Justice Will Surely Prevail

Tamamo- no-Myanmar, Kiyohime, Tomoe Gozen, Hime no Toki...

"Are they really that despicable?" Consort Yu asked, puzzled. She actually had a rather favorable impression of non-human female Servant.

Enma-tei covered her face and said, "I don't know if it's the cat or Tamamo from Wang-chan's side. Although her cooking skills are already quite good, her personality is just too unrestrained. To put it nicely, she's too casual; to put it bluntly, she's reckless. You never know what kind of strange ingredients she'll suddenly have an idea to put in her dishes one day."

"Ah, that child does indeed have a somewhat mysterious quality," Consort Yu said.

"It's a pity that Tamamo from the Miko's side isn't here. As one of only two students who have persisted in my cooking class over the past few hundred years, besides Mash from Chaldea, she's the only one. Otherwise, her cooking skills and taste would be quite good."

At this point, Enma-tei pondered for a moment, then shook her head and continued:

"But Tamamo's personality also has a fatal flaw, which is probably incurable. She only cooks for the person she loves, although it is said that love is an important seasoning for a chef. However, in her dishes, this seasoning has been seriously overdone."

She's arrogant and only wants her lover to eat more delicious food. That way, in less than a month, her lover will become overnourished and obese. As a great demon, she's gradually fattening up the humans she serves, making them look plump and delicious. What is she trying to do?

Consort Yu nodded and said, "Ah, I understand, I understand. This is the type who spoils their lover excessively, indulging all their whims, no matter how unreasonable, racking their brains only to please them, letting their lover become a scumbag, and in the end, becoming a scumbag themselves."

"Also, Kiyohime's cooking is very bold. As long as the heat is high enough and a lot of oil is used, many things will become delicious. But cooking isn't just about using oil; she's only good at one thing. And her personality is absolutely terrible. She could never have become a gatekeeper in the first place."

"As for Hime no Toki... let's just forget about it." Speaking of the Princess who stayed in Himeji Castle, Enma-tei paused for a long time, revealing a helpless expression like a school teacher who had given up on a hopeless problem. She said, "... If we want her to learn how to cook, the fastest way is definitely to kill her and send her to be reincarnated and start over."

"Hahaha..." Consort Yu could only respond with a dry laugh.

"As for Ba, she's a very sensible child when it comes to interpersonal relationships, but she's a disaster as a cook. The only dishes she can make right now are probably just soaking potatoes in water to wash them and making them into raw potatoes, and making carrots into raw carrots—that's about it. She doesn't even peel them! What an idiot!"

"However, she seems to have changed this time. It's as if she's possessed by a talented chef, personally experiencing the preparation of complex Western dishes thousands or even tens of thousands of times. Although it's just a facade, the taste is still a disaster."

"Huh?!" Consort Yu looked in surprise toward the most reliable Tomoe Gozen.

The Himegishi in the plain-colored kimono seemed to sense the gaze. She opened her red eyes and looked over, giving a polite smile, nodding slightly, and bowing to Consort Yu. Her long silver hair flowed as she did so, making her look as beautiful and elegant as a painting.

Consort Yu exclaimed in surprise, "Ba? Your Tomoe Gozen? Really? That's practically a young, deceptively charming wife!"

"So, it really is best to let the chefs decide for themselves, hehe." The red-haired little girl said with a look of acceptance.

Over the years, all the apprentices who underwent the trials she set out for in the kitchen classroom failed, except for Tamamo and Mash. In the end, she simply gave up.

"Then we moved on to a new segment where the chefs tasted each other's food and scored it!" announced the host, Cleopatra.

Upon hearing this news, Pablo lowered his head and revealed a sinister smile. Finally... finally, his chance had come! He secretly took out the small pink bottle.

"Madam! I have something to say!" Pablo raised his hand and shouted.

"Pablo, the French athlete, please speak," Cleopatra said.

"The current scoring system is a little unreasonable," Pablo said.

"There are three people now, so there's no question of a tie. Do you see any other problems?" Cleopatra asked.

"Well, the rules themselves are indeed fine, but I have some conflicts with Masked X, and we even had an argument before. Under these circumstances, it becomes advantageous for the old master chef from China. Of course, I have no intention of offending the old master chef, but under these circumstances, the rules of the competition are already unfair, so please understand." Pablo looked at Red Masked X, then at the Elder Liu on the other side, and explained.

"I see. Please wait a moment while I consult with the five judges," Cleopatra said, turning to look at the judges' panel.

Through electronic devices, the judges on the rooftop had already picked up the conversation on the floor below.

"Ms. Red, do you have any objections if we change the rules of the competition?" Caesar asked the red-haired girl.

