The door to the audience chamber closed. The stone walls absorbed the sound, and the footsteps in the corridor faded away. Only Takahashi Yuuki and Toast Hakushaku remained. Yuuki slowly turned back toward the cooking station. It was an old counter installed against the wall. A thin layer of dust covered its surface, evidence of years of disuse. But on top of the counter sat shelves of ingredients. Bread dough, salted vegetables, dried herbs, a small amount of honey—materials that hadn't been touched by anyone for twelve years sat quietly in a row. (Is this all?) Honestly, it wasn't much. If he failed, there would be no recovery. At that moment, a sound came from the corridor. A low groaning sound—*Zuuuuu*. That unpleasant noise of decay's miasma touching stone walls. Then came Momo's shout. "It's here, it's here, it's here—everyone scatter!!" Red King's short command: "Don't advance." Caramel Hime's small voice calling out "Yuuki-san"—when those sounds reached him through the door, Yuuki's hands stopped for just a moment. (They're fighting.) He wanted to turn around. He wanted to open the door and rush out. But Yuuki kept facing forward without moving. "...I believe in them," he said aloud. It surprised even him that he'd spoken it, but the words were genuine. Those three would manage somehow. So he would do what he needed to do here. Yuuki stood before the cooking station again. What came to mind was the writing on that wall. It was long ago. When he was hiding in the abandoned kitchen in the back alleys of Gratine—the forgotten kitchen—he'd found characters faintly carved into the wall. There, in the handwriting of a young Brion Crust, a recipe remained. *"Mother's Fresh-Baked Bread (Secret Ingredient: Honey and Love)"* That was all. Just one line, a short memo. But the feelings of the person who wrote it were definitely there. (You used to like making things for others.) Yuuki picked up the small bottle of honey. It was old and the lid was stuck, but it opened with some force. A sweet aroma wafted gently to his nose. (Twelve years ago at the Banmi Festival—the largest cooking festival in the Shokusai异界—you failed. In front of thousands of people. You were laughed at.) He dipped just a tiny bit of honey on his fingertip and began soaking it into the bread dough. Carefully, repeatedly, over and over. (But it wasn't the failure itself that broke you—it was being laughed at.) From the corridor came a *Doon!* explosion. Followed by Red King's spirited shout: "Flame Spicy Heat Wave—!" But the next moment, a sound like something being sucked in. Momo's voice followed: "It's not hitting! The miasma is absorbing everything!" Yuuki didn't stop his hands. When he glanced at the throne, Toast Hakushaku was watching Yuuki's back with his arms crossed. The cold smile remained unchanged. But—Yuuki could see it. The Earl's fingertips tapping quietly against the armrest of the chair. *Kotton, kotton.* (He's wavering.) That small motion told him something. ◆ In the corridor, the three were facing off against the Mold General. The decay miasma—a grayish-green gas emanating from the Mold General's entire body, possessing the power to rot food within a twenty-meter radius in an instant—had stained the corridor's stone walls gray. Red King drove his Flame Spicy Heat Wave straight at it. A *Zubaan!* impact echoed through the corridor. But the miasma swallowed it. Momo unleashed a barrage of fruit. Peaches and oranges flew at high speed, but the moment they touched the miasma, they rotted and fell apart. "Why isn't anything working!?" Momo cried out. Caramel Hime pulled out a small bottle from her waist—a special caramel sauce imbued with the magical power of sweetness. It was her last one. Made from honey-flower, a rare flower nectar that couldn't be mass-produced. Still, without hesitation, she opened the lid and erected a barrier. A golden wall pushed back the miasma. Thirty seconds. Twenty seconds. Ten seconds—the barrier began to dissolve. The three took a step back. Their knees were shaking, but no one voiced it. "...There's nothing left to do," Red King said quietly. The man who had won hundreds of cooking matches in that scorching arena—his voice wavered for the first time. At that moment, Momo grabbed a burlap sack. Inside were unused fruit candies. Among the supplies they'd brought during the battle, there were plenty of pieces too large to use in barrages. Solid candies, hardened honey syrup, high-concentration honey drops. Momo looked at it for just a moment, then hurled the entire contents at the Mold General with all her might. "Whatever happens, happens!!" *Zabaaaa!!!* Candies rained down on the Mold General like a downpour. The next instant—the miasma stopped. The candies stuck to the Mold General's body, and the high concentration of sugar was clogging the miasma's emission ports. The grayish-green gas grew thinner and thinner. The three froze with wide eyes. Three seconds of silence passed. "...Why is it working? I'm the most surprised here!?" Momo exclaimed. Red King kept his back against the wall, his expression completely serious as he crossed his arms. "So anything sweet is effective, then." "Where did you find the composure to analyze that!?" Momo demanded. Caramel Hime let out a small breath. "But...if it melts, the miasma will return, won't it?" Indeed, the candies were beginning to dissolve. The time they could hold it back wasn't long. The three stood up and continued to endure, maintaining a precarious distance. ◆ In the audience chamber, Yuuki's hands kept moving. Layering herbs. Carefully arranging salted vegetables. Trimming the edges of the bread dough. With so few ingredients, he could only pour his heart into each step. Don't rush. Don't hurry. Think only of the person who would eat this dish. (The Earl hasn't eaten any cooking for twelve years.) In Shokusai Isekai—a world where everything was composed of