At Totsuki Culinary Academy, the famous Polar Star Dorm is home to genius and eccentric chefs as always. One day, Soma Yukihira is given a shock by the dorm matron, Fumio Daimido. A master of tea ceremony with a terrifying temper when angered, she declares, 'Room inspections in one week! If your room is dirty, a ten-book report without question!' Soma thinks he's safe, until Satoshi Isshiki peeks into his room and says, 'I can't see your floor.' Panicking, Soma tries to clean up but discovers a
Polar Star Dorm: Today is Peaceful… Right?! - God Tongue Flips Out Over a Stench
Tuesday morning.
In the hallway of Polar Star Dorm, a strange, nose-stinging odor still lingered—a little better than yesterday, but not by much.
Souma Yukihira was in his room, buried under his futon with the blanket pulled over his head.
After everything yesterday, he'd spent the whole night airing the place out with Isshiki-senpai, windows thrown wide open. Which meant he was now severely sleep-deprived.
*Tap, tap, tap.* The sound of someone climbing the stairs.
But Souma didn't notice.
He was out cold.
—*SLAM!*
The door to his room flew open with force.
"Excuse me! What is the meaning of this?!"
Souma jolted awake.
"Whoa—!?"
Standing before him was a girl with waist-length blonde hair tied back loosely, her large crimson-purple eyes glaring down at him.
A white blouse, Tootsuki's uniform skirt.
On the ring finger of her left hand, the Nakiri family ring glinted sharply.
Her shoulders trembled with rage.
Her beautiful face was flushed bright red.
"Wha—what are *you* doing here…"
Still half-asleep, Souma mumbled her name.
"Nakiri… Erina?"
The girl who possessed the most formidable palate in all of Tootsuki Culinary Academy—the "God Tongue."
The Tenth Seat of the Elite Ten Council.
Normally he'd see her at the school building, so why was she at Polar Star Dorm?
"Don't play dumb with me! This stench! It's drifting all the way outside the dorm! I stopped by before class because it was so unbearable, and what do I find—"
Erina swept her gaze around the room.
Cardboard boxes mid-sorting on the floor.
A mountain of broken frying pans and knives.
And then—opened cans.
Erina's eyes stopped dead on the cans.
"Th-this is… isn't this the can of fermented herring I specially ordered from Scandinavia!?"
Her voice cracked.
"Wait, this was yours?"
"Yes, it is! A precious research sample fermented over three years by Swedish artisans! One can cost thirty-five hundred yen! Why did *you* open it!?"
Erina fired off words at rapid speed.
The way she swept her hair back made it abundantly clear just how furious she was.
"Well, it was in my room. Figured it might be some rare ingredient."
"Check before you open things! The label clearly said 'Caution: Do Not Open' in Swedish!"
"Like I can read Swedish."
"Wh-what did you say…!?"
Erina was at a loss for words.
It was true—no ordinary high schooler could read Swedish.
"Anyway, why was your research sample in my room in the first place? Sounds like sloppy management to me."
Souma went on the counterattack.
"Th-that's…"
Erina's face shifted from red to pale.
He had a point.
Why was her can in Souma's room?
It should have been stored in her lab.
She had an idea who was responsible.
(*Alice…*)
Her cousin Alice Nakiri's face surfaced in her mind.
That smile.
She'd casually hide other people's things and call it an "experiment."
But she couldn't bring up Alice's name here.
It would shame the Nakiri family.
"A-anyway! The management issue will be investigated later! More importantly, compensation! The cost of the can and the loss of research data—"
Erina was trying to steer the conversation back when—
"Well now, things are lively this morning."
Looking toward the voice, they saw Satoshi Isshiki-senpai leaning against the doorframe in nothing but a fundoshi.
Fresh from the bath, apparently—his damp brown hair clung to his forehead.
His slender frame was, as always, adorned with a flashy red fundoshi.
"Wh-what is that person!? A fundoshi!?"
Erina shrieked.
"I'm Satoshi Isshiki. A second-year at Polar Star Dorm. Nakiri-san, a pleasure to meet you."
"This is no time for 'pleasure to meet you'! Put some clothes on!"
"Hm? But this is what I'm most comfortable in."
Completely unbothered, Isshiki stepped into the room.
"So, what's the discussion about? I thought I heard something about compensating for the cost of a can and lost research data."
"That's right! This man opened it without permission—"
"I don't have money. But in exchange, I'll develop a new dish using that stench."
Souma said it out of nowhere.
"…Excuse me?"
Erina froze.
"Look, think about it. A fermented food this intense—you can't normally get your hands on it. There's gotta be something I can make with this. Won't know till I try!"
Souma's amber eyes were sparkling.
Scratching his head vigorously, his face already showed he was deep in thought about cooking.
"Y-you… what are you saying!? Don't sully my research with your lowbrow diner mentality!"
"What's wrong with a diner mentality? Good food is good food. Even your God Tongue is honest when something tastes good, right?"
"Wha…"
Erina was at a loss for words.
He'd hit the mark.
No matter how haughtily she spoke, her tongue couldn't lie.
Somewhere in her heart, she was always intrigued by Souma's unconventional cooking.
"How interesting. Using the God Tongue to research applications for this stench—it might open up new possibilities for the palate."
