By the time Jaden returned to Totsuki, the sky was already dark.
He had flown back on a private jet from the Kaiba Group, so his return was almost completely silent. In fact, it wasn't until he walked into the courtyard of Totsuki Tower and ran into Dojima Gin that anyone realized he was back.
"Ah, that..."
Dojima Gin didn't comment on Jaden's return itself. His gaze was fixed on the tail wrapped around Jaden's waist, and his expression looked a little conflicted. He was clearly curious, but also unsure whether he should ask.
"Dojima, don't worry about the tail," Jaden said casually. "Erina should've already told you about the royal family and related matters. Just treat this tail as proof of royal blood."
Hearing this, Dojima Gin nodded.
"Mhm. I understand."
After that, Jaden nodded back and continued toward the top floor of the tower, where Erina was.
Inside the elevator, Jaden spoke in his mind.
"Brunhilde, do you have any way to hide this tail? Oh-and if possible, think of a way to block moonlight as well."
"I understand, Lord Yuki."
The Thirteen Valkyries were still gods, after all. Naturally, they would have solutions to small problems like this. Since Jaden had asked, they would look into it.
The elevator soon stopped.
Jaden stepped out and headed straight for Erina's office.
...
At the moment, Erina was not alone.
Hisako stood beside her. Mukuro Ikusaba and Kurara were hidden in the shadows. Sitting in the reception area in front of Erina's desk was a middle-aged man wearing a meticulously neat suit.
His demeanor was elegant and gentle.
However, the request he had made left Erina feeling unsettled.
So even though Hisako had already confirmed it once, Erina confirmed it again.
"Mr. Lundgren," Erina said calmly, "although it may be impolite to ask the same question repeatedly, I must confirm it one more time. Are you truly inviting Jaden to participate in the cooking competition you're organizing?"
This was no longer the time when Jaden had just become the world's number one chef.
Back then, people still dared to challenge him.
But after that, Jaden firmly established his position by defeating every challenger who came his way. Even though he won in rather... unconventional ways, no one could deny that he won.
As a result, aside from Erina occasionally having a Shokugeki with him, it had been a long time since anyone else had sought Jaden out.
His reputation had already spread.
Although he had only officially competed against chefs from the Empire and Great Xia, there was no way the Northern Country hadn't heard of his strength.
And when everyone knew that the world's number one chef was impossible to defeat, no one would voluntarily seek trouble.
Yet today, someone had.
And it wasn't for a Shokugeki.
It was for a cooking competition funded heavily by the Northern Country.
"Mr. Lundgren," Erina continued, "I'll be straightforward. You've invested an enormous amount into this competition. If you invite Jaden, there's a very high chance you'll lose. After all, with him participating, the competition may lack anticipation in every sense of the word."
Lundgren did not grow angry.
Despite his reputation for being short-tempered-typical of many from the Northern Country-he remained as composed as ever.
"Ah, Director Nakiri," he said gently, "please don't worry about that. The competition we're holding this time has a somewhat special rule."
Hearing this, Erina felt a flicker of curiosity.
But before she could ask, a voice came from outside the door.
"A special rule? Care to explain it?"
The door opened as the voice sounded.
Erina and Lundgren both turned their heads.
When Erina saw Jaden enter, she immediately stood up, her expression brightening.
"Jaden, you're back~!"
Under the effect of the illusion, Jaden's tail was already hidden. He nodded and walked to Erina's side.
"I'm back."
He looked at her for a moment, then turned toward Lundgren.
"Sir, weren't you about to explain that special rule?"
Lundgren froze the moment he saw Jaden in person.
The world's number one chef.
The Strongest Creature on Earth.
It took him a second to recover.
"My apologies," Lundgren said quickly. "I was momentarily distracted. Mr. Yuki, the special rule is this-this competition places far more emphasis on entertainment than professionalism."
"The goal isn't to see who makes the most delicious dish."
He smiled.
"It's to see who makes the most disgusting food."
When he reached the key point, Lundgren's composure returned completely.
"Mr. Yuki, Director Nakiri, don't you think a competition like this would be interesting as well?"
