Multiverse Gourmet Hunter

After leaving Sadatsuka Nao’s stall, Haruto continued making his way through the festival and sampling whatever caught his eye.

Before long, he bought a freshly baked fruit tart from one of the stalls.

The pastry shattered delicately between his teeth, while the smooth custard blended with the refreshing sweetness of mango and blueberries across his tongue.

Haruto leisurely finished the tart as he approached the busiest restaurant in the Main Avenue Area—the Aldini Restaurant Temporary Branch.

Inside the open kitchen, Takumi worked with a frying pan in hand, his movements smooth and efficient.

A crowd of girls had gathered around the kitchen, watching him cook and occasionally letting out excited little cheers.

Haruto swallowed the last bite of his tart, wiped the corner of his mouth, and looked Takumi up and down before clicking his tongue.

"Takumi’s seriously this popular with girls?"

As if sensing the stare, Takumi happened to look up.

Their eyes met.

His hands paused for half a beat, surprise spreading across his face.

"Haruto? What are you doing here?"

Takumi stared at him in confusion.

He knew perfectly well that Haruto’s shop was located in the Hillside Area.

"My place is a self-service dessert shop, so there’s no reason for me to stand around watching it all day. I came out to explore."

Takumi went silent.

For several seconds, he simply stared at Haruto, clearly having never imagined that the guy would solve the problem of running a Moon Festival restaurant by making the entire thing self-service.

Then, after thinking about it, Takumi realized it suited Haruto perfectly.

As far as he was concerned, Haruto had always hated unnecessary hassle. The fact that he had bothered opening a shop at all was already somewhat surprising.

Of course he would choose the least troublesome way to run it.

Takumi said nothing more and instead turned around to bring out a freshly baked Italian almond cake, placing it in front of Haruto.

The surface had been baked to a beautiful caramel brown, while the cut interior was fluffy and moist. Toasted hazelnut pieces and almond flakes were scattered throughout, accented by bright pieces of candied orange peel.

The aroma of butter and roasted nuts immediately rose from the plate.

Haruto cut off a piece with his fork and placed it in his mouth.

The cake was as soft as a cloud and practically melted on his tongue. Rich butter blended seamlessly with the aroma of eggs, while the crunchy nuts kept the sweetness from becoming heavy. The candied orange peel introduced a refreshing citrus note at the end, neatly cutting through the richness.

Every element was balanced almost perfectly.

"Mm. Not bad."

Haruto nodded approvingly.

"Looks like you haven’t been slacking off. This is better than what you were making during the Autumn Elections."

"Of course it is. I haven’t let myself relax for a single day."

Takumi puffed out his chest, but his fingers tightened slightly at his side.

An indescribable frustration stirred inside him.

Ever since the Autumn Elections ended, he had been training relentlessly, all so he could catch up to Haruto and Yukihira Soma.

The problem was that those two had not stopped improving either.

Haruto in particular had already claimed a seat among the Elite Ten, a position countless Totsuki students could spend their entire academy careers chasing without ever reaching.

Takumi had great confidence in his own talent.

Even so, he understood that there was still an invisible gulf separating his current level from that of the Elite Ten.

That did not mean he had any intention of giving up.

Of course, before formally challenging Haruto, there was one person he wanted to defeat first.

Yukihira Soma.

"Yeah, yeah. Keep it up."

Haruto casually encouraged him while continuing to eat.

His fork never stopped moving, and before long, the entire plate of cake was gone.

He wiped his mouth, placed the appropriate tickets on the counter, then waved at Takumi.

"I’m heading out."

With that, Haruto turned and disappeared into the bustling crowd, continuing his campaign to eat his way through the festival.

He wandered from stall to stall, trying everything from charcoal-grilled wagyu skewers and freshly fried croquettes to fresh juice and hot crêpes straight from the griddle.

His mouth was practically never empty.

By the time Haruto reached the opposite end of the Main Avenue Area, he spotted the sign for the Shiomi Seminar.

What surprised him was the line outside.

Yesterday, the stall had been almost completely deserted. Today, however, a modest queue had formed, and quite a few customers were already seated nearby with trays of food.

Business had clearly improved by a considerable margin.

"Oh? Did you guys finally get your act together?"

Haruto raised an eyebrow and muttered to himself.

Apparently, his advice yesterday had not gone completely to waste.

