Chapter 49 – Gazing Into the Abyss (Patreon)

Elementary school cooking classes in this world were very open and relaxed. Especially the first class—after being divided into groups of three, the students could decide for themselves what to make. The teacher wouldn't even provide any prior instruction. The philosophy was simple: fend for yourself.

And at this age, elementary school students had wild imaginations. So they made all sorts of things.

Leonora Nakiri sat at the podium, watching a chubby boy mix a lump of black paste into a lump of yellow paste, stirring continuously until it formed a disgusting color. She glanced at a few other groups—more or less the same.

Her scalp crawled. Her white brows knitted tightly together. She was beginning to regret taking this job. She had clearly overestimated the abilities of ordinary elementary school students. At this point, she mentally downgraded her expectations from "edible" to "won't cause poisoning."

Unable to sit still, she began going around to offer guidance. Otherwise, letting these kids finish on their own would make "surviving the meal" the only real victory.

Over the next ten-plus minutes, Leonora—raised in a culinary dynasty since childhood—experienced the cruel reality of the world's skill gap for the first time.

"Sensei, why does my dough keep getting darker the more I knead it?"

"...Did you wash your hands?"

"Sensei, why is my soy sauce bubbling?"

"...Because that's cola."

Leonora's exhaustion grew by the minute. Just as she was starting to question her life choices, she noticed one group that looked completely normal.

"Kouma-kun, the batter seems too thin. What should we do?"

"Then add a bit more flour."

"Kouma-kun, how big should I cut the octopus tentacles?"

"About the size of a fingernail."

In the corner of the room, a sho[ta] was directing two little girls in an orderly cooking process. It wasn't exactly smooth—there was still some clumsiness—but compared to the other students, it was a joy to watch.

"Are they making takoyaki?" Under the sho[ta]'s direction, the two girls prepared the ingredients and batter, then handed them over to him for the final grilling. Leonora was almost moved to tears. Finally—a dish worth anticipating.

And this sho[ta]'s appearance was exceptionally handsome. That was a big plus.

Leonora didn't interrupt them. She felt it was better to let them finish their own product first, taste it, and then discover their shortcomings—that would leave a deeper impression.

Over half an hour passed quickly. Most of the students finished their dishes. Leonora breathed a heavy sigh of relief. Faced with the eager faces looking up at her for evaluation, she couldn't bear to crush their confidence. But looking at those bizarre creations, she really couldn't stomach it.

So she pulled Kobayashi-sensei over. "Kobayashi-sensei, these are all carefully prepared by the students. Please, you should try them too!" Her Japanese suddenly became much more fluent!

Compared to Leonora, Kobayashi-sensei had a much higher tolerance for food. She could even eat things that clearly didn't look like food and give evaluations that wouldn't discourage the students. Leonora watched in admiration at Kobayashi's gentleness as a teacher.

She herself could only take the tiniest bites, then follow Kobayashi's comments with slightly stricter critiques. This made the final evaluation process take quite a while. By the time class was over, Kobayashi-sensei dismissed the students who had already been evaluated, and the room gradually emptied.

The last group was Kouma's. By then, only Kobayashi-sensei, Leonora, and the two girls in Kouma's group remained.

Leonora had already been tortured by various bizarre dishes for over ten minutes. She felt her taste buds had gone numb with fatigue. No matter how delicious the food, she couldn't muster any interest. Even though Kouma's group had the most presentable takoyaki, she thought, "At best, it's just ordinary."

She forced herself to perk up, skewered a takoyaki ball, and brought it to her lips.

She took a gentle bite. Soft, chewy, springy—even slightly cooled, the moment she bit through it, a unique seafood aroma exploded across her taste buds.

Leonora's body jolted. Her distinctly Nordic eyes flew wide open. An indescribable delight erupted from the ball in her mouth, rushing into her consciousness, lifting her toward the clouds.

"How... how can this be a takoyaki made by an elementary school student?"

She slowly closed her eyes. She felt herself swimming nude through the deep sea, swimming alongside sharks, dancing with octopuses, their tentacles wrapping around her body, tighter and tighter!

"Oh~!"

"Splendid!"

Leonora leaned back in her chair, stretching her long, pale neck, her chest heaving as she let out an ecstatic moan.

And Kouma, sitting directly across from this Nordic beauty, watched as the buttons on her tightly fitted suit jacket flew off one by one.

He gazed into the abyss before him and couldn't help but marvel. As expected of a character from Food Wars. When it came to clothes bursting off—this was the real professional.

