Heaven's Senses

XXII

I grinned at my sister, "Of course I do. But you're just gonna have to wait and see how their senses will be rattled."

Soma smiled back at me and then we turned out attention back to the judges.

"Uh... Please, the next contestant. Ryo Kurokiba, if you could be so kind. It's your turn."

I watched as Ryo, Alice Nakiri's right hand and assistant, walked up to the table. He seemed a little bit different than normal. He was always so sleepy looking and never really raised his voice. But there was always something about him that really stuck out, a kind of small fire that always sparked into a raging inferno when cooking.

Taking a look at his dish, I could see lobster and a red sauce broth. When he presented his dish to the judges, they couldn't help but stare in shock at the dish.

"The contrast of the fiery red of the lobster with the bright yellow of the saffron rice is quite beautiful." Shingenoshin Koda complimented, " And it was expertly treated so that the legs and the antenna would oppose no danger."

"How thoughtful." Makito Minatozaka said while examining the dish, "This presentation has a grace and refinement to it. It's difficult to find something like this outside of the fine dining experience."

"Yeah." Natsume Sendawara said, looking as bored as before, "Several fine dining establishments serve lobster curry in their repertoire. A seafood curry is nothing special to write home about."

She took a spoonful of the dish and as soon as she took that first bite, she was lost in the rich flavors. Just taking a whiff myself, the dish was incredible just exploding with a sense of the seaside.

Sendawara's cheeks flushed and took a second bite of the curry. Something she hasn't done once in the judging process. I knew that look on Sendawara's face by heart, it was the same face that people would make when they were satisfied with their meal. We saw it a lot back home with our customers.

"The sauce is Americaine, but its origin is French." She started to describe, "It's rich with fish stock and butter, and it also has savory vegetables. Not only that, but the core of this deep woody fragrance, it seems to be coming from.... Cognac!"

"That's a top quality brandy made around the western French city of Cognac, correct?"

"It smells enticing. Brandy is infused with the scent of the wooden caskets as it is left to age over time, creating this aroma. That would explain why this curry dish has such a rich aroma of cedar and sandalwood from it."

"You are correct in that." Ryo confirmed their judgements, "However, I used a top-shelf Napoleon cognac. This was to deepen the scent of the curry and to bring out the pureness of the other flavors."

The judges were impressed and so was I. That would explain why for a little bit I could smell wood coming from around his area, but I could quite pinpoint who was cooking. Now I had my answer.

"Well, it's about time our dishes begin to receive proper judgement." Ikumi said with a smirk.

"That's true, Ikumi. But there's something else with it." I said.

"I agree with sis, there's something more that dish." Soma agreed with me. And that's when it happened.

Before the judges could give their final scores, Ryo stopped them and searched through his pockets before pulling out a red headband. He tied it around his head and in that second, he did a complete 180 with his personality.

His eyes were crazy, his stance was wide, and he was smiling like a maniac. It was like he was about to go into a bloody battle for the crown of the Fall Selection.