Chapter 17 – An unpleasant reunion

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"Erina Nakiri... Should I say it's been a long time since we last met?" Although somewhat surprised, Sadao still greeted her politely. After all, even though they were both students at Totsuki, their interactions had been minimal.

Sadao had thought about bridging the gap between them, but things never went smoothly. In retrospect, perhaps this was also because he was not the protagonist.

"Why did you leave Totsuki?" However, Erina didn't bother with pleasantries. Ever since he left Totsuki, this question had been burning in her heart. Now, seeing him again, she couldn't hold back her curiosity.

"This..." Sadao was somewhat surprised by her question. 'Why did I leave Totsuki? Can't you investigate that... No, were we that close? Why would you care about this?'

Although he was taken aback, it wasn't something he couldn't answer. He replied frankly, "I did my best, but in the end, I just couldn't stay."

"What kind of joke is that!?" Erina became angry at his response. "Did your best? Couldn't stay? Do you think such a poor excuse is convincing!?"

"I..." Sadao twitched the corner of his mouth. This reaction was all too familiar to him. It was the same anger displayed by Roland Chapelle, a Totsuki instructor, when his cooking failed.

In truth, Sadao understood why they were angry. With his exceptional Chinese cooking skills, even if he knew nothing about Western cuisine, it was impossible for him to prepare a bad dish. After all, his fundamental cooking skills were solid.

However, Sadao was different. Despite his strong foundation in cooking and unparalleled Chinese cuisine skills, whenever he tried his hand at foreign cuisines, his imperfect 'chef's heart' would trip him up at crucial moments. As a result, since arriving in this world, he had never successfully prepared a dish unrelated to "Chinese" cuisine.

"Whether you believe it or not, the fact remains: I can't cook anything unrelated to 'Chinese' cuisine..." Speaking of this, Sadao sighed. He could still manage Chinese-related dishes with the culinary knowledge injected into his brain by the system. However, when it came to Western or Japanese cuisine... Sorry, but with his current condition, even a hundred years of practice wouldn't be enough to produce a decent dish.

"What are you joking about!" However, such an explanation did not convince Erina but only fueled her anger further. "Can't cook anything unrelated to 'Chinese' cuisine? Do you think I'm a three-year-old?"

In this day and age, even telling the truth doesn't get believed... Life is indeed too difficult.

"You did make a dish that convinced me. How could you, with such talent, fail Totsuki's assessment!?"

Sadao opened his mouth, finally understanding why Erina was so angry. It turned out to be for such a reason.

However, he hadn't expected that a simple tea egg would leave such a profound impression on her.

"The fact is the fact..." Sadao shook his head. Facts don't change according to one's will, not even for Erina Nakiri. "Besides, what's the point of bringing this up now?"

He had already been expelled from Totsuki. Anything said now was too late.

Moreover, being expelled was actually a good thing for him. If not for that, how could he have understood his own situation?

"Do you intend to just give up?" Erina showed a look of frustration, "With your talent, re-entering Totsuki wouldn't be a problem, as long as you have the will!"

"The result will be the same..." Sadao gently shook his head, feeling there was no need to continue this conversation. Setting aside their different perspectives, if she couldn't understand his situation, any further discussion would be a waste of time. "...I need to get back to my shop. Farewell for now, Erina Nakiri."

With that, Sadao didn't wait for her reaction and simply turned and left. Since they lived in two different worlds, it was better not to force communication between them.

"Wait a minute!!!"

Erina was furious. She never imagined that her goodwill would be met with such rude behavior. "Sadao, to what extent do you plan to fall!?"

"Hisako, let's go!!!" Erina decided to ignore this self-degrading man. Such a person, neither she nor Totsuki Academy needed.

"Yes..." Watching Sadao's receding figure, Hisako Arato sighed inwardly. Like Erina, she too was moved by his cooking and couldn't understand why he would make such absurd and foolish decisions.

...

Despite the unexpected incident, Sadao's mood remained unaffected, and he appeared relaxed and carefree. Soon, he returned to his shop and happily immersed himself in a video game.

"You really have no ambition..." The system, observing his behavior, could only criticize. It wondered why it had chosen someone so worn down by life as its host.

"That's not bad at all..." Sadao tapped away at the keyboard, responding to the system in a light and pleased tone, as if taking the mocking words as a compliment. "...Relaxed and comfortable, that's exactly the kind of useless life I want to live."

The system felt a headache coming on. It thought that he would eventually grow tired of such a lifestyle, but looking at the current situation, not preparing a backup plan might lead to a complete disaster.

"Sadao, let's make a deal..." After some thought, the system spoke up.

"A deal?" Sadao was startled at first, then promptly refused, "No thanks, you're definitely setting a trap."

At this response, the system was nearly infuriated, but it managed to hold back. "...Don't be so quick to refuse, hear me out first!"

"Alright, say it..." Sadao wasn't really interested in listening... His intuition told him that hearing it might lead him to walk into a trap willingly. However, he had promised to repay the system's kindness within his abilities. If he didn't even want to listen, he wouldn't know where to start with repaying that debt.