"That… that's a map!"
Once the fish was fully spread out, everyone felt a strange sense of familiarity. After a closer look, they realized what it was.
A map.
"This dish is called True Sea Bream Continental Map. The four preparations on top correspond to four different regions…"
Kael gave a brief explanation of the dish. In truth, True Sea Bream Continental Map could be taken even further. If he really wanted to refine it, he could divide the entire fish into eight regions and represent the cuisines of all eight major culinary traditions in each area.
But doing that would be far more complicated—and more importantly, the ingredients here simply weren't enough.
Even though Kael had storage space filled with supplies, it wouldn't look right to casually pull ingredients out in front of everyone. So he stuck to the original version of True Sea Bream Continental Map, made solely with what was available.
"I see… what a grand, awe-inspiring dish. Then what about these spring rolls?"
Erina Nakiri turned her gaze toward the spring rolls beside it.
They had been prepared at the same time. While they might not reach the same level as the sea bream dish, they clearly weren't ordinary either.
"This dish is called Rebirth Spring Rolls. As for why they're named that—just taste them and you'll understand."
Kael smiled as he spoke, then picked up his chopsticks himself. Although his Divine Senses had already simulated the flavors perfectly, he still preferred actually eating the food.
Seeing this, everyone else followed suit.
"Oh, right—Megumi, some of the Rebirth Spring Rolls are set aside for your family. Don't forget to bring them back later."
Megumi Tadokoro nodded immediately, and everyone began tasting the dishes in front of them.
"Four completely different flavors, each representing a different region… this is incredible."
"The flavors don't clash at all—they actually complement each other. It even feels like they could merge into one."
Praise poured in nonstop as they ate the True Sea Bream Continental Map. But when they moved on to the Rebirth Spring Rolls, they finally understood the meaning behind the name.
At first glance, the spring rolls seemed unremarkable. But the moment they bit into them, an intensely vivid freshness burst forth, making their eyes light up—as if a lively sea bream were leaping right before them.
It was a sensation unlike anything they'd tasted in other dishes. Naturally, their admiration only grew.
By the time the meal ended, everyone was completely satisfied. Even though there were only two dishes, the portions were enormous. Despite everyone being stuffed, quite a bit was still left over.
That was only because Kael had restrained himself. If he'd really eaten freely, there wouldn't have been anything left at all. He'd been worried there wouldn't be enough, but in the end, he'd overestimated everyone. Still, the leftovers weren't much.
Over the next few days, they continued to relax and enjoy themselves nearby. They even went fishing again—though two days later.
The delay was necessary. Hauling in massive fish had left their arms so sore that it took two full days to recover. If they'd gone again the very next day, they probably wouldn't have even been able to hold their rods steady.
After several days of fun, everyone returned to Totsuki.
The others began preparing for the Elite Ten selection battles. Erina Nakiri, meanwhile, started formally learning how to manage the academy from her grandfather.
Managing a research society and managing the entire school were two completely different things. She still had a lot to learn.
As for Kael, everyone else had their own responsibilities, so he returned to what he'd always done—studying secret techniques.
Some of these techniques he already knew. Others were ones he'd encountered before.
The secret techniques available in the Third Area were far more comprehensive. Although Kael had inherited Kaiyu's knowledge, even Kaiyu hadn't mastered every single technique. To Kaiyu, only powerful techniques worth using mattered.
Techniques that were overly specialized or situational—even if unique—weren't worth the effort.
Take Arhat Tiger Claw Extraction, for example. Calling it a "secret technique" was generous—it was really just a way to use a special mechanical arm.
That kind of technique was useless to Kaiyu, and just as useless to Kael. Naturally, Kael had no intention of learning it.
On the other hand, techniques like Spice Equation and Arhat Crystal Slash were extremely valuable to him. Those were techniques Kael fully committed to mastering.
There was also Arhat Ten-Flame Synchronization, which Kael found particularly interesting—at least for his current stage.
This technique allowed the user to control ten cooking pots simultaneously, each preparing a completely different dish.
Many chefs could cook with multiple pots at once, but usually that meant cooking the same dish in each pot—or failing to bring any of them to their best potential.
Perfectly managing even two pots at once required true multitasking. Ten was on an entirely different level.
Arhat Ten-Flame Synchronization made that possible. Even if there was some exaggeration involved, it was undeniably an astonishing technique.
Beyond that, Kael discovered all sorts of unusual techniques—he even found one specifically for washing vegetables.
That left him speechless.
He had no idea who'd invented it, but the fact that even washing vegetables had a dedicated technique was absurd.
Of course, it was useless to him. With Divine Touch, he didn't need such tricks at all.
Special Abilities stood above secret techniques.
Take Akan's Blazing Flame, for instance. That ability alone elevated his fire control to the absolute pinnacle.
