Chapter 47: Hokkaido
The flight lasted about an hour and a half.
After traveling through the sky, we arrived on the northern land—Hokkaido.
It boasted the largest area of any prefecture in Japan and was a thriving agricultural region that supported the country's food supply. Its production of potatoes and wheat was unrivaled, and with so many dairy cows, it accounted for half the nation's milk output. Surrounded by sea on all sides, its fishing industry was equally active. Fish raised in the frigid waters were rich in fat and delivered a supreme umami that melted on the tongue.
It was truly Japan's food base—a land perfectly suited to the word "gourmet."
Of course, the reason we had come here wasn't for sightseeing. We were here to fight for survival in the exam known as the Advancement Test.
Our opponents were the Central Gastronomy Agency, led by the new headmaster who had seized complete control of Totsuki—Nakiri Azami. In addition to the Council of Ten members who had defected, Azami's handpicked elites were coming at the rebels with everything they had. It was nothing short of a hellish exam.
True to Totsuki's habit of sparing no expense when it came to cooking, this Advancement Test was on a massive scale that required traveling across all of Hokkaido. We would start near Hakodate at the southern tip, then move through designated points for repeated examinations. Only those who passed could advance; anyone who failed would be forcibly returned to the academy and expelled. What a demon.
The final destination, we were told, was a remote island at the northernmost edge. That was where the decisive battle between Azami's regime and the rebels would take place.
We left the airport, boarded a bus, and were taken straight to the hotel that would serve as the venue for the first round. The test would be conducted in teams of five, but the groups had already been decided by the academy. Under normal circumstances that might have been seen as thoughtful planning to keep things running smoothly, but this time there was clearly another motive. One look at the members assigned to my team was enough to convince me of that.
"Looking forward to working with you, Shogo-kun!"
Nakiri Alice, the young lady of the Nakiri family.
"H-Hello… Nice to meet you, Shogo-kun."
Sakaki Ryoko, the most beautiful girl in Polar Star Dorm.
"W-Why do I have to be with you…?"
Hojo Miyoko, the feisty Chinese-style girl.
"…Erina-sama. Please… stay safe."
Arato Hisako, the overly protective secretary.
Those were the members of the team I would face the first round with. It was obvious they had deliberately grouped the rebels together. Each team had a different exam room, but the same thing was surely happening in every other room—rebels lumped into the same groups. It was like childish bullying.
"Hey, Ryoko-chan, are you nervous?"
"I-I mean, of course I am… But even you're being treated like this, Alice-san. …Even though you're from the Nakiri family."
"Well, that's because Alice is a rebel who's going against the new headmaster too. Come on, Ryoko, chin up."
"Fufun~ Bring it on. I won't let Uncle Azami have his way. Right, Shogo-kun?"
"…Erina-sama… Ah, I'm so worried."
Quite the colorful lineup. It was almost funny that every single one of them was a girl I had already slept with.
Looking around, I could feel the stares from the other teams—especially the jealous glares from the male students. You guys could have ended up in the same position if you'd joined the rebels. But you chose to wag your tails at Azami out of self-preservation, so you have no right to be jealous of me.
The first round began. The theme ingredient was salmon.
The examiner announced something about passing if we recreated a dish the headmaster had taught in class, but of course none of us had ever attended those lessons. The ones who had been given the "correct" answers versus those who hadn't—it was a pretty thorough way of crushing the rebels. Making the headmaster teach the classes himself must have been exhausting.
But that wasn't really the issue. The one part they couldn't change was that we would pass if we made something delicious.
Therefore, the real problem we had to face was—the ingredients we had been given.
"What the hell is this?!"
"…Hmph. What a petty little trick…!"
Ryoko's shout was followed by Miyoko folding her arms, a deep frown creasing her brow. The moment they opened the Styrofoam boxes and saw the salmon inside, that was their reaction. I peeked into our box as well and immediately understood why Miyoko was so irritated.
"…I see. So the other teams get top-grade salmon while ours gets the lowest-grade stuff."
Even at a glance, there was a massive quality gap between our salmon and the ones given to the other teams. These were probably spent salmon that had already spawned—fatless, flavorless. No matter how you handled them, it would be impossible to produce a dish that reached the passing standard. Azami really was acting like a child.
