In the end, the hero couldn't hold firm to her original intentions and succumbed to the allure of the devil—though in this case, the devil came in the form of irresistible food.
"Thank you for the meal," Emi muttered as she sat down at the dining table, cheeks tinged with embarrassment. Her voice was soft, barely audible, as if admitting defeat.
But as she gazed at the fragrant fried rice and the steaming bowl of bone broth before her, she felt as though she had found the true meaning of life.
'Compared to cold, stale bread, as long as I can eat hot rice, even hell wouldn't be so bad,' she thought.
As the juicy pork melted in her mouth, Emi felt tears welling up in her eyes. Since arriving in this world, she had never tasted anything so delicious.
At first, she intended to eat with some restraint, but soon she lost all composure, devouring the food in large, hungry bites.
Watching the hero eat like a ravenous beast, Sui, Tohru, and Kanna stared at her in stunned silence.
"Hey, Tohru-sama, is this person really a paladin? Why does she eat even more than I do?" Kanna asked, tugging at Tohru's sleeve.
Upon hearing that, Emi felt a surge of shame. She, a hero, was being outclassed by a demon dragon in terms of table manners! How humiliating!
But still... wasn't the devil's cooking simply divine? Even back in her own world, she had never eaten food this delicious.
'Could it be that the devil cast some kind of evil magic into the food?' she wondered.
After finishing her meal and taking a long sip of the hot bone broth, Emi let out a satisfied sigh. 'Life still has its beautiful moments.'
"Have you seriously not eaten anything decent since coming to this world?" Sui asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Of course I have! I live quite comfortably here," Emi replied, looking away with a guilty expression.
"Really? Then tell me, what did you have for breakfast and lunch today?" Sui pressed.
"Uh… for breakfast, I had rice and bread. For lunch, instant noodles," Emi answered reflexively.
"And yesterday?"
"Yesterday... I had bread for breakfast, instant noodles for lunch, and a discounted bento from the convenience store for dinner."
"And the day before?"
"The day before... instant noodles for breakfast, bread for lunch, and fried chicken and rice from the convenience store for dinner."
Sui gave her a knowing look that said, 'I thought so.'
"What's wrong with eating instant noodles and bread? If it weren't for those, many people would go hungry!" Emi shouted, her cheeks flushing with indignation at having her frugal lifestyle exposed.
Sui, however, merely shook his head. "You're really living a sad life."
Emi's eyes teared up at the blunt remark, feeling utterly defeated.
"Anyway, I'll keep an eye on you from now on," Emi declared, standing up with renewed determination. She tried to regain her dignity, her tone once again cold and authoritative. "I won't eat for free. I'll pay for everything!"
"No need," Sui replied, thinking that as a hero working a regular job, she probably couldn't afford it.
"I refuse to eat the devil's food for free!" Emi proclaimed with a mix of pride and desperation.
"Alright, feel free to check the menu, then," Sui said with a shrug.
Emi cast a quick glance at the menu on the wall and immediately felt her confidence waver.
"Wait… all your dishes are this expensive?" she muttered, her face turning a deep shade of red.
Realizing she had just spent two days' wages on this one meal, her heart sank even further.
Sui remained silent, watching her quietly.
"Uh… is it okay if I pay in installments? I'll pay it off over the next six months," Emi mumbled, her once defiant tone growing weaker.
"If you can't afford it, there's no need to pay," Sui said.
"Th-thank you," Emi stammered, her pride crushed once again by the harsh realities of life. She had, once more, been forced to yield to the devil.
"But I won't stop supervising you!" she added, trying to salvage what little dignity she had left.
Later that night, Sui and Tohru returned to their apartment to find Erina already back. As expected, another cooking competition soon followed.
This time, Erina gave it her all, but even with her best efforts, she couldn't outmatch Sui.
That night, once again, Erina found herself out of Sui's culinary grasp.
The next morning, Sui emerged from the room, while Erina walked out shortly after, yawning and visibly exhausted.
When she thought back to the previous night's events, Erina was filled with frustration. Her teeth ground together in anger.
"Still not satisfied?" Sui teased, smiling as he watched her pout.
Erina shot him a glare. "Of course not!" she snapped.
Despite having given everything she had in last night's competition, she still couldn't beat Sui, and it gnawed at her. It was the first time anyone her age had outshined her in the kitchen.
"Want to try again tonight?" Sui asked with a laugh.
Erina blushed, her cheeks burning at the thought of losing to him once more and suffering the "consequences."
But she was far too proud to admit defeat.
Gritting her teeth, she declared, "Hmph! Who's afraid of you? I'll make sure I win tonight!"
Watching her refuse to back down, Sui couldn't help but smile even wider.
Later, when they arrived at the classroom, Sui received a new task notification:
"The host has received a new mission.
Mission Description: Defeat a total of ten research institutes.
Mission Reward: Mysterious kitchen utensils.
Mission Time: Seven days."
"Huh? Kitchen utensils?" Sui muttered to himself, somewhat surprised by the nature of the reward. This was a first.
Although he found the reward unusual, Sui decided to focus on completing the task.
At Totsuki Academy, it wasn't uncommon for research societies to clash with one another. In fact, such battles were encouraged. Sui recalled that back in the golden age of Polaris Dormitory, members like Dojima Gin, Saiba Joichiro, and Nakiri Tsuki had fought countless battles, spreading the name of Polaris Dormitory far and wide across Totsuki.
After class, Sui went to his Rare Ingredients Research Society, where two members, Nao and Miyoko, were present.
Sui explained his plan to them.
"Wait, Sui, are you declaring war on other research societies?" Nao exclaimed in surprise.
Meanwhile, Miyoko's eyes lit up with excitement. "Awesome! Who should we attack first?"