"Lord Saburosuke, a messenger has been sent from the venue. They're asking if they can finalize their preparations or if they are any last minute requests."
"Tell them that we have an esteemed guest visiting us today, who may want to participate as a guest judge. Make sure the preparations are flawless."
"I'll let them know." The servant bowed before taking their leave.
Saburosuke and his wife were soon informed that their guest was arriving. They both came out front to greet their guest as the carriage was arriving.
A servant opened the door and a plump middle-aged woman who was adorned with an assortment of jewelry and whose hair was done up in a traditional bun, descended the carriage.
"Ah, It's so very good to see you again, cousin." The large woman ran towards Lady Tsuru and pull her in for a hug.
"It's good to see you too, cousin." Lady Tsuru smiled.
"Good afternoon, Madam-" Saburosuke said before he was interrupted.
"Nonsense! We're family, no need to be so formal. I get enough of that in the Capital." The woman waved.
"It's good to see you, cousin." Saburosuke corrected himself and his cousin-in-law put on a smile.
"I haven't seen the two of you in ages. When I heard you had been recovering, I just had to drop by for a visit. I also brought you a gift, Tsuru." The woman said as she gestured at her servants, who stepped forward with ornate boxes. "It's new clothing that has recently become popular in the Capital."
"Thank you very much, cousin. I also have a charming red ribbon for the handsome...where is the little one?" Lady Tsuru asked as she glanced around.
"He wondered off to have fun as soon as we entered town. I'm sort of worried, I hope he'll be alright."
"I'm sure he'll be fine. He'll come back once he gets hungry." Saburoksuke assured.
"You're right." The woman said. "Well? What were your plans for today?"
"Saburosuke had been invited to judge for a cooking competition. And we know how much of a gourmet you are..." Lady Tsuru said tactfully.
"Oh, that sounds wonderful!" She said with a clap.
"Then shall we, cousin?" Saburosuke asked invitingly.
They arrived at the venue and met with the other judges. Although the other judges were annoyed a guest judge was added last minute, they kept that thought to themselves in respect to Lord Saburosuke.
"Forgive us for being a tardy." Saburosuke said. "This is my...cousin. She's arrived from the Capital and is a quite the gourmet."
'I'm sure anyone can tell by looking at her...' A few of the judges thought to themselves as they smiled at the plump woman.
"We wouldn't dare blame, Lord Saburosuke for being late. We are glad that you could make it." An elder man said. "But the audience is becoming a bit restless, so how about we skip the pleasantries and head straight in?"
They entered a large hall with nine kitchen stations spaced apart and grand seating for the now six judges at the end of the hall. The top 9 contestants and the audience were already waiting as the judges arrived and sat in their place.
The head judge, Narisawa Seiji, who was also the Head Chef of Yamainu Castle. Stood in front of the stage and addressed the crowd.
"After the preliminary round, we are left with 9 contestants who are the best that Yamainu Town has to offer. They showed us their establishment's specialty but now we ask them to showcase their skill as a chef.
Since we have a large river running through the town, it has been decided that the theme for the final round is seafood. If you need any special ingredients, inform our officials and they will go out and fetch anything you need. The winner of this competition will get the honor to cook a banquet at Yamainu Castle with me serving as their assistant chef."
Runners were soon sent out to retrieve anything the contestants asked for.
"I noticed one of the contestants is rather young." Saburosuke remarked as he watched a boy prepare two sauces of some sort, one from tomato, the other from eggs.
One of the attendants shuffled through their notes. "His name is Maeda Nobu. In the preliminary round he served a...chicken hamburger meal? With potato fries on the side."
Saburosuke's ears perked at that. "Which establishment is he representing?" He asked with interest.
The attendant double checked their notes. "A restaurant called Umezaki's."
"Can you check what ingredients he requested for?"
"Of course, Lord Saburosuke." The attendant bowed and hurried off to filfull his request.
"Something catch your eye, cousin?" His cousin asked.
"Actually...the reason for Tsuru regaining her appetite has to do with the establishment called Umezaki's. It started off as a humble stall but is now they operate a grand restaurant."
"Truly? Now you've piqued my interest." She said as she observed the boy named Nobu, who was now preparing aa variety of different seafoods.
The attendant soon returned.
"Lord Saburosuke, the ingredient contestant Nobu has requested is a dough that is currently in cold storage in the basement of their establishment."
"I see." Saburosuke nodded.
'I wonder what dish he is planning to make.' He thought.
The ingredients some of the contestants requested arrived after a short wait and the dishes soon began to be completed.
