The restaurant happened to be quiet now, and Yuto had already been thinking about learning more from other fields of cooking.
Although Erina and Hisako's skills still could not compare with his, both of them specialized in areas he had barely touched before.
Erina was skilled in Western cuisine, especially French cuisine, and she had her own understanding of it.
Hisako specialized in blending traditional cuisine with medicinal cooking, and in a way, her cooking style suited her personality very well.
Since they had some free time, Yuto used the chance to learn from the two girls in the kitchen, asking about fields he had never properly studied before.
Cooking improved through constant learning, then through constant exchange and collision.
In that sense, it was no different from any other path in the world.
In the kitchen, Yuto also shared his own understanding and knowledge of cooking.
What had started as him learning from Erina and Hisako gradually became a discussion between equals.
Whether it was Chinese cuisine, Western cuisine, or certain unique and obscure niche dishes, none of them existed in complete isolation. They were all connected in different ways.
From the moment humanity gained fire, cooking had begun to take shape in the human world.
In that distant era, even if people were separated by thousands or even tens of thousands of miles, similar sparks of thought would not be extinguished by distance.
Perhaps one person stood in the West and another in the East, with entire oceans between them, but in the end, they were all human.
The feeling that stirred in the heart when facing fire was something shared.
The cuisine born from that feeling naturally had things in common as well.
When facing different types of cuisine, what mattered most was keeping a steady heart.
Too much humility and too much pride would both make people lose sight of where they had started.
In his previous life, Yuto had only scratched the surface of Western cuisine. He could not call himself knowledgeable about it, only somewhat familiar.
Tonight, after listening to Erina explain a great deal about Western cuisine, many new ideas surfaced in his mind.
Perhaps many dishes could still be improved further.
As for the medicinal cooking theories Hisako spoke about, Yuto listened with quiet admiration.
He had a fair amount of understanding and experience with medicinal cuisine. He himself had also mastered several methods for making medicinal dishes.
However, compared with Hisako, who specialized in that field, his understanding was naturally lacking.
So he learned quite a lot from her as well.
If it had been an ordinary person, they might still have needed time to digest and accumulate all that new knowledge.
But Yuto was different.
After several extraordinary encounters, his body, mind, and brain had long since surpassed ordinary people.
Faced with the new knowledge Erina and Hisako shared, Yuto understood it, grew familiar with it, mastered it, and even began drawing broader conclusions from it in an extremely short time.
He kept asking questions, and the questions he asked later left both Erina and Hisako somewhat speechless.
The two girls could no longer keep up with his "growth."
What had originally been an equal discussion about cooking gradually became Yuto taking the lead again.
At first, Erina and Hisako felt a little unwilling and frustrated, but after glancing at each other, the two girls accepted it.
After all, they had already seen so many unbelievable things.
What else was there that they could not accept?
"I don't have anything left to explain..."
Erina sighed helplessly, sounding rather defeated.
She had originally thought she could rely on the cooking knowledge she specialized in to gain a slight advantage over Yuto.
But things had changed far too quickly.
"Kamisaka-kun really is shocking. At first, there were clearly things you didn't understand, but now, even I can't answer the questions you're asking."
Hisako also sighed in amazement.
However, compared with her defeated young lady, she recovered much better.
She only felt down for a brief moment before her expression turned into one of admiration.
Yuto laughed lightly.
"Thank you, both of you. You let me ask so many questions and answer honestly."
Yuto spoke softly to the two of them.
Erina had already collected herself.
The proud young lady crossed her arms in front of her chest and faced Yuto with a stubborn look on her face.
"No need to thank us. You also told Hisako and me a great deal. This counts as an equal exchange."
Her beautiful golden hair trembled beside her fair cheeks.
It was like gold brushing against white jade.
The girl's beauty truly was dazzling.
Yuto smiled faintly and let out a soft breath.
Although he had only known Erina for a few days, he had already gained some understanding of her personality.
Her personality was very similar to her somewhat forceful, dazzling appearance.
Unexpectedly stubborn~~~~
"Yes. The things Kamisaka-kun said just now also helped me understand a lot. If we're talking about thanks, then I should be thanking you too, Kamisaka-kun."
Hisako smiled beside her young lady as she spoke to Yuto.
She was still much more honest than Erina.
"If you want to learn more, I would recommend going to Tōtsuki. They've collected all kinds of culinary knowledge there." Erina spoke with genuine goodwill.
Yuto became thoughtful after hearing that.
As a world-famous culinary academy, it was only natural that Tōtsuki would have collected many different types of culinary knowledge.
