Chapter 1022: Crystal Palace's Hidden Card Trick

"This dish is really delicious."

"Not just one dish is delicious, but all the dishes here are delicious!"

"Is this the strength of the graduate head chefs?"

At night, it was still in buffet form, only the guests had become students of the training camp, and those making the dishes had become the graduate instructors who had been bringing the students these past days.

These instructors indeed had strength; the dishes they made were clearly at a level higher than those made by current students.

Of course, not every dish surpassed the students'; it was just that in many culinary fields the students themselves excelled, when compared to similar dishes made by these graduate instructors, they appeared somewhat inferior.

"What, is the food not delicious?"

When Dojima Gin passed by the table on this side of Polar Star Dormitory, he saw Soma Yukihira tasting food with a serious expression, so he walked over to ask.

"No, it's very delicious."

"Then why are you making such a face?"

"Because it's too delicious, it made me feel pressure——"

Soma Yukihira immediately briefly repeated what he had said at the enrollment ceremony, then asked: "Senior Dojima, is the cooking skill of Totsuki graduates all at this level?"

He realized that if students who could graduate from Totsuki Academy were all at the level of the food he had just eaten, then with his current ability, let alone surpassing others, not being pressed to the ground and rubbed hard would already count as good.

"No, normal students who just graduated from Totsuki Academy aren't that absurd; this is the level that graduates who have further honed their cooking skills in society after graduation possess."

"Well, you're still young, and your career as a chef has just begun; you don't need to put too much pressure on yourself, nor do you need to compare yourself with chefs who already stand at the upper levels of the culinary world."

"As a student, you at Totsuki Academy already count as one of the outstanding few; believe it won't be long before you make a name for yourself at Totsuki Academy."

"Senior Dojima, thank you for your comfort, but compared to just making a name for myself at the academy, I want to surpass the seniors who have already graduated."

"Haha, ambitious, good spirit, kid, I'm optimistic about you; if you have free time during the vacation, you can come to the resort hotel side to further your studies, I welcome you."

", do you all here hire vacation workers?"

"Correctly speaking, it's not hiring vacation workers, but hiring talent who may become the backbone of the resort hotel's back kitchen in the future or possibly."

"In fact, the training camp itself is a preliminary screening of culinary world talent; those graduates who have already opened their own shops and achieved fame, the reason they are willing to travel thousands of miles to come as free instructors, is more or less also with the idea of reserving quality talent for their own cooking shops in advance."

"And I am optimistic about your future, so I am willing to give you the opportunity for a vacation internship; of course, Broly, you're not bad either, are you interested in interning at the hotel side during the vacation?"

Dojima Gin said as he said, then asked toward Broly.

"Hah?"

Broly was picking at a plate of Crab Meat Mixed Noodles; hearing this, he was first stunned, then turned his head to ask the gold-haired girl beside him: "Erina, do you want to intern at the resort hotel side during the vacation?"

"How is that possible; the vacation is the peak period when others reserve me to taste their food; how would I have that free time to come be a back kitchen intern employee at the resort hotel side?"

"Then what about you, Mito?"

"Uh, shouldn't the vacation be for resting?"

Broly looked toward Hisako Arato; before he could ask, the secretary girl answered in advance: "I am Erina-sama's assistant; since Erina-sama is still working, I naturally must accompany her."

"Uh, then what about Komekko?"

"Broly-san, I plan to return to my hometown this summer vacation; I haven't been back for a long time."

The braids girl answered.

"Good, not a single one wants to intern at the resort hotel, so the answer is naturally very clear."

"Senior Dojima, thank you for your vacation internship invitation, but obviously, I have my own things to do."

Broly declined Dojima Gin's invitation.

"Master, why don't you ask me what I'm going to do during the vacation?"

Yoshino Yuuki puffed her cheeks and asked.

"Then what are you going to do?"

"Probably go home to help, raise livestock."

"So, what's the difference between that and what you usually do?"

"Uh, one is raising at home, one is raising at the dormitory."

"Except for the different place of raising, there's no other difference."

Sakaki Ryouko summarized her good friend's vacation arrangement.

"Then what about you, Ryouko, what do you plan to do this summer vacation?"

"Be a hikikomori at home."

"And also tinker with some fermented things, right?"

"Mm."

"Then you're no different from me; the vacation doesn't change much for your life either."

"I didn't say my vacation was very special."

"I didn't say that either."

"Then why did you let Broly ask?"

