"Wait. Let's wait until the final results come out and then decide what to do."
Eishi Tsukasa sighed. There was nothing to do now but wait and see.
Time flew. As the contest neared its end, Kael's braised goose was finally finished. He pulled it out, and with a flash of his Seven-Star Knives the goose was broken down into small portions, plated across five dishes, sauced, and carried to the judges' table.
The instant Kael's five plates of sauced braised goose were set down, the aroma had the judges swallowing repeatedly.
"Finally!"
Watching Kael bring his dishes up, the judges relaxed. All evening, Kael's cooking had been overwhelming—the scent from his dishes had covered everyone else's.
Only Soma Yukihira and Ryo Hayama had briefly broken through that scent barrier with explosive aromas of their own, and even then only a few judges had caught them.
For the rest, tasting other contestants' food while that dominant smell lingered was torment—fortunately, the judges kept their heads and graded fairly despite the distraction.
Natsume ignored everyone. She grabbed a piece of braised goose and stuffed it into her mouth. Seeing that, the others followed.
The moment the goose touched their tongues, that commanding fragrance detonated in their mouths. Complex yet utterly delicious, the flavor made them squint in pleasure.
In that instant they forgot their roles as judges—right now they only wanted to savour the food. Anything unrelated to the taste vanished from their minds. To think of anything else in front of a dish like this would be an insult.
Beyond the taste itself, they also felt an imposing, almost aggressive, culinary aura. Kael hadn't even gone all out—this was still within a student's assessment—but the force behind his cooking was undeniably powerful.
Five-star-level technique from a student was already exceptional, and even that restrained power shocked the judges.
No one was more shaken than Natsume Sendawara. She led the spice industry, especially when it came to blends and aromatics. She'd tasted and analyzed more seasonings than most chefs could name—but Kael's braising spice was unlike anything she'd ever encountered.
It wasn't just that the flavor shifted with every chew. What rattled her was that she couldn't identify a single component of the blend.
She could accept that some recipes were hard to break apart without something like the God's Tongue—she didn't have that gift—but she was still an expert in this field. She should have been able to sense at least the foundational notes.
Yet in this braised goose, every spice, every layer of aroma, slipped right past her senses. It was unbelievable.
Of course, she also saw the commercial potential. Even as the reigning head of curry, who knew when someone else might topple her? That's why she'd always been researching new blends and novel curries.
But developing a great recipe wasn't easy, and a truly exceptional formula was rare. Kael's spice blend gave her hope; she couldn't identify a single element, so imagine how the market would react.
"Kael," Natsume blurted, hardly restraining herself, "I won't beat around the bush. Let's talk about collaborating."
"Ah—Sendawara-san, we're here to be judge. Can we discuss this later? We still have to score Kael's dish." Another judge coughed, trying to put a lid on Natsume's overtures. He hadn't expected her to try to recruit Kael right here, but if he could get in on a deal with Kael, that could be profitable—so he cut in to divert her.
Natsume knew perfectly well that Kael was out of her league; she could never hope to hire someone like him. She only wanted to talk about a one-off collaboration for this recipe.
She knew her limits; In the entire world of elite chefs, no one at nine-star level or higher had ever let themselves be tied down by a business.
"Scoring? That's easy." Natsume pressed twenty—the highest possible score. The others followed without hesitation and tapped twenty as well.
"Again... another perfect score!" Yua Sasaki said. Kael getting a perfect wasn't surprising; everyone thought it natural. If Kael couldn't get a perfect, then nobody could.
"Now there are two perfects in a row—this is ridiculous!" a second-year muttered, stunned. He'd seen previous Autumn Selection scores and knew how harsh they could be. If those students were competing this year, their confidence would probably be crushed.
"Even though there are two perfects, Kael is obviously the stronger of the two," someone remarked. "Look at the judges' reactions. Soma got a perfect because that's just the limit. Kael got a perfect because the cap is a hundred and he reached it."
Everyone agreed: Kael was ridiculously strong—virtually invincible among both his year and earlier students.
