Hearing her grandfather's words, Erina Nakiri was momentarily stunned. But the surprise quickly faded.
She had always been someone who could shoulder responsibility—and she knew she had the ability to lead Totsuki toward a better future. After that brief pause, she calmly accepted Senzaemon Nakiri's appointment.
"Congratulations, Erina. Just like that, you've become Totsuki's Director."
Once everything was settled, everyone congratulated her again and again.
"It's not quite that yet," Erina said. "Grandfather has handed Totsuki over to me, but I've never been Director before. There are still many things I need his help with."
Senzaemon hadn't simply dumped everything on her and walked away. In fact, he was still handling most of the actual work. Erina would need time—moving gradually from an assistant role into a true decision-maker.
"Isn't that perfect?" Kael said with a grin. "While the old man holds the fort, we can take a break and relax."
He had already told Sarge and Bunnyhair to prepare everything. Once Azami's matter was fully resolved, he planned to go out and have some fun.
"Relax?" everyone asked curiously. "How exactly?"
"I had Bunnyhair and Sarge make arrangements. We're going to Megumi's place," Kael said with a smile. "It's close to the sea, and I've already prepared a yacht."
He planned to head out to sea—and also finally visit Megumi Tadokoro's home. He had promised her long ago, and she hadn't been back in ages.
"Huh? M-my house?" Megumi asked blankly, pointing at herself.
"Of course," Kael said. "Don't you always invite us to visit your family's place?"
Megumi froze for a moment, then quickly nodded as she realized what he meant.
Soon after, everyone left the Shokugeki venue. However, Kael, Erina, and Hisako Arato didn't return to Polar Star Dormitory right away. Instead, they went straight to the Director's office.
Several people were already there—Senzaemon, along with the Elite Ten from Azami's regime. Even Rindo Kobayashi, who had already stepped down, had been called back.
"Erina," Senzaemon said as the three entered, "this will be your first task as Director. How do you plan to deal with them?"
The ten members wore very different expressions. Some looked calm, others desperate, some visibly tense—no two faces were quite the same.
"Except for Eizan Etsuya, I won't deliberately target the rest of you," Erina said after looking them over. "However, the Elite Ten will be completely reshuffled. All seats will be reselected—fair and clean."
"Why am I the only one?!" Eizan shouted, furious. "If they can be spared, why not me?"
"Hisako," Erina said flatly, "handle it."
Hisako immediately pulled up a file on her tablet and handed it to him.
"Read it. You'll understand."
Eizan took one look—and his face drained of all color.
The file detailed all of his dirty dealings. Eizan had never been clean to begin with.
But this time was different.
To target the Research Society Alliance, Eizan had crossed far too many lines. These weren't "gray areas"—they were outright unforgivable acts.
"If you'd used legitimate methods, I wouldn't be settling accounts with you," Erina said coldly. "But what you did crossed the line."
Eizan was capable—very capable. But someone with ability and no morals was exactly the kind of person Erina would never trust.
"Now you understand, don't you?" she continued. "They didn't do anything unforgivable, and they've already paid the price. I won't pursue them further. But for you, this is only the beginning."
With that, Eizan collapsed to the floor.
Once these crimes were exposed, the price he would pay was total ruin. His so-called business empire would vanish overnight. Even if he someday walked free again, he'd be destined for a lifetime of mediocrity.
Security was called in, and Eizan was dragged away—straight to prison.
"As for the rest of you," Erina said, turning to the others, "you're free to go. If you still want to compete for the Elite Ten seats, prepare yourselves for the upcoming selection battles."
"May I ask something?" Somei Saito said quietly. "What price did we pay?"
"You still don't get it?" Erina replied. "You paid with your future. From the moment you defected, it was already decided."
"When Totsuki was founded, the Elite Ten were given a rule like that. But this is the first time it's ever been used. Do you know why?"
Rindo Kobayashi sighed softly. "Because it's meaningless. No matter how the Director changes, the Nakiri family remains in control. And in our generation, the Director is the head of the Nakiri family herself. Our rebellion meant nothing."
"Exactly," Erina said. "That rule exists only to make students crave the Elite Ten's authority. It was never meant to be truly used."
"The Director of Totsuki is always chosen by the Nakiri family—not the Elite Ten. All resources are in our hands, not the school's."
The former Elite Ten finally understood.
Those who joined Azami later were relatively safe—they hadn't truly betrayed anyone. They were just padding for numbers.
But the first six?
Their actions sent a clear message to the outside world: We are not trustworthy.
Who would ever dare recruit or cooperate with people like that again? They had stranded themselves on an island, cutting off their own future paths. Opening a small restaurant might still be possible—but climbing higher? That would be exponentially harder than before.
Knowing the price they would pay, the former Elite Ten left in silence, utterly dejected.
After they were gone, Erina turned to her grandfather.
"Grandfather, we'd like to take a few days off. We'll deal with the rest after we get back."
She smiled softly. She knew Azami had been allowed back in for her sake—and she was deeply grateful.
"Go and relax," Senzaemon said, nodding. "That bastard Azami really did turn Totsuki upside down. While you're gone, I'll handle the cleanup and restore things to how they should be."
"Also," Erina added, "the students who were expelled because of the Research Society Alliance—they shouldn't have been expelled at all. Please bring them back."
"You don't need to worry about that," Senzaemon replied. "They've already been notified."
Before leaving, Senzaemon looked at Kael.
"Kael… thank you."
Kael just smiled and said nothing. The thanks were deserved. From crushing Azami to building power, he had been the one pulling the strings from start to finish.
The three returned to Polar Star Dormitory, where everyone eagerly asked about the Elite Ten.
"So… everyone who opposed you before will become your loyal supporters now?" someone asked in disbelief.
"In a sense," Erina replied calmly.
"The Elite Ten selection means we might have a chance too?" Yuki Yoshino said excitedly.
"Maybe," Ryoko Sakaki said bluntly. "But there are only ten seats. Tsukasa-senpai and Rindo-senpai are both Five-Star Chefs—they'll take two spots."
"They won't stay long, but that's still two seats gone."
"Then there's Kael, Alice, Megumi, Isshiki-senpai, and Soma—that's five more."
"That leaves only three seats for the rest of us."
Kael shook his head. "I won't be competing."
Everyone stared at him.
"I have the skill," he said calmly, "but the Elite Ten are just privileges. I don't need them."
That immediately made everyone else excited—one more seat had opened up.
"Enough about that," Alice said eagerly. "Let's talk about the vacation!"
"First, we'll enjoy Megumi's family estate," Kael said. "Then we'll head out to sea. Bunnyhair and Sarge already have the yacht ready."
With two wealthy subordinates like them, enjoying life was easy. Honestly, recruiting them had been a great decision.
As Kael thought about them, another name crossed his mind.
Asahi Saiba.
Strictly speaking, Asahi was the real final boss. But Kael couldn't be bothered. Asahi's target was always Soma. In the original story, he only went after Erina because of her connection to Soma.
Now that Erina and Soma had no such relationship, Asahi wouldn't touch her.
If anything, Kael suspected Asahi might go after Soma's childhood friend—Mayumi Kurase. She was a great girl… but sadly, she had never truly entered the main storyline.
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