From very early on, she had unwavering faith in the cooking she inherited from her talent. That pride from within was always Erina's drive. As the strongest of her generation, even one of the most outstanding of the Elite Ten, Erina was deeply confident in her own strength.
However, she didn't know when it started, until the worry in her heart completely overshadowed her past feelings. Perhaps after a long time, she was able to notice something was wrong.
Why was this? She was clearly the strongest person, clearly the most talented person, but she had to walk a completely different road time and time again. If she hadn't quit the Elite Ten, what would it be like? Erina thought so for some reason.
However, she didn't regret leaving. After all, everything the Elite Ten were pursuing was no longer her original goal, and everything she wanted had long since fallen into the abyss and turned to nothing.
Now, all that stood before her were enemies. All she could do was stand on this stage and win until the very end, using her actions to prove that everything her father did was wrong.
For herself, and also for the man behind her. Although she always criticized him from a high and mighty point of view, she couldn't deny that everything he did might be right.
Rindou: "Oh, it's Erina. I didn't expect the inner war of the former Elite Ten to come so quickly. This is really a headache."
Erina: "I'll have a headache if I'm up against Rindou-senpai too, but I volunteered this time. I want to fight you."
Rindou: "Huh? It's amazing that Erina has the courage to do that. Even though you are a unique talent in this generation, you should know the gap between the Tenth Seat and the Second Seat, right?"
Needless to say, although they were all at the top of the academy, there was a completely different gap between the Second Seat and the Tenth Seat. As Rindou, the senior, was ahead of Erina in terms of experience and knowledge. You could say this was a one-sided fight, but…
Rindou-senpai wasn't confident that she would definitely win. After all, in the match with Komachi just now, she barely won by a score of 3 to 2, and Komachi was just a first-year kid. It was clear that they were not the same as before. What was the reason for this?
Erina: "I hope Rindou-senpai doesn't hold back because of this. After all, it would be embarrassing to lose to a junior."
Rindou: "Since Erina says so..."
Erina went to the lottery machine. With a casual pull, her ticket magnified in front of the high-speed camera, making everyone's pupils widen.
She was able to draw the only 'Free' ticket from thousands of blank papers. How lucky was Erina?
But since it was free cooking, it also meant that Rindou-senpai was the same. Perhaps in this cooking match, both of them would bring out their most skilled dishes.
Yoshino: "Kobayashi Rindou, is she going to use beasts or rare ingredients again to make her dishes..."
Hisako: "That powerful cooking is indeed Rindou-senpai's strong point. It wouldn't be surprising if she used those kinds of ingredients, but..."
Ryoko: "But what?"
Hisako: "Looking at her, it doesn't seem like she is going to use rare ingredients. After all, I don't see any large beasts."
After Hisako said that, everyone realized that Rindou, who had scared the audience with a crocodile as soon as she appeared on the stage just now, was much quieter in this match. From the beginning, she had been doing a variety of ingredient pairings. Although she might add other large ingredients later, it was not clear what the situation was like now.
On the other hand, Erina's side seemed to be not in the right state. Any theme would have been fine, but as soon as she drew 'Free' cooking, Erina's heart felt empty. Every dish she had mastered was excellent and individual. You could even call them special moves, but…
If every dish was called a special move, was there still a need for special moves?
A special move must be a dish that has won repeatedly in crucial games and that you have absolute confidence in. It was until this moment that Erina realized that she didn't have such a dish.
If it was Hikigaya-kun, he probably wouldn't need to think too much and would take out his best dish, but she was confused now…
A look of helplessness and inaction surrounded the entire venue. Nakiri Azami crossed his arms and revealed a meaningful smile.
"That's right, Erina. This is the importance of Central's cooking. Otherwise, no one will be able to understand the true power of your 'God Tongue'."
At the same time, everyone standing on the stage was worried about Erina at this moment.
Alice: "What is Erina doing? This is time, time!"
Takumi: "Rindou-senpai has already finished dissecting the ingredients..."
Komachi: "Brother..."
Hachiman: "Don't worry, she'll find a way. Even without relying on the so-called 'God Tongue,' she, as an ordinary person, can find her own answer through these ten years of life experience."
Yukinoshita's face clearly had a trace of surprise, and she said calmly, "Hikigaya-kun, you trust her a lot."
Hachiman didn't deny it and just nodded:
"From the moment she entered the school, I have had unwavering faith in her cooking. After all, someone who can make such dishes can't be summed up by just talent."
In that helpless look, Hachiman's eyes just became more and more determined. The more this was the case, the more Hachiman was sure that she could break through the limit.
Erina's body trembled uncontrollably for a moment. When she came back to her senses, she didn't know why, but a force that didn't belong to her poured in from all over her body. She looked at Hikigaya's eyes. The trust from him and her own unwillingness were encouraging her step by step, just to say one thing to her.
Start over, Erina.
That's right, special moves never existed from the beginning, because every dish has been mastered to perfection, so every dish should be a special move. There is no need to think too much about this.
However, it was impossible to take out past dishes to defeat Rindou-senpai. Having understood this, Erina no longer needed to think.
Now, she was going to create a dish that didn't belong to her past self, but only to her present self. This was a test paper donated to her future self, and also a special move for her present self.
