Totsuki Resort.

The second day of hellish training, nine o’clock in the morning, Shimiya’s cooking classroom.

The atmosphere was listless; apparently, the news of Chef Shimiya dismissing 30 students yesterday had spread.

The assignment was a recipe created by Chef Shimiya himself.

Aruchi Yuzu held the recipe, but wasn’t particularly nervous; she was adept at following recipes.

The students at St. Mary’s Academy considered her a genius girl who completed six years of curriculum in three, but actually, she used a dream controller invented by Saiki Kousuke to learn how master pastry chefs made desserts while sleeping, and then replicated them from memory after waking up.

This was equivalent to having double the learning time compared to others.

Everyone initially followed others’ steps; only after mastering them could they integrate them into their own style.

Although Chef Shimiya had a noticeable villainous aura, he didn’t deliberately make things difficult for first-years; the recipe was clearly written.

Aruchi Yuzu had also been frantically supplementing her culinary knowledge lately, with practical guidance from Eisuke Soma, and had made some progress.

French-style vegetable terrine with 9 kinds of vegetables.

Each vegetable was cooked using a different method, and the results had to blend harmoniously.

According to Chef Shimiya himself, this was the easiest one in his repertoire.

Aruchi Yuzu smiled faintly, but there was no amusement in her eyes.

Indeed, the culinary techniques in this world were very advanced, just like the dessert techniques in another world.

She pushed aside her chaotic thoughts, took a deep breath, and immersed herself in the vegetable terrine.

As more and more students were dismissed, the atmosphere in the classroom became increasingly stagnant.

Yukihira Soma was the first to pass. He didn’t leave immediately; after returning to his cooking station, he worriedly watched Tadokoro Megumi, who was usually insecure.

Everyone knew that Tadokoro Megumi was actually very talented; she just got extremely nervous during exams.

Fortunately, Kasegawa Mame passed second.

Then came Aruchi Yuzu.

Three consecutive passes finally eased the tension among the students.

Seeing Kasegawa Mame waiting for her at the door, Aruchi Yuzu walked out.

“Why did you learn to cook?”

She stopped, turning to look at Chef Shimiya, who had spoken.

“Do you know me?”

Their voices weren’t loud, but Kasegawa Mame, who had just taken a step, still heard them. She hurried back, “What’s wrong? Didn’t Yuzu-sama already pass?”

Chef Shimiya ignored Kasegawa Mame and answered Aruchi Yuzu’s question, “You dined at my restaurant during the French Junior Cello Cup. That was the last trophy of your Grand Slam, wasn’t it? As long as you won that competition, you would be the Grand Slam champion of more than a dozen countries that held the competition. So, why did the genius cellist who actually became a Grand Slam champion come to learn cooking?”

“I thought your passion for cooking surpassed your reliance on talent, but I didn’t taste that passion in your cooking.”

Aruchi Yuzu tentatively asked, somewhat embarrassed, “Chef Shimiya, you wouldn’t… be my fan, would you?”

Chef Shimiya denied it, “Just curious.”

Aruchi Yuzu responded with a dubious “Oh.”

She said jokingly, with an uncertain tone, “I guess I was probably given some kind of super cello-playing magic by God, and then… because a witch was jealous of me receiving God’s favor, she cast a spell on me, making me think the cello is super boring?”

Aruchi Yuzu chuckled to herself, then her emerald-green eyes narrowed playfully, “The cello lacks a bit of ‘pi-ka’ feeling.”

Chef Shimiya looked like he didn’t understand what modern kids were thinking, “‘Pi-ka’? What is that?”

Aruchi Yuzu smiled slightly, turned, and paused before leaving, adding a final sentence, “I know a guy who also cooks French cuisine. You haven’t learned anything about French romance; you’re all meticulous like Germans, boring.”

Those who grew up abroad were different; even their way of speaking to teachers was different from Japanese students.

Chef Shimiya seemed to be petrified.

Someone was presenting their dish to the teacher for evaluation, but they seemed to have overheard something they shouldn’t have.

What did he hear?

Oh, he heard Aruchi-san say that Chef Shimiya was boring.

Help! If he fails later, can he say that Chef Shimiya was acting out of personal vendetta?

In the shadows, Todoroki Gin, the head chef of Totsuki Resort, closed his eyes: “I’m sorry, Shimiya, I accidentally overheard it too.”

“Don’t worry, in terms of cooking, I am absolutely impartial,” Chef Shimiya said ominously, staring at the student about to be slaughtered, who was imagining a bright future.

Two lines of tears flowed down the student’s face: “Woo woo.”

Aruchi Yuzu didn’t care about the storm she left behind and invited Kasegawa Mame to her room to play. On the way, they met the Nakiri Erina and Shinobu Nishina duo, who were holding playing cards.

Both parties stared at each other for a moment. They were all prominent first-years. Aruchi Yuzu thought that if they continued staring, it would be awkward, so she invited them to her room to play cards.

