feelings and not the bad sort of weird.
Apart from her, there was another guy with brown hair, who was cooking a traditional fish dish. Nakiri-san said that his family owned a traditional Japanese restaurant. His cooking style did have the hints of such an upbringing.
"Those two children." Grandma Setsuno pointed towards the red haired girl from earlier, Rindo Kobayashi and a red haired guy Soma Yukihara, who happened to be the son of Jōichirō. "They would flourish in our world. They seek adventure and ingredients to satisfy their curiosity. That child, on the other hand, will get people who genuinely appreciate his craft." She pointed to another one, a white- haired guy, Eishi Tsukasa. "He looks like the sort to completely dedicate himself to his craft. He would do well." She then turned towards Jōichirō. "You have a good son. He is blessed with great Food Luck." She commented, making us confused.
Jiro-san explained what Food Luck was. I wondered how Aqua's blessing would work with that. He then asked me who I had taken a liking to.
"Isshiki Satoshi, Tōsuke Megishima and Ryō Kurokiba also look interesting. The first two are quite calm and that is a very good quality among chefs to have. The last one on the other hand is like a wild animal." I said before I realised what I had said. Thankfully, no one seemed to mind it.
"Hohohoho he is like Jiro-chan when he was young." Grandma Setsuno laughed, making everyone laugh as well. With the atmosphere lightened, I continued.
"He is not afraid to do what he wants. Which is exactly the opposite of Erina-san. Erina-san's cooking style is very meticulous but she… how do I say this? She is too stiff. As if she cannot accept anything else than what she knows as the rule. In a way, it narrows the scope of her creativity. Cooking is an art and an artist who has lost their creativity… has a very limited future. She will grow better if she were to grow out of this habit of hers."
"You noticed that too. Yes, the child will grow a lot if she can leave that habit of hers behind." Grandma Setsuna commented too.
Nakiri-san winced a little but nodded nonetheless. He was probably already aware of this. As for what they do, that was on them. The most we could do was offer advice.
Soon, the food was served.
And hot damn, these guys were talented.