Asuna looked at Hinako Inui with an unhappy expression, which made Hinako somewhat hurt. She felt as if the daughter she had raised with such difficulty had become rebellious.
Who's your daughter?
Asuna really wanted to retort. We're just a customer and a restaurant owner. Do you think everyone is as overly familiar as you?
Hinako laughed with an "ehehe," then suddenly remembered something and said to Asuna, "Sorry, Asuna. Kirinoya has an honored guest coming today, so forgive me for not being able to personally entertain you."
"But don't worry. Once I deal with this honored guest and send them off, I'll immediately come entertain you. How about it? Aren't you touched?"
At this point, Hinako could not help complaining to Asuna.
"I really don't know what that old man, the Academy Director, was thinking. He just had to arrange an honored guest for me when I'm at my busiest."
"He even said things like, 'You absolutely must not offend this honored guest,' and 'You must bring out one hundred and twenty percent of your ability to treat this guest.' In short, from the old man's tone, this should be someone even Totsuki Academy can't afford to offend."
"Could they be from some major conglomerate?"
"Why would someone like that come to Kirinoya? Shouldn't they go to some three-star Michelin restaurant?"
Although Hinako Inui had managed Kirinoya very successfully, compared with some Michelin restaurants with long histories, it was still slightly inferior.
Hinako Inui was well aware of this.
However, she believed what she lost in was not skill, but only service and environment.
When it came to cooking, she did not think she would lose to anyone.
"Anyway, those people only care about appearances. They can't even tell whether something tastes good or bad."
"They look like they have refined taste, but in reality, they're just pretending to understand what they don't."
"What a waste of a chef's sincerity."
Hearing Hinako Inui's endless complaints, then looking at Rowan's smiling face, even Asuna felt embarrassed on her behalf and quickly interrupted Hinako's grumbling.
She pointed at Rowan and said, "Is there a possibility that the honored guest you're talking about is him?"
"Huh?"
Hinako Inui looked at Rowan in confusion, then looked at Asuna. Her smile immediately froze on her face.
"Oh, come on, Asuna. What kind of joke is that? It's not funny at all."
After several seconds of silence, Hinako Inui attempted one final rescue, hoping all of this was just an illusion.
Rowan spoke at the perfect moment, shattering Hinako Inui's last fantasy.
"Hello. You must be Miss Hinako Inui. I'm Rowan. Nakiri Senzaemon should have mentioned me to you."
In an instant, Hinako Inui's entire face collapsed. Her originally fair skin instantly turned as red as blood.
Aba, aba…
Her whole body flailed around, but her mouth could not spit out even a single complete word.
Excuse me, what should one do when one gets caught by the guest while gossiping about that very guest?
For a moment, Hinako Inui even wanted to die.
Asuna had no choice but to comfort her, saying that Rowan was not someone who held grudges, nor was he petty, so she did not need to mind it. She should just do what she was supposed to do.
Really?
Hinako Inui's watery eyes looked at Rowan. Although she did not say it aloud, that was clearly what her gaze meant.
Rowan smiled slightly.
"Asuna is right. As long as you don't try to fool me, I won't mind."
"I won't fool you, I won't fool you. How could I possibly fool you?"
Hinako Inui hurriedly patted her chest, expressing that she would definitely bring out two hundred percent of her ability to entertain Rowan. Her entire aura shot up with a whoosh, like an erupting volcano, her fighting spirit blazing.
Rowan nodded in satisfaction.
"Then I'll trouble you next, Miss Hinako Inui."
Thus, during the meal that followed, Rowan tasted Hinako Inui's wholehearted effort.
Dishes were served one after another like flowing water. Every dish contained all of Hinako Inui's sweat and hard work.
Rowan ate very satisfactorily.
Although Hinako Inui's cooking skill was inferior to Gin Dojima's, she was much stronger than Nakiri Erina. Although Nakiri Erina had the God Tongue, she was still too inexperienced at present.
She could not compare to these Totsuki Elite Ten graduates.
However, if one spoke of their upper limits, Nakiri Erina surpassed Hinako Inui by several streets.
Unfortunately, that was a matter for the future. At present, Hinako Inui's cooking skill was above Nakiri Erina's, and the flavors of her dishes were also very rich.
It was also Asuna's first time seeing how much Rowan and the others could eat. Each one could eat more than the last.
After enough food for dozens of people entered their stomachs, there was not even the slightest sign of bloating. Their abdomens remained flat and smooth. Were they even human?
Or rather, were humans who possessed supernatural power all this ridiculous?
Didn't that mean that as long as one mastered supernatural power, one would never again have to fear getting fat from eating?
Wasn't this way too friendly to girls?
Asuna's heart stirred. She secretly made up her mind that after returning, she absolutely had to train hard and strive to extract cursed energy as soon as possible, becoming a jujutsu sorcerer.
For nothing else.
