[90] - Erina Nakiri's Shock, A Surprising Fishing Reward (BONUS)

~ Thank You for 570 Powerstones, Here's Your Bonus Chapter!

~ Thank You for the Support!

~ Lets Keep Pushing!!

~ 18 Advanced Chapters Available on my Patreon

<><><><><><><><>

"WHAT??? You want me to be Yuuki's secretary?!"

A few days later, at the Nakiri family residence within Tōtsuki, Senzaemon Nakiri informed Erina Nakiri of this decision.

After hearing what her grandfather had to say, Erina was utterly dumbfounded.

She was a Nakiri, the Young Lady of the Nakiri family, possessing the God's Tongue—and now they wanted her to be someone's secretary?

With her status, who would even be worthy of having her as a secretary...?

Well, actually, maybe there WAS one person: Yuuki. Not just potential—he was already an incredibly skilled Chef.

In the future, as long as Yuuki was willing, never mind controlling the entire Culinary World, just a small move from him could send shockwaves through it. Compared to that, her own status as a Nakiri seemed a bit... underwhelming.

"That's right. You know your own Culinary skills and your status. Having you participate in a normal Stagiaire would be completely pointless, a waste of your time."

"Besides, this decision wasn't made by me alone. Your mother also wants to see you, Erina."

Senzaemon Nakiri directly played his trump card. As expected, at this point, Erina Nakiri's expression changed. After all, what she valued most was family.

Ever since her mother had left, Erina hadn't seen her again, even when she went to the WGO herself; her mother remained completely secluded.

She never understood why.

Although as she grew older, she learned about the God's Tongue's drawbacks, she still wanted to ask her mother directly what she had been thinking.

A mother's abandonment, a father's descent into madness—these things shattered Erina's family.

She had originally already resigned herself to never seeing her mother again, but now, her mother actually wanted to see her!

"Is this because of Yuuki?" Erina asked.

Her mother's sudden change of heart—anyone with a brain could connect the dots; it definitely had to do with Yuuki. Otherwise, how could her mother possibly use this as an excuse to make her Yuuki's secretary?

"That's right. It's indeed related to Yuuki. As for the specifics, wait until you see your mother. She will tell you everything personally." Senzaemon said.

Although he knew the specifics, coming from him, the implications would be different. So, he decided to let Erina ask Mana herself.

The rift between this mother and daughter needed to be resolved by them. As a father and grandfather, he could only nudge them in the right direction.

"I understand. I'll have a good talk with her."

Erina nodded. She didn't blame her grandfather and mother for colluding to set her up.

She knew how much her grandfather had done for her and her mother.

She also knew her grandfather would never force her to do anything. If she refused now, Senzaemon Nakiri would agree.

But she ultimately accepted. She wanted to see what exactly her mother had to say.

....

"Erina-sama, are you alright?"

Hisako Arato, who had been waiting outside, asked upon seeing Erina. Having spent so many years together, even the slightest change in Erina's mood couldn't escape Hisako's notice.

She noticed the shift in Erina's demeanor now and couldn't help but ask.

"It's nothing, Hisako. Grandfather just told me about the arrangements for the Stagiaire. We won't be participating in a normal Stagiaire this time. Hisako, you'll be coming with me to WGO headquarters."

Erina Nakiri shook her head—she didn't intend to tell Hisako about everything that had happened. Even if she told Hisako, Hisako couldn't do anything about it. It would only worry her.

Erina considered Hisako her most trusted friend, so naturally, she didn't want to burden her unnecessarily. However, the subsequent arrangements still needed to be communicated to Hisako.

"The Stagiaire... at WGO headquarters?!" Hisako Arato was completely puzzled by this.

Did they mean she and Erina would be interning at WGO headquarters?

"Exactly—at WGO headquarters, with Yuuki... Yuuki will be a temporary Third Class Officer. As for us, we'll be his assistants," Erina Nakiri explained.

She had a good impression of Yuuki. His dish before had especially helped her confront her inner self and change her perspective and mindset.

She was very grateful to Yuuki for this. Although Yuuki hadn't specifically made that dish for her—it was just a coincidence—but since she had benefited from him, she naturally felt gratitude.

Erina Nakiri wasn't stupid either; she could also see through the intentions of her grandfather and mother.

Originally, she hadn't resisted the idea, but because of her initial lack of interest, Alice had taken the initiative first. Although she seemingly didn't get along very well with Alice Nakiri—

—that was merely a surface-level conflict. The two were still cousins. This was why she had always kept some distance from Yuuki.

But this time, it seemed that avoiding interaction was no longer possible.

Nominally, she was already Yuuki's assistant.

....

Meanwhile, at Polar Star, Yuuki had once again obtained a Large Bait.

He used it without hesitation.

He was always quite expectant of Large Baits. Although the boost Large Baits provided to his growth was becoming smaller, it was still useful.

As a ball of light was pulled from the water, Yuuki received information about this new reward.

