"No need to trouble yourself, Senpai. My master is waiting at the shrine for me to come home for dinner." Sensing something was very wrong, Yukikawa Yukie quickly picked up the two spirit blades, stuffed them into her guitar case, and hurried to the shop's entrance, pulling the door open in a fluster.
The brilliant neon lights behind the door left her frozen in place.
"Wait... Huh? HUH?!"
As a wave of dizziness washed over her, Yukikawa Yukie's brain seemed to short-circuit.
Where is this?
Wasn't I just in some alley in Shinjuku, slaying a Lost Demon? How did I end up in a shopping street in the blink of an eye?
"That's why I told you to eat before you go back."
"This is Higashi-Amanuma Town, Chiba City, Chiba Prefecture."
"It's over an hour's journey by train."
Mo Bai closed the door, his piercing gaze blocking the only exit.
Yukikawa Yukie was rendered speechless.
It's just a bowl of noodles, isn't it? Did he have to use some kind of technique to bring her all the way from Shinjuku to Chiba Prefecture? Was it necessary to go to such extremes?
"Senpai, I'll eat! I'll eat, okay?!" She resignedly sat back down on the chair, feeling as if all the color had drained from the world.
"The child is teachable." Mo Bai nodded in satisfaction and returned to the stove.
It's time to show off my real skills!
With his first genuine customer, Mo Bai gave it one hundred percent of his effort.
Knowing she couldn't escape this ordeal, Yukikawa Yukie adopted a 'what the hell' attitude and, surprisingly, felt a bit relieved.
"Perhaps this is what they mean by 'all is vanity,'" she mused self-deprecatingly as she carefully observed the shop's decor.
The lighting: bright.
The tabletops: clean as new without a trace of grease.
The floor tiles and walls were also spotless.
As a fellow chef, Yukikawa Yukie understood that the cleanliness of a chef's workspace determines not only the floor of their culinary creations but also the ceiling of their potential.
After carefully surveying the shop's environment, Yukikawa Yukie suddenly thought that perhaps this Senpai's cooking skills weren't as bad as she had imagined.
The rhythmic sound of chopping from nearby further confirmed this.
Knife skills are also one of the most important indicators of a chef's level.
"Could it be that Senpai's weak points are seasoning and ingredient pairing?" Yukikawa Yukie felt that with her own cooking skills, she might still be able to salvage the situation.
Mo Bai chopped the emerald-green sea cabbage into small pieces and put them in a small pot to the side to season and stew. Then, he took out bunches of small, pearl-like ingredients from a basin of water.
"Sea grapes?" The sudden voice beside him almost made Mo Bai crush the sea grapes in his hand.
"Young lady, could you not be so startling?" Mo Bai chided like a world-weary elder.
"Er, I'll be more careful, Senpai." The one who had startled Mo Bai was, of course, Yukikawa Yukie, who felt she could still salvage things and had decided to take the initiative.
Mo Bai returned his focus to the sea grapes in his hand. The small knife flashed with a silver light, and soon, a small bowl was filled with the tiny green pearls.
Yukikawa Yukie was secretly amazed. She had to admit that his skill in trimming sea grapes with a small knife was superior to her own.
"White chrysanthemums?"
"Yes, large white chrysanthemums." This time, Mo Bai began to pluck the long, thread-like petals from the white chrysanthemums with his hands.
"But what exactly is Senpai making?" Watching Mo Bai fuss over the white chrysanthemums, Yukikawa Yukie couldn't for the life of her figure out what kind of side dish could be made by combining sea cabbage, sea grapes, and white chrysanthemums.
After plucking, washing, and setting aside the chrysanthemum petals, Mo Bai began to pull the noodles directly.
The already-proofed dough was smooth to the touch, and Mo Bai nodded in satisfaction. He had spent a month and a half working on this Soul Repose Noodles recipe, testing it countless times in the system's Mental Time Chamber. If he couldn't even get the basic noodles right, he might as well just bang his head against a corner and die.