Enma-tei shook her head helplessly and said, "There's really nothing I can do. To quarrel in the sacred kitchen, the chefs of this world are unqualified. They need to be sent to my cooking classroom to receive some moral education."

"Then let's hear what he has to say," Caesar said.

Upon receiving the message, Cleopatra turned to the famous French chef and asked, "Mr. Pablo, do you have any suggestions?"

Pablo smiled, opened his arms, gave a gentlemanly bow towards the camera, and said loudly, "Since we're going to sample each other, I propose that everyone be included—the five judges, the previous gatekeepers, and everyone present. I'd like to hear your suggestions."

"What do you think, Iskandar?" Caesar asked, turning to the burly man beside him.

"Oh, Caesar, don't you think that's an interesting suggestion?" the Conqueror King agreed with a hearty laugh.

"Any questions from the others?" Caesar asked, turning to the others.

"Since Enma-tei has no objections, I think it's fine. Yu-chan, you can do it too, right?" Boudica chuckled and asked the beautiful woman sitting next to her.

Consort Yu Boudica no choice but to cross her arms and say defiantly, "Hmph! If I don't think they taste good, then I'll just throw them all away!"

So Caesar gave the Egyptian beauty below an OK sign and said, "That's it, my Cleopatra!"

"Yes~! As expected of Lord Caesar ~! Leave the rest to me~!" Cleopatra, like a young girl in love, turned sideways, clasped her hands together, lifted one foot, and answered sweetly. However, when she turned around, she reverted to her previous cool and powerful businesswoman demeanor, and said, "Ahem, the judges have all agreed, so Mr. Liu, X-Masked contestant, do you have any questions?"

"I have no problem," the Elder Liu replied with a smile.

Shirou looked at Pablo and firmly agreed, "I agree. As long as we're on the cooking station, I'll let the food do the talking. That Shokugeki we agreed on still hasn't had a chance to start."

"Heh heh heh... young man, you know nothing of the true nature of this world." Pablo looked at Shirou's mask and laughed mockingly. His hand pressed against the small bottle in his pocket, thinking, 'Yes! Soon... I'll let you all know how powerful I am.'

"Then the competition topic remains the same, it's still 'meters'! But the judges will be everyone present. The competition begins!" Cleopatra raised her hand and shouted.

With only three chefs remaining, they took their positions and began preparing their dishes.

The Elder Liu, wore a calm and composed smile, Shirou clenched his fists, and Pablo's ferocious gaze was filled with ambition.

Several tens of minutes later!

The Elder Liu placed the prepared dish on a tray the size of a table, carried it with one hand, and walked steadily toward the judges' seats.

"The 56 ethnic groups of China have given rise to hundreds of cuisines and tens of thousands of dishes. The magnificent Manchu Han Imperial Feast has similarities but also different cooking philosophies. Stir-frying, boiling, braising, steaming, deep-frying, pan-frying, stewing, simmering, simmering, roasting, marinating, pickling... each has its own intricacies. Sweet, bitter, spicy, salty, numbing, sour, and astringent flavors are also preferred by people in different regions. But ultimately, going back to the source, what truly tests people is a bowl of fried rice."

"This is my dish, Golden Fried Rice!"

The Elder Liu lifted the lid, and a golden light immediately shone from within. In that instant, everyone seemed to have a fantasy: a golden dragon flew out from there and soared into the sky.

Chapter 451 Justice Will Surely Come

A golden dragon soared and danced in the air, and people seemed to hear a long cry from an animal they had never heard before. But when they came to their senses, they found nothing but emptiness above them, only the ceiling. Puzzled, they wondered if what they had seen and heard was all an illusion.

After the light faded, a huge plate of golden fried rice was revealed inside. Each grain of rice was evenly spaced and plump, resembling a golden particle. It also emitted an amazing amount of heat and released an enticing aroma along with the wisps of smoke.

This is one of the signature dishes of Kikushita Restaurant, a recipe passed down from the generation of the Elder Liu's mother. It looks simple, but it is very difficult to make it well.

The egg mixture for fried rice must be stirred quickly and evenly, allowing the rice grains to fully absorb the egg mixture while remaining dry. The rice must be fried until each grain is separate, and there should be no egg residue. If the scrambled eggs are allowed to solidify in the pan and become granular, it will ruin the translucent and unified aesthetic of the golden fried rice.

After the rice and eggs are mixed evenly, season with salt and pepper, then put it in a dish. While it's still hot, cover it with a lid to seal in the flavors and aromas of all the ingredients. When you lift the lid, all the aromas will burst out, adding the perfect finishing touch.

After mastering his culinary skills, Elder Liu further improved the recipe for this dish, elevating it to an even higher level. If everything is done perfectly, it can truly create a state of transformation into a dragon and ascension to immortality.

