I Never Lie

MMP!

Sougo Doma wore a smile, but inside he kept grumbling. Seriously, how much longer did he have to bear the reputation of being an idiot?

Were the Shinomiya Family—and all their affiliates—really that bored?

They'd been spreading the rumors for so long, and aside from embarrassing him now and then, they hadn't been of any use. The Doma Group's stock price wasn't going to fall because of these rumors (which were true), either.

Or was it that Kaguya Shinomiya still hadn't gotten over the time he'd made her cry? The Shinomiya Family really was something else. Such a huge family, yet they couldn't let go of the smallest thing.

It was as if they wanted the whole of Japan to know.

For instance, back then...

He'd just transferred to a new elementary school when he found himself sitting next to someone who knew his embarrassing secret. Her name was Hirano Yukinoshita... No, no, Yukino Yukinoshita...

But still.

The one who'd said she wanted to escape Japan was still suffering in Japan, while the one who'd worn an expression that said, I'm justice, I'm absolutely right (even though she'd ended up crying over a trolley problem) had gone abroad. What a bitter irony.

Why had he blurted it all out at that meeting? If he hadn't, he could've quietly grown up until he was eighteen, then applied to go to the Celestial Empire. Wouldn't that have been better? Instead, now—

After being exposed as a traitor to Japan and a cowardly deserter, he couldn't even buy a plane ticket. All the major families, led by the Shinomiya Group, were waiting for him...

Still, grumbling was one thing, and bluffing was another. For him, Sougo Doma, the time had come to reclaim his dignity.

"Erina, did you know that old man told me Japanese cuisine lacked a proper lineage..."

Erina Nakiri looked skeptical. "That's impossible. Most Japanese cuisine is passed down from father to son, then from son to son. How could it lack a lineage?"

That was true...

Japan might look like a country ruled by capital, but most of its professions were passed down from parent to child. Why were there so many shut-ins in Japan? Most of them couldn't resist the pressure of reality and didn't want to take over the family business. If they wanted to work hard, their only option was to become corporate slaves... In truth, Japanese society was already dead.

But then again,

It was precisely for that reason that the skills of some traditional professions had been preserved, such as the seasoning and traditions of cuisine.

However,

Who was Sougo Doma?

Sougo Doma, master of bluffs and tall tales, at your service. Listen to him and even someone with perfectly good legs will go out and buy a crutch.

"What I mean isn't those superficial traditions, but a legacy passed down through the flesh and even the soul. Erina, do you know how people made food in ancient times?"

"How?" Erina Nakiri asked curiously.

"In the Celestial Empire, chefs all trained in something called inner strength. Mr. Lu Xun once said, 'If you don't train your strength in the kitchen, you'll struggle wherever you go.' As you can see, a chef without inner strength would have trouble even getting work as a kitchen helper."

"I know Lu Xun. He was a great literary figure from the Celestial Empire. Did he really say that?" Erina Nakiri was deeply skeptical.

"Trust me, Lu Xun said it..." Sougo Doma said with absolute certainty. Sougo Doma never lied.

"And that's exactly why there was so much Glowing Cuisine back then." Before Erina could object, Sougo Doma continued, sighing as he spoke.

"Why?" Her confusion turned to curiosity.

"Because no matter how you cook nowadays, there's no way to achieve the ancient method of channeling strength into the body. That's what the old man told me back then: 'Japan has lost the samurai tradition, and France's knightly chefs have shut themselves away with their own ways. As for the West, they're nowhere near the Celestial Empire when it comes to cuisine.'" Sougo Doma looked utterly serious.

"Glowing Cuisine, Glowing Cuisine..." Erina Nakiri murmured as if entranced.

Sougo Doma: "..."

Hahaha, had she been completely taken in? Well, maybe she wouldn't bother him now. Come to think of it, would Senzaemon Nakiri try to kill him if he found out what was happening? That was a question.

Sougo Doma had fallen deep into thought.

A few minutes later.

Erina Nakiri came to her senses. "Is Sougo-senpai trying to fool a child? If the Celestial Empire really had Glowing Cuisine, it would've been exposed ages ago..."

The fact that she'd asked that meant Erina was already starting to believe him. If she didn't, she would've just dismissed it as nonsense. She really was easy to fool. Sougo Doma decided to keep going.

"The reason there hasn't been any news of Glowing Cuisine from the Celestial Empire is that its pieces aren't all in one person's hands."

"Nani? They're not all in one person's hands?" Erina Nakiri—being bluffed successfully.

"Remember those two places I told you about?" When bluffing someone, you had to get them involved.

"New East and Blue Shit?" Erina Nakiri thought for a moment before answering.

Sougo Doma nodded in satisfaction. "That's right. You can also call them New Oriental and Lanxiang. Those two schools are hiding the secrets of Glowing Cuisine."

"First, there's New East, or New Oriental. Two masters are hidden there. One of them is surnamed Wei and named Long. They say he's mastered the art of spiciness to perfection. Compared to him, Terunori Kuga is just a kid... No, no, how can I compare a master to a student? That'd be an insult!"

"Hss~!" Erina Nakiri could only draw in a sharp breath at Sougo Doma's reaction.

Of course she knew who Terunori Kuga was. Apart from Sougo Doma, he was a genius senpai at Totsuki Academy. They said he had what it took to become one of the Elite Ten.

Erina Nakiri had tasted his cooking, too. It really was far beyond ordinary students' abilities. He could even work as a head chef at certain restaurants without ruining their reputations.

And yet,

In Sougo Doma's eyes, someone like that wasn't even worthy of comparison with the master named Weilong. If he wasn't lying, then Master Weilong had to be a world-class chef. And yet someone like him was tucked away in a place called New East, unknown to the world. The Celestial Empire's foundations really were astonishing.

"There's another master, surnamed Kang. He's so perfect it makes you sad. They say that no matter what ingredients pass through his hands, he can turn the rotten into something miraculous and make it into the most exquisite delicacy."

Hearing this, Erina Nakiri's eyes widened.

One of the ideas behind it was completely different from what she believed. What did he mean, turning any ingredient into something miraculous? Erina Nakiri (in a brainwashed state) was a lifelong advocate of premium ingredients and fine cuisine!

But before she could object, Sougo Doma started speaking again.

"Those two account for half the puzzle behind Glowing Cuisine. But the most important piece is hidden in Blue Shit."

"Lanxiang?" Even though she had plenty of objections, Erina Nakiri could only keep them to herself for now and politely offer a tentative response.

"That's right, Lanxiang," Sougo Doma said with a pleased smile, having successfully bluffed her. "There's a middle-aged man at Lanxiang who doesn't teach students and spends all day operating an excavator by himself."

"He doesn't teach students? Why?"

"According to the old man, 'That guy's always like that. He thinks excavators are everything and that they're easier to get along with than people,' or something like that."

Erina Nakiri: "???"

Black-guy-confused face. I'm innocent, so don't fool me.