He kneaded the dough into a long strip, twisted it like a rope, and then kneaded it again. This repetition was to ensure the noodles' elastic texture.
When the dough had sufficient elasticity, Mo Bai began his performance.
Pull, fold, stretch, and slam.
With movements as smooth as flowing water, the distinct strands of noodles slammed onto the cutting board with a crisp, slapping sound. Yukikawa Yukie could already imagine their bouncy chewiness as she bit into them.
The side dishes were unknown, but judging from the ingredients, they probably weren't anything too strange. The quality of the noodles was also top-notch.
That left only the most essential part of ramen: the soup.
"Senpai, your soup has been simmering for so long. Don't you need to add some water?"
"Let me see." Having finished making the noodles, Mo Bai walked over to a large stockpot and lifted the round lid.
A vast cloud of white steam billowed out.
"So that's where the fog in the shop comes from!" Yukikawa Yukie watched in surprise as the stockpot continued to billow thick mist. "Huh? What's that smell?"
That faint aroma in the shop, the one that calmed the heart, was gradually growing stronger.
"It's the fragrance of the soup." Already immensely curious about the soup base, Yukikawa Yukie widened her eyes, trying to see through the thick mist to what was simmering in the pot.
She saw it!
Huh?!?!?
The surface of the water shimmered, and Yukikawa Yukie became lost in its gentle, sparkling light.
Chunks of beef tumbled in the tea-colored broth, and the first word that came to her mind was, surprisingly, 'serenity'.
And indeed, she followed that word, standing transfixed before the stockpot for a good half hour.
"Young lady? Young lady!" Mo Bai's face darkened with exasperation.
Standing in front of the pot for that long, are you planning to take the whole thing home or what?
"Ah? What is it, Senpai?" Yukikawa Yukie finally snapped out of it at Mo Bai's call.
"Your noodles are ready." Mo Bai watched Yukikawa Yukie with the caring gaze of a concerned father.
!!!
"There's something strange about this soup!" Yukikawa Yukie's expression grew stern, then began to change wildly. "Crap! I completely missed the part where Senpai seasoned it!"
However, Mo Bai had already placed the noodles securely on the table. She had no reason to refuse.
"I'll begin."
Yukikawa Yukie stiffly pressed her hands together toward Mo Bai, but she hesitated to pick up her chopsticks.
To be honest, the Soul Repose Noodles looked quite good.
A porcelain-white, blue-patterned bowl held a clear, tea-colored broth. In the center of the broth was a neat pile of white ramen, topped with several generous, sauce-colored chunks of tender beef.
In addition, a single white chrysanthemum floated on the soup's surface. It didn't have any strange smell either.
And yet, a bowl of these very respectable-looking Soul Repose Noodles had made a Lost Demon vomit its guts out.
How could this not make Yukikawa Yukie's heart pound with fear?
"My Soul Repose Noodles are best eaten hot," Mo Bai reminded her, watching her like a hawk from the side.
"I'll risk it!" Yukikawa Yukie grit her teeth fiercely. "The worst that can happen is I'll have to get my stomach pumped. I refuse to believe a bowl of noodles can actually kill someone!"
[Lost Demon: It really can kill you!]
"I'll start right from the source of the flavor—the broth!" Yukikawa Yukie quickly scooped up a spoonful of soup and brought it to her lips.
If I swallow fast enough, the taste won't be able to catch up...
"Mmmh~~" The iceberg melted.
A soft, hormone-laden hum escaped the girl's lips, the tone just like that of the little female cat from the shopping street where Mo Bai's shop was located.
As if receiving a signal, the cats in the shopping street outside all began to meow at the top of their lungs.
The expectant smile on Mo Bai's face gradually vanished.
???
Meow meow meow meow?
I'm making a goddamn respectable dish here!?
________________________________________
Get rewarded for helping with our community goals!
🎯 Reward for all: +1 bonus chapter at 50 Powerstones.
🚀 Tier Reward: Help us reach 10 members for +5 chapters on all stories!
👻 Join the crew by searching Ms. Medusa on (P). You know the spot! 😉