Chapter 341

Erina Nakiri entered the meeting room with a solemn expression.

Haruto followed behind her looking far more relaxed, both hands tucked into the pockets of his casual trousers as he calmly surveyed everyone already seated around the table.

Aside from Haruto, all seven of the other students who had reached the Autumn Elections finals were present, along with three Elite Ten members: Isshiki Satoshi, Megishima Tōsuke, and Kuga Terunori.

"Everyone’s here, so let’s begin."

Erina took the seat at the head of the table and immediately got down to business.

"I called everyone here today to make preparations for the upcoming training camp and to begin selecting our lineup for the Régiment de Cuisine."

"With the exception of Haruto, all seven students who reached the Autumn Elections finals will be included in the preliminary candidate pool."

A quiet stir immediately passed through the meeting room.

Erina ignored it and continued.

"Since we can only field ten official participants, one person from the candidate pool will ultimately be eliminated during training."

"The training location has already been decided. We’ll be using Polar Star Dormitory."

There were several reasons for choosing Polar Star.

Although the dormitory was still located within Totsuki Academy, it sat in a relatively secluded area, making it easier to keep the training private and prevent unnecessary interruptions.

Polar Star also had professional-grade kitchen facilities and enough spare rooms to accommodate everyone.

That was why Erina had ultimately chosen it as their base.

In fact, she had gone to Polar Star yesterday specifically to discuss the arrangements with Daimidō Fumio.

Running into Haruto just as she was preparing to leave had been an unexpected bonus.

"Considering we’ll be facing Tsukasa and the others, some intensive training beforehand is definitely necessary."

Megishima folded his arms, his expression serious.

"On our side, aside from me, Isshiki, Kuga, and Erina, the others still haven’t reached Elite Ten level."

"If they don’t improve quickly, we have no realistic chance in this Régiment de Cuisine."

As the Third Seat, Megishima understood Tsukasa Eishi and Kobayashi Rindō’s abilities extremely well.

If Erina had not previously challenged him to a Food War with his participation in the Régiment de Cuisine as the stake—and then defeated him—there was no chance he would have agreed to join.

Megishima turned toward Haruto.

"Haruto, did you agree to participate too? If you join us, that obviously changes things considerably."

Everyone in the room immediately looked toward him.

Haruto shook his head.

"I’m only helping with the training. I won’t be participating in the actual Régiment de Cuisine."

After a brief pause, he looked back at Megishima with a faint smile.

"I’m more surprised that you agreed."

After all, both of them had previously made it quite clear that they had no intention of participating.

Megishima gave a helpless smile and scratched the back of his head.

"I didn’t want to agree either. Erina beat me in a Food War, so I didn’t exactly have much choice."

That said, losing to Erina had also given Megishima a little more confidence in their chances.

She was still below Tsukasa, but the gap was no longer overwhelmingly large.

At that moment, Kuga turned his attention toward Soma Yukihira, Megumi Tadokoro, Takumi Aldini, and the other first-years.

"I’ll admit Yukihira and the others did reasonably well in the Autumn Elections, but that’s only relative to the other first-years."

"Compared with us, they’re still a long way off."

"If they train alongside us, won’t they just slow down the pace?"

Soma’s performance during the Moon Festival had certainly been impressive enough to earn Kuga’s acknowledgment.

Even so, Kuga still did not believe Soma’s cooking could compare with the Elite Ten.

This training camp was his opportunity to prepare for another confrontation with Tsukasa.

He intended to throw everything he had into improving himself.

Soma and the others might struggle to keep up.

"What did you just say?!"

Alice Nakiri planted both hands on her hips and glared indignantly at Kuga.

"Don’t get so full of yourself! We don’t even know who’ll be slowing down whom yet! My molecular gastronomy isn’t necessarily any worse than your cooking!"

Kurokiba Ryō gave Kuga a cold glance as well.

Naturally, that had been Alice’s instruction. Apparently it made their side look more intimidating.

Soma, Megumi, Hayama Akira, Arato Hisako, and Takumi, however, did not seem offended by Kuga’s remarks.

If anything, all five simply looked more determined.

Kuga was stating a fact.

At their current level, there was still a substantial gap between them and established Elite Ten chefs like Isshiki and Megishima.

But a gap did not mean it could never be crossed.

This training camp was precisely their opportunity to catch up to their seniors—or even surpass them.

Seeing Soma and Megumi remain completely unfazed, Isshiki smiled.

