3. Salon Struggle
3. Salon Struggle
Monday has come in no time.
Inside the Ecole Kitchen Elise, everything was all ready for the Salon Struggle.
Two large table were set in the center of the restaurant and they were surrounded by one-way mirrors.
Audience were gathering one after another.
Lady Asuka and Ms. Mei were already there, being ready for the battle.
Now the restaurant is filled with surrealistic excitements.
I knew it will be a big event but I didn't expect it to be this much popular.
A group of ladies sitting in the area with the best view on the second floor express the popularity of the event straight forward.
I couldn't see how many people were sitting there precisely, but there were probably five or six people. And all of them were wearing tiara on their heads.
All the existing salon possessors were here together to watch over the result of this battle. Or they were not really like “Watch over”, but more likely they were spying on us.
Depending on how this battle ends up, they may think it could be their turn next time.
I started to shiver.
“It is Monday after school, how do you all do?”
All of the sudden, a cheerful voice broke the tense atmosphere of the restaurant.
“Today we are here at Ecole Kitchen Elise for live broadcasting of the Salon Struggle challenged by Lady Asuka Nekoyashiki against the Tenku Salon currently possessed by Lady Kagura Mikage.”
L-L-L-live broadcasting?????
“What is drawing everyone's attention at this Salon Struggle is the two Home Economic course freshman students who will be competing to represent the Tenku Salon. But they are not just ordinary freshman. One of them is a Seraph of well-known Lady Himeko Amanotsuka.
Let's ask how she feels now for being selected to fight for the right of possession of the Tenku Salon.”
My eyes were widely open being surprised by what was going on. And suddenly a microphone appeared in front of my widely opened eyes from nowhere.
“How do you do? We are from the News department of Amanotsuka All-girls' Academy. Can we ask you some questions?”
“News department?”
News department is here?
I don't know where it is broadcasted to, but there are cameras too.
“Yes. Hello, Ms. Misaki Hotaru. How are you felling now?”
“How am I feeling now? Um, I-I can only say that I will do my best....”
I can't answer such a question suddenly.
“Misaki has practiced over and over again, like it was now or never to be ready for this battle. I believe in her that she will definitely bring a victory to our side.”
“M-Ms. Himeko.”
It was Ms. Himeko who helped me out from this trouble. She hugged me from my back and smiled to make me not to worry.
“Whoa! This is a very rare moment! Ms. Himeko spontaneously showed up in front of our camera. I will go and ask her some questions!”
All the cameras and microphones turned to Ms. Himeko at once.
“You go and get ready, Misaki. Just remind yourself of what you have learned and practiced. Don't be panicked, okay? I know you can do it.”
“Yes!”
As she gently pushed my back, I could run away from the scene.
Phew! I'm relieved. How could I know there will be a news department showing up for this battle?
It is all good now because Ms. Himeko took them over, or else they would have asked me so many questions and I may forget everything I memorized for the battle.
“It is just like a show.”
“Kirara.”
I don't know where she has been but Kirara showed up suddenly from nowhere.
“I would be disgraced in public if they find me.”
Kirara would be a perfect target for them to report because she has been creating a stir in the academy for the past week and now she will be competing in the Salon Struggle risking her own future.
Even if those with microphones are the Socialite course students, there is no way we can casually show up in front of their camera to answer all the questions.
“This is one of my duty for possessing a salon but the situation is a bit different this time, so shall we start little earlier, Ayaka?”
Lady Kagura who was watching what happened to us, called out the Kokonoe sisters. Looked like she was trying to be considerable for us.
“Let's get started if we are all ready.”
“Certainly”
The Kokonoe sisters nodded exaggeratedly together and declared the opening of the Salon Struggle.
“Ladies, thank you very much for joining us today.”
“Here, I would like to declare the opening of the Salon Struggle competing for the right of possession of the Tenku Salon.”
A small applause answered to the declaration.
The news department crew who were just interviewing Ms. Himeko came toward us in hurry.
Finally, the Salon Struggle has begun.
We all sit down on our seat, spread out napkin on our own lap, and prepared for dishes to be served.
On our table, Kirara and I are sitting down across from where Lady Kagura is sitting.
Lady Asuka and Ms. Mei are also sitting on the both side of their table facing to each other.
“Before we start the actual battle of the Salon Struggle. There is one announcement we would like to make.”
