The task of judging naturally fell to Hinako Inui. However, seeing Luo Yu refrain from picking up his chopsticks for so long, she asked in confusion, "Aren't you going to have a taste?"
Hearing Hinako Inui's words, Luo Yu merely shook his head, making his meaning clear. These dishes simply failed to interest him. Though to ordinary people who could not cook, they were already quite well-made.
Just by smelling the aromas in the air, Luo Yu could roughly tell what the dishes tasted like. His standards for food were not particularly high. As long as it tasted good, that was enough.
Under normal circumstances, he might have taken a few bites. But he had only just eaten lunch, and these dishes truly could not stir his appetite.
Seeing that Luo Yu really did not intend to taste them, Hinako Inui said nothing more and simply began grading the other Tootsuki students together with the girls.
Although the girls did not understand how dishes were supposed to be graded, by the end, they still knew how to tell delicious food from bad food.
If even the girls found a dish unpleasant, Hinako Inui would not taste it herself and would directly fail the group of students who had made it.
Some of the failed students tried to argue, claiming that the girls did not understand cooking and that their evaluations were incorrect.
Hinako Inui silenced them with one simple sentence.
"They are outsiders who know nothing about cooking. Their only standard for judging a dish is whether it tastes good or not. Yet your dish was judged to be bad. So why don't you properly reflect on whose problem that is?"
Hinako Inui did not pay much attention to those who could not even pass the girls' test.
If they failed, they could go back and do it again! If they still failed in the end, then sorry, it seemed Tootsuki was not the right place for them.
"Ah! I can't eat anymore! Why is everything fish? QAQ" Yui Hirasawa complained pitifully.
Actually, this was Hinako Inui's fault. She had given the students the assignment of using the ingredients found within the marked area to make a dish that would satisfy her.
So although the dishes served were varied, most of them were still fish-based. There was a river nearby, after all, and when students who had not thought things through saw it, fish was the first ingredient that came to mind.
By the end, the girls had grown tired of eating. After all, it was fish after fish after fish. Even delicious food became tiresome when eaten too much! Not to mention that these students were only so-so.
"That's why I said tasting all these students' dishes is such a hassle," Hinako Inui said after taking a sip of tea and setting down her cup. (Luo Yu: I feel like she stole my move.)
The other girls felt the same way as Yui Hirasawa. They truly could not eat another bite. Every dish brought up was fish: pan-fried fish, grilled fish, boiled fish, fried fish... none of them repeated. The girls had practically seen every method of cooking fish they knew of, and even some they did not.
The two brothers, whose dishes had already passed and who should have been free to leave, broke out in cold sweat upon hearing the conversation. They were glad that they had served their dishes quickly—and that they had not made fish. Otherwise, the result might have been uncertain.
Hinako Inui was also curious about the two brothers who had yet to leave. "Do you two still need something? You passed the assessment, so you could have left long ago."
"Hinako Inui-senpai, we'll leave after that person's dish is served and graded," Takumi said, pointing at the red-haired boy in the crowd.
"I see." Hinako Inui remembered something. "You two seemed to have said earlier that you wanted to settle things with a showdown."
"Fine. If that student over there can make a dish on roughly the same level as the one you two just made, then I'll make an exception and judge whose dish is more delicious." Hinako Inui smiled at the brothers.
Hearing Hinako Inui's words, Takumi's eyes lit up. He excitedly shouted at the red-haired boy, "Did you hear that?! I'm waiting for you, Yukihira!" (Who exactly is the real female lead of Shokugeki?)
"Oh! Then let's see what you've got!" the red-haired boy Takumi had called Yukihira answered fiercely.
"Then the loser kneels. Kneel before your opponent and say 'I'm a loser' three times. Since this is a match with your family restaurant's reputation on the line, it wouldn't do without some stakes..." Hinako Inui suddenly added with a dark smile.
The two of them were immediately dumbfounded by her words. The Light Music Club girls also took a synchronized step back. They did not remember the older sister they had chatted with for half the day having such a scheming side. Still, that did not stop their instinct to stay away from danger.
However, Hinako Inui ignored everyone's reactions. Her tone suddenly shifted as she took the hand of the girl working with the red-haired boy and said, "But you don't have to kneel, Megumi Tadokoro."
"Anyway, if you've got what it takes, then try surpassing our dish!" After recovering from his shock, Takumi issued his final declaration to the red-haired boy.
Afterward, the boy named Yukihira—this is getting troublesome, let's just call him Souma Yukihira from now on—went out with Megumi Tadokoro to search for ingredients again. Worth mentioning was that Souma Yukihira had snatched Hinako Inui's tea snack, Pei Zhong, and handed it to Takumi for safekeeping. (So who exactly is the real female lead of Shokugeki?)
