The Hillside Area of the Moon Banquet Festival was noticeably quieter than the sections below.
There were far fewer restaurants here, but almost every guest who came through belonged to the wealthy or powerful elite.
That was hardly surprising, considering the Hillside Area was reserved exclusively for members of Tōtsuki's Elite Ten.
Inside one of the kitchens, Erina finished another dish and let out a slow breath.
Her shoulders relaxed almost instinctively as she reached into her pocket, pulled out her phone, and glanced at the screen.
"When exactly is Kamisaka-kun getting here...?"
She had been waiting for his call all morning.
It was already nearly eleven, yet Yuto still had not contacted her.
'He isn't planning to skip the festival, is he?'
A faint sense of unease began stirring inside her.
Just then, Hisako entered the kitchen.
Erina immediately looked up.
"Hisako?"
"Erina-sama, Kuga-senpai is about to have a Shokugeki with someone. Would you like to go watch?"
Erina blinked in surprise.
"A Shokugeki? Against whom? One of the other Elite Ten?"
"No. His opponent is an outsider. He isn't a Tōtsuki student."
That only made Erina more confused.
"Someone from outside Tōtsuki? How did that happen?"
"Apparently, the other person said Kuga-senpai's menu tasted bad, so Kuga-senpai challenged him on the spot."
"He directly said it tasted bad?!"
Erina immediately understood why Kuga had reacted so strongly.
"Then what's the theme?"
"Chinese cuisine."
Erina froze.
"Hmm? Wait... Chinese cuisine?"
Chinese cuisine.
An outsider.
And someone bold enough to tell Terunori Kuga to his face that his cooking tasted bad.
A terrible suspicion suddenly entered her mind.
'Don't tell me...'
Her expression stiffened.
'The person fighting Kuga is Kamisaka-kun?!'
For some reason, her intuition felt unusually strong.
...
Tōtsuki had already been bustling because of the Moon Banquet Festival, but one piece of news sent the entire academy into an even greater uproar.
Terunori Kuga, one of the Elite Ten, was participating in a Shokugeki.
And his opponent was not even a student of Tōtsuki.
The news spread across the academy almost instantly.
A Shokugeki involving an Elite Ten member would already have attracted enormous attention under ordinary circumstances, but Kuga was facing someone from outside the school.
As the story passed from person to person, the details became increasingly exaggerated until some students were even describing the match as an outsider openly challenging the honor of Tōtsuki Academy itself.
The immediate result was a massive rush toward the venue.
So many students abandoned their stalls along the main avenue that several were suddenly left almost completely unattended, leaving ordinary festival visitors staring around in confusion and wondering where all the chefs had gone.
...
The match was being held in the Moon Palace.
This enormous venue was normally reserved for Shokugeki involving members of the Elite Ten.
The arena itself was comparable to a medium-sized indoor stadium, with enough seating for several thousand students.
Its interior was extravagantly decorated, and portraits of Tōtsuki's former First Seats hung high along the walls, looking down over the arena.
Yuto and Terunori Kuga stood at the center while a large team of staff worked around them, preparing everything required for the match.
Ingredients were being organized, cooking stations assembled, and every piece of equipment checked one by one.
Yuto looked around with open curiosity.
This was the first time he had ever seen an entire luxury arena built specifically for culinary duels.
It really was extravagant.
Kuga noticed the way he was looking around and gave a disdainful snort.
"You should feel honored. This isn't somewhere a person like you would normally ever get the chance to enter. The Moon Palace belongs to the Elite Ten. I don't know why the academy approved holding our Shokugeki here, but for someone like you, just standing in this arena should be enough to brag about for the rest of your life."
After speaking arrogantly, Kuga muttered under his breath with obvious dissatisfaction.
"Seriously, he isn't even from Tōtsuki, yet they're letting him face me here. What are the people running this academy thinking?"
The Moon Palace was sacred ground reserved for the Elite Ten, yet now the academy was allowing a complete outsider to compete against him here.
To Kuga, that alone almost felt insulting.
"So this place is specifically for the Elite Ten." Yuto merely smiled. "No wonder it's so luxurious."
He then turned toward the special seating area nearby, where Tohru, Kanna, and Shouko were waiting.
Their seats were positioned almost like courtside seats at a basketball game, clearly intended for guests closely connected to the participants.
Yuto waved toward them.
Tohru and Kanna immediately waved back without hesitation, while Shouko responded much more timidly.
That was understandable.
It was her first time inside such a massive, noisy arena, and she was still only a child.
"When you lose later, I'm going to enjoy watching you kneel down and apologize to me."
Kuga spoke with complete confidence.
Naturally, every Shokugeki required stakes.
Kuga's demand was straightforward: Yuto would have to apologize for saying his food tasted bad.
Yuto smiled faintly.
"You know, people who say things like that before a match usually end up losing."
His tone remained completely casual.
"And if you actually lose after talking this much, it's going to be pretty embarrassing."
