“Ah——————!”
As she swallowed the "Crab Shell," Inui Hinako's face immediately flushed red, and she let out a moan.
At this moment, she was like someone wearing a cool swimsuit, frolicking in the clear mountain springs during the height of summer.
Inside, Inui Hinako dipped her beautiful legs into the cool stream, and in the crystal-clear water, tiny crabs slowly crawled up her long legs…
As a Totsuki Elite Ten graduate, Inui Hinako's resistance to food-induced effects was much higher than that of ordinary people. This was evident from the fact that she had just tasted the dishes of Yukihira Soma and Kutami, but had not entered a strange state.
However, upon tasting Seiya's dish, "Crab Shell," Inui Hinako was instantly plunged into an immersive illusion after just one bite, leaving her completely unable to extricate herself!
“The delicious flavor of the crab is tightly locked beneath the golden-fried crust, and although the river crabs are small, their taste is extremely sweet and fresh.
While larger crabs have firm and plump flesh, smaller crabs have a much more tender crab meat texture.
What's even more remarkable is that you specifically selected crabs during their molting period. Because these crabs are in a soft-shell state, they become crispy and delicious after being coated in breadcrumbs and fried.
The entire crab, from the crab meat to the crab shell, and even the crab roe and crab brains used as dipping sauce, were completely utilized in this dish.
As for the bursting flavor in the mouth at the end… is it cheese?”
That's right, Seiya's improvement to the original "Crab Shell" dish by Rain was that he used breadcrumbs instead of fried rice, and also added cheese inside the "Crab Shell."
“Cheese pairs very well with the meat of lobsters and crabs. It not only enhances the flavor and texture of the dish but also adds warmth to it.
As everyone knows, fried dishes, if left for a certain period, will quickly cool down, and their texture and taste will be greatly diminished.
However, the cheese enclosed within the fried crust can maintain its temperature for a longer time and make the crab meat even more delicious.”
While Seiya was explaining, Inui Hinako had already finished an entire plate of "Crab Shells," dipping them in the crab roe sauce. Finally, after drinking the miso soup paired by Ryoko, Inui Hinako's face showed a satisfied expression.
As the Totsuki lecturer for this session, Inui Hinako was originally quite restrained. For example, the dishes Yukihira Soma and Kutami had just served, "Yukihira Style Persimmon Seed Fried Fish" and "Roasted Duck with Pesto," although delicious, Inui Hinako had only taken a small taste.
As a lecturer for the class assessment, she had an obligation to taste and evaluate the dishes of all Totsuki students present.
Naturally, a person's desire for food varies between a hungry state and a full state.
When she was hungry, she might give a passing grade to a barely satisfactory dish, but if such a dish were served last, she might give a 'pass' evaluation.
Compared to being a judge in a Shokugeki between two people, as a class lecturer, she now had to eat everyone's dishes. Therefore, it was naturally more advantageous for those who served their dishes earlier.
Of course, in such a class assessment, being able to serve a dish before others was also part of one's own ability.
But this time, as the lecturer, facing the dish Seiya served, she originally should have only taken a small taste, just like with the dishes Yukihira Soma and the others had served earlier, to be fair to the later students.
However, because Seiya's "Crab Shell" was simply too delicious, Inui Hinako's body uncontrollably cleared the entire dish.
When she realized it, her chopsticks were already empty in the plate, and she even felt a lingering desire for more.
“All three of your groups have passed this assessment. As for who is first, do you still want to know now?”
Upon hearing Inui Hinako's question, Kutami snorted coldly, then glared at Seiya and said, “Next time, I definitely won't lose again.” After saying this, he turned and left with his brother, who didn't look like a twin at all.
Since it wasn't the first time he had lost to Seiya, Yukihira Soma wasn't as frustrated as Kutami. He just looked at Seiya with some reluctance and said, “Seiya, have you been secretly getting stronger again recently?!”
His own dish had lost; even without Inui Hinako announcing it, he and Takumi had already figured it out.
After all, Inui Hinako's expression while eating Seiya's dish was clearly different from when she ate theirs.
Their dishes still had more than half left, while Seiya's dish was eaten until not even a crumb remained. This was the most compelling proof.
Ever since coming to Totsuki, Yukihira Soma had always felt that he had grown a lot, and that the gap between himself and Seiya, his recognized rival, should have narrowed considerably.
However, in this class assessment, Seiya once again proved the strength of his abilities with facts.
Even without using rare dream ingredients, relying solely on his exquisite knife skills and magical-like heat control, he could still make himself out of reach for most people.
After the assessment ended, Seiya and the others returned to their respective dormitories.
The Polaris Dormitory members, after gathering, confirmed that no one had been expelled from this first class assessment. So, everyone, despite Zenji Marui's protests, went to his dormitory to hold a party.
Actually, since it was the first day, everyone's dormitories were clean, so it didn't matter whose room they partied in.
But everyone was already used to having parties in Zenji Marui's room, and the Polaris Dormitory members also knew very well that Zenji Marui was a clean freak, so he would clean up his room afterward.
“Yuki, Yuki, do you know, Seiya was so amazing in this class assessment…”
During the party, everyone took turns explaining the situation of the class assessment, including what kind of lecturers their respective groups encountered.
And when the conversation turned to Seiya's performance, Ryoko suddenly became even more excited than Seiya himself, vividly describing to her good friend Yuki Yoshino how incredible Seiya's knife skills and heat control were at the time.
The other members of Polaris Dormitory, having been Totsuki students since middle school, knew each other well.
Although Yukihira Soma hadn't been there long, he had competed with Isshiki Satoshi and Nikumi, so everyone more or less knew his strength.
But only with Seiya, the Polaris Dormitory members' understanding of him was limited to the "Beef Stew with Potatoes" he made when he first entered the dormitory.
The dish Seiya made at that time was indeed very tasty, but the boost from the dream ingredients was significant, so the Polaris Dormitory members had never had a deep understanding of Seiya's true strength.