After that farce, everyone returned to what they had been doing. Those serving dishes continued serving, and those tasting dishes continued tasting.
However, the girls were somewhat distracted. It seemed they were also looking forward to the cooking showdown between Souma Yukihira and Takumi.
The girls all watched Souma Yukihira as he cooked, wanting to know what kind of dish he would serve in the end. After all, there were only fifteen minutes left.
"Sorry, Hinako. We're interrupting."
In those final moments, three figures walked in.
Erina's Challenge
"Dojima-senpai, and... Nakiri?" Hinako Inui looked at the newcomers in surprise. "Why are you here together?"
That was right. The newcomers were Gin Dojima, Erina Nakiri, and her little follower, Hisako Arato.
"Nakiri? Is that Erina Nakiri of the Elite Ten?"
"It really is her. Why is she here?"
"You only noticed Erina Nakiri? Didn't you notice the person beside her? That's Gin Dojima! The person in charge of the entire Tootsuki Resort!"
"Gasp... Why would someone so important come all the way here?"
Neither Gin Dojima nor Erina Nakiri was affected by the students' discussion.
Seeing that Erina Nakiri was merely staring at Luo Yu without any intention of speaking, Gin Dojima said, "Hinako, we came to find someone."
"Find someone?"
Hinako Inui looked utterly confused.
"The person they're looking for is probably me."
Luo Yu had not expected Erina to take the initiative to seek him out. Erina alone would have been one thing, but why was Gin Dojima here too?
Luo Yu's words drew everyone's gaze toward him, but he was not affected in the slightest and continued greeting them calmly.
"Long time no see, Erina. Oh~ Secretary Ko is here too."
"Young Master Luo Yu! My name is Hisako, not Secretary Ko!" Hisako Arato was still trying to correct what Luo Yu called her. Though it was useless. After so long, Luo Yu's way of addressing her had never changed. Even Lady Erina sometimes slipped up and called her Secretary Ko.
But if she did not fight for it, perhaps her name would truly become Secretary Ko in the future.
Luo Yu ignored Secretary Ko's protest and merely looked at the blonde girl before him, wondering why she had come looking for him.
"Long time no see, Luo Yu." Erina Nakiri looked at the man she had resolved to surpass. "Why didn't you come find me?"
"What?"
Luo Yu had originally thought the first thing Erina would do upon finding him would be to challenge him to a cooking contest. After all, that was how things had always gone before. He had not expected her to merely ask why he had not gone to see her.
"I mean, why haven't you come to find me even once since that day?" Erina could not understand why Luo Yu had completely left Tootsuki. Even if he did not come to Tootsuki to learn cooking, could he not come play with her?
That was right. Lady Erina had very few friends around her, and Luo Yu was her only male friend. His cooking was even better than hers. Naturally, Erina had been looking forward to Luo Yu coming to spend time with her.
Because he had already farmed all the experience from that area, so he needed to change maps. Of course, Luo Yu could not possibly say that out loud.
"Because I'd already learned everything I needed to learn there. After that, I had no reason to go back."
Tch! Other than cooking, couldn't you take the initiative to come play with me? Shouldn't boys be the ones taking the initiative in things like this? (Well, the young lady had been seriously poisoned by romance manga.)
"It's not often that we meet. Let's find time to compete again. This time, I'll definitely win!"
Although Erina knew that she still could not match Luo Yu, she could not lose in spirit. At the very least, she had to sound confident.
As for giving up on competing against Luo Yu, Erina had never even considered it. Only by competing with Luo Yu again could she know how large the gap between them still was. Only then could she have a clear goal.
Hearing Erina's words, Luo Yu laughed.
"Are you sure, Erina? Don't forget, you haven't won even once against me."
"Hmph! Just you wait and see! Hisako, let's go!"
"Yes, Lady Erina!"
With that, Erina left with Hisako.
After Erina left, the people below began guessing at Luo Yu's identity. Although they did not know who Luo Yu really was, they had heard one thing clearly.
Luo Yu's cooking was above that of Tootsuki's Princess, the Nakiri family's eldest daughter, Erina Nakiri.
"Luo Luo, do you know that person from before?" Yui Hirasawa asked curiously.
"Yeah, I met her three years ago when I went to learn cooking." Luo Yu did not hide anything and answered openly. "But you girls didn't know who she was? She should be fairly famous."
