The one thing Mana Nakiri absolutely could not accept, the real breaking point, came from her own investigation.
As she kept digging, following every thread she could find, she learned that Azami Nakiri's private life had already been a complete mess before he ever met her.
And worse—he even had a child out there somewhere. Azami himself had no idea this child existed, but the moment Mana discovered it, her whole world fell apart.
Originally, she still felt a little guilty toward Azami. Back then, before she left, he hadn't been like this at all. It was her departure that pushed him down the path he took.
She had always been willing to accept that she was the spark that ignited everything.
But Azami had already been fooling around before he ever met her. That part? That had nothing to do with her. Whatever guilt she'd been holding onto evaporated instantly.
She even started to regret things. If she had looked into Azami's past earlier, she probably wouldn't have let things get this far.
Now she was stuck. Torn between whether to forgive him or to tell her father everything.
And she knew her father. If Senzaemon Nakiri learned about this… Azami wouldn't get away unscathed.
All she could do now was stall for time. She couldn't make a decision yet, not until she settled the issue with her God's Tongue. Until that was resolved, there was no point worrying about anything else.
A few days later, the first major trial for Totsuki's first-year high school students arrived. The training camp handbook showed up directly in the Polar Star Dormitory's mailbox.
"Here we go… the training camp. The first big wall of high school."
The Polar Star Dorm residents stared at the booklet with grim faces.
"What's this training camp thing? Why do you all look so serious?"
Soma Yukihira honestly had no idea how Totsuki worked yet, so he didn't get why everyone looked tense.
"To put it simply, it's a multi-day off-site exam filled with different tests."
Shun Ibusaki explained calmly.
"So it's just another exam? Then why do you all look like you're marching to your doom? Exams aren't exactly hard for us at Polar Star."
Soma shrugged. He'd already taken a few tests since enrolling, and they'd been nothing special. Honestly, they were child's play. He breezed through them and even got the highest possible ratings.
"This one is completely different. Normally, you only get expelled after accumulating multiple failing grades. But during the training camp? One failure. Just one. And you're expelled immediately."
"In the last batch of first-years, one-third of the students were expelled during the training camp. And that was considered a 'low' number. The worst year had half the students expelled."
Yuki Yoshino said, looking unusually serious. The elimination rate was terrifying—so high it made their skin crawl.
"Half?! You're kidding. But… we only need to be in the half that doesn't get kicked out, right?"
Even Soma was shocked. Sure, Totsuki expelled students regularly, but usually just one or two a day, sometimes none.
But expelling half the grade in just a few days? That was insane. And with this year's first-year class being even larger than usual, that meant over five hundred students could be kicked out. Even the 'good' scenario—losing one-third—meant more than three hundred gone.
"It's true that everyone in Polar Star is strong enough to be in the surviving half. But the training camp is extremely unpredictable."
"In past years, even Three-Star Chefs were expelled."
Alice added, glancing at Soma.
"Three-Star Chefs? Hold on—how does that even happen? Aren't they supposed to be among the best of the best?"
Soma finally lost his cool. An exam tough enough to fail even Three-Star Chefs? That was insane.
There were only a dozen or so Three-Star Chefs in the whole grade. Just imagining one getting expelled during the camp didn't make sense.
"That's the whole point of the camp. The tests go on for several days in a row, constantly changing. If you slip up even once, you're done."
"Even a Three-Star Chef can be expelled if they get careless."
Kael knew the training camp all too well. Soma himself had almost crashed and burned there in the original timeline.
The training camp tested overall ability. You couldn't have any weaknesses. Like the original nighttime steak-set exam—efficiency and stamina were everything. Some students had great skill but couldn't keep up with the pace. Those students were eliminated immediately.
"So the goal is basically zero mistakes?"
Soma caught on quickly.
Kael watched him silently. Yeah. And you didn't listen to a word of it.
Teaching through words never worked for guys like Soma. Reality would have to slap him in the face before he understood.
Not surprising, though. Ever since entering Totsuki, Soma's journey had been nothing but victories. Plus, Satoshi Isshiki intentionally went easy on him during the entrance exam and boosted his confidence.
The result? Soma was definitely overconfident now. Kael figured the kid needed to stumble during the training camp to learn something useful.
"You really need to be careful," Alice warned. "Your cooking skills are great, but your mindset is… unstable."
Of course, her warning meant nothing. In the original timeline, when Alice saw what Soma planned to serve for breakfast, she knew what would happen.
Anyone paying attention could've seen the problem coming. But Soma didn't take it seriously, so even though Alice practically spelled it out for him, he still walked straight into disaster.
"Relax. I'll be fine!"
Soma waved confidently, grabbed the handbook, and walked off. He still needed to check what items were allowed and what weren't.
"That kid didn't listen at all. I just hope nothing goes wrong this time."
Fumio Daimido sighed. She'd seen countless students like Soma—young chefs absolutely convinced they were unbeatable. They strutted into the training camp full of confidence, certain they'd never end up among the expelled.
Then they failed a task, got kicked out, and their faces turned pale as death.
Being expelled because your skills weren't good enough was one thing.
Being expelled because you underestimated the exam?
That was the kind of regret that stayed with you forever.
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60 Powerstones = 1 bonus chapter