"Modern audiences prefer entertainment, after all. And with your popularity, Mr. Yuki, as the world's number one chef, the spectacle would be extraordinary."
Hearing this, Erina smiled and nodded.
But she didn't respond immediately.
Instead, she looked at Jaden.
Jaden was also smiling as he looked back at her.
The two exchanged a brief, tacit glance.
Finally, Erina turned back to Lundgren.
"That does sound very interesting," she said. "In that case, we accept."
With Totsuki's agreement secured, Lundgren smiled, exchanged a few polite remarks, and left.
After he was gone, the perceptive Hisako and Mukuro Ikusaba quietly pulled Kurara away, leaving only Jaden and Erina in the office.
Absence made the heart grow fonder.
They immediately forgot all pending matters and discussions. With no one else present, they embraced, bodies pressing together, quietly confirming each other's presence.
It wasn't until the next day-
Or rather, noon-
That Erina opened her eyes in the private lounge she had built inside her office.
She rubbed against Jaden's chest like a kitten.
After waking up a little more, she yawned and spoke lazily.
"Jaden, can you tell me a bit more about that tail of yours now?"
She looked at the monkey tail, which had reappeared after Jaden lifted the illusion, and fell briefly into thought.
Jaden didn't explain the Saiyan race.
He attributed everything to the so-called royal bloodline and gave her a simple explanation.
"I see."
Erina didn't show much reaction to learning that Jaden would turn into a Great Ape under a full moon.
She simply grabbed his tail and smiled.
"Does that mean our child... our children... will also have tails like this?"
She tilted her head slightly.
"Hmm. Come to think of it, maybe they'll be like little monkeys. Hehe~"
Hearing her talk about children, Jaden's expression softened noticeably.
He gently stroked her hair.
"Maybe. But if they look like you, then even if they're little monkeys, they'll be very cute."
"If they look like you..."
For some reason, Jaden suddenly remembered the face of Yujiro Hanma as an infant-already more arrogant than a demon.
The smile vanished from his face.
"-Then it's not impossible that the little brat gets beaten the moment he's born."
Pfft.
"You can't just beat the children~"
Erina laughed and continued chatting with him casually.
It wasn't until they talked about the cooking competition Lundgren had mentioned that Erina finally sat up and looked at Jaden seriously.
"Jaden," she said, "when you participate in this competition... you can use that strange ability of yours on the food, right?"
Jaden paused.
"Of course I can, but... my ability works better the more delicious someone else's dish is. I still haven't found the upper limit of the reversal, but if I cook something myself..."
There was a baseline.
No matter how bad someone's cooking was, the curse couldn't turn it into something delicious. It would still be disgusting-but not absurdly so.
If he had to describe it-
It was probably the taste of what Shinomiya Kojiro once called "shit."
That was the lower limit of the curse.
But before Jaden could explain further, Erina shook her head vigorously.
"If that's the case, you'd destroy the reputation of every instant noodle brand you use!"
She imagined the scene.
Others painstakingly preparing dark cuisine.
Jaden casually serving a bowl of instant noodles.
And then the judges declaring that the instant noodles were even more disgusting.
-Those brands would be finished.
Many of those companies cooperated with Totsuki, now the leader of the global gourmet world.
So Erina looked at Jaden seriously.
"Jaden," she said firmly.
"I'll teach you how to cook."
Section 251: Crushing the Spirit
If you asked fighters like Ohma to choose the person they believed had the greatest talent, they would choose Jaden without hesitation.
Because they had never seen talent like his.
-In fact, Jaden's physical condition wasn't even at its theoretical peak yet.
Youth.
That alone made him terrifying.
But-
If you asked Erina to evaluate Jaden's culinary talent...
She would probably give you a vague answer, then immediately change the subject and refuse to elaborate.
After all-
-Jaden's talent in cooking was painfully average.
If he had no talent at all, that might actually be easier to accept. But the problem was that he did have talent.
Just extremely ordinary talent.
If Erina, armed with the God's Tongue, guided him wholeheartedly, and if Jaden devoted his entire life to cooking, then yes-it was possible for him to become a well-known chef.
-But only possible.
Because of that, Erina went from being highly motivated at the start to eventually telling him-
"This level is probably enough."
