After the Stagiaire period ended, the first-year students gradually made their way back to campus.
Having endured the grueling training in real restaurant kitchens, the students' demeanors had undergone a significant change; they were no longer as naive as they had once been.
Trials and life experiences have a way of changing a person.
In every possible aspect.
The culinary skills of everyone at the Polar Star Dormitory had improved by at least an entire level.
After greeting everyone he hadn't seen in a while, Satoshi Isshiki caught hold of Lexon to seriously inform him of something.
It wasn't anything major.
It was simply that the academy required the current Elite Ten to meet with the Top 8 from the Autumn Elections.
It was meant to give the Autumn Election finalists, who might eventually succeed the Elite Ten, a chance to witness the poise and style of the council.
Commonly known as... the "Maple Viewing Gala"!
Satoshi Isshiki was being so serious because he was worried Lexon would let it go in one ear and out the other again, giving a response but never actually showing up.
"Don't worry, Senior Isshiki, I'll be there," Lexon gave Satoshi a reassuring reply.
It was a rare occasion where all of the Elite Ten would be gathered, so he could take the opportunity to try and challenge the rest of them for a match.
Therefore, he wouldn't miss it.
"You really have to go! You can't skip this!" After emphasizing it a few more times, Satoshi finally stopped badgering Lexon about it.
Thus... a few days later, the Maple Viewing Gala arrived as scheduled.
Crimson maple leaves drifted through the wind.
In this picturesque maple forest, a long tablecloth was spread over the fallen leaves covering the ground.
The Top 8 of the Autumn Elections and most members of the Elite Ten were all present.
It was worth noting that Erina Nakiri, as the Autumn Election champion and the tenth seat of the Elite Ten, was sitting on the side with the first-years.
"Has Lexon not arrived yet?" Soma Yukihira looked toward the Elite Ten seats and noticed that his good friend seemed to be the only one missing.
"Isn't he your friend? You don't know?" Sitting nearby, Erina Nakiri frowned and voiced her confusion.
"Erina, he's your cousin... and yet you don't know either," Soma replied with a long face. Then, looking over at Satoshi Isshiki among the Elite Ten, he asked, "Senior, do you know?"
"I don't know where he went either," Satoshi replied.
'Surely he isn't skipping out, right? Lexon...'
He suddenly felt a bit of worry in his heart.
"Just ignore a guy like that! He hasn't done a single thing since becoming part of the Elite Ten!" a petite girl with purple hair holding a stuffed bear spoke up from the Elite Ten side.
She was the fourth seat of the Elite Ten, Momo Akanegakubo.
A girl who specialized in desserts.
"Momo hates people like him the most! Shoving all his work onto others... I'm exhausted!" Momo continued to complain.
"Yeah, he hasn't shown his face at the Council meetings for so long. It's really quite rude!" called out a beautiful red-haired girl with a snaggletooth, sitting in a wild posture.
She was the second seat, Rindou Kobayashi.
She specialized in exotic ingredients.
Her personality was as wild as her passion for exploration.
"Is he looking down on us...?" Rindou continued her verbal assault with a huffing expression, turning her attention toward Satoshi. "Isshiki, I heard he shares a dorm with you. What's the deal? Does he look down on us?"
"I don't think Lexon means it that way," Satoshi replied with a smile.
"Ahhh... if this goes on much longer, I'm going to be late... should we wait longer... ah... but if waiting any longer makes me miss the scheduled time for the guests..." a distressed, gentle male voice followed.
The voice belonged to a handsome young man with white hair.
He looked rather fragile...
He was the first seat of Totsuki, Eishi Tsukasa.
The so-called "White Knight of the Table," and also Lexon's target for a Shokugeki.
As for the remaining third and fifth seats, they were both male.
The third seat was Tosuke Megishima, a tall guy who didn't speak much.
He specialized in ramen.
The fifth seat was Somei Saito, a man dressed in samurai attire who enjoyed speaking in a samurai dialect.
He specialized in sushi.
"Why don't we just stop waiting and start now," suggested Eizan, the ninth seat who had previously suffered a crushing defeat at Lexon's hands.
"Mmm... alright..." Eishi accepted the suggestion and was about to speak. "Then—"
"Sorry I'm late."
But in the next moment, a voice cut in.
Following the voice was a handsome figure with a cool, detached aura.
"Lexon!" Soma Yukihira greeted him.
"Yo," Lexon responded with a slight wave of his hand.
He walked toward the table and took his designated seat.
"You sure act like a big shot, making everyone wait for you." Because his pride had been completely shattered, a resentful Eizan spoke to Lexon with a very poor attitude.
"Momo hates you," the dessert girl added, equally dissatisfied.
"Failing to fulfill the duties of the Elite Ten is indeed hard to justify... it is not the act of a righteous man," Somei Saito chimed in.
The third seat, Tosuke Megishima, nodded as well.
It was clear that quite a few members of the Elite Ten were already unhappy with Lexon.
"Now, now... as long as he's good-looking, it's fine!" Rindou Kobayashi laughed lightheartedly.
"Then... then since everyone is here, the Maple Viewing Gala officially begins!" As the first seat, Eishi naturally had to take the responsibility of hosting.
Though he didn't particularly want to.
"Wait, I have something to say!" the eighth seat, Terunori Kuga, who had been silent until then, suddenly spoke up.
He was a young man with spiky yellow hair and was another individual who had suffered a crushing defeat at Lexon's hands.
"What do you want to say?" Eishi looked toward Kuga.
"Lexon!" Kuga turned his gaze toward Lexon, pointing a finger as he shouted, "Have a Shokugeki with me!"
"No."
Before Kuga's words could even fully land, Lexon's voice had already rung out.
For a moment, the scene fell into a dead silence.
"Wh... wh... why!" After a long time, Kuga finally managed to cry out.
"Then why did you suddenly propose a Shokugeki with such completely unequal conditions before! Was it just because you purely wanted to defeat me!"
"Defeating me and then refusing to battle again! This is so frustrating!"
"Because winning once is enough," Lexon responded flatly.
"I..." Kuga still wanted to struggle.
"It's useless." Lexon shattered his fantasies with that single sentence.
'Not even giving me a chance...'
Kuga's face was filled with disappointment.
He had once challenged Eishi Tsukasa and failed... Eishi became the person he most wanted to defeat.
Then he was steamrolled by Lexon... Lexon likewise became his top target.
But regardless of which side he turned to... it seemed he couldn't even get a chance for a rematch now.
It couldn't help but make him feel a bit miserable.
"Hey, Lexon!" After Kuga fell silent, Eizan also called out to Lexon, making the same request. "Have a Shokugeki with me!"
Before Lexon could refuse, Eizan continued, stating his conditions. "If you lose, I won't ask anything of you, but if you win, I'll give you fifty million!"
He tried to use money to entice Lexon into agreeing to a Shokugeki.
Ever since his Shokugeki with Lexon, Lexon had become like a mental block on his culinary path, an obstacle he couldn't remove.
So even if it cost him money, he wanted an opportunity to face Lexon just to make that mental block vanish.
Except...
"No." Lexon gave the same answer.
'What do I need money for...'
'Once the world mission is complete, this entire story world will be mine...'
'Why would I bother having a Shokugeki with you for no reason.'
[Reviews - Power St0nes - Comments are highly appreciated to keep me going.....(+50 chapters) patre0n.c0m/talecrafter]