Even though Erina's cooking style began to change after she solidified her relationship with Jaden-she started cooking seafood more often, and paella became her signature dish-the flair and dazzling quality of her food never disappeared.
Her paella looked just like a treasure chest!
And yet, it was this very bowl of paella...
The moment Azami Nakiri, Kojiro Shinomiya, and Joichiro Saiba put a bite into their mouths, all three instinctively wanted to spit it out!
But by then, it was already too late.
Melts in your mouth!
This phrase, which is usually a positive compliment for some dishes, only made the three of them want to curse right now!
They had each picked up different things: fish slices, shellfish, shrimp, and rice. But when they put these things into their mouths, they all... melted in their mouths!
The fish slices melted in their mouths, the shellfish melted in their mouths, and even the shrimp and rice melted in their mouths!
Afterward, that taste immediately clung to their tongues!
The first sensation was one of terrible taste!
That intense awful taste forced their attention onto their tongues. Once they focused, they discovered that beneath this extremely strong, explosive terrible taste, there was an even deeper, more nuanced terrible taste!
If they absolutely had to give a rating, it would be: terrible taste!
If you asked for a specific critique... honestly, they couldn't articulate it right away! Because...
To use a crude analogy, the terrible taste of this paella was the ultimate terrible taste-the kind that fulfilled all your dreams of what a terrible taste could be!
As top chefs, the three of them had tasted many foods. They had tasted delicious things and terrible things-only then is a chef considered well-rounded.
But the awful taste of this bowl of paella completely encompassed every single type of terrible taste they had ever eaten!
It even materialized some awful flavors they previously could only imagine through their synesthesia!
Azami Nakiri kept drinking water, disgusted, but the taste would not dissipate-not until Jaden kindly told him the taste would be gone after an hour. Only then did he sit there with a deathly pale face, looking completely burned out.
Compared to him, the damage inflicted upon Joichiro Saiba and Kojiro Shinomiya was far more immense!
That's because the ultimate awful taste in Erina's paella was personalized.
It would dig up every awful flavor you had ever eaten, and even manifest the awful flavors you had only imagined, achieving the most extreme terrible taste and maximally stimulating your taste buds-a true sensory explosion of all things!
While Azami Nakiri had eaten quite a few bad things, and even experienced Jaden's shokugeki... his luck was that during the shokugeki he experienced, Jaden's opponent was Akira Hayama!
He was literally fumigated and passed out!
So, although the flavor he experienced through scent-synesthesia was somewhat reconstructed according to his imagination, and this level was already making him miserable, his experience compared to Kojiro Shinomiya and Joichiro Saiba... ha, it was insignificant!
To put it plainly, after all, Azami Nakiri... had never eaten actual sh*t!
Joichiro Saiba... he was a man who deliberately researched "dark cooking" to vent his stress... he had experienced many terrible things already.
And he had also lived through Jaden's rise to fame battle! He had experienced Asahi Saiba's dish, which was the ultimate refinement-a fusion of his and Gin Dojima's culinary skills-resulting in a taste that went to a different dimension of awfulness!
And Kojiro Shinomiya...
Let's just say, the famous quote that still circulates in the culinary world to this day-"Sh*t doesn't taste as bad as this dish"-was spoken by Kojiro Shinomiya himself!
So, when this bowl of paella began to dig all of that up, Kojiro Shinomiya and Joichiro Saiba experienced a hellish ordeal!
Yes, that's right, not a taste, but an ordeal!
The two of them felt as if they were trapped in a culinary illusion, constantly reliving the moments they ate dishes cursed by Jaden. After what felt like an extremely long time, when they barely managed to regain a sliver of awareness, they realized: only one second had passed!
And after a while longer, Jaden told Azami Nakiri again.
-It will last for one hour!
Upon hearing that time frame, the two of them felt their vision blacken!
But the strange thing was.
Even though they were in such agony, their consciousness did not become blurry!
Furthermore, their minds weren't confused; on the contrary, they were incredibly clear!
In fact, through the successive illusions, their willpower grew stronger, and this even led to a deeper understanding of cooking!
C-could it be... eating this paella was actually a good thing!?
The moment this thought occurred, the recently strengthened wills of Kojiro Shinomiya and Joichiro Saiba made a decision!
Yes, it was truly awful. Yes, it was truly painful.
But if it could lead to a deeper understanding of cooking...
-Let's do this, brothers!
Kojiro Shinomiya and Joichiro Saiba immediately picked up their bowls of paella and started eating in large mouthfuls!
Wave after wave of awful taste, each stronger than the last, exploded in their mouths-but the two of them did not change their minds!