"Master asked so many people, why not ask me?"

Sakaki Ryouko looked at Yoshino Yuuki, then looked at Tadokoro Megumi, then looked at the three people on Nakiri Erina's side, and suddenly realized.

"You're right, why doesn't Broly ask us two?"

Sakaki Ryouko gave her good friend a 【understood】 look, then agreed with Yoshino Yuuki's words.

"Broly, you are from our Polar Star Dormitory, you can't play favorites."

She said.

"The Sixth Cooking Building side asked three people; then, the Polar Star Dormitory side must also ask three people."

【Komekko is our best friend; this favor, we'll help her secure it!】

Between best friends, no need for too many words; a few sentences, a few exchanges of glances, Sakaki Ryouko and Yoshino Yuuki reached a consensus.

Tadokoro Megumi sat between the two of them, looking left and right as if she cared a great deal whether the two people who seemed concerned about whether Broly had asked about their vacation plans had done so, when suddenly her eyes widened.

【Ryouko and Yuuki, could it be they both have feelings for Broly-san? Books say that only when someone has feelings for another will they appear especially concerned about whether the opposite sex pays attention to them; yes, that's it. But if they really do have feelings for Broly-san, then————what do I do?】

A maiden's heart, at this moment, was somewhat in disarray.

【Is this also someone Broly wants to eat cooking with in the future? The one on the left isn't much of a threat; the one on the right, however, is worth paying attention to————】

Hisako Arato assessed the strength of the two opposite her in her heart, mainly evaluating based on breast size and degree of physical beauty.

As a genki-type cute girl, Yoshino Yuuki was not placed in her eyes because she wasn't wealthy enough, but the sexy-type giant-breasted girl Sakaki Ryouko made her feel a certain threat.

【For the sake of Erina-sama's future position as Main Wife, this kind of guy must be vigilant against————】

【Are these two people sick? Broly asks whoever he wants to ask; why do they still have to be asked about their vacation plans?

Wait, I feel like I've read this in a book: if someone cares whether the opposite sex pays attention to them, it means that person might have thoughts about the opposite sex they care about, so————these two are enemies!】

Mito Ikumi thought this, and her gaze gradually sharpened; she and Hisako Arato sat on the left and right of Nakiri Erina respectively, and just like Sakaki Ryouko and Yoshino Yuuki who sat on the left and right beside Tadokoro Megumi opposite, they crossed gazes across a dining table, clashing in the air.

"Wait, am I seeing things?"

"Marui, what's wrong?"

"I just seemed to see electricity flash across our table, but it should be me seeing wrong; hmm, this braised abalone soup is really delicious, just a bit too hot, the rising steam fogged up my glasses."

Marui Zenji answered with a laugh, then took off his glasses and wiped them with a napkin.

And after wiping them and putting his glasses back on, he discovered it seemed he hadn't seen wrong after all.

【No way, just sitting at a table eating dinner, how did it suddenly become swords drawn and bows bent?】

【Sixth Cooking Building VS Polar Star Dormitory? No, wrong, this is a smokeless battle between girls!】

Marui Zenji hurriedly lowered his head, pretending not to see the somewhat eerie atmosphere on the table.

", do you feel the surrounding air has gotten a bit heavy?"

"Huh, now that you mention it, it seems————"

"Ah, this seafood risotto is really too delicious!"

Aoki Daigo's words were interrupted; Sato Shoji was just about to say something when Marui Zenji held out a plate of seafood risotto to the two of them.

"Aoki, Sato, you two hurry up and have a taste too!"

"Mm, it's indeed delicious, but Graduate Instructor cooking is basically all delicious, right?"

"Come on, let's go get some more seafood risotto."

", no, I don't want to eat seafood risotto."

"Then get whatever else you want to eat."

Marui Zenji pushed the two away.

"I'll go get something I like to eat too."

Iwasaki Shun stood up and hurriedly followed the departing three's steps.

"What's up with you guys, you feel weird."

"Shh, quiet down, you guys take a good look at the situation on our table's side, doesn't it look like a Shura field?"

After the reminder, observing from a distance, Aoki Daigo and Sato Shoji only then suddenly realized.

"No wonder I felt the atmosphere was a bit off."

"Who's the protagonist of this Shura field?"

"Yukihira Soma?"

"How could it be, he's just a cooking idiot."

"So it's Broly?"

"Speaking of which, I only knew Tadokoro and he have an unusual relationship; how did Sakaki Ryouko and Yoshino Yuuki get involved too?"