Chef Matsuhisa of Suzuya's noticed that Nobu and Chef Aoki of Motoyama Inn were being chummy with each other and saw that they had prepared some sort of round breaded dish and tuna.
"Hmph...food for those in poverty." He scoffed as he walked by their stations and towards the judges table with his tray of finished dishes.
"Oh? Is this what I think it is?" The head judge raised his eyebrows.
"Yes, Head Judge Narisawa. Pufferfish sashimi, please enjoy." Chef Matsuhisa bowed as he served the dishes.
The servant of Saburosuke's cousin stepped forward and took a bite of the dish first without any prompt. The judges found it a bit rude but held their tongues since Lord Saburosuke hadn't said anything.
'Chef Matsuhisa is a known chef around town, he wouldn't have made such a rookie mistake like leaving any poison in the pufferfish.' They thought.
The servant nodded then took a step back and everyone began to take a bite out of the dish.
"As expected of Chef Matsuhisa. This pufferfish is as exquisite as usual." The head judge said.
Chef Matsuhisa watched as Lord Saburosuke had a taste of his dish.
"You've certainly outdone yourself."
"Mmm, it's delicious." Saburosuke said and the other judges nodded in agreement.
"Thank you for your words." Chef Matsuhisa head raised a little in pride as he returned to his station. He smirked at the Chef Aoki and Nobu as he walked by them.
'Victory is as good as mine.' He thought to himself.
A few other chefs went and had their dishes tasted by the judges and soon it was Nobu's turn.
"Good luck." Chef Aoki encouraged him.
He nervously held the large tray as he walked towards the judges table.
"Hmm? What dish is this?" The head judge asked.
"It looks like some sort of bread with an assortment of toppings on it."
"Seafood pizza. Starting with a specially created dough, I added a sauce made from tomatoes and then added shrimp, squid, tuna, broccoli and onion, with mayonnaise sauce on top before oven cooking it."
"That's certainly a unique way of creating a dish."
One of the judges attempted to grab a slice with their chopsticks but it proved a little hard for them.
"Uhh, you eat it with your hands." Nobu said with embarrassment.
"With my hands!" A lady judge said in aghast.
Saburosuke led the way by grabbing a slice with his hands, followed by the servant of his cousin—who brought out a knife and cut off a piece. They both took a bite into the seafood pizza.
"Is something the matter?" The woman asked when her servant paused.
"N-no, Madam. Ahem, there is no issue here." The servant said before take a step back and licking his lips.
Since Lord Saburosuke had showed the way, the rest followed along, some reluctantly picking up the pizza with their hands. The lady retrieved her gloves and slipped it on. Their eyes widened instantly upon tasting the dish.
"This is...!"
"I've never tasted anything like this before!"
"All the ingredients blend together for such a rich taste."
"What an amazing balance of sweet, salty, tart, and savory."
"How is it?" Saburosuke looked at his cousin.
"This is very delicious. I hadn't been expecting to experience such a delight. It's too bad Tsuru has to watch from the audience."
"We can always go to the restaurant afterwards. I know she'll love this dish."
The other chef soon had their dishes tasted and it was time for the judges to come to a decision. After a heated discussion the top 3 were chosen.
"There were many great dishes served today from our excellent chefs of Yamainu but after a tough decision, we have finally come to a conclusion." The head judge said as he stood up. "Starting with third place, representing the New Moon Eatery, with the bowl of ikura on rice. Chef Godan!"
There was a loud applause as Chef Godan went up front to receive his congratulations from the judges and his prize money.
"It was a very hard call to make and the judges were split on their decision here. But in the end, second place goes to the one representing Umezaki's Restaurant, with the new dish known as 'Seafood Pizza'. Our esteemed guest judge guarantees this new recipe is sure to shift the culinary world in the brand new direction." The head chef said as he glanced towards Saburosuke's cousin. "The young Nobu!"
The audience cheered loudly as the underdog of the competition received an unexpectedly high placing. Nobu awkwardly went up and received short words of praises from the judges and a small case with his prize money.
As Nobu went off stage, Chef Matsuhisa had a gloating look on his face.
"Looks like I won." He boasted as Nobu neared him.
He was already smoothing out his robes out and preparing to walk on stage as the head judge was announcing the winner.
"And the winner of the competition. The one who will receive the honor of cooking for the Town Lord. Representing the Motoyama Inn,"
The smile on Chef Matsuhisa instantly froze as he found himself glued to the spot.
"With the dish of tuna sashimi. It shows immense skill as a chef that he can turn something like a cheap fish into such a delectable and first class delicacy. Chef Aoki!"