A surging momentum was constantly expanding. Even Kobayashi Rindou, who was facing away from Erina, felt it. The determination that had been hidden deep inside finally erupted at this moment.
Rindou: "If that's the case, it seems I can't continue playing around."
Rindou also sped up at this moment. Although it was only for a moment, Hikigaya could sense that Rindou-senpai's momentum had also become completely different at this moment.
'As expected, the reason that girl chose to join Central wasn't because of the so-called rule of order, right...'
Kobayashi Rindou simply wanted to compete with strong people and bring her cooking to the world. The Central system was just an excuse.
For an excellent chef, no one doesn't want to be in this situation. But for Hikigaya, who had grown up in a different environment since he was a child, he believed that every restaurant had a reason to exist in this world. It was because of the diversity of cooking that there were good and bad dishes. If all the dishes were the same taste, there would be no such thing as delicious or bad.
On the other side, Hayama Hayato obviously didn't expect Rindou to move so fast. Only a short time had passed, and she was already close to the serving stage.
Satoshi wasn't surprised at all. He had grown up with Rindou since they were young, and he knew that this was undoubtedly Rindou who was truly serious. Also, with the motivation she got from Komachi just now, it was not surprising that she could reach this speed.
However... Even Satoshi found it a bit unbelievable that...
Marui: "Hey, hey, is this dish really made by her?"
Ryoko: "It's unbelievable..."
Mito: "Is that a mille-feuille made from layers of perfectly knitted together mushrooms?"
Rindou: "Hehe, this is Central's re-edited mushroom mille-feuille with acetic acid mushroom puree."
Hoshino Ai: "Then, let's taste it quickly!"
Togawa Sachi: "Amazing. The rich taste brought by a variety of mushrooms and the close integration of the extremely thin pastry, finally using shiitake mushrooms as the main ingredient, further locking in its flavor with olive oil frying."
Sakurajima Mai: "Sauté the mushrooms and spring onions until they change color with garlic and butter, and finally put the crushed nuts and raw cream mushroom puree on the dough."
Yukino's mother: "You are all right, but the most important step in determining the taste is the sourness."
Eiri: "What is this sourness?"
Yukino's mother: "If I'm not mistaken, it's the acid of ant larvae."
As soon as she said this, the entire room was silent.
Someone would actually use ants to cook. As Yoshino said, she was truly a master of rare ingredients. Bringing such ingredients into the dish, such a bold idea, had already surpassed the scope of ordinary chefs.
Yukino's mother: "This is the real strength of Totsuki's Second Seat. It's really shocking."
Kawashima Urara: "Next, please Erina to present her cooking."
At the last moment when time was stopped, Erina finally completed her cooking. She wiped the sweat from her forehead. Lastly, under everyone's gaze, she brought out an unimaginable dish.
"Meat sauce over rice."
Hearing this name, everyone was dumbfounded. This style of cooking was completely what Hachiman and Komachi would bring out. Especially Mito, Alice, and Hisako, they never thought that Erina would actually make such a dish one day. Nakiri Azami even showed a disdainful look in the audience seats.
However, it was normal for them not to understand, because the intent conveyed by this dish, perhaps among so many people, only Hikigaya Hachiman could understand.
Unlike the others, Hachiman couldn't help but smile lightly. Finally, he said softly:
"This girl, she's not that troublesome after all..."
She repeatedly complains about his cooking, but her concern is genuine. Although Tsundere is out of fashion these days, Erina is still the same.
"Please enjoy, judges."
Yukino's mother, of course, didn't say much. And simply picked up her dishes under the confusion gazes of people.
Seeing this, the other four judges didn't wait any longer and started picking up their dishes, following Yukino's mother.
Eiri: "Such tender chicken paired with sticky eggs are tightly intertwined, melting on the tongue. The inside is baked to perfection. Such delicious ingredients: perfect Pyro bird and high-quality domestic chicken."
Sakurajima Mai: "That's right, the sauce has also been worked on. Salt, pepper, eggs, raw cream, put in hot water, cooked to a thick taste, and finally through American baking with turmeric powder. There are also special squids and cooked rice placed on crispy biscuits made with sesame oil. So delicious."
Togawa Sachiko: "This taste? How was it made..."
Hoshino Ai: "Seafood…?"
Yukino's mother: "That's right, it uses the full-bodied aroma of stir-fried clams to reduce the greasiness of the chicken. Amazing to be able to create a new dish in such a short time."
Kawashima Urara: "Then, let's proceed to the final score!"
"The score is 5 to 0! Nakiri Erina wins!"
Hearing this result, Rindou just smiled calmly.
"I lost..."
On the other side, Erina once again put on that iconic proud smile. But unlike before, this smile was only for one person.
Hachiman: "This girl, she's really… a headache."
Etsuya: "This is not good, Haruno-senpai..."
Haruno: "In that case, Mimasaka Subaru, it's your turn."
On Hachiman's side, looking at the exhausted Erina, Hachiman knew very well that the next round of cooking would consume even more physical strength, so…
"Erina, come back first."
Erina: "Huh? I can still continue..."
Hachiman: "You've worked hard, but rest for now."
This time, Erina didn't act like a Tsundere. Listening to Hachiman's concern, she walked off the stage with a blushing face.
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