"Erina-sama, the competition is about to begin in five minutes"
Erina only nodded and when she saw the staff had gone she took a deep breath. Only a few people knew, in fact, that she didn't like to cook, but she needed to cook better than anyone.
"Erina, you're special because you have the God of Tongue from your birth! You need to bring a new life to this decaying culinary world! You can't waste your talent! You need to polish your skill as hard as you can as if trying to create art!"
The words that her father said during her childhood lingered in her mind like a nightmare.
From her childhood time, she grew up under her father's hell-like training and her father also brainwashed her to instill that food needed to be delicious and perfect, if it not then it was only trash.
Even though her father had been disowned and kicked out from the Tootsuki Group, the education of her father from her childhood still affected her deeply.
Food needs to be delicious and perfect and if it is not then it is trash.
Even now, she still thinks so.
But the more she grew up, the more she felt as if she was being held in a cage, especially when she thought about her father, and made her feel a deep fear.
That was why she was going to climb to the top of the Tootsuki Group and escape from her father's cage.
"Miss Nakiri, you shouldn't be nervous, right?"
Just then, a slightly annoyed voice sounded beside me.
The owner of this voice is a young man with a very mature appearance. He has a slick back hairstyle, a gold necklace, slanted eyes like a viper, and a mocking expression face that will make everyone hate him.
No one would get a good impression of him.
"Etsuya Eizan...."
Erina spat out the name of that person from her mouth since she remembered this guy wanted to put a drug to harm her. She felt uncontrollable anger inside her heart.
However, she did nothing because she knew that she didn't have evidence, and in a cooking competition, she would show him that her strength was above him.
Erina turned away and ignored him.
"This cold attitude is indeed worthy of the Young Missus of the Tootsuki Group."
Eizan snorted and said, "I just hope that you don't cry when you lose." He sneered and didn't intend to talk with her again. The winner of this match had been decided.
Just then, the staff came to inform them that it was time for the competition.
The competition venue is located in the banquet hall on the fifth floor of the hotel.
Compared to the normal hall on the second floor, the banquet hall on the fifth floor is created for the rich and authority, and of course, the size of this venue isn't that big rather it is quite modest.
However, the number of guests that were invited to attend this banquet was just right.
The entire venue is designed in a semi-circle, with judges and MC standing on the top of the straight-line stage, and the guests' banquet spread out in an arc shape at the edge of the hall.
The place where Erina and Eizan cooked their food was located in the middle.
Entering the hall, Erina's heart was quite tense, but suddenly, she was surprisingly calm and started to think about what had happened to Alice.
With Alice's personality, that bastard Haru should have eaten the food, right?
After eating her curry, is he going to have hell-like torture on the toilet?
Erina wanted to laugh, but eventually, she shook her head.
'Forget it, after all, we're both coming from different worlds...'
Erina was sure that she wouldn't meet him again in this life. (She might have forgotten that she has met him three times now).
During this moment, the hotel MC was also shouting to invite the judges to appear, and the fives entered the stage from backstage in turn.
The first judge is Dojima Gin. As the first seat of the 69th Tootsuki Culinary Academy, the General Head Chef and a member of the Board of Directors for Tōtsuki Resort, it is not surprising that he is going to become a judge in this competition.
The second judge is Roland Chapelle who is one of the lecturers in Tōtsuki Culinary Academy and the chief of its French Cuisine Division. It also isn't surprising for him to be chosen as a judge since he has often become a judge in the Shokugeki match.
For the third and the fourth, they are also well-known celebrities in the restaurant industry.
Even without the introduction of the MC, Erina also knew their names.
However, when the finale judge appeared in front of her eyes, she stopped for a moment...
At the same time, a slightly awkward introduction from the MC sounded in the hall:
"The fifth judge is a student, Kasugano Haruka."
'Kasugano Haruka!!!!!'
'He's one of the judges?'
'How could it be him?!'
Erina couldn't hide the shock on her face when she saw him walk toward the seat of the judge.
At this time, Haru also saw Erina.
The eyes of two people met each other, and Erina felt that her face was burning hot. She remembered the words that she had said before.
"Eat it with gratitude! It's probably the greatest glory in your life to be able to eat the food that I have made by myself! You'll not have such an opportunity in the future!"
"That's all for today! Anyway, from now on, we'll be people from two different worlds! I'm destined to reach the top of the moon and become a high-profile person, and you, stand below, and look at my glory!"
"I've not raised a flag, you bastard!? Anyway, we will never meet again!"
These words that she had said less than half an hour before lingered into her ears.
She said that she would never meet him again, however, he appeared in front of her now.
She said that he could never eat her food in the future, but now she had to take an initiative to cook the food for him.
She said in the future, that both of them would become two people from different worlds, and he was destined to look at her glory, however, now he had become a judge that could determine her future.
'The Flag is really happening!!!'
Erina's whole body began to tremble, and she felt very embarrassed. If this competition wasn't important, then she would immediately turn around and run away!
"You seem quite surprised to see him."
At this time, Eizan walked beside Erina and whispered, "To be honest, when I heard that a student is going to become one of the judges in the competition, it really surprised me. I even wonder what is the thought of the organizer inviting him, but it also leads me to another conclusion....." He paused and gave an evil smile.
"Well, how can a normal student give a professional review?"
"What do you mean?" Erina asked subconsciously.
"Nothing."
Eizan lowered his voice and said in a cold voice, "I just hope that our Young Missus will know that the real match isn't just about cooking after you lose this match."
"You can't talk to each other before the game," the staff member said.
"Sorry, sorry..."
Eizan grinned and put his hands on his trouser pockets, twisted his head, and gave Erina a glance, then turned away.
Erina took a deep breath and ignored the thing that Eizan had said to her since it was better to think about the match that was about to begin soon!