Nakiri Alice, Hayama Akira, and Kurokiba Ryo had finally stopped fighting among themselves. At the very least, it did not look like they would embarrass themselves with another day in the red.

Haruto walked over and glanced at the menu.

Their main dish today was Chocolate Curry Rice.

Behind the counter, Hayama was busy ladling curry.

Dark circles hung heavily beneath his eyes, his hair was messy, and he looked thoroughly exhausted.

He had obviously stayed up all night adjusting the recipe and working out the restaurant’s workflow.

"One curry rice, please."

Haruto called out.

Hayama looked up.

When he saw who it was, he barely reacted, only answering with a tired grunt before grabbing a plate, portioning out the rice, covering it with curry, and passing it to Kurokiba.

Kurokiba placed an intricate chocolate flower on top before sliding the finished plate toward Haruto.

Haruto carried it to an empty seat and examined the dish.

Under the residual heat of the curry, the flower—created with 3D-printing technology—was slowly beginning to melt.

Dark brown chocolate flowed into the thick curry sauce, releasing a deep cocoa aroma that mingled with the fragrance of spices.

Haruto scooped up a spoonful and tasted it.

The curry base was sweet and spicy with a subtle fruitiness.

Hayama’s greatest strength had always been his control over spices, and that remained flawless. Cardamom, cinnamon, and cumin unfolded in layers without ever overpowering one another, instead drawing out the natural savoriness of the ingredients.

The melted chocolate added a faint bitterness followed by a mellow sweetness that softened the heat of the curry.

It also made the sauce even richer and creamier, coating the rice with a deep cocoa fragrance.

The combination had far more complexity than Haruto had expected.

He finished the entire plate in only a few bites and nodded in satisfaction.

Compared with the chaotic mess they had served on the first day, this Chocolate Curry Rice was genuinely excellent.

After finishing, Haruto greeted the three of them, who were too busy serving customers to chat for long, then continued exploring the festival.

By the time the afternoon sun began sinking, he finally wandered back to his own shop.

Unsurprisingly, the vending machine was sold out again.

Haruto quickly counted the collected tickets and delivered them to the academy’s revenue office.

Before long, seven o’clock arrived.

Just like the previous day, the campus-wide broadcast came to life.

Haruto was sitting at a roadside stall near the entrance to the Hillside Area with a bowl of freshly made oden in his hands. He bit into a piece of daikon that had soaked up the broth while listening to Kawashima Urara’s energetic voice coming through the speakers.

"First, the rankings for the Main Avenue Area!"

"Third place—the Don RS!"

"Second place—the Shiomi Seminar!"

"And taking first place on Day Two of the Main Avenue Area once again—the Aldini Restaurant Temporary Branch!"

"Next, the Central Area!"

"Third place—the Western Cuisine RS, Yōshōken!"

"Second place—the Spanish Cuisine RS, El Fuego!"

"And taking first place in the Central Area for Day Two once again—the Chinese Cuisine RS, Kuga’s Restaurant! Two consecutive days at number one!"

"And finally, the Hillside Area!"

"Third place in Day Two sales for the Hillside Area—the Elite Ten Self-Service Dessert Shop!"

"Hm?"

Haruto froze in the middle of biting into a soft-boiled egg.

He scratched his head.

It took him a moment to remember that the casually chosen name belonged to his own shop.

"Third place, huh? That’s a little surprising."

Haruto laughed but did not think too much of it.

Most restaurants in the Hillside Area were high-end establishments that operated primarily by reservation, with their busiest hours occurring at night.

The rankings, meanwhile, only counted sales made before six in the evening.

Haruto’s shop had reached third place almost entirely through daytime vending-machine sales.

In that sense, he had benefited quite a bit from the rules.

He leisurely finished his bowl of oden, then picked up a freshly printed copy of the daily rankings from the stall beside him and flipped through it as he headed deeper into the Hillside Area.

He actually had a reservation tonight.

And the restaurant he had booked belonged to the First Seat of the Elite Ten.

Tsukasa Eishi.

Haruto had been looking forward to tasting Tsukasa’s cooking for quite some time.

A culinary philosophy that sought to reveal nothing but the ultimate flavor of the ingredient itself while erasing the chef’s personal presence from the dish entirely...

Haruto had never experienced anything like that firsthand.

Just thinking about it made him curious.

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