Shokugeki was a specialized term belonging to Totsuki Culinary Academy.
In reality, its circulation was limited strictly to the culinary world.
If you were to bring it up in a public setting, most people probably wouldn't know what it was.
Kamisaka Yuto had only been in this world for two months.
His knowledge of Totsuki was basically derived from Senzaemon and a few rumors he occasionally overheard from passersby
Therefore, he didn't know much about things related to the academy.
His words caused the somewhat somber and serious atmosphere to suddenly lighten.
Senzaemon sighed with a smile.
He should have thought of that; after all, when he first met Yuto, the young man didn't even know about Totsuki Culinary Academy.
To suddenly bring up Shokugeki, it was only natural for him to be confused.
On the side, both Erina and Hisako wore rather strange expressions.
The master and servant exchanged a glance, the confusion in their eyes were visible to each other.
After taking a moment to explain the concept of Shokugeki to Yuto, Senzaemon once again resumed his solemn expression.
"Kamisaka-kun, I know this is sudden and impolite, but I hope you can have a Shokugeki with my granddaughter."
Senzaemon's deferential posture stirred a complex emotion in Erina.
She found her grandfather's behavior strange.
She also felt curious and puzzled about Kamisaka Yuto.
At the same time, a faint anger simmered within her—the arrogance that was born from absolute pride.
"Nakiri-san, there's no need for that, is there?" Yuto sounded a bit helpless.
He now understood that a Shokugeki was nothing more than a cooking competition.
Even though Senzaemon had described it with great gravity and solemnity, Yuto thought about it for a moment and felt that something was off.
'Isn't it just a competition to see who cooks better? Why make it sound so complicated and serious?'
As for competing over culinary skills... if this were back when Yuto was eighteen or nineteen, he would have agreed with extreme pride and disdain.
If it were when he was twenty-one or twenty-two, he would have to consider it before agreeing.
But now? After experiencing an era where people couldn't even get enough to eat, where everyone sold themselves just for a mouthful of food, he no longer had the heart for competing with others in the culinary arts.
"Kamisaka-kun, I know my presumptuous request puts you in a difficult position, but if you are willing to have a Shokugeki with Erina, this old man can do his best to grant you one request." Senzaemon was not surprised by the refusal.
He simply expressed his sincerity once more.
"My apologies, Nakiri-san."
Faced with the second request, Yuto simply apologized with a hint of regret.
He still can't agree to a Shokugeki with Erina.
"Kamisaka-kun, if you have any conditions, please state them. As long as this old man can meet them..."
"No, Nakiri-san, you misunderstand. I'm not refusing because I'm after something else. I simply don't wish to."
Yuto refused him once again.
Senzaemon fell silent.
Although his eyes were old and weary, his gaze was extremely bright and sharp.
After looking at Yuto intently, he let out a sigh. The old man's regret and disappointment were all contained within it.
"If there's nothing else, may I leave?" Yuto felt it was no longer suitable for him to stay and took the initiative to ask to leave.
"You may. I am very sorry that my invitation has put you in a difficult position, Kamisaka-kun. Please allow Hisako to see you home." Senzaemon did not get angry because of the refusal.
He still maintained a warm and respectful attitude; it was just that a hint of disappointment was unavoidable in his eyes.
"Thank you, Nakiri-san." Yuto smiled politely.
He rose from the sofa and walked toward the door, where Hisako was already standing, waiting for him respectfully.
"Why?"
Just as he was about to leave, Erina's voice rang out.
The girl whose Shokugeki challange had been rejected was now filled with anger and agitation.
She didn't slept well all night to begin with.
Then, she had watched her own grandfather plead with Yuto with such politeness, only to be rejected three times.
This caused the anger in her heart, which held Senzaemon in the highest respect, to surge uncontrollably.
At the same time, she felt a sense of humiliation from being looked down upon by his refusal to duel her.
Several other emotions were also building up in her chest, making it very difficult for her to maintain her composure.
"Why what?" Yuto looked at the angry girl and asked, thoroughly puzzled.
"Are you playing dumb?! Why did you refuse to have a Shokugeki with me?" Erina's tone was laced with chilliness and agitation, like a volcano accumulating power to erupt from beneath a thick layer of ice.
"And why must I agree to have a Shokugeki with you?" Yuto felt exceptionally bewildered.
He found Erina's behavior completely baffling.
'Did everything have to go her way? Has she been spoiled rotten?'
"Arato-san, please see me out." Yuto knew there would be no end to it if he stayed any longer.
He walked right out of the room.
...
On the way back, Yuto finally learned Senzaemon's identity from Hisako: the founder of Totsuki Culinary Academy.
Now he understood why the man could offer to get him into the school.
