"Is there a chance that I'm not planning to take part in the Moon Banquet Festival at all?"
As Kael said this, watching everyone argue back and forth, the room instantly fell silent.
The possibility that Kael wouldn't participate was something none of them had considered. After all, even the Elite Ten would almost certainly be taking part this time.
They enjoyed all the benefits Totsuki provided, so naturally, they also had to help maintain those benefits.
The Moon Banquet Festival was a perfect opportunity to attract investors—letting them see Totsuki's teaching strength firsthand and convincing them to keep pouring money in.
That investment might not matter much to Totsuki financially, but it was a matter of attitude.
Because of that, aside from a few exceptions, most of the Elite Ten would be opening stalls in the High Platform Area.
"Not participating would be great news for the students," Eishi Tsukasa frowned, "but for the guests? Not so much."
He didn't need to think hard to know that a lot of people were coming specifically for Kael.
A first-year Nine-Star Chef—The culinary world had never seen anything like it. Eating food made by a Nine-Star Chef was no easy matter.
Once someone reached that level, aside from a very small number who still ran restaurants, most already had their own forces and wouldn't casually cook for others.
In other words, Nine-Star cuisine wasn't something you could just buy whenever you wanted.
But if Kael wasn't taking part in the Moon Banquet Festival, those people were bound to be disappointed.
"There's nothing we can do about it," Rindo Kobayashi said with a smile.
"This event isn't an assessment. Whether you participate or not is entirely up to you. Though for those who do participate, it's basically an assessment anyway."
"If Kael doesn't participate, we'll need to announce it in advance," Nene Kinokuni said as she adjusted her glasses.
"Some guests might decide not to come, but overall, it's clearly more beneficial than harmful." Eishi nodded in agreement.
They could keep it quiet and only tell people Kael wasn't participating after they arrived. That would certainly guarantee foot traffic—but it would also invite a wave of angry guests.
He had no interest in dealing with that. Announcing it early was the smarter choice.
The Momiji Viewing Gathering soon came to an end.
This time, there was no scene like in the original story where the Elite Ten openly belittled the Elite Ten candidates. On one hand, that was because of Kael. On the other, it was because this year's students were simply too strong.
The Elite Ten didn't dare talk big so casually anymore. If they really got dragged down from their seats, they'd lose all face.
The Elite Ten seats might look stable on the surface, but once the Elite Ten Selection began, nothing was guaranteed.
In previous years, even when it came time for the selection, the sitting members could rest easy. By the time seats opened up, it was already impressive if even a few candidates had Elite Ten–level skill.
There were always more empty seats than qualified challengers. Sometimes, the seats even ended up filled by Three-Star Chefs simply because there weren't enough Four-Star ones.
That said, those Three-Star Chefs were usually already very close to Four-Star level. With the resources and authority that came with an Elite Ten seat, they could generally break through during a single break and stabilize their position.
But this year was different.
Just look at Kael's side—there were already several Four-Star Chefs, not even counting Kael himself, a Nine-Star Chef. On top of that, several others were right on the brink of Four-Star.
And this was only a little over one semester in.
By the time the Elite Ten Selection came around, the sitting members would be facing challenges from a group of monstrous first-years.
Losing was a real possibility—and that wasn't something they wanted to see.
So while they didn't talk tough, this year's students were clearly eyeing their Elite Ten seats.
Of course, the Elite Ten Selection probably still wouldn't happen.
The reason was simple.
Azami Nakiri.
After the gathering ended, everyone returned to their dorms. Kael, however, was stopped halfway.
The person who blocked his path was none other than Senzaemon Nakiri, who had earlier been observing from afar with binoculars.
"Director, is there something you need from me?" Kael asked curiously.
When Senzaemon approached him, both Alice Nakiri and Erina Nakiri had tried to follow—but Senzaemon had sent them away.
That alone told Kael this was something those two couldn't know about yet.
"I called you here because of the changes Totsuki is about to face," Senzaemon said.
"You already know about Erina's situation, don't you? Then you should also know a thing or two about her father."
"You mean Azami Nakiri," Kael replied. "I know who he is. So this has something to do with him?"
After hearing Senzaemon's words, Kael already had a rough idea of what was coming.
When he'd first read the manga, he'd found Azami's whole takeover absurdly childish.
Students might be fooled into thinking it was a big deal—but Senzaemon, an adult, couldn't possibly have been ignorant of it.
Especially considering how he later sought out Soma Yukihira. It had always felt like Senzaemon had planned everything from the start.
Now it was clear—that really was the case.
Senzaemon already knew about Azami's every move.
"That's right. Because of Azami Nakiri—or rather, Azami Nakamura." Senzaemon nodded.
That choice of name made Kael pause.
Senzaemon was no longer calling him Nakiri Azami, but Nakamura Azami.
That meant he was prepared to strip him of the Nakiri name entirely.
And that, in turn, meant Mana Nakiri had completely given up on Azami.
Interesting.
"Nakamura Azami plans to exploit the rule that allows the Director to be replaced with the approval of more than half of the Elite Ten," Senzaemon continued. "He wants to seize control of Totsuki."
"I can say with certainty that once he enters Totsuki, he'll stir up massive chaos. He'll turn the academy upside down—and you'll inevitably be affected. That's why I'm asking you to endure him for a while."
