"Hey, Nohara! Why do I feel like something is a bit off?"
"How would I know?!"
Totsuki Academy turned out to be unexpectedly large. By the time the two of them finally struggled their way to the examination site three kilometers inside the campus, they both froze on the spot.
The place resembled something like a park. Luxury cars were parked all around, and many well-dressed young gentlemen were stepping out of them, accompanied by bodyguards and butlers.
"Did we come to the wrong place?"
Yukihira Soma muttered.
No matter how you looked at it, this place seemed more like the venue for a grand ball than a transfer student examination.
Sato rubbed his chin and said, "Maybe they're judges?"
Hearing that, Yukihira Soma rolled his eyes.
"As if there would be that many judges."
The two stared at the scene in front of them and fell silent.
"Mm, the scent of spices... and this, seafood..."
Suddenly Sato noticed Yukihira Soma wrinkling his nose as if sniffing something, muttering to himself.
"What are you doing?"
"Well, I can smell a lot of familiar scents on these people. Even if they aren't chefs, they must deal with ingredients like these quite often."
Scents?
Sato frowned and tried to sense it himself, but felt nothing at all.
Seeing that, Yukihira Soma chuckled.
"You should just give up. Since you're not a cook, you're not familiar with these smells at all. Even if you cook often it wouldn't help much anyway. This kind of thing needs a bit of talent."
Sato clicked his tongue and ignored the smug Yukihira Soma, instead studying the people in front of him thoughtfully.
Was this what Yukihira Joichiro had called the real culinary world?
The people they usually dealt with were not the lower levels. These people used cuisine to influence even higher circles.
"All examinees, please enter!"
Someone began announcing for the candidates to enter.
"Nohara, I'm going in first!"
"Yeah."
Sato nodded as he watched the elegantly dressed young gentlemen, brimming with confidence, walk into the building together with Yukihira Soma.
He quietly observed the scene.
Were all these people really chefs?
After the examinees went inside, the bodyguards and butlers who remained outside waited quietly, some chatting softly among themselves.
Screech!
Suddenly, the sound of brakes cut through the quiet atmosphere.
Everyone present turned to look at the car that had just stopped. Soon the door opened, and a girl with long golden hair stepped out.
Her expression was indifferent and aloof, and she naturally carried the aura of someone in a position of authority.
The entire scene fell silent. Everyone looked at the girl with respectful attention.
Sato's eyes shifted slightly as he looked at her, a bit surprised that he would encounter her here.
"Miss Nakiri!"
Suddenly, a unified voice rang out around them. The overwhelming momentum surged like a crashing tide into everyone's ears.
Sato was also shaken as he watched the bodyguards and butlers from various families bow toward the girl.
Nakiri Erina did not look to either side. Accompanied by a girl who seemed to be her secretary, she walked straight into the culinary building. Throughout the entire process, she did not spare a single glance at the people around her, which also revealed her pride.
Sato pondered this.
Encountering Nakiri Erina here was unexpected, yet also reasonable.
However, her status seemed far higher than he had imagined.
And... her personality also felt different from what he remembered.
Before he could think further, everyone's attention was suddenly drawn to the figures flooding out of the culinary building like a rushing torrent.
Those confident and elegant young gentlemen who had entered earlier now fled the building in panic like beaten dogs.
It was clear they were all terrified, as if they had encountered something truly dreadful.
Sato pricked up his ears and listened.
"This time the judge is actually Miss Erina. That's way too terrifying!"
"I heard she already became one of the Ten Elites last year. Why would someone like that come to judge a transfer exam?"
"If my cooking gets evaluated by her God Tongue, my entire culinary career will be ruined!"
"This is too scary! I'd rather not enroll than accept Miss Erina's judgment!"
"Exactly! If I get an evaluation like 'Twerking with a gorilla,' my dad would probably break my legs!"
"Let's go! Hurry back!"
The young gentlemen went from confidently entering the culinary building to fleeing in panic in less than five minutes.
Did Erina really have such a terrifying reputation?
And... what were the Ten Elites and the God Tongue?
And what kind of evaluation was twerking with a gorilla?
Sato calmly listened to this information.
It seemed that Totsuki Academy was far from as simple as it appeared on the surface.
Before long, the surroundings became empty as almost everyone had left.
But... where was Soma?!
Sato looked toward the culinary building and suddenly noticed a thin stream of smoke rising from the exhaust pipe at the top of the building.
Was someone cooking?
It seemed Yukihira Soma had not been frightened by Nakiri Erina's reputation at all.
Oh, wait... that guy probably just didn't know!
Sato looked at the wisp of smoke with a strange expression.
"Are you... Sato?"
Suddenly a somewhat hesitant, cool voice came from behind him.
Sato's heart stirred. Someone here knew him?
He turned and looked behind him. Then he saw a beautiful figure standing diagonally behind him, slightly frowning as she looked at him.
Rikka's older sister?!
Sato opened his mouth, also somewhat surprised as he looked at Takanashi Toka.
The one who had called out to him was not anyone else, but the neighbor who lived upstairs from him, the martial arts master who had displayed extraordinary combat skills on the first day he moved into the apartment, Takanashi Toka.
At this moment, Takanashi Toka was also looking at Sato in surprise, her younger sister's new friend and her new neighbor.
She had the same iceberg-like deadpan expression as Takanashi Rikka. Her facial changes were subtle, but the emotions in her wine-red eyes were easy to read.
"Why are you here?"
Both of them asked the same question at the same time.