"Why am I even here? This is so boring." These were the thoughts running through Nakiri Erina's mind. Ever since she was young, she had been tasting food prepared by famous chefs from around the world. Having always eaten only the finest cuisine, she regularly judged dishes created by renowned chefs and prestigious restaurants, all because of her extraordinary gift, the God Tongue.
Many chefs and restaurant owners were willing to pay large sums of money just for her to taste their food and offer criticism. There was even a waiting list for those hoping to have her evaluate their dishes. Yet, here she was, acting as a judge at a children's cooking competition.
She knew full well she wasn't going to taste anything remotely satisfying. If even many celebrated chefs couldn't meet her standards, what chance did a group of children have? That's why she had made her dismissive announcement at the beginning to weed out as much bad food as possible.
The only reason she was here was because her grandfather had asked her to participate as a judge. Not only had he asked her to oversee the competition, but he had also enlisted her aunt, Leonora, as a fellow judge. She had no idea why her grandfather had orchestrated this, but there was no arguing with him, so here she was.
"Look, Erina-chan! Isn't that little boy carrying all those vegetables adorable?" Nakiri Leonora chirped, pointing to one of the competitors.
Erina followed her aunt's gesture and saw a boy with snow-white hair and striking purple eyes, struggling to carry a load of vegetables twice his size.
"Isn't he cute?" Leonora asked again.
"I... I don't know," Erina stuttered, her cheeks flushing slightly. Though she also thought the boy was cute, for some reason, she couldn't bring herself to admit it.
Leonora chuckled at her niece's reaction and turned to Dojima, who was seated nearby. "Dojima-san, do you know who that boy is?"
"Oh, him? I believe his name is Hoshino Akira. I don't know much about him, but Senzaemon-san added him to the competition at the last minute," Dojima replied, watching in mild amazement as the boy effortlessly split a cutting board in half.
"Senzaemon-san added him? Hmm, he's cute, but it seems like he doesn't know how to cook," Leonora observed, noticing how clumsily Akira was handling the vegetables.
Erina thought the same. She could tell by his awkward cutting technique that the boy had never chopped vegetables before. She couldn't understand why her grandfather had included him.
However, as she continued to watch, Akira's cutting skills noticeably improved. At first, she thought it was just a slight improvement, but soon, his technique rivalled that of a professional chef.
"What?" Erina muttered in shock.
"How is he getting this good, this fast? Maybe he was always skilled and just messed up at the beginning," Leonora said, equally astonished.
"No, that's not it," Dojima said with a serious expression. "At first, he clearly had no idea how to cut vegetables, but the more he worked, the better he became. Now he's matching the skill level of a professional chef." He found his own words hard to believe.
"Can someone really learn to handle a knife that quickly?" Erina thought, watching as Akira now chopped vegetables with the precision of a seasoned chef.
But as she observed him further, another thought crept into her mind. "Just how many vegetables is he going to cut? What is he even making?"
In the VIP room, Erika had the same question, "Yuki-san, what's happening? Why is Akira cutting so many vegetables?" she asked.
"It's just one of his bad habits. Whenever he tries to learn something new that catches his interest, he gets completely carried away. He forgets everything else, gets tunnel vision, and won't stop until he perfects it," Yuki sighed.
Both Erika and Iori looked shocked as they listened.
"So… he won't stop until he gets it right? But this is a competition, isn't it? There's a time limit, right?" Iori asked, frowning in confusion.
"Well, sometimes I've had to physically stop him just to snap him out of it, but that's usually when he's experimenting with some complex magic. For something simple like this, he'll perfect it in a flash. Look, he's already moved on to something else," Yuki said, pointing at Akira, who was now kneading dough with intense focus.
Everyone turned to look in stunned silence. The vegetable pile behind him had grown into a small mountain, every piece perfectly chopped with the precision of a professional chef, and Akira was already moving on to another thing.
Even the judges and audience were stunned by what was unfolding. But soon, many began to think Akira wouldn't be able to win. After all, the other children were already far ahead, and Akira seemed to be slowing down.
"It's good that Akira-kun is learning quickly, but if he keeps going at this pace, he'll soon... oh?" Iori started to comment, but stopped midway, eyes widening at Akira's sudden action.