After the shocking revelation that canon in the world of Food Wars was going to go severely off the rails, the Limo finally came to a stop outside a grand building- the Nakiri Mansion on the grounds of Totsuki Academy.
The door was opened by the driver. I got out first to prevent from accidentally seeing up Erina or Hisako's skirts when they got out, getting many looks from students as they walked by- girls especially blushed at my good looks. Many eyes were drawn to where my right arm was missing.
Erina and Hisako both climbed out next, and immediately eyes were drawn to her instead and whispers began to fly about who I was. Nobody dared whisper a rumour that I might be Erina's lover, instead they just thought I was some sort of business partner or something along those lines.
Which, technically speaking, wasn't wrong...
"So, where do you want me to place the door?" I asked her as we made our way into the mansion.
Hisako took the lead here, leading me over to a wall that was close to one of the kitchens- likely the kitchen where Erina or her associates did their cooking. "Right here," Hisako told me. "It provides easy access from the kitchen, where we spend the majority of our time. It is our intention to bring in others with potential to our group and get them systems as well, so this is an ideal location for us."
I gave a nod and lifted my hand, placing it against the wall. "Dimensional Door."
A rainbow light emitted from my hand, expanding along the wall before it formed an elegant door- just like the one that led into my shop.
"All done," I smiled at them. "You won't need to travel so far to get potions from now on or access the Dungeon or Training Room."
"Perfect," Erina clapped her hands with a smile. "Thank you very much for this, that's one more problem off my shoulders..."
"What problems are you having?" I asked her.
Her smile faded and she got an annoyed look on her face. "Oh, just this annoying new transfer student called Yukihira Soma. He runs a family restaurant called Yukihira; he's such a bother."
Since I'd sort of taken Soma's opportunities from him, I decided I'd do him a solid here...
I hummed as I took out my phone, looking for the restaurant online as I soon found it. It had a lot of good reviews and even showed photographs of the employees.
I found a picture of Soma and his father from a review, and I lifted my phone to show it to her. "Is this him?"
"Yes, that's- eh?" Erina's eyes widened as she snatched my phone and stared at it. "W- Why is Saiba-sama in that picture with Yukihira!?"
"According to the review, that should be his dad and the restaurant owner- Yukihira Joichirou. You called him Saiba? Maybe he married into the family and changed his last name."
"His... Dad...?" Erina questioned in dumb shock. "Yukihira's father is... Saiba-sama...!?"
Hopefully, this would get Erina off of Soma's back... If she didn't target him, it would mean that she didn't send others after him and thus end up losing access to skilled people like Ikumi Mito.
"Are you okay?" I asked Erina, taking my phone back from her. "You look kind of out of it."
"I..." She shook her head. "S- Sorry... I'll just... Deal with that revelation later."
I looked over to Hisako, but she also had a look of shock on her face. She was well aware of how Erina idolised Joichirou Saiba, and learning that a 'ruffian' like Soma was Saiba's child... It was probably a shock to her too.
"You mentioned wanting to add more people to your group," I told Erina, steering the conversation to another topic. "Why don't you call a couple of people here to flesh out your party? Then, you can buy some basic equipment and try heading into the Dungeon to Level Up?"
"I... Yes, that's a good idea," Erina nodded. "Hisako. Call for Mito Ikumi and Gotoh Hitori."
"Immediately, Erina-sama," Hisako nodded and stepped away to make the calls.
I, on the other hand, was frozen in place... Did she just say Gotoh Hitori?
Gotoh Hitori was from an entirely different Slice of Life anime, Bocchi the Rock. Hitori was a timid girl with severe social anxiety and a tendency to overthink her problems, often leading her to become more anxious. She was the kind of girl who would pay people a friendship fee in order to have friends.
However, she strongly desired to have friends. To that end, knowing that music and rock were popular, she picked up an Electric Guitar and worked hard to learn. She even had an online presence under an alias, with hundreds of thousands of followers. However, she kept who she was hidden due to her anxiety.
One day, she was invited to join a band by a certain girl and ended up a member of Kessoku Band. There, she learned what friendship truly looked like as she became closer to her band members and was the journey of her slowly coming out of her shell.
But that didn't seem to be the case in this world... Unless there was some Music Food Research Society?
Actually, I could believe that... Given there was a Sumo Research Society...
"Could you tell me more about those two?" I asked Erina. "Just the basics."
"Certainly," Erina gave a nod. "Just the basics... Mito Ikumi is a meat master. Her family specialises in meat products, providing excellent quality meat. As a result, Ikumi knows how to cook meat better than anyone else."
"Is that so...?" I put a hand on my chin, in mock thought. "But... She probably neglects the other ingredients then, that's no good."
Erina paused and then nodded, seriously considering my words. "Yes... You make a point. I'll stop her from crushing other Research Societies for a while and have her start focusing on refining her other cooking skills and understanding balance in dishes."
"And this other girl?"
"Gotoh Hitori," Erina confirmed. "Another first year, she's a member of the Music RS- which also doubles as Totsuki's Band and Music Group, operating under the corporate name, Starry. She's a promising first year who's excellent as both a lead guitarist and is also very good at making delicious but easy to eat food you can eat at concerts and galas."
"But," I prompted.
"But," she sighed, "Gotoh-san has severe anxiety. While she is a good chef, she has stage fright. She can cook alone just fine, but she needs to have all of her Shokugeki done in private otherwise she'd be unable to cook at all."
