Nakiri Erina and Yukihira Soma both turned their heads to look at Haruto, their faces filled with astonishment.
After a brief silence, Yukihira Soma suddenly raised his voice, shouting at Haruto in disbelief.
“Huh? Haruto, you’ve only been formally studying culinary arts for two months?”
Yukihira Soma even wondered if he was hallucinating.
After all, he had tasted Haruto’s cooking; there was no way it could have been made by someone who had only been studying for two months.
“Yeah.”
Haruto nodded with a serious expression.
“I wanted to get into Totsuki Academy before, so I did a one-month crash course at the last minute. Including the time after the Transfer Student Exam, well, it’s been less than two months.”
“That’s impossible.”
Nakiri Erina couldn’t help but retort.
Regarding Haruto’s orange flavored flaky crust custard tart, setting aside the orange fragrance in the crust that puzzled her…
Just the precision of the ingredient preparation and the control of the baking temperature had already reached an impeccable level.
Even professional chefs who had been immersed in cooking for many years would need to refine their skills repeatedly to reach this level.
Let alone a mere month of crash-course learning.
“I can’t help it, that’s just the way it is.”
Haruto shrugged, a perfect look of helplessness on his face, but inside he was already overjoyed.
He had actually worked hard for two months.
At a time like this, if he didn’t show off a bit, it would be like walking in embroidered clothes at night!
Of course, having finished his show, Haruto simply changed the subject, having no intention of continuing the explanation.
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He couldn’t exactly tell them that his culinary skills had improved by leaps and bounds in such a short time because of the special abilities brought by his Gourmet Cells, could he?
Moreover, the freshman entrance ceremony had ended, and next he needed to check the class assignments and attend classes.
There was no extra time to linger here…
After checking the bulletin board, Haruto successfully found his assigned classroom.
Peeking inside and scanning the room, he didn’t see Yukihira Soma and couldn’t help but breathe a sigh of relief.
Great, that should save a lot of trouble.
Cooking classes at Totsuki are basically done in pairs, and the group list had already been posted at the classroom door.
Haruto quickly found his name, then looked at the name of his partner—Sakaki Ryoko.
This gave Haruto a pleasant surprise.
Turning to look into the classroom, he soon spotted Sakaki Ryoko.
Sakaki Ryoko’s culinary skills were quite good among this year’s freshmen, and she especially specialized in fermentation cuisine.
Being paired with Sakaki Ryoko would likely make future cooking classes much easier.
After all, he had only studied cooking for two months, and there were still many areas where he was lacking.
Haruto walked up to Sakaki Ryoko and proactively extended his right hand with a polite smile on his face.
“I’m Haruto. Please look after me in our future cooking classes.”
Sakaki Ryoko looked up at Haruto, a hint of recognition flashing in her eyes.
She reached out and shook Haruto’s hand lightly.
“You already introduced yourself at the freshman entrance ceremony.”
Sakaki Ryoko gave a gentle smile.
“I’m Sakaki Ryoko, and I specialize in fermentation cuisine.”
“If you have any questions about fermentation in the future, feel free to ask me anytime.”
While speaking, Ryoko couldn’t help but recall Haruto’s previous speech.
Although he didn’t make grand, arrogant claims at the entrance ceremony like that transfer student named Yukihira Soma…
He was exceptionally confident deep down.
Fortunately, he didn’t seem like a difficult person to get along with…
After greeting Sakaki Ryoko, Haruto’s gaze swept around the classroom again.
Near the window, two boys were talking in low voices.
The blond boy had sharp eyes and a focused expression, with a light of confidence shining in them.
The dark-haired boy had a rounder build and seemed much gentler in personality, nodding in agreement from time to time with a friendly smile on his face.
They were the Aldini brothers—Takumi and Isami Aldini, from an Italian culinary family.
After the Regiment de Cuisine, Takumi would become one of Elite Ten.
Haruto felt that their Italian cuisine should be quite good and hoped for a chance to taste it.
In the far corner of the classroom, one figure seemed completely out of place.
Messy black hair hung down, covering most of her face and revealing only one red eye; her overall aura was gloomy, radiating an unsettling vibe.
It was Sadatsuka Nao.
An invisible barrier seemed to surround her; no student dared to approach within three meters.
If he remembered correctly, at this time, Sadatsuka Nao had an almost fanatical admiration for Nakiri Erina.
However, because she lost a Shokugeki to Arato Hisako, she was ordered not to come within fifty meters of Nakiri Erina.
Even so, Sadatsuka Nao never gave up.
She would secretly spy on Nakiri Erina with binoculars and send thirty letters to her every single day without fail.
She was a completely extreme and crazy stalker fan.
Of course, what impressed Haruto even more was her cooking style.
Sadatsuka Nao specialized in stewed dishes, especially favoring ingredients that emitted a strong, pungent odor.
The dishes she prepared often carried a ‘dark aura’ that was hard for ordinary people to endure, and she was already notorious within the Totsuki Academy.
She was known as the ‘Witch of the Boiling Pot’.
As for the others, he basically had no impression of them…
Haruto withdrew his gaze and sat in the empty seat next to Sakaki Ryoko just as the classroom door was pushed open.
A thin, middle-aged man walked in, wearing a black suit and gold-rimmed glasses, with a gentle expression.
An assistant carrying a folder followed behind him.
After entering, the assistant quickly walked to the whiteboard at the front of the classroom, put down the folder, and began to write with a scratching sound.
The middle-aged man stepped onto the podium, his gaze slowly scanning everyone in the classroom, a kind smile playing on his lips.
“Good morning, young students.”
“Good morning, Instructor!”
A uniform response rang out in the classroom, carrying the unique energy of youth.
The middle-aged man nodded, and then the smile on his face gradually faded.
“From the moment you stepped into this classroom and stood by the cooking station, you have shouldered the responsibility of cooking delicious food.”
“Therefore, for the upcoming lesson, I hope everyone can give their all and submit a result that satisfies yourselves.”
Hearing this, the atmosphere in the classroom instantly became a bit more solemn, and the students, who were originally somewhat relaxed, all straightened their backs.
Haruto looked at the middle-aged man on the podium, feeling a bit confused.
The man was clearly the Instructor for this class, but shouldn’t he introduce himself at this point?
Beside him, Sakaki Ryoko seemed to notice Haruto’s confusion.
She turned her head and explained in a low voice.
“This is Instructor Russell Achir, a senior Instructor in the french cuisine department of Totsuki Academy.”
“He has also taught french cuisine classes in the Junior High Division before.”
Haruto nodded in understanding.