“During the battle, no competitors are allowed to talk to each other even within the same team or to the other team.”
The Kokonoe sisters who are hosting the battle added one more rule in the last minute.
“No talking?”
“This rule is necessary for this type of battle in order to prevent any cheating. It can unable any competitors to teach their teammates how to eat served dishes on the spot.”
“Normally we should all enjoy our meal time with pleasant conversation, but not for this time.”
I see. I didn't realize that there was the way to ask someone how to eat on the spot. But I just don't think I can do it properly just by hearing how to do it only once.
During this past two days, I realized more than ever that I could own proper manner only by practicing it over and over again.
But, something was bugging me. I didn't know what though. I didn't think it was missing something, but the new rule sounded very weird to me for some reasons.
“Well then, let's get started with hors-d'oeuvre.”
“Lady Kagura, Lady Asuka, please draw lots.”
The battle has begun before I clearly know what I felt weird about.
Maybe it was nothing I have to concern. However, soon the truth of what I felt weird is going to be revealed unexpectedly.
Lady Kagura and Lady Asuka both pulled out plastic cards from their each boxes.
“Let's see. Lady Kagura drew Escargot a la Province.”
“Lady Asuka drew Smoked salmon with sliced onions.”
Yes!
I fist pumped in my mind
Although it is “a la Province” instead of “a la Bourguignonne”, I can show how much I practiced from the beginning. The escargots were served with snail shells and a tong, of course. I felt that I can easily get through this.
Kirara also seemed to be relieved when she looked at me. Since the talking was not allowed, I replied “yay!” to her with my eyes only.
Speaking of Lady Kagura, she did not move at all, not even her eyebrows, when she looked at the dish served in front of her.
Wow. How calm she is!
“Bon Appetit!”
As the Kokonoe sisters gave us signal to start, each competitors started working on their own dishes.
Then, I noticed.
I found the answer of what I felt weird about just before.
I saw Lady Kagura was holding the escargot with a tong and pulling out what's inside easily.
The way she ate the escargot was as same as the way I was taught.
Wait..., what's the difference between telling teammates how to eat verbally and showing them how to eat visually?
Without speaking to each other, we would be able to know the proper way to eat unknown dish if Lady Kagura shows us how to eat.
So the new rule that just has been added by the Kokonoe sisters wouldn't make any sense at all.
I see. This was what kept bugging me.
The Kokonoe sisters had made mistake?
No way. They would be the last ones on the list who would have made such a dumb mistake...
It was easy to point the mistake out but what if any points will be deducted from mine for breaking the no talking rule?
I definitely couldn't afford to have any point deduction.
Or, it was possible that they purposely made the mistake so the best I could do was to let it be.
Even though I have trained very hard, I still cannot say I'm perfectly confident about how to eat all kind of dishes. So it would work for me as a hint in case of something unsure is served because I can refer to how Lady Kagura eats.
If we take it positively, it can be a little help for us offered by the Kokonoe sisters.
Hmmm, I don't think they will change the rule anymore so I decided to just to let it be and focus on the battle.
Delayed from everyone else, I started to work on my escargot. I pulled the plate slightly closer to myself and held the escargot with a tong.
“Mmmm.”
When I put one piece into my mouth, I almost gasped.
How delicious!
It was completely different from what I ate at the training. May be because the sauce was different, I could keep eating them forever.
I was able to finish up hors-d'oeuvre elegantly and gracefully without any trouble.
The second dish of the course was soup. Both Lady Kagura and Lady Asuka drew corn soup. However ours were served in bouillon cups while Lady Asuka and Ms. Mei's were served in soup bowls.
The only and the most important thing to have soup is not to make a sound.
I was told that we can drink a soup served in a bouillon cup directly by holding it with the handle but I decided to drink it with spoon as I trained. Looked like both Lady Kagura and Kirara decided to do the same.
I had to move my spoon go back and forth between the cup and my mouth over and over again. So much patience required until I finished it up.
I could hear the voice of a reporter from the News department who were on the other side of one-way mirror behind me.
Does anyone actually enjoy the broadcasting live of this battle?
I felt relaxed a little enough to wonder something like that.
I think we are doing great so far. Seems to be no point has been deducted from neither side.
If we can keep up with this, we will definitely win this battle.
But we still need to focus on the battle. We are still on the preliminary stage of it.
