"Muteba, you betrayed me!"
Azami Nakiri, bound tightly and forced to kneel on the floor, glared upward as he shouted. In front of him, Muteba stood with a helpless expression, spreading his hands.
"You can't put all the blame on me," Muteba said calmly. "You were the one who asked me to kidnap the world's best chef. I finally found a chance to get close, only to realize I probably couldn't beat him bare-handed."
He paused, then added casually.
"No. Even with cold weapons... or a handgun."
"You didn't tell me this beforehand, and the price you offered wasn't nearly enough for a target like that. I didn't have much choice."
Muteba shrugged again.
"We're mercenaries. Compared to contract spirit, we value staying alive."
Azami Nakiri froze.
Because he understood what that meant.
Muteba had turned on him because-
He couldn't defeat Jaden Yuki.
This...
Azami Nakiri's gaze slowly shifted from Muteba to Jaden.
Jaden met his eyes, his expression subtle.
"I'm Totsuki's representative fighter," Jaden said. "I'd just beaten Takeshi Wakatsuki, so I was wondering who would be dumb enough to hire a mercenary to kidnap me."
He tilted his head slightly.
"So it was you."
If someone from the Kengan Association had done this, Jaden would have thought there was something wrong with their head.
But Azami Nakiri?
-That made sense.
After being expelled from Totsuki and developing overseas, Azami Nakiri had no access to the Kengan Association's inner circle. Not knowing recent events was perfectly normal.
Jaden thought this, but didn't say anything else.
He stepped back.
He left the space to Erina.
From the moment she saw Azami Nakiri, she had already been preparing herself. Now that they were back at Totsuki, Erina slowly exhaled.
"Long time no see... Father."
Her voice was steady.
"I didn't expect the next time we met to be like this. And I never thought you would abandon culinary duels and resort to hiring a mercenary."
She looked straight at him.
"You're truly despicable now."
Only after hearing her say this did Jaden relax inwardly.
Although Erina had said before that this was something she would eventually face, Jaden had still prepared himself.
-If she couldn't overcome it, then I'd just deal with the source.
He wasn't a psychologist.
But if you couldn't solve the problem, you could always solve the person who created it.
Especially when that psychological shadow was focused on a single individual.
But now, it seemed Erina had truly prepared herself.
"She really is herself..."
Jaden watched Erina frown as she lectured Azami Nakiri, and an old memory surfaced.
When she learned about his Curse ability, she had said-
You can degrade other people's cooking? So what? I'll just surpass the degradation.
And now it was the same.
Even facing the father who had cast a shadow over her childhood, once she adjusted herself and made her decision, she was still the same Erina.
Confident.
Radiant.
Jaden still didn't fully understand why he had felt stirred the first time they met.
If it wasn't simply because she was beautiful-
-Then it had to be this.
The brilliance she gave off when she was confident.
The charm rooted in her personality.
She always knew what she wanted to do. And once she chose a path, she committed to it without hesitation.
Her body wasn't strong like a fighter's.
She didn't know martial arts.
Even in cooking, she wasn't the strongest yet.
But Jaden, who carried Hanma blood, still thought-
Erina was strong.
...Stronger than him, at least.
Stronger than someone who still lacked a clear objective.
While Jaden was thinking this, Erina finished speaking.
Her gaze shifted.
It landed on the six current members of the Totsuki Elite Ten seated in a row off to the side.
She glanced at them, then turned toward Senzaemon Nakiri.
Unlike her father, whom she had already resolved to face, these Elite Ten members-
That was Senzaemon's matter.
"Did my tenure as Director displease you in some way?"
Senzaemon Nakiri asked calmly.
The six Elite Ten members had planned to side with Azami Nakiri to remove him from the position of Director and install Nakiri-
No.
If the plan had succeeded, he would have been Nakamura Azami.
These six had intended to push Nakamura Azami into the Director's seat.
That was all Senzaemon wanted to confirm.
Some of them fell silent.
Eishi Tsukasa, however, met Senzaemon's gaze.
Normally, he tended to overthink things. Whether from shyness or his obsessive tendencies, he often hesitated.
But this matter had been initiated by him.
If he hadn't agreed, Rindou Kobayashi and Momo Akanekubo wouldn't have gone along with it so easily.
So here-
He had to speak.
"No. We don't think there's anything wrong with your work, Director."
Eishi Tsukasa paused.
"We just thought... it would be more interesting if he became Director."
As he spoke, he glanced helplessly at Azami Nakiri.
-Who could've known he'd collapse like this the moment we supported him?
Hearing this, Senzaemon Nakiri nodded.
Eishi Tsukasa took a deep breath.
He was ready.
Expulsion.
Being barred from working as a chef in this country.
Having his hands ruined.
Even death.
He was afraid.
But he had prepared himself.
However-
After Senzaemon nodded, the so-called Culinary Demon King showed a gentle smile.
For the first time in front of them.
"Hm... perhaps you're right."
"What this old man represents is, in the end, my own perspective. And the perspectives of the juniors who followed me."
"For us, these ideas have worked from the past until now. There was no problem. No need to change."
He continued calmly.
"But for you-gems of a new era-those same ideas might indeed become shackles."
"I've thought about this before. About the day when the perspectives of the old generation would be shattered by the new."
He smiled faintly.
"I just didn't expect you to choose this method."
"Good. Very good."
"If you couldn't even deny the old perspectives, then these so-called gems would just be our extensions."
"And extensions of us may not have a future."
Senzaemon Nakiri's era of cultivating "gems" existed for one reason.
To break the curse of the God's Tongue.
He disliked Azami Nakiri as a person.
But he had no objection to what Eishi Tsukasa and the others had done.
In fact-
He was pleased.
Because if the era of the gems couldn't overturn the past, then the future would never change.
That was the original purpose behind the Elite Ten's authority to replace the Director.
The times were always pushed forward by the young.
So-
Under the stunned gazes of the Elite Ten, Senzaemon continued.
"This old man really is getting old."
"Although Nakamura Azami is clearly unsuitable, this incident does present a good opportunity."
"A chance to install a new Director."
As he spoke, his gaze fell on Erina.
He had been watching her closely.
Before meeting Jaden, Erina had ability but lacked maturity.
After making a pact with Jaden-each choosing their own battlefield-she began to define her own perspective. Her own assertions.
She grew.
Senzaemon had planned to do this after her graduation.
But now-
"Erina," he said, "you will be the next Director."
"Huh!?"
Even Erina widened her eyes.
The six Elite Ten members said nothing.
Their silence was consent.
Nakamura Azami, however, roared even while bound.
"No! Only my concept can break the curse of the God's Tongue and save them! You are shirking responsibility-"
His words cut off abruptly.
His body lifted into the air.
He thought it was Muteba.
But it wasn't.
It was Jaden.
The six Elite Ten members stared in shock.
Jaden, who didn't look especially tall or powerful, had lifted Nakamura Azami with one hand-
Like a chick.
The scene was surreal.
Jaden ignored their gazes.
He frowned slightly and looked at Nakamura Azami.
"Wait."
"You just said something interesting."
His expression grew serious.
"The 'curse of the God's Tongue' you mentioned just now..."
"Explain it to me. Briefly."
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