He didn't need to study fire-based secret techniques at all—mastering his ability was enough to surpass them.
Kael's Divine Senses were no different. Because of that, certain techniques simply weren't necessary for him.
With the support of qi, Kael entered another phase of intense training—honing his cooking skills while researching secret techniques, returning to the same grueling cultivation-like state as before.
Bunnyhair and Sarge were seeing this side of Kael for the first time.
After hearing explanations from the others, they finally understood—this was how Kael had always been.
The two of them felt nothing but admiration.
They were geniuses too. They worked hard. But compared to Kael, their effort felt insignificant.
Talented people weren't rare—but someone both talented and this relentlessly hardworking was truly uncommon.
In fact, calling Kael a "genius" no longer felt accurate.
He was already a top-tier existence in the culinary world.
What no one realized was that Kael was already the strongest chef in the entire world.
As time passed, the Elite Ten selection battles came to an end.
Just like in the original timeline, Soma Yukihira and the others became members of the Elite Ten and immediately reformed its rules—allowing anyone to challenge them at any time.
That came with both benefits and drawbacks. Motivation across the academy skyrocketed, but the new Elite Ten also found themselves buried under constant challenges.
Gains always came with losses.
Kael couldn't be bothered with any of it.
What surprised everyone, though, was Megumi Tadokoro. After becoming an Elite Ten member, she used her authority to travel the world.
Through those experiences, she continued to temper herself—and eventually awakened a Special Ability known as Gentle Attentiveness.
Its effects weren't particularly flashy, but having a Special Ability at all was impressive enough.
Everything seemed to fall back into the rails of the original story—until Asahi Saiba arrived.
Kael had entered a near-isolated, all-consuming training mode. His cooking improved rapidly, drawing ever closer to the level of a Lin Chef (The highest official rank a chef can achieve within the Chinese culinary system.).
Unless something truly important happened, no one dared disturb him.
But today, someone did.
The situation was urgent, and they had no other options.
In their eyes, Kael was practically omnipotent. If even he couldn't solve it, then there really was no solution.
"Don't rush—slow down. If you all talk at once like this, even Kael-sama won't understand," Sarge said calmly.
Both Sarge and Bunnyhair had officially joined Totsuki as instructors. Their circumstances were… special.
They were here for Kael. Without him, their status alone meant they'd never come to Totsuki to teach.
"I think I've got the gist of it," Kael said. "In short, a Midnight Chef has been hired at Totsuki—and he's set his sights on Soma. Right?"
Everyone nodded furiously.
"Yes! That guy Asahi Saiba!"
"He even said he's Senior Joichiro's son and came here specifically to mess with Soma!"
The group stared at Kael with even greater admiration. They'd been rambling incoherently, yet he'd instantly grasped the core issue.
"Asahi Saiba… are you sure that's his name?"
Sarge and Bunnyhair exchanged a glance before asking.
"You two know him?" someone asked.
They did—and more than a little.
Asahi Saiba was part of the Dark Chef world, with frighteningly strong innate talent.
Most terrifying of all was his Special Ability: Cross Blade.
Once he touched your cooking tools, everything—your techniques, your skills—would be copied.
Sarge spoke with a grave expression. She had always considered Asahi a future rival and had studied him closely.
His ability wasn't even a secret. He revealed it openly to recruit subordinates.
After all, Special Abilities couldn't be stolen—and with how often he challenged others, it was impossible to hide anyway.
"No wonder he's so reckless… but that ability really is broken. Even scarier than Mimasaka's," someone muttered.
Subaru Mimasaka could copy others, but his method required time, observation, and stalking—slow, inefficient, and often mistaken for insanity.
Asahi's ability, by contrast, was brutally straightforward. Flip a knife—copy everything.
"Because of that ability, he was never going to be ordinary," Bunnyhair added.
"And one more thing—he's already a certified Eight-Star Chef."
A heavy silence followed.
Many elite young Dark Chefs had already fallen under Asahi's banner.
"If we hadn't already sworn loyalty to Kael-sama," Bunnyhair continued, "he probably would've targeted us too."
No one knew how to comfort Soma anymore. Being targeted by someone like that was a nightmare.
"So… what am I supposed to do?" Soma finally said. "That guy already went to my hometown—and he's chatting happily with my old classmates."
Even Soma's thick nerves felt something was off.
Everything Asahi did seemed aimed directly at him.
Kael sighed inwardly.
You didn't do anything wrong.
Your father did.
"This guy… I know him too," Kael said at last.
"If you want to deal with him, you need to go to Erina. Only she can make him listen."
That answer stunned everyone.
Why would a Dark Chef listen to Erina Nakiri?
The two had nothing to do with each other—or so it seemed.
All eyes turned to Kael, waiting for his explanation.