Imagining Things Leads to Big Trouble

Looking at the bewildered Erina Nakiri, Sogo Doma felt nothing but delight—that's right, you haven't read enough books and you're still in middle school, I am absolutely lying to you!

You shouldn't have asked me why I wanted to flee Japan for no reason. I'd like to, but right now... forget it, talking about it just brings tears.

"Looking at that expression, you think excavators have nothing to do with cooking, right?" Sogo Doma, looking sincere, said again.

Erina Nakiri: "..."

What the hell does operating an excavator have to do with cooking? Come on, keep spinning your yarn, keep going.

"Do you know about tofu?" Sogo Doma, a fountain of lies, continued his questioning.

"Huh!?" This question left Erina Nakiri slightly displeased. Was he looking down on her professional standards? As a representative of the Japanese culinary world, how could she not know about tofu?

However, before she could speak, Sogo Doma continued.

"My mistake, not just tofu, I should say Takumi Tofu..."

"Ta, Takumi Tofu?"

The appearance of a new term made Erina Nakiri forget her anger.

"That's right. So-called Takumi Tofu describes tofu that, even without being cooked, unfolds its flavor in layers, as if one were opening up the ocean. That taste..." At this point, Sogo Doma narrowed his eyes, as if savoring something.

However.

"I don't believe it! Tofu is just tofu. Don't talk about it being uncooked; even if it were cooked, it couldn't possibly be like opening up the ocean..." Clearly, Erina Nakiri still had her wits about her.

"Then do you want to try it?" Sogo Doma, destroyer of reason, had logged on.

"What?" Erina, who had just been so skeptical, widened her eyes: "Senior Sogo Doma, are you saying you have Takumi Tofu?"

Hmm, she seemed to have taken the bait.

"I don't have Takumi Tofu, but thanks to an ancient text given to me by an old man, I managed to develop Tuojiang Tofu. Although it falls far short of the taste of Takumi Tofu, as far as raw ingredients go, it is a work I am quite confident in."

As he spoke, Sogo Doma opened a food tray on the counter in front of him.

The moment the lid was lifted, mist began to radiate from the tray. Once the mist cleared, a piece of ordinary white tofu was revealed—from the surface, although it was as white as jade, it couldn't change the fact that it was just a piece of white tofu.

Thus, Erina Nakiri looked on with suspicion: "..."

She might as well have had "Is this it?" written on her face.

"Want a taste?"

"I... ugh." Sogo Doma was feeding her.

The moment the tofu touched her tongue, Erina, who had been about to say something, was rendered completely speechless.

Ho, how could this be? It was clearly just a plain piece of white tofu, and judging by the taste, it hadn't been cooked at all, but why, why did she feel like she was sinking into a great river as she tasted it?

It was the tofu; the flavor of the tofu was exploding in her mouth layer by layer...

Wait.

Why was there fish?

Not fish from the ocean, but freshwater fish from rivers and lakes. These fish were gathering, surrounding her, constantly tangling with her...

How could this possibly be ordinary tofu?

Was this the legendary Takumi Tofu? No, Tuojiang Tofu? Why were there tears? Was it because she had tasted such high-level ingredients?

Regarding this.

Sogo Doma only thought:

"The leftover tofu from Umaru's bento plus a little special technique, that should be enough to fool her, right? It is LV4-level tofu, after all, and besides, the fish broth—I specifically added onion fish broth..."

Erina Nakiri remained immersed in her own fantasy: "This, this Tuojiang Tofu is undoubtedly a high-level ingredient. To cook it, one must be a chef at a top-tier restaurant, but what about the even more superior Takumi Tofu? Se, Senior Sogo Doma really knows the secret of Glowing Cuisine!!"

After a long while.

Erina Nakiri, having recovered, stared at Sogo Doma with a flushed face.

"What?" Seeing this, Sogo Doma, feeling slightly guilty, asked while thinking to himself: "Did I give myself away?"

Erina Nakiri: "..."

"The, the tofu was, was not bad, but, but I, I could develop it myself."

Sogo Doma looked at Erina, who was blushing and stuttering, and stroked his chin—had this girl gone tsundere?

"Do you want to know how this tofu is made?"

"No, not at all, but I, I am the God's Tongue, as long as I want to..."

"Yes, yes, yes, but even if you could recreate my Tuojiang Tofu, what about the Takumi Tofu?"

Clack.

Erina Nakiri felt as if she had been struck by a critical hit.

After a long silence...

"No, such a perfect ingredient must not disappear from the edges of history." Seemingly having made up her mind, Erina suddenly clenched her fists and stared at Sogo Doma: "Senior Sogo Doma, le, let's go to the Celestial Empire together to learn the method for Takumi Tofu."

"Running away?" Sogo Doma used Erina's own words to ask back.

"It's not like that, this is a contribution to world gastronomy!"

"The people of the Shinomiya Family certainly won't see it that way."

Erina Nakiri: "..."

After a long silence.

She finally spoke, her face flushed red: "They are obstructing the development of world culinary culture! No, we cannot let capital erode the culinary world. I'll go find my grandfather and have him negotiate with the Shinomiya Family..."

Too much, that's too much...

Watching the indignant Erina, Sogo Doma wiped away a bead of non-existent sweat.

Although Senzaemon Nakiri is known as the Demon King of the culinary world and owns numerous properties like the Totsuki Tea House and the Totsuki Resort, he really doesn't measure up when compared to Commander Shinomiya.

After all, capital is far greater than cuisine.

And so.

He hurriedly interrupted.

"Um, Erina, actually, there's no need for all that trouble. As long as you can learn the method for Takumi Tofu, wouldn't that be enough?"

Erina Nakiri: "..."

"Eh!?"

"S-Sogo-senpai, what do you mean?"

Sogo Doma, Shinichi, Sogoro: "Actually, I wouldn't want Takumi Tofu... no, I should say Glowing Cuisine, to be lost to history. I believe that old man felt the same way, otherwise, he wouldn't have passed the ancient texts down to me. So, I was thinking..."

"I-I don't need any ancient recipe books! As long as it's a dish, if I've tasted it, I can recreate most of it." Erina Nakiri answered quickly, as if she had mastered the art of being a tsundere.

Sogo Doma: "..."

However.

Does this tsundere think he's going to give her the recipes? She's dreaming; where would Sogo even get those non-existent ancient texts? He's just fooling around with a kid right now—commonly known as teasing a chuunibyou for fun.

Still.

Seeing Erina Nakiri's awkward expression, it was actually quite amusing. Shaking his head, Sogo Doma said again:

"I would like to pass the ancient recipes on to you, but those texts have already been destroyed..."

"Nani? The recipes are destroyed?" Erina's composure shattered instantly.

Seeing this, Sogo Doma quickly added.

"However, even without the ancient texts, the three pieces of the puzzle for Glowing Cuisine are all in the Celestial Empire. Furthermore, I've already told you where they are and who holds them. Erina, with so many favorable conditions, what are you waiting for?"

Erina Nakiri was once again left dumbfounded: "..."

What the hell?

Wait.

"Is Sogo-senpai telling me to go to the Celestial Empire to learn it myself?"