ingredients and dishes—the inhabitants hadn't eaten any cooking for twelve years. The weight of that couldn't be overstated. (You failed at the Banmi Festival, were laughed at, and closed your heart.) Yuuki stopped just before stacking the bread. (When this person smiled at me—when I first came to this audience chamber—I saw something in their eyes. For just a moment, I saw the same light that was there when they had passion for cooking.) The final step. One more drop of honey, traced along the seam where the bread met. A secret ingredient. The only thing he poured into it was the wish for this person to feel the joy of making food once more. The sandwich was complete. At that very moment. Orange light leaked from the sandwich on the plate. Brighter than any light he'd seen before. Warmer than any light he'd seen before. It shifted into rainbow colors. Red, orange, yellow, green, blue—the seven colors of light spread throughout the entire audience chamber, dyeing the stone ceiling. The floor trampled by the Karashi soldiers, the cracked window frames, the dirty walls—all were wrapped in rainbow light. It was the largest-scale activation of flavor magic he'd ever witnessed. Yuuki held the plate with trembling hands. His legs shook slightly, but he walked. He walked to the throne. The Earl had stood up. He'd stood up at some point. The cold smile still lingered on his face. But when the rainbow light fell upon the Earl's face—his expression froze. Yuuki silently held out the plate. The Earl's cold gray eyes looked at the plate. At the sandwich. At it swaying in the rainbow light. "...This is pointless theater," Toast Hakushaku said. His voice came out. But something deep in it wavered. Slowly, the Earl's hand extended. It was trembling. That hand, which had lived for forty-five years, trembled like a child's. He took the sandwich. He took one bite. The audience chamber fell silent. A single tear ran down the Earl's cheek. ◆ In the corridor, light shot through at that moment. The rainbow light leaking from the audience chamber's door filled the corridor, and the Mold General's body began to be enveloped in light. The grayish-green giant slowly dissolved into the light. The miasma disappeared. The stench of decay vanished. Momo took a step back. "...It's gone?" she whispered. Red King looked at the audience chamber door. "...Light from the direction of the castle..." Caramel Hime gently touched the door. Her eyes were turned toward the light. ◆ In the audience chamber, the Earl's knees gave way. He collapsed quietly before the throne. The plate still in his hand. His long, dark brown hair spread across the floor in the rainbow light. Yuuki knelt down to meet the Earl's gaze. The Earl opened his mouth. "...I was afraid of being laughed at," Toast Hakushaku said. His voice was hoarse. Words he'd never told anyone in twelve years. "I failed in front of thousands of people...I'd never been laughed at so much. If I cooked, I'd remember. If I held a knife, I'd remember. So...I threw it all away. Everything." The Earl's eyes looked at Yuuki. His once-cold gray eyes held a different color now. Yuuki spoke quietly. "Even if you fail, you can always make it again. I think that's what cooking is." The Earl looked down again. A tear fell on the edge of the plate. At that moment, the door opened. Momo burst in. Blood was seeping slightly from her wounds. Red King followed—this time without hitting his head. Finally, Caramel Hime stepped in quietly. The three froze when they saw the scene of Yuuki and the Earl. Momo stood frozen in the doorway. "...Somehow, it's already over," she said. Red King, pressing his head bump, said with a straight face: "Everything that happened since I hit my head—is it all a dream?" Only Caramel Hime answered properly. "It is not a dream." After a moment, the Earl spoke in a trembling voice. "...I will rescind the Unified Cooking Ordinance." At that instant, the light coming through the castle's windows changed. The gray sky's clouds began to split silently. The dark clouds that had covered Shokusai Isekai for twelve years. Sunlight poured through the gaps, illuminating the land. Outside the window, the color of the grass was changing. The withered ingredients were regaining their vibrant colors. No one said anything. They simply watched that light. ◆ News of the rescission of the Unified Cooking Ordinance spread throughout Gratine in no time. People poured out from the gray market street in the city below the castle. The rainbow market street, which hadn't been called by its true name for twelve years, reclaimed its original name for the first time today. Makeshift cooking stations lined the plaza, and people rushed out with ingredients in hand. Pots were set up here and there, fires were lit, and smiles spread. Yuuki and the others stood in the center of the plaza. Without anyone saying so, the four of them gathered around a cooking station. No division of roles. No instructions. Their hands simply moved. Caramel Hime spread the remaining honey thinly. Red King boldly broke the bread dough without words, yet still carefully aligned the cross-section. Momo quickly arranged the vegetables—with the hands of a confectioner, meticulously neat. Yuuki stacked the final bread. The friendship sandwich was complete. Light rose from the sandwich on the plate. A rainbow pillar stretched straight up into the sky. The people throughout the plaza looked up. Smiles spread across their faces. One person, two people, ten people, a hundred people—cheers erupted everywhere. Momo wiped her eyes with her arm. "Isn't this cheating? It's unfair, somehow...it's unfair," she said, complaining with words while her eyes were completely red. Red King laughed—a rare sound. Low, but definitely a laugh. In the midst of the plaza's commotion, Caramel Hime stood beside Yuuki. Her loose golden long hair caught the light of the brightened sky and