Chapter 139
The moment the result was decided, Alice collapsed onto the floor and burst into tears.
"Waaah! But I worked so hard!"
Haruto sighed and rubbed his forehead.
Just as he had expected, this was exactly how she reacted.
He walked over and held out a hand.
"Get up. Don’t lie on the floor crying like a little kid."
Alice ignored his hand and continued sobbing with her head lowered.
Left with no choice, Haruto pulled her to her feet and stuffed a bun into her hand.
"Winning and losing are both part of a competition. You can’t win every time. Eat this and calm down."
Alice raised her tear-streaked face and stared blearily at the bun.
The longer she looked at its smiling mouth, the more it seemed to be mocking her.
Her anger flared.
She opened her mouth and bit down viciously, imagining that the bun was Haruto and taking out all her frustration on it.
The next instant, rich meat juices exploded across her tongue.
The crisp shell, tender cubes of beef, and glass noodles saturated with savory broth combined into an overwhelming burst of flavor.
Alice stopped chewing.
A flash of undisguised amazement appeared in her eyes, only to be replaced by even stronger frustration.
She pouted, glared at Haruto, and declared through her tears,
"I-I’m not giving up! Next time—next time, I’ll definitely beat you!"
"Sure. Then you’d better work hard."
Haruto smiled casually, his tone completely relaxed.
Then he suddenly remembered something and raised an eyebrow.
"Oh, right! Now you can sit in the audience and properly watch my second match."
Alice’s face immediately turned bright red.
She stamped her foot as fresh tears welled in her eyes.
"What?! What was that supposed to mean?! Don’t act so smug just because you won once! I-I only lost because I made a mistake!"
"I’m not being smug. I’m merely stating a fact."
Haruto spread his hands with an innocent expression.
That only made Alice grind her teeth harder, but there was nothing she could do except vent her anger on the bun in her hands.
While the students were still absorbed in the aftermath of the match, Eizan Etsuya walked to the center of the arena.
He accepted a microphone from a staff member and calmly surveyed Haruto, who had just claimed victory, as well as Soma, Kurokiba, and Hayama in the stands.
"With the conclusion of this match, every contest in the first round of the Autumn Elections main tournament has now ended."
"The semifinals will be held one week from today."
"As in the opening round, the matchups will be determined through a random draw."
"Each advancing competitor will receive the official pairings and detailed rules before the end of the day."
Once he finished, Eizan turned and left the center of the arena without wasting another word.
Conversations immediately broke out throughout the venue.
After leaving the Moon Banquet Hall, Haruto reunited with the residents of Polar Star.
Before they had even returned to the dormitory, the Autumn Elections Committee had already finalized the semifinal matchups and theme.
Suzuki Haruto versus Kurokiba Ryo.
Yukihira Soma versus Hayama Akira.
The theme for the second round would be a Western-style main course.
Haruto remained calm when he saw the pairings.
He already had a new idea for the upcoming tournament, though he would first need to discuss it with several people.
What he did not expect was that the moment they reached Polar Star Dormitory, Hayama, Kurokiba, Alice, and Ikumi followed them inside.
They behaved as though they were already familiar with the place, clearly intending to invite themselves to another Polar Star celebration.
Haruto smiled at the four uninvited guests.
That saved him a great deal of trouble.
Before he could say anything, Yuki eagerly hurried over.
"Hey, make those Golden Laughing Buns again!"
"Buns that laugh are way too interesting!"
Even though she now understood the trick behind them, she still desperately wanted to taste one herself.
"I want one too!"
Soma immediately raised his hand, looking thoroughly enthusiastic.
"Me too," Kurokiba added lazily.
Hayama said nothing, but the interest in his eyes made his feelings obvious.
Haruto looked around at everyone’s expectant faces, and a meaningful smile appeared on his lips.
The Autumn Elections had been far too uneventful for him so far.
Since that was the case, he might as well personally throw enough fuel onto this dull competition to set all of Totsuki ablaze.
"Of course."
"And this time, I’ll make them with much better ingredients."
Everyone looked mildly confused, but they did not think too deeply about his words.
