"This is directed at me!"
When Kael noticed Sendawara Natsume's gaze land on him, he already had a good idea why.
After all, when the judges had first arrived, their eyes had locked onto him immediately. For them, sitting on the judging panel was partly to give Totsuki face, but this time it was mainly because of Kael.
Kael's cooking had already been declared five-star, and with abilities like Divine Hearing, a talent like his drew attention wherever he went.
Just as Kael was about to begin cooking, he perked up from a tiny sound and glanced toward Natsume.
She had greeted him — barely more than a whisper — so soft that even those next to her hadn't heard it. Yet at that distance, no matter how noisy the room, Kael could pick up her voice.
He knew she was testing his ability — his talents had been revealed, but very few had actually witnessed them.
"Not surprising at all for Divine Hearing — in such a noisy place she managed to get his attention first!" Natsume was clearly impressed.
She'd only meant to try a little test, and hadn't expected a hushed hello to be caught.
The MC's voice cut in and the competition officially began. The students sprang into action, and Kael was no exception.
He took out the spices he'd prepared and opened the knife case he'd placed beside him.
That simple motion drew a lot of attention; after Kael had carried that huge case in earlier, everyone had wondered what was inside. Now, when he opened it, every eye swung to him.
"A… cleaver? There are cleavers inside?"
When Kael pulled out several knives from the case, people were stunned — they had not expected knives.
"Why would you need such a big case for kitchen knives? Is that necessary?"
Eishi Tsukasa and the others looked puzzled. Did the case hold dozens of knives?
"I know why!" Rindo Kobayashi spoke up, drawing everyone's attention.
"Before the break I went hunting. Kael, Alice Nakiri, and Yuki Yoshino from the Polar Star Dormitory were there. When Kael went into the mountains he had a blade over one and a half meters long on his back. He didn't use it much, but it'd make sense if that blade's in this case."
Rindo remembered Kael's gear: a two-stone bow and a large saber. Looking at the case now, it fit.
"A blade over one and a half meters? That explains the case size."
Eishi nodded, no longer surprised.
"These knives are so sharp — they went into the cutting board just from their own momentum!"
When Kael casually tossed several knives onto the board, everyone flinched at how they sank in. Ordinary cleavers need force to stick into a wooden board, but Kael's knives plunged in about a third of the way with barely any effort.
The board was solid wood — impossible to imagine how sharp those blades were.
After taking out the knives, Kael reached into another bag and pulled out his ingredient for the round.
"He's brought a whole goose — looks like a lionhead goose. Is he going to cook the whole thing?" Roland Chapelle, in the audience, recognized the bird immediately.
Kael placed the lionhead goose on the cutting board, drew two Seven-Star Knives, and slid them across the goose in a blur.
What followed was a series of blindingly fast motions: knives flying, switching, slicing in a choreography that made heads spin.
"So fast I can't follow his hands — it's like a knife dance!"
Watching beside Roland were Senzaemon Nakiri and Erina Nakiri, both very interested.
"Grandfather, do you know what he's doing?" Erina asked. The repeated cuts across the goose made no clear sense to her.
"I can't tell either. It looks like decorative cuts. That set of knives is called the Seven-Star Knives — I've seen them before at the Polar Star Dormitory."
Senzaemon had been to the Polar Star enough to know of them. The knives' terrifying sharpness and weight suggested an extraordinary origin.
"Why call them Seven-Star Knives?" Erina wondered. The Hundred-Hole Knife had been named for the tiny holes on its blade; what about these?
"Because there are seven knives in the set. You're only seeing part of them — the rest are in the case," Senzaemon explained. Once Erina heard that and learned about their bulk and sharpness, her expression changed.
Any chef would covet fine knives — but these belonged to Kael. Senzaemon didn't even know what craft could produce them, so longing wouldn't help.
By the time Senzaemon and Erina finished discussing the Seven-Star Knives, Kael had completed his prep. He planned to make a braised goose, but the allotted time was tight, so he accelerated the process.
The simplest way: modify the cuts so the braising liquid would penetrate quickly. He also added a compound poison to the brine, a toxin that softens meat. Used on a person it would cause weakness, but on the goose it sped up the cooking; after braising he would apply another agent to neutralize the first.
With the cuts finished, Kael tossed the prepared brine into the pot, submerged the goose, and put the lid on. Now he only needed Divine Smell and Divine Hearing to monitor the ingredients and control the heat precisely. Though he seemed idle, the dish's progress was under constant observation by his senses.
Kael also tuned into the other contestants through Divine Hearing and couldn't help but smirk. Some of them had clearly put thought into their dishes. With Divine Hearing he could easily tell who was seasoned at the dish and who had only practiced a few times.
Most of them weren't exactly inexperienced, but they weren't adept either — they'd decided to make curry and had only practiced it a handful of times. Maybe they thought the autumn selection would be like the previous residential workshops and that this level would pass.
Totsuki had already predicted students' arrogance — the autumn selection was a seed selection for the Elite Ten, the first real public display for these students and a wake-up call.
Many had become complacent after earlier tests and assumed things would be easy. Totsuki designed the autumn selection to bring them back to earth.
As for tarnishing Totsuki's reputation, the school wasn't worried — a small top group would preserve its honor. Totsuki always managed to make each exam dramatic, and it produced elite students even if many were expelled along the way. Those who survived still went on to impressive futures.
As time passed, an enticing aroma burst from Kael's pot. He didn't rely on flashy scent-bomb techniques. His cooking simply exposed its fragrance plainly and directly to everyone — an absolute confidence that his dishes could not be outdone, so he discarded tricks for blunt force.
"What a domineering aroma. It's smothering all the other scents that had spread!"
Natsume stared at Kael's pot in shock.
After a while, the students' dishes had released their aromas into the air, and Natsume could almost deduce what they were by smell. But the scent Kael unleashed overpowered every other smell, like a ruler asserting dominance.
"…It's not just overpowering — it's getting richer. I can hardly keep my mouth from watering!"
The other judges were stunned as well.
They tried to remain composed, but the audience already included many students who were swallowing with longing. The aroma intensified over time.
"What spice is this? It's so domineering and my nose can't figure it out!"
Akira Hayama looked baffled as he watched Kael. Though he knew Kael was skilled, Akira hadn't expected someone to so effortlessly crush him at his strongest domain. Spices were Hayama's and Jun Shiomi's territory — being outshone in that field stung.
"Hey Jun, you look stunned."
Roland Chapelle leaned toward Jun Shiomi. He understood Jun well; Jun's expressionless trance came from being lost in the pursuit of the unknown. Once absorbed in work, Jun could seem possessed. That intense focus likely explained her mastery of spices.
Unfortunately for them, Kael's spices were beyond their detection — Kael had built them from basic research into a "spice inequality." They simply couldn't analyze it. Unless someone possessed Divine Smell — and in this world, only Kael had Divine Smell.
Eventually some students finished their dishes. Though Kael had taken steps to ensure his braised goose would be done before time ran out, he wouldn't be the first to finish.
That might be a small blessing — those who went before him would gain a slight advantage.
"These judges sure know how to play games!"
After tasting one student's dish, the judges — apart from Natsume — had heaped praise on it. The flattery made it seem like a high score was certain.
But when the scores were revealed, everyone was shocked: that student had received only twenty-three points total. Remember, a perfect score is one hundred, and each judge could award up to twenty points. Yet the final sum was only twenty-three.