Toast Hakushaku collapsed. The burnt-brown armor touched the cobblestones with a heavy sound. Not a splash, but something deeper—a *thud* that resonated from somewhere far below. In Gratinée Plaza, only that sound remained. No one moved. Yuuki, Momo, Caramel Hime, Lecipi—all of them stood frozen in place, watching the earl's back as it lay across the cobblestones. White light seeped from the gaps in his armor, slowly fading away. The barrier's light that had swirled so violently just moments before was now quietly, quietly disappearing. The wind blew once. (Toast Hakushaku...) Something heavy sat in Yuuki's chest. It had no words. The feelings he'd delivered through his cooking had reached him properly. That was true, and it was genuinely joyful. But now, something else weighed far heavier, and words wouldn't come. Silence enveloped the plaza. In the next instant, that silence shattered. BOOOOOM!!!!! "Whaaaaaa!?!?" "What!?!?!?" "Ah, um, wait—" The blast wave spread across the plaza. Sand and stone fragments scattered in all directions. Yuuki instinctively crouched down, shielding his face with his arms. Caramel Hime planted both hands on the ground and lowered herself. Lecipi was blown backward with a *whoosh*. *Thud, crash*—everyone dropped low almost simultaneously. "W-wait!!" It took a few seconds for the dust to settle. Everyone slowly raised their faces. They were covered in dust. White powder clung to Yuuki's black short hair. Caramel Hime's golden long hair was tousled, her amber eyes wide. Lecipi's translucent body had taken on a faint gray tint. All eyes converged on one point. Momo stood motionless, staring blankly down at her own hands. Her pink short bob was slightly disheveled. Stone fragments clung to her confectionery apron. "Um, I don't remember doing anything..." Silence. From Momo's palms, faint particles of light drifted lazily. A golden-orange glow—the residual magic inherited from Toast Hakushaku. It had overflowed from her hands without her intention and struck a large boulder nearby. That boulder was now scattered in pieces across the ground. "..." "..." "..." The three of them continued staring at Momo. She looked at her hands, then at them, then back at her hands. "Um, how do I make this stop?" Yuuki nearly burst out laughing. The laughter rose to his throat, but the fact that Toast Hakushaku lay collapsed pressed down on it, turning it into a strange sound that faded away. Caramel Hime covered her mouth with her hand. But that laughter didn't last long. "An inefficient emotional expression." The voice fell into the plaza. Emotionless. Flat. Not angry, not mocking. Simply stating observations. Words with absolutely no warmth. Everyone froze. The last traces of laughter vanished in an instant. Necro stood at the edge of the plaza. The miasma of decay—a grayish-green aura that caused any food it touched to rot instantly—swirled slowly around him. With Toast Hakushaku's barrier gone, nothing stood in its way. Yuuki clenched his fists. ◆ Momo's magic gradually calmed down. By squeezing her hands tightly against her chest, she managed to suppress the overflowing light. But it hadn't completely stopped. Occasionally, particles of light escaped between her fingers. Yuuki was moving. He gathered the remaining ingredients at hand. Scraps of bread dough, vegetable fragments, leftover ingredients from before the earl's magic reached them. He assembled them skillfully and made a sandwich. The shape was uneven, and the appearance was far from beautiful. But he layered it carefully. One piece at a time, with feeling. Caramel Hime came to his side. "I'll use the last of the sauce." She uncapped the small bottle. The remaining golden sauce dripped onto the sandwich. A sweet aroma spread. Yuuki took the sandwich and stepped forward toward Necro. "Eat it." "346 kilocalories. Nutritional balance: acceptable." The same tone. The same temperature. Yuuki made another sandwich. This time, a tiny bit of the light from Momo's inherited magic mixed in—not intentional, just because she happened to be standing nearby at that moment. A faint peach candy sweetness rode on the aroma. "This one too." "Excessive sugar detected. Consumption not recommended." The second time, the same temperature. When he started making the third, Yuuki's hands shifted slightly. His fingers wouldn't move as intended. He realized his palms were trembling faintly. (It's not reaching him.) It reached Toast Hakushaku. It really did. He was crying. Rainbow light overflowed. Those tears were real. And yet— He placed the third sandwich before Necro. "It's the taste of comrades." "Energy intake priority—non-applicable. Emotional parameters—non-existent." All three times, the same speed, the same temperature. Everything had become data. Strength drained from Yuuki's legs. Slowly, slowly, his knees touched the cobblestones. They were cold. Even though the stones had been in the sun all morning, that coldness seeped through his knees into his body. Both hands pressed against the cobblestones. His head hung down. "...Does my cooking have any meaning?" His voice was small. But it echoed across the plaza. Lecipi's light flickered. He tried to say something but couldn't. Momo pressed her lips together tightly. The