Chapter 46: Liberation from the Chains
"And… it's done."
The dish I had created was a quiche.
A common French home-cooked dish where ingredients are placed inside a pie or tart crust and baked in the oven. The main ingredient was egg. Now, let's see how this turns out.
"…An ordinary quiche?"
"It looks that way. But when you cut into it, something interesting happens."
I sliced it like a shortcake and placed it on a plate. Erina immediately understood what I meant.
"—! Th-This… The ingredients are layered on top of each other?"
"Exactly. I call it Mille-feuille Quiche. Please enjoy it while it's still warm."
"Y-Yes… Then I'll have some."
She took a bite with her fork, chewed, and let her God's Tongue analyze the flavor without regard for her own will. And then—
"…Nnn!? …Wh-What… is this…!?"
"I'm glad it suits your taste."
Erina's body trembled strongly, her face melting into ecstasy. Normally I would be turned on by that erotic expression, but not now. The joy of having subdued the God's Tongue won out… Wait, no, it's still erotic. I'm honestly more aroused than anything. She looks like she might climax any second. I really want to push her down on the bed.
"This rich flavor… It's meat sauce, isn't it?"
"…Ah, yes. As expected of you, Nakiri-san."
I had almost been overcome by lust again, but I pulled myself together. This wasn't the time for that. I was a man who could consider the time and place.
"Ordinary quiche usually features vegetables more prominently than meat… But this dish is different. It uses the sweetness of the vegetables to bring out the umami of the meat and egg to an unparalleled degree…!"
Just as Erina said, quiche is normally centered around vegetables. Spinach or mushrooms are common. Meat sauce is sometimes used, but rarely with such strong emphasis as in my dish.
I hadn't been watching myself cook, so I didn't know the details, but the person eating it explained everything, so there was no problem.
"…Each layer of the crust has black pepper kneaded into it. That enhances the flavor of the meat and raises the overall rank of the dish. But… how did you create this profound depth?"
"I used egg, heavy cream, white asparagus, bamboo shoots, beef in meat sauce… but the hidden ingredient was… wasabi, I suppose."
"Yes! It's wasabi! The flavor was so complex I couldn't identify it clearly, but there's no doubt that wasabi is what creates this depth!"
Good, I was right. I had seen some grated wasabi on the kitchen counter and thrown it in as a guess, but it had worked.
"But why would you even think to use wasabi…? One wrong move and you could ruin the entire dish."
"Eh? Well… I guess I just thought it might be interesting."
I couldn't exactly say my cheat never fails.
I wanted to wrap this up nicely.
"…I wanted to surprise you, Nakiri-san."
"Me…?"
"Yeah. So I went all out with the cooking. I wanted you to be surprised by a dish that broke the mold. Looks like it was a big success, so I'm glad."
"I-I was… definitely surprised…"
"Then I'd like to hear your thoughts on the flavor. Was it delicious?"
I already knew the answer, but getting her to say it out loud was meaningful. With victory assured, Erina replied with a slightly embarrassed expression.
"…It was… delicious."
I almost pumped my fist. I had finally made her say the line the protagonist had never been able to get out of her. There aren't many moments that feel this satisfying. It was genuinely nice, even if it wasn't like me.
"Hey, Santoku-kun. How… can you make a dish like this? How are you… so…"
"Why, huh? …Honestly, I don't really know myself."
I wasn't lying. I genuinely didn't know.
"But there is one thing I do know. To me, cooking used to not be fun at all."
"Used… to?"
"Yeah, past tense. It's been pretty fun since I enrolled at Totsuki Academy."
"And why is that?"
"Because I'm not alone anymore."
"…!"
She was listening intently, so I pressed on.
"Remember during the Stagiaire? I told you I had always cooked alone. …No matter who I fought, I never lost, and eventually no one even tried to beat me anymore."
"…Santoku-kun."
"But Totsuki Academy was different."
This was why preparing in advance was important. If I hadn't planted the tragic backstory earlier, I wouldn't have gotten this much empathy. All the small efforts I had made had been worth it.
