Having lived two lives and fused memories from the same age period in both, Mutou Judai understood better than anyone what kind of person he currently was.
Lazy, with a bad personality, and although he didn't like Erina's previously stubborn character, he himself was also a stubborn person...
Mutou Judai was such a contradictory being.
Mutou Judai wasn't a good person, but compared to purely bad people, he had more of a bottom line.
It's just that his bottom line was rather peculiar.
Although he had accidentally harmed Erina when he first gained his ability, the words "accidentally" would definitely be useless at a police station.
You can only pretend to be dead when you discover you've criticized the wrong person or criticized too early while standing on the so-called "moral high ground" online. When you do something wrong, you can avoid responsibility and even avoid apologizing just by playing dead.
But if you want to do such disgusting things in reality... Mutou Judai wasn't sure about others, but he couldn't get past it in his own heart.
If it were in the fighting arena, then anything would be fine—the rules already stated that basically any means could be used, just no openly bringing weapons onto the stage or killing people, but if you hid weapons or accidentally killed someone, that wouldn't count as a violation.
In such cases, everyone would naturally rely on their own methods.
But Erina and he definitely had no grievances, and it was a fact that he had harmed her.
So this lazy Mutou Judai brought Erina to Great Universe Bar, casually found a reason to fight a Kengan match with Himuro Ryo, and was now appearing here...
But Mutou Judai's stubborn personality, which might not be much different from Erina's, prevented him from speaking about these things.
Even when the words reached his lips, he would subconsciously deflect them.
—And then the following words could basically make Erina explode with anger.
He could deeply recognize that such behavior was wrong.
So after helping Erina obtain the venue, when Erina began working hard to return to Totsuki and prove herself again, Mutou Judai was also preparing psychologically.
—He would definitely apologize.
After everything was over.
And before that...
"It would be good if I could help her more... It's just a pity that I'm really not good at and don't like cooking. In her current situation where she's already at her limit with busyness, I'd better not add to her troubles."
"This is also good..."
"I'll just wait quietly like this. When Erina returns to Totsuki, I'll properly apologize to her before she goes back."
...
Eizan Etsuya walked from the self-service restaurant area toward the private room area.
He didn't hide his arrival here, and he also stated his identity, seeing someone run toward the kitchen direction.
In this case, Erina already knew he had come, and next, she would definitely come find him once she finished her current tasks—
After all, Erina understood him.
She should also be clear that even if she wanted to avoid him, he would always have ways to make her regret it and force her out.
However...
"During this waiting period, I'll first find a seat..."
When Eizan Etsuya passed by the private rooms, he looked at the nameplates on the private rooms.
This one was untouchable, this one was unnecessary to provoke, this one...
After walking around and deeply appreciating God's Tongue's appeal, he looked through the partially open door of private room number 1—and immediately saw a person inside.
There was no one else in this private room, just Mutou Judai, whom he had remembered after glancing at the materials due to his rather outstanding appearance.
"Is this a private room that God's Tongue specially reserved for you... She really treats you well~"
Seeing only Mutou Judai here, Eizan Etsuya wore a malicious smile as he fully pushed open the door, swaggered in, and sat directly across from Mutou Judai.
Mutou Judai didn't care about another person arriving.
He had a rough impression of the other party in his memory.
Eizan Etsuya, one of the ten people at the top among Totsuki's students—the ninth seat of Totsuki's Elite Ten, one seat higher than Erina's tenth seat.
Was he here to help?
Or was he representing Totsuki?
"If I remember correctly, you're called... um, Eizan Etsuya, right? If you're looking for Erina, you might have to wait a while, since she's the only excellent chef here, so she's quite busy."
Mutou Judai said expressionlessly.
Hearing Mutou Judai's words, Eizan Etsuya slowly smiled.
"Yes, God's Tongue must be extremely busy right now. But speaking of which, you're also a Totsuki student, so why aren't you helping her?"
Eizan wore a playful smile, then used his exaggerated acting to show a sudden realization before Mutou Judai could answer.
