After parting with the others, Kael went right back to his closed-door training routine. Still, now that he had Megumi Tadokoro's contact info, he'd occasionally chat with her between sessions.
Megumi already had a good impression of him. It was the same way she'd once looked up to Soma Yukihira—someone who'd helped her when she needed it most. Maybe it wasn't love at first sight, but it definitely wasn't far off.
Besides, Kael's cooking skills far surpassed hers. Since they were both chefs, their conversations always drifted toward food—specific dishes, flavor balance, plating choices.
Even through a screen, Kael could guide her precisely. Thanks to his Divine Sight, a single photo was all he needed to pick out flaws in her cooking.
That incredible ability shocked Megumi to her core. With Kael's feedback, she could literally feel her growth day by day.
She'd even thought about visiting him in person, but knowing he was busy—and that the new semester was starting soon anyway—she decided to wait.
Time flew by, and the day before the Totsuki semester began finally arrived. Kael wasn't about to pull a "Soma Yukihira" and show up dragging luggage at the last minute.
He and Megumi had already agreed to meet early. Since she and the other Polar Star Dormitory students always arrived before classes started, Megumi volunteered to act as his guide.
When Kael finally reached the gates of Totsuki, he found Megumi already waiting for him there.
"Long time no see, Megumi. How long have you been waiting out here?" Kael asked, smiling as he approached.
"Not long," she said, then quickly added, "Oh—Kael, I already heard what happened at school! They said it was all your idea. Thank you so much!"
Before he could reply, she bowed a full ninety degrees.
Her gratitude made sense—Kael had helped her once again.
Megumi had entered the high school division with the lowest possible passing grade. One more failure and she would've been expelled. Because of that, her reputation around Totsuki wasn't exactly great. Surrounded by the arrogant heirs of elite families, her days had been... rough, to say the least.
So Kael had quietly reached out to Daigo Aoki and Shoji Sato beforehand. Since most students reported early, he'd told them to head back a few days ahead of schedule—and to spread a particular story.
The story? That Megumi Tadokoro had passed the Three-Star Chef assessment from the WGO.
And that one rumor changed everything.
Within the first-year class of over a thousand students, only a dozen or so could even dream of reaching Three-Star level. Anyone who had already done so was automatically considered elite.
Once word got out, and they added that Megumi had overcome her nervousness in the process, her reputation began to shift dramatically.
As for whether people would believe it—Kael wasn't worried. Every chef who'd passed a WGO Star Rating Assessment was publicly listed on the WGO's official website.
The site displayed nothing but a name, a photo, and the chef's current star level. No private information, no detailed data.
That minimal transparency was intentional—to prevent fake certifications. Anyone could verify a chef's credentials in seconds.
So when Aoki and Shoji spread the word, curious students rushed online to check. And sure enough, there it was: Megumi Tadokoro, officially recognized as a Three-Star Chef.
The girl who'd barely made it into the high school division had suddenly leapt straight into the top tier.
In an instant, her name exploded across Totsuki. Even those who didn't know her personally had heard the story within days.
Most people came to accept that her past failures were simply the result of nerves. Of course, a few skeptics tried to challenge the claim—but they were quickly shut down.
Why? Because nobody doubted the WGO. The organization's exams were nearly impossible to fake, and the consequences for doing so were devastating.
It didn't take long for people to dig into Megumi's background, either. Her family ran a humble country inn—no money, no influence. There was no way she could've faked the results.
Once that was clear, only one conclusion remained: Megumi Tadokoro was a genuine prodigy who'd simply lacked confidence before.
A genius staying on top didn't surprise anyone—people got numb to that. Like Erina Nakiri: no matter how many awards she won, no one batted an eye anymore.
But a so-called underdog suddenly rising to the top? That kind of story always caught attention. Everyone loved a comeback.
Within days, the rumor snowballed. By the time Megumi returned to campus, she'd gone from invisible to a full-blown celebrity.
Everywhere she went, classmates greeted her warmly—some out of genuine admiration, others clearly hoping to get on her good side.
It was the first time in her life she'd experienced that kind of attention. She wandered back to the Polar Star Dormitory in a daze, and only after the others explained everything did she finally understand what had happened.
Her fondness for Kael, already strong, deepened into pure gratitude.
The rest of the dorm residents were just as intrigued. Kael had managed to turn Megumi into a campus sensation practically overnight. One thing was certain now—no one in her class would dare pick on her again.
The others, like Yuki Yoshino, understood exactly what that meant. Almost everyone in the Polar Star Dormitory was already a Three-Star Chef, and in their respective classes, that made them the most sought-after students around.
If Kael hadn't been moving into the dorm himself, Yuki and the others probably would've tagged along just to see what kind of guy could pull something like that off.
When Fumio Daimido, the dorm mother, heard that the dorm had gained another Three-Star Chef, she was overjoyed.
After all, she'd been waiting for the day Polar Star Dormitory would once again reclaim the glory of its Golden Age.