Chapter 461: I'm Just an Ordinary Visitor Enjoying Noodles
After chatting with Alice for a while, Hachiman decided it was time to leave. After all, she had a business to run, and he didn't want to be a constant distraction.
Alice, though reluctant to see him go, had to stay behind to help since Kurokiba Ryo couldn't handle the busy stall on his own.
Bidding Alice farewell, Hachiman and Komachi continued their leisurely stroll through the festival.
Along the way, Hachiman spotted many familiar faces.
For instance, there was Ikumi Mito at the Donburi Research Society's stall, Hayama running his own curry shop, and the Aldini brothers managing a temporary branch of their family restaurant. These stalls were bustling with customers.
However, Hachiman didn't feel compelled to visit these places just because the people running them were significant in the original story. Instead, he and Komachi sampled dishes that genuinely piqued their interest.
He was there to enjoy himself. If it were purely about tasting exquisite dishes, he might as well cook at home. After all, if it came down to a culinary contest, he might very well be the best in the world.
After sampling some interesting snacks, the siblings made their way to the Central Area.
Compared to the Corridor Area, the Central Area was much busier, with countless stalls lining the streets. This was the most popular area for students to set up their stalls.
Everywhere they went, vendors were loudly promoting their dishes, trying to attract as many customers as possible. The competition was fierce, making customer attraction the top priority.
However, the busiest spot in the Central Area was undoubtedly the Chinese cuisine restaurant run by Kuga Terunori, the current Eighth Seat of the Elite Ten.
The reputation of the Totsuki Elite Ten was a major draw, attracting many visitors solely based on their name.
Seeing the long line at the entrance, Hachiman had no intention of joining the crowd. He knew that despite its name, Kuga's restaurant primarily served Sichuan cuisine focused on the "numbing" and "spicy" flavors of mapo tofu.
Kuga had veered off course, becoming overly fixated on the "numbing" and "spicy" aspects of Sichuan cuisine, neglecting the diversity of Chinese cuisine.
While these flavors were certainly memorable, they were also quite limiting.
Instead of being drawn to Kuga's extravagant restaurant, Hachiman found himself more interested in a nearby food stall.
There, a boy with somewhat spiky red hair was busy working.
It was none other than Soma Yukihira, the protagonist of the original "Food Wars" series.
In the original story, Soma's stall had struggled in the first two days, even facing a financial deficit at one point. However, on the third day, things took a turn for the better.
With dishes like pepper buns, fake dan dan noodles, and mapo curry noodles, the small stall finally began attracting a significant number of customers.
Seeing Soma Yukihira and Megumi Tadokoro getting busier, Hachiman decided to join the fun and walked over with Komachi.
"Welcome! Oh... you're...?"
Noticing the new customers, Megumi, who was in charge of greeting, quickly came forward. However, upon seeing Hachiman's face, she hesitated for a moment before recognizing him.
"You're the lecturer from the training camp, right? Hikigaya-sensei?"
Hachiman smiled, "That's right, it's me. Long time no see, Tadokoro-san."
"Yes, long time no see, Hikigaya-sensei," Megumi nodded in agreement.
"I'm not a lecturer anymore. That time I was just filling in for the headmaster. You can just call me Hikigaya," he replied, shrugging at her use of "sensei."
"This little girl is my sister, Komachi Hikigaya."
"Hello, Onee-san," Komachi greeted cheerfully.
"Hi, Komachi," Megumi replied warmly before quickly turning her attention back to Hachiman and Komachi, "Would you like to try some of our food? It's really delicious."
"Sure," Hachiman nodded, thinking for a moment, "We'll have one serving of the mapo curry noodles and two pepper buns."
"Alright, thank you! That'll be two [Bamboo Vouchers]," Megumi said.
Two [Bamboo Vouchers] amounted to two thousand yen, a reasonable price.
After collecting the payment, Megumi called out to Soma, who was busy by the stove, "Soma-kun, one mapo curry noodles and two pepper buns!"
