The cycle of judging the Hidden Talent Show and drawing for gifts continued until only one act remained.
“Now, it’s finally time for our very last entry in the show! Closing out the night is none other than… the Underworld King herself, Kuro-san!”
“Wait, Kuro-rin? Isn't she at a huge disadvantage?” Fate-chan chimed in. “I mean, there’s nothing she can’t do, so it’s hard to be surprised by her… Plus, wasn't she supposed to be on the judging panel?”
“She was, which is why I’ll be stepping in as the Demon Realm Representative Judge for this final performance.”
As Fate-san pointed out, the fact that the last entry was Kuro put her in a tough spot. When someone is as powerful as she is, you just assume they can pull off anything. In a competition where points were awarded for the element of surprise, she was starting from behind.
“That’s right, I’m the grand finale! As Fate-chan and Shaltier mentioned, I know I’m at a bit of a disadvantage when it comes to the shock factor, but I wanted to take this chance to show everyone a secret skill I’ve never revealed before.”
“So, what are you going to show us, Kuro-san?”
“In the next five minutes, I’m going to make a regular castella! I’m actually quite good at them~”
“Oh! Kaito-san has already raised his 5-point card!”
“Hold on… Kaito-kun?”
The moment the Devil of Baby Castella suggested baking a regular castella instead of her signature treat, it was practically a state of emergency. I threw up my 5-point card before she even moved.
“I’m sorry, but hearing you say that made me genuinely worry about your health…”
“That much?! Does simply saying I’m going to bake a regular castella make you fear for my life?!”
Her obsession with baby castella bordered on the fanatical; the mere fact that she was making a regular castella was anomaly number one. Furthermore, judging by her tone, she seemed incredibly confident in her ability to pull it off, which was anomaly number two.
“Well, I can see where Kaito-san is coming from,” Alice added. “Even I’ve only seen Kuro-san eat a regular castella a handful of times in all these years…”
“There’s a tragic backstory to that, you know! It all started when I was pursuing the infinite possibilities of baby castella—”
“And… go. You have five minutes.”
“Hey?!”
Kuro started to launch into a speech about 'possibilities' that was guaranteed to drag on, but Alice shut her down with a brilliant save and declared the start of the clock. Looking a bit miffed, Kuro began her work.
Since she was using what looked like time acceleration at key intervals to finish within the five-minute window, there were plenty of moments my eyes couldn't follow… but her technique seemed flawless.
In no time at all, the castella was finished. Kuro sliced it up and set it before the judges. Since she was gesturing for us to eat, I took a bite… and it was amazing. If someone had told me Ein-san made it, I would have believed them without hesitation.
Alice, filling in as the Demon Realm Representative Judge, took a bite as well. After nodding slowly, she spoke up.
“…This is as good as anything Ein-san or I could make with full effort. In fact, it’s definitely better than your usual baby castella.”
“And that’s exactly why I hate doing this!”
Ah, I see... Kuro’s love for baby castella was so deep that she was obsessed with their potential, but for some reason, her natural talent for baking regular castella was actually higher. That was likely why she had kept it hidden all this time—she just didn't want to admit it.
“Alright, let's tally the scores. Kaito-san is a 5… oh, Canaris-san, Lilia-san, and Chronoa-san are all 4s… and I’m a 5. I’ll start the comments then. Honestly, Kuro-san, maybe you should stick to making castella instead of trying to create dark matter experiments?”
“No! Regular castella has a ceiling, but baby castella has infinite potential…”
“Moving on to the 4-point scorers… Canaris-san, your thoughts?”
“Right. Based on my God Eye's analysis, Kuro-san might actually be subconsciously holding back when she makes baby castella because she’s afraid of reaching the 'end' of its possibilities. If she didn't have that mental block, she could probably make them at this same level. Still, pursuing infinite potential is a daunting theme. In fact, even within my own knowledge, there are countless ingredients and spices that don't exist in this world but would be a perfect match for baby castella research—”
“Tell me more! In detail!”
“Yeah, yeah. It’s a long story, so talk to me in private later. Anyway, let’s give Kuro-san a round of applause~”
Kuro had lunged at Canaris-san’s offer with frightening speed, but Alice cut her off before things could get out of hand.
Between candies eaten with fingers and other oddities, this world was already strange enough. If Kuro started importing ingredients from other worlds as well… the future was going to be a scary place.
Serious-senpai: (Well, she is such a baby castella addict that Kaito worries about her health the moment she so much as touches a financier…)