Just so she could enjoy food freely in the future.
"Bad news! Bad news!"
While Rowan and the others were still eating heartily, Kirinoya's sous chef pushed open the private room door and ran in, his eyes filled with painful tears.
"Chef Inui… Chef Inui, she…"
Asuna's heart jolted, and she hurriedly asked, "What happened to Big Sister Inui?"
The sous chef said with a grief-stricken face, "Chef Inui… she burned out."
"Huh?"
Asuna looked completely confused.
The scene shifted. The group arrived in the kitchen and saw Hinako Inui sitting in the corner, her face ashen, her entire body emitting the aura of "I have completely burned myself out."
What was going on?
Asuna turned to look at the sous chef, her eyes full of confusion.
The sous chef explained that in order to satisfy the guests, Hinako Inui had adopted the attitude of someone fighting with her life on the line. She had given her all for every single dish. Unfortunately, the guests were simply too good at eating.
So under this high-intensity work, Hinako Inui had gradually burned herself out and become like this.
Asuna: "…"
Uh…
She turned to look at Rowan, as if asking what they should do about this.
Rowan took out a piece of paper and wiped his mouth, then elegantly tossed the paper into the trash can on the floor.
"Since Owner Hinako Inui has already burned herself out, let's stop here for today."
He looked at the sous chef and said, "Although I only ate until I was half full, I'm very satisfied. Once Hinako Inui wakes up, you can tell her that today's dishes were excellent."
The sous chef nodded and said he would definitely tell Chef Inui.
Rowan gave a hum and led the others away.
After leaving Kirinoya, the group walked along the sunny street. Around them were crowds of people coming and going. From time to time, a few evil spirits would pop up on the street, blocking pedestrians and shouting, "You can see me! You can see me!"
It was a lively scene, with all things competing to flourish.
Unfortunately, only Rowan and the other two could see this scene.
Asuna, who had not yet obtained cursed energy, could not see any of it.
"Did you really only eat until you were half full?"
She was still thinking about what Rowan had just said. After eating enough food for dozens of people, he was only fifty percent full. That was way too much.
"To be precise, thirty percent full."
Rowan said calmly, "The food in this world contains too little energy. Although it looked like I ate a lot, the energy it provided was only enough to make me thirty percent full. I said fifty percent out of consideration for the fact that she had already burned herself out, giving her some face."
Asuna immediately fell silent.
While the group chatted and laughed, an evil spirit covered in gushing black aura walked up to Rowan.
"You can see me. You can see me."
"Yeah. I can see you. Clear as day."
The evil spirit first froze, then was overjoyed. The black smoke around it instantly boiled, as if a starving wolf had seen the ultimate delicacy.
"You can see me! You can see me!"
The evil spirit roared, its voice filled with intense joy. Its mouth opened wide, and it bit toward Rowan's head, preparing to let Rowan cosplay as a headless senior.
Rowan refused.
He had no opinion about cosplay, and no opinion about senior girls either, but he did not like cosplaying as a senior girl.
Especially not a headless senior girl.
Technique Expansion: Soul Manipulation!
A ray of light shot from Rowan's fingertip and struck the evil spirit. The evil spirit's movements immediately stopped.
In the next second, the originally fierce-looking evil spirit gushing black aura began to regress at an astonishing speed. In the blink of an eye, it transformed from a hideous evil spirit whose face could not be seen clearly into a human soul.
It was a girl with long hair.
And she was even a beautiful girl.
Rowan was already used to this. After all, this was a two-dimensional world. Even random background characters had some beauty.
Beautiful women were not rare in this world. Instead, ugly women were the rare ones.
As for most people, they could only be called ordinary.
The girl who had regained her human appearance now looked at Rowan in confusion. As time passed, her memories of becoming an evil spirit after death gradually returned.
The girl slowly understood everything.
"Um…"
"Not listening. No need. Go attain Buddhahood."
Rowan did not give her a chance to finish speaking and forcibly sent her to Yomi.
Since she was just a background character, she should not go starting any flashbacks or adding scenes for herself. She should simply be a proper background character.
One had to remember, not long ago, this girl's evil spirit had been planning to swallow him in one bite. The fact that he did not slap her to death and instead forcibly changed her back into a human soul, giving her a chance to reincarnate, was already a boundless merit.
Anything more than that was not Rowan's responsibility, and he was too lazy to care.
Medea and Nero had no objections to Rowan's method and felt there was nothing wrong with it.
If it were them, facing this kind of evil spirit, they would have only one thought.
Kill.
Rowan being able to turn the other party back into a human and send her to Yomi could already be called kind-hearted.
Only Asuna, because she could not see evil spirits, had no idea what had happened.
Her mind was full of question marks.
???
Just as she was about to ask what exactly had happened, she suddenly saw a girl running over from the distance and throwing herself into Rowan's arms.
"Darling, you finally came."
Asuna: "???!!!"