Chapter 74: My Only Friend
BLUE — Second Day of the Main Tournament.
The trials for the First, Second, and Third Gates had all concluded on the first day. Those who survived had reached the area below the main castle.
With all the preliminaries complete, the battles from this point onward switched to a tournament format. The matchups were completely random, and no one would know who would face whom until the organizers made the announcement.
On top of that, even the theme was only revealed right before the match—a brutally harsh condition. Ordinary chefs couldn't even produce a satisfactory dish under such circumstances. It was truly a stage worthy of deciding the world's strongest.
As for me, I had already fought and defeated two opponents.
Both were mob characters from the "Noir Chefs of Midnight," so the matches ended quickly. I was currently relaxing in the waiting room, preparing for my next bout.
"…Shogo-kun. Good work out there."
"Oh, Erina. You too. It was a good match."
"Yes, she was strong. Tadokoro-san."
While I was blankly staring at the starry night sky from my chair, Erina entered the waiting room after finishing her match against Tadokoro—the first semifinal of the main tournament.
For Totsuki students, it was an awkward matchup since both were from the same school, making it hard to decide who to root for. But a match was a match. It ended with a clear victor. Tadokoro had fought hard, but her opponent was simply too strong.
"…Haa."
"Tired?"
"A little. …Though it's better than I expected. I thought Mother might do something to eliminate me, but… nothing happened after the first day either."
"Were you let down because the trials were the same as what the other participants faced?"
"…Before the main tournament started, I went to see Mother. She was with Father. We talked a little, and at the end, both of them told me… 'Do your best.'"
"Huh, that's nice. You got their support."
It seemed my trip to complain had been worthwhile.
They were parents who had been twisted by a troublesome sense of taste, but they still loved their daughter. No parent would want to avoid cheering for their child participating in such a big event.
"Glad all that unnecessary worry ended up being nothing. Now you can focus purely on cooking."
"That's true, but… it makes me feel silly for getting so worked up on my own. …By the way, did you talk with Mother? She kept asking about you."
"Hm? We just had a casual chat. I didn't do anything special."
"…Thank you, Shogo-kun."
Seeing Erina smile softly, I felt it was worth the effort.
Erina really did look best when she was smiling. She had walked an incredibly heavy path—abandoned by her mother and brainwashed by her father. From now on, I wanted to see her smile happily. …Well, compared to what she went through before, having a husband who's a bit loose with women is pretty cute.
"…Oh, they called me. I'll head to the semifinals then."
I stood up from my chair after hearing the announcement. I picked up my knife case and finished preparing to enter.
"Yes, do your best. …Fufu."
"Hm? What's up? Did something funny happen?"
"Sorry. You just looked like you were really enjoying yourself. …It was rare to see you look so childlike."
Enjoying myself, huh… As reluctant as I am to admit it, she hit the mark.
"…Yeah. The opponent being who he is, I might actually be looking forward to this."
"You'd better win. Because the one who will defeat you is me. …Your rival and greatest rival, that's me."
"Are you jealous? You're cute, Erina."
"…Idiot."
Honest Erina was truly adorable. The urge to hug her surged up, but I held back since I wasn't confident I could let go right away.
Instead, I settled for a light kiss.
"…Ngh. …Honestly. Doing something like this so suddenly in a place like this…"
"Did you dislike it?"
"…Not really."
"Then you were happy. You really are cute, Erina."
"~~~! Enough! Just go already!!"
Pushed on the back by my adorable girlfriend, I left the waiting room and headed to the arena. My opponent was already there. I lightly apologized for making him wait and walked quickly to the center of the venue.
Standing before my semifinal opponent—Yukihira Soma.
"It really happened, Soma. Honestly, I thought the chances were about fifty-fifty… You're one lucky guy."
"Well, must be my daily good deeds. …We can finally do this. —A real, serious match against you."
Seeing Soma burning with fighting spirit and genuine enjoyment, the corners of my mouth rose on their own. The unfamiliar emotion that had welled up yesterday was still burning in my chest. …Wanting to enjoy cooking. Even I was surprised at myself.
"I won't hold back, so don't get crushed, alright, Soma?"
"There's no way I'd get crushed! If you hold back, I won't forgive you! Shogo!"
Soma wasn't unaware of the difference in our abilities. He may be reckless and dense, but he was by no means stupid. —Yet the fact that he was seriously trying to defeat me made him just as abnormal as Erina. He was a chef who had stepped outside the bounds of what was considered normal.
The talent to confront his own shortcomings head-on and a greed that took priority over pride. There was probably no chef for whom the term "potential" fit better. It was impossible to imagine how far he could grow.
That was exactly why it was so interesting.
That was exactly why I liked Yukihira Soma.
To me, cooking had only ever been boring.
The cooking cheat I was born with had taken some effort to master, but its power was undeniably the strongest. With strength that embodied being unmatched, I had turned countless chefs into corpses.
No matter the ingredients, the genre, or the opponent, the result was always victory. My body moved on its own, producing dishes on its own. All I had to do was watch as victory rolled into my hands. It would be unreasonable to ask me to find enjoyment in something that was nothing more than a chore.
So why—was I thinking I want to enjoy this right now?
I could say it with certainty. It was because of the man smiling in front of me.
I had found myself expecting something from his seemingly infinite potential for growth.
Someday, he might become a chef capable of defeating me.
I had never wanted to experience defeat. In this world, winning was everything. I didn't deny the value of experience gained from loss, but having been born into a position where I had to keep winning, I could not afford to lose. A meaningless defeat would be no different from death.
That was why I trained my body and worked hard to master my cheat.
To fulfill the ambitions I held, I had lived, vomiting blood at times, to become a person worthy of the Santoku family.
…However, no matter how unnecessary I knew it was, I couldn't help but feel interest in things I didn't know. For me, that became defeat.
I was well aware of how arrogant this thinking was.
Even so, I couldn't help but wonder.
If it was the protagonist Yukihira Soma, he might be able to defeat the cheat known as Santoku Shogo.
My cooking cheat was the strongest. I couldn't imagine losing. —Precisely because of that, I wanted to see it.
If there was a future where Soma defeated me, if there was a dish capable of defeating this cheat, I wanted to witness it with my own eyes. It was an extremely arrogant and luxurious curiosity, but the problem lay not with me, but with Soma, who had made me feel it was possible.
If there were any chefs in this world capable of defeating me, it would undoubtedly be only these two: Yukihira Soma and Nakiri Erina.
Only when facing these two did a match stop being a predetermined task and become something with the thrill of possibly losing.
One of them was seriously trying to defeat me. Even while understanding the gap in our abilities, he was trying to give me the word defeat. Just that was enough to make my heart race in a way that didn't suit me.
It seemed I could smile even without lust being involved. Just realizing that made me glad I had met Soma.
In this battle, I had to show him.
The high, steep wall he needed to climb in order to grow further.
"—Soma. I shouldn't have to say this, but give it everything you've got. …Otherwise, it won't mean anything."
"…Of course. I'll answer with my dish. With everything—my cooking has to offer."
Let's have a fun, fun match.
My, only friend.
***
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