The third dish of the course was Poisson, a fish dish.
From now on, it requires well-trained skills to use a knife and a fork,
“Lady Kagura drew, Meuniere of Raibow trout.”
“Lady Asuka drew salt-grilled saury.”
Here it comes.
Probably this would be the trickiest part of this battle.
Lady Asuka's team was served a Japanese style dish unexpectedly, and of course no chopsticks were provided for them.
On the both dishes for the both teams, whole fishes with bones are served.
The toughest part is to neatly take those bones out from the fish. We have practiced this part repeatedly as the most important part of the battle.
Peel off the fins, then slice in along with the inner bone, and put the nearer half of the fish meat on the nearer side of the plate.
I went through the process from the beginning to the end in my head, and started to work on the dish while checking how Lady Kagura eats just to make sure.
Yes, yes. It is going very well.
I pulled out inner bone and moved it to the far side of the plate. Then cut the lower part of the fish meat into small pieces.
Three of us were almost synchronized while we are all neatly eating the rainbow trout with knives and forks.
The accident happened when we were all finishing up our third dishes.
But it happened within Lady Asuka's team.
While both Lady Asuka and Ms. Mei was eating the saury very neatly, Ms. Mei stood up all of the sudden. Then she walked up to Lady Asuka and wiped clean her mouth with her handkerchief she pulled out from her pocket.
I guess Lady Asuka had some piece of saury around her mouth, but what Ms. Mei did can't cause anything else but point deduction. Ms. Mei must have knew that but she decided to do so in order to prevent having Lady Asuka broadcasted with saury on her face.
It might be the right decision as a maid, but we are in the middle of the battle. I wonder what she would do if it cause Lady Asuka to lose this battle.
I thought Lady Asuka might be mad at Ms. Mei, although, she obediently let Ms. Mei wipe her mouth and put her knife and fork down.
I could see their trustful maid-mistress relationship.
Looked like Ms. Mei decided to put her first priority on her position as a maid.
The fourth dish was sorbet, a sherbet ice served to clean our palate.
We only needed to eat it little by little scooping it with a spoon.
Only thing we have to be careful about is not to put other hand to cover under the spoon.
I just needed to make sure not to scoop too much at once so that it would not spill.
Finally, the next dish was meat. I don't want to make any mistake because we are doing perfectly fine so far.
Lady Kagura drew fried chicken drumstick.
“Ugh”
When I looked at the dish being served, I groaned.
This may be the harder than the fish.
A meat with bone is already hard enough to eat properly, but addition to that, this one in front of me looked very unstable because it was a big fat drumstick. Moreover, a finger bowl wasn't served along, so that meant we had to use our knife and fork, not our fingers, to eat it.
We have practiced to eat meat with bone, but I just didn't expect it to be served under such a tough condition.
If I let it rolled out from my plate, I clearly can't avoid having a huge point deduction.
Speaking of Lady Asuka's team, they were being served sirloin steak of Hida Beef, which can be called as a typical meat dish, so it would be very easy to eat properly.
Okay, I have to be very careful. Just focus on being very very careful.
First, I started to peel off the upper meat. I'm pretty sure that this is one of the trap menu to trick us and make us do something incorrect. Among all the other trap menu, Lady Kagura must have drawn the worst one. If it was not a trap, it should have been served with finger bowls allowing us to eat it with our fingers, or something else to make it little easier to eat.
The harsh fight against the big fat drumstick continued.
I have trained very hard with Ms. Himeko. She showed me all the details. My skill should be way better than before.
I kept moving my knife very slowly and finally succeeded to take out the upper part of the meat. Almost felt like I was a doctor with surgical tools.
After I ate the upper half of the meat which represented my hard work, I got ready to work on the hardest part, taking out the inner bone with knife.
And something happened.
It was Lady Kagura.
Surprisingly Lady Kagura turned the rest of the half-eaten fried chicken upside down.
What?????
Wait a second!
I thought it was the biggest taboo.
According to Ms.Himeko, both meat with bone and fish dish should be eaten in the almost same manner.
Or, am I the one who misunderstood the manner?
Fried chicken may have a special way to eat, just like Lady Kagura did?
Apparently, it looked much easier to eat that way because the chicken would not rolled away to be eaten like that.
I didn't know what to do.
Then I heard the sound of heavy breathing.