"JACKPOT!"

After absorbing the information, Yuuki smiled.

This Large Bait had brought something even better than what he had expected.

What he fished out this time was called "Ki Manipulation."

This thing also originated from the world of Dragon Ball and Cooking Master Boy, but very few people possessed it.

The Ki Manipulation Yuuki fished out was a complete set of techniques for using Ki. How exactly to use it depended on the individual.

Ki did have some common traits, for example, changing the shape of ingredients, preserving ingredients indefinitely, super-wide range perception, and to some extent, even extending lifespan.

Although the concept of Ki only appeared in the later parts of Cooking Master Boy, there was no doubt that its appearance immediately became a core element of that world.

After receiving this information, Yuuki also accepted the Ki Manipulation technique.

The moment he accepted it, a peculiar type of energy appeared within his body.

This energy was different from the energy of Inferno, Freezing Air, or other abilities. It was a much purer form of energy.

This energy could even be combined with other abilities to enhance their power.

However, the improvement and application of Ki weren't easy.

Just look at the world of Cooking Master Boy—so many Dragon Chefs couldn't master it. Even at the Supreme Dragon Chef level, very few people could use it.

Those who truly mastered such skills were the most exceptionally talented Chefs, like the Four Heavenly Kings.

This showed that this ability, though powerful, was immensely difficult to grasp; many people spent their entire lives trying, without success.

It was similar in nature to the Culinary Heart in the Food Wars universe, something only the very few at the very top could comprehend.

However, Yuuki quickly discovered something. Ki Training and manipulation, incredibly difficult for others, seemed... simple for him.

This wasn't some boastful exaggeration, but because he possessed another key ability—Food Honor.

—Food Honor itself represented the ultimate control.

In the world of Cooking Master Boy, those with Ki were so rare that they had to rely on themselves to slowly figure it out. Fortunately, although there were very few with Ki, there was at least an unbroken lineage.

Through generations of effort, people eventually figured out some ways to use Ki, which also led to the development of the unique Ki training methods.

Yuuki was different. While others needed time to slowly accumulate and hone, Yuuki had a shortcut.

He could use Food Honor's perfect control to precisely manipulate Ki.

It could be said that with Food Honor, even having only just obtained Ki, Yuuki could, after some familiarization, definitely surpass the Four Heavenly Kings.

Of course, accumulating Ki wasn't something that could be done overnight.

He could only do it many times faster than others.

But even so, it was already sufficient. Having such a huge advantage was good news for Yuuki.

Moreover, Yuuki discovered another thing—using Ki, it was seemingly possible to make food glow.

After all, Ki could change the shape of ingredients and do incredible things.

....

Having obtained Ki Manipulation, Yuuki stayed up all night researching it. Currently, although the amount of Ki he possessed was very small, due to his perfect control, he could directly modify ingredients.

After turning a raw egg directly into a soft-boiled egg, Yuuki couldn't help but marvel at the wonders of Ki. Without water, without high temperatures, just by using Ki, he directly changed the ingredient's state.

He could even turn a normal egg into a preserved egg!

Of course, he couldn't fundamentally change the nature of the ingredient—for instance, he couldn't turn an egg into a chicken drumstick.

....

After experimenting with Ki manipulation, early the next morning, Yuuki arrived at the airport.

The Stagiaire was about to begin.

Other students had also received their assigned locations for the first phase of the Stagiaire.

The students had to travel there themselves—

—as for Yuuki, his Stagiaire location was WGO Headquarters.

However, after arriving at the airport, Yuuki saw two unexpected people.

"Erina-san? Hisako-san? What are you two doing here?"

Yuuki looked at the two, a bit surprised. In the original story, they were sent to different locations, so even if they traveled by plane, they shouldn't be together.

"Yuuki, Hisako and I will be your assistants for the next little while—"

Erina Nakiri told Yuuki about the arrangements. After listening, Yuuki immediately understood—someone had deliberately done this.

Who? There was no need to think; it was definitely from the Nakiri family, either Senzaemon or Mana, or perhaps even both.

If Erina could see through Senzaemon and Mana's intentions, Yuuki naturally could too.

However, what surprised him most was that, even knowing Alice was currently chasing him relentlessly, Senzaemon and Mana had still chosen to send Erina.

If it were a normal family, Yuuki wouldn't have found it strange. After all, for most families, family benefits outweighed everything else. So using offspring for political alliances was commonplace.

But the Nakiri family was different.

Yuuki had read the manga and knew what the Nakiri family was like.

This was why he was so surprised.

<><><><><><><><>

~ 18 Advanced Chapters Available on my Patreon (Soon +20)!

https://p-atreon.com/dragonnx

(Just remove the hyphen to access Patreon normally.)

<><><><><><><><>

~# Keep the chapters coming — Support with Power Stones!

~# Every 200 Power Stones = 1 Bonus Chapter

~# Add to Library!