"Who cares!"
"Who can really explain matters of the heart?"
Hearing this, Sosuke simply looked back at Kobayashi Rindo, then said, "By the way, you've finished your bear paw. Shouldn't you be heading back?"
"Ah? This... actually, I'm not full yet, so..."
Kobayashi Rindo's cheeks flushed slightly as she whispered.
"I'm really speechless."
"Tell me, what else do you want to eat?"
Sosuke, who was used to it, could only shrug and ask again.
Hearing that she wasn't being sent away and could continue eating here, Kobayashi Rindo's eyes lit up. She quickly shamelessly ordered a few more side dishes and a ginger ale!
Tonight, the Izakaya was closed.
But perhaps by fate, there were still people like Kobayashi Rindo and Leonora Nakiri who came to eat here.
For Sosuke, this wasn't necessarily a bad thing.
On the contrary, it showed that his Izakaya was gradually gaining popularity over time!
...
Early morning, the fourth day of the Practical Training.
In a kitchen, dozens of students were waiting quietly.
On the podium, the examiner, Hinata-ko, was leisurely eating her snacks, shredded seaweed!
As the former Second Seat of the 80th Elite Ten, known as the "Empress of Mist" during her Totsuki days, her abilities were naturally beyond question.
Although her start was slightly later than Shinomiya and Mizuhara, who were a year older.
But relying on her excellent personal talent and ability, she had gradually gained a pivotal position in Japan's culinary world over the past two years.
Not long ago, her self-operated Japan cuisine restaurant, "Kiriya," also received a two-star rating from the WGO Gourmet Organization.
It could be said that.
Compared to the stagnant Shinomiya, her culinary career was flourishing.
...
"Chief examiner, it's already past 7 o'clock."
"Why haven't you announced the cooking theme for this time yet?"
At this moment, among the many students present, Tadokoro Megumi, who was usually timid, was the first to raise her hand and ask softly.
"Oh? Don't you all know?" Hinata-ko feigned surprise, then looked around the kitchen and continued, "The cooking theme this time is no theme, because I haven't even prepared any ingredients for you."
"No ingredients?"
"What exactly is going on?"
"Without ingredients, it's like soldiers without weapons. How are we supposed to cook, how are we supposed to fight?"
"I'm going crazy. Why are all the training camp questions so outrageous?"
As soon as these words were spoken, almost all the students present were clutching their heads in frustration, their mental states on the verge of collapse.
After all, such an absurd assessment was simply too much!
"Nature is a bloody and brutal dining table. You either become a diner or an ingredient."
"As you can see, ingredients are everywhere. They are around us, right here on this land."
"Currently, I have fenced off an area within a 1-kilometer radius of this kitchen. There's a flowing stream, towering trees, and a small patch of grass."
"I believe this place will be an excellent treasure trove of ingredients, it just depends on whether you can find them."
"In short, seasonings, oil, salt, sauce, vinegar, and cooking utensils are all prepared for you. Even fishing rods and other catching tools can be used at any time."
"If you can find ingredients in this area and make a dish that satisfies me, it will be considered passing!"
By the end, everyone finally understood Hinata-ko's meaning.
Ultimately, if there are no ingredients, then you have to gather, dig, pick up, fish...
No matter what method you use, as long as you can find ingredients and make delicious food, it's OK!
...
How to put it?
This kind of casual question, without a clear evaluation standard, was actually quite difficult.
If you couldn't find ingredients, it was definitely a dead end.
But even if you found them, you had to consider their suitability.
The dishes you know how to make might not have the ingredients available.
And if you have the ingredients, you might not know how to make the dishes that fit them.
Even if you managed to make a dish, the taste and texture might not pass Hinata-ko's standards!
Presumably, this was why Hinata-ko deliberately posed such a challenging cooking question.
After all, when facing the unknown and unexpected, one's vision often becomes extremely narrow, and it's difficult to think on one's feet and change one's approach to solve the current problem.
Therefore, in her eyes, if one cannot maintain composure and cope with such situations, even a genius has no right to remain at Totsuki.
...
"Hmm? Why are you still standing there in a daze?"
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