Kirara was stunned too. I could see from her face that she was struggling very hard.
Which is the correct way?
Who is right about the proper manner?
Ms. Himeko? Lady Kagura?
I desperately needed a help from Ms. Himeko, but I could not see her because of the surrounding mirrors.
Or, I wanted to ask Lady Kagura but no talking was allowed.
Little did I dream that the new rule added by the Kokonoe sisters affecting the battle in such way.
As we stopped eating, Lady Kagura glared at us just like she was saying, “What are you doing?” but silently.
She was also telling us “Do as I did to eat it!” by pointing her plate with her eyes
The way Lady Kagura ate was correct for sure?
If we eat it in two different way, one way will be incorrect and point will be deducted from our side.
Apparently, it would be the best that we follow Lady Kagura's way and we all are correct.
But I just can't make myself admit that Ms. Himeko taught me wrong manner.
“Sigh....”
I exhaled deeply once.
So sorry Lady Kagura, but I believe in Ms. Himeko.
I made up my mind to cut out the inner bone. So I put my knife into the chicken meat without hesitation.
Lady Kagura pulled up her eyebrow. I thought I heard noise of being surprised from surrounding.
I'm pretty sure that I will get scolded by her. It's okay though. It is my decision. I decided to believe in Ms. Himeko. What about Kirara....?
Looked like Kirara made up her mind finally. She slowly turned the fried chicken upside down. Using her knife and fork.
I see, Kirara decided to believe in Lady Kagura.
Now, it is confirmed that someone will be subjected to point deduction, but if I'm the only one who was wrong, there still is a hope for our victory
The only possible major point deduction in our team is for this entrée, meat dish, so far. On Lady Asuka's team, there should be some point deduction for what Ms. Mei did. Therefore I don't think we are losing yet.
The sixth dish after the major event was salade.
Lady Kagura drew green salad a la Province.
Lady Asuka drew Carrot Rapees
As soon as Lady Asuka saw what she drew, she said “Eeeeewww” in unlady-like voice.
Looked like carrots were not her favorite food
Her disgust was on her face when she was eating it.
Speaking of our team, we didn't have any problems. There was nothing hard to eat, and we could easily eat leafy vegetables, which can be hard to put fork through, by layering them.
The rest of the dishes in the course menu were entremets and café.
The battle was almost reaching to its end.
I didn't want to make any more mistake but Lady Kagura drew Strawberry Mille-feuille while Lady Asuka drew Fromage cake with blueberry sauce.
Not that I expected donuts to be served but Mille-feuille is another dish which makes me nervous to eat it properly.
It is made with multi-layered pie crust, with strawberries and whipped cream in between those pies. It is very hard to eat it without destroying the layers of the pie.
Ms. Himeko said it is even difficult for her to eat it without making a mess on the plate.
The best way is to lay it on its side to eat but this one has strawberries and whipped cream decoration on all the way to the top of the layered pie crust.
It gave me an impression that I should take a certain way to eat it, just like it was for the fried chicken.
In this kind of case, I was taught to hold it with my fork putting it through from its top, down to about a half of it. The cut it with knife horizontally and vertically.
I was told that there is another way to eat by peeling off each layers of the pie one by one, but I don't think I am skillful enough to do so.
Trying not to destroy the pie, I cut them into pieces little by little moving my knife very slowly and gently.
I just wanted to grab it and take a bite directly rather than such a time consuming way. But I tried to hold my desire and used all my energy to cut them in to small pieces.
And then café at the end.
I still could not be relaxed but this was nothing even for me.
We had Darjeeling tea and Lady Asuka's team had Demitasse coffee. I could actually enjoy it as long as I was being careful not to make a sound of sipping.
“Now, we had all the eight dishes being served.”
As soon as we all finished drinking our coffee and tea, the Kokonoe sisters declared the end of the battle.
I'm exhausted, I'm just so exhausted.
If it is so much exhausting to be on the table with proper manner, I honestly thought that I don't even want to be a lady who has to join the table where the proper manner is required.
I even felt sorry for those ladies in the Socialite course who have to be able to use those proper manner in their sleep.
“We will go calculate the score for both team. Please wait here for a while.”
The Kokonoe sisters said and went to the back of the stage.
At the beginning we all thought it will be easy for us to win this battle but now we all are not sure of about the result.
