Chapter 63: We Caused Trouble · Beginner Version
With Ren's previous words echoing in their minds, all the students in the Elite Ten class abandoned their initial, rigid ideas. It was as if a tightly closed door in their culinary consciousness had been kicked open, and all the wild inspirations they had suppressed for the sake of "proper technique" now burst forth like a dam breaking.
The classroom became a battlefield of creativity. Flames roared, knives flashed, and aromas clashed in the air.
It proved that there was a reason they held the title of Elite Ten. While Alice Nakiri was still calibrating her centrifuges and calculating molecular bonds, Eishi Tsukasa and the others had already finished plating. None of them were conventional dishes.
Ren walked between the stations, his expression unreadable. He tasted each person's dish, taking small, deliberate bites.
"Eishi," Ren said, putting down his fork after tasting a delicate venison terrine. "Your technique is flawless. You remove yourself from the dish to let the ingredients speak. But..." He looked the nervous First Seat in the eye. "Sometimes, the ingredients want to scream. You're too polite. A little more aggression wouldn't kill you."
Eishi looked like he was about to faint from the critique, scribbling furiously in his notebook. "Aggression... scream... got it!"
Ren moved on. At first, Eishi and the others intended to show off their advanced skills, but they quickly realized they had met a true master. Before even lifting his fork, Ren had already described the condition of each of their dishes—the internal temperature of the meat, the precise hydration of the vegetables, even the exact second the sauce had emulsified—just by glancing at them.
Erina, watching from the side, sighed with a mix of awe and frustration. "Shopkeeper Ren's realm is indeed too high.... Just using his eyes is even more effective than my God Tongue. It's unfair."
After finishing the grading, Kobayashi Rindou bounced over to Ren's side. She had presented a wild boar dish that was chaotic but delicious. Now, she watched him intently, occasionally taking a sneaky photo with her phone, then giggling like a little mouse that had found a wheel of cheese.
Eishi Tsukasa and Sōmei Saitō looked at Rindou's joyful expression with some disbelief. The usually predatory 2nd Seat looked like a smitten schoolgirl. But they didn't say anything. After all, they could see that Rindou genuinely respected and liked Ren. And given Ren's overwhelming strength and charisma, they could only wish her luck.
Finally, it was Alice's turn.
She brought up a dish that looked like a piece of modern art. It was a deconstructed salad where the dressing was in the form of pearls, and the vegetables were crystallized.
Ren paused, looking at the plate. Then he smiled. "A very good idea. Visually striking. As expected of a user of Molecular Gastronomy...."
Alice proudly glanced at Erina, puffing out her chest. Ren's strength had filled Alice with interest in him, and now that she had received his praise, she naturally wanted to show off to her cousin. Erina had only received a nod and a list of flaws earlier!
Ren flipped through the dish with a fork, popping a balsamic pearl into his mouth.
"Student Alice Nakiri~"
"Yes!" Alice beamed.
"How long has it been since you last made a complete dish using traditional utensils? A knife? A pan? Fire?"
Alice was stunned. Her smile faltered. "I... well, machines are more precise. Why use a knife when a laser cutter is millimeter-perfect?"
Ren sighed, putting the fork down. "A very good work of science, but it was ruined by the chef's own culinary soul. Or more precisely, the lack of 'hand-feel'. Student Alice Nakiri, Molecular Gastronomy is great, yes. It expands boundaries. But machines will never be a match for humans in certain aspects~."
Alice frowned, her pride stung. "That's unscientific! A machine doesn't get tired! A machine doesn't make errors!"
Ren didn't argue. He walked over to a nearby station where a block of high-quality ham was resting. He picked up a standard kitchen knife.
He didn't measure. He didn't calibrate.
Swish.
With a single, fluid motion that was almost too fast to see, he sliced the ham.
A slice slowly fell away. It was so thin it was translucent. You could read a newspaper through it. It floated down like a piece of silk.
Everyone looked on in horror. Even Saitō, the master of sushi knives, widened his eyes.
Ren smiled and said, "That was a casual cut. Can a machine do it? Maybe. A slicer could set this thickness. But..."
He picked up the slice and placed it in a bowl of water. It floated. Then, with the tip of his knife, he gently separated the slice... into two layers.
He had sliced a slice.
"Can a machine feel the grain of the meat and adjust the pressure mid-cut to split a cell wall?" Ren asked softly. "Machines repeat. Humans adapt. With sufficient will and endurance, human sensitivity is not something machines can compare to~."
The room was silent. Alice stared at the floating ham, her mouth slightly open.
Ren wiped the knife. "Molecular Gastronomy has advantages: new textures, surprise, precision. But it also has disadvantages: it lacks the warmth of the chef's hand. Don't let the tools master you, Alice. You master the tools."
Seeing the thoughtful, humbled Alice, Ren nodded. He checked the clock.
"Well, everyone, I'm glad to have seen your dishes and your more open-minded thinking. Keep it up. Remember, the dishes a chef makes must first ensure that they themselves enjoy eating them. If you don't love your food, no one else will. Class dismissed!"
