"Will a Western main course be a problem?"
Because almost no one had seen Kael cook Western dishes, even Megumi Tadokoro looked a little worried.
"Don't worry. There won't be a problem. We're all chefs here — we should understand the basics. We might not be masters of every cuisine, but everyone here can at least put together something decent."
"Even if it can't match what you do in your specialty, it's impossible for the dish to taste bad."
When Kael said that, everyone nodded.
As he'd pointed out, at Totsuki the students didn't just learn one kind of cooking. They had exposure to many cuisines.
Once your skill reached a certain level, you could make good dishes in other styles too.
Apart from highly technical fields like molecular gastronomy, a Three-Star Chef could generally produce something that wouldn't be weaker than a Two-Star Chef who specialized in that cuisine.
So even if Kael wasn't especially experienced in Western cooking, as long as he knew the recipe he could make something impressive.
Alice Nakiri's side needed even less worrying. Molecular gastronomy isn't exactly Western cuisine in essence, but many of its concepts and techniques overlap with Western methods, so it's also within her strengths.
Of course, even if Alice was skilled, she wasn't a match for Kael — their levels were simply too far apart. Even the publicly known Five-Star chef Kael wasn't someone Alice could compare with, let alone the true Eight-Star mastery he could display.
So everyone expected Kael to win this match; there was no suspense there. What they were curious about was what Kael would cook.
"Kael, don't go easy on me this time. I know I'll lose, but I want to see what you make when you're serious." Alice said with a slightly stern expression.
"Serious? Since you asked, I'll do it."
Kael didn't refuse. Given his relationship with Alice, if she asked he'd oblige — he wasn't hiding his ability on purpose.
He skipped exams because he was lazy and thought them unnecessary, and he didn't always show his full power in competitions because it wasn't needed. If he demonstrated Eight-Star-level skill outright, some people might be crushed by it.
He wouldn't flaunt his highest level to bully students who were at Two- or Three-Star rank.
But with Alice making the request, he agreed immediately. Whether Alice would be crushed by the result wasn't a concern — she wasn't someone who'd be permanently beaten down.
Perhaps being repeatedly beaten by Ryo Kurokiba in the past had toughened her up. Alice might roll on the floor sobbing in the moment and go cry to her mother for hours, but she never stayed defeated.
In that way she resembled Soma Yukihira, though Soma's mindset was a bit stronger — he didn't seek out cathartic crying; he simply turned his emotions into drive to get better. Joichiro Saiba's influence had made a fearsome mental creature indeed.
Kael's words got the Polar Star Dorm residents excited — they were eager to see what he'd produce.
Life at Totsuki returned to normal: classes continued for those who had to attend; students who'd survived the Autumn Elections and weren't eliminated could skip class, provided they passed all their subjects in the final exams.
With that permission, Kael stayed in the Polar Star Dorm studying the dish he planned to make. This time it had to be a Western main dish, and he intended to go all out.
Seeing Kael so focused, Alice was equally determined, holed up in the kitchen day and night. Their dedication inspired everyone else; one by one, the dormmates began honing their own skills.
After all, if Kael and Alice were working that hard, what excuse did they have not to try? Several students in the dorm were teetering on the edge of Four-Star — a little more effort and they'd break through.
Reaching Four-Star would be a major leap; even if they didn't make the Elite Ten, they'd earn respect across Totsuki.
Days flew by and the semifinals arrived. The first match that day was Kael versus Alice Nakiri; the second would be Megumi Tadokoro against Zenji Marui.
About Marui, the students admired his culinary knowledge and also thought he'd been lucky — of the four semifinalists, three had perfect scores; only Marui didn't.
He didn't mind the chatter; he knew he wasn't as strong as the other three and that luck had played a part in his advancing. If the selection had been strictly by skill, Soma Yukihira would have been in the semifinals instead of him.
But why worry? Marui's dorm was the place everyone gathered for parties despite his protesting words — he wasn't stingy with hospitality.
"I can't wait to see what Kael makes. He was keeping it secret even in the dorm."
Yuki Yoshino said.