Chef Aoki gave an embarrassed smile as he walked up towards the front and past a stunned Chef Matsuhisa.
"Even after winning, he hasn't let it go to his head."
"He's so humble." A few crowd members exclaimed.
Saburosuke noticed that for some reason, Chef Aoki was glancing towards the young Nobu and at the crowd. He followed his line of vision and discovered the entire staff of Umezaki's standing there along with their friends.
'I should stop by and give my greetings.' He thought.
After the head judge gave a closing statement and ended the event, Saburosuke and his cousin found Tsuru and then went over to give their greetings to the Umezaki siblings. The other judges decided to follow along to have a few words with the contestants and to curry favor with Lord Saburosuke.
Saburosuke's cousin suddenly ran forward ahead of the group.
"Ohhh! There you are my cute Tora! I was beginning to worry you had gotten lost in this town!" The woman exclaimed as she hugged a fat brown cat with black stripes.
'Hah, that fat cat is named Tiger?' Thought one of the judges. 'It's looks just as plump as she is.'
The cat was yowling as it was smothered by her.
"If it isn't the Umezaki siblings." Saburosuke greeted. "I greatly enjoyed that pizza dish. Are you planning to add it to your menu?"
"Thank you, Lord Saburosuke." A young lady, the older of the siblings answered. "Yes, we plan to add it to the menu after this competition."
Saburosuke's cousin then turned her attention to the younger of the siblings, whose arm was in a sling, and his cat.
"Thank you for finding my little Tora, and you too little friend." She said. "But I wonder, Tora is usually a little anthropophobic. How did you coax him to stick around?"
"Cats are sometimes fearful if you show signs of aggression. So you might need to take it slow and put yourself on it's level." The boy said as he crouched down next to his cat and held his hand out. The cat sniffed at his hand before licking it. "If you hold your hand out for it to get used to your smell, they will approach you on it's own if it feels comfortable. Cats think of themselves as royalty after all, so you have to do everything on their terms."
Saburosuke made a strange face when he heard the word royalty.
"So that's how it is." The woman nodded.
"There is also a cheat." The boy said as he took out a small container from his robes. "This is a dried up plant called catnip, and cats go crazy over it. Kin here was being a little restless, so I gave him a little, which was when Tora over there came running. You can have this container if you'd like."
"Is this okay?"
"It's fine. I have extra at home."
"Then I thank you for the gift." The woman smiled as her attendant stepped forward to receive the container.
The other judges had come over to congratulate Nobu, who Lord Saburosuke was interested in but this had turned into a conversation about cats, and they were getting a little annoyed.
"Shall we move on to congratulating the other contestants?" Head Judge Narisawa Seiji urged with impatience.
"Apologies, we got a little distracted." Saburosuke said.
"I wouldn't dare blame you, Lord Saburosuke."
'I was blaming that woman, she keeps causing problems.' The head judge thought to himself.
"Oh dear me, I forget to ask your name." The woman said as they were leaving. "My cousin here said that you run the restaurant young Nobu works at?"
"Yes, my name is Umezaki Zai. Nice to meet you..."
"Madam Shijimi, you may call me Madam Shijimi."
"Madam Shijimi."
The judges hearts froze instantly when they heard that name. Head Judge Narisawa Seiji looked towards Saburosuke like a dying man.
"Lord Saburosuke, y-you never mentioned that your cousin w-was Madam Shijimi."
They all changed how they acted and began fussing over the madam.
"Say goodbye to your new friend, Tora." Madam Shijimi waved Tora's paw.
"Mrrruh!"
The entire group soon moved on to see the other contestants.
"Who was that, Zai?" Nobu asked when they left.
"No idea, I think someone important considering how they were all acting. Apparently, she's Lord Saburosuke and Lady Tsuru's cousin."
Nobu nodded before he opened the small box to display 25 gold ryos as his second place prize. "What should I do with this?"
"Keep it."
"Really? This is a lot of money." Nobu asked, unbelieving.
"Yep, you've earned it."
"Thanks, Zai." He said with a smile.
Nobu was then approached and congratulated by Jin, Sakura, Minori, Taro, and Teru who held baby Hinako.
Taro soon broke away from the group and moved next to Zai. "Thank you. And not just for this...for everything. You and Azu."
"It's nothing much." Zai said.
"You helped Nobu achieve and live out his dream. Not many kids that grow up in the orphanage can have such an opportunity."
"All I did was teach him how to flip burgers and toss pizzas."
Taro gave Zai a smile.
"And that was enough."