"So small..."
Erina stood in front of a large pot, stirring the soup with a ladle.
She was wearing an apron. Her brow was furrowed as she looked around the narrow, rectangular kitchen, her dissatisfaction obvious.
She clicked her tongue.
-This was Jaden's home.
After receiving the memories of this life, Jaden had already realized that the person who felt like a dream version of himself was actually... well, almost certainly him in this world.
Thinking about it now, it felt painfully obvious.
Yeah. This had to be him.
No one else could be this idiotic.
On that point, he was extremely confident.
Their experiences lined up. Both were orphans. Their paths were similar.
The only difference was that, possibly due to the world itself-or some butterfly effect-the version of him in this world had been given a property deed by the old director right before leaving the orphanage.
It was said to have been left behind by the person who brought him there.
With the attitude of taking whatever he was given, Jaden accepted the house without much thought.
Two bedrooms. One bathroom. A small living room.
And between the two bedrooms, a narrow kitchen barely wide enough for two people to stand without brushing shoulders.
"What can you do about it..." Jaden said. "I estimate the personal kitchen you used at Totsuki is bigger than my entire house."
He leaned against the doorway and looked at Erina as she worked.
"And the soundproofing here isn't great. If the neighbors hear you talking-and if you say anything that's easy to misunderstand-they might think I suddenly got a girlfriend."
"You... you pervert!"
Erina's face flushed instantly.
She glared at him with naked hostility, struggled for a moment, and finally spat out those two words.
Jaden raised both hands in surrender.
"Honestly, the fact that you understood what I meant kind of proves I'm not the only pervert here."
He paused, then added calmly.
"But seriously. Even if Totsuki expelled you, why didn't you just go back to the Nakiri family? I've heard seniors say that previous generations of Nakiri children never even attended Totsuki. You're the first. You have the God's Tongue. Being expelled shouldn't matter much to you."
He looked at her.
"So why did you follow me all the way back here?"
Jaden genuinely couldn't understand it.
He had assumed that once he was expelled, his involvement with this ojou-sama would end.
They would go their separate ways.
She would return home and inherit billions in assets.
And he would come back here, calm down, and figure out what to do in this world with the advantages he had.
Write a novel.
Draw a manga.
Buy a lottery ticket.
Anything was better than staying at Totsuki.
After all, he didn't have the talent to be a chef.
But he never expected Erina to call out to him right as he was leaving.
Nor did he expect her to follow him all the way home.
She completely ignored the fact that she was alone with a man she barely knew.
The moment she arrived, she dug out an apron.
Then she marched straight into the kitchen.
Anyone who didn't know the situation would think she was starving.
And ever since then, she hadn't stopped cooking.
...She probably developed some kind of psychological trauma from that bite of the Nine Vegetable Terrine earlier.
Jaden snorted quietly.
Erina ignored him.
She ladled out a spoonful of soup, blew on it, and gently licked it from the ladle, like a kitten drinking milk.
"The flavor is fine," she said.
"It really wasn't my fault."
Jaden raised an eyebrow and walked closer.
"So you're still looking for the problem."
He leaned forward and sniffed near the pot.
"But based on your reaction and Chef Shinomiya's reaction to that terrine, making something like that requires extremely high-level technique."
The soup smelled genuinely delicious.
The kitchen was too small.
Before he realized it, Jaden was almost leaning against her.
Erina instinctively stepped back.
After just one step, her back hit the sink.
There was nowhere left to retreat.
She glared at him sharply.
"Don't stand so close."
Jaden shrugged and took a step back.
"Alright."
He paused.
"So, Nakiri. You've confirmed it wasn't your fault. Are you going back to challenge Kojiro Shinomiya to a Shokugeki so you can return to Totsuki?"
A Shokugeki-Food War-was a mechanism unique to this world.
Many disputes between chefs could be settled through culinary duels.
It originated at Totsuki.
As more graduates entered the culinary world, the practice spread.