Ah, well...
This puzzled the onlookers. Since the two men didn't say whether it was delicious or awful, no one knew what the result of the match would be.
After Kojiro Shinomiya and Joichiro Saiba finished their portions and found that it was indeed effective, they looked toward Azami Nakiri's portion.
This made Azami Nakiri's hair stand on end. Others didn't know, but he did!
This meal was utterly disgusting! That taste was probably worse than sh*t!
So why are you two looking at me like that-are you afraid I'm going to fight you for the turd!?
Thinking this, Azami Nakiri quickly waved his hands.
"I won't fight you for it, I won't fight you for it..."
Hearing Azami Nakiri say this, Kojiro Shinomiya and Joichiro Saiba nodded to him gratefully, and then they split the last bowl, half each, and finished it!
Seeing the two of them eat all three bowls completely clean, not a single grain of rice left, and then sit there with vacant eyes, seemingly experiencing something, Erina blinked:
"So, what is the result?"
Hearing Erina's question, Azami Nakiri hesitated, then immediately cast his vote for Jaden!
He couldn't help it; he couldn't lie to himself-while he had always looked down on instant noodles... at least instant noodles were edible!
Seeing Azami Nakiri vote this way, Erina was stunned. Jaden made instant noodles.
So, he should normally get either a unanimous vote or no votes at all... but Kojiro Shinomiya and Joichiro Saiba were clearly eating it with gusto just now!?
She was puzzled, and so was everyone else.
Then, Kojiro Shinomiya and Joichiro Saiba both cast their votes for Jaden.
Seeing this, Urara Kawashima quickly announced the result.
"Three to zero, the winner is-Jaden!"
Hearing the announcement, Azami Nakiri looked at Erina with a hint of resignation.
"I couldn't help it... it really was that bad!"
Kojiro Shinomiya and Joichiro Saiba had recovered enough by now-although the taste in their mouths hadn't disappeared, they could endure it without falling into the illusion, and their understanding of cooking was probably maxed out.
So, they gave their conclusion at this moment.
"It was indeed terrible." Kojiro Shinomiya said, wiping his mouth.
And Joichiro Saiba put the grain of rice stuck near his mouth into his mouth, then nodded in agreement.
"Yes... as unpleasant as it sounds, I finally understand what Shinomiya meant before when he said sh*t doesn't taste as bad as that dish."
Ah, well...
Hearing the three judges' comments, compared to the match result, which most people had already anticipated, they were now more curious about another question.
According to Joichiro Saiba's statement, it was worse than sh*t, and yet... Kojiro Shinomiya and Joichiro Saiba were fighting to eat it just now...
Hiss-
This was truly terrifying to think about!
However, Erina wasn't thinking about that much; she merely frowned, pondered her paella this time, and got a few new ideas.
Jaden, knowing Kojiro Shinomiya and Joichiro Saiba were fine and that they were likely fighting to eat it because they sensed a benefit from it, walked over to Erina's side.
"Feeling a sense of defeat?"
Hearing Jaden's words, Erina laughed directly; even with the failure, the confident expression never left her face.
"Jaden, what kind of foolish thing are you saying-I just suddenly feel that my culinary skill can advance further."
Jaden smiled upon hearing Erina's words.
"As expected, you're not one to give up easily, but don't put too much pressure on yourself."
"Hmph~ It's not pressure; for me, this is just natural growth. Breaking through your ability with my cooking is merely an obstacle I need to overcome on the path of my culinary improvement, nothing more."
"I will definitely win next time!"
Seeing Erina like this, Jaden wore a gentle smile, and just like the first time he won against Erina in a shokugeki, this time he said something similar:
"Although you say that... at least for now-we'll keep letting you decide what we eat at home~"
"You say that as if I won't have to keep cooking if I win."
"I can cook if you win."
"No, you can't!"
Jaden and Erina bickered like this, just like before, and finally shared a look and a smile.
The dinner party ended there. Everyone dispersed, and even Kojiro Shinomiya and Joichiro Saiba were released after it was determined that they didn't need to be sent to Arkham Asylum for treatment.
Jaden and Erina also returned to their shared bedroom.
Jaden had to go to the Empire tomorrow to deal with the Western Faction and the Resurrected. This trip would likely take anywhere from a week to half a month.
So...
Erina tugged on Jaden's sleeve; even in the dark after the lights were off, her face could be seen blushing. She looked Jaden in the eye:
"We might not be together for the next half month, s-so... you absolutely have to leave a deep enough impression on me tonight, Jaden~"
...
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