Iskandar, King of Conquerors, Alexander the Great— a figure impossible to ignore in history books—chuckled heartily and said, "What a magnificent dish! It's powerful and invigorating. I heard you were quite a handsome young man in your youth? We're quite destined to meet. If we had met back then, I would have loved to have you join my expeditionary army."

Upon hearing the Conqueror King's words, the Elder Liu burst into laughter and said, "Hahaha, which country's King are you, or perhaps the leader of a mercenary group? Thank you for your kind words, but for now, I only wish to be a cook."

"Speaking of appearance, quite a few friends have said that I look completely different from when I was younger. I guess girls were more attracted to my teenage looks. My wife even complained about me later, saying that I used to be shorter than her, so why did I suddenly become so big? I really miss those days; it was such a long, long time ago."

"Is that so? That's a shame," Iskandar said with a smile.

"No, I also thank you for reminding me of past memories." Seemingly because he recalled some pleasant memories, the Elder Liu was in a good mood, a slight smile playing on his lips.

The Elder Liu invited everyone around to come and taste the food, including Erina and her Hisako, relatives of Nakiri Senzaemon. Everyone present praised Elder Liu's golden fried rice and wrote down their ratings on a piece of paper, but we'll leave that aside for now.

Pablo's face showed a hint of jealousy, but he quickly recovered, thinking to himself, 'Hmph! Anyway, this cooking skill and these dishes will soon be mine. Old man, you can open a restaurant for me and cook until you're worked to death! Hehehe!'

Next, it was Shirou's turn. He brought out bowls of steaming, golden-brown glutinous rice. Inside the rice were black shiitake mushrooms, red beans, bamboo shoots, cut into strips, and then fried until golden brown with pork, beef, and lamb. Finally, a layer of scallions was sprinkled on top. The sticky glutinous rice and the crisp, chewy rice were mixed together perfectly in proportion.

A faint golden light appeared, followed by a glossy sheen. Though the light was dim, it resembled a firefly in the grass on a summer night, giving one a beauty that immerses the soul.

In his competitive teaching with Elder Liu, Shirou is breaking through his bottleneck at an extremely rapid pace. In fact, over the years, without a break all year round, he has prepared more than 36,500 dishes every three to six days, with the number increasing in leap years.

This laid-back young man, who pursues an ordinary life, has in fact made cooking a part of his daily routine, an integral part of his bodily functions, and has become part of his very being.

Because of his promise to Erina, he was determined to defeat the culprit who persecuted the Elder Nakiri, so he no longer concealed his strength and displayed all his abilities.

"This dish is technically perfect, but I can't feel any passion at all. How strange. Is it because my training is far from enough? Hmm, hmm."

Xiao Hong nodded, then took another bite of Shirou's glutinous rice. "Is that so? It's become an inseparable part of daily life, something you've grown accustomed to. In a way, it's not bad at all. If ordinariness is a kind of happiness for humans, then this dish has taken happiness to its extreme."

"What humanity needs is often found in the ordinary. If this dish could be enjoyed in the homes of all the people of Rome... no, in all the homes of all the people, then we wouldn't be far from the ideal country," Caesar remarked with a sigh.

Shirou's cooking received unanimous praise, and everyone wrote down their scores on paper, awaiting the final evaluation.

Then Pablo pushed out a food cart with a large bowl of fragrant seafood risotto, which included clams, dried shrimp, crunchy beans, and ham.

"Please have some, please have some, you all have some too." Pablo, who had been arrogant before, even gave a plate to all the staff around him.

"Please use this, sir." Pablo respectfully handed the plate and spoon to the Elder Liu with both hands.

"Kid, I know you've misunderstood me, but regardless, it's a win or a loss. Please enjoy my dish."

"That's all the excuses you can offer now," Shirou said, taking the plate and returning to his seat.

Pablo watched as people put the food he had made into their mouths, his smile growing wider and wider, eventually turning from joy into exuberance, and then from exuberance into madness.

After tasting Pablo's dish, Enma-tei, wearing a sparrow's red crown, stood up and looked down at the chef. However, she quickly realized that she was not tall enough. Although she maintained a calm expression, she was somewhat troubled inside.

Tomoe Gozen quickly pushed over a chair, picked up Enma-tei, and made her stand on it.

The red-haired girl looked at Pablo with a serious expression, and after a long while, she finally spoke:

"As a servant of Enma, Enma-tei Inn has upheld a creed for thousands of years: fairness and impartiality. I affirm the good in humanity. But if evil is committed, I will certainly punish it, and I will be very strict!"

Her crimson, mirror-like eyes, devoid of any ripples, seemed to be fixed on the camera, yet everyone outside the large screen felt as if her gaze was locked onto them.

"Teacher Red... so scary." At this moment, the wild Tamamo- Myanmar hugged her fluffy tail, which was now uncontrollably puffed up.