And Erina was one of Totsuki's new generation of the Ten Elite Chefs.
Upon learning this, Yuto made a joke.
"Does this count as me offending the great Nakiri-sama? Am I going to be... taken care of?"
As he spoke, he drew a hand across his neck.
Hisako was amused by the gesture, but she only smiled for a moment before her expression returned to one of calm seriousness.
"Please don't joke, Kamisaka-kun. Erina-sama is not that kind of person."
"It was just a joke. Don't be so serious." Yuto felt a little helpless.
"Please refrain from making such jokes."
If this were the old days, Arato Hisako would be the very definition of a loyal retainer.
"Alright."
After Yuto spoke, the atmosphere fell into silence.
He looked at the towering skyscrapers lining the world outside the car window. The distance between each building was small.
Even though they weren't touching, he felt as if he were looking at a net—a giant steel net cast over the sky, firmly binding everything beneath it.
"Kamisaka-kun, may I ask why you refused a Shokugeki with Erina-sama?" Hisako's voice broke his musing.
As she asked the question, she shrank back slightly, a clear hesitation appearing on her beautiful face.
"I just felt it was unnecessary," Yuto said faintly.
The girl's eyes flickered, filled with an emotion called confusion.
"Why would you feel that a Shokugeki is unnecessary, Kamisaka-kun?"
"Actually, I'm curious. Where is the necessity in a Shokugeki?"
Instead of answering her question directly, Yuto posed one of his own.
Hisako was slightly taken aback.
She lowered her head slightly, lost in thought. "Through a Shokugeki, one can judge the superiority of chefs and the level of their cuisine. It allows the victor to be proven and motivates the loser to continue striving."
The original purpose of Totsuki Culinary Academy's founding was simply to select the most outstanding culinary talents.
Therefore, all the systems it established were filled with the spirit of conflict.
It encouraged everyone to compete with those around them.
At this academy, the Shokugeki was a weapon, and Totsuki was a battlefield.
The moment a student arrived, they stepped onto that battlefield.
It was a different kind of slaughter, but in a sense, it was no different from any other.
Just as cruel, just as heartless, just as unforgiving.
"Arato-san, you have a point, but I don't agree with it." Yuto shook his head.
Hisako froze.
She stared blankly at him, her eyes revealing extremely complex emotions.
"The method of Shokugeki... it's too cruel." Yuto let out a soft sigh.
At this moment, he seemed like someone who had lived through countless years, a profound light shining from his eyes that Hisako found herself somewhat unable to face directly.
But in the next moment, his eyes returned to normal.
Hisako even began to doubt what she had just seen.
"I once enjoyed competing with others in cooking," Yuto continued. "Most of the time, my opponents would lose to me, and when they did, I would feel a great sense of accomplishment. I used to firmly believe that there must be a hierarchy in cooking skills, and that dishes must be distinguished as good or bad. It was only later that I realized this view was wrong."
As he spoke, a look of extremely distant nostalgia appeared in his eyes.
This nostalgia pierced Hisako's heart like the gentle light of the moon.
For a moment, her mind wandered.
The appearance of the young man before her blurred... she seemed to see the figure of a gentle and wise adult sitting before her, gently telling her stories of the past.
"Even a person who cooks terribly will have customers who belong to them," Yuto said softly.
"Flavor is what lies on the surface; emotion is what is carved deep within. Some foods represent a lifetime of devotion and longing, while others are a lifetime of taboos and pain. The preferences and choices made over a simple bowl of congee or rice are also filled with twists and hidden stories. Even if a meal is cooked horribly, there will still be someone who eats it with a smile. What they are eating is not the cuisine, but the deepest attachment in this world."
"Can such a dish be judged as good or bad? Can the person who made that dish be judged as superior or inferior? In my personal opinion, the quality of a dish and a chef never needs to be judged by others. It's enough for the one person who truly wants to eat it to say 'delicious' with a smile. Forcing a chef to bow their head through a Shokugeki is a form of devastation, both for the chef and for the people behind them."
Yuto smiled. "Perhaps I'm overthinking it. Arato-san doesn't need to take what I said to heart."
Many things had happened in his past, and many truths were only understood later.
He had made many mistakes in his hot-headed youth.
Now, even if he wanted to make amends, it was no longer possible.
Hisako was silent.
After hearing his words, she fell into a deep silence. Her clear eyes now looked at Yuto with a somewhat dazed expression.
"Arato-san?" Yuto waved a hand in front of her.
In the next moment, Hisako jumped as if she were a startled hamster.
Yuto couldn't help but be amused by the girl's adorable reaction.
But she just kept her head down, not daring to look up.
Her face was flushed and her heart was pounding violently!