Chapter 80
Ending the chat with Mineo, Kobayashi Rindo immediately pulled the white bath towel off her body. She originally wanted to grab her school uniform but suddenly remembered it was currently vacation time. Therefore, Kobayashi Rindo picked out a fairly cute shirt and a casual plaid skirt and put them on.
After donning knee-high socks and small leather shoes, Kobayashi Rindo immediately bought a plane ticket to fly back to Tokyo. At approximately three o'clock in the afternoon, Kobayashi Rindo's figure appeared at the Tokyo Airport!
Kobayashi Rindo carried a small backpack, inside which was a collapsible baseball bat!
In her heart, she thought that if Mineo was playing a prank on her this time, she would use this bat to crack his head open!
After hailing a taxi, it took a bit more time. When she finally began climbing Mount Akatsuki, Kobayashi Rindo felt truly shaken!
"Here... a restaurant really appeared?"
"Oh my god! This guy, Mineo, he was serious this time?"
Kobayashi Rindo got out of the car and walked toward the front of the restaurant. She was now a bit suspicious—did Mineo open a restaurant here just for the purpose of meeting her, his online friend, in person?
"Is anyone inside?"
"Mineo-kun! Are you in there? Is this your restaurant?"
Kobayashi Rindo stepped into the restaurant and scanned her surroundings. At the same time, Mineo's voice echoed from the direction of the kitchen.
"Coming, coming! I'll be right out!"
Soon, Mineo came running out of the kitchen area.
"Kobayashi Rindo?"
"Mineo!?"
The two stared at each other. Mineo said with a smile:
"Wow, that was fast! I only sent the message this morning, and you're already here by the afternoon!"
"Did you really hope to meet me in person that badly?"
"You idiot! Do you think I came all the way here just to meet an annoying guy like you?"
Kobayashi Rindo sat down on the sofa without the slightest hint of awkwardness.
"I came to see the ingredients—to see those rare ingredients!"
"Mineo-kun, even though you're quite handsome, if you lied to me this time, I'm going to be really angry!"
"See my bag? I specifically brought a baseball bat. If you lied to me, I'll crush your head, you hear me..."
"Crush my head? Damn, Rindo, you're actually heartless!"
"Heartless? Do you think it was easy for me to travel all this way? Isn't it because I believed in you? If you make me unhappy, giving you a little lesson is only natural! Besides, you should be calling me Rindo-senpai. I'm older than you, you know?"
"The title 'Rindo-senpai' is too formal. Just 'Rindo' is enough! Is there any need to be so formal between the two of us? Besides, in a little while, your title for me is going to change to 'Daddy' or 'Grandpa,' so I won't press the issue for now!"
"Making me call you 'Daddy' or 'Grandpa'?"
Rindo narrowed her eyes at Mineo, her gaze resembling that of a cat.
"Then hurry up and bring out those rare ingredients you have so I can see them!"
"A tuna that has an octopus tail... I still don't dare to believe such a thing even now!"
"Don't believe what? How could I possibly trick you!? I'm telling you, Rindo, I can actually understand why you don't dare to believe it. After all, they say women have long hair but short insights! Your hair is so long, it's only natural your insight is lacking, so today I'll take you to broaden your horizons! Follow me this way!"
The last time Toriko visited, he had brought a lot of ingredients, and Takamine Mineo had only used a small portion of them. Although that glutton Toriko could have finished everything even if he had cooked more, there was a saying, right? With such amazing ingredients in hand, if he didn't save some, wouldn't he be letting Toriko-kun's kindness go to waste!
Therefore, Mineo had set aside four-fifths of the ingredients Toriko brought. The photo he sent to Kobayashi Rindo earlier was of one of the Squid Tunas that was still fresh.
A place as magnificent as the Dimension Restaurant naturally had a ranch area! So, Mineo kept this Squid Tuna in a water tank. Leading Kobayashi Rindo toward the first basement floor, the two soon arrived at the underground ingredient storage area!
Kobayashi Rindo's footsteps came to a sudden halt... Her vision was struck by a piece of meat hanging there! In a corner of the freezing area, a massive slab of frozen meat was suspended! This piece of meat was very, very large—its size surpassed the imagination!
Furthermore, the texture of the meat was extremely unique. Kobayashi Rindo realized that she couldn't immediately identify what kind of animal this meat actually came from! A giant, whole piece of meat like that couldn't possibly come from a land creature, but even in the sea, the meat of a whale or a shark didn't look like this!!
As a professional chef, it could be said that Kobayashi Rindo had seen over 95% of the ingredients available on the market! She had even cooked most of them herself! But now, a single piece of meat hanging there had left her completely unable to find its origin. This left her deeply shocked.
Seeing that Kobayashi Rindo had stopped walking and was instead staring at the meat hanging in the freezer, Takamine Mineo gave a mysterious smile and said:
"Are you feeling curious about what kind of creature's meat this is?"
"Rindo, I told you your insight was a bit lacking, and you didn't want to believe me!"
"This cut of meat is Elephant Kong meat!"
"You don't know what an Elephant Kong is, do you?"
"Its outward appearance is very similar to an ancient mammoth; its head is also like a type of large reptile with a trunk on its nose! Under the thick layer of fat of this creature, a meat quality with an extraordinary texture is hidden! Not to mention its pure aroma—this meat has an unparalleled springiness!"
"I'm telling you this, though you might not believe it: this type of meat, even without any added seasoning, just by simple roasting, can release a pure aroma that is both wild and incomparably tender!"
Kobayashi Rindo indeed didn't know what kind of creature an Elephant Kong was, but from the tempting color radiating from the surface of the meat and the abundant marbling, it felt like the flavor would be incredibly intense! At this moment, a glint of greed appeared in her bright eyes.
"I really... I really want to try it..."
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