Crossover Anime: I'm Kasumigaoka Utaha's Brother

Page 87

Please forgive me if I have offended anyone!

Chapter 0248 A Subtle Unnaturalness! (First Update)

“Totsuki?” Baili Xiao’s breath hitched slightly—he was certainly familiar with this name, after all, it was the school that had produced the legendary “Medicine King” and “Medicine Master”, and was known as the “pinnacle of the culinary world”!

(However... for a graduate of Totsuki Academy to open a shop in a place like this (night market)... isn't that a bit too shabby?)

If the Totsuki Academy in this world is roughly similar to the anime I watched in my previous life, then the meaning of "graduate" will not be so simple—you should know that even if a student does not achieve a place among the Elite Ten during their studies, but is merely "able to graduate smoothly," their strength should not be underestimated.

These people typically go to top restaurants around the world to become head chefs or key figures, while others establish their own restaurants and become renowned restaurant owners in their region.

Opening a shop in a night market? This kind of "low-end, dirty place that doesn't reflect the true value of cuisine" is a complete insult to the word "cuisine"—this is the general opinion of most Totsuki students.

The above... was just a fleeting thought in Baili Xiao's mind.

"Totsuki?" Like him, Mordred slowed down his pace immediately after seeing the sign. He muttered the word "Totsuki" several times with a furrowed brow, and then suddenly lost all interest.

"So you're a student from that place? This is boring, I'm about to throw up from eating here."

In the capital of Great Britain, there are many restaurants run by the Ten Elites of Totsuki Academy from previous generations. In particular, the "Royal Banquets" that Mordred and other Knights of the Round Table usually eat at often feature dishes prepared by the "First Seat of the XXth Class of Totsuki Academy".

Although the dishes are different every time and the taste is unparalleled, over time, the comments "It's so delicious! It's so tasty" have become a habit, which naturally leads to a certain degree of boredom.

"I thought it was some talented chef's original dish, but I didn't expect it to be related to Totsuki Academy... Ugh~ I've lost all interest!"

Mordred waved his hand dismissively, crossing his arms behind his head—if he really wanted to eat Totsuki cuisine, he might as well go back. The food made by that "First Seat of the Elite Ten" should be much better than what he had here, right?

Her emerald green eyes swept across the night market, searching for a stall that would satisfy her—steaming hot dogs, beer in oversized glasses, tortillas wrapped with some unknown fried meat (aeej), macaroni and honey-smoked corn on the cob—the more she looked, the more disappointed she became. In the end, she even angrily squatted down by the roadside, her cheeks puffed out as she stared at the passing crowd with an almost hostile gaze.

Baili Xiao chuckled, shaking his head as he walked to her side: "Hey, you dragged me here all this way, how come you're like this now that we've just arrived?"

"Ugh..." Mordred's breath hitched. Despite her powerful martial arts skills, she unexpectedly showed a "cowardly" side in front of Baili Xiao. However, she quickly regained her composure and became strong again.

"This is near the border, right? Shouldn't we have some food from other countries here? I'm so fed up with those sweet corn on the cob and those incredibly bland hot dogs! I want to eat something different!"

Ignoring the surprised looks from those around her, Mordred complained loudly—then, as if she had just thought of something, her eyes lit up as she looked at Baili Xiao.

"Have you ever been to the Celestial Empire? I've heard the food there is incredibly delicious! And there are so many different flavors! It's like... everything looks bright red, and once you put it in your mouth, you'll sweat and want to drink water... Oh, right! They call it 'spicy'! Have you ever tried it?"

Seeing Mordred's excited and curious expression, Baili Xiao couldn't help but recall a news report he had seen in his previous life—[“Lao Gan Ma” has conquered foreign friends! It has become one of the most popular Chinese foods!]—and as he felt a complex mix of emotions, his gaze fell on the restaurant called “C7”.

His sharp eyes allowed him to clearly see the menu posted in the restaurant, which included dishes such as "Mapo Tofu"—the people of Great Britain might not know what this meant, but he was different!

"Let's go, that shop has what you want to eat. It might not taste as good as what you've had before, but let's give it a try!"

...

"Boss, one order of cheese beef and baked potato!"

"Roast beef with bread and butter pudding!"

"Hmm, it's really hard to choose. How about smoked salmon with pancakes, sorrel, and wild watercress?"

Perhaps because the rules are clearly stated, people who come to the store usually order a lot—the name "Totsuki" is widely known even among ordinary people, and these people are probably willing to eat until they're stuffed in order to fully enjoy the dishes made by "Totsuki graduates"? (It seems that taking out food is not allowed.)

Baili Xiao and Mordred were lucky enough to take over the seats of the people who had just finished eating. After the waiter finished cleaning, the former picked up the menu, looked at it, and pointed to a dish.

"Mapo Tofu?" Mordred looked at it in confusion—since there was no picture on the menu, she had no idea what this dish was—Bai Lixiao smiled slightly: "This is the spicy dish you mentioned before. It should be a dish unique to the Celestial Empire. I wonder how the chef at this restaurant makes it..."

