"Director-General, regarding the ojou-sama's situation..."
Inside the Director-General's office of Totsuki Culinary Academy, Senzaemon Nakiri was reading a document. Without looking up, he raised one hand, cutting off the subordinate's report.
"There's no need to worry about Erina's affairs."
He stroked his beard and continued calmly.
"Hm... Aside from security matters, you don't need to interfere with her other decisions. Let Erina decide for herself. Before Erina's generation, the Nakiri family never attended Totsuki in the first place. As for Erina now..."
He paused, then sighed.
"Well. Since things have already reached this point, let her choose what happens next."
The sigh that followed wasn't one of disappointment.
It was reflection.
Senzaemon had no strong emotions regarding Kojiro Shinomiya expelling Erina. At most, there was a hint of curiosity. Compared to that, his daughter's and granddaughter's future-and happiness-were far more important.
Otherwise, he would never have single-handedly created the Golden Age for the sake of the God's Tongue.
And besides-
"Erina would never make something so inedible."
His eyes narrowed slightly.
"If that truly happened, then someone must have interfered during the assessment."
Senzaemon found the situation strange as well, but this possibility was far more believable than Erina somehow seasoning a dish to that level of unpleasantness with her God's Tongue.
If that was the case-
"Then perhaps simple protection isn't enough. It may be better to let Erina experience what the previous members of the Nakiri family once endured."
He paused.
"Perhaps that will change her perspective as well."
And-
This might even be another form of protection.
Totsuki was likely facing its greatest crisis in decades.
Enemies were approaching.
And Erina's father-that scoundrel, Azami-clearly hadn't abandoned his ideas.
Under such circumstances, Erina might actually be safer outside of Totsuki.
Senzaemon sighed again and continued reading.
He checked Erina's current status.
Then Jaden's file.
Finally, his gaze settled on Erina's plan to prove herself.
"The shop across from the Totsuki resort..."
He tapped the paper lightly.
"Hm. The only place that could even be called a restaurant there should be 'O-uchu.'"
O-uchu was funded by the Ginokuniya Bookstore.
And it seemed that Ginokuniya's representative fighter-Ryo Himuro-was working there.
If that was the case, then this matter likely wouldn't be resolved through a Shokugeki.
It might require a Kengan match.
Kengan was a tradition far older than Shokugeki.
It dated back hundreds of years, to when someone proposed resolving massive commercial wars through direct combat instead of prolonged conflict.
It saved time.
It reduced chaos.
And it regulated violence.
Simply put, when major corporations clashed, they sent out fighters-known as Duelists-to decide the final outcome.
In a sense, Shokugeki was merely a derivative of Kengan.
Within the culinary world, Shokugeki was common practice.
But once things moved outside that sphere...
Erina, your first lesson will probably be this.
Senzaemon Nakiri sighed softly.
And speaking of Kengan-
This greatest crisis facing Totsuki was rooted in exactly that.
"Hm. The taste is pretty good."
Jaden sat in his seat, picked up a piece of meat with his chopsticks, placed it in his mouth, and nodded.
Then he looked to the side.
Erina stood beside him, dressed in a maid uniform. Her face was faintly flushed, her expression full of resentment.
Jaden smiled slowly.
"Why bother?"
He spoke casually.
"The first agreement was only one month of cooking. Then you refused to let it end and insisted on continuing. The losses just kept piling up."
His gaze met hers.
"What gave you the idea that you could win against me? Was it because I only used crispy noodles during the Shokugeki?"
Nearby, in the trash can, six empty Baby Star packaging bags were piled together.
In other words-
After the first Shokugeki, Erina and Jaden had competed five more times.
Six matches total.
Six defeats.
Jaden won all of them.
The price of the first loss was one month of cooking.
The second, three months.
The third, one year.
By that point, Erina's ingredients were completely depleted. Her competitive spirit was still burning, and she wanted to continue, but Jaden had already lost interest.
So he made a new demand.
Or rather-
He was annoyed and deliberately proposed something Erina was unlikely to accept.
-Coincidentally, he happened to have a collectible maid uniform at home. A gift from someone else.
And then...
The familiar cycle repeated.
One month.
Three months.
One year.
Eventually, it became the current situation.
Six matches.
Six flavors of Baby Star.
Six victories.
"I can't accept this kind of victory, no matter how many times it happens!"
Through those six Shokugeki, Erina had realized something.
Something inexplicable.
Under normal circumstances, her cooking had no issues.
But whenever she faced Jaden in a Shokugeki, the taste of her food would become abnormally terrible.
She checked again and again.
It wasn't her fault.
And then-
From the moment of her expulsion until now, she had finally pieced everything together.
It was all because of this awful man.
But compared to being toyed with, what she found even more unbearable was this-
With her God's Tongue and her culinary skill, she was completely powerless against him.
She couldn't even tell what he had done.
And now, after six Shokugeki and a calmer mind, another terrifying thought surfaced.
If this man truly possessed such an ability, then-
-Wouldn't that make him practically unbeatable in a Shokugeki?
But...
"Yuki."
Erina spoke quietly.
"You have this kind of power, so why don't you want to be a chef?"
Jaden finished washing the dishes and utensils. He placed them away, walked to the entryway, and took his shoes out from the cabinet.
"Why?"
He didn't turn around.
"Don't talk as if you know me that well. The reasons are complicated, and it's too troublesome to explain."
He slipped on his shoes.
"The bottom line is simple. I don't particularly want to be a chef."
Then he added-
"Let's go. Stop staying at home. The Totsuki training camp... if I remember correctly, the opportunity you mentioned is tomorrow morning."
He glanced back.
"If we don't go to the shop across from Totsuki tonight and handle that business issue, you'll truly lose your chance to prove yourself."
Huh!?
Erina froze.
He was right.
She really didn't understand the man in front of her at all.
Still, during this period of interaction, even if she didn't know his past, she had gained a deep understanding of just how malicious his personality was.
But someone like that-
"Are you actually planning to help me?"
"Do you not need it?"
"No. I need it very much."
After six Shokugeki, Erina's attitude had softened without her noticing.
Without that arrogant demeanor, Jaden didn't mind helping her.
After all, it was genuinely his fault that he had unintentionally ruined things for her in the first place.
Then he saw Erina walk over absentmindedly and reach for her shoes.
He sighed again.
"Are you planning to go out dressed like that?"
He paused.
"Personally, I don't mind. But are you sure it's really okay?"
Hmm?
Erina froze.
Then realization hit.
Her face turned red instantly. She put the shoes down and rushed back into the room where she had changed earlier.
A moment later, she came out again in her school uniform. Her face was still faintly red.
She put on her shoes and followed behind Jaden.
Jaden walked ahead.
Erina followed, staring at his back.
In just a single day, the pride she once held in possessing the God's Tongue had been completely shattered by the man in front of her.
And just when she thought he was the vilest person imaginable-
He extended a helping hand.
He was right.
Erina tucked her hair behind her ear, her gaze slightly unfocused as she looked at his back.
-His untraceable methods.
His reason for refusing to be a chef.
His abilities.
The man himself.
She understood none of it.
Nothing at all.
But-
Just as she was thinking this, Jaden suddenly stopped.
He turned his head and glanced at her, interrupting her thoughts.
"Oh, right."
He smiled faintly.
"Don't forget the price of losing to me once you return to Totsuki~"
Hiss-
The image of cooking for this man every day for the next year-and wearing that maid uniform-instantly wiped away whatever faint sense of gratitude she had.
Indeed.
Even if she didn't understand him at all-
One thing was absolutely certain.
-He must be the most vile person in the world!
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