Nakiri Erina and Shinobu Nishina were probably the people in the entire first-year class who understood Aruchi Yuzu’s abilities the best; her entrance exam was judged by these two.

The four added each other as friends.

Unfortunately, the lunch break was too short; they didn’t play two rounds of cards.

In the evening, Aruchi Yuzu received a message from Yoshino Yuki inquiring about Tadokoro Megumi and Yukihira Soma’s disappearance.

She hurried to the common lounge, met with the Polar Star Dormitory members, and learned that they couldn’t even reach them by phone, causing her to worry.

“Yukihira passed before me, so he wouldn’t have lost contact because of the exam.”

Polar Star Dormitory members: Even more worried.

Fortunately, Tadokoro Megumi appeared in the end. She explained how she almost failed, but her cooking moved Chef Shimiya, and she and Yukihira Soma were allowed to stay.

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief and started laughing and joking.

“Doesn’t that mean Megumi and Yukihira won against Chef Shimiya!” Yoshino Yuki exclaimed excitedly.

“No, no, we lost, but the teachers voted to let us stay,” Tadokoro Megumi hurriedly waved her hands, flustered.

“That means you got the approval of star chefs! That’s amazing, Megumi!” Yoshino Yuki continued to praise her, hugging Tadokoro Megumi, whose heart was still racing.

“But… Yukihira seems a little down. Maybe it’s because we still lost,” Tadokoro Megumi’s perception of others’ emotions was incredibly keen. Even though Yukihira Soma hid it well, she sensed his strong feelings of frustration.

Yukihira Soma was probably truly affected; his training and practice for the next two days were like he was on steroids.

Aruchi Yuzu was always exhausted at the end of each day.

The only solace was that taking a bath after a hard day’s work was very comfortable, feeling like her whole body was completely relaxed.

And the princess of the Dessert Kingdom’s little spirit provided a shoulder massage, although it didn’t really feel like anything; the little spirit’s strength was probably only enough to pull out one of her hairs.

Then, as she was enjoying the most relaxing time of the day, the hotel’s butler for her room knocked on her door.

He informed her that a broadcast downstairs instructed all Totsuki Academy students to change into their uniforms and gather in the lobby.

The broadcast didn’t reach this floor, so he came to inform her personally.

Aruchi Yuzu’s mind jolted.

Her muscles had physically relaxed from the bath, so even though her mind was tense, her whole body was still limp. Aruchi Yuzu wanted to hug her bed one last time, and almost couldn’t get up again.

She arrived at the lobby just in time for the gathering, the same place as the first day of training, filled with red decorations. But the densely packed students then were now sparsely scattered; the number reduction was obvious.

They were an elimination system for a competition; this was an elimination system for school.

Ruthless, Totsuki was ruthless.

Even more ruthless was the announcement at 10 PM: A buffet breakfast would be provided for hotel guests at 6 AM the next day; each person had to sell 200 servings within the allotted time to pass.

Those who were confident went to sleep; those who weren’t confident stayed up all night in the kitchen.

What? The theme is eggs? Then it’s fine; Aruchi Yuzu’s sleep was saved.

She hurried back to her room, taking advantage of her still-relaxed muscles to quickly fall asleep.

Time was precious, but she absolutely couldn’t forget her alarm.

She also had to familiarize herself with her assigned kitchen.

Nakiri Erina wanted to taunt Yukihira Soma, but Aruchi Yuzu, who had a friendly relationship with him, stood with Kasegawa Mame and the Polar Star Dormitory members, so she swallowed her words and instead invited Aruchi Yuzu to her private kitchen.

As one of the Elite Ten, Nakiri Erina didn’t need to share a kitchen with a dozen people; she had her own, and Shinobu Nishina also used her kitchen because of her secretary position.

Aruchi Yuzu readily agreed and expressed her gratitude.

Nakiri Erina tossed her hair, “No need to thank me. Your egg dishes deserve a top-tier kitchen.”

Yukihira Soma cheerfully approached, “Speaking of which, the entrance exam was also egg dishes, right? That time, even that guy said Aruchi’s dish was delicious. What did you make? But I think the honey soufflé you made at the Polar Star Dormitory was super delicious.”

Aruchi Yuzu yawned, “Oh, right, I need to decide what to make before I sleep. Thanks for the reminder. I’ll go back to my room.”

Yukihira Soma smirked, his eyes full of fighting spirit, “You’re not even going to test it in the kitchen? You’re so confident.”

Nakiri Erina watched Aruchi Yuzu walk away, arms crossed, looking down from above, “If you’ve tasted her desserts, you should know that in this field, she’s truly invincible.”

Yukihira Soma drawled, “But, I always feel that she was like Senior Isshiki back then, not showing her full strength at all.”

Nakiri Erina raised an eyebrow and chuckled, “Is that so? You certainly don’t deserve Aruchi-san to show her full strength. Look forward to seeing her at her best, although tomorrow’s stage might not be big enough.”

“Hmph, goodbye.”

Nakiri Erina made a queen-like exit.