There was no provocation in his words, but for some reason, the waiter standing nearby waiting to take orders turned cold upon hearing them and spoke in a polite but undeniably icy tone.

"Esteemed guest, our head chef is a graduate of Totsuki Academy. His cooking is sure to satisfy you. If you have any doubts, you'll find out once you taste it!"

"In fact, you can look at the reactions of the people around you..."

The waiter's gaze swept across the restaurant, a hint of pride appearing on his face: "Everyone who dines here gives it a 'delicious' rating!"

"Is that so? Then give us two 'Mapo Tofu Set Meals'. If they can win over my taste buds, I will praise the chef's skills without reservation!"

Baili Xiao smiled and handed the menu back to the waiter. After the waiter bowed slightly and walked away, his polite smile gradually turned into "interestedness"—a certain intuition made him realize that something was amiss.

Relying on her ancestral intuition, this "unnaturalness" was magnified infinitely in Mordred's mind, reaching a point where it was "unavoidable": "Hey! Something's not right, neither is this restaurant, nor is it the attitude of that waiter..."

"Well, who knows? Just keep reading."

Chapter 0249 A Disappointing Mapo Tofu! (First Update)

"Seriously, this is absolutely delicious! I've never had such amazing food before! Even the top restaurants in the city center can't compare to this in terms of taste, right?"

"Hey! Don't make judgments if you haven't been there! This level is clearly not comparable to top-tier restaurants, but... it's not far off!"

"Wow, to be able to enjoy cuisine that rivals top-tier restaurants for such a low price is truly a steal!"

"Wow! Steak! My steak! So tender and juicy! I can't stop eating it! Damn it! I should have ordered more! It's not enough!"

"Hmph! I told you to order more, but you didn't believe me. Now you regret it, don't you?"

In the not-so-large restaurant, the sounds of people excitedly but deliberately hushed up about the dishes in front of them could be heard everywhere—everyone was praising the food and wanted to let their friends know how delicious it was!

Baili Xiao's eyes swept over a plate of sizzling steak, and he couldn't help but swallow hard—although he was a little puzzled by the waiter's attitude, it didn't stop him from looking forward to the "Mapo Tofu" that would be served next... A few minutes later, the bright red dish was presented in front of him!

Cut into bite-sized, smooth, and tender cubes, coated in red, the aroma emanating from the dish possesses a magical power to make one involuntarily sniff the air—Bai Lixiao's appetite was whetted; he admitted that the Mapo Tofu in front of him had indeed aroused his appetite.

"Hey! Look over there! Are those two ordering the legendary Mapo Tofu set meal?"

"Ugh! Don't ask me! I never want to hear the word Mapo Tofu again! It's a terrible memory. Just one bite and it was so spicy I couldn't sleep all night!"

The crowd's voices suddenly rose, all because of the sudden appearance of the "Demon King's Gift"—yes, in the eyes of the regular customers who frequented this restaurant, Mapo Tofu was a dish that only the Demon King would bring!

"Hey! Is this the spicy food you were talking about?"

Mordred excitedly nudged Baili Xiao's arm, her gaze fixed on the Mapo Tofu, unable to look away—both the vibrant colors and the pungent aroma made her mouth water, as if she were shouting, "Eat it! What are you staring at?!"

"Well, try it."

As he spoke, a small white spoon was inserted into the Mapo Tofu—it was stained with "blood" the moment it entered—and then slowly lifted upwards.

As he moved, the tofu in the spoon swayed slightly, which was enough to show how soft and tender it was. Mordred imitated Baili Xiao's movements and impatiently put the spoon into his mouth, not caring about the rising steam.

"Ugh (eyes widen)! This is... *slurp slurp*..."

The moment the tofu touches your mouth and your teeth, it seems to shatter into countless small pieces as if broken by some force. At the same time, the red "outer layer" spreads throughout your mouth, stimulating the trigeminal nerve and transmitting increasingly intense pain to the brain's central nervous system.

"This feeling! Is this what 'spicy' tastes like?"

A gleam shone in Mordred's emerald eyes. After a momentary pause, she scooped up another spoonful and popped it into her mouth, her expression becoming incredibly complex—to be precise, "spicy" is a form of pain. As a Knight of the Round Table, Mordred wouldn't utter a sound even if she were wounded, but...

However... unlike Mordred, Baili Xiao's expression didn't change much after taking the first bite; in fact, it even showed a hint of disappointment?

Mapo tofu focuses on two things, one of which is the tofu itself—it must be tender, smooth, and have a texture like jelly. In this respect, the tofu made by the chef himself is impeccable and close to perfect!

As for the other point...

I'm not sure if there's some misunderstanding about this dish, but the red broth emphasizes "spiciness" more than anything else—even Baili Xiao, who can handle a lot of spice, had to exclaim, "It's too spicy!" As a result, the original characteristics like "fragrance" and "numbing sensation" are suppressed to a minimum...

