Chapter 34: Food Wars – II – Attack on the Throne

John stared after Minato for a while and then frowned.

It was odd. He wasn’t sure if he was right or not, but from how that old man talked about cooking, and then the family name…

“Father.” Alpha spoke up, looking at John.

He blinked and looked back. “Yes?”

Alpha pointed at Rin.

John blinked and then realized that Rin was staring at him like she was waiting for a response. He shook his head and said, “Sorry, Rin. I spaced out for a bit. What did you ask?”

“Um… Just what did you do to make that girl angry?” Rin glanced at the curtains blocking the kitchen and said, “It didn’t seem like something simple…”

“Ah. That.” John sighed and said, “To make a long story short, I thought she was in danger, but it turned out she was the danger.”

“Eh?”

Alpha blinked and then let out a long sigh. “Perhaps it would be best for you to actually lock yourself inside for a few days, Father.”

John nodded. “I think so too. I should go into closed door cu-” He cut off and glanced at Rin and Sakura before saying, “Contemplation soon.”

Alpha nodded and then pulled out her phone, tapping on it.

John noticed and then narrowed his eyes. “You aren’t playing a gacha game, are you, Alpha?”

“Of course not. I am playing a hero summoning game.”

“That’s the same- Haaah.” John shook his head. “Just don’t spend any money.”

“Of course, Father. I know better… Ah, an SSR.”

“Anyway.” John turned to Rin. “You did a great job today, Rin. I’m sure that you’ll be a star in no time.”

Rin smiled. “Thanks, Mister John! Though it’s really thanks to Hana. If she wasn’t so cute and bubbly, I don’t think it would have ended as well.”

Sakura poked her daughter’s cheeks and said, “Don’t bring yourself down too much, Sweetie. Half of her is all of you, remember?”

“Mooom.” Rin frowned and leaned back. “Stop that!”

Sakura laughed and then turned to John. “So I’m assuming that the schedule will change from this point on and the emphasis will be on streaming instead of performances?”

John nodded. “Probably? The goal is still to do performances later, so we’ll be keeping up the lessons. But since we’ll be streaming a bit too now, we can’t do it every day like before otherwise Rin won’t have any energy left.”

Well, John could always fix that with a few of his treasures in his Heavenly Realm, but that’d get suspicious over time. Not to mention that Sakura was already healed by what he gave her in the hospital, so any other sudden miracles might draw attention.

Better to not risk it and have to wind time back when the world started trying to hunt him down for answers.

“In any case,” John said. “I think-“

The curtains opened and Yuri, the blonde young woman, walked out with a silver tray. On it were the crepes, pancakes, and French Toast that the girls ordered, along with a side of strawberries for Alpha.

Yuri walked over to the booth and placed the food down in front of the girls, passing them out accordingly, before turning to John. With a blank and professional expression, she said, “Your order will take a while longer to prepare. I hope you do not mind?”

John blinked and then shook his head. “Tell your grandfather to not rush. I’m genuinely interested in his skills.”

A strange gleam flickered in Yuri’s brown eyes and she nodded. “I will tell him just that.” And then the young woman walked back into the kitchen.

Alpha followed her departure and then shifted her gaze to John. “Father. Do you think they will attempt to poison you?”

Rin gasped. “M-Miss Alpha?!”

Sakura choked on a piece of her crepe and then took a sip from her coffee. Afterwards, she stared at Alpha in shock. “Master Miyamoto? Poison?!”

John took a sip from his glass of water and said, “Oh, go ahead. Throw out those accusations loud and clear while they’re cooking in the back.”

Sakura took a sip from her coffee again and then lowered the fork she was using to eat her crepe. “Don’t talk to me in that flippant tone! That sort of thing is enough for him to sue you for defamation, you know!?”

“If he hears you, yeah. But even then, don’t worry. I’ve dealt with worse in the past. A meager lawsuit like that won’t-” John paused, blinking. Then he carefully examined the table and knocked on it.

Sakura blinked. “And what are you doing now?”

“Knocking on wood to break any potential jinxes.”