"Oh, right—I almost forgot, you seem to have never gotten any grade other than E at Totsuki, right? Junior~"
"You seem to understand very clearly, or am I actually quite famous at Totsuki?"
Seeing Eizan Etsuya's provocation, Mutou Judai roughly understood that the other party probably wasn't here to help.
However, Mutou Judai was too lazy to bother with him at the moment, just holding an apple with one hand while looking at the fruit plate, seemingly pondering what to eat for dessert.
Seeing Mutou Judai like this, Eizan Etsuya also snorted lightly.
Although he had initially judged this guy named Mutou Judai to be a completely harmless waste, he still actively came to test him when he saw him today.
And the facts indeed proved this point.
—The other party was an absolute waste!
So he lost interest in continuing to test the other party. He suddenly became cold and casually waved his hand.
"Famous, not really, I just happened to see your materials—I'm here to find God's Tongue today. She should already know I'm here. Can you leave for a moment?"
Hearing Eizan Etsuya say this, Mutou Judai's gaze finally moved from the fruit plate to him.
"What business do you have with Nakiri?"
Hearing Mutou Judai's question, Eizan Etsuya's gaze also fell on Mutou Judai, then he seemed to discover something interesting and showed that malicious smile again.
"Indeed, there's some business... After all, you should also understand what God's Tongue means to the culinary world. Usually when God's Tongue has no problems, I can't do anything about her, but this time she accidentally showed a weakness. If I don't take advantage of it, wouldn't that be too unreasonable?"
Previously, Eizan Etsuya had actually been puzzled—he couldn't understand why God's Tongue would bring Mutou Judai along.
But now seeing Mutou Judai's calm appearance after being mocked, yet immediately reacting when hearing someone was looking for God's Tongue... Eizan Etsuya seemed to understand something.
After all, this waste Mutou Judai only had an outstanding face, so outstanding that he remembered his appearance after just one glance.
Combined with this reaction and God's Tongue bringing him along even in this situation...
—Could this guy and God's Tongue be in a romantic relationship~
If that were really the case...
The smile on Eizan Etsuya's face became increasingly malicious.
This time, God's Tongue being expelled was a one-time weakness that could only let God's Tongue be used by him several times, but if this guy in front of him and God's Tongue were really in a romantic relationship, and if this waste were controlled by him, then God's Tongue... might become his~
Thinking of this possibility, Eizan Etsuya regained interest in Mutou Judai.
Then he was smiling when he suddenly couldn't smile anymore.
Because...
While staring at Mutou Judai, he watched as Mutou Judai crushed the apple in his hand with one hand!
—What kind of grip strength was this!
Then he saw Mutou Judai walking toward him, which made him panic a bit.
—Had he provoked too much... or was this waste the type of madman who occasionally exploded... then at this time...
Eizan Etsuya's mind raced, but when his thoughts reached this point, he was grabbed by the collar by Mutou Judai and lifted from his seat.
"What's this, I was thinking that no matter what, I couldn't cause trouble at this time—but since you originally came to cause trouble, that's perfect."
Mutou Judai smiled, and Eizan Etsuya panicked even more.
But before he could say anything, Mutou Judai spoke first.
"Since you're here to cause trouble, how about we have a Shokugeki~"
Hearing Mutou Judai say this, Eizan Etsuya gradually stopped panicking.
He stared into Mutou Judai's eyes, first calmed down, then snorted coldly, and became composed again.
"Junior, you were also a Totsuki student before, so you should understand what having a Shokugeki with me means—moreover, why should I have a Shokugeki with you? What stakes can you offer for a Shokugeki with me!?"
Seeing Eizan Etsuya like this, Mutou Judai released his grip on his collar and grabbed his wrist with one hand.
"Very simple—my stakes are these hands—if you don't agree to a Shokugeki with me, I'll tear your hands off your body right now. So, Eizan-senpai, do you understand the current situation? It's not you asking me what stakes I have, but me asking you, what stakes will you use to exchange for your hands from me~"