If Baili Xiao were to evaluate this dish, "spicy stir-fried tofu" would obviously be more appropriate than "Mapo tofu"!

(Is this all that can be achieved—a mere resemblance in form but lacking in spirit? Perhaps one can taste authentic Mapo Tofu within China, but here... even graduates of Totsuki Academy can only learn the basics...)

As Baili Xiao thought to himself, his gaze caught sight of a figure who had just entered the store—a woman with long, flowing, blood-red hair covering her left eye, wearing a loose-fitting white shirt with the top two buttons undone, revealing her exquisite collarbone.

0 ····Requesting flowers···· ·········

She wore a gray and white checkered short skirt, revealing two long, slender, and fair legs that were completely free of any excess fat, exuding a rounded and explosive beauty.

"Hey! Look at that girl, she's so pretty!"

"That hair... it can't be from a native of Great Britain, right?"

"Wow! It's not easy to find a wild little cat like her, but judging from her appearance, she's probably still a high school student, right? Tsk tsk..."

More and more people noticed the girl's appearance, and the gazes on her increased accordingly—the girl completely ignored everyone's gazes, her golden eyes excitedly scanning the shop, and when she saw the Mapo Tofu placed in front of Baili Xiao, a glint flashed deep in her pupils.

.... 0 ....

A bright smile appeared on her face—two unusually sharp canine teeth were visible—and the girl, quite naturally friendly, sat down on the chair next to Baili Xiao (Mordred was sitting opposite him), and giggled: "Hey, handsome, there are no seats left in the store. If you don't mind, how about we share a table?"

Just as the girl said, there were no empty tables in the restaurant anymore. Apart from Baili Xiao's table, which had two empty chairs, there was nowhere to sit down.

"up to you."

"Thank you so much! In my eyes, you've become even more handsome!"

With a light, teasing laugh, the girl's gaze fell on the Mapo Tofu.

"Handsome, is the dish you ordered delicious? It looks different from what the others are eating."

"It's just so-so. I wouldn't recommend you order this. With your taste... oh no, I mean, you probably won't like this dish."

Bai Lixiao's unintentional slip of the tongue seemed to have caught the girl's attention. She narrowed her eyes slightly, looked at Bai Lixiao's profile with great interest, and smiled without any hesitation, resting her chin on her hand.

"You seem to know me? Well, let me introduce myself. I'm Kobayashi Rindou, and you are?"

P.S.: I'm going back to my hometown for the next couple of days, so updates will be uncertain. I'll start updating Fantasy full-time from the beginning of August.

Chapter 0250 This dish is rubbish! (First update)

Kobayashi Rindou—even if she didn't say it, Baili Xiao could guess her identity.

Those prominent and delicate canine teeth are a rare feature even among anime characters—of course, the incredibly strong "masculine" aura emanating from them is another aspect.

"Bai Lixiao".

With a self-introduction so simple it consisted of only a name, Baili Xiao lowered her head, took another bite of Mapo Tofu, sighed softly, and put down her spoon—what's the difference between this Mapo Tofu, which is only spicy, and "eating dry chili peppers"?!

"Hakuri-kun?" Kobayashi Rindou noticed his movement, and the smile on his lips slowly widened, his exposed canine teeth becoming more and more obvious: "What? You don't like this dish? Ming '407' looks pretty good."

"Huh? It's not good? I think it's alright!"

Mordred looked up in surprise, staring blankly at the half-eaten Mapo Tofu in front of Baili Xiao. Ever since the dish was served, she hadn't paid any attention to Baili Xiao. Even when Kobayashi Rindou suddenly appeared, she only glanced up reflexively before focusing all her attention on the Mapo Tofu.

Kobayashi Rindou, who showed no magical energy whatsoever and posed no threat whatsoever, was clearly less appealing to Mordred than Mapo Tofu!

"Aren't you going to eat it? If you're not going to eat it, then give it to me!" Before she could finish speaking, her fair little hand had already moved the Mapo Tofu that originally belonged to Baili Xiao to her. Mordred ate it heartily without any hesitation, and at the same time, she didn't forget to tease Baili Xiao loudly, "You, can't you handle spicy food? Just say so if you can't, I won't laugh at you."

"Hello, what would you like to order?" The waiter approached Kobayashi Rindou with a formulaic smile, asking in a cold but respectful tone.

"Hmm..." After tilting his head slightly and thinking for a moment, Kobayashi Rindou held up one finger: "Then, let's have the same as them! Mapo Tofu!"

Clearly, she didn't heed Baili Xiao's advice, or... it was precisely because of the latter's advice that she became interested in the dish "Mapo Tofu"?

...

The soft, tender tofu, draped in red, slowly approached the brightly colored lips.

The moment the sharp canine teeth touched it, the pink and tender tongue lifted slightly, allowing the broken tofu pieces and soup to fill the entire mouth.

The touch of the taste buds and the stimulation of the nerves caused an unusual blush to suddenly rise on Kobayashi Rindou's cheeks.