Chapter 21

Mio shortly brought back what I asked for and then I put the ingredients and a meat box on the table. I look to the right of me and saw that Brandon had done the same thing.

'It seems he's planning to use meat. What meat will he be using?' curious about the meal Brandon will produce, I didn't notice that Sofia had entered the kitchen.

[Rin! you better beat his ass!]

'Hai don—'

"Brandon. Rin." Sofia interrupts me from talking to Amara.

"By the looks of it, you're ready, but I'll go over the rules again."

"You will have 90 minutes to complete the meal and it will begin when I say begin. Me, Emma and Roberto will judge your meal. We will taste each of your dishes and then vote on which is better."

"It is 9:19 now so you can begin in one minute" I nod and then glance at Brandon and see him also nod.

[Sofia POV]

"You may now begin" I say loudly to both of the boys.

I first look at Rin and see the silver-haired teen whip out a black headband dramatically and tie it around his forehead. His movements entranced the other cooks in the kitchen and captured the attention of the kitchen.

The teen then put oil into a large pan and put it on high heat.

'He's adding rosemary, garlic, and thyme. It seems he's making something Italian'

I look at Brandon and see him calmly chopping his ingredients. 'Calmness is definitely a good quality that a chef needs' I nod and praise the boy inwardly.

'And it seems like he's making something Italian too' I judge from the boy's ingredients as I see Italian herbs.

I look towards Emma and Roberto who were to the left and right of me retrospectively and sigh as they were still staring at Rin as he made his meal.

'His movements are intoxicating' I look at the rest of the cooks in the kitchen as they watch Rin.

'He can capture attention. It seems he's more like his mother than I thought' I smile briefly at Rin as he continued to capture the room's attention.

'Luckily Brandon is too concentrated to notice it otherwise it would hit his confidence hard.'

[Rin POV]

I was oblivious to the attention that was being paid to me as I cooked in a focused state. My movements were quick and precise as I cooked my dish.

After around 20 minutes, I had to wait for my food to cook. I look at Brandon to see how he was.

'He seems calm and collected, that's something rare for a 16-year-old' I praise his calmness as he cooked his dish.

The main part of my dish was done as I cooked my pasta. After having a slight taste of the dish to make sure it was to a good standard, I dish it up.

"Boys! you have 8 minutes left!"

Sofia alerts us that it's time to finish up, so I proceed with plating out my dish.

'Analyze'

___________________________

> Dish - Duck ragù with bigoli

> Dish quality - 7/10

~ Ingredients - (Mince duck) (Duck stock) (Garlic) (Dry white wine) (Bigoli pasta)...

~ Method - Download function unavailable as the method is already known.

___________________________

"Since both of you have finished early, we may as well judge them. Are you both happy to do that?" I hear Sofia and nod.

I glance at Brandon's dish before nodding

'Analyze'

___________________________

> Dish - Caprese chicken with Italian smashed broccoli

> Dish quality - 6/10

~ Ingredient and method interface for this dish is not accessible ~

___________________________

"Brandon, do you want to go first?"

"Sure I'll go first" Brandon is full of confidence as he brings the food to each of the judges.

[Rin, why did you do that??? He was looking down on you before] Amara questions me as she gets slightly irritated by my courteous behaviour.

'Don't you think it's better to destroy someone's confidence when it gets to it peak' An evil smirk can be seen on my face before I go back to the innocent smile that i have been feigning.

[Brandon POV]

'Rin is too arrogant. I heard he hadn't cooked in two years. It's ridiculous that he thinks he can be the student of Sofia' I complain inwardly as I complete plating up the food.

'I have been working here for so long. I'm older than him and more experienced. It's time to show him his place'

"Brandon, do you want to go first" I turn to the silver-haired boy and nod.

"Sure I'll go first" I say to him whilst giving him a fake smile and place my dish before each judge.

'Why did he act courteously? My dish must have dissipated his arrogance.' I become more confident in the meal I created because of his change in behaviour.

"And what have you made for us Brandon" Sofia asks me once I put the servings of my dish before each judge.

"I have made Caprese chicken with a side of garlic smashed broccoli" I say to her in confidence of my dish.

"The dish's appearance is good. Let's dig in…" Sofia looks at both Emma and Roberto and they all eat the chicken.

"Mn very good" I hear Roberto say after he finishes his first bite.

"The sauce is rich in flavour and it compliments the chicken well" Emma says after eating a bit more.

"I agree, the richness of the sauce brings another dimension to the dish" Sofia nods and agrees with Emma.

They all finish eating and I notice the smiles on their face "It was an excellent meal" Emma looks at me with a smile.

"Although there is room for improvement, you have surprised me with the quality of this dish" Sofia compliments

"I agree, the dish was delicious. The chicken was quite juicy, and it was a good option to put broccoli in it. You've done a good job at creating a traditional Italian meal" Roberto looks at me with a warm smile.

'Looks like I have this in the bag' I say inwardly as I hear the judge's comments.

"Okay Rin. You can serve your meal now" Sofia smiles at Rin and he then places the dish in front of each judge. The plates had a metal dome cover which hid the food from my eyes.

He takes the cover off each dish and I see a surprised look on each of the judge's face. I then get hit by the smell of his dish.

'How did he make the aroma so powerful?!'

[Sofia POV]

As the dish is uncovered, I'm hit with a blast of aroma coming from the dish.

"I have made Duck Ragù with Bigoli" the silver-haired teen explains his dish.

"Bigoli?" I hear some confusion in her voice.

"Bigoli pasta. It's like spaghetti, but thicker. It is native to the Veneto region of Italy in the northeast" I turn my head to Emma as I explain.

"It's made with whole-wheat and duck eggs, it's more suited for this dish as I didn't want to lose any of the flavour from the Ragù" Rin expands on my explanation.

'Interesting. Usually a Ragù takes longer than 90 minutes, but judging from the aroma he seems to have done it well' I look at the boy with interest before looking at the dish again.

'And it's plated well'

My mouth salivates as I look at the dish.

"Shall we eat?" I look at Emma and Roberto and see the desire to eat the food in their eyes.

"Hold on first, let me add a little something" Rin stops us from eating.

I see him with a block of Parmesan cheese of which he delicately grates over our plates.

"Now please eat" I took one look at Rin and see a face full of confidence.

I put some of the Bigoli pasta wrapped with the Ragù in my mouth

"Mnwaaahh"

[3rd person POV of Sofia]

A tall Italian woman stripped of her clothes appears at the edge of a lake whilst surrounded by wildlife. The lake was filled with ducks, whilst her other surroundings were filled with various plants and trees.

Although in her mid-thirties, her body seemed to have not aged. Her boobs were plump and bounced as she jerks back and moans in pleasure.

"The rosemary and thyme give the duck so much flavour" she mumbles to herself as she moans.

"And the sweetness given from the wine makes me want to scream in pleasure."

The plants surrounding her wrapped around her body and squeezed her boobs and made her ass jiggle. The plants continue to wrap around her and drop her into the lake.

"Awhhh" she moans as she gets surrounded by the ducks in the lake.

"It's so powerful!"

"AHHHH!"

Her pleasure was evidently at the max as the woman screamed in pleasure whilst lying face up in the lake.

"So good" she mumbles followed by heavy breathing as she drifts across the lake.

[Rin POV]

'Amara. It seems we were wrong about the dishes having to be level 8 to produce that reaction...'