Multiverse Gourmet Hunter

After finishing the pepper buns, Haruto placed two Plum Tickets bearing the Totsuki Academy crest on Soma’s counter and waved to him.

"I’m going to check out some other places."

He glanced toward the seemingly endless line outside Kuga’s restaurant. The crowd had barely shrunk at all, while the rich aroma of Sichuan peppercorns and chili oil drifted over on the breeze.

Haruto shook his head and decided to try some of the other stalls first.

He wandered along with the crowd, sampling several interesting shops along the way.

By the time the sun began sinking toward the horizon, it was around five in the afternoon, and Haruto arrived at the Polar Star Dormitory group’s stall in the Hillside Area.

Inside the temporary tents, quite a few customers sat together on picnic cloths spread across the ground, steaming hot pots in front of them as they laughed and shared food with one another.

A shallow stream had even been dug outside the tents, its water burbling gently as fragments of sunlight shimmered across the surface. The breeze through the trees carried the clean scent of grass and leaves mixed with the aroma of food, giving the entire place the relaxed atmosphere of a camping trip.

The only somewhat unusual thing was that most of the customers gathered here were girls.

Haruto stepped inside and greeted everyone from Polar Star.

"Hey, everyone. I’m here to mooch some food."

Sakaki Ryoko, who was helping with the customers, turned around and smiled when she saw him.

"Oh, Haruto. Welcome."

She led him toward an empty spot in the corner, then returned with a serving of imoni, the traditional taro hot pot.

The milky-white bonito broth was still gently simmering. Soft taro pieces had soaked up the stock, while the sweetness of green onions mingled with the mellow richness of miso. The warm aroma alone was enough to make the body relax.

Just as Haruto picked up his chopsticks, Isshiki Satoshi came over.

"Haruto! I knew you would understand the joy of gathering with friends in the mountains, sitting around a pot of imoni, and celebrating the brilliance of our youth!"

"Come! Join our imoni party and stay here to enjoy the festivities with everyone!"

Haruto looked at him calmly.

"Isshiki-senpai, I still have to go back and check today’s sales later, so I’ll pass."

The atmosphere of the imoni party was certainly pleasant, but Haruto intended to eat his way through every stall at the Moon Festival. There was no way he could spend all his time in one place.

Seeing that Haruto had made up his mind, Isshiki stopped trying to persuade him and merely sighed in disappointment.

Haruto leisurely finished his bowl of imoni, chatted with the Polar Star residents for a little while, then got up and returned to his own shop.

The moment he reached the entrance, his eyebrows rose.

The vending machine outside his shop had a bright red SOLD OUT message glowing across its display.

Every Poffin he had prepared was gone.

Haruto smiled.

Apparently, the title of Elite Ten carried more advertising power than almost anything else.

He quickly counted all the tickets collected by the vending machine and delivered them to the academy office responsible for calculating each shop’s revenue.

Before long, it was seven in the evening.

After an hour of frantic counting, Totsuki’s staff finally finished tallying the first day’s sales for every temporary restaurant.

The campus speakers came to life.

Students throughout the grounds stopped what they were doing and waited for the first day’s rankings.

"The Moon Festival’s first-day sales figures, calculated up to six o’clock this evening, have now been finalized."

"We will now announce the rankings for each area."

Sasaki Yua’s soft, timid voice came through the speakers.

A second later, Kawashima Urara’s energetic voice immediately took over, injecting life into the announcement.

"First up, the Main Avenue Area!"

"Third place—the Don RS!"

"Second place—the Skewer RS!"

"And taking first place in the Main Avenue Area on Day One is—the Aldini Restaurant Temporary Branch!"

"Next is the Central Area!"

"Third place—"

...

"And first place in the Central Area on Day One—the Chinese Cuisine RS, Kuga’s Restaurant!"

"Next up, the Hillside Area—!"

The top three restaurants from each district were announced one after another, prompting waves of discussion throughout the festival grounds.

Haruto slowly ate the baked apple he had just bought as he listened through the entire ranking.

Once the announcements were over, he brushed the crumbs from his hands and turned to head back toward Polar Star Dormitory.

He had not gone far when he happened to run into Soma, Nakiri Alice, and the others, who had just finished a meeting.

As two of the only shops to end the first day operating at a loss, their stalls had naturally attracted attention.

Worse still, all five of them had been competitors in the main tournament of the Autumn Elections.