If we lose, not only will be the Tenku Salon taken away, but Kirara also will have to leave the academy.
“Misaki.”
Soon after the Kokonoe sisters were gone, Lady Kagura came to talk to me.
She neither sounded like she was going to have a chitchat with me nor she was going to give me a credit for the battle. Apparently, it sounded like she was going to scold me for how I did in the battle.
“Y-yes.”
For Lady Kagura, I was the only one who made a big mistake, so it is natural that she wanted to make everything straight,
“We haven't heard the result yet, so I try not to say anything to you for now. But I have a few things that I need to say to you regarding this battle. You know that, don't you?”
“Yes...”
I answered weakly.
There was nothing I can do. I was the one who messed up our teamwork.
Awkward atmosphere dominated the scene. But it didn't last long.
The Kokonoe sisters came back.
“We have the result.”
“Ladies, please gather around.”
Well, let's see how it went.
The one-way mirrors were taken away and other members of the Tenku Salon and the Seitenrikyu came to gather around us.
“Misaki.”
“Ms. Himeko.”
Ms. Himeko put her hands on my shoulders and smiled gently at me.
“I'm so sorry for messing up everything.”
“No, it's not your fault. Let's listen to both Ms. Ayaka for now.”
I felt relieved when I was looking at Ms. Himeko's smile.
Was I able to meet her expectation?
“Well, here is the result.”
“First, we will reveal which parts were subjected to point deduction.”
“There are a few, but we will start with the part subjected for one point deductions.”
I gulped. I believe that I didn't make any mistake besides the fried chicken part...but....
“Misaki, you moved your plate of the hors d'oeuvre closer to yourself, didn't you?”
Huh? Is there anything wrong with it?
“In western style meal, it is the proper manner that you don't move your plate from where it is originally placed. So one point was deducted from you.”
“Oh, no.”
Because it was placed little too far from me to reach, so I thought I would end up eating it in very strange posture if I didn't move it....
“It's not your fault Misaki. It wasn't kindly placed on the appropriate spot for you to reach. I didn't expect that we needed to be in detail that much.”
Ms. Himeko tried to take me under her wing, but the first deduction was from me.
“The following part was in the third dish, Poisson.”
Oh, this is about when Ms. Mei stood up to wipe Lady Asuka's mouth.
“One point was deducted from Lady Asuka.
“What? Why?”
“Why? Are you asking me why?”
“You don't even have a clue?”
The Kokonoe sisters looked down on Lady Asuka for her both sides as she snapped at them.
“A real lady should not have food around her mouth while she is eating.”
“Moreover, it is an outrageous attitude that you didn't even notice about your own dirty face and had Ms. Mei came over and wiped them off from you.”
“Don't act like a little baby, and why don't you start taking care of yourself?”
“In this case, it is obviously fair to deduct a point from the shorty who made Ms. Mei to leave her seat during the meal.”
“Don't call me shorty!!!”
Although Lady Asuka was cursing, she seemed to be convinced about it. She did not say anything against the judgement.
Now, both team has one point deduction each. My point deduction was cancelled by Lady Asuka's point deduction so we all went back to where we started.
“The next was entrée. There were some point deductions from both team.”
“But, we will reveal the detail about the point deduction from the Tenku Salon team later.”
Clearly, this is the part of the battle where I chose to eat the fried chicken differently from how Lady Kagura ate.
There must have been a huge point deduction for being kept later to be revealed in detail.
Ugh, I'm having stomachache.
“For the Seitenrikyu team, one point was deducted again from Lady Asuka.”
“Because you made clinging sounds with your cutlery. Do you have any objections?”
“Grrrr...”
I had my hands full with my own problem back then, so that I didn't noticed that Lady Asuka has made such a mistake.
“Furthermore, the way you ate lacked elegance, so we judged that it deserves another point deduction.”
“Ugh...”
Yes! Now they lost two points. Originally our team has five points more than the Seitenrikyu team, so it added up to seven points now.
“Following is entremets. Both Misaki and Kirara lost one point each from their points.
Aww, the mile-feuille.... I thought I could eat it without making a mess.
“The reason of the deduction is the same as what it was for Lady Asuka's point deduction from entrée. You two looked too desperate to eat it neatly.”
“Nothing was wrong with the way you ate it, but you two looked too ghostly while you were eating, so we decided to deduct one point from each of you.”
