Chapter 316

Haruto smiled at Kagura and Kanna’s obvious curiosity.

"For the next few days, I’ll show you around this world."

His voice pulled their attention back to him.

Originally, Haruto had not planned to keep either of them in the Food Wars! world for long.

After all, this world possessed almost no supernatural power.

But since he had already brought them here, it would have been strange to immediately drag them into another world again.

Besides, Kagura and Kanna were clearly fascinated by everything around them, so Haruto decided on the spot to let them properly experience the modern era first.

His expression then became more serious.

"There is one thing you need to remember."

"Everyone in this world is basically an ordinary person. At most, some of them have unusually impressive talent when it comes to cooking."

"So while you’re here, try not to use any of your abilities. We don’t want to attract unnecessary attention."

If Kagura casually fired off a wind blade or Kanna started using the Mirror of Death in public, the resulting commotion would be enormous.

"Thank you, Haruto-sama. I understand!"

Kagura agreed immediately, a brilliant smile appearing on her face.

A completely new world!

Just thinking about it filled her with anticipation. She could hardly wait to see how different this era was from the Sengoku period.

Kanna turned toward Haruto and nodded as well.

And so, for the next several days, Haruto temporarily set aside matters at Totsuki Academy and became Kagura and Kanna’s personal tour guide.

As one of the Elite Ten, he had a fair amount of freedom when it came to taking time away from school.

Unfortunately, his disappearance drove Nakiri Erina nearly crazy. She was still trying to persuade him to participate in the upcoming Régiment de Cuisine, yet there was nothing she could do when he simply vanished for several days.

Haruto took Kagura and Kanna all over Tokyo.

They visited the fish market early in the morning and ate the freshest salmon sashimi.

The rich fat melted across their tongues, smooth and delicate, carrying the clean sweetness of freshly cut fish.

They visited Sensō-ji and bought piping-hot ningyō-yaki filled with sweet red bean paste.

Even Kanna showed the faintest hint of a smile when the gentle sweetness spread across her tongue.

They also visited Shibuya Crossing, watching the endless flow of people moving beneath towering buildings and enormous screens.

"This world really is wonderful."

Kagura could not help sighing in admiration.

It truly was.

There were no battlefields littered with corpses.

No looming threat of Naraku.

People could spend every day eating delicious food, enjoying beautiful scenery, and doing whatever they wanted.

This was the kind of freedom Kagura had always dreamed of.

Unfortunately, there was one thing she disliked.

The wind in this world always carried unpleasant smells.

Compared with the clean mountain air of the Sengoku period, filled with forests, rivers, and open countryside, the air of modern Tokyo was difficult for Kagura to tolerate.

Kanna seemed to feel the same way.

So despite how peaceful the Food Wars! world was, neither of them had any desire to settle there permanently.

After spending several days exploring Tokyo, Haruto brought Kagura and Kanna back home and opened the World Gate again.

This time, he chose the world of One Piece.

In Haruto’s opinion, it suited the two of them rather well.

The world was vast and filled with opportunities for adventure.

As long as their luck was not so terrible that they immediately ran into a Marine Admiral or one of the Yonko, Kagura and Kanna were strong enough to handle most dangers.

And if something truly troublesome appeared, Kagura could simply fly them away.

Once they arrived, Haruto took the two of them around searching for ingredients while also helping them familiarize themselves with the fighting styles of this world.

Most fighters relied heavily on physical combat, though Devil Fruits introduced all kinds of strange and unpredictable abilities.

The battles here were very different from those in the Inuyasha world.

Fortunately, Kagura’s control over wind and Kanna’s mirror abilities both proved highly effective.

By the time the two had become reasonably familiar with the world and Haruto was preparing to leave them there, however, he discovered something completely unexpected.

They had both received bounty posters.

Kagura, the Wind Witch — 30,000,000 Berries. ONLY ALIVE.

Kanna, the Mirror Maiden — 28,000,000 Berries. ONLY ALIVE.

"What?!"

Kagura stared at her poster in outrage.

"Since when am I a witch? I’m the Wind Sorceress!"

Kanna showed considerably less concern about her own bounty.

Haruto, however, frowned as he studied the posters.

Kagura and Kanna had traveled with him, but neither had actually committed any crime.

Receiving bounties at all was strange enough.

The fact that both were specifically marked Only Alive made it even more suspicious.