Nakiri Erina had apparently been unable to sit still after seeing those results and had specifically summoned them for a meeting.

"Still getting lectured this late? Sounds rough."

Haruto smiled and waved toward the group.

"You’d better work hard from tomorrow onward. Try not to end up in the red again."

"We’re definitely turning a profit tomorrow!"

Alice puffed out her cheeks and declared seriously,

"And not just a profit—we’re taking first place in the Main Avenue Area!"

Hayama Akira and Kurokiba Ryo, standing beside her, exchanged glances.

The helplessness in their eyes only deepened.

At the rate the three of them were going, forget taking first place. Whether they could even erase their deficit and turn a profit on Day Two was still uncertain.

"You’re not going to take first place on the Main Avenue just by saying you will."

Haruto looked at Alice and gave her some sincere advice.

"I think the three of you should sort out your communication first."

"It’s a restaurant the three of you are running together."

"And before worrying about first place, your priority should probably be surviving the Moon Festival without getting expelled."

Alice huffed indignantly at the advice but did not argue.

She knew perfectly well that Haruto was right.

Even so, she had already made up her mind.

Tomorrow, they would absolutely turn a profit.

After chatting for a few more minutes, Haruto returned to Polar Star Dormitory.

Soma and the others, meanwhile, began an all-night round of preparations for the second day.

...

Early the next morning, before the sky had fully brightened, Haruto heard movement outside his room.

When he stepped out, he found Isshiki looking unusually excited while carrying a thick stack of photographs.

Haruto silently offered Marui Zenji and the others his heartfelt blessings.

Hopefully, they could preserve their innocence for another day.

After washing up, Haruto left Polar Star and headed toward his shop.

But the moment he got close, he stopped in surprise.

A long line had already formed in front of his relatively small stall.

Almost everyone waiting was a girl, and they were chatting excitedly among themselves.

Haruto moved closer and listened for a moment.

It did not take long to understand what had happened.

The beauty-enhancing effect of his Poffins had simply been far too noticeable.

The girls who bought them yesterday had gone back and spread the word among their friends, and by this morning, the news had exploded throughout the female student and visitor circles.

As a result, plenty of people had deliberately come early to line up before the shop even opened, afraid they would miss out again.

Once Haruto understood the reason, he could not help feeling pleased.

He wasted no time.

Haruto entered the kitchen and made two hundred servings of Poffins in one go, then loaded them into the vending machine.

After watching the line immediately become lively again, he dusted off his hands, turned around, and slipped away.

He was certainly happy that the Poffins had become so popular.

But compared with standing around selling food, eating his way through every stall at the Moon Festival was still far more important.

Haruto headed straight toward the Main Avenue Area, intending to continue sampling the shops he had skipped the day before.

He had barely reached the edge of the district when an extraordinarily aggressive odor hit him squarely in the nose.

It carried a heavy, unmistakably fermented funk.

Following the smell, Haruto soon spotted Sadatsuka Nao’s stall.

He raised an eyebrow and walked over.

If he planned to taste every stall at the Moon Festival, then naturally he could not skip Nao’s cooking just because of the smell.

"I’ll have one serving of your signature dish."

Nao had been looking down while working with some fermented dried fish. Hearing the voice, she raised her head.

The instant she saw Haruto, her eyes brightened.

"Oh, it’s you, Haruto!"

The two often attended the same classes and had spoken several times about cooking before, so they were already fairly familiar with each other.

Nao immediately picked up a skewer of dried horse mackerel and held it out to him with an expectant look.

"Try this. It’s horse mackerel that I fermented and aged using my own special method."

"Thanks."

Haruto accepted the skewer and took a bite without hesitation.

The exterior was crisp and fragrant from the grilling, while the meat inside still retained a soft, rich layer of fat.

The powerful umami created by fermentation burst across his tongue.

Its smell was intense enough to be intimidating, but once eaten, that pungency transformed completely into a deep, mellow savoriness that lingered pleasantly without becoming greasy.

In fact, the more he chewed, the sweeter the aftertaste became.

"This is really good. You controlled the fermentation perfectly, and all the umami has stayed locked inside the fish."

Haruto gave his assessment before finishing the entire skewer in only a few more bites.

Nao looked delighted by the praise and immediately reached for another one.

Haruto laughed and waved her off.

If he ate too much here, he would only ruin his appetite for everything else waiting further down the street.

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