Oh no. I was focused too much on not to destroy the pie crust, I wasn't able to pay attention to anything else.
Now, the points we had ahead of the Seitenrikyu team were cancelled again.
“These are all for the parts which were subjected for one point deduction.”
“Well then, it is the time to reveal the result from the most crucial part of this battle. Please let us reveal our judgement on how the Tenku Salon team did with their entrée dishes.”
Here we are. It determines who the winner of this battle is.
So far, our team has five points more than the Seitenrikyu team just as we did at the beginning. If I was the one who performed incorrectly, the point deduction would be only three points which means we will be the winner. But if it was in the other way, six points would be deducted; three points each from Lady Kagura and Kirara, which means that we will loose the battle.
“I must say this is very disappointing result.”
“This is about our people but this is also a serious battle so we made our judgement severly.”
What? I have a bad feeling....
“It is totally unacceptable to turn it upside down when you eat meat with bone.”
“Therefore three points each will be deducted from both Lady Kagura and Kirara.”
“What did you say?”
It was Lady Kagura who raised her voice loudly.
“Hold on a second, what is going on here? Are you saying that I made a mistake?”
“Exactly.”
“You are my lady, but what a shame.”
The Kokonoe sisters pretended crying putting their hands on their forehead.
Lady Kagura was in shock.
She must be in a huge shock because she was very confident about how she did during the battle.
“Why...? I was taught that it was the proper way.”
Lady Kagura staggered along and put her hand on the table to hold herself.
“Oh dear, it is very obvious for EVERYONE that it was incorrect.”
“And you confidently showed it off to freshman students just as if ita was a perfect reference. I can't help myself laughing.”
“Hahahahaha”
The Kokonoe sisters actually started laughing out loud together.
“There is no way that...Wait a minute, you two are the ones who taught me to eat meat with bone in that way!”
What?
“Oh, are you going to blame on us for what you did wrong? ”
“What are warped minded mistress we have! ”
“Don't be silly. I clearly remember. You both had been telling me since the long time ago to be careful because a meat with bone should be eaten in completely different way.”
“Oh really?”
“I don't remember that”
Wow, this is the worst thing it could happen here. The Kokonoe sisters know what they're doing and they are doing it on purpose.
It's a betrayal. We have traitors in our people
“Hey you guys, keep the domestic fight later. Just let us know the results first.
What was the result?”
Lady Asuka cuts in between us with a big smile.
Obviously she is happy. The point deduction will be six points total for Lady Asuka and Kiara's mistakes so the situation reversed to their advantage.
“All right. Here is the final result.”
“The total of nine points are deducted from the Tenku Salon team while the total of three points are deducted from the Seitenrikyu team.”
“With the points deducted from the initial point...”
“The Tenku Salon scored 26 points and the Seitenrikyu team scored 27 points...”
“Lady Asuka Nekoyashiki from the Seitenrikyu team is the winner of this battle.”
The hopeless result was revealed by the Kokonoe sisters.
We.... lost....
I heard Kirara fell down from her knee with a thud.
“We did it! Mei, we won!”
“Yes, Lady Asuka, congratulations.”
Lady Asuka and Ms.Mei hugged each other in a joy of the victory.
It means that the Tenku Salon is not possessed by Lady Kagura anymore. And Kirara...she will be...
“What are you doing Kirara?”
“Stand up. We will give you the results of your test.”
The Kokonoe sisters were trying to rub salt in the wound for Kirara with no mercy.
“Please hold on. It was not her fault. Kirara knew the proper way to eat it.”
I have to do everything I can do to save Kirara from being expelled.
“Move away.”
I was easily pushed away by the Kokonoe sisters even though I tried to stand desperately against them for Kirara.
“Kirara Hoshino, let me ask you”
“Why did you copy what Lady Kagura did?”
“Because....”
Kirara lifted her head weakly.
“Because?”
“Because...Lady Kagura, she was going to be.... my lady. So if Lady Kagura says it's the correct way, even if it was not, that's the correct way for me.”
Wow, I didn't know she was thinking like that at that moment.
“Okay, I see.”
The Kokonoe sisters said it together. Then they looked at and nodded to each other.
“Kirara Hoshino, as the result of this test, you are qualified to become Lady Kagura's Seraph.”
“What?”
Just like the