"Little Momo, this is your favorite kind of cooking duel. Want to guess what they're making?" Rindo Kobayashi, seated with the Elite Ten, glanced at Momo Akanegakubo and asked.
Momo is also a third-year, but her loli frame makes her look like a middle-schooler.
Momo's specialty is desserts—especially cute ones. Since this round's theme was desserts, it was squarely in her wheelhouse.
"I have no idea!"
Momo shook her head. Chinese cuisine is vast; every regional style has its own desserts, and these days new sweets keep popping up. If she could guess the two dishes from that sea of possibilities, she'd be a god.
While everyone buzzed with curiosity, Kael and Miyoko had already begun.
Miyoko measured out a large pile of bean flour—prepped and ready—and then started simmering the sugar syrup.
"I see. Dragon beard candy. That one really tests technique." Kael immediately recognized what Miyoko planned.
Dragon beard candy is brutally taxing on the hands. It suits Miyoko, though—her strength and wrist power are above average. An ordinary person would have aching hands after the pulling; Hojo wouldn't.
Still, the dessert also needs exceptionally fine control. If the sugar pulls tear during stretching or end up uneven in thickness, it ruins the texture.
Most people wouldn't notice the tiny differences, but in a competition every detail matters—the little things decide victory.
On Kael's side, the dozens of bowls he set out made people nervous. It was obvious his dish was more complex.
Kael was making lotus pastries. Their preparation is a bit finicky—almost the opposite of Miyoko's. Making lotus pastries doesn't demand brute strength, but it does demand precise control.
The pastry requires layer after layer of dough; one small slip and the lotus either won't bloom, or it will open into a misshapen mess.
For Kael, who had Divine Touch, that complexity was nothing.
He colored the pastry centers and leaves with pumpkin and dragon fruit respectively. The filling was carrot purée. Each step looked intricate, and the students watched with wide eyes.
Though Chinese cuisine is well known in Japan, it's not the homeland here; stir-fries and braises are more common. Chinese desserts are rarer—most students only knew a few snacks.
Many hadn't even heard of lotus pastries. That's not surprising: they're complicated to make, so few shops sell them, and even when they do it's by reservation.
The time it takes to craft a lotus pastry is so long that restaurants would rather cook countless other dishes instead. As a result, few people had seen lotus pastries in person.
"Little Momo, can you tell what they're making now?"
Rindo asked, and the rest watched, hoping Momo would identify the desserts.
"Miyoko is making dragon beard candy, and Kael's is lotus pastries."
Though she was more of a Western-dessert expert, Momo knew a fair amount about Chinese sweets. She just didn't make them often—her attention was on Western patisserie.
"Lotus pastries? I've heard of dragon beard candy, but lotus pastries—this is the first time I've heard of them!"
Those who didn't spend much time with Chinese cuisine only knew the most famous dishes; lotus pastries were off their radar.
"The steps are complicated and time-consuming. There are a lot of things to watch—many chefs who can make it still don't like doing it."
Momo shook her head. For dragon beard candy, the trick is controlling force. Lotus pastries are different: color, the lamination of the pastry, and the frying or oven temperature—all of it needs careful attention.
Even seasoned masters handle every step cautiously; one mistake in the middle, and you won't get a full, blooming lotus.
Kael, with his Divine Touch, didn't have to worry. A single touch told him how and what to adjust. He could eyeball oil temperature and keep it precisely controlled.
Under Kael's hands, the lotus pastry process looked effortless. Soon, purple-pink spheres—each scored with several cuts—lined up. After that step, Kael dropped the spheres straight into the oil.
Most people would use a skimmer or support to fry them, since lotus pastries are fragile; a careless motion can break them. Kael, however, had such fine control he didn't need any aids. He fried ten lotus pastries at once.
As the oil heated, the spheres unfurled like buds opening—petal after petal—until the centers bloomed. Before long, one by one, perfect lotus blossoms appeared. Kael, satisfied, scooped them out.
His rough-looking motions made everyone nervous. The pastries looked like works of art; they were afraid a slightly heavier hand would smash them.
Kael plated the lotus pastries two per plate and added additional decorations. The finished presentation made the crowd even more appreciative—the pastries looked exactly like real lotus flowers. They were less like food and more like art.
