Chapter 285

Several more days passed at Totsuki Academy.

During that time, Erina approached Haruto three separate times in an attempt to persuade him to join the Régiment de Cuisine, only to walk away disappointed every time.

Haruto, meanwhile, continued at his usual unhurried pace, focusing on the ingredients he had brought back from the world of Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End.

He developed more than a hundred different recipes for the various ingredients he had collected, thoroughly exploring their flavors, textures, and unique properties.

Once he had more or less exhausted their possibilities, Haruto began thinking about visiting another world.

So when his next day off arrived, he simply returned home and stepped through the newly appeared World Gate.

The next instant, the crisp chirping of insects filled his ears, accompanied by the soft rustle of wind through cedar branches.

The smooth tiles beneath his feet became damp, yielding earth covered in morning dew, while the scents of fresh vegetation and wet soil filled his nose.

Haruto looked ahead.

A rough dirt path stretched beneath his feet, and at the far end stood an old-fashioned village that looked distinctly primitive.

He sensed nothing immediately dangerous nearby, so Haruto started toward the settlement, intending to ask the locals a few questions and figure out exactly what world he had entered.

He had only taken a few steps when the clear ringing of a bicycle bell sounded behind him.

Haruto stopped and turned.

Morning sunlight filtered through layers of cedar leaves, breaking into mottled patches across the dirt road.

A teenage girl in a Japanese sailor-style school uniform was riding a women’s bicycle rapidly toward him.

The tires bounced over the uneven road as she leaned slightly forward to steady the handlebars. Her basket was stuffed with an overfilled schoolbag, alongside several books and snacks in unmistakably modern packaging.

Just as she was about to pass Haruto, the girl glanced at him.

Her expression changed instantly.

She squeezed the brakes hard.

The tires skidded across the dirt with a sharp scraping sound, carving two tracks into the road before the bicycle finally stopped several paces away.

The girl steadied herself and frowned as she looked Haruto up and down.

Her gaze lingered on his clean, modern jacket.

Her frown deepened.

Haruto, meanwhile, had gotten a clear look at her face.

She seemed extremely familiar.

His mind raced for only a moment before an old memory surfaced and a name appeared clearly in his thoughts.

Higurashi Kagome.

The instant Haruto recognized her, he knew exactly where he was.

The world of Inuyasha.

The primitive village ahead, combined with Kagome riding a modern bicycle while dressed in her school uniform, made one thing equally obvious.

He was currently in Japan’s Sengoku period rather than modern-day Tokyo.

Once Haruto confirmed the world he had entered, his first thought naturally went to the countless yōkai scattered throughout it.

There were weak lesser demons, powerful greater yōkai possessing tremendous demonic energy, and even unusual monsters enhanced by shards of the Shikon Jewel.

To Haruto, creatures nourished by demonic energy were practically an untouched treasure trove of ingredients.

Meat infused with yōki would undoubtedly possess flavors completely different from ordinary ingredients.

But even that was not what excited him most.

What truly caught Haruto’s attention was the legendary swordsmith of this world whose craftsmanship had reached an almost absurd level.

Tōtōsai.

A master capable of forging the legendary demon blades Tessaiga and Tenseiga from the fangs of the Great Dog Demon.

Ever since Haruto obtained the meteorite ore in the Cooking Master Boy world, he had wanted to forge a kitchen knife made specifically for himself.

For that purpose, he had also collected materials such as the Spiegel and high-purity Magic-Sealing Ore.

Originally, Haruto had already resigned himself to waiting until the right time to seek out Melk the Second.

But now that he had arrived in the world of Inuyasha, Tōtōsai presented an almost perfect alternative.

Compared with Melk, whose specialty lay in sharpening and refining kitchen knives, Tōtōsai could forge demon blades capable of growing alongside their wielder.

That was extremely important to Haruto.

At the very least, it meant he would not have to worry about his kitchen knife eventually falling behind his own growth.

There was only one slight problem.

Tōtōsai normally forged weapons meant for battle.

Still, a kitchen knife was a chef’s weapon.

Surely Tōtōsai would understand that.

The more Haruto thought about it, the more excited he became, and a faint smile unconsciously appeared on his face.

He completely failed to notice Kagome staring at him with an increasingly strange expression.

Watching this unfamiliar man suddenly stand there lost in thought, Kagome only grew more suspicious.

First, there were his clothes.

Clean, practical, unmistakably modern clothing.

In the Sengoku period, he stood out even more than she did in her school uniform. Anyone could tell at a glance that he did not belong to this era.

But that made no sense.

As far as Kagome knew, only she and Inuyasha could pass through the Bone-Eater’s Well.

She had previously let her mother and younger brother try, and neither of them could cross.

Miroku and Sango could not either.

This was the first time Kagome had encountered another clearly modern person in the Sengoku period.

Worse, this road happened to lie directly between the Bone-Eater’s Well and Kaede’s Village.

There was nothing else nearby.

For a modern person to suddenly appear in the middle of nowhere like this was far too suspicious.

Countless possibilities flashed through Kagome’s mind.

’Could this be one of Naraku’s traps?’

After all, Naraku was exceptionally skilled at deception.

Or perhaps this was some yōkai in human form, deliberately disguising itself as a modern person to lower her guard.

Yet no matter how carefully Kagome sensed him, she could detect no demonic aura and no hostility whatsoever.

There was only the occasional trace of some strange, tremendously powerful energy she had never encountered before—something strong enough to make even her spiritual power stir uneasily.

After hesitating for a long moment, Kagome finally suppressed some of her caution and spoke first.

"Um... excuse me. Who are you?"

The question snapped Haruto out of his thoughts.

He gave her a gentle smile.

"My name is Suzuki Haruto. I’m a Super Chef, and I also work as a Gourmet Hunter."

The introduction came without hesitation.

After a brief pause, he added,

"I came to this world mainly to collect some unusual ingredients."

"And if things go well, I’d also like to find a skilled swordsmith and have him forge a kitchen knife specifically for me."

Kagome stared at him.

Her expression became even more bewildered.

A Super Chef?

A Gourmet Hunter?

What were those supposed to be?

She understood the chef part, at least.

But she had never heard of anything called a Gourmet Hunter.

Still... he definitely felt like someone from the modern era.

But what kind of person risked their life crossing into the Sengoku period just to shop for ingredients and commission a kitchen knife?

Shouldn’t a normal person’s first reaction to suddenly ending up here be panic followed by desperately trying to get home?

Kagome opened her mouth, failed to find anything to say for several seconds, then finally pushed aside the mountain of questions in her head and responded politely.

"Hello. I’m Higurashi Kagome."

After introducing herself, Kagome leaned half a step closer and stared directly into Haruto’s eyes.

"Haruto-kun, where exactly are you from? You don’t look like someone from any of the nearby villages."

Haruto could not help laughing at how obvious the probing was.

He had no intention of hiding the truth anyway.

Kagome was already a time traveler herself. Compared with an ordinary person, she was far more likely to accept something that defied common sense.

His smile faded slightly as he gave her a straightforward answer.

"I’m actually not from this world."

"I come from another modern world. The era is roughly the same as the modern time you come from, Kagome-san, but it isn’t the same world."

Kagome froze.

Her eyes widened into circles, her mouth hanging slightly open as her mind went completely blank.

Not from this world?

Another modern world?

She had already traveled five hundred years into the past, met the half-demon Inuyasha, searched for shards of the Shikon Jewel, fought Naraku, and experienced enough bizarre events to completely overturn everything she had once believed about reality.

But Kagome had never imagined that one day she would meet someone claiming to come from an entirely different world.

So...

Had she just met an alien?

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