Chapter 108.
"Eizan actually rigged the theme to be cake?"
Rindo Kobayashi's striking eyes widened in genuine surprise. Her mind instantly flashed back to the exquisite, heart-shaped cake Shijun had once baked for her. Having returned from her overseas trip a few days prior, she had practically moved into the Chinese Cuisine Research Society clubroom, idly watching her boyfriend drill Tadokoro Megumi while picking up a few techniques herself.
"Megumi rarely bakes cakes—Eizan is playing incredibly dirty."
Yoshino Yuki muttered, her face twisting with worry.
"It will be fine. As long as I give it everything I have."
Megumi replied softly. The girl standing there today radiated a quiet, unshakeable confidence that the old, easily terrified Megumi fundamentally lacked.
"Then you better beg your President for some pointers. He is an absolute master pastry chef."
Rindo teased, flashing a predatory grin.
"Really?!"
"The President bakes?!"
"We've literally never seen you make sweets!"
The girls' eyes instantly lit up, crowding around him excitedly.
"Baking a cake is fundamentally simple. I'll walk you through the core techniques later." Shijun said smoothly. "But first, it is time to teach 'Megane-kun' a permanent lesson."
Shijun was a man who kept meticulous ledgers on his grudges. Eizan had already targeted Megumi during the training camp; merely humiliating him in the boardroom back then had been an act of extreme mercy. Now, Shijun intended to completely break him.
Reading the lethal intent in her boyfriend's eyes, Rindo shook her head.
"Eizan is a weasel. He will never accept a formal Shokugeki against you. Even if you publicly challenge him, he would gladly swallow the humiliation and refuse if he knows he can't win. To a scumbag like him, pride is cheap."
Rindo understood the 9th Seat's cowardly pragmatism better than anyone in the room.
"Oh, don't worry." Shijun snorted coldly, a dark, mysterious smile stretching across his face. "By the time I'm done, a Shokugeki will be the least of his concerns."
The next day. The Moon Palace Arena.
The first round of the Autumn Election's main tournament was about to commence. Tadokoro Megumi vs. Subaru Mimasaka.
The anticipation in the stadium was suffocating. As the 1st place victor of Block B facing the 4th place survivor of Block A, Megumi theoretically held the higher seed. But every first-year knew Mimasaka was a terrifying anomaly—an undefeated stalker with 100 consecutive Shokugeki victories. Megumi's reputation was still largely tied to being Shijun's protégé. No one could confidently predict the victor.
"Look at the judge's table! The Director is here!"
"The Food Demon is personally judging a first-round match?! It truly is the main tournament!"
"Sendawara Natsume, Kita Shuji, Ando Shingo... the panel is stacked with heavyweights!"
The Board of Directors was clearly treating this match with maximum scrutiny. When Shijun and Rindo took their seats in the VIP front row, the atmosphere was already boiling. The Elite Ten member assigned to officially oversee the duel was Nakiri Erina.
"Huh? I fully expected Eizan to supervise this match." Rindo noted, tilting her head. "Given his usual tactics, he wouldn't miss the chance to stand over the arena and inflict psychological pressure on Megumi, even with the Director present."
"Megane-kun?" Shijun chuckled darkly. "He is likely having a complete mental breakdown right now."
Rindo didn't press for details; she simply settled in to enjoy the show.
Down in the center of the arena, Megumi was completely in her element. Her chosen dish was a Golden Sponge Cake. While the execution wasn't as labor-intensive as a Baumkuchen, the required texture was infinitely more delicate—a perfect reflection of the soft-spoken, meticulous girl baking it.
However, the crowd was utterly disturbed by the sight on the other side of the kitchen. Subaru Mimasaka—a hulking, heavily tattooed giant of a man—was flawlessly mirroring Megumi's exact, gentle movements, delicately folding batter with pinpoint precision. The sheer visual dissonance of the massive brute mimicking a timid girl made Shijun's eyes physically hurt.
Two hours into the match, as the baking phase peaked, Eizan Etsuya finally appeared in the stands.
His face was a ghastly, livid shade of gray. Radiating absolute, unfiltered fury, he marched directly toward Shijun. The surrounding students instantly fell dead silent, terrified by the 9th Seat's murderous aura.
Shijun remained perfectly relaxed, looking as if a waiter had just brought him the check.
"Shi... Jun..." Eizan hissed, practically grinding his teeth to dust.
He had arrogantly assumed Shijun wouldn't dare retaliate beyond manipulating the tournament brackets. After all, this was Japan; he believed the Chinese conglomerate's influence was geopolitically limited.
He had drastically underestimated the terrifying reach of absolute capital.
The exact moment Megumi's matchup was announced yesterday, Eizan's consulting empire was hit by a coordinated, apocalyptic sniper attack. He held lucrative consulting contracts with over five hundred restaurants nationwide. In less than twenty-four hours, over two hundred of those restaurants had unilaterally severed their contracts with him.
It was a devastating, catastrophic financial blow. The 'Alchemist' was currently staring down the barrel of total bankruptcy. He, a man who had never truly penetrated the highest echelons of the global elite, had fundamentally misunderstood the vindictive energy of a true titan.
Shijun looked up at the trembling 9th Seat with cold, absolute indifference.
Eizan's business model was essentially parasitic; he optimized recipes and managed performance in exchange for equity. He wasn't the actual owner of those establishments. With a single phone call to his mother—a legendary, apex predator in the Japanese corporate sphere—Shijun had ordered those restaurants to flip.
The methodology was brutally simple: offer them vastly superior recipes for free, or simply acquire the restaurant outright at a premium. No chef would turn down better margins, and absolutely no business owner was willing to declare war on a multinational conglomerate just to protect Eizan Etsuya.
"To be completely honest, I could disintegrate your entire life's work overnight."
Shijun stated plainly, as if commenting on the weather.
If he had said it yesterday, Eizan would have laughed. Today, Eizan believed it with every fiber of his being. The Chinese heir possessed the capital to erase him from the Japanese culinary map without breaking a sweat.
"Why?!" Eizan demanded, his lips trembling with a mix of rage and terror. "All of this... just for Tadokoro Megumi?!"
He couldn't comprehend the math. Sniping hundreds of restaurants in a single night required an astronomical hemorrhage of capital and manpower. Doing it to protect a timid, lower-class secretary? Was it truly worth it? She wasn't even his girlfriend! Wasn't he afraid of provoking the wrath of Rindo Kobayashi sitting right next to him?
Eizan glared at Shijun, desperately searching for logic in the madness.
"Ah. I just found you incredibly annoying. Do I really need a better reason?"
Shijun replied, his tone brutally honest.
The translation was simple: I am obscenely wealthy, and I can crush you on a whim.