"So what are you going to do?"
Seeing the two preparing to leave the shop, Satoru immediately grabbed Panda and Toge by the scruffs of their necks and hid back in the alley.
"Don't worry, my plan is absolutely flawless."
Satoru turned and gave Panda a thumbs-up, even cutely sticking out his tongue.
"Speaking of which, there's something I want to ask you."
Panda suddenly hunched over, pressing against Satoru like a black-and-white dumpling.
"What?"
Satoru was very curious about Panda's sudden mysterious action.
According to Satoru's experience, this kind of situation meant something fun was about to happen.
Only, he did not expect that this time the gossip would be about him.
"Do you have someone you like?"
Panda's bear face was slightly red, and he looked very curious.
Shoko was a workaholic, and although there had been no news of Suguru having a girlfriend, he had a daughter, which Panda could not quite figure out.
Among the five strongest first-year students at Tokyo Jujutsu High, only Satoru had shown no signs, and he himself had never said anything clearly.
"Huh?"
Satoru tilted his head and fell into deep thought.
"Hmm, how about Luffy?"
An unexpected name came out of Satoru's mouth.
"Isn't that an anime character?"
Panda felt like his mood was on a roller coaster, rising to the peak only to plunge straight down.
"Think about it, Luffy and I would definitely get along really well, right?"
A scene suddenly appeared in Panda's mind.
"This would definitely be very interesting!"
"I think so too! Alright, let's do it!"
Satoru and Luffy, one on the left and one on the right, stood with their hands raised in front of them, excitedly discussing one imaginative "game" after another.
Then they reached their mischievous hands toward the students of Tokyo Jujutsu High and the crew of the Going Merry.
'No, I absolutely cannot let these two get together.'
Panda shivered.
If Luffy found him, his fate would definitely be worse than Chopper's.
He was not as strong as Chopper.
Suddenly, Panda realized something.
'Wait, isn't Luffy an anime character? Why am I worried about the two of them getting together?'
Thinking this, Panda immediately looked at Satoru.
But he discovered that Satoru and Toge had already followed Eichi and Artoria far away without him even noticing.
Panda immediately realized he had been tricked by Satoru...
In front of the gossip trio, Eichi was leading Artoria to the next food shop to check in.
However, something happened that Eichi had not expected.
The izakaya that had been open just fine yesterday was not only closed, but its sign had also been covered by another huge banner.
"Did this shop close down?"
Eichi found it a little strange, but it did not matter. They could just go to the next one.
Just then, a friendly young waitress walked up to the two of them.
"Are you two also here for the eating contest?"
The waitress placed one hand on her abdomen and slightly raised the other, guiding their gaze toward a long table where more than a dozen people were already seated.
"Eating contest?"
'Why didn't I find this activity when I checked the travel guide yesterday?'
Eichi was a little puzzled, but looking at the competition area, which was already surrounded by many people, he could only attribute it to being too busy yesterday and overlooking it.
"That's right, the competition is about to start, and the rewards are very generous. You definitely won't be disappointed."
The waitress continued her enthusiastic introduction.
"Want to try it, Ria?"
Eichi turned to look at Artoria.
"We have more than ten kinds of exquisite and delicious ramen, and they're unlimited too."
Just as Artoria was about to speak, the waitress offered a condition Artoria could not refuse.
"I want to try it."
"More than ten kinds," "exquisite and delicious," "unlimited."
That short sentence contained too many reasons for Artoria to refuse.
"Two contestants."
Seeing Artoria's clearly moved and expectant expression, Eichi really could not bear to refuse.
"Okay, please come this way."
What Eichi did not expect was that as soon as the two of them were seated, the waitress immediately walked onto the stage.
"I announce that the first eating contest officially begins now. Contestants, please choose your favorite ramen."
Soon, an exquisite menu, clearly feeling freshly printed, was placed in front of the contestants.
The first things that caught the eye were the classic Japanese ramen flavors, miso, tonkotsu, and shoyu.
Below them were Shin Ramyun, tomato ramen, and so on.
Eichi chose Shin Ramyun, and Artoria chose tonkotsu ramen.
Once the contestants confirmed their ramen flavors, freshly made ramen was quickly served.
The broth was off-white, with a few slices of meat and chopped green onions in the middle as garnish, along with a sprinkle of chili on top.
The portion was not especially large, but Eichi was used to it.
After all, the portion sizes and presentation of Japanese food could almost all be featured in shops in the Eastern Great Country.
Then they would be priced at 98, 198, 298, or something similar.
The main point was that it was refined, but small in quantity.
Eichi immediately started eating.
The noodles were very soft, and that softness allowed them to absorb the broth well, making them even more delicious.
As soon as the first bowl was finished, the waitress brought out a kaedama.
[Kaedama is an extra serving of noodles, served in a bowl without soup.]
Because the soft noodles absorbed the broth better, after eating four servings of kaedama, the soup in the bowl was visibly no longer enough, and the noodles became a little dry.
"Another serving of shoyu ramen."
Artoria finished her eighth bowl of kaedama.
"Is that for real? She's eating so fast! The sumo wrestler next to her has only eaten six bowls."
"Unbelievable."
"So amazing, and so elegant."
After finishing another bowl of kaedama, Eichi ordered a seafood ramen, then looked toward Artoria.
He saw that the bowls around Artoria were already stacked high.
Artoria's dining movements, which perfectly matched aristocratic etiquette, together with her astonishing eating speed, had already started drawing exclamations from the crowd.
10 bowls, 15 bowls, 20 bowls... Soon, more than a dozen contestants, including Eichi, had all withdrawn.
Only Artoria and the sumo wrestler, estimated to weigh 250 jin, remained in the arena.
What was even more shocking than the exaggerated difference in their sizes was their performance.
Artoria had already reached 28 bowls, while the sumo wrestler had reached 23 bowls.
"Unbelievable! This young lady has actually suppressed a professional sumo wrestler! Are we about to witness the birth of a miracle today?!"
The host narrated in an impassioned tone.
Finally, the sumo wrestler's score stopped at 25 bowls, while Artoria stopped after eating 36 bowls.
It was not that Artoria could not eat anymore. It was that she had already carefully tasted all the ramen flavors.
12 kinds of ramen, each paired with two bowls of kaedama, just enough to finish all the broth. Artoria wiped her mouth in satisfaction.
"Let me congratulate this beautiful young lady for defeating a strong contender in this competition and setting a new record!"
Cheers soon rang out across the entire street, and the audience's enthusiasm even surprised Eichi.
'Is this event really that famous? Did yesterday's travel guide expire?'
"Hello, this is the grand prize for this competition. Please use it at the shop across the street."
The waitress smiled and took out a coupon.
(To be continued.)
◇◇◇
◇ One bonus chapter will be released for every 200 Power Stones.
◇ You can read the ahead chapter on Pat if you're interested: p-atreon.c-om/Blownleaves (Just remove the hyphen to access normally.)