The cooking match between Ein and the Phantom Maid began with startling suddenness. The panel tasked with determining the winner consisted of the four Super Maids and... me.
I understood the logic. Determining the winner of a duel between these two required an expert's eye, so choosing the Super Maids as judges made sense. I also understood the need for an odd number of judges to prevent a tie. However, as for why I specifically had been chosen... that was a truth I preferred to ignore.
"And now, with the addition of Chairman Ein's Certified Maid Advisor, Lord Kaito Miyama, our panel is complete!"
I desperately wished they would stop introducing me as some kind of heavyweight in the maid world. My stomach began to churn again, despite the medicine I had only just taken.
I found myself seated at the very center of the judging panel, occupying the representative's position in the middle of the row.
"This is quite the ordeal, isn't it, Kaito-san?" Camilia-san whispered sympathetically.
"I could say the same for you, Camilia-san..." I replied.
The only saving grace was having Camilia-san to my right; she was a healing presence in the midst of this abnormal atmosphere.
To my left sat Alexandra-san. I had seen her before during my visits to Chris-san. While we had never spoken, I remembered her as the one who always prepared the tea for us. Looking back, Chris-san must have considered me a guest of the highest importance, assigning her most skilled maid to attend to my needs.
"This is our first time speaking properly, Lord Kaito Miyama," Alexandra-san said.
"Ah, yes. I don't think we've met formally before. I'm Kaito Miyama, though I'm sure you already knew that."
"I appreciate the courtesy. I am Alexandra. Empress Chris is eternally grateful for your continued friendship."
Alexandra-san possessed elegant features and wore her beautiful blonde hair tied up. She offered a slight, graceful bow in greeting.
When I counted them off, I realized I already knew Camilia-san, and I had met Beatrice-san just recently. Having seen Alexandra-san at the castle before, Emily-san was the only one I was meeting for the very first time.
In truth, I had never actually visited the Hydra Kingdom's royal castle. Whenever Laguna-san and I met, she either came to see me or we met at the harbor where we once went fishing.
Emily-san was a vibrant woman with red hair styled in a side-tail. My first impression was of someone with a bright, sunny disposition.
By then, the preparations were complete and the match began. Both women moved with fluid grace as they reached for their ingredients. Their efficiency was staggering. Even without magic-assisted acceleration, they moved at speeds that were nearly impossible to track with the naked eye. I ended up putting on Shiro-san's Special Glasses. They really were incredibly handy.
"Both competitors are proceeding with their cooking with terrifying efficiency!"
"What breathtaking form..." Alexandra-san breathed. "There isn't a single wasted movement from either of them. It's... chilling. Just watching them cook, I can see that I could never hope to rival them as I am now."
The cooking was so incredible that even a fellow Super Maid was left gasping. Looking at the tools and ingredients, it seemed Ein-san was preparing Western food while Alice was focusing on Japanese food. However, considering it was taking a fair amount of time even at their speed, did they plan to make a massive amount?
"What is this?!" the announcer cried. "Both competitors have produced five separate sets of cooking utensils!"
"Hmph. Just as I thought," Ein-san murmured. "Are you planning to follow my lead and adjust the seasoning for each individual judge?"
"......"
"It's incredible! Within the one-hour time limit, both competitors intend to prepare five distinct variations of their dishes to suit the individual palates of our judges! A wise move, as tastes vary wildly from person to person!"
I had to admit, that was clever. Unlike the Six Kings Festival where I was the sole judge, I wasn't the only one they had to please today. Tailoring the flavor profile to each judge's preference was the most effective strategy. For any normal person, such a feat would be impossible within the time limit, but for these two, it was clearly child's play.
"I can understand Ein-sama doing this, but how does that mysterious maid know our preferences?" Camilia-san whispered, tilting her head. "She is clearly a master of her craft, yet I can't think of anyone who matches her description. With that level of control, she must be at least Count-class or higher..."
Alice's Recognition Inhibition Magic was of the highest caliber; even one of the Six Kings wouldn't find it easy to see through. It made sense that Camilia-san hadn't realized who the Phantom Maid really was.
It was a strange feeling. To me, her identity was glaringly obvious, yet to everyone else, she remained a total mystery. Apparently, I was the only one who could see through it thanks to Shiro-san's Blessing, which automatically nullified such effects. That explained why nobody ever realized the identity of obvious figures like Baby Castella Mask...
Serious-senpai: "So, do you think she has a chance of winning?"
???: "Who knows? Honestly, I—I mean, Alice-chan doesn't really care about the overall result. She wouldn't mind losing... well, except when it comes to Kaito-san. She'll definitely win his evaluation. As long as she captures his heart, the opinions of all those other nobodies don't matter in the slightest."