teasing remark that usually came immediately didn't come today. Caramel Hime moved. ◆ Her footsteps were quiet. Not running, not slow. Just walking straight toward Yuuki's side. Caramel Hime crouched down beside him. Her long golden hair swayed near the cobblestones. She sat facing forward, gripping the now-empty sauce bottle tightly in both hands. There were no words. Just her presence. Yuuki glanced sideways. Caramel Hime kept facing forward, gripping the bottle. Normally, she would definitely drop it in a situation like this. But today she didn't. That's how tightly she was holding it. Her amber eyes seemed slightly glistening. "...It will be alright." Her voice trembled slightly. She said it in a voice that sounded anything but alright. (She's saying it's alright even though it's not.) Something in Yuuki's chest loosened gradually. The sensation of the cold cobblestones felt a little more distant. His face grew warm. He thought it was strange to feel that way in this situation, but it was definitely happening. The princess's hands had turned white from gripping the bottle so hard. Seeing that, Yuuki nodded slightly. His body moved before words could. A little distance away, Momo watched the two of them silently. No usual teasing comment came today. With her inherited magic cradled in both hands, her star-shaped orange eyes simply looked forward quietly. The silence in the plaza continued. ◆ How long had they stayed like that? Lecipi opened his mouth, trembling slightly. "Um..." All eyes turned toward him. "Does Necro really have zero sense of taste?" "..." "..." "..." Lecipi continued hesitantly. His translucent body trembled faintly, glowing softly. "We haven't actually confirmed it..." "Don't say that now!!!!!" "Don't say that now!!" "Don't say that now...!" The three voices overlapped. Yuuki noticed that Caramel Hime's "now" was unusually slightly off, but there was no time to dwell on it. Lecipi trembled and his light flickered. "I-it was hard to say!! Everyone looked so sad that I couldn't bring myself to mention it..." "That's the same thing you said when we first fought the earl!! You always say the same pattern about not being able to say it!!" "I-I'm sorry, I'm sorry!!" Momo said "Ugh!!" and released her hands that were holding back the inherited magic for a moment, then hurriedly put them back. In the process, particles of light scattered—*pop, pop, pop*—and three nearby pebbles flew away. Everyone crouched instinctively. "Sorry, that wasn't me!! ...Probably!!" "Probably what!!" Laughter spilled out. Yuuki, Momo, and Caramel Hime all burst out laughing at the same moment. Sounds mixed together—some voiced, some not—creating strange noises. For a moment, Yuuki thought they shouldn't be laughing in this situation. But he couldn't stop. Lecipi was trembling and shouting, "This is no time to laugh!! But there's more!!" "...But..." The tone of his voice changed. No longer the panicked voice from before—it was trembling, but now it was serious. Everyone's laughter naturally subsided. Lecipi faced forward. "If...he felt even a little bit..." The air in the plaza seemed to shift. "Yuuki's cooking might work." No one said anything. The wind had stopped. Necro's decay miasma swirled quietly in the distance. That aura was slowly beginning to accumulate again. Time was running short. But Yuuki was listening only to those words. Something in his chest slowly began to change. Strength returned to his knees, which had been pressed against the cobblestones. Yuuki stood up. Slowly. But with certainty. (All this time, I've been trying to defeat Necro with cooking. But maybe the real way to fight isn't there.) Something clicked into place in his mind. When he delivered the cooking to Toast Hakushaku—that wasn't defeating him. It was making him recover something he'd lost. (Then...Necro too...?) Yuuki looked directly at Necro. "Do you really—feel nothing at all?" Necro didn't answer. With an emotionless face, he simply stood there. The grayish-green aura gradually intensified. The accumulation of the next decay wave was quietly progressing. Yuuki clenched his fists. (Then I'll prove it.) "I'll prove it." His voice had regained a strength it hadn't had before. Caramel Hime stood beside him. She still held the empty sauce bottle in both hands. But her grip had loosened slightly. Just a little. When Yuuki noticed that, his face grew warm again for reasons he couldn't pursue right now. Momo stepped forward. The light in both her hands had properly settled now. Her star-shaped orange eyes looked straight at Necro. Lecipi floated near the three of them. He was still trembling. But his light wasn't flickering. He was properly facing forward. The next problem was clear. Whether Necro truly had a sense of taste—there was still no way to confirm it. To create the ultimate sandwich, he would need to use the taste from Toast Hakushaku's memories, the peach candy flavor from Momo, the caramel aroma from the princess—all their feelings as ingredients. And Necro's decay wave accumulation was progressing even now. Time was running out. There was still no method. But. A light that hadn't been there before was kindling in Yuuki's eyes. Around Necro, the grayish-green aura deepened by one shade.