Kuga's expression stiffened.
If he really did lose, then he would have to fulfill Yuto's condition instead.
And if that happened...
The blow to his pride would be considerable.
"We'll see who's still talking when this is over!"
"Exactly. Let the result speak for itself."
While the two exchanged words, the audience seating throughout the Moon Palace rapidly filled.
Most of the students were discussing Yuto, and the majority of their comments carried either mockery or open disdain.
After all, from their perspective, some unknown outsider had walked into Tōtsuki during the Moon Banquet Festival, insulted the cooking of an Elite Ten member, and then agreed to challenge him in a Shokugeki.
Tohru's expression grew increasingly dangerous as she listened.
She looked more and more tempted to breathe fire over the entire audience.
Eventually, the cooking stations were fully prepared.
The staff withdrew from the arena floor, leaving only Yuto and Terunori Kuga standing at their respective stations.
Not long afterward, the judges entered.
A Shokugeki panel always used an odd number of judges, and today there were three.
Their arrival immediately caused an uproar.
Leading them was Nakiri Senzaemon.
He wore his usual loose kimono and raised one hand toward the audience with a faint smile before turning his attention toward Yuto and Kuga.
His gaze met Yuto's briefly, carrying the faintest hint of acknowledgment, before he calmly took his seat.
Two other men followed him.
One was tall and broad-shouldered, with closely cropped hair.
The other was an elderly foreigner wearing a stern expression.
They took the seats beside Senzaemon.
By then, excited voices were already erupting throughout the arena.
"That's Dojima-san!"
"Professor Chapelle too!"
"These judges are insane..."
"Why is the Director himself here?!"
The students stared at the three men in disbelief.
Tōtsuki Director — Nakiri Senzaemon.
Tōtsuki Resort Head Chef and member of Tōtsuki's board — Gin Dojima.
Senior Tōtsuki instructor and head of the French Cuisine Department — Roland Chapelle.
Having all three of them serve together as judges was no minor affair.
Even Shokugeki involving members of the Elite Ten rarely managed to gather such a prestigious panel.
Yet today...
Every one of them had appeared.
Yuto remained relatively calm.
He only knew Senzaemon anyway.
Kuga, however, could not hide his surprise.
He genuinely had not expected such an absurdly distinguished group of judges for this match.
And the surprises were not over.
Several more people entered the Moon Palace immediately afterward.
This time, the atmosphere inside the arena completely exploded.
Thousands of students erupted into cheers and shouts, their eyes filled with admiration and excitement as they watched the newcomers take their places.
These were the students standing at the very summit of Tōtsuki Academy.
To the rest of the student body, they were figures who seemed almost like gods looking down upon ordinary mortals.
They were—
The Elite Ten.
"One... two... three... four... nine?! Wait! Including Kuga-senpai, doesn't that mean every single member of the Elite Ten is here?!"
The moment someone shouted those words, a strange silence passed through the arena.
Every member of the Elite Ten.
All present at once.
For most ordinary Tōtsuki students, seeing such a gathering was almost unimaginable.
Even Terunori Kuga finally began to realize that something was wrong.
'What the hell is going on?'
His thoughts raced as his gaze instinctively shifted toward Yuto.
For the first time since the challenge began, a genuinely unsettling possibility entered his mind.
'Don't tell me...'
His eyes narrowed.
'Is all of this because of him?'
The first trace of genuine uncertainty appeared in Kuga's heart.
Meanwhile, the Elite Ten took their places in the viewing area.
First Seat — Eishi Tsukasa sat at the front, with the others arranged behind him according to rank.
Most of them quietly watched the two chefs below, though a few began murmuring among themselves.
"Why did they suddenly drag all of us over here? It's only a Shokugeki. Is this really necessary?"
"What is Kuga even doing, challenging someone from outside the academy?"
"Has the Director finally gone senile? Why does something like this require all of us?"
"Who exactly is that guy that the Director cares this much about?"
"He is pretty handsome, though. Hehehe... If he actually beats Kuga in this Shokugeki, that'll be interesting. I might have to introduce myself afterward."
While her upperclassmen and fellow Elite Ten members discussed the situation, Erina remained silent.
Her expression was filled with helpless resignation.
She really had guessed correctly.
The person having a Shokugeki with Terunori Kuga...
Really was Yuto.
Erina glanced sympathetically toward Kuga, who was still standing at his station with his usual arrogant confidence.
She had a feeling he was about to start questioning his entire life.
Yuto's cooking was, without exaggeration, the highest level Erina had ever personally encountered.
There was no one else even close.
After eating his food so often at the restaurant, even dishes prepared by First Seat Eishi Tsukasa could no longer inspire the same sense of anticipation they once had.
There was nothing she could do about that.
The difference was simply too great.
If the Elite Ten stood above countless other chefs on the mountain of cooking, then Yuto had already climbed several levels beyond even them.
At the summit of that mountain, he stood alone, looking down over everything below.