"Isshiki-senpai, do you think Sui can win?" Megumi asked with concern.
Isshiki pondered for a moment before replying, "Honestly, it's not looking very optimistic."
Though he didn't want to admit it, Isshiki had to acknowledge the significant gap between Sui's skills and Eizan Etsuya's expertise.
"That's true," Yoshino chimed in.
"It's not entirely hopeless," Erina remarked calmly. Over the past few nights, she had often prepared late-night meals with Sui, tasting each other's dishes and helping each other identify weaknesses. She could sense his rapid improvement. His current level of skill far surpassed what it had been during the Polar Star Dormitory gathering.
"Hey, everyone's here!" a lively voice interrupted. Erina and the others turned to see Rindō approaching, greeting them warmly. However, the group was shocked to see who followed her—Tsukasa Eishi, the First Seat of the Elite Ten, along with the Sixth Seat, Nene Kinokuni, and the Eighth Seat, Kuga Terunori.
"Why are the Elite Ten here?" Erina couldn't help but exclaim.
"Oh, I heard a first-year student is challenging Eizan, so I came to check it out," Eishi replied nonchalantly.
"Damn it! Didn't I warn Eizan not to mess with Sui? He's my pick! After this battle, I won't let him off the hook!" Rindō said indignantly, her voice filled with anger.
Erina gritted her teeth.
"But it's truly impressive. Challenging a member of the Elite Ten in your first year—either that's confidence or sheer foolishness," Kuga commented coolly.
"Well, you weren't that different when you were a first-year," Nene teased, recalling how Kuga had once challenged Eishi during his early days.
"Shut up! You talk too much!" Kuga snapped, clearly embarrassed by the reminder.
The presence of the Elite Ten members sent waves of surprise through the audience.
"Oh my god, even Eishi-senpai is here!"
"Now there are seven members of the Elite Ten present—what's the background of this first-year student?"
As the chatter spread, Eizan had already revealed his ingredients—a fresh king crab, a luxurious choice for this competition.
"Such extravagance!" someone in the crowd exclaimed.
"Just by the ingredients alone, he's already at an advantage."
On the other side, Sui also displayed his ingredients: sea cucumber, shrimp, king oyster mushrooms, and a large, Chansey egg.
The sight of his mysterious egg caused a stir among the crowd.
"What kind of egg is that? It's huge!"
"Is it an ostrich egg? But it doesn't look quite like one."
Even Eishi and the other Elite Ten members were taken aback.
"Rindō, do you know what kind of egg that is?" Eishi turned to her, hoping the ingredient expert could shed some light on the situation.
"How should I know? That guy won't tell me!" Rindō huffed in annoyance.
"Wait, even you don't know?" Kuga and Nene exchanged shocked glances. If Rindō, with her extensive knowledge of rare ingredients, was clueless, then this was no ordinary egg.
"Interesting. This first-year isn't so simple after all," Eishi mused.
"Of course! Sui has the second God's Tongue!" Yoshino proudly declared.
"What? He has the God's Tongue?" Eishi, Kuga, and the others were stunned once again.
Even Rindō appeared surprised by this revelation. She had never heard about this before either. All eyes turned to Erina, who simply nodded in confirmation.
"It seems Eizan may not win this one," Eishi sighed.
——
"What kind of egg is that?" one of the judges, Dojima Gin, wondered aloud as he and the other judges observed Sui's preparations. Even these giants of the culinary world couldn't identify the mysterious egg.
"This is getting more and more intriguing," Senzaemon chuckled, clearly entertained.
Meanwhile, Sui had already begun his preparations. He combined 100 grams of high-gluten flour with 60 grams of low-gluten flour, pouring in hot water followed by a small amount of cold water to knead the mixture into a smooth dough. Once the dough was ready, he sautéed diced sea cucumber with coriander, garlic, a dash of chicken broth, and a pinch of salt.
The dish Sui was preparing was known as Four Happy Dumplings, a type of dumpling with four distinct fillings, sea cucumber being just one of them.
As Sui continued, he peeled the shrimp, shredded the soaked scallops, and minced them together into a fine paste with some salt and lard for the second filling. For the third filling, he cracked the gelatinous egg, carefully frying part of the egg liquid in a hot pan. He then moved on to prepare the fourth filling.
On the other side, Eizan worked methodically but appeared relaxed, showing no sign of concern for his opponent. He cut the legs from the king crab and boiled them in a large pot while also simmering clams with ginger in another, allowing a rich seafood aroma to fill the air.
An hour and a half passed in what felt like no time at all, and Eizan was the first to complete his dish.
"Eizan-senpai has finished! Judges, please taste the dish!" announced the host, Kawashima Rei.
Eizan wheeled his dish over to the judging panel, lifting the cover to reveal the strong, fragrant aroma of seafood, which spread across the venue and sent waves of excitement through the crowd.
"Please enjoy my dish: King Crab Chawanmushi," Eizan said with a confident smile.
The judges were presented with delicate bowls of chawanmushi, each containing a perfectly cooked crab leg and clams nestled in a bed of smooth, yellow egg custard. The dish was visually refined and exuded an elegant seafood fragrance that made mouths water.