In the end, she only taught him some basic techniques. At least now, besides instant noodles and grilled cold noodles, if you asked Jaden to make a bowl of ramen, he could do it.
But that was it.
However-
"Erina, if we're just talking about normal cooking, then yeah, this level is enough," Jaden said. "But if you want me to make something better, I do have some... unconventional methods."
"Unconventional?"
Erina was confused.
Jaden didn't explain. He simply asked her to make a bowl of seafood noodles, then told her to watch closely.
Erina cooked first.
Jaden followed immediately afterward, quickly preparing another bowl and placing it in front of her.
At that moment, Erina sensed something was off-but she wasn't certain.
Then she tasted both bowls.
"Jaden..."
Her eyes widened slightly.
"You were able to imitate-no, replicate my seafood noodles to this extent just by watching once?"
That didn't make sense.
If his talent was really this high, then everything before was contradictory.
Jaden shook his head.
"It's not imitation of cooking skill. It's imitation of movement and force."
"Cooking isn't simple, but if I just do exactly what you do, then at least I won't make major mistakes."
Understanding flavor theory on his own?
That was difficult for him. He really didn't have that kind of talent.
But imitating movements?
That was trivial.
The exact amount of seasoning.
The quantity of ingredients.
The precise heat applied at every step.
None of it could escape his Observation Haki.
If he wanted to, he could even hear what someone was thinking while cooking-and completely become a second version of them during the process.
If Jaden chose to do so, even cooking simultaneously, he could perfectly synchronize his movements with yours.
And with future sight layered on top of that, he could even finish faster than you.
The taste Erina had just experienced-
-Was virtually identical.
Even her upgraded God's Tongue struggled to tell the difference.
While Erina was still processing the shock, Jaden thought for a moment and spoke again.
"I was also thinking about what you said earlier. About me using instant noodles in Shokugeki."
"If I keep doing that, it might damage the reputation of the instant noodle brands. That wouldn't be great."
"So... do you think next time I should just copy my opponent's movements directly?"
Ah!?
Erina immediately imagined it.
A Shokugeki where Jaden recreated his opponent's dish perfectly-same flavor, same texture-then used his strange ability to instantly ruin the opponent's dish.
Hiss-
Stop.
That.
Your opponent would cry.
Thinking of that, Erina smiled awkwardly.
"It's fine for competitions like this, but let's not do that normally..."
"Honestly, your matches are basically advertisements for instant noodles. When you were doing Shokugeki frequently, instant noodle companies even contacted me. They wanted you to use their brand during competitions."
"Let's forget that troublesome stuff," Jaden said, waving his hand and setting down the knife.
"So, Erina. Would you say I've practiced enough?"
"Mhm..."
"I wouldn't say perfect, but it's definitely enough preparation for the competition."
Hearing that, Jaden looked at her.
"Then, Erina-do you want me to take cooking more seriously?"
Erina shook her head immediately.
"No."
"After all... you don't like cooking, right?"
And-
As she said that, her face flushed slightly, but she continued.
"It's enough if our family has one person who can cook~"
"Indeed."
Jaden looked at Erina.
Erina looked back at him.
They held each other's gaze for a moment, then naturally moved closer.
They were already engaged.
After meeting Yugi, they had even set a date.
Because of that, their interactions had become far more frequent than before.
...
While Jaden and Erina were together, Eriri received a message that left her stunned.
"You're saying the theatrical version of Kengan Demon Lance is finished... and about to be released?"
Her first reaction was to check the date.
It wasn't April Fools' Day.
-Then how did they finish it this fast!?
"It's normal for you to be surprised, Teacher," the other party replied. "But starting with your work, production speed for theatrical versions and anime adaptations will continue to increase."
"The higher-ups have begun aggressively promoting the ACG industry. It's best if you get used to this pace."
Eriri immediately recalled Jaden's expression when he talked about his grand plan that day.
-This definitely has something to do with Teacher Kiryu.
With that thought, she nodded.
After receiving the release date and advance tickets, she opened a chat window.
"Teacher Kiryu," she typed.
"The theatrical version of Kengan Demon Lance is about to be released. Do you want tickets?"