"What are we supposed to do? We can't cook with this… Should we protest to the examiner and ask for new salmon…?"
"No, they won't listen. Azami probably ordered them to eliminate the rebels by any means necessary."
"Then what's your plan? You're not seriously thinking of just accepting this and dropping out, are you?"
Hisako looked at me with eyes full of trust. Saving Erina must have had a huge effect on her. It was touching to feel genuine trust from her instead of mere loyalty. I couldn't let that trust go unanswered. And of course I had no intention of dropping out.
"Haha, obviously not… All right, everyone, just wait a minute."
"…???"
I went to speak with the examiner for the sake of the women I loved. If I didn't get direct permission, they might try to find fault with me later. It was best to reduce any risks I could.
"Excuse me, Examiner. Is it possible to exchange the salmon we were given for our team?"
"Impossible. Use the ingredients you were provided."
"I don't think any decent dish can be made with that salmon. This seems like an oversight on the academy's part. How do you plan to take responsibility?"
"An oversight? Responsibility? Haha! If you dislike it that much, go procure your own ingredients. As long as you can present a dish within the time limit, we have no complaints."
"I see. That's good to hear. I've definitely asked, after all."
"…What? What do you mean?"
I didn't owe him an answer, and I had no desire to give one, so I ignored him. The only part I had wanted confirmed was "as long as you present a dish, we have no complaints." I had zero interest in chatting with some old man who had thrown away his pride as a chef to suck up to Azami.
"Done. They said there's no problem if we procure our own ingredients."
"Procure our own…? How are we supposed to do that?"
"We're in Hokkaido. Even if we had connections back in Tokyo, we don't have any here…"
"So we're being sabotaged. Uncle Azami sure is childish."
"The other teams have already started cooking… At this rate we'll fail without even submitting a dish."
The girls reacted in their own ways—panicking, looking downcast, stunned, or despairing. Watching them never got old.
But lately, because I'd been too friendly, it seemed they had forgotten something important: that a situation like this was no problem at all for me. I took out my phone and sent a single message. That was all it took to solve everything.
"It's fine. We'll start cooking too. What should we make?"
"What should we make…? We don't have any ingredients!"
"Like Hojo Miyoko said. We can't decide on a menu without ingredients."
"Come on, that's obvious. What exactly… do you all think I am?"
"'A perverted scumbag.'"
"'A lust demon.'"
"Okay, Miyoko and Hisako are getting punished later."
""Wha—!!""
They sure had guts saying that to the next head of the Santoku family—one of Japan's most powerful clans. Once the exam was over, I'd tie them up tight and make them cry in a vibrator-and-rotor orgasm hell.
While the two of them complained loudly behind me, I called out to the smiling Alice and the wryly smiling Ryoko.
"We're making salmon meunière. Get the cooking prep started. …The ingredients have already arrived."
"…Eh? What do you mean…?"
"Oh? Something's here."
Just as Alice said, five visitors appeared in the room. Each carried ingredients and walked straight toward me.
"We have brought the ingredients you requested, Master Shogo."
"Thanks. You were fast. Set them up in the kitchen."
With the help of the five workers, an abundance of ingredients was laid out on the kitchen counter.
I had only asked for them yesterday on short notice, yet the response had been swift. These suppliers were excellent—I'd have to raise my evaluation of them. …There were even scallops. Looked delicious.
"Wait, what is all this?!"
"Shogo! D-Did you arrange this?!"
The soon-to-be-punished duo asked, so I gave them a nod that also served as confirmation.
"I figured they'd mess with our ingredients, so I arranged in advance for Hokkaido-related items to be delivered. I have plenty of connections here, you know."
"…Guh. Y-You should've said that earlier!"
"You anticipated Azami-dono's interference… As expected of you, Shogo."
"Now we can actually cook!"
"Let's pass this stupid test quickly. Right, Shogo-kun?"
The moment we secured the ingredients, the wall blocking us from passing disappeared. I hadn't prepared anything for the other rebels, but they would probably manage on their own just like in the original story. There was no need for me to help them more than necessary.
In the end, the team that should have been the most behind was the first to finish cooking—and became the very first group to pass the first round.
***
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