"Hey, look..."
"Lady Erina?!"
"Wait, what's going on? Forget the fact that no one's even heard of that transfer student's name—why would Lady Erina herself come to watch such a small-scale Shokugeki?"
"This is huge, really huge. You know how valuable Lady Erina's time is. Now I'm even more excited for this match. What kind of sparks will fly this time?"
With the crowd exploding again, the whole arena was filled with heat and excitement.
Mito quickly showed a confident smile. "Lady Erina... just watch. I'm going to beat this guy."
Hachiman: 'This troublesome girl again... looks like she really wants me kicked out of school.'
Meanwhile, the Polar Star Dorm crowd was completely caught off guard.
Yoshino: "No way... seriously?"
Marui: "For such a small Shokugeki to draw one of the Elite Ten to watch... Sure, Isshiki-senpai being here makes sense, but Erina has nothing to do with this at all."
Ibusaki: "Maybe it's because Mito Ikumi is part of Nakiri Erina's group?"
Ryoko's face showed clear worry. "Is that really the only reason?"
Isshiki soon let out a faint smile.
"Nakiri..."
Erina sat in the VIP room meant for the Elite Ten, eyes gleaming as she watched the match below.
"I really can't wait to see Hikigaya get expelled."
Hisako, on the other hand, just looked helpless.
Kawashima Urara: "Alright then, no more talking. Both sides, take your places at the cooking stations!"
"The loser will lose everything. This is a battle at the tip of the tongue—the match begins now!"
Hachiman moved fast, grabbing a bowl of vegetables and starting to prep them right away.
Erina and Isshiki watched his movements. Compared to most Totsuki students, his speed was nowhere near fast—barely passing at best. But...
Compared to just a few days ago, the difference was huge. This kind of progress... was he really human?
Watching him, Erina didn't even notice that her hands had clenched tightly into fists.
On the other side, Mito wasn't in a hurry. With two whole hours, that was more than enough for her. She casually picked up a knife, glanced at Hikigaya's plain and unimpressive movements, and sneered.
"Transfer student, I don't know where you popped out from, but since your opponent is me, you'd better be ready to lose. Otherwise, when you're forced to leave this academy, you won't have a place left to stand."
Hachiman's reply came slowly, his voice calm and flat, with no trace of emotion. "When it comes to losing, I'm a seasoned veteran. So... I've never been afraid."
Mito: "Tch... all bark, no bite."
"Watch closely. I'll show you what real ingredients are needed to make a proper dish!"
She pulled open the curtain behind her—and a massive cut of beef instantly sent the crowd into an uproar.
Marui: "As expected, it's A5 beef."
Tadokoro Megumi's face was full of fear. "It's so big..."
Ibusaki: "And now comes the part Mito is best at."
Hachiman stole a glance at the huge A5 beef behind her while his hands kept moving. He had to admit, it was the first time he'd ever seen beef that big.
Mito: "Hey, at least look at it properly."
Hachiman: "Yeah, yeah... I saw it."
"...This guy really doesn't respect Mito at all."
"Mito must be furious. Her family is famous for their beef, and yet he doesn't even care."
"The key thing is, his hands haven't stopped moving this whole time."
"Seriously..."
Mito's face was already covered with imaginary black lines of anger. She gripped the kitchen knife in her hand tightly, probably because this guy's arrogance made her even angrier than usual. She was using more force than before.
The blade moved like a shadow, slicing through the beef!
At a speed barely visible to the naked eye, each powerful swing of her knife made the beef look like it was getting a full-body makeover. In just a few moments, deep cuts appeared, impossible for anyone to ignore.
Ibusaki: "A knife for breaking down meat… such a big blade, and yet she can cut the tendons so precisely."
Marui: "How do I even describe this… is this just brute force?"
Yoshino: "Whoa, I've never seen anything like this. This meat… it's like the most delicate marbled beef I've ever seen. We're doomed, doomed, doomed…"
Ryoko: "Both the fat and the lean meat are shining…"
Tadokoro Megumi was still tracing the character for 'person' on her palm and swallowing it for courage, mumbling under her breath: "You can do it, you can do it, you can do it, Hikigaya, you can do it…"
Over at Mito's station, her movements were big and bold, like a matador in a crazy bullfight. Meanwhile, on Hikigaya's side…
He was still slowly trimming vegetable leaves and simmering some kind of broth made from who-knows-what.
Plain and unimpressive.
Then the mocking voices came from the stage again:
"This match is already over… what's the point of continuing?"
"I think this guy is just here to be a joke."
"He hasn't even started on the meat yet. How is he supposed to win?"
"Even if he brings out meat now, there's no way it can beat Mito's A5 beef."
Sure enough, the mood in the room was getting worse and worse. As the comments reached Nakiri Erina's ears, a faint smile slowly appeared on her face.
"Hikigaya Hachiman, I'll make you pay for insulting my cooking."
Mito kept going. She put the marbled beef into the pan, and instantly the place erupted in excitement. Then she kept pouring melted butter over the meat, coating it completely. The rich aroma spread through the entire hall.
This step locks the juices in the meat. After a quick bake in the oven, that aroma exploded even more, catching everyone's attention.
At the same time, Hachiman finally took out his meat.
While everyone's focus was elsewhere, he stood calmly on his own battlefield, completely unaffected.
Simple preparation of ingredients, simple chopping of the meat, simple simmering of the broth—everything looked plain and ordinary.
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