What surprised Haruto even more was the sudden flood of bounty hunters trying to capture them.

At first, he dismissed them as minor nuisances.

But when bounty hunters and even pirate crews began appearing one after another, he realized something was wrong.

After capturing and questioning several hunters, Haruto finally learned the reason.

There was another bounty on Kagura and Kanna in the underworld.

Five hundred million Berries.

Each.

"Five hundred million each?"

Haruto was genuinely startled.

His own bounty had originally been only three hundred million Berries.

After escaping from Kizaru, another hundred million had been added, bringing it to four hundred million.

Yet someone was now offering five hundred million apiece for Kagura and Kanna.

After thinking about it briefly, Haruto had a fairly good idea who was responsible.

There were very few people in this world disgusting and extravagant enough to throw around that kind of money.

The Celestial Dragons were the obvious answer.

Haruto glanced at Kagura, his gaze lingering briefly on her pointed ears.

Features like hers were extremely unusual in the world of One Piece.

The Celestial Dragons were notorious for collecting rare races as slaves, so it was hardly surprising that someone among them might have taken an interest in her.

What Haruto could not understand was why Kanna was worth just as much.

She possessed no obvious racial traits.

Other than her white hair and pale appearance, she looked much like an ordinary human girl.

And unusual hair colors were hardly rare here.

Surely no one had somehow mistaken her for Nika just because she was completely white?

Haruto shook his head.

Whatever the reason, the situation had become far too troublesome.

A five-hundred-million-Berry bounty was enough to attract genuinely dangerous bounty hunters.

Worse, the Celestial Dragons were apparently involved.

Leaving Kagura and Kanna in this world would eventually create serious problems.

Haruto had no intention of gambling with their safety.

"Looks like staying here isn’t going to work for now."

He looked at both of them.

"We should leave this world."

Neither Kagura nor Kanna objected.

Under the circumstances, living peacefully here was clearly impossible.

Once they agreed, Haruto took them away from the One Piece world.

After spending so much time trying to find a suitable place for the two of them only for everything to fall apart, Haruto found himself more than a little annoyed.

After some thought, he decided to take them to the world of Toriko.

There were very few problems that good food could not solve.

And if one meal was not enough, then two usually did the trick.

Haruto decided to use gourmet food to improve his mood.

The moment they entered the Toriko world, Kagura immediately noticed something unusual about the wind.

Rich aromas drifted through the air—roasted meat, ripe fruit, herbs, spices, and countless other ingredients.

"Wow!"

Kagura breathed in deeply, looking completely enchanted.

"The wind in this world smells like food!"

Even Kanna visibly relaxed.

Seeing the two of them enjoying themselves improved Haruto’s mood as well.

He was just about to take them out in search of something delicious when he overheard several passersby discussing Century Soup.

Haruto’s eyes immediately lit up.

"Komatsu successfully recreated Century Soup?!"

He had been disappointed when he missed the ship heading for Ice Hell before.

He had never expected to return and discover that Komatsu had already completed the soup.

There was no chance Haruto was going to miss this opportunity.

He immediately changed their destination and rushed with Kagura and Kanna toward the gourmet restaurant where Komatsu worked.

Ever since Komatsu successfully recreated Century Soup, the IGO-affiliated restaurant had become famous throughout the world.

Gourmets traveled from every corner of the Human World just to taste a single bowl.

Fortunately, enough time had passed that the initial crowds had thinned considerably.

Haruto, Kagura, and Kanna managed to enter without having to wait in a massive line.

The restaurant manager greeted the three of them warmly.

"Are you here to try Century Soup? I’ll arrange seats for you immediately."

"Thank you."

Haruto nodded, then asked,

"By the way, is Chef Komatsu here?"

"I haven’t seen Toriko or Komatsu since we captured the Puffer Whale, so I was hoping to visit him."

The manager gave him an apologetic smile.

"I’m terribly sorry, but Chef Komatsu left with Mr. Toriko to search for Mellow Cola. It will probably be some time before they return."

"I see."

Haruto could not hide his disappointment.

He had been hoping to exchange some cooking ideas with Komatsu.

It seemed that would have to wait until next time.

Fortunately, Komatsu had left a supply of Century Soup behind, so at least Haruto would still get to taste it.

The manager escorted the three of them to a quiet table beside the window.

Not long afterward, a server approached with a cart.

Three covered bowls rested on top.