[Restaurant Yukihira]
---
"Come on, this should be the last one."
Yukihira Joichiro placed the freshly made fried rice in front of Sato, then smiled and looked toward Gabriel, who was sitting nearby.
"Your ramen is being prepared. Please wait a moment."
"Hmm? Is this shop closing?"
Gabriel, who had been burying her head in a game, looked up at Joichiro with some surprise.
"Ah, yes. Come to think of it, I haven't seen you for quite a while, classmate."
Joichiro glanced at Gabriel with a somewhat strange expression, then looked at Sato, as if asking why Gabriel had become like this.
Joichiro remembered that when they first met, this child was clearly not like this.
Sato's expression became slightly awkward and subtle. Gabriel becoming like this had a lot to do with him, and he did not feel very comfortable saying that out loud.
"Oh, I usually order takeout at home. Your restaurant doesn't do delivery, so there was nothing I could do."
[GAME OVER]
With a certain someone going AFK, the character on the handheld console died. Gabriel clicked her tongue in annoyance, put the console down, scratched her messy blond hair, and answered Joichiro's question.
"As for today..."
Gabriel's face reddened slightly. Rarely, she looked a bit embarrassed.
Today she had run out of her living expenses. The allowance for the new month would not arrive until the day after tomorrow. Thinking that there was no way she could endure two days without food, she considered it over and finally went to ask Sato for help.
To be honest, before asking Sato, she had originally planned to go to Saitama's place and mooch a meal. Unfortunately, Saitama happened to be out today.
Sato also looked somewhat helpless.
Speaking of which, today was the first time he learned that angels could also run short on living expenses. What exactly was the situation in Heaven now? Had it already become so poor that it could not even provide living expenses for exchange students?
Little did he know that a certain useless angel had already spent all the living expenses issued by the Heavenly Education Committee on games and microtransactions.
Looking at the two people with different expressions, Joichiro looked odd but did not continue asking.
"The ramen is here!"
Yukihira Soma carried a tray over and placed Gabriel's ramen down, then glared at the seated Joichiro.
"Old man, why are you sitting here? There are still a lot of orders in the back!"
"Ah, it's just a small matter. I'll leave it all to you."
Joichiro waved his hand, signaling for Yukihira Soma to quickly disappear from his sight.
Seeing this, Yukihira Soma's mouth twitched. Just as he was about to argue with Joichiro, the urging voices of customers began to ring out one after another.
"Hey! Soma, you brat, hurry up! What are you wasting time for?"
"When is my fried rice coming, Soma!"
"And my ramen!"
Yukihira Soma instantly felt overwhelmed. There was no time left to argue with Joichiro. He shouted that it was coming soon, then quickly turned and ran back into the kitchen.
Watching Yukihira Soma's back, Joichiro smiled and said to Sato, "I'll leave that kid to you."
Sato took a bite of the fried rice and looked at Yukihira Soma's busy figure.
"Do you really need me to go along? I think if he's by himself there shouldn't be any problem."
"I'm just worried about unexpected situations."
Joichiro leaned back in his chair and crossed his legs. He looked quite like a big shot.
"For certain special reasons, I can't appear there. And tomorrow's assessment is the last admission opportunity this year."
"That kid Soma is basically an idiot. His grades in middle school were so bad it hurt to look at them. Only in cooking does he have a bit of talent. If he fails tomorrow's assessment, he'll have no choice but to come back and run this restaurant..."
Hearing this, Sato could not help but complain.
"You're clearly just chefs, so why do you always give me such a strange feeling..."
"Oh? What kind of feeling?"
Joichiro asked with a hearty laugh.
"How should I say it... I wonder if you've read martial arts novels from the country across the sea?"
"Hmm? Heh... to tell the truth, I actually have."
"Oh?"
Sato looked at the smiling Joichiro in surprise, then asked, "Then you should know the term Jianghu, right?"
Joichiro paused slightly, then his eyes brightened.
"You mean the flashing blades and clashing swords hidden beneath the surface?"
"Exactly."
Although it was strange, Sato truly had that feeling.
"Hahaha! It seems your perception is quite sharp."
"Flashing blades and clashing swords, thinking about it now, the phrase really is quite fitting."
"The true culinary world is indeed full of flashing blades and clashing swords. Invisible blades, invisible swords. But we call it Food War (Shokugeki)."
"Food War?"
Sato listened to the term with interest.
"That's right. Food War. A battle between chefs."
"Through Food Wars, the victor almost takes everything the loser possesses. In the true culinary world, Food Wars are the only way to resolve disputes."
"Using the dishes made by the chefs, an odd number of judges deliver their verdict. The winner becomes king."
"Tsk. That sounds quite like the development of a hot-blooded manga."
"Haha! Food Wars really can make one's blood boil."
Joichiro said with some nostalgia, as if recalling the many Food Wars he had experienced in his youth.
Although Sato was not part of the culinary world, he could still hear the hidden grandeur within it. It seemed to match that saying perfectly.
Where there are people, there is Jianghu.
Soon, Sato came back to his senses and looked at the busy Yukihira Soma.
"Although his abilities aren't the very top in the world, there shouldn't be any problem participating in the entrance assessment of that culinary academy, right?"
Joichiro smiled.
"If we're only looking at his cooking level, then of course there's no problem. But this guy is an idiot."
"Having nothing but passion isn't enough. A chef also has to learn how to adapt if they want to go further. I'm just worried this careless guy will mess around and ruin everything, so I want someone watching him for peace of mind."
"Oh, right."
At this point, Joichiro seemed to remember something. He took a business card out of his pocket and handed it to him.
Sato took the card and glanced at it. The card was pure white, shining like a diamond with golden edges. A few simple characters were written on it.
Saiba Joichiro.
"Saiba?"
"That was my former name. It's also my old business card."
Joichiro looked at the card with a somewhat complicated expression.
"Take it as my thanks. In many famous restaurants, if you carry that card, it might even work as a meal ticket."
Joichiro said jokingly.
Sato looked thoughtfully at the card in his hand, then gave Joichiro a meaningful look.
"It seems Uncle Yukihira isn't simple either."
Joichiro smiled.