"A woman's heart is a needle at the bottom of the sea; who knows."

"I think it's very normal; after all Broly has a very good physique, his looks aren't bad either, he's generous and magnanimous in dealing with people, if there's something he's needed to help with he basically never says no; I think if I were a girl and had such a person by my side, I'd fall for him too."

When Iwasaki Shun finished speaking, the three beside him subconsciously pulled away a step.

"No, are you seriously stepping back?"

"Iwasaki, don't misunderstand, we respect any sexual orientation."

"No, I was just hypothesizing an analogy, I'm not giving ah!"

After a bout of clamor here, things finally settled down.

"Facing that confrontational heavy atmosphere, remaining immovable and continuing to eat rice, Broly's nerves are too thick, right?"

"Compared to him, Tadokoro sitting silently without retreating an inch, that posture is also somewhat unexpected."

"If you ask me, that Nakiri family Big Sister worthy of being an Elite Ten figure; that carefree appearance is truly not putting others in her eyes."

Four people huddled together, yet were analyzing the situation on the table's side.

【Tonight, should we still play Old Maid————】

Nakiri Erina thought, and she had already mastered the trick to playing Old Maid: keeping a straight face when others draw her cards, not letting the drawer see through her thoughts.

【To be safe, invite a few more people to play together————】

"You three, want to come to my room tonight to play cards?"

Nakiri Erina issued an invitation to the three opposite; her target was the pigtail girl even more simple than herself.

Naturally, to conceal her thought of finding a scapegoat, Erina pretended a carefree appearance.

"Playing cards together, sure! My card skills are super powerful!"

Yoshino Yuuki and Sakaki Ryouko glanced at each other, then nodded in agreement.

"Those who usually boast about being powerful are typically the ones with no real skill."

Mito Ikumi spoke up.

"You're unconvinced, want to taste my power?"

Yoshino Yuuki glared over.

"Exactly what I intended!"

Mito Ikumi didn't back down either, glaring right back at her.

Broly ate his cooking, somewhat puzzled by the situation before him.

Due to Sakaki Ryouko and Yoshino Yuuki not being capture targets, he was also a bit confused by their current behavior.

He felt these two might be interested in him, but then again it didn't quite seem like it; in short, it was just a bit weird.

【How about, when we play cards tonight, we test the waters?】

At eight o'clock, the buffet dinner ended, and the group, having eaten and drunk their fill, arrived together at Erina's room.

"Let's play Old Maid!"

Nakiri Erina took out the playing cards she'd been playing with these past days, striving to suppress her somewhat cheerful mood, and proposed to Tadokoro Megumi and the other two.

"Old Maid, indeed suitable for multiple players."

Sakaki Ryouko nodded.

"But this completely relies on luck, right?"

Yoshino Yuuki frowned.

"What, are you afraid?"

Mito Ikumi provoked.

"Who's afraid, my card luck is super good too!"

"Old Maid is fine, but the person who ends up with the Old Maid will be the unlucky one. I think we can add a game rule here to turn the last person holding the Old Maid from an unlucky bastard into a lucky one."

", what rule?"

Everyone was puzzled, all looking toward Broly.

"Simple. The person left holding only the Old Maid at the end can ask one question of the others, and the others must answer that question truthfully. What do you think?"

"What if someone can't answer?"

"Then they must suffer a punishment."

"A variant of King's Game, sounds pretty interesting."

"Play?"

"Play!"

Tadokoro Megumi responded very enthusiastically; if she could end up holding the Old Maid and become the questioner in this game, perhaps she could find out what her two good friends really thought.

Mito Ikumi also responded very enthusiastically, and she also wanted to become the questioner, but wanted to take the opportunity to ask Broly what his opinion of her really was.

"How about I shuffle and deal?"

Broly volunteered to act as dealer.

"Fine."

Erina didn't suspect anything, directly handing over the playing cards.

Broly picked out two Jokers, openly discarding one Little Joker.

But when putting the Big Joker into the deck, he used his palm to conceal it, secretly slipping the Big Joker into the Crystal Palace Space.

Broly hadn't learned sleight of hand, but he had the Crystal Palace Space; after shuffling the cards and dividing them into seven piles, he took the pile missing one card for himself, and this truly haunted Old Maid game began.

Unsurprisingly, with no one counting cards and the Big Joker in hand, he soon relied on the Crystal Palace Card Hiding Technique.

Gaining the opportunity to question everyone.