As her secretary, what should you do when you saw your unconfident young lady?
Hisako would tell you: praise her as much as you could.
"Lady Erina, Love Metronome is about to become a trending topic on Twitter. And with Senior Doma's book review, even if you don't believe in yourself, shouldn't you at least believe in him?"
"That guy..." At the mention of someone, Erina Nakiri ground her teeth in hatred.
Hisako seized the opportunity.
"Actually, Senior Doma really does care about you, Lady Erina. Otherwise, he wouldn't have written such a long book review just because you asked him to."
"That's because he promised to grant me three requests when he left. Making Love Metronome popular was my first request..." Erina Nakiri's voice weakened.
Hisako: "..."
My lady, what on earth are you doing?
"I-I'll never forget how that guy humiliated me!" As if remembering something, Erina Nakiri's expression returned to normal, and turned cold as ice.
"Heh, hehe..." Hisako laughed awkwardly. "Lady Erina, I think Senior Doma was only joking back then. There's no need to take it so seriously."
Two years earlier.
"Hey, Senior Doma, why did you say the first step was escaping Japan?" Erina Nakiri, already won over by Sogo Doma's cooking, asked the question that had been on her mind.
Sogo Doma: "..."
Again? To be honest, when he'd first awakened after fusing with his cheat, he'd been pretty happy. He'd gotten a second life, and the chance to go abroad.
But.
As he kept remembering things,
Umaru Doma,
Sawamura, Spencer,
Mashiro Shiina,
Erina Nakiri...
And a bunch of brightly colored hair.
Damn it, he hadn't transmigrated to Japan. He'd transmigrated into a 2D world.
Maybe other people thought transmigrating into a 2D world was a good thing, but Sogo Doma didn't see it that way. Sure, it seemed like a slice-of-life anime, so it was safe, but:
First, until you met her, you couldn't be sure there wasn't a woman named Kobayashi flying around on a dragon, being waited on hand and foot by one. That was trouble you couldn't afford to get into.
Second, until you knew for sure, you couldn't tell whether some lazy angel might suddenly blow the horn announcing the end of humanity. Damn it, slice-of-life really was more nerve-racking than action.
Finally, he still had to check whether this world had a PK Academy. If he angered Saiki there, he really wouldn't know what killed him.
Of course,
that was only the usual situation. When people thought of 2D worlds, they thought of transmigrators.
Who knew if he was the only one?
If another Schrödinger's transmigrator showed up, that would be a real headache.
As the saying went:
When transmigrators meet,
two dragons must not cross paths.
If they ever collide,
one side is sure to die.
Who knew what cheat the other transmigrator had brought along? All Sogo Doma could say was, "I give up. I'll run back to the Celestial Empire. Do you dare follow me? If you do, the River Crab Divine Beast will attack."
However,
transmigrators were still a minor concern.
What he feared most was some native force joining Schrödinger's chat group. They said those chat groups were organizations that spanned the myriad heavens. He, Sogo Doma, was a lone transmigrator with little backing. What could he do besides flee to the Celestial Empire?
Besides...
Just as he was thinking all this over, who could've known the head of the Shinomiya Family would suddenly ask him a question?
Someone had even tapped him on the shoulder then, as a greeting.
The tap startled him, and Sougo blurted out, "Of course I'm escaping Japan." Who would believe that?
But how could he explain what had really happened?
"Ahem." After clearing his throat twice, Sogo Doma gazed into the distance.
"Erina, have you heard of Glowing Cuisine?"
"Glowing Cuisine?" Erina Nakiri looked astonished. Perhaps to other people, Glowing Cuisine was just a joke, but the Nakiri Family had ruled Japan's culinary world for generations, and had found records of it in ancient texts.
"That's right, Glowing Cuisine." Sogo Doma continued to smile as he gazed ahead, as if lost in some memory.
At that moment,
Hisako was on her way over.
"It was the winter when I was seven. It was bitterly cold, and snow fell everywhere. An old man was lying in the snow in front of my house. Being a kindhearted boy, I helped him inside and gave him some warming ginger tea..."
Senior Doma has another side to him? Erina Nakiri wondered.
"But this is what he said to me: 'I haven't had tea this awful in ages. You call this ginger tea?'"
"How could he?" Erina Nakiri exclaimed. "In that situation, anyone would've been grateful, wouldn't they?"
Sogo Doma waved a hand, signaling her to be quiet.
"Then the old man said, 'Still, I can feel your kindness in this ginger tea. Thank you. But this country can't bring out your talent.'"
At that, Erina Nakiri folded her arms across her chest. Only the fingers tapping against her arm gave away how unsettled she was.
Sogo Doma continued his story with a smile.
"Japan is just too small. Totsuki is already a miracle for chefs, but anyone who truly wants to learn a skill goes to the Hawaii Vocational Training School. The cooking there may not be as good as at Totsuki, but they teach all sorts of essential life skills, like handling firearms and flying helicopters..."
Erina Nakiri: "..."
What the hell? Handling firearms and flying helicopters were essential life skills? He had a pretty warped idea of life. And Hawaii taught those things?
"Maybe it was because of that bowl of ginger tea. After chatting with me for a while, the old man asked, 'Do you know New East and Blue Shit?'"
"What did you say, Senior?" Erina Nakiri asked curiously.
Sogo Doma smiled. "Of course I shook my head. I wasn't familiar with either place."
"But..." As he spoke, Sogo Doma once again gazed into the distance, trying to make it look convincing.
"The old man handed me a book. 'I'll give you a cookbook in return for the bowl of ginger tea. Then we're even. But if you ever leave Japan, take it back to New East and tell them this: Er Gouzi was wrong all along. He shouldn't have run off with the cookbook. Now we can't even catch a glimpse of Glowing Cuisine.'"
"Glowing Cuisine..." Erina Nakiri murmured, lost in thought.
Seeing Nakiri falling under the spell of his story, Sogo Doma wiped away a bead of nonexistent sweat and continued spinning his tale without a care.
"That day, after drinking the ginger tea at my house, the old man insisted on cooking a meal to repay me."
"What did it taste like?" For the first time, Erina Nakiri, bearer of God's Tongue, asked that question.
"Slurp!" Sogo Doma made a suitably greedy face. "This flavor belongs in heaven alone. How many times could anyone taste it in the mortal world..."
"You!" Erina Nakiri gritted her teeth.
Sogo Doma smiled. "All right, now I'll tell you why I wanted to leave Japan."
"Hmm?" Erina Nakiri seemed a little slow on the uptake.
Sogo Doma fell silent for a moment. At last, he let out a breath and said:
"Because you can't make Glowing Cuisine in Japan..."
"N-Nani!?" Erina Nakiri looked astonished.
Sogo Doma stared at Erina Nakiri with a grave expression. "That's right. I wanted to leave because Glowing Cuisine can no longer be made in Japan."
"Running away?"
"That's a prejudice!" Sogo Doma declared solemnly.
Before you continue