"Megumi, since Kael's your friend, you're in charge of showing him around the dorm. The rest of you—back to your usual business. And don't stay up too late tonight. You've all got a small test waiting for you tomorrow morning!"
Now that Kael was officially part of Polar Star Dormitory, it was only natural that he learn about the dorm's "enterprises" as well—everything from their private garden plots to their self-run livestock pens.
Fumio Daimido handed the task to Megumi Tadokoro, knowing full well that the dorm residents would be excited to have a new member. But she also knew how wild they could get when celebrating, so she warned them ahead of time: tonight was not the night for an all-nighter.
Having watched countless generations of Polar Star residents come and go, Fumio knew this group's patterns like the back of her hand. A new arrival meant enthusiasm—and chaos. Still, tomorrow's assessment was more important.
In the manga, Megumi and the others had been completely clueless about the first-year assessments at Totsuki's high school division, which never made much sense. By now, the academy had existed for over ninety years. There was no way the exam patterns hadn't been mapped out by generations of students.
So of course, they all knew—the very first class of the high school division was always a test.
Not every cooking class was a practical exam; Totsuki also offered plenty of theory-based lessons. After all, the academy couldn't let its students become kitchen geniuses who were academically illiterate.
Practical lessons were split into two types: lectures focused on technique and spontaneous assessments designed to catch students off guard. Most were unannounced, meant to test adaptability and composure. Only a handful of exams, like the opening day test, had fixed dates.
It was the school's way of sending a message: Welcome to the high division. The kid gloves are off.
The Polar Star students all knew what was coming—and before Kael's arrival, they'd been most worried about Megumi. She'd entered the high division by the skin of her teeth; one more failing grade would've meant expulsion.
If Kael hadn't entered her life, she probably would've been too nervous to function. But with his guidance, things had changed. Not only had Megumi conquered her nerves, she'd even passed the Three-Star Chef assessment.
That alone meant she no longer had to fear being expelled from a routine class test. From now on, her only real threats were the special exams—the kind that pushed students far beyond cooking.
Take Soma Yukihira, for example. During the dorm training camp, he'd almost been expelled despite his skill level being well above Three-Star. The test itself wasn't about ability—it was about endurance.
"I'm coming too!" Yuki Yoshino piped up, hopping after Megumi and Kael. She was eager to show off her "pets"—a collection of animals she raised behind the dorm. They were her pride and joy... though every now and then, a few of them "graduated" by ending up on her dinner plate.
As for the exam tomorrow? None of them were nervous. The residents of Polar Star were far from ordinary. Only Daigo Aoki and Shoji Sato were still at the Two-Star level; everyone else had already reached Three-Star status.
And Satoshi Isshiki? He'd gone beyond that—already sitting at Four-Star. Kael, too, was at that level in skill, though he hadn't yet taken the official certification test.
For chefs of that caliber, a simple class exam was hardly something to lose sleep over. It wasn't arrogance—it was confidence.
Under Megumi and Yuki's guidance, Kael got a full tour of Polar Star's facilities.
He was intrigued. Among the techniques he'd inherited from his Dark Cooking Society lineage were skills that extended beyond the kitchen—methods for cultivating rare ingredients, breeding exotic livestock, even training elite culinary "soldiers."
His predecessor Kaiyu had been a true polymath. But for now, Kael's focus remained on refining his craft. The rest could wait until he had the luxury of time.
After a full loop around the dorm grounds, everyone eventually drifted off to their usual activities.
As for Kael's welcome party, they decided to postpone it. It was already late, and Fumio's warning still echoed in their minds. The new plan was to hold it after the opening ceremony and the first test—especially since there might be more new members by then.
That night passed without incident.
The next morning, the residents of Polar Star rose early, dressed, and made their way to the outdoor stage where the opening ceremony would be held.
The event for the high division was separate from the one for middle school students. Even with every upperclassman combined, there were barely over a thousand attendees.
Totsuki's dropout rate was famously brutal. Over a thousand students entered the first year... but by second year, that number would shrink to around seventy. By third year, you could count them on one hand.
Kael didn't stand with the others. As the transfer student representative, he was led by Isshiki to a temporary tent set up behind the main stage.
Inside were a few students and several staff members. The only familiar faces to Kael were Erina Nakiri, her pink-haired secretary Hisako Arato, and the academy's director, Senzaemon Nakiri.
Those three stood out easily enough. Erina's golden hair shimmered even in the filtered morning light, Hisako followed close behind, and both carried the refined air of nobility. As for Senzaemon—his imposing presence alone made him impossible to miss. Even among the older faculty, his commanding aura and signature attire set him apart.
Kael's own appearance drew attention as well. Unlike the uniformed students, he wore formal black attire—something sharp yet understated. Transfer students had certain privileges, after all.
In Totsuki, the acceptance rate for transfers was infamously low. Anyone who made it in was automatically considered elite among elites.
In the original storyline, Erina had scoffed when she first heard there'd be transfer students at all, certain they'd all fail. And she'd been right—every other examiner besides her had their candidates drop out before even finishing the test.
That was what made transfer students so rare—and so valuable.
It wasn't just a title. It was proof of overwhelming skill.
Soma Yukihira might've been reckless enough to provoke the entire academy with his speech later that day... but even then, his presence alone as a successful transfer would've turned heads.
And now, Kael stood beside him—ready to rewrite the story entirely.