CHAPTER 11: Damian's firm response

Chappelle had just left, Damian was relieved to see the stadium-like place in the distance, it looked like he was the only transfer student this year.

As Damian walked backstage, he saw a familiar yet unknown old man sitting in a chair with his eyes closed and dozing off.

"Are you Damian Gray?"

"Hello, Commander."

Senzaemon opened his eyes and turned his head, but was stunned for a moment. He was a tall, handsome, calm and kind boy, the boy was much better than he imagined.

Senzaemon stood up and said, "You are calmer than I imagined, did you know that you will be speaking soon? Since you are the only transfer student, you will face hundreds of unfamiliar faces, and they will all be looking at you from off the stage, or friendly, or disdainful, or admiring, or curious, and so on."

Damian didn't seem nervous or flustered, he just said warmly, "Are they going to run on stage to hit me or make fun of me?"

"That's not going to happen."

"Then why should I be nervous? After all, I'm not here to expand the circle of friends, and it's impossible to know everyone."

The friendly ones will come to make friends, the admirers are harmless to me, the disdainful ones will not matter to me, and my skills will make it so that they will not dare to be disdainful, let alone in Tōtsuki, only those who survive are qualified to be disdainful and arrogant, it is not?"

Senzaemon's eyes lit up and he looked at Damian carefully before saying with a smile, "Hahaha! Good! Good boy! As expected of a boy who can cook such delicious dishes! Very good!"

"You are overestimating me."

"Hahaha! You're funny, how long have you been learning to cook?"

"About ten years... Almost eleven years."

"Well yeah, how did you develop that knife skill?"

"Cutting carrots."

"Huh? Carrots?"

"Yes, I cut four carrots a day, every day, since I started cooking."

[A/N: Good thing he didn't go bald.]

Senzaemon was shocked for a moment and said, "You cut four carrots a day and have such skill with knives?!"

"Did you reach this level just by chopping carrots every day?"

"Yes."

Senzaemon sighed and said, "Well, it looks like you have a special talent, or some secret that hasn't been shared."

"No, just cut carrots."

"Yes, yes, I know."

Damian looked at Senzaemon who had an "I understand" expression, he was also confused. He actually cut carrots, but didn't say how fine the cut was, or whether he was blindfolded or not.

After talking with Damian for a while, Senzaemon coughed lightly and said, "Okay, it's time to go on stage. You should also prepare yourself. Get ready to speak on stage."

"Understood."

After Senzaemon turned to leave, Damian just stood backstage watching, always feeling that Senzaemon should say something very official.

"Ladies and gentlemen. Congratulations on entering high school! In your last three years of elementary school, you depended on your knowledge of the principles of preparing a dish and its ingredients."

"You had classes where you had to cook or attend lectures on culinary theory, nutrition, hygiene, agriculture, management, etc."

"Now you are standing at the entrance of high school. But what will be tested now is not your technique or knowledge."

"It's whether you have the courage to live like chefs!"

"99% of you are sacrificial stones that will serve to polish the remaining 1%."

"Of the 940 new first-year students last year! Only 87 people managed to move on to second year!"

"We will ruthlessly reject incompetent and ordinary people."

"Of the 1000 new students, only 100 will make it to the second year, one hand is more than enough to count how many will be able to graduate."

"You will become one of these few chefs, so dedicate yourselves to your studies..."

In a corner on the other side, a blonde girl listened with her eyes closed and a smile on her legs.

Hisako whispered to the side, "I feel like the commander is saying the same thing as last year..."

"Hisako, you are wrong. Grandpa's words were never to encourage them, but to let them know that Tōtsuki's true cruelty has only just begun!"

"Tōtsuki is globally recognized for the high-quality results brought by its high elimination rate. Those who manage to successfully graduate from Tōtsuki are all elites among elites in the culinary industry."

"I don't care about the previous years, but those in the same year are destined to be my stepping stones!"

Hisako nodded and said, "Ms. Erina is right, but the next part is the transfer student's speech. I'm really curious about what he's going to say. It must be something arrogant."

"The strong should be arrogant, as long as it's not rude! Because that's Tōtsuki!"

"Hmm!"

Erina squinted her eyes and said, "I saw Chapelle-sensei just now, he just said that this transfer student made a dish called sweet and sour pork, I don't know what it is, but it must be really good, after all, grandpa's clothes were torn apart."

"Eh?! Really? It's amazing, but I've heard of sweet and sour pork."

"Really? What kind of food is this?"

"Sweet and sour pork is a very popular dish in Chinese cuisine, but it is also enjoyed in many other parts of the world. It is characterized by strips of pork breaded and fried until crispy, covered with a sweet and sour sauce made with a combination of ingredients like vinegar, sugar, soy sauce and cornstarch. Because it's quite easy to prepare you can eat it in any restaurant, but if he can make it commander like that, his skills are absolutely incredible..."

"That's right, it's a famous dish? That's right... I'm really curious about what kind of person can cook such a dish."

"Hmm! Ah, Erina-sama, it's time for the transfer student to appear."

"Um."

As Erina and Hisako were talking, they heard the host shout, "Finally, the only newly enrolled student who transferred is invited to come on stage!"

Everyone was stunned for a moment. There was actually someone who could pass Tōtsuki's transfer student assessment. Everyone was very curious, everyone was looking at the exit.

With the sound of footsteps, the students couldn't help but swallow their saliva. The next moment...

"So beautiful..."

(End of chapter)

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