They all lived in the same dorm, so normally they'd have some idea of what Kael and Alice were preparing, but both had kept their dishes under wraps.
"Isn't a little anticipation good?"
Ryoko Sakaki smiled. Having a surprise made the match more enjoyable; if the outcome were obvious from the start, even a thrilling game could feel flat.
"I actually know a bit. I couldn't see the dishes, but I could smell something. Kael's dish smells like some kind of noodle, but I couldn't tell exactly. Alice's smells like lamb chops." Soma said.
Even with the secrecy, aromas escaped. The wheat scent from Kael's preparation was detectable, but the ingredients mixed so quickly that he couldn't identify them.
The matches began. In the original story, Senzaemon Nakiri hadn't been judging this particular contest, but this time, with Kael involved, Senzaemon himself took part in the judging panel.
The other four judges were alumni, including Gin Dojima. The absent alumnus from the original five was Taki Tsunozaki, Second Seat of the 88th Elite Ten.
Among the alumni on the panel, aside from Gin Dojima, the most eye-catching was Sonoka Kikuchi — the Second Seat of the 89th Elite Ten, who had only graduated recently.
Moroka drew attention for her looks and figure: angelic face, devilish body. She and Megumi shared a "Angel-next-door" look, but Moroka's shape was outrageously good — other girls might feel inferior standing next to her.
Mizuhara Fuyumi kept glancing at Moroka; Fuyumi herself had a more loli frame and today dressed in a neutral style that made her look tomboyish. With the judges seated, the competition officially started and Kael and Alice began cooking.
"I heard Alice switched to studying Chinese cuisine. Kael's also good at Chinese; this theme's quite the coincidence." Gin Dojima said, watching the contestants.
"A specialist in Chinese cuisine drew a Western main course. That's unlucky. I'm curious what they'll make." Sonoka Kikuchi said.
"For Kael it shouldn't be a problem. Everyone who stayed at the training camp saw how terrifying his skills are." Mizuhara said.
She'd assessed them on fundamentals; Kael's basics amazed her. If it had been her taking the test, she'd have been unable to match his performance.
"That's right. As long as he doesn't do molecular gastronomy, he should be fine."
Inui Hinako nodded; during the training camp she'd also been stunned by Kael's speed and flavor.
She set subtle cues and prompts in her assessments to test students' thinking, but Kael treated her prompts like mere details to remember.
For him, tests that limited ingredients felt like no constraint at all — he'd trained in the Dark Cooking Society and inherited Kaiyu's legacy, so nothing intimidated him. Inui had seen how terrifying Kael could be: his speed, the taste he pulled out. Now, more time had passed; who knew how much stronger he'd become?
"Is he really that amazing?"
Sonoka Kikuchi, hearing the alumni praise, grew curious. She'd heard Kael's name, but only in rumors.
"You'll see when his dish is done. Also, be mentally prepared before you taste it."
Gin Dojima said, making the others puzzled — only Senzaemon seemed to understand.
He knew Kael sometimes brought out his Poison Cuisine. Whether a dish truly counted as Poison Cuisine was something only Kael could confirm; they couldn't tell just by looking.
Still, they warned everyone to prepare themselves — even knowing about Poison Cuisine was absurd enough.
"Is he making pizza? But why aren't there many ingredients visible?"
Some wondered as Kael worked in a way that concealed his preparations.
He began kneading dough and forming a flat crust, and people guessed pizza, but pizza usually has lots of toppings — Kael hadn't put anything on it. A plain pizza without toppings isn't very tasty, truth be told.
Kael's odd method drew attention. "No — he's using more ingredients than it looks. He's just moving so fast it's hard to see what he used!" Senzaemon shook his head.
He'd spotted Kael using the Seven-Star Knives, but Kael's speed blurred the cuts; after the knives flashed, the ingredients were already processed.
Kael deliberately kept things partly hidden to create suspense — many of the ingredient preparations weren't done in full view.
With his Divine Touch and other Divine Senses, Kael could process items without even looking. So most of the work was done under the stove, out of sight.
He was making Poison Cuisine again, and he didn't want to scare people by laying all his ingredients on display.
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