"Chefs can only grow by meeting others. There are so many chefs here who might help me grow. How could it not be fun?"
"…You're right. You really are."
"You're acting like it has nothing to do with you, but the one I'm looking forward to the most is you, Nakiri-san."
"…Eh?"
"Did you forget? On the way back from the Stagiaire, while we were waiting for the pickup car, you told me. —That you would become my rival."
"Ah…"
Her eyes widened as she met my gaze. Her pale violet pupils trembled, reflecting her emotions. The terror that had resurfaced had made her forget—her own resolve.
"I was really happy when you said that. That's why I want you to cook with everything you have. I want you to create a dish so amazing it could defeat me."
"Defeat… you. …Me… defeating you…"
The uncertainty in her eyes steadied, and a strong will appeared.
Now for the final touch.
"—If you can't even defeat Nakiri Azami, then talking about defeating me is just a joke."
Nakiri Erina, of the Demon King of Food's bloodline.
The Ice Queen, the future Demon King of Food, the God's Tongue. There were many titles used to describe her, but the fundamental truth never changed. Every chef in this world—was a sore loser.
"…Santoku-kun."
"What?"
"Right now… I really want to cook."
"Why?"
"…I remembered. Why I started cooking in the first place."
"Because you were born into the Nakiri family and chosen by the God's Tongue, right?"
"No. It's not for such a trivial reason."
I thought it was a pretty big reason, but she had gone further than I expected.
Interesting. Nakiri Erina really does need to be this bold. Being trapped in a birdcage doesn't suit this woman at all. That's exactly why she's worth risking everything to claim.
"Then why do you cook?"
"It's obvious. To prove that I am the best."
…Ah, perfect.
I was so excited right now I couldn't even put it into words. This was it. This was the Nakiri Erina I had been waiting for. Too bad, Azami. Your daughter is more than you can handle.
"Proving you're the best? Does that mean you're challenging me, Nakiri-san?"
"You can take it that way if you like, Santoku-kun. I, Nakiri Erina, never go back on my word. …I will definitely become your rival."
With that declaration, Erina smiled innocently.
It was a refreshing expression, as if something had been lifted from her.
▲▽▲▽▲▽▲▽▲▽▲▽
The next day, Erina's transformation was dramatic.
She rallied the Polar Star members, who had been in despair over the possibility of expulsion, and declared that she would use her own power to ensure everyone passed the advancement exam. With the charisma befitting the Demon King of Food's bloodline, she gave the Polar Star residents hope.
Then, under the guise of "education," she began a rigorous ingredients lecture. Focusing on ingredients related to Hokkaido, where the advancement exam would be held, she drilled an enormous amount of knowledge into them—super-spartan style.
"Learn this much immediately. Don't think you'll be allowed to sleep until you do."
"That's wrong. This is the second time you've made that mistake. If you get it wrong again… you know what happens, right?"
"Load more bullets. These are the bullets you will need to survive the advancement exam. …Since I'm going this far, passing is mandatory. I will not allow failure."
She trained the participants mercilessly in this manner.
I had been asked to be a lecturer as well, but I declined because I wanted to be on the receiving end. Hisako's support would be more than enough, and I had a backlog of family business that I hadn't had time for recently.
Above all, Erina and Hisako's teacher outfits were way too erotic.
Erina, true to her perfectionist nature, wore a white dress shirt with a tight black skirt. She had tied her hair back and put on glasses, looking like the perfect erotic older-sister teacher as she conducted the lecture.
I wanted to sit in front as a student rather than stand beside her as a fellow instructor. Hisako looked adorable in her outfit too. I could take this class for the rest of my life.
Since I still couldn't make a move on Erina, I took the opportunity during breaks to fuck Hisako a few times while she was in her suit. She complained, but she didn't resist. She had completely surrendered herself to me, body and soul. Saving Erina must have raised Hisako's favorability even higher. It was a touching thought.
"Nnaah! Nnn! Sh-Shogo…! A little… slower… please…!"
And so, the advancement exam finally began.
***
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