Midora was standing before the statue of Gourmet God Acacia, gazing at the kindly face carved into it and lost in thought for a long time.
After wrapping up Gourmet Corp's affairs, he had wanted to wander around and reminisce about the youth that had long since passed.
Today, having come to the Gourmet Shrine and seen the statue of his adoptive father, he was reminded of childhood memories again. Yet more of those memories involved his master's wife, Frohze.
He stared into Acacia's stone eyes as though crossing time itself. After a moment, Lu Li noticed in surprise that tears were actually flowing from the statue's eyes.
Midora noticed the change as well, but rather than checking whether something was wrong with the statue, he simply turned to Lu Li. "What is it?"
Lu Li also realized that it was somewhat rude to have been staring at him from behind. "Nothing. I was just feeling a little sentimental. When I think about how all of you have lived for over five hundred years, and were Acacia's direct disciples, it feels incredible."
"I was never his disciple."
However, Midora's reply surprised Lu Li. It seemed to reveal hostility toward Acacia.
"You weren't? But Chairman Ichiryu told me..."
Lu Li asked curiously. He realized that there were things from the later parts of the original story that he did not know, while Midora, as someone directly involved five hundred years ago, naturally knew them.
He had previously asked Ichiryu and Jiro about Acacia, but both had been vague. They said it was roughly the same as what Lu Li had heard in legends: their master, Acacia, truly deserved the title of Gourmet God and had saved all mankind.
But from Midora's perspective, things seemed different.
Lu Li felt that Ichiryu and