Food Wars: Inheriting the Dark Culinary World from the Start Chapter 11 – Meal That Exposed Restaurant’s Entire Secret

"Kael, how did you even do that? Is that really sothing sll alone can do? I didn't sll anything at all!"

Daigo Aoki stared down at his hands, then tried sniffing them. Nothing. The faint traces of egg sandwich were long gone—only the lingering aromas from the earlier cooking test remained.

"Don't bother," Kael said evenly. "I already told you—my sense of sll is far stronger than most people's. I can even break down the recipe of that shop's secret sauce just by scent. Of course, that only works if it's made from ingredients I've tasted before."

For a while now, Kael had been developing his Divine Senses—an ability derived from his Faction Inheritance. Through it, he could simulate countless ingredients and seasonings once stored by the Dark Cooking Society.

Those ingredients weren't real, though. The dishes he made inside the system could be eaten, but only tasted—they didn't fill the stomach at all.

So when it ca to actual als, Kael still had to eat in the real world. Even so, the food and spices provided by the Dark Cooking Society's database had helped him refine his Divine Senses considerably.

Unfortunately, the simulated ingredients were limited to those that had once existed within the Dark Cooking Society.

Granted, that organization was massive in the Chuuka Ichiban! world—it had collected an imnse variety of ingredients. But compared to the modern era of the World of Food Wars, it still fell short.

That said, so ingredients from the Dark Cooking Society didn't exist anywhere in the Food Wars world—strange and extraordinary foods unique to the Chuuka Ichiban! universe.

They couldn't rival the fantastical ingredients from Toriko, but they were still leagues above what existed here.

By now, Kael had already broken down the composition of the restaurant's secret sauce using his Divine Sll. Every single component was sothing he'd encountered before.

And even if it contained sothing unfamiliar, he could still analyze the scent, morize it, and match it later when he ca across the ingredient in person.

That was the terrifying edge of the Five Divine Senses—your secret recipe might've taken decades, even centuries to perfect, but before soone who possessed this power, every so-called "secret" beca transparent.

That was also why the Nakiri family had risen to such prominence. After all, the God's Tongue was their hereditary Special Ability. It didn't appear in every generation, but it had never truly died out either.

And in this generation, there were two of them—Mana Nakiri and Erina Nakiri.

With people like that around, the mont you served them sothing good, your recipe might as well belong to them. One taste was all it took.

Worse yet, the God's Tongue could even pinpoint imperfections—given a bit of ti, they could turn your masterpiece into sothing even better.

"This sense of sll's kinda freaky," Shoji Sato muttered. "But why does it feel so familiar? Like I've heard of sothing similar before..."

"It's like Erina Nakiri's God's Tongue, right?" gumi Tadokoro said quickly. "That ability also lets her analyze everything in a dish, but she needs to taste it first—Kael only has to sll it!"

The mont she said it, all three of them turned to look at Kael differently.

gumi's eyes were full of admiration. Having soone nearby whose power rivaled the God's Tongue—it was impossible not to be impressed.

Aoki and Shoji, anwhile, saw sothing else entirely. To them, Kael looked like another Erina Nakiri—still on the rise, maybe, but it was only a matter of ti.

And that ant one thing: it was ti to get close.

They weren't naive enough to think Kael would "carry" them to success, but even a few pointers from soone with his abilities could skyrocket their cooking skills.

Just look at Hisako Arato. She was Erina Nakiri's secretary—always busy assisting her with countless daily tasks.

In fact, Hisako handled so much that Erina had basically lost all sense of practical living. The fact that she didn't even know how to use a washing machine when she moved into the Polar Star Dormitory said it all.

Even while pouring most of her energy into work, Hisako still ranked among the top ten chefs of their generation.

Why? Simple—Erina's God's Tongue. One taste, and she could point out every flaw and misstep in Hisako's cooking.

For any normal chef, that kind of feedback could take months to discover through trial and error. Hisako saved all that ti in one al.

And she wasn't the only one. Anyone who trained under Erina improved at an absurd pace.

That was why so many students dread of becoming Erina's assistant—not just to cling to the Nakiri na, but because her guidance could shave years off their learning curve.

Aoki had thought about getting close to Erina before, of course. But that was just a fantasy. People from the Polar Star Dormitory weren't exactly born into elite families, and Erina's inner circle was practically invitation-only.

As for catching her attention with pure talent... yeah, that wasn't happening.

Sure, there were gifted chefs in the dorm, but none of them were the type to play lackey for soone else.

So now that another "Erina-level" genius had appeared within reach, Aoki and Shoji's enthusiasm toward Kael was only natural—and Kael, sharp as ever, could easily see through their motives.

The al passed quickly. Before long, they'd exchanged contact info, and gumi even invited everyone to visit her family's inn soti.

"Sure thing. When I've got ti, I'll definitely stop by your family's inn, gumi," Kael said with a small smile.

He didn't turn her down—he genuinely planned to go. Just not yet.

Right now, he needed to focus on improving his cooking. His goal was to pass the Four-Star certification next month.

Once he entered Totsuki, he could use the academy's reputation to make a na for himself—and once he had that, the money would naturally follow.

So until the sester began, Kael planned to stay in seclusion and train relentlessly, sharpening his culinary edge.