And to secretly lay down a good luck and anti-poison, charm, and misfortune formation since at this point John couldn’t take any chances.

Sakura sighed and went back to eating her crepe. “Whatever. I’ll just pretend that nothing happened.”

“U-Um…” Rin spoke up and looked at John. “You don’t really think that they’ll try something like that with your food, do you, Mister John?” She looked worried and said, “I mean, that girl really seemed upset at you earlier…”

“It’ll be fine, Rin. That old man has too much pride in his cooking to bend to something so petty. Not to mention how he scolded his granddaughter… And did you see how she acted politely when she came back?”

“That’s true, but…”

John shook his head and said, “Just enjoy your crepe… Though I am sorry for getting you wrapped up in a troublesome situation like this.” He sighed. “This was supposed to be a celebration but it ended up this way because of me.”

Rin’s eyes widened and she shook her head. “No, it’s fine, Mister John! Really.” She smiled and said, “I’m just happy we all get to spend time together like this. It’s… nice.” She frowned. “Though it would have been nicer if Miss Beta was here too…”

“Well, how about this?” John took a sip from his glass of water and then said, “Instead of going out to eat next time, I’ll cook us all a meal.”

A cold female voice called out. But it wasn’t Alpha’s. “Hmph, as if any dish a man like you cooked up could be palatable.”

John glanced up and saw Yuri walk over, her blonde hair trailing behind her.

He opened his mouth to answer her, but before he could another cold voice spoke up to answer Yuri.

“Any dish that my father prepares would be enough to have even the Celestial Jade Emperor bow his head down in gratitude to receive.” Alpha narrowed her eyes, the crimson orbs flashing with anger and said, “I will not have a shallow girl like yourself besmirch his name and abilities.”

Rin’s eyes widened. “M-Miss Alpha-“

“Oh?” Yuri crossed her arms. “A shady man like him, preparing a dish fit for the mythical Jade Emperor?”

Alpha stood up, her eyes narrowed. “Indeed. More than whatever scraps that old man you call grandfather could prepare.”

Rin gasped.

Yuri narrowed her eyes. “You take that back.”

Alpha stepped forward. “You first.”

John blinked and quickly spoke up. “Alpha, that’s enough.”

Alpha turned back. “But Father-“

John shook his head. “This is neither the time nor the place. Remember?”

Alpha bit her lips and then went back to her seat next to John.

Yuri smiled, a victorious look on her face. But then a stern voice called out from the kitchen. “Yuri! What did I say about badgering the customers?!”

The blonde young woman turned back and said, “But Grandpa-!”

Minato walked out from the kitchen, carrying a platter with a silver dome over it. “No buts. Now, step back and sort through the ingredients if you have the time to run your mouth or be silent.”

Yuri’s eyes widened, but then she nodded, quickly pursing her pink lips.

Minato looked at John and bowed his head. “My apologies, Sir.”

John waved his hand. “It’s fine. My daughter can be a bit overprotective of me.”

Like the time she massacred the Righteous Sword Mountain when she thought that John had been killed when trying to retrieve the Heavenly Sword Manuscript from their trial grounds at the request of their sect leader.

Which reminded John that it might actually not be that much of a bad thing that Alpha was being preoccupied these days with her game. At least it was better that then having her run across the defenseless nations on Earth in a bloody rampage…

Minato placed the tray down in front of John and then said, “As you requested, I prepared the dish that I am most confident in.” He leaned back and then placed one hand over the handle of the lid. “However, I must warn you that this dish is not for the faint of heart. Many men have fallen before it in the past, unable to withstand its magnificence.”

Alpha scoffed.

Yuri narrowed her eyes.

John sighed. “Alpha, please.”

“…My apologies, Father.”

John shook his head and then looked up at Minato. “It’s fine. I’m confident in my abilities.”

Minato smiled. “I figured that you would be. Then.” He pulled his hand back, revealing the dish within. “My Treasured Tool¹宝具! The Six Realms and Five Planes, Kurikara Tenshō!”

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