Faced with the puzzled expressions of the three girls, Tsumugi Kotobuki explained, "The girl from earlier was Erina Nakiri, a very famous figure in the culinary world. She has a talent called the God Tongue. Just one sentence from her can determine whether a restaurant lives or dies."
"Amazing. So she's that incredible?"
"Luo Yu, whose cooking is better, yours or hers?"
"Didn't I say it already? Whenever she competed with me, she lost every time, and I won every time!"
Upon hearing that, everyone looked at Luo Yu in shock. They had heard it earlier, but Luo Yu's words now confirmed their guess. This person's skill was definitely above the Elite Ten!
"So he never even picked up his chopsticks from beginning to end because he simply looked down on what we made?" Takumi said unhappily.
"Seems like it, Brother," Isami confirmed.
Though they were unhappy about it, it seemed Luo Yu truly had the qualifications to ignore their cooking.
"So Luo Luo is really amazing, huh? No wonder I always felt that none of the things you made tasted as good as what Luo Luo makes."
Yui Hirasawa delivered the final blow with an innocent expression. Mio Akiyama hurriedly covered her mouth. Although what Yui Hirasawa said was true, and Mio felt the same way, she had a feeling that if Yui Hirasawa continued, they might get beaten up.
"Alright, if there's nothing else, I'll head back first." Luo Yu stood up, then looked at Gin Dojima. "Uncle Dojima, let's go. I know you have something to discuss with me. It probably isn't convenient to talk about it here, right?"
With that, Luo Yu left the classroom with Mashiro and Gin Dojima.
The surrounding students continued staring in shock at Luo Yu's departing back. Not only did Luo Yu know Erina Nakiri, but it looked like he even knew Gin Dojima.
Hinako Inui looked at them and kindly(?) reminded them, "Don't you need to watch your pots?"
The moment she said that, everyone's expressions changed. They looked toward their pots and all cried out.
They had been so absorbed in watching the show that they had nearly forgotten they were cooking. One after another, they began trying to salvage the dishes in their hands.
Luo Yu had no idea how many students would fail because of him. Even if he did know, he would not care.
Walking along a path in the resort, Luo Yu spoke to Gin Dojima behind him. "Uncle Dojima, tell me. What agreement did my dad and Old Man Nakiri reach this time that they had to trick me into coming here?"
The Light Music Club Wants to Practice
"Looks like we can't hide it from you." Gin Dojima smiled upon hearing that.
"So what exactly is it?"
Although Luo Yu had more or less guessed what they wanted him to do, he still needed Gin Dojima to confirm it.
"Actually, we want to invite you to be a judge."
Just as he had guessed. Inviting him to vacation at Tootsuki Resort at this time was clearly a plan to get free labor out of him.
But based on Luo Yu's understanding of his father and Old Man Nakiri...
"No. I came here on vacation. I don't want another job."
That was right. Based on his understanding of them, he could choose whether to do it or not.
"I see. Just as the Commander-in-Chief said." Gin Dojima sighed. "Since you've refused, I have nothing else to discuss with you. Then I wish you an enjoyable stay at Tootsuki Resort."
"Uncle Dojima, won't you come over to my place for a visit?"
"I'm still fairly busy, at least."
"If you were really busy, you wouldn't have had time to come find me. Let's go, Mashiro."
With that, Luo Yu took Mashiro's hand and headed toward the villa.
Watching Luo Yu's back grow farther and farther away, Gin Dojima took out his phone and called Senzaemon Nakiri.
"Commander-in-Chief, he didn't agree."
"If he didn't agree, then so be it." Senzaemon Nakiri sighed. "We were only trying our luck anyway. Since that's the case, let him enjoy himself properly for the next few days."
"I understand." Since the Commander-in-Chief had said so, Gin Dojima did not say anything more and hung up.
To be honest, Gin Dojima still found it a pity even now. Luo Yu had gone to Tootsuki to study cooking for three years during middle school, and Gin Dojima had encountered him then. He knew about Luo Yu's talent. However, he had not expected Luo Yu to ultimately choose not to become a chef. Shaking his head, Gin Dojima stopped thinking about such trivial matters, turned around, and left to arrange what needed to be done next. There was one thing he had not lied to Luo Yu about: as the person in charge of Tootsuki Resort, he truly was quite busy.
After returning to the villa, Luo Yu had nothing to do, so he began drawing with Mashiro.
Not long afterward, the Light Music Club girls returned as well.
"Luo Luo! Luo Luo! Let me tell you..." The moment Yui Hirasawa entered, she rushed toward Luo Yu. "That red-haired boy was amazing! What he made was even tastier than the first dish. But it still wasn't as tasty as what Luo Luo makes."
Before you continue