"I'll speak to the other instructors as well. This will be like setting up a stage for him—letting him perform his grand play."
"As for the reason, I believe you already understand. It's for Erina."
"He filled her with far too many twisted ideas in the past and left her with deep psychological scars."
"Right now, Erina is only a Four-Star Chef. But as her skill improves, those scars and flawed beliefs will become the greatest obstacles to her growth."
"I have to erase them."
Senzaemon laid out both his plan and his reasons plainly.
He told Kael because Kael had the power to end everything outright.
What he wanted was for Kael not to interfere casually—to let Erina break free of her shackles on her own.
After hearing all this, Kael understood.
This was squeezing out Azami's last remaining value.
In the original story, the goal was already achieved the moment Erina and the others rose up in resistance.
Win or lose didn't matter—once they learned how to fight back, those psychological chains were broken.
If Erina's side had lost in the original timeline, Senzaemon would have stepped in personally to deal with Azami. At that point, backing out wouldn't have been so easy for him anymore.
"I understand," Kael said. "In that case, I'll play along. But how do you plan to deal with the Elite Ten?"
Kael didn't like traitors.
And Tsukasa's group—there was no question they fit that label.
More importantly, they hadn't been treated unfairly.
Totsuki had given the Elite Ten more than enough benefits, yet they still wanted more.
That mindset was common—but what Kael couldn't understand was why they believed that Azami, exploiting a loophole to steal the Director's seat, could somehow take them soaring higher.
Most of them were about to graduate.
For third-years, Azami's arrival meant they had less than half a year left at Totsuki.
Once they graduated, they'd lose Totsuki's protection. Even if Azami gamed the system, his authority would largely be confined to the academy itself.
In Kael's eyes, those rebelling Elite Ten weren't worth pity.
They would pay a price.
The manga had been far too idealistic.
This was reality.
"I didn't tell them anything in advance," Senzaemon replied calmly. "But from what I know, several Elite Ten members have already chosen to defect."
"I won't personally step in against them. They'll bear the consequences themselves."
To Senzaemon, a handful of Elite Ten students was nothing special.
Eishi's ability to 'converse with ingredients' was impressive—but chefs with Special Abilities weren't rare in this world. And having an ability didn't guarantee reaching the peak. Plenty of people without them still did.
As the head of the Nakiri family, personally moving against students would only make him look petty.
But once they graduated?
Totsuki would offer them no support.
They'd have to fend for themselves—and after this incident, few factions would dare to place real trust in them.
After all, what they'd shown here was shortsighted greed: trading a watermelon for sesame seeds.
No one wanted to employ someone who would betray their own side for trivial gains—or someone who couldn't see the road ahead.
Because of that, these people were destined never to reach the top of the culinary world.
Usually, rising in the culinary world required backing from powerful forces. There were exceptions—those who made it entirely on their own—but they were exceedingly rare.
After talking a bit longer, Kael took his leave.
He made his stance clear: he was willing to cooperate and act along, but if Azami went too far and targeted him excessively, Kael wouldn't hold back.
Senzaemon readily agreed.
He wanted his granddaughter to recover—but offending Kael over this would be beyond foolish.
That wouldn't be trading a watermelon for sesame seeds.
That would be trading gold for dirt.
This matter would be kept completely hidden from the students.
Teachers could still act, but students were far too likely to slip up.
Even among the instructors, some weren't informed in advance—Shiomi Jun, for example.
There was no helping it. She was a complete airhead who couldn't keep secrets. Tell her, and she'd probably blow it the first time she met Azami.
When Kael returned to Polar Star Dormitory, everyone was naturally curious why Senzaemon had called him over.
Kael brushed it off, saying Senzaemon had asked whether he planned to participate in the Moon Banquet Festival.
No one doubted it.
After all, whether Kael participated or not would have an enormous impact on the festival.
Watching their reactions, Kael couldn't help but sigh inwardly.
They were still just students.
Even after a Training Camp, they'd only been exposed to the real world for a single month.
They'd simply seen too little.
If they'd been out there for a year or two, they would have noticed something fishy immediately.
After all, asking about the Moon Banquet Festival didn't require avoiding Erina and Alice.
But everyone's attention was focused on the festival itself, so no one paid much attention to Kael's situation.
Kael listened as they discussed their upcoming plans.
"Alice, don't you think you're being way too optimistic about running a stall?" Kael finally said, exasperated.
She'd spent ages discussing things with everyone—and somehow hadn't even calculated the most basic costs.
It was probably because previous exams never involved cost calculations, and because she was a Nakiri, her sense of spending was… different.
She was even planning to use extremely high-quality ingredients.
If it were Erina or Isshiki Satoshi, that would be fine—they'd be in the High Platform Area, where that level of quality was expected.
But those operating in the Main Avenue or Central Area were different.
They had to think about ingredient costs. Their customers were ordinary people with limited spending power.
If you used premium ingredients, you'd have to raise prices to turn a profit.
But raise them too high, and who would buy?
Anyone with that kind of money would just go to the High-Class area instead. Why wander around the Central or Main Avenue zones?
Now Kael finally understood why Alice and the others had struggled so badly in the original story.
They only managed to turn things around after adjusting their plans based on everyone else's experiences.