After receiving Terunori Kuga's formal application, the Shokugeki Bureau immediately contacted Kael. Once he gave his approval, the match was officially established.
While the Bureau finalized the venue, judges, and other logistical details, a call came in—from Senzaemon Nakiri himself.
Not long after, the complete information for the match appeared on both the Bureau's official site and the school's online forum.
"Wait, wait—this has to be fake, right? The match is being held at the Moon Banquet Hall?!"
"That's insane! I mean, sure, Kael's basically a world-class chef already, and his opponent's one of the Elite Ten... but still!"
"What's even crazier is that there's only one judge—and it's the director himself?! The commander-in-chief is presiding over a student Shokugeki?!"
The entire academy went into an uproar. Even seasoned upperclassmen couldn't believe it—this was the first time in years that the so-called "Demon King of Food" had personally stepped in to judge a student duel.
Meanwhile, in the Nakiri household, Erina Nakiri was lying on her bed, reading a shoujo manga, when Hisako Arato burst into the room holding her phone.
"Erina-sama, you need to see this!"
Erina looked up, slightly annoyed. "What could possibly be so urgent?"
But the second she glanced at the screen, her expression shifted—from casual indifference to sharp, focused seriousness.
"A Shokugeki between an Elite Ten member and a transfer student... but why would grandfather get involved in this?" she murmured, frowning.
Matches between Elite Ten members were rare, yes—but this was still just a student duel. There was no reason for her grandfather to personally preside over it.
"Maybe it's because of the transfer student representative," Hisako suggested. "Kuga-senpai wouldn't be enough to attract the commander's attention... which means it has to be Kael."
Erina's eyes narrowed thoughtfully. Hisako wasn't wrong. The name Kael had been popping up everywhere lately. From his first day, he'd been the center of attention—earning high praise from instructors and sparking one controversy after another.
If even her grandfather was taking notice, there had to be something more to him.
"Maybe so," Erina said softly. "The match is the day after tomorrow, right? Then we'll go watch for ourselves."
Anyone who caught Senzaemon Nakiri's eye was someone worth keeping an eye on.
Across campus, all of Totsuki was ablaze with speculation. The forums, the dining halls, even the Polar Star Dormitory—every conversation revolved around Kael.
"Kael, what did you do?" Yuki Yoshino stared at him like he was a mythical beast. "It's one thing to accept a Shokugeki with an Elite Ten member—but now the director himself's involved?! You're not human!"
She was utterly baffled. Sure, she knew Kael was strong, but this? This was beyond reason. He'd only been here for a day and had already turned the academy upside down—first Kuga, now the commander-in-chief.
Kael just shrugged. "Kuga challenged me, and I happened to need something from him. So I accepted. As for the director's interest... that part, I honestly don't know."
That wasn't quite true, of course. He knew exactly why Senzaemon Nakiri was paying attention.
This year's incoming class was the cornerstone of the Jewel Generation—the generation Senzaemon believed could reshape the culinary world itself.
And among them, Kael had emerged as an anomaly—a prodigy the academy hadn't seen coming. It was only natural that the old man wanted to see him up close.
Kael had no illusions. Once Senzaemon understood his potential, he'd absolutely try to establish a connection—an "investment" for Totsuki's future.
After all, in this generation, only two students truly stood out: Kael and Soma Yukihira.
Soma's growth was tied entirely to his father, Joichiro Saiba. When the Jewel Generation project first began, Senzaemon himself had suggested that Soma enroll at Totsuki early.
But Joichiro refused.
He understood something Senzaemon didn't: if Soma entered too soon, his progress might skyrocket—but his growth would plateau early.
The God's Tongue—Erina Nakiri's hereditary gift—had already surpassed the limits of modern cuisine. Breaking through that ceiling required something beyond natural talent.
Joichiro's goal was to push Soma to surpass even those boundaries—but to do that, Soma needed competition, constant pressure, and rivals to fuel his evolution. Without that stimulus, his potential would stagnate.
That was the hidden flaw in Joichiro's "forge by failure" method.
Kael, on the other hand, was different.
Until recently, Senzaemon hadn't even known someone like him existed. But now, after seeing the evaluations from his instructors—and the fact that Kael was about to take the Four-Star Chef exam—Senzaemon saw a glimmer of hope.
Among the current student body, most of Erina's peers had stalled around the Three-Star Chef level. Even Erina herself, whose growth was being deliberately restrained by her grandfather, had only reached Four-Star Chef level for now.
But if she'd been trained under the same extreme regimen as her mother, Mana Nakiri, her skill might've already soared to Five or even Six-Star territory.
In comparison, the rest of the Jewel Generation seemed ordinary. Only Kael stood out.
To Senzaemon, Kael represented a different kind of promise—one grounded in results rather than theory. Unlike Soma, whose future was still uncertain, Kael's progress was tangible, measurable.
And if he passed the Four-Star exam tomorrow, that would confirm it.
Kael, meanwhile, understood the opportunity in front of him. Building ties with the Nakiri family could provide access to the rare ingredients and connections he needed to further develop his Divine Senses.
As for the so-called "curse" of the God's Tongue... he wasn't worried.
Compared to the culinary mastery of the Dark Cooking Society he'd inherited, this world's limitations were laughably small. Kaiyu's teachings contained countless examples of overcoming flawed abilities—just look at Mila the Blue-Eyed Tiger, one of Kaiyu's disciples.
Fixing the God's Tongue was just a matter of time.
Kael might not yet have the strength to do it, but once he reached his full potential, solving something like that would be child's play.