Haruto, however, was completely serious.
He brought out top-grade marbled beef cut from a Gamble Rock, its snowy veins of fat forming beautiful patterns and its flesh tender enough to melt on the tongue.
For the dough, he used Warm Sun Wheat Flour, produced from grain that had bathed in the gentle warmth of all four seasons. The flour was as fine as clouds and carried a naturally soothing fragrance.
The glass noodles came from a Glass Noodle Willow. They were thin yet pleasantly firm, with a faint, fresh aroma of vegetation.
For frying, Haruto used pure oil taken from Frying Lake, an ingredient capable of enhancing the natural flavors of anything cooked within it.
He kneaded the dough, prepared the filling, shaped the buns, and fried them in one smooth, uninterrupted sequence.
Before long, a fresh batch of plump, upgraded Golden Laughing Buns was complete.
An indescribably beautiful fragrance erupted outward and filled every corner of Polar Star Dormitory.
After tasting them, everyone’s expression became extraordinarily complicated.
The intense savoriness, velvety texture, and almost terrifying depth of flavor made every bite feel like a grand display of fireworks exploding across the tongue.
This was the perfect combination of exceptional technique and rare ingredients.
It had already surpassed the boundaries of ordinary cuisine and reached a level that seemed almost impossible to approach.
Soma, Hayama, and Kurokiba reacted most strongly.
Their pupils contracted, and the fingers holding their buns tightened slightly.
All three understood exactly what they had just tasted.
This upgraded version of the Golden Laughing Buns possessed an overwhelming level of flavor.
Even if they pushed their skills and creativity to the absolute limit, they likely could not produce anything more complete or refined.
The gap was wide enough to inspire despair.
Haruto watched the shock and frustration on their faces before speaking calmly.
"Don’t worry. I won’t use ingredients of this level during the official Autumn Elections."
"Damn it!"
Kurokiba immediately tied on his headband and glared furiously at Haruto.
"Are you looking down on me?!"
He could accept losing.
What he could not accept was an opponent deliberately holding back.
Even if the difference in ingredient quality was enormous, that only meant he lacked the ability to obtain better ingredients himself.
Hayama stepped forward, his expression firm.
"The ingredients themselves are part of a chef’s skill."
During the preliminaries, he had used freshly harvested holy basil.
Obtaining, controlling, and properly using an ingredient of that quality was itself proof of a chef’s ability.
It was not cheating, it was a genuine skill.
Soma stared at Haruto with an unprecedented level of seriousness.
"Haruto, use everything you’ve got."
Soma had assumed that Haruto had already used up most of the rare ingredients in his possession.
He had never imagined Haruto was simply choosing not to bring them into the tournament.
That was something Soma could not accept.
Haruto looked between the three of them and asked calmly, "Do you really want to lose that badly?"
"We don’t know who’ll lose yet!"
Kurokiba roared, growing even more agitated.
"I’m not going to let you tie one hand behind your back just because I might lose!"
"Bring everything you have," Hayama said solemnly.
Soma nodded firmly, his gaze burning.
"Even if I lose, I want you to fight us at full strength."
Haruto looked at the three of them, none willing to retreat, and a smile slowly appeared on his face.
"You three are really impossible."
"In that case... why don’t you use the ingredients I provide as well?"
"I want to change the structure of the Autumn Elections and cancel the semifinals."
"The four of us will compete in a single match using top-tier ingredients of the same quality and under the same conditions."
"Surely you’d like the chance to personally create a dish using ingredients at this level."
In truth, this idea had first begun taking shape after the preliminaries, during the first celebration at Polar Star.
That was why Haruto had abandoned the idea of holding an impromptu cooking competition that night.
He had wanted to see how everyone would react first.
The moment he finished explaining, the previously furious Kurokiba fell silent.
Hayama narrowed his eyes slightly.
He could not help imagining what kind of flavor might emerge when ingredients of that caliber collided with his spices.
The fighting spirit in Soma’s eyes burned even brighter.
After a short silence, all three shouted at the same time,
"Fine! Bring it on! Who’s afraid of you?!"