"Collaboration talk can wait, Sendawara-san. Now's not the time," Kael said, shaking his head. The contest was almost over; small matters could be handled afterward.
"Since Kael says so, fine." Natsume finally relented and returned to judging.
"Alright, that's five people now—this is a mess. By the way, what's happening over in Venue B?" With most eyes on Venue A, no one knew the situation across the way.
"I'll find out!" Rindo Kobayashi made a call. Soon she passed along a message from Venue B.
"Venue B also has two perfect scores—Alice Nakiri and Megumi Tadokoro—then Yuki Yoshino got ninety-six, Hisako Arato ninety-two, and Miyoko Hojo... ninety-two as well. What's going on? That's five people there, too!"
Rindo was dumbfounded. Venue A had produced five passers, and now so had Venue B. Did this mean an extra round would be needed?
"Five again? What's with this year?" everyone murmured. Four-way ties were already rare; now both venues had produced five. And it was all because of Kael—though he only helped raise the general level by pushing others, he couldn't control their scores. The multiple ties were a coincidence.
Once both venues' results were in, the students realised the problem: instead of advancing eight, there were now ten moving on. Etsuya Eizan, Satoshi Isshiki, and the others hurried over to consult with Eishi Tsukasa and the organizers.
"This changes all our plans," someone said. "What do we do now?"
"Just add another match!" Terunori Kuga said. It's one-on-one anyway—what's another round?
"You don't get how scheduling works," Eizan replied. "Everything in the Autumn Selection is tightly planned—the judges, the slots. Adding a match now would disrupt everything. And even if we added a match, we'd still only have five advancing from the extra round—how would five compete? Round robin? Give someone a bye?"
"If we can't add a whole match, why not make two of the scheduled matches three-person bouts? Draw lots for who goes into those matches; the schedule stays the same." Erina Nakiri suggested. In short: turn two head-to-head matches into two trios.
"That could work," Eishi said, brightening. If they couldn't tack on a new round, they could insert the extra contestants into two existing matches.
"Good idea. Let's vote. Hands up if you agree!" Eizan called. Everyone raised their hands—this plan was the best compromise.
"Then it's decided. Eizan, announce it." Eishi tapped the gavel. Eizan moved to the stage in Venue A; Satoshi Isshiki took the other side.
"Students, I have an announcement. Today's results were unexpected: both A and B produced five qualifiers. After discussion, we'll convert two of the matches into three-person contests. The participants will be determined by random draw." murmurs rippled through the audience. A three-way match would be harder, but drawing lots made it fair.
And, of course, everyone glanced at Kael. Drawing him into any match would be miserable for his opponents—whether two- or three-person, Kael advancing was a foregone conclusion.
They prepared the draw. "The box contains ten slips, numbered one through four. Those who draw the same number form a group." Normally the organisers assigned matches, but this time it had to be public.
Soon the slips were drawn.
"Number four!" Kael announced after peeking at his slip. Others unveiled their numbers. Kael drew four; Soma Yukihira drew one; Ryoko Sakaki drew two; Shun Ibusaki also drew two; Zenji Marui drew three.
In Venue A, that meant Ibusaki Shun and Ryoko Sakaki would face each other—a Polar Star Dormitory internal match, which was expected given how many Polar Star residents had advanced.
Over in Venue B, the results settled fast: Megumi Tadokoro drew two, Alice Nakiri one, Yuki Yoshino three, Hisako Arato one, Miyoko Hojo four.
The final matchups were set: first match—Alice Nakiri, Soma Yukihira, and Hisako Arato. Second match—Ryoko Sakaki, Shun Ibusaki, and Megumi Tadokoro. Third match—Zenji Marui and Yuki Yoshino. Final match—Kael versus Miyoko Hojo.
"This is bad—our own people are up against each other!" Terunori Kuga twitched. Kael and Miyoko Hojo were both members of the Chinese Cuisine Research Society.
Having both advance was prideful for the society—but now they were pitted against each other, and it seemed certain Miyoko would be eliminated.