"Hahaha!"

  The booming ughter of the special-grade cursed spirit echoed across the school grounds as it watched the terrified students scatter. The cursed spirit reveled in the chaos, watg as everything its "delicious" projectiles touched began to corrode and dissolve.

  "I am a food curse spirit born from humanity's fear of food! All of you, feel the terror of being ed by what you love! Hahaha!"

  "Food curse spirit?"

  Ryuji, who had just arrived on the se, looked up at the grotesque figure, his eyebrows lifting in mild curiosity.

  The creature's form was chaotic, a twisted amalgamation of various food items: sbs of meat, vegetables, and even a giant, grotesque grin made of peared to be cake frosting. It floated ominously, its eyes sing for its victim.

  Well, that tracks, Ryuji thought. A pce like Totsuki would be the perfect breeding ground for such a spirit.

  But before Ryuji could dwell on that thought, Erina, who had followed him outside, gasped, her eyes wide with disbelief.

  "How could anyone be afraid of delicious food?"

  Her voice was tinged with incredulity. To her, the very idea seemed impossible. Good food was joy, fort, it brought people together. Fear had no p it.

  Aliced at her cousin, half-amused. "Now's not the time to question people's phobias, Erina."

  Ryuji chuckled lightly and offered an expnation. "Curses aren't just born from fear. They're the result of aive emotion—stress, jealousy, guilt. So yes, a food curse spirit could exist, especially in a pce like this."

  Erina blinked, realization dawning on her as she pieced it together.

  Senzaemon, who stood nearby, nodded solemnly. "Of course. Totsuki is a pce where talent petes fiercely. For every student who makes it to the top, there are tless others who fall short. The stress, jealousy, ament they feel, those emotions are the perfect breeding ground for something like this."

  The old man's expression darkened with guilt. "I lost sight of the inal purpose of this academy. It was supposed to be a pce for learning, for sharing the joy of cooking, not a battlefield of ambition. After today, the school o ge. The era of relentless petition and the title of the Totsuki Elite Ten must e to an end."

  "Grandfather..."

  Erina's voice softened, but she said nothing further. She could see how heavily the realization weighed on him.

  Alice, meanwhile, just let out a small sigh of relief. "Well, not all ge is bad, I guess."

  Ryuji's eyes glimmered with mild amusement as he looked at Senzaemon. "Don't worry, I'll hahis."

  Senzaemon straightened, a hint of hope sparking in his eyes. "I trust you, Ryuji. Please, save Totsuki."

  Ryuji nodded, a casual smile pying on his lips. "After all, it'd be a shame if I couldn't e here for more amazing meals iure."

  Senzaemo out a hearty ugh. If there was anything reassuring in this situation, it was that Ryuji seemed to genuinely enjoy the food at Totsuki.

  "If that's the case, sider Totsuki Academy your sed home. You're wele anytime, Ryuji," Senzaemon said early, almost sidering whether he should offer a personal chef to keep Ryuji's loyalty.

  Ryuji didn't respond with words but simply gave a small nod before stepping toward the cursed spirit, eyes sharp with focus. The air around him seemed to grow heavier, a subtle sign of his power.

  "Hmm?"

  The food curse spirit shifted, its eyes narrowing as it noticed Ryuji approag with an uling calm.

  "A sorcerer?"

  Though it hadn't been alive long, the curse knew what that meant. It bared its teeth, a mix of fear and rage sparking in its eyes.

  "No matter, I'll show you what true fear tastes like!"

  With a wave of its grotesque arm, it hurled several oversized bowls of steaming ramen at Ryuji.

  "Ramen bombs?"

  Alice muttered in disbelief, uo decide whether to ugh or panic.

  Ryuji raised an eyebrow at the peculiar attack. Without breaking stride, he flicked his hand, and the flying bowls veered off course, spttering harmlessly into the ground where they immediately began to eat away at the surface.

  "Those really should be called corrosion bombs, not food," Ryuji said dryly.

  The curse's eyes burned with fury, the taunt hitting a nerve.

  "I am a food curse spirit! How dare you reduce me to a mere corrosion spirit!" it shrieked, charging at Ryuji in a blind rage.

  Ryuji sighed. "Broken defense, huh? That was fast."

  The curse was already too close when Ryuji raised his hand.

  "Anti-Gravity System," he muttered.

  The effect was instantaneous. The curse spirit smmed into the ground with a thud that echoed through the courtyard, the weight of the spell pinning it down. Its limbs filed uselessly as it struggled to rise, but Ryuji had set the gravity to fifty times normal, more than enough to keep the creature immobilized.

  "You—i human!"

  It gred at Ryuji, eyes bzing with impotent rage.

  The spectators watched in awe. Erina and Alice's eyes were wide, while Kaguya's grip on her sleeves loosened as relief washed over her.

  With the cursed spirit trapped, Ryuji took a moment to survey the se, noting the stunned expressions around him.

  "Well," he said, turning to Senzaemon with a smirk. "I hope your chefs know how to up a mess."

  Senzaemon barked a ugh, the tension breaking. "We'll mahanks to you."

  Ryuji turned back to the squirming curse spirit, the weight of the Anti-Gravity System pressing it further into the ground.