"Kuga-kun, you shouldn’t underestimate our juniors."

"They have limitless potential."

"The future of Totsuki belongs to them."

"I’m sure they’ll surprise us during this training camp."

Kuga clicked his tongue, clearly unconvinced.

Before he could respond, Haruto suddenly spoke.

"Kuga’s actually half right."

Everyone turned toward him in surprise.

Haruto ignored their reactions and continued.

"At their current level, they really aren’t strong enough to challenge the Elite Ten head-on."

"But they aren’t going to stay at their current level forever."

"And training with people weaker than yourself doesn’t necessarily hold you back."

"Sometimes seeing cooking from a different perspective can give you ideas you would never discover otherwise."

Haruto looked directly at Kuga.

"Kuga, your cooking has already hit a bottleneck, hasn’t it?"

"You’re so fixated on the numbing heat and spice of Sichuan cuisine that you’ve started overlooking the other possibilities within Chinese cooking."

Kuga stared at Haruto with a complicated expression.

His cooking really had reached a plateau.

He even understood, to some extent, what he needed to do if he wanted to advance further.

The problem was that taking that next step conflicted with the style and principles he had stubbornly upheld for years.

Having Haruto point it out so directly forced him to confront something he had been avoiding.

Seeing Kuga’s conflicted expression, Haruto said nothing more.

Ultimately, this was something Kuga had to decide for himself.

Isshiki showed a trace of agreement, while Megishima nodded thoughtfully.

Erina glanced at Haruto and then at Kuga.

Her opinion of Haruto rose slightly.

The training had not even officially begun, yet he was already doing his job.

If Kuga genuinely changed because of this, his cooking would almost certainly improve.

"All right. Since there are no objections, it’s settled."

Erina clapped her hands, drawing everyone’s attention back to her.

"Go home and prepare today. Tomorrow morning, everyone is to arrive at Polar Star Dormitory with their luggage."

"The training camp will last two weeks."

"At the end of those two weeks, we’ll finalize the official lineup."

Once the meeting ended, everyone began filing out.

Erina walked over to Haruto before he could leave.

"Oh, right. Haruto, you won’t be the only one helping with the training."

"I’ve invited several other outside instructors as well."

"With them here, everyone should improve even faster."

Haruto, in truth, had been the unexpected addition to the plan.

"Oh?"

He looked at Erina curiously.

"Who?"

"You’ll find out tomorrow."

Erina deliberately refused to tell him.

Haruto raised an eyebrow but did not press the issue.

He could already make a pretty good guess.

Early the next morning, just as dawn began to brighten the sky, Polar Star Dormitory became unusually lively.

Kuga arrived first, dragging an enormous suitcase behind him.

He still carried himself with his usual cocky attitude, but there was something more complicated in his eyes.

Haruto’s words from the previous day had affected him more deeply than he wanted to admit.

After returning home, Kuga had spent nearly the entire night thinking about them.

In the end, he had no choice but to admit Haruto was right.

Something needed to change.

Before long, Erina, Megishima, Alice, Kurokiba, and Hayama arrived one after another, each carrying bags and luggage.

Haruto, Soma, Megumi, and Isshiki—who had all been dragged out of bed early—welcomed everyone as they came in.

"Welcome to Polar Star Dormitory!"

Soma greeted them enthusiastically.

"Looks like we’re all roommates now. Hope we get along!"

Megumi hurriedly bowed.

"P-Please take care of me!"

While everyone was still talking, a black van pulled up outside Polar Star.

The door opened.

Four figures stepped out in succession.

The first was the tall, heavily muscled Dojima Gin.

Behind him came Shinomiya Kojirō, the chef known as the "Magician of Vegetable Cuisine."

The third was Inui Hinako, wearing her usual gentle smile.

The final person to step from the vehicle was Yukihira Jōichirō.

Jōichirō wore a casual plaid shirt. His hair was messy, and a lazy smile rested on his face.

"Sai... Saiba-san! It’s been a long time!"

Erina hurried forward, her excitement obvious.

Jōichirō had always held a special place in her heart.

When she was young, it had been his free and unrestrained cooking that first showed her how joyful food could be and made her genuinely fall in love with cooking.

For years, Erina had carried one particular wish.

She wanted Jōichirō to personally taste a dish she had made.

Being able to invite him here to help with their training was, for her, an unbelievable stroke of good fortune.