"This silver-haired girl is my younger sister, Sora Kasugano. Beside her is her cousin, Kobayashi Rindou — she's also acting as my assistant now."
"And this is Tohru. I found her as a maid, but she's also a powerful fighter who can protect me!"
Upon hearing Bai Mo's explanation, Kobayashi Rindou, who had been teasing him a moment ago, turned serious.
Originally, she thought Bai Mo had simply enjoyed surrounding himself with beautiful girls.
But now it seemed — he had brought someone strong for protection?
With her current understanding of Bai Mo's situation, Rindou had no doubts.
After all, with the appearance of these so-called "fantasy ingredients," it was entirely possible that some desperate individuals would try to take him out.
Even if Bai Mo hadn't strengthened his security, Rindou had already planned to hire a bodyguard for him at her own expense.
Although she couldn't evaluate Tohru's true strength, the fact that Bai Mo had considered personal safety was enough to put Rindou's mind at ease.
As for Sora Kasugano, once she heard that Tohru was a bodyguard, the question she had been holding in was replaced with:
"Ni-chan… why did you suddenly hire a bodyguard?"
"Well, for a variety of reasons," Bai Mo replied with a light tone. "But Sora, from now on, Tohru is part of our family. Please get along well with her."
"O-okay!" Sora peeked out from behind Bai Mo and cautiously observed Tohru. "Tohru-san… please take care of me!"
"Tohru-san, pleased to meet you."
Hmph, for Bai Mo's sake, I'll show some patience toward these humans.
To Rindou, Tohru seemed a bit aloof, but that kind of personality actually suited the role of a bodyguard even more.
After the introductions were over, Bai Mo got down to business. "So, you want me to recruit that guy — Subaru Mimasaka?"
"Yeah! He's an incredibly skilled chef, though he tends to have a more passive personality."
Rindou recalled his traits and explained,
"His cooking philosophy is all about selflessness — he believes that personal ego has no place in cuisine. His goal is to highlight the full potential and flavor of the ingredients."
"In other words, his cooking style is one of complete devotion, using himself as a vessel to bring out the natural essence of the ingredients."
"Someone like that… might actually be the perfect candidate to handle your fantasy ingredients."
"And with his help, we might be able to unlock more ways to work with them."
Bai Mo simply shook his head at her assessment.
"You're mistaken about something, Rindou."
"Huh?" she asked, confused. "You don't think Subaru is the right fit?"
"No, it's not that." Bai Mo smiled and continued.
"You misunderstood — we don't need to forcefully break into the realm of fantasy ingredients."
"You need to expand your perspective. Once we control the source of the ingredients, we don't need to fight over distribution."
"And besides — I'm not doing this for money. To me, money is just a number."
"What I really want… is to see chefs create dishes using these ingredients that can even surprise me."
Rindou's expression softened as she listened.
So, she'd misunderstood his motives from the start?
She thought Bai Mo was trying to use these fantasy ingredients to reshuffle the entire culinary world — to disrupt the status quo and usher in a new age of chefs.
Indeed, if people couldn't adapt to this food revolution, many long-standing chefs and restaurants would be left behind.
She had assumed Bai Mo intended to win people over with ingredients, gather loyal followers, and eliminate rivals.
But instead… he simply wanted to inspire the culinary world and push it forward?
Her own ambitions had seemed too narrow-minded in comparison.
But Bai Mo's words only deepened her admiration.
This man wasn't just clinging to his treasures — his ideals were far grander.
Her gaze became more seductive, her eyes soft and full of emotion.
He truly was a man worthy of respect.
Hmph… foolish human female.
Tohru had seen everything, but didn't say anything.
To her, Rindou was just another fleeting human. Her father, the End Emperor, had countless dragon wives — though she had no partner herself, Tohru was quite open-minded.
Humans, with their short lives, were barely worth comparing.
Bai Mo had also noticed Rindou's obvious expression, but now wasn't the right time to bring it up.
"So," he continued, "I agree with your idea to recruit the Totsuki Elite Ten… but we don't need to confront the Nakiri family head-on."
"Rather than trying to dominate the ingredient market, what I care about… is the quality of the final dish."
"I understand."
Rindou, who had long held the second seat in the Elite Ten and offloaded most duties to Subaru, immediately came up with a strategy.
"In that case, I'll adjust our approach and allocate ingredients based on each person's specialty."
"Subaru, as an all-rounder, is best suited to experiment with the new fantasy ingredients."
"Third seat: Momo Akanegakubo — specializes in ramen. I'll provide her with dragon bones and rich meats for soup bases."
"Fourth seat: Rindo Kobayashi herself — desserts and confectioneries. She can use water fruits, honeydew, and other sweet-based ingredients."
"There's also Saito Sōmei for seafood, Nene Kinokuni for soba and wheat-based dishes, Kuga Terunori for Sichuan cuisine, and Isshiki Satoshi for vegetable-focused recipes."
"We can allocate ingredients to each of them based on their expertise!"
Bai Mo nodded in agreement.
"This 'specialist for each field' strategy sounds effective. But aside from the Elite Ten, I want you to recruit one more person."
"Hayama Akira — the one with the super sense of smell and expert in spice-based cuisine."
"Got it. Once I return to Totsuki, I'll get started. But doing all this means we'll be consuming a lot of fantasy ingredients…"
"No problem. I'll prepare a supply list for you tonight. Distribute the ingredients based on what you know of their cooking styles."
"But—just like with Totsuki—we require that every month, they submit six dishes that impress me, along with complete recipes. Otherwise, we'll cut the funding."
"That's a reasonable condition."
After wrapping up the business discussion, Bai Mo turned to Sora and Tohru.
"Sora, could you show Tohru to her room upstairs? I'll help Rindou with dinner."
"Okay~ Tohru-oneechan, let's go clean up the room!"
After the two girls left, Rindou threw away all restraint and draped herself over Bai Mo with a flirtatious glint in her eyes.
"Hehe~ my dear… I've done so much for you. How are you going to reward me?"
"A single drop of grace shall be repaid with a fountain," Bai Mo said, lifting her up and walking toward the kitchen.
Unfortunately, with Tohru now living under the same roof, Bai Mo couldn't fully act on his desires.
Though he managed to reach second and third base… anything further would have to wait.
After all, with his stamina, cooking dinner wasn't enough time to properly satisfy a passionate reward.
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T/N:
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