Back at the restaurant, the Gensokyo group and Reiko's group left not long after Suika departed with Kanae, Shinobu, and Kanao.
Utaha said goodbye to Yuto as well, though even with so many familiar faces leaving at once, the restaurant never truly felt empty.
There were always customers coming and going, especially during the first half of the night.
Ainz and the others stopped by briefly before leaving again to continue working on their so-called "great undertaking," while Saitama remained behind, quietly eating his noodles.
Genos sat beside him with an intensely serious expression, apparently lost in thought.
Perhaps he was once again trying to figure out how he could catch up with Saitama, though unfortunately, that was not exactly an easy goal.
While Yuto was chatting with Saitama, the restaurant door slid open.
He glanced toward the entrance, paused when he saw who had arrived, then smiled naturally.
"Welcome."
The group standing in the doorway entered with a mixture of astonishment, disbelief, curiosity, and admiration written across their faces.
It was the Elite Ten.
Judging from their expressions, simply seeing the restaurant had already given them quite a shock.
Erina stood at the front of the group, looking distinctly apologetic and having some difficulty meeting Yuto's eyes.
"Sorry, Kamisaka-kun. After tasting your cooking today, all the senpai wanted to visit the restaurant, so..."
"It's fine. What are you apologizing for? If they wanted to come, they're welcome."
"I thought bringing this many people here at once might bother you."
Yuto laughed.
"I run a restaurant. If customers coming and going counts as a bother, then I've already failed at my job."
His easy response immediately helped Erina relax.
"I really didn't expect Kamisaka-kun's restaurant to be hidden somewhere like this," Rindō said, tapping one finger thoughtfully against her chin while looking around.
Several of the others nodded in agreement.
Yuto smiled. "Where did you expect it to be?"
"With your cooking? At the very least, I expected some world-class restaurant."
"That's exaggerating it. I'm perfectly happy here."
Yuto waved the praise away without giving it much thought.
Rindō nodded slowly and did not press the issue, although she still found the situation difficult to believe.
For members of the Elite Ten, graduating from Tōtsuki usually meant joining prestigious restaurants at the highest level, while even ordinary students who survived three brutal years at the academy generally went on to work at well-known establishments.
Someone with Yuto's level of skill choosing to run a small restaurant on a quiet, out-of-the-way street was practically unheard of.
"So this is what they mean when they say good wine needs no bush..." Tsukasa murmured with complete seriousness.
Yuto could not help laughing.
He had absolutely no idea what line of reasoning Tsukasa had followed to reach that conclusion, but he was fairly certain the guy was overthinking things.
"Come on. Sit down first."
At Yuto's invitation, the Elite Ten finally settled into their seats.
Two members were missing from the group.
One was Kuga, while the other, as Yuto remembered, was Etsuya Eizan, the Ninth Seat.
Once everyone was seated, Erina and Hisako instinctively started toward the kitchen as though it were the most natural thing in the world.
That immediately made Tsukasa and the others pause.
They stared at the two girls in surprise.
"Erina, what are you...?" Rindō asked before she could stop herself.
"Well... Hisako and I have actually been helping out here for a while."
Erina looked slightly embarrassed as she admitted it, but beneath that embarrassment was another emotion entirely.
Pride.
Or, perhaps more accurately, she was showing off.
Normally, becoming an assistant chef meant placing yourself beneath someone else in the kitchen hierarchy, but that depended entirely on who the head chef was.
After Yuto's cooking had thoroughly overwhelmed the Elite Ten earlier that day, Erina knew perfectly well that if he offered any of them a position as his assistant, several would probably accept without hesitation.
Some of them might even compete for the opportunity.
So although Erina would never say it aloud, there was a very obvious message hidden behind her expression.
'See? I already work here.'
Sure enough, the Elite Ten reacted almost immediately.
"No wonder your cooking has improved so much recently!" Rindō exclaimed. "So this is why!"
The others became noticeably more serious as well.
Tsukasa looked directly at Yuto with unusual determination.
"Are there any requirements to become an assistant here?"
"I want in too!"
Rindō immediately raised her hand.
The others had not spoken yet, but the interest on their faces was obvious enough.
Yuto smiled helplessly.
He saw through Erina's little scheme almost immediately, and when he glanced toward her, she awkwardly avoided his eyes.
'Are you a child?'
That was the only thought that came to mind.
"Sorry, but I don't need any more help right now. Erina and Hisako are already enough."
Yuto turned them down gently.
Disappointment appeared in Tsukasa's eyes, and several of the others looked similarly discouraged, but Rindō immediately caught onto a particular part of his answer.
"You said you don't need anyone right now." She leaned forward, eyes brightening. "What about later? You'll need more people eventually, right? If you do, make sure you consider me first!"
She thrust her hand into the air like a child eagerly trying to answer a question in kindergarten.
The sight was strangely cute.
"Sure."
Yuto smiled and agreed.
Whatever happened in the future could wait until then. For now, agreeing was easier than arguing about it.
...
After a while, Yuto finished preparing food for the Elite Ten, with Erina and Hisako helping him throughout the process.
Erina seemed to be thoroughly enjoying the subtle sense of superiority she was getting from the situation.
Every time a dish was ready, she personally carried it out to the dining area and placed it in front of her upperclassmen.
Yuto could only laugh quietly to himself.
He had never expected Erina to have such a childish side.
It was completely different from the proud, composed image she usually presented to everyone else.
When Yuto later asked if she wanted something to eat herself, she declined.
She had already decided to stay and work for the rest of the night rather than return to Tōtsuki immediately.
After spending so many days away from the restaurant, she had actually begun to miss helping out here.
Food could wait until the Elite Ten left.
While Yuto sat behind the counter chatting with everyone, Rindō suddenly brought up something that caught him by surprise.
"Oh, right. Kamisaka-kun, did you hear that Kuga left?"
"Kuga left?"
Yuto shook his head.
"Not long after you left today, he immediately requested leave and headed for China. Apparently, he doesn't even care about keeping his Elite Ten position. He said he's going to train in China for a year, then come back and challenge you again."
Yuto immediately understood what had happened.
So Kuga really had taken his advice seriously and gone to China.
A faint smile appeared on his face.
That was not necessarily a bad thing.
"Is that so? Then he's more determined than I gave him credit for."
"Looks like you really got to him." Rindō sighed, though there was clear amusement in her voice.
"Still, maybe this is actually good for him."
Yuto agreed.
Culinary training was not so different from other forms of training.
Sometimes, staying in the same place and repeating the same techniques could only take someone so far.
If a chef genuinely wanted to understand another country's cuisine, there were things that could never be learned properly from textbooks, recipes, or imitation alone.
You had to travel there yourself.
You had to see how people cooked, taste the food where it originated, understand the ingredients they used, speak with the people who grew up eating it, and experience the culture that had shaped those dishes in the first place.
Only then could your understanding truly deepen.
"Kamisaka-kun, you'd better be careful," Rindō said with a mischievous smile. "Kuga's new target is you now."
Yuto simply smiled back.
"Then I'll wait for him."