It functioned like a formal duel with agreed-upon conditions.
Except the battlefield was the kitchen.
If Erina could defeat Kojiro Shinomiya in a Shokugeki, she could prove that she was right.
And that his decision to expel her had been a mistake.
"No..."
Despite her arrogance, Erina was realistic.
She knew she probably wasn't a match for Kojiro Shinomiya.
He was known as the "Vegetable Magician."
A chef who had proven his ability through achievements after graduating from Totsuki.
If she were given another ten years, Erina was confident he wouldn't be her opponent.
But now-
She had to admit it.
She was too young.
Inferior in both experience and technique.
"A Shokugeki requires equal conditions," she said. "If I challenged Kojiro Shinomiya now, he'd have every right to refuse."
She hesitated.
"Besides..."
She originally wanted to say that she might not be able to defeat him.
But for some reason, when she noticed Jaden's half-smile, irritation surged up instinctively.
Her tone changed.
"That approach isn't formal enough."
"If I'm going back, everyone has to see my skill. I'll return with my head held high."
She crossed her arms.
Her presence sharpened.
Her gaze fixed on Jaden.
"The last day of Totsuki's training camp is in a few days. Tourists will be there."
She spoke steadily.
"We'll use the shop across from the Totsuki resort. We'll draw customers over with our food."
"Then we'll surpass the Totsuki resort's sales."
She paused.
"No. At least during breakfast."
Erina never actually believed Jaden could help her with cooking.
But the workload would be massive.
Heavy lifting. Preparation. Assistance.
That much, he could handle.
And in exchange-
If they succeeded, he could also return to Totsuki.
A win-win situation.
At least, that was how Erina saw it.
After all, Hisako was still in the middle of the training camp.
Erina couldn't bring herself to tell her about the expulsion.
-She didn't want to see Hisako's disappointed expression.
So she chose Jaden.
But-
Jaden looked at her, calm and confident.
Then he slowly raised a hand.
"Let me make something clear first," he said.
"Using my place to experiment with food is fine."
"But this troublesome task is yours."
"Not 'ours.'"
Erina froze.
Then she frowned deeply.
"...Don't you want to return to Totsuki?"
"Return to Totsuki?" Jaden said. "I only know how to make grilled cold noodles."
"I don't even want to be a chef anymore."
"So why would I go back?"
Silence.
They stared at each other.
Jaden shrugged.
Erina felt an intense wave of awkwardness crash over her.
She never imagined that Totsuki-the place people begged not to be expelled from-was being abandoned so casually.
-Then why did you even come in the first place?!
Her face flushed red.
She pointed at him, her voice shaking with frustration.
"Shokugeki!"
"If you were ever a chef, then let's have a Shokugeki!"
"If you lose, you help me achieve this goal!"
Jaden blinked.
Returning to Totsuki was impossible.
"Nakiri," he said, "you said it yourself. A Shokugeki needs corresponding conditions."
"I don't want to go back."
"So why would I agree to that?"
Erina crossed her arms again.
She had already thought through the terms.
She didn't believe she could lose.
"If you lose, you help me this one time."
"If I lose..."
She paused.
"I'll cook a meal for you."
"I've never eaten a meal before?"
"You...!"
Erina took a deep breath.
She forced herself to calm down.
"Then what do you propose?"
Jaden smiled.
"One meal isn't enough."
"If you lose, you cook for me for an entire month."
Jaden was terrible at cooking.
The only thing he knew how to make was grilled cold noodles.
But-
His gaze flicked briefly to the 'Curse' skill in his status bar.
He shook his head internally.
It was his fault that this ojou-sama had been expelled.
Helping her wasn't a problem.
But if she didn't fix her temper first, the next period of time would be miserable.
As for whether he could win-
A Shokugeki didn't require meeting a fixed standard.
It wasn't about passing or failing.
You won simply by making something that tasted better than your opponent's.
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