"Waaah, Teacher Enma, everything you said was true," Kiyohime said, covering her mouth.

"I don't want to recall those memories anymore," Tomoe Gozen said, trembling.

"It has nothing to do with the Princess, you can't see me, you can't see me, you can't see me!" Hime no Toki covered her head with her clothes, her teeth chattering and clattering.

"I don't know what you're talking about. I thought you were a judge, but I didn't expect there to be a child here. Are you some rich and powerful young lady? But even if your family is rich and powerful, there are hundreds of millions of viewers here. Don't be too willful," Pablo argued.

"Yes, everyone! During the break in the match, I'll now take you on a tour of this facility's food storage!" Cleopatra flashed her lights, drawing the attention of all the cameras, and led the audience to the other side.

"Chirp chirp chirp! Chirp chirp chirp~!" Three bluebirds appeared at this moment, knocking over the food on the cart next to Pablo. Two of them curiously tasted the spilled food, immediately stuck out their tongues, and collapsed on the cart after being poisoned. One of them took the opportunity to sneak into Pablo's arms and snatch a pink bottle.

"Damn it! Where did these birds come from!" Pablo grabbed at the bluebirds, picked up a plate, and was about to smash them to death.

"Hmph!" The honest and kind-hearted proprietress Enma-tei, couldn't stand it any longer and unleashed a swift and extraordinary swordsmanship.

People felt a flash of light before their eyes, and then the sound of the sword being drawn reached their ears.

The French underground emperor's large plate, cut in half, was drizzled with a rich, fragrant sauce onto his pure white, custom-made chef's uniform.

Pablo's expression changed, then he roared furiously, "What are you trying to do, you little brat! I know! You're jealous of my cooking skills and don't want me to win, so you're trying to slander a respectable chef like me?"

"Enma-tei- sensei! I smell something suspicious, he's lying!" Kiyohime pointed at Pablo like a master detective.

"Hmm!" The red-haired little girl stared at Pablo.

Three bluebirds flew to the head of the Enma-tei and said to Pablo:

"We've got all the evidence of you poisoning me, we've photographed it!"

"Give up! All the evidence against you will be exposed, chuckle."

"Repent properly in prison, chirp~! Otherwise, you'll suffer even more in hell, chirp~!"

"You brats! You think you can deal with me like this! Don't forget, you also ate my food! You dared to ruin my plan! Then you'll all be buried with me! Hahahaha, all of you, commit suicide!!!" The underground emperor, who had previously maintained the composure and elegance of the Frenchman, roared with his mouth wide open. Suddenly, his voice quieted down, his tongue fell out of his mouth, and he covered his mouth.

A pink, soft piece of flesh, stained with blood, fell to the ground.

"The Third Secret Technique of the Yama's Tailoring Sword Drawing Technique. If there is guilt, then judgment will surely be made! Now, I accept your arrogant tongue! Reflect on your actions for the rest of your life." Enma-tei sheathed her katana and calmly looked at the terrified Pablo, saying, "I am Enma-tei, the official of hell in this land. When you die, I wish to bring you before King Yama and hear your confession of the sins of your life."

Pablo covered his mouth, enduring the excruciating pain, but his eyes held not only agony but also bewilderment and anger.

"You want to ask why none of us were poisoned, right?" Shirou asked.

"..." Pablo suddenly raised his head and looked at Shirou.

"With tricks of this caliber, who exactly are you trying to catch?" Shirou retorted.

Nakiri Senzaemon's old master chef had already prepared a bowl of healthy porridge; one bowl would eliminate all toxins.

In fact, during the tasting, Shirou and Nakiri Erina exchanged glances and, with a speed imperceptible to the naked eye, switched the drugged dishes. What they ate was merely a dish Shirou had made in imitation of Pablo's. It was the old chef who voluntarily picked up his bowl and drank it, which startled Shirou.

However, experience counts, and the old chef was completely unharmed. It seems his physical abilities have surpassed those of humans, Servant.

"Well, I've been dealing with the dark cuisine world for more than a year or two," the Elder Liu said calmly.

"Ahhh--!!!" Pablo collapsed to his knees as if deflated, scooping at the tongue on the ground with both hands, seemingly trying to pick it up.

But he remained undeterred. Pablo, head bowed, gleamed with malice in his eyes. His hand, which had been reaching for the tongue on the ground, slipped inside his trousers and pulled out a pistol. His eyes flashed with madness as he aimed it at the blonde woman Erina.

'Damn it!! How can it end like this! You all die!!!' Pablo roared inwardly as he pulled the trigger.

A white rainbow flashed by.

The pistol was cleaved into pieces, and the five fingers gripping the handle were also severed.

The young man stood in front of Erina.