Beside him, Kobayashi-sensei was stunned. Was it really that delicious? How did her clothes burst open?

Just as she was about to pull Leonora's jacket back together, Leonora suddenly stood up, her face flushed with an unnatural red, her eyes shining as she fixed her gaze on Kouma. She leaned forward and pressed her hands down on his shoulders.

"Have you studied cooking before?" The abyss's crowd-control effect was strong—Kouma could barely look away.

"No," he shook his head.

Leonora froze. A sho[ta] who had never studied cooking could make something that conquered her taste buds... "You... you must transfer to Totsuki Institute!" she declared with utmost gravity.

Kouma blinked in surprise. Kobayashi-sensei was even more shocked. She quickly pulled Leonora back, red-faced, and yanked her jacket closed. "How dare you try to poach our student!" Kobayashi scolded.

But Leonora's blue eyes were fixed intently on Kobayashi. "He has the potential to become a god of the culinary world! Only by transferring to Totsuki can he fully develop his talent!"

Kobayashi was stunned. "A god of the culinary world? Isn't that an exaggeration? Based on a single takoyaki?" Curious, she skewered one and brought it to her mouth.

Mmm~

Kobayashi's eyes behind her glasses flew wide open. Flavor exploded in her mouth, accompanied by an indescribable pleasure surging through her body. Sitting in her chair, she could barely control her trembling frame.

"This is..."

After a moment, she slumped limply against her chair.

"You see? This is definitely a gift from the god of cooking!" Leonora said excitedly. She had never seen a child with such talent.

Having tasted it herself, Kobayashi fell silent. Indeed, it was the most delicious food she had ever eaten. And Leonora was the research department head of Totsuki, the highest culinary academy. Her excitement was proof enough of Kouma's talent.

"Kouma-kun..." Kobayashi looked at him. As a teacher, she naturally wanted the best for her students.

"I'm very happy studying in Kobayashi-sensei's class at Shuchi'in. I won't transfer to another school." Kouma's calm yet firm words left both women stunned.

Kobayashi's face broke into a warm, touched smile. His words meant he acknowledged her work as a teacher, and that filled her with satisfaction.

Leonora couldn't understand it at all. "Kouma-kun, you might not realize what Totsuki means for someone with your talent..."

"Chef Nakiri, thank you for your affirmation, but I won't transfer."

Looking at the determined sho[ta] before her, Leonora realized his resolve could not be changed by a few words. Finding a glittering piece of gold but being unable to mine it—it felt like her very soul was being clawed at.

She slumped dejectedly against the back of her chair.

Kobayashi wasn't surprised. From the day Kouma transferred to Shuchi'in, she had noticed that this seemingly soft and adorable sho[ta] had a very strong will of his own.

"By the way! The school festival is in three days. I've decided to have our class run a small restaurant. Kouma-kun, would you like to join in and sell your takoyaki? I'm sure they'd be a huge hit!" Kobayashi crouched in front of Kouma and said gently.

A school festival? Kouma thought for a moment, then shook his head. "I'll be helping out at my big sister's club."

Knowing Yukino's personality, she definitely wouldn't participate in her class's activities. In the Service Club, besides her, there was only Kouma as an unofficial member. If he left too, Yukino would be all alone.

Besides, with his LV2 Foodgasmic Cooking's clothing-bursting probability, Kouma could already imagine how crazy the scene would be. He didn't want to cause that kind of chaos. Mrs. Yukinoshita and the others would surely come too. He certainly didn't want them bursting out of their clothes in public.

At most... he could sell them in the Service Club. Yes—good privacy.

Seeing Kouma refuse, Kobayashi sighed regretfully.

Just then, Leonora pointed at the remaining takoyaki on the table and asked earnestly, "Can I take these with me?" She couldn't bear to see a genius of this caliber go to waste. She would bring Kouma's food to her sister-in-law—Mana Nakiri, the sole special executive of the WGO, possessor of the God's Tongue—for her to taste.

If she could leverage enough influence and get more people to notice Kouma's talent, she believed he would eventually take his gift seriously. At the very least, his parents would.

Kouma glanced back at the two girls in his group. They had been completely lost since earlier—the sheer volume of information was too much. All they could think now was, Kouma-kun is amazing!

"I'm fine with it!"

"Me too!"

Receiving their agreement, Kouma nodded to Leonora. "Chef Nakiri, you can take them all."

After getting his answer, Leonora quickly packed them up. "Perfect—I'll have Alice taste them too. Let that girl who thinks she's so special know what a real genius looks like!"

...

Prev    Chapters   Next