Across the way, Miyoko's dragon beard candy was taking shape—fine strands that looked like a dragon's whiskers.
Kael glanced over and spotted several flaws. Many strands had snapped from uneven force; the thickness varied. Most people might not notice those subtleties, but Kael, with Divine Sight, could see the problems.
Of course, Miyoko was only a three-star chef. For a three-star to reach this point was already impressive. Kael couldn't judge her by his own standard.
"You really made those lotus pastries… I almost can't bring myself to pick one up." Senzaemon Nakiri sighed, half-amused as he looked at Kael's plates.
"Well, it's a dessert—so it should look good. But no matter how beautiful, food is still food." Kael smiled. No matter how exquisite, a dish can't escape being eaten.
The five examiners chuckled. They knew that well; presentation aside, the point was to eat.
Each of the five judges picked up a lotus pastry with chopsticks. The moment their chopsticks touched, the pastry began to break.
"Hiss… How on earth did you manage to take those out and plate them without damaging them?" they asked, stunned. What sort of control did it take to do that?
"Use a little less force."
Kael grinned. Several of them exchanged helpless looks—yes, obvious, but still amazing in practice.
"The texture has such distinct layers. You can taste the dragon fruit's aroma and the pumpkin's sweetness…"
They tasted Kael's lotus pastry and their faces lit up. The flavor and texture were exceptional: pumpkin, carrot, and dragon fruit came through in three distinct stages rather than blending together. That layered progression enchanted the five judges.
Kael had been tempted to add poison—he'd thought about slipping a hallucinogenic toxin into the pastry so the judges would be transmigrated into a fantasy.
If he'd gone through with it, given their current states, the judges might not have wake for half an hour.
The planned hallucination would have been the very vision the eater wanted to see—no doubt they'd imagine a lotus pond.
That kind of addictive toxin did exist, but Kael had ultimately decided against it. Miyoko was his subordinate; he wasn't going to use underhanded methods in a match where he didn't need to.
The five judges couldn't resist the second lotus pastry. They ate it eagerly and kept savoring the aftertaste.
Although Kael's pastries were fried, his precise temperature control meant they absorbed little oil, so they weren't greasy.
Miyoko suddenly looked awkward.
Luckily, the five judges kept their professional composure. Even if they loved the lotus pastries, they couldn't simply refuse to taste the other contestant's dish.
Even though everyone present suspected Kael had won, they couldn't announce it without sampling Miyoko's dragon beard candy.
They did taste it.
"The texture is delicate, and the sweetness is well balanced. The bean flour adds another layer of flavor, but the pulling force wasn't entirely even, so there are slight flaws in the mouthfeel."
"But on the whole, the flaws don't spoil it. Creating dragon beard candy like this is an achievement."
Senzaemon nodded.
"Thank you for the praise, Director!" Miyoko smiled.
Despite being told where she had slipped up, she was happy—after all, the dish was a success.
After the commentary, the judges didn't confer. They announced the result: Kael would advance to the next round.
"Today's match is over. The next round will be in one week. Groupings and themes will be posted tomorrow." Etsuya Eizan finished, and the session ended.
There was no celebration—unnecessary, since many of the duels had been between friends. They planned to hold a victory banquet after the whole contest.
That night passed quietly. Early the next morning, the groupings and themes were distributed.
"Did they do this on purpose? Kael and Alice were put in the same group, and the theme is Western main courses. Megumi and Marui are in one group with Chinese main courses. Is whoever made these brackets full of manure?"
Yuki Yoshino stared at the list, bewildered. The rest of the students who saw the pairings and themes thought the arrangement ridiculous.
Putting two Chinese-cuisine specialists together and forcing them into Western main courses looked deliberate.
"It is bizarre, but it was random." Isshiki Satoshi sighed.
It sounded like rigged matchmaking, but he had been present during the draw; it was done by computer. Everyone in the Elite Ten was speechless at the result, but the draw stood. They didn't change it.
It felt unfair—Kael was best at Chinese cuisine, and he'd rarely been seen cooking other styles—but the system's result was final.
Future chefs would have to be international, after all, and Kael's skill was such that even unfamiliar themes shouldn't trip him up.