After Ren finished speaking, he stretched and walked out the door by himself, leaving a room full of stunned elites. The students looked at his retreating back with awe and longing. The gap was too great for jealousy; it only inspired admiration.
After Ren left the classroom, Kobayashi Rindou and Erina chased after him.
"Ren! Wait up!" Rindou called out.
Ren, however, was distracted. He was on his phone, calling Lucifer. No answer. He frowned.
He dialed Cerberus. It was answered almost instantly.
"Lucifer, Lucifer, Lucifer! My Lord... please stop!" Cerberus's voice came through, panicked and surrounded by crashing sounds.
"Shut up, Cerberus! I refuse to believe that I can't conquer a mere chocolate crepe?! I conquered Heaven! I rule Hell! Cerberus! Get me more chocolate! And the fire extinguisher!"
"Ugh.... Lucifer.... all the chocolate is gone.... and the fire is... pretty colors..."
Hearing this, Ren's mouth twitched violently.
"GPS. Now," he muttered.
Following the phone's signal, he navigated the labyrinthine halls of Totsuki. He hadn't wanted to use the tracking app he installed on Cerberus's phone (for her safety, obviously), but this was an emergency.
He found them in an unused auxiliary kitchen in the West Wing. Smoke was seeping out from under the door.
The door burst open before he could touch it. Cerberus ran out, her white hair covered in soot, looking like a chimney sweep.
"Master! Master! Master!" she cried, hugging his leg. "We caused trouble! Big trouble!"
Ren tidied her messy hair, sighing. "I can smell it. Burnt sugar and... despair."
He pushed open the door.
A puff of black smoke drifted out, stinging his eyes. Through the haze, he saw Lucifer.
The Queen of Hell was holding a spatula like a weapon. Her beautiful face was completely covered in black soot, leaving only her crimson eyes visible. She was aggressively scooping some unidentified, bubbling black substance from a pot that looked like it had been through a war.
Behind Ren, Erina and Rindou (who had caught up) stared in horror.
"Is that... a biochemical weapon?" Rindou whispered. "Did she summon a sludge monster?"
Ren cleared his throat loudly.
Lucifer froze. She slowly turned her head. Her eyes met Ren's.
Panic flashed in her eyes. She immediately turned her head away, trying to hide the pot behind her back. "I... I was just... conducting an experiment!"
Ren chuckled, walking over. He peered into the pot of doom. "Lucifer. You're making chocolate crepes, aren't you?"
Lucifer was startled. She looked at the asphalt-like substance. Then she snorted, lifting her chin defiantly (which just smeared more soot on her neck).
"You have good taste! It is indeed a chocolate crepe! A... deconstructed, caramelized version!"
Rindou and Erina's mouths twitched. Where did she get that confidence?! Only Ren, with his god-tier culinary intuition and saint-like patience, could recognize that sludge as food.
Ren sighed and took the spatula from her. "Lucifer, pay attention to your image. You look like a coal miner. Go wash your face first."
Lucifer huffed. "Fine!"
She marched to the sink and turned on the faucet aggressively.
SNAP.
The entire faucet handle flew off.
WHOOSH!
A jet of water sprayed out uncontrollably, hitting a bowl of leftover chocolate sauce, which then splattered all over the nearby refrigerator.
CRASH.
The refrigerator door, which had apparently been unhinged earlier, finally gave up the ghost and fell off its hinges with a loud clang.
Silence.
Ren looked at the destruction. He looked at Cerberus, who was whistling innocently while looking at the ceiling.
Ren sighed and whispered in Cerberus's ear, "You did it? The fridge and the faucet? You broke them with your super-strength?"
Cerberus nodded sheepishly. "I... I was trying to help Lucifer open the jar... and then the fridge door stuck... and then..."
Ren patted her head. "This is fine. It's just property damage. Just make sure you don't blow anything up next time!"
(Author's Note: This is just the beginner version of trouble. Real trouble involves explosions and inter-dimensional lawsuits.)
Ren turned to Erina, who was looking at her destroyed kitchen with a twitching eye.
"Erina... I'm really sorry. I'll compensate you at the market price. And I'll cook you a special dinner."
Erina glanced at the ruin. She took a deep breath.
"It's fine," she said, her voice surprisingly calm. "This is an old research club room. We were planning to renovate it anyway. At worst, it can be converted into a cold storage room. Or a hazardous waste dump."
Rindou laughed, slapping Erina on the back. "Yeah, yeah! Don't worry about this, Ren! Among the Elite Ten, Erina has the most kitchens! One less is no big deal. Besides, seeing the Demon King fail at cooking is priceless!"
"Alright then, I won't decline your generosity," Ren said. He turned to Lucifer, who was now dripping wet and covered in chocolate water.
"But are you okay, Lucifer?"
Everyone looked at Lucifer with some concern. She had been standing there motionless, water dripping from her nose, staring at the broken faucet.
Slowly, her shoulders started to shake.
"My crepe..." she whispered brokenly. "My perfect... chocolate... crepe..."
It seemed the Queen's pride was more damaged than the kitchen.
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