Chapter 345

Once the teams were confirmed, everyone gathered with their assigned partners.

"Let’s do our best."

Haruto looked at Erina and Kurokiba Ryō.

He was fairly satisfied with the result.

Kurokiba was already a strong chef in his own right, and with Erina and Haruto added to the team, there was no question that Team Three had the strongest overall lineup of the four groups.

"Of course."

Erina glanced at Haruto.

She had absolutely no intention of ending up in one of those spring-resistance training suits.

Kurokiba, meanwhile, merely gave a lazy nod.

On the other side of the kitchen, Soma stared at the number 4 in his hand, then looked at Kuga and Alice beside him with a helpless expression.

"Why did I have to get grouped with you two?"

Kuga was one thing, but Alice...

Soma had not forgotten what Hayama had gone through because of her during the Moon Festival.

He could only hope she would not get too carried away this time.

"Oh, don’t be like that, Soma-kun."

Alice grinned at him.

"With a molecular gastronomy genius like me on the team, we’re obviously going to win!"

Kuga slapped Soma on the shoulder.

"Relax! You’ve got me too."

"..."

Jōichirō clapped his hands, cutting off the discussion.

"All right, the teams are settled."

Then he pulled four more folded slips of paper from his pocket.

"Next, we’ll draw lots for the instructors too! I’ll go first."

Jōichirō immediately picked one, unfolded it, and raised an eyebrow at the result.

Dojima, Shinomiya, and Hinako followed in turn and drew their own slips.

In the end, the assignments were:

Dojima Gin would coach Team One.

Shinomiya Kojirō would coach Team Two.

Inui Hinako would coach Team Three.

And Jōichirō would coach Team Four.

"I got Team Three!"

Hinako looked delighted when she saw the 3 written on her slip.

Of the four groups, Team Three was clearly the strongest.

She hurried over to Haruto, Erina, and Kurokiba with a gentle smile.

"I’ll be your instructor from here on out. I’m looking forward to working with you!"

"Hinako-senpai, please take care of us."

Erina inclined her head politely.

In truth, it made little difference to her who the instructor was.

Kurokiba nodded, still looking as lazy as ever.

"We’ll be counting on you, Hinako-senpai."

Haruto smiled.

"All right. The teams and instructors are now finalized."

Dojima drew a breath, then raised his voice.

"The first simulated Régiment de Cuisine officially begins now!"

"The matchups will be Team One versus Team Two and Team Three versus Team Four."

"Each three-person team must prepare an appetizer, a main course, and a dessert."

"You have thirty minutes to discuss strategy with your teammates and instructor, decide who will handle each course, and finalize your cooking plan."

"Your time starts now!"

The instant he finished speaking, all four teams launched into heated discussions.

Haruto, Erina, Kurokiba, and Hinako moved to a corner near the kitchen windows and gathered around a prep counter.

"How should we divide the appetizer, main course, and dessert?"

Erina was the first to speak, looking seriously at Haruto and Kurokiba.

She already had a few ideas of her own, but she wanted to hear their opinions first.

"Um..."

Hinako raised one hand, preparing to offer her advice.

As their instructor, she was supposed to lead the discussion and give the team professional guidance.

"This is easy."

Haruto cut in before she could begin.

"Erina, you take the main course. That’s the centerpiece of the meal, and I doubt you’ll have any trouble handling it."

"Kurokiba, you take the appetizer. Your cooking has a lot of impact, so you’re suited to hitting the judges hard right from the beginning and opening up their palates."

"I’ll handle dessert."

The instant Haruto finished assigning the roles, Kurokiba tied on his headband.

His entire demeanor changed.

The lazy haze disappeared from his eyes, replaced by a sharp, aggressive intensity as a wild arrogance seemed to radiate from him.

"I don’t mind handling the appetizer."

"But if my appetizer hits harder than the main course and makes the rest of the meal look weak..."

He turned toward Erina.

"Then don’t hold back."

Erina answered without hesitation.

"No matter how powerful your appetizer is, my main course will still be the brightest dish of the meal."

She had complete confidence in her cooking.

Her earlier thought of assigning the appetizer to Haruto was immediately discarded.

"I think—"

Hinako timidly raised her hand again, trying to join the conversation.

But Haruto, Erina, and Kurokiba had already moved on to discussing the details of their respective dishes and failed to notice her at all.

Hinako watched the three of them carry on perfectly well without her.

The smile on her face gradually collapsed.

With a wounded pout, she crouched in the corner and began drawing circles on the floor.

There was nothing wrong with their assignments.

That was exactly the problem.

She was supposed to be the instructor, yet she had somehow become completely unnecessary.

How depressing.

Thirty minutes passed in the blink of an eye.

"Time!"

Dojima’s voice rang through the kitchen again.

"All participants, prepare to begin!"

"The first simulated Régiment de Cuisine starts now!"

At his command, everyone immediately sprang into action.

