113 The Story

Outside of the North Star dormitory. Inside the forest. Alexander was following behind the old Senzaemon, their walk in the woods was quiet and slow

As it was nighttime, the moon was illuminating the surrounding area making it easy for the two to see where they are going.

'Say something!!' Alexander shouted inside his head, this felt like some murder scene from a horror movie.

"Has your mother told you about her days in Totsuki?" Senzaemon spoke after a long time of silence.

"...No," Alexander answered, his mother would tell him a few things here and there, but she never told him her story.

"How much do you know about God's tongue?" Senzaemon asked again.

"Aside from it being a highly sensitive organ that is born with 1 in a trillion chance, then no." Alexander shrugged his shoulders

"Then, you don't see it as a curse?"

"Old man, I thought you wanted to tell me a story, not interrogate me." Alexander had enough questions for one day, he needed Senzaemon to get straight to the point.

"So impatient..." The old man sighed and looked at the moon "It was more than 20 years ago. when your mother first enlisted in Totsuki..." Senzaemon closed his eyes and started telling the story...

"When Alexandra first stepped foot into this school. The young Alexandra was full of passion and raw energy that needed to be unleashed,

"Back then, my daughter, the previous holder of the God's tongue was a second year and the elite 10's fifth seat, she was a strict girl who loved everything to be in order, while Alexandra was a wild girl who loved to bring anyone who was above her down, on their first meeting...at Alexandra's battle against their generation's first seat of the elite 10, Alexandra crushed the poor man and took his family's business and his seat in the elite 10 making her the youngest 1st seat in the history, Hohoho~ that was a sight to behold!" Senzaemon couldn't help but laugh at that memory.

Alexander chuckled awkwardly, that violent part of his mother wasn't unfamiliar to him, he had seen a few videos of her when she was a child, all of those videos are of her holding a metal bat and chasing after her brother and father. He also had experienced some holy discipline from her own hands.

But what affected Alexander the most is that there is another holder of the God's tongue 'Two in a row...!' he thought, there were no records for such a thing, The God Tongue is a skill that manifests into the world once every century, but now, there are two holders of such skill and both are alive.

Senzaemon looked back at Alexander and continued "After that battle, your mother and Mana crossed each other many times, Alexandra challenged her to a Shokugeki but Mana kept refusing as it wasn't necessary or beneficial, with Alexandra's playful personality and Mana's strict rules, the two completed each other in a way. It wasn't long before they became friends...well, Alexandra dragged Mana to be friends. Before she could realize it, she was already treating her like a friend. I was so shocked, for the first time in her life my daughter had a friend." There was actually a tear hanging from Senzaemon's eyes, that time was his daughter's happiest time ever, she had a smile on her face that the old him couldn't describe into words, and that smile grows even wider when Leonora was introduced to the bunch.

"Alexandra, Mana, and Leonora, three beasts were living under one roof in Totsuki, the elite 10's 1st, 2nd, and 3rd seats...Aahhh~ Totsuki was trembling from their presence alone when any of them moved." The old senzaemon started trembling when he remembered that generation of monsters.

Alexander wasn't really surprised as he had seen Leanora and Alexandra together, but he had never seen Mana before, so he got a little curious "And what happened after that...?" Alexander had already guessed that the story will be about one of the three.

"Yes...It was after that year. after Alexandra and Leonora became second years while Mana became a third year. At that time, God's tongue reached its all-time high sensitivity for Mana and she could no longer taste anything less than a 5-star meal, she would sometimes go days without eating and starving herself..." Senzaemon frowned and felt anger accumulating inside him "...But luckily, Alexandra was there, she made food for Mana to eat with a blessing instead of feeling that sharp pain in her tongue each time she eats something...but with time Alexandra's food effect started to fade and Mana returned to starving again, she couldn't even taste anything without puking..."

Alexander frowned at that, according to the records he found in his home, God's tongue wasn't supposed to act that way at all, it wasn't supposed to prevent its holder from tasting lesser food at all "What happened after that, did you find the reason behind that?" he asked, he actually became worried, he thought of Erina and she may experience the same thing since Mana is basically her mother.

"We looked into ancient books and found that God's tongue can have such side effects when it experiences a heavy trauma..." Senzaemon said.

"What caused that Trauma?" Alexander asked. he walked near Senzaemon to hear him better

"Your father..." Alexander almost tripped while he was walking 'IT WAS YOU!!!' He shouted in his head.

"In his first year, he got to know Alexandra and the rest, while he was in the North Star Dorm, he actually made one of his weird experiments and Mana tasted it. Of course, the taste was horrible, but at that time, no one knew that such innocent deed would turn my daughter's life into a living hell." Senzaemon didn't hold any grudge against Joechiro, he knows that the man himself had a lot of problems going on in his life too, the last thing Senzaemon wanted to do is add another problem to his life.

"Your mother researched a way to dissolve the side effects of God's tongue... and she found that it can only be undone with a meal made by the twin skill of God's tongue...The Phantom Hands!"

"Phantom Hands?!!" This was the first time Alexander had heard about such skill, the God's tongue was enough of a miracle, and now there is a twin to that miracle?!

"Yes, a skill that can overpower God's tongue, it can also tame it so it can't kill its holder. Your mother was believed to be the holder of such skill, but it seems, we were wrong, When everyone graduated, years later, Azami and Mana got to know each other, and Alexandra was running her business but she still came to visit every 10 days, she tried to make the best dish that can lift the side effect from Mana, It was at that time Azami met Alexandra, he was an overly cautious man at that time, he tried to help but in reality, he shouldn't have. He doubted Alexandra so much that it affected her, he loved Mana and didn't want to risk anything. A month later, Alexandra came up with a dish that she believed was the solution...But...the dish not only backfired and caused more harm, but it also increased the sensitivity ratio of God's tongue. now, my daughter can't even drink water normally, since that day, she has been injecting nutrients into her body in order to sustain herself."

Alexander's mouth was wide open at that point, his eyes were frozen from shock ' What kind of story is that?!' Alexander couldn't really grasp

"W-well, what does that have to do with our current situation, you obviously telling me this story because of that Azami's appearance, right?" Alexander tried to move on from that story as quickly as possible.

Senzaemon sighed and sat down on the grass when they have reached a cliff that display's Totsuki's facilities in a clear view.

"Azami...that man, is just afraid, afraid that Erina will end up like Mana soon, his plan for his "True" gourmet world is but the manifestation of his fear, his fear led him astray, he believed if he trapped God's tongue in a world of a one path flavors where there is nothing to reach for, that will save his daughter, but his fear clouded his love and he did horrible thing to Erina that if he was still in his right mind, he would have cut the hand that dragged her with him to that room..."

Alexander was so confused now but everything made sense to him at the same time "While his "education" was a bit effective, he didn't take notice of his daughter and how she was sinking into the darkness that he himself created. My business here with you here is..."

Senzaemon went silent for a moment before he bowed deeply until his head reached the ground while in his sitting position, making Alexander shocked

"Alexander Helmet...Please, Save Erina."

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