Isshiki said it with a beaming smile.
"Wh-what are you saying, so presumptuously…!"
"Or would you rather, Nakiri-san, throw away this unknown ingredient without even analyzing it? As a chef, what would that say about you?"
Isshiki's eyes turned serious for just a moment.
Erina bit her lip hard.
(*…This person isn't just some pervert.*)
Isshiki's words pricked at her pride as a chef.
She couldn't back down.
"…Fine! I'll cooperate! But this is for my own research. Not for your sake!"
Erina declared it while sweeping her hair back.
"Alright, it's settled!"
"Good, we've reached an agreement."
That was when it happened.
In the hallway, there was the sound of small footsteps.
"Um… um…"
The voice belonged to Megumi Tadokoro.
Her shoulder-length bluish-black hair was pinned back with a floral clip.
She was holding a mop and bucket.
"I thought I'd help clean… but it seems like something intense is going on…"
Megumi had apparently been peeking in from the hallway at the argument inside.
"Megumi, it's fine. We just finished our meeting."
"Meeting…?"
Megumi blinked in confusion.
At that moment, the floral clip slipped from her hair.
—*Clink.*
A tiny sound.
But no one noticed.
Erina was absorbed in analyzing the can, Isshiki was smiling in his fundoshi, and Souma had picked up a broken frying pan, lost in thought about something.
Megumi hurriedly set down the mop and bucket and left the scene.
Her face was bright red.
"Oh no… I dropped my clip…"
Around the corner of the hallway, Megumi held her head in her hands alone.
That clip—she'd lost it three months ago.
Why was it in Souma-kun's room?
(*Could it be… from that time I went to his room to ask about cooking…?*)
Remembering made her even more embarrassed.
But right now, she didn't have the courage to go back into that room to retrieve it.
—Meanwhile, inside the room.
"First, crush charcoal into fine pieces. Then place it in the four corners of the room."
Erina was giving instructions.
"Charcoal?"
"The odor component is hydrogen sulfide. The tiny pores on the charcoal's surface will adsorb those molecules. Then, spray a diluted vinegar solution. The acid will neutralize the ammonia-based compounds."
Erina's explanation sounded just like a chemistry lecture.
"As expected of the God Tongue. You can identify components just from the smell."
"Obviously. Unlike your slapdash tongue."
But Souma didn't notice that the corners of Erina's mouth had relaxed just a little.
(*Honestly… this might be a little interesting.*)
Erina caught herself thinking that and hurriedly shook her head.
"Now, let's get this cleaned up quickly! Isshiki-senpai, you help too!"
"Yes, yes. Pardon me for doing so in my fundoshi."
"I said put some clothes on!!"
The three of them began cleaning.
Crushing and placing charcoal, spraying vinegar water.
Opening the windows fully and running the ventilation fan.
After about an hour, the smell in the room had improved considerably.
But what emerged in its place was—
"…What is this mountain of broken cooking utensils?"
From beneath the trash cleared off the floor: five frying pans with broken handles.
Four chipped knives.
Six warped whisks.
And then, oddly shaped tools whose purpose was anyone's guess.
"This is what you'd call his 'level.'"
Isshiki said it with amusement.
"I'm astounded… What do you intend to do, collecting nothing but broken things like this?"
"Fix them, or figure out another way to use them. Either way, it'd be a waste to just throw them out."
Souma answered with a straight face.
"He's right. The more broken something is, the more interesting the ways you can use it. That's what I think."
Isshiki backed him up.
Erina found she couldn't say anything more.
It was true—throwing things away wasn't the only answer.
Any chef should understand that.
"…Still, I can't imagine all of this will be cleaned up by the inspection deadline."
Erina sighed.
The room was less than half cleaned up.
Of the one-week grace period, three days had already passed.
"Won't know till we try."
Souma wore his usual grin.
"Where does that baseless confidence of yours even come from…"
Exasperated as she was, Erina smiled just a little.
Then, her expression suddenly turned serious.
"…About that can. There's a possibility someone deliberately placed it in your room."
"Huh?"
"Do you have any idea who? Has anyone come to your room recently?"
Souma thought it over.
Senpai and classmates came by often.
But was there anyone who'd go out of their way to hide a can?
"No… I can't really think of anyone."
"…I see. Well, never mind. In any case, be careful. This might not end as just a prank."
With that, Erina left the room.
—All the while, Alice's name lingered in her mind.
Souma stood alone in the middle of the room.
On the floor lay Megumi's clip.
But he still hadn't noticed it.
"…This is getting interesting."
Murmuring quietly, Souma looked out the window.
Beyond the academy forest, the grand Nakiri mansion was faintly visible.
From that day—the moment he'd opened the can—something had begun to move.
Four days until the cleaning inspection.
Still on the floor: a massive pile of broken cooking utensils, mysterious cardboard boxes.
And a small clip, its owner unknown.
And deeper in the room, top-secret documents—materials from the Elite Ten Council—lay dormant.
No one had realized that yet.
The wind blowing through the window stirred the curtains.
Today, too, a turbulent day was about to begin.
Novelia is an AI-powered platform to read original light novels and fan fiction, create your own in just a few taps, and chat with the characters. New, illustrated episodes arrive daily — free to start.