Perhaps he really could go take a look another day.
Yuto briefly considered it in his heart.
...
Clatter~~~
Along with the sound of the restaurant door opening, Yuto walked out of the kitchen.
"Welcome."
"Oh~~~ What a mysterious place."
The customer who sighed in admiration was a middle-aged man.
He was tall, with a forehead protector on his head bearing the character "oil."
His long white hair reached his waist, and beneath his eyes were red markings that looked like two streaks of blood.
He wore a red outer coat over brown clothing. On his feet were wooden sandals, and both of his hands were covered by armor-like equipment.
There was a faint smile at the corner of his mouth.
At first glance, he gave off the impression of someone very reliable.
At least, that was what Yuto silently thought.
The middle-aged man looked around the restaurant.
When he saw Tohru standing near the counter, his eyes immediately lit up, as if he had found a pleasant surprise.
That made the dragon girl frown.
Even the tail behind her swung a little unhappily.
At that moment, Erina and Hisako also walked out of the kitchen.
The instant the two girls appeared, the middle-aged man's gaze shifted to them.
Yuto saw that gaze very clearly.
It was the unmistakable sleazy look that only certain middle-aged men seemed able to master!
"Oho~~~ My, my—what rare beauties~~~"
The moment those words came out of the man's mouth, Yuto began doubting his first impression.
Reliable?
No.
He suddenly felt this person was not reliable at all!
When every girl in the restaurant looked at him with disgust and rejection, the man simply crossed his arms and snorted with a carefree laugh.
The corner of his mouth even carried an extremely confident and proud curve.
Then he suddenly stretched out one palm, crouched down, and extended his other hand to the opposite side of his body.
His long white hair swayed wildly along with the movement of his neck.
That series of movements did look rather impressive.
Then he opened his mouth.
"Hmph, hmph, hmph. I am Jiraiya, the Toad Sage of Mount Myōboku! Now then, girls, have you felt this sage's presence?!"
For a moment, everyone was stunned.
Sage?
'Uh...'
'Was he really not some kind of comedian?'
Yuto was confused.
"..."
It was very awkward.
After Jiraiya finished that pose, everyone in the restaurant looked at him as if they were looking at an idiot.
Even Ainz and Rimuru were no exception.
The two of them had not put their headsets back on after taking them off earlier.
It seemed Jiraiya himself also sensed the awkwardness.
He withdrew his arms and stood normally again.
He curled one hand into a hollow fist, brought it to his mouth, and coughed twice to ease his embarrassment.
"Idiot." Erina gave her evaluation cleanly and decisively.
She did not even bother lowering her voice as everyone heard it.
Yuto shook his head lightly with slight helplessness.
However, he did not say anything to Erina.
He could understand her.
After all, Jiraiya's gaze had offended every single female here first.
Jiraiya, however, did not show much change in expression.
He still looked very open and carefree.
Either he was used to this kind of reaction, or his skin was simply too thick.
"Ah... Are you an actor from a historical drama?"
Rimuru looked at him and asked in a somewhat dazed voice.
Historical drama was the name used in this country for period dramas.
After hearing Rimuru's words, Yuto took another look at Jiraiya.
At that glance, he could not help pausing inwardly.
'There really was some resemblance.'
"Hah? What historical drama? Don't joke around. I am a proper ninja!"
Jiraiya's expression became strange, and his tone carried both pride and disdain.
After he finished speaking, the expressions of everyone in the restaurant changed.
The one with the biggest reaction was Rimuru, followed by Ainz.
As for Yuto and the others, their eyes merely became slightly strange.
"Oooooooooooooh!!! A real ninja?!"
Rimuru became a little excited.
"Of course! I'm not one of those fake ninjas. I'm one of the legendary Sannin of Konoha! At the same time, I am also the Toad Sage of Mount Myōboku!"
Although they did not understand what all of Jiraiya's titles meant, that did not stop Rimuru from feeling amazed.
"That's amazing!!!"
Rimuru's reaction made Jiraiya hum proudly twice.
He put his hands on his waist and kept nodding, and the way he looked at Rimuru clearly carried the meaning of "you have good eyes."
Ainz was very confused.
Why did Rimuru believe him so easily?
"Rimuru, are you a child?"
Ainz turned his head and looked at Rimuru.
"Ah? No."
"No, you are definitely a child!"
After saying that, Ainz turned his head away and stopped talking to Rimuru.
No matter how Rimuru complained behind him, Ainz ignored him!