"The Ten Masters are the top ten culinary students at Moon Academy," Menchi explained.
"They're incredibly skilled."
"Most of them are third-years..."
"But a few are only second-years."
"At that level, effort alone doesn't make much of a difference—it's more about raw talent."
"Everyone works hard. That's a given."
"It's the foundation."
Kaizen's eyes lit up slightly.
Since he needed to absorb the characteristics of Gourmet Paradise, there was no way he was going to miss this.
"Sounds like something worth checking out."
"When you've tried most of the dishes in the World Zone and the Court of the Moon, you'll reach the Graduation Zone. And then finally... the Mysterious Zone."
Menchi paused.
"Actually, it's not so mysterious. It's just that the restaurants there have extremely strict entry conditions. The chefs are all veterans with years of experience."
"Not many people get in."
"They're usually closed to the public."
"But Kaizen, you're part of the Zoldyck family. Linne-sama knew you were here—she probably already extended you an invitation."
...
Dinner came to an end.
More than a dozen plates were wiped clean.
Menchi, Sally, and the others hadn't eaten much. Most of the food ended up in the bottomless pits known as Kaizen and Buhara.
Especially Buhara—back during the Hunter Exam, he devoured who knows how many roast suckling pigs.
As for Kaizen, it was thanks to the ability of his gourmet cells.
"Thanks for the meal!"
"That was delicious!"
The group of six returned to their lodging.
They headed upstairs.
Each person had their own room.
Even Menchi and Buhara—despite being close—were just partners, like colleagues.
Kaizen uploaded Bungo Stray Dogs, read for a bit, then went to take a bath.
Each room had its own private bathroom—comparable to a luxury suite in Heavens Arena.
But when Kaizen stepped out of the bathroom in his pajamas...
He noticed someone lying under the blanket on his bed.
The entire body was wrapped up tight.
Kaizen paused, then frowned.
"Tessia again?"
From his perspective, only Tessia would pull a stunt like this.
"This girl..."
If Tessia were older, Kaizen might not have refused.
Still, he planned to teach her a lesson.
Without saying anything, Kaizen pretended not to notice.
Click— the lights went off.
He lay down beside the figure.
But something felt off.
"...Shizuku? Why are you here?"
Kaizen turned the lights back on.
There, sitting upright on the bed, was Shizuku.
She wore a plain white short-sleeved shirt and her usual glasses.
Shizuku blinked at him, confused.
Then she reached under the pillow and pulled out a notebook, flipped it open, and silently read a page.
Looking up at Kaizen with her usual blank stare, she asked innocently:
"Captain, didn't we agree on this?"
...
A flash of memory crossed Kaizen's mind—back on the cruise ship, Shizuku had briefly lost her notebook.
It was later returned by Tessia.
Unbeknownst to Kaizen, Tessia had secretly added something to it.
Kaizen instinctively wanted to explain.
But when he looked at Shizuku's blank expression and slightly tilted head, he froze.
"...Right. Yeah, I remember now. We did agree. My bad for hesitating just now."
"Okay, Captain."
...
It wasn't until midnight that Kaizen finally let out a deep sigh.
"Alright, time to sleep."
"Yes, Captain."
Kaizen closed his eyes and quickly fell into a deep sleep.
...
Elsewhere, Tessia tiptoed out of her room and quietly walked into the corridor.
She stopped in front of Kaizen's door.
Tessia wanted to peek inside but didn't dare.
She was one of the children abducted by the Red Trang group, and from a young age, she'd been raised to believe her role in life was to be someone's wife.
After Kaizen rescued her, she decided she would be his.
Kaizen had tried to correct that idea a few times, but it hadn't worked.
During their time at Heavens Arena, Tessia had seen Ponzu enter Kaizen's room once.
That's when she decided she had to fulfill her duty as a wife.
She had tried to sneak into his room.
But Kaizen had rejected her.
Confused, Tessia asked him why during their time on the cruise ship.
He told her it was because she wasn't old enough.
Later, Tessia saw Shizuku drop her notebook.
An idea struck her.
She copied Shizuku's handwriting and added a line inside.
That line made Shizuku mistakenly believe she and Kaizen had agreed on something called "maid service."
Tessia believed she was Kaizen's wife—and that Shizuku, Sally, Nina, and others were too.
If she wasn't old enough, Shizuku definitely was.
But now that it had happened, Tessia felt uneasy.
Curious too.
"What exactly is a wife supposed to do?"
In her mind, Tessia recalled a scene she had once seen—a young couple cuddling on the cruise ship.
Her face flushed bright red.
She really wanted to know.
She had considered looking it up online.
But in the end, she'd stopped herself.
Somehow, doing that felt... unclean.
"I have to wait until I'm an adult."
"...It's going to take a while."
Tessia returned to the balcony, looking up at the night sky.
The moon was full, shining like silver frost over the earth.
...
The next morning.
Click.
The door opened.
Kaizen stepped out and immediately saw Tessia standing just down the hall.
It looked like she'd been trying to eavesdrop, then pretended to be doing something else when she heard the door.
"Tessia, good morning," Shizuku greeted her casually.
"Good morning, Shizuku."
"Tessia—come here," Kaizen said, stopping her just as she was about to sneak off.
Tessia froze.
Then slowly walked over, head lowered.
Kaizen raised his hand and flicked her on the forehead with his finger.
"Ow!"
She winced and clutched her head.
"Don't mess with Shizuku's notebook like that again. It's important to her."
"...Yes. I was wrong."
Tessia hesitated.
"I'll go apologize to Shizuku right now."
"Wait—what exactly are you going to say?"
"..."
Kaizen sighed.
"Forget it this time. We'll pretend it didn't happen."
He turned to her again. "Go get Sally. We're heading to the World Zone for breakfast today."
"Okay!"
Tessia ran off quickly.
...
Soon after, Menchi and Buhara arrived.
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Fanfic is completed on patreon.com/FanficsHub (1047 chapters in total)