"The Elite Ten are the ten most outstanding students at the Moon Institute in terms of culinary skill," Menchi said with pride. "They're incredibly skilled—most of them are third-year students, though a few are in their second year."
"At that level, hard work alone can't make the difference anymore. What matters more is talent. After all, no one doesn't work hard here—that's just the baseline."
Ron's eyes lit up slightly. Since he intended to absorb the features of Gourmet Paradise, there was no way he would miss out on something .
"Sounds like something worth looking forward to."
"Once you've sampled enough dishes from the World Zone and the Moon Institute, you can head to the Graduate Zone, and beyond that, the so-called Mystery Zone."
Menchi paused. "Actually, it's not really a mystery. It's just that the restaurants there have stringent conditions for entry, and the chefs working there are all highly experienced. There are very few of them, and the area is generally not open to outsiders. But Ron, since you're a member of the Zoldyck family, once Senior Linne knows you're here, she'll likely extend an invitation."
After dinner, more than a dozen dishes had been thoroughly finished. Menchi and Sally didn't eat much; most of it had gone into Ron and Buhara's stomachs. That went without saying for Buhara—he had devoured countless roasted great stamp pigs back during the Hunter Exam. As for Ron, it was due to his ability, "Gourmet Cells."
"Thanks for the treat! That was a delicious dinner!"
The group of six returned to their lodgings and went up to the second floor, each into their own rooms. Menchi and Buhara were just collaborators—colleagues, nothing more.
Ron uploaded the latest chapters of Baki and Bungou Stray Dogs, read for a bit, then headed into the bathroom for a shower. Each room was equipped with a private bathroom, not unlike the luxury suites at Heaven's Arena.
However, when Ron finished his bath, changed into pajamas, and stepped out, he suddenly noticed a figure lying on his bed, the body entirely hidden beneath the blanket.
He froze for a second. "Misty again?"
In Ron's mind, the only one who would try this kind of nighttime ambush was Misty. "This girl…" If Misty were older, Ron wouldn't have rejected her this time. But even so, he still planned to give her a little scare.
Ron said nothing and pretended not to notice what was happening.
Ron got into bed but quickly realized something was off.
"Shizuku? What are you doing here?"
He switched the light back on and saw Shizuku kneeling upright on the bed, dressed in a white short-sleeve shirt, still wearing her glasses.
She froze when she heard Ron's voice, then reached under the pillow and pulled out a notebook. She opened it, murmured something softly, then looked up at Ron with a blank expression.
"Captain, didn't we agree on this already?"
A memory flickered in Ron's mind—on the cruise, Shizuku's notebook had gone missing for a while, only to be returned shortly afterward by Misty. Ron immediately understood that Misty had added something to Shizuku's notebook.
His first instinct was to explain, but when he looked at Shizuku, he found himself completely unable to say anything. Shizuku tilted her head slightly, looking at him with innocent confusion, her expression dazed and adorable.
"That's right. We agreed on it. I must've just forgotten," Ron said. "Alright then, let's begin."
It wasn't until the middle of the night that Ron finally stopped. He exhaled deeply.
Ron closed his eyes and quickly fell into a deep sleep.
Meanwhile, Misty couldn't help but sneak out of her room. She crept into the hallway and looked toward Ron's door. She wanted to approach but didn't dare.
As one of the children kidnapped by Red Tron, Misty had been raised from an early age with the idea that she would one day become someone's tool. After Ron had rescued her, she decided that she was his tool.
Ron had tried correcting her multiple times, but it hadn't worked.
Back at Heaven's Arena, when Misty saw Ponzu entering Ron's room, she began to feel the desire to fulfill her so-called "wifely duties." She had snuck into his room, only to be turned away.
Misty hadn't understood and had asked Ron about it during the cruise. His answer: she wasn't old enough.
Later, when she approached Shizuku and happened to see her notebook left unattended, a thought occurred to her. Imitating Shizuku's handwriting, she added a line to it—one that made Shizuku mistakenly believe she had scheduled maid service with Ron.
In Misty's view, she was Ron's wife, and so were Shizuku, Sally, Nina, and the others. If her age wasn't enough, then surely Shizuku's was.
But now that this had happened, Misty began to feel a little nervous, and curiosity about what was happening in that room gnawed at her.
"What exactly are a wife's duties…?"
In Misty's mind, the image of a young couple she'd seen on the cruise surfaced, and a faint blush appeared on her face.
She had considered searching the internet for answers, but after a long internal debate, she gave up.
She didn't want to learn such things online—it would make her feel like should would ruin the surprise for herself.
"I'll have to wait until I'm an adult… That's still so far off."
Misty returned to the balcony and looked up at the night sky.
The moon was unusually bright tonight, like silver frost draped across the land.
The door opened, and Ron saw Misty crouched not far behind it. She looked like she'd been trying to eavesdrop and had scrambled to act innocent when she heard the door.
"Misty, good morning."
Shizuku greeted her normally.
"Good morning, Sister Shizuku."
Ron stopped Misty just as she was about to leave. She stiffened, wanting to run, but still walked over with her head down.
Ron raised his hand and flicked her forehead with a knuckle.
"Ouch!" Misty clutched her forehead in pain.
"Don't do something like that again. That notebook is very important to Shizuku."
"Yes, Big Brother. I know I was wrong."
She hesitated. "I'll go apologize to Sister Shizuku right away."
"How are you planning to apologize?"
"Let's forget it this time. We'll pretend it didn't happen," Ron said. "Go call Sally. We're heading to the World Zone for breakfast."
"Okay!" Misty ran off quickly.
Before long, Menchi and Buhara arrived.
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Note: Welp.....this chapter made it official.
It has and will contain Harem aspects. Didnt want to include the tag until it was official despite all the writing on the wall. On the plus side it took over 500 chapters until we read anything of that sort so this story clearly doesn't priorities that aspect.
You can read up to 120 Advanced chapters!