The clatter of pots and bowls, the hiss of frying ingredients, and the rapid chopping of knives blended together into a fierce culinary symphony.

At Team Three’s workstation, Haruto, Erina, and Kurokiba moved almost simultaneously, their motions smooth and decisive without a trace of hesitation.

Kurokiba was the first to fully enter his cooking rhythm.

His appetizer would be a Creamy Seafood Soup.

His movements were astonishingly fast, carrying a wild, almost predatory sense of power.

He grabbed a Boston lobster from the cutting board, pinned the body with his left hand, and turned the knife in his right.

Crack.

The head separated cleanly from the body.

Rich lobster tomalley spilled out, releasing an intense oceanic fragrance.

Kurokiba swiftly removed the intestinal vein and cut the lobster meat into evenly sized chunks, while setting the shell and head aside for later.

Next came the scallops and mussels.

He cleaned away the scallop skirts and organs until only the pristine, tender adductor muscles remained. The mussels were opened, removed from their shells, and repeatedly rinsed under clean water.

In less than three minutes, every piece of seafood had been fully prepared and arranged neatly.

Kurokiba heated a pot and added olive oil.

At that moment, Haruto simply handed him prepared diced onion and carrot.

Kurokiba accepted them without a word and dumped them into the pot.

He stir-fried them rapidly.

The vegetables released their natural sweetness, filling the air with fragrance.

Once the onions turned translucent, Kurokiba added the reserved lobster heads and shells, crushing them firmly with his spatula as they cooked.

The shells turned golden and crisp, releasing an even richer seafood aroma.

Then he poured in white wine.

Ssssh—

The alcohol flashed off, carrying away the seafood’s fishiness and leaving behind the mellow fragrance of wine.

He added water, brought everything to a vigorous boil, then reduced the heat and allowed the stock to simmer.

The milky broth bubbled steadily in the pot, each burst drawing a little more essence from the lobster shells and vegetables.

Kurokiba stood before the stove with his eyes fixed on the stock, stirring from time to time and adjusting the heat with precise timing.

Twenty minutes later, he poured everything through a strainer, removing the lobster shells and vegetables and leaving behind only a clear yet concentrated milky-white broth.

He returned the stock to the pot, added light cream and lotus-root starch, then slowly heated it over low flame.

The cream blended into the broth, making the soup thicker and silkier while adding a delicate richness.

A small amount of saffron followed, contributing its distinctive fragrance.

Finally, Kurokiba added the prepared lobster, scallops, and mussels.

He cooked them for only about a minute—just enough to bring the seafood to perfect doneness while preserving its most tender texture.

He turned off the heat and finished the dish with a light scattering of chopped parsley.

The Creamy Seafood Soup was complete.

The soup was an inviting milky white with a soft sheen across the surface.

The lobster meat was firm and snowy, the scallops translucent and delicate, and the mussels plump and juicy.

The concentrated aroma of seafood mixed with the richness of cream and the fragrance of saffron, immediately making anyone nearby want to swallow.

Almost exactly as Kurokiba finished the appetizer, Erina’s Beef Wellington entered its final baking stage.

Her style could not have been more different from Kurokiba’s wild intensity.

Every one of Erina’s movements was precise, delicate, and flawless.

As the possessor of the God Tongue, she demanded near-perfection from every detail of a dish.

For the Wellington, Erina had chosen the very center of a beef tenderloin, where the meat was at its most tender and contained very little fat—the ideal cut for this preparation.

She carefully dried the surface with kitchen paper, seasoned it with an appropriate amount of sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, then left it to rest for ten minutes.

Afterward, she heated a frying pan until it began to smoke and added a knob of butter.

The butter melted with a soft hiss, releasing a rich milky aroma.

Erina placed the seasoned tenderloin into the pan and seared every side until beautifully golden.

Once the exterior was browned, she removed the meat and set it aside to rest.

Next, Erina spread a lotus leaf across the cutting board and covered it with thin slices of Parma ham, leaving no gaps between them.

At that moment, Haruto handed her the mushroom duxelles he had prepared from porcini, shiitake, and button mushrooms.

Erina took it and spread the mixture evenly across the ham before placing the seared tenderloin on top.

She wrapped the ham tightly around the beef, then used the lotus leaf to roll everything into a compact cylinder and placed it in the refrigerator to set.

Twenty minutes later, the shape had firmed up.

Erina took out the puff pastry Haruto had prepared.

She placed the chilled beef in the center, wrapped it tightly in pastry, sealed the seam with egg wash, and trimmed away the excess.

Using a small knife, she scored an elegant diamond pattern across the surface and brushed the entire pastry evenly with egg yolk.

Finally, she placed the Wellington into an oven that had already been preheated to 200°C and baked it for twenty-five minutes.

Inside the oven, the pastry slowly puffed and turned golden, releasing an irresistible blend of butter and roasted meat.

Erina stood before the glass door, watching every change in the Wellington with complete concentration.