"Got it," Soma replied with a cheerful laugh.
In no time, the food was ready, and Soma brought it over, noticing the siblings. "Hey, if it isn't Hikigaya-kun! Long time no see."
"Yes, Yukihira-kun, it's been a while," Hachiman smiled back.
"Enjoy your meal, I guarantee it'll be delicious," Soma grinned before returning to his cooking station to serve other waiting customers.
Hachiman handed one of the pepper buns to Komachi and placed the bowl of mapo curry noodles in front of himself.
The red mapo soup was dotted with white, jewel-like tofu cubes and sprinkled with green scallions, completely covering the noodles underneath. What stood out the most was the large meatball perched on top, resembling a lion's head meatball.
Instead of diving into the meatball first, Hachiman decided to sample the noodles. He picked up a strand of noodles drenched in the red soup with his chopsticks and brought it to his mouth. It was delightful; despite eating noodles, it felt like savoring mapo tofu. The spiciness was just right, and the noodles were smooth without being overwhelming.
Having enjoyed the noodles, Hachiman then turned his attention to the meatball. He gently poked it with his chopsticks, releasing a rich aroma of curry. As he did so, curry sauce began to ooze out from the opening, filling the air with its tantalizing scent.
Upon catching the aroma, even Komachi couldn't resist her cravings.
"Onii-chan, I want some too."
Hachiman naturally obliged his sister's request.
He picked up a piece of the meatball with his chopsticks and offered it to Komachi.
Seeing her brother offering her food, Komachi blushed shyly at first but couldn't resist the temptation. She opened her mouth and took a bite.
Chew, chew, chew...
As she chewed, Komachi's eyes lit up brighter and brighter.
"Wow, it's so delicious! The curry flavor gets stronger as you chew."
After tasting it himself, Hachiman nodded in agreement.
Indeed, it was quite good. The curry flavor was rich and intense. When you broke into it, the compressed curry aroma exploded like a bomb, perfectly capturing the attention of the customers around.
After all, Soma's stall was right across from the long queue at Kuga's restaurant. Imagine being hungry and waiting in line, suddenly smelling such an enticing curry aroma.
Of course, you'd want to try it.
Aroma often attracts customers more directly than taste.
Perhaps due to this rich curry aroma, more and more customers gathered around the stall.
Balancing cooking and attending to customers was becoming a bit overwhelming for Soma and Megumi.
Just then, a tall figure approached.
Seeing this figure, Soma smiled brightly.
"Haha, Mimasaka, you're finally here."
"Yeah, sorry for the wait," Mimasaka nodded, quickly taking over Megumi's tasks.
Seeing Megumi's confusion, Soma explained.
"With Mimasaka's help now, you can focus on serving the customers. Thanks a lot."
Hearing this, Megumi finally understood. Mimasaka was the assistant Soma had brought in to help out.
"Alright, leave the customer service to me!" After stepping away from the stove, Megumi appeared visibly more relaxed, focusing wholeheartedly on attending to customers.
In terms of service, Megumi's capabilities were unquestionable. Under her guidance, order was swiftly restored at the stall.
Meanwhile, with Mimasaka's capable assistance, Soma's efficiency more than doubled. At this moment, the two worked like they were cut from the same cloth, executing cooking steps and exuding an identical aura. Even their wok tossing motions were mirror images.
Witnessing this scene, Hachiman couldn't help but exclaim inwardly, "Truly deserving of the title of a late-game bug from the original storyline—impressive indeed."
Subaru Mimasaka, known for his ability to emulate nearly all of the Elite Ten in the later stages of the original story, had undeniably provided significant assistance to the main characters' group.
However, with the original plot having diverged long ago and with Nakiri Azami already receiving treatment here, what the future holds is anyone's guess.
Well, whatever happens, I'm just an ordinary visitor enjoying my noodles.
Slurp~
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