Chapter 57
Haruto sank lazily onto the sofa in his familiar room, his entire body relaxing at once.
After resting for a while, he checked the time and discovered that less than twelve hours had passed in the Food Wars! world since his departure.
He took a little longer to recover before entering the Toriko world again.
Just as before, he appeared inside the Regal Mammoth.
Haruto could not hide his disappointment.
He was still not strong enough to leave the mammoth’s body without exposing himself to serious danger.
In the end, he could only cut away some more Regal Mammoth meat, store it inside Gourmet Restaurant, and leave the Toriko world.
After returning home, Haruto cleaned the house and rested for the night before finally heading back to Polar Star Dormitory.
Carrying the things he had prepared, he pushed open the dormitory’s front door.
The moment he stepped inside, a burst of noise greeted him.
Several chicks were racing down the hall with their wings flapping wildly.
A few ducks, rabbits, and a young deer followed close behind them.
Yoshino Yuki chased after the entire group, already panting for breath.
"Bunny! Ducky! Shikanoshin! Slow down!"
Haruto calmly watched the animals charging toward him.
During his time at Polar Star, scenes like this had occurred almost every other day.
Just before the animals reached him, however, they suddenly skidded to a stop.
Before the pursuing Yuki could understand what had happened, the whole group reacted as though they had encountered something terrifying.
They spun around and fled straight back into her room.
...
Yuki stared after them in confusion.
A moment later, she looked up at Haruto with a baffled expression.
"Huh? What happened to them? Usually, it takes forever to get them back into my room."
"Who knows?" Haruto replied calmly. "Maybe they wore themselves out and decided to go rest."
In truth, he had a good idea why they had fled.
Many of the creatures he had hunted in the Hunter × Hunter world were apex predators.
Animals possessed extremely sharp instincts. Yuki’s pets had probably detected the lingering scent of dangerous beasts clinging to Haruto and panicked.
Yuki tilted her head and thought about it for a while, but could not come up with a better explanation.
"I guess that must be it."
She quickly forgot about the strange incident and turned back to Haruto with a bright smile.
"Oh, right! Welcome back, Haruto! Did you bring anything good with you?"
"Yeah."
Haruto reached into his bags, took out a bright-red apple, and handed it to her.
"I found this while I was away. Give it a try. It’s pretty good."
Yuki accepted it without hesitation, wiped it casually, and took a large bite.
The instant her teeth broke through the skin, an intense fruity fragrance burst across her tongue.
Sweet juice flowed down her throat, balanced by just the right touch of acidity.
Yuki’s eyes flew open.
"Whoa! This is ridiculously sweet! It’s better than any apple I’ve ever eaten!"
Haruto was not surprised by her reaction.
The apple had come from the Hunter × Hunter world, after all.
Even he had been pleasantly surprised when he first tried one.
"I’m glad you like it. I brought some other things too. Come to Marui’s room tonight, and everyone can try them together."
"Really?!"
Yuki’s eyes immediately lit up.
She thumped a hand against her chest.
"I’ll go tell Isshiki-senpai right now!"
Still holding the apple, she hurried away to find Isshiki Satoshi.
Isshiki was always remarkably enthusiastic whenever a gathering was involved.
Haruto smiled.
He had intended to give Yuki several other fruits as well, but that could wait until later.
After thinking for a moment, he turned toward Ryoko’s room and knocked on the door.
Ryoko had been busy fermenting a soybean product. Hearing the knock, she set aside her work and opened the door.
"Oh, it’s you, Haruto. What do you need?"
"I obtained some excellent fruit while I was away. I was hoping you could help me turn it into fermented fruit juice."
Haruto handed her the collection he had brought.
He still had plenty more stored away.
Besides gathering large quantities in Visca Forest, he had discovered many other varieties while exploring restricted regions afterward.
It would take far too long to eat all that fruit normally.
He needed other ways to use it.
Ryoko examined what he had given her, interest appearing in her eyes.
"These fruits... look exceptionally good."
She plucked a glossy purple grape from the bunch and gently pressed it between her fingers, feeling the plump flesh spring back beneath her touch.
After inspecting several of the other fruits, she nodded in satisfaction.
"Juice fermented from ingredients like these should taste wonderful. Leave it to me."
"Thanks, Ryoko."
Haruto left the fruit with her and headed out.
He then took several pieces of meat to Ibusaki Shun, who was smoking cheese in his room.
"I’d like you to help me smoke these cuts of meat," Haruto explained directly, setting them down before him.
The moment Shun saw the quality of the meat, his interest was immediately piqued.
After examining the cuts, he gave a small nod.
"I can do it, but you’ll need to help."
Preparing meat for smoking required a considerable amount of work.
Doing everything alone would take him far too long.
"No problem."
Haruto readily agreed.
He had wanted to learn more about smoking techniques anyway.
The two soon got to work.
The wood chips required special preparation, and to find the best possible smoking profile, Shun prepared chips from five different varieties of wood.
Once everything they needed had been arranged, Shun no longer required Haruto’s assistance.
Haruto returned to his room and casually picked up a cookbook.
Before long, Isshiki arrived to tell him that the gathering was beginning.
Haruto put down the book, gathered a few things, and headed to Marui Zenji’s room.
Everyone else had already arrived.
Marui looked around at the crowd filling his room, his expression bordering on despair.
"Seriously, you people! Why does every gathering always have to happen in my room?!"
"Oh, stop complaining, Marui."
Yuki waved him off without concern.
"You always end up enjoying yourself too."
Marui opened his mouth to argue, only to realize that he had no response.
Because, unfortunately, she was right.