I raised an eye. "Then why choose her to round out your team as the Rogue Class?" I asked her. It didn't take a genius to tell that she wanted Ikumi to be her Warrior Class, and that she wanted Hitori to be her Rogue Class.
"Because I believe it will be good for her," Erina answered. "Lynx-kun, do you know why humans are afraid?"
I tilted my head... Well now, where was this going? On top of that, even using my first name so callously... "Enlighten me."
"It's because we're weak. We feel fear because we are weak. We may be creative and imaginative, able to think through problems like other beings on this planet cannot... But we are weak in many other ways. Physically, mentally, emotionally. Breaking a human isn't a matter of how, but a matter of when. And when you break someone, those broken pieces are never put back together properly. That is what we call Trauma."
I remained quiet, looking at Erina with a look of interest... This? This was new. She wasn't directly telling me about her trauma, but she was sure as fuck implying it.
"Trauma, fear, those things don't go away easily... For years, I've wondered how one can overcome fear, overcome Trauma..." She lifted her hand, and a flame burned to life over it. "The answer I came to after meeting you was- Power. Of course, there are some things power alone cannot solve... But how can you be afraid of a person or a place... When you have the power to burn it down if you desire?"
Silence reigned between us for a short while...
"So, that's it," I finally broke the silence. "Your plan is to help Gotoh get stronger. After all- why should she be afraid if she has power, right?"
Erina nodded at my words. "Exactly. Obviously, it's not a perfect solution- far from it, actually. However, at the very least it's my hope that it can act as something like a stopgap on her fear. On top of that, taking a Rogue Class should give Gotoh-san a stealth skill. At the very least, it will help her go unnoticed when she doesn't want people to pay attention to her if the feeling of power isn't enough."
"Still, there's also a chance she freezes up during the fight..." I tapped my chin... Before I got an idea. "If it's okay, I'll loan you one of my servants."
"Your servants?" She questioned.
"Oh, right, I suppose I never brought it up," I shook my head. "My Class is Summoner."
"Summoner...? I didn't see that class on the list..." Erina murmured.
Hm...? I thought the classes would be the same, but it seemed some classes had been removed from the Minor System... If Summoner was gone, then Necromancer was probably gone too since they were infinitely close in how they operated.
Then, I recalled reading that the Minor System was missing 'Rare' Classes. Summoner must have been a Rare Class, which made sense.
"The Summoner Class allows me to 'summon' beings," I told Erina. "Initially, they start off as Blank Slates. But, as they grow stronger, they can evolve and develop their own personalities. They can even obtain classes and jobs just like normal people. Of course, beings I summon are completely loyal and dedicated to me- so I never have to worry about being betrayed."
"I see!" Erina's eyes lit up. "So, the Summoner Class is more of a nurturing class to make others stronger to help you out!"
"Exactly," I nodded. "When I reach Level 40, I plan to change to a physical class like Warrior or Rogue to become more rounded."
"Makes sense," she gave a nod, and looked over as Hisako entered the room.
"Both Ikumi-san and Gotoh-san should be here momentarily," she informed Erina. "Gotoh-san might take a little longer since she's currently at the Music RS."
"That's fine," Erina waved it off. "I know she'll get here as fast as possible. What about Ikumi?"
"She was about to head out to clear out some of the more useless Research Societies, but your order for her to come by stopped her... I believe her intention was to challenge the Don RS."
Wow, I'd really pulled the rug out from under canon with that one, hadn't I?
"Don RS, hm...?" She tapped her chin and shook her head. "Assign that task to Mina Kujo instead. She's not quite as skilled as Ikumi, but she should be able to handle it."
"Yes," Hisako nodded and tapped some things on her tablet.
As she was doing that, the door opened, and Ikumi Mito entered- giving me my first good look at her.
The show didn't do her justice... Her green eyes lit up with joy upon seeing Erina, who she admired so much. A smile crawled onto her soft lips, her short blonde hair a perfect match for her confident and slightly more tomboyish face.
Her figure was nothing to pass over either, being incredibly curvy but with clear tone in her arms and a faint sign of abs forming on her stomach... Clearly, needing to carry around and work with heavy slabs of meat along with all the protein she was getting out of that meat had led to her having a toned body. Her chest was also huge, bouncing with every step she took despite the fact she was wearing support.
... God, her back must be in so much pain.
Or maybe not? This was an anime world, real world logic didn't always apply.
"Erina-sama, how can I assist you?" she asked, clearly thrilled that Erina had a use for her.
"I'll ask for your patience, Gotoh Hitori will also be joining us," she told her. "Allow me to introduce you in the meantime. This is Lynx Tiberius, he is the one who provided those drinks that give you a burst of stamina."
Her eyes lit up and she looked at me. "You're the one who provided those? You're incredible, I didn't believe it when I first heard about it- but they're so useful. Thank you for much for supporting Erina-sama."
"Not at all," I waved it off. "Erina is a friend, supporting her is only natural. Besides, she is paying for a service, and I am providing- simple as that. It's a pleasure to meet you, Mito-san. I hear you can do amazing things with meat."
She smiled. "Of course! It's my family speciality! And please, just call me Ikumi. You are a friend of Erina-sama's, so you are a friend of mine."
I just smiled. Ikumi was pretty easy to get along with, I could appreciate that.
And now, we were just waiting for Gotoh Hitori.