"Final exam for the French cooking class?"
Sui was momentarily stunned but then realized that the semester was nearly over.
"Yes, based on past experience from junior high, the final class typically involves a comprehensive evaluation. This semester, the French cooking class ends the earliest, and today is the last session."
Megumi's face turned pale, clearly uneasy about the upcoming exam.
At that moment, more students began to enter the classroom. Sui noticed familiar faces from other classes taught by Chef Chapelle, including Erina, Alice, and even third-year students like Rindō and Eishi Tsukasa.
As head of the French cuisine department, Chef Chapelle also taught some second- and third-year students, and since this was the last class, he had gathered all his students into a single room.
When Alice saw Sui, she winked and gave him a playful smile. Sui, a bit exasperated, returned her greeting with a small nod.
The last person to enter the room was Chef Chapelle himself. He strode to the podium and scanned the room with a serious expression.
The classroom fell silent immediately.
Chapelle cleared his throat and spoke sternly, "This semester, there have been relatively few French cooking classes, so today marks the final session. I trust you all know what that means."
He continued, "Today, you will each prepare a dish as a summary of what you've learned this semester. I will evaluate you based on your performance, and your final grade will combine today's exam with your regular classwork scores."
The pressure in the room instantly skyrocketed, and a wave of tension spread among the students.
"Now, prepare a dish with your usual cooking partner. The theme is French cuisine, and you have three hours to complete it. You may use your own ingredients or select from what's available in the classroom."
Chef Chapelle checked his watch and calmly added, "You have ten minutes before the official start. Begin your preparations."
As soon as he finished speaking, students rushed to gather their ingredients and spices, eager to secure what they needed for the exam. Since the theme was French cuisine, and no specific ingredients were provided, rarer items like snails and matsutake mushrooms weren't readily available—finding the right ingredients was part of the test.
Upon hearing that they would continue working with their usual partners, Megumi let out a sigh of relief, reassured that she could rely on Sui's skills.
"Sui, have you prepared your ingredients?" Erina and Alice approached him curiously.
"Not yet," Sui replied, shaking his head. "What about you two?"
"I'm planning to use eggs for my dish," Erina said confidently.
Given how close she and Sui had become, sharing ingredients seemed natural to her. In her mind, it was only a matter of time before they officially became a couple.
"I'm using the beef I got last time," Alice added, grinning. She had taken a significant amount of beef from Sui's supply without hesitation.
"Miss Erina, aren't you hot with that scarf on?" Megumi asked, surprised.
Erina's face flushed instantly. "No, I'm not hot."
Suddenly, a thought occurred to Sui. His eyes lit up, and he said, "I have an idea—I'll be back in a moment."
He left the classroom and headed to his own kitchen to retrieve a pear bread, a rare item he had recently bought from the 'Fantasy Food Encyclopedia'. Though pear bread was more delicious than ordinary bread, it was, in fact, a natural fruit with culinary properties.
Sui had been curious about using it in a dish and decided this exam would be the perfect opportunity to experiment.
When he returned to the classroom with the pear bread, Alice exclaimed, "Isn't that the same bread from last time?"
"Huh? How do you know about that?" Erina asked, eyeing Alice suspiciously.
Sui had only ever eaten that bread by himself.
Alice realized her mistake and quickly covered up, saying, "Oh, Sui told me about it before…"
Erina raised an eyebrow but didn't dwell on it.
"What is this, Sui? It looks beautiful!" Megumi asked in amazement.
"It's a natural fruit, somewhat like breadfruit," Sui explained.
"So, you're planning to cook with it? That's quite a challenge," Erina commented with a frown.
Pear bread was already incredibly delicious on its own. Cooking it typically diminished its flavor, and enhancing it further required significant culinary skill. Successfully preparing it was considered a true test of a chef's talent, especially with desserts.
"Yes, I wanted to use this exam to challenge myself," Sui said, nodding.
During his time at the Shunkatei, Sui had received valuable guidance on Western cuisine from Sonoka, a former second elite ten at the restaurant. Under her tutelage, Sui's skills had improved rapidly, particularly in Western culinary techniques.
Now, he wanted to put those skills to the test with the pear bread.
"What is that?"
A surprised voice interrupted them. Sui turned to see Eishi Tsukasa, the top student at Totsuki, crouching on the counter, staring curiously at the pear bread.
"Tsukasa-senpai!" Everyone was startled by his sudden appearance. Even Erina straightened up, showing more respect toward the undisputed number one at the academy.
"Oh, this is…" Sui began to explain, but before he could finish, a furious voice interrupted him.
"Sui, you heartless man!"
Rindō stormed over, pounding her fists against Sui's chest, tears welling up in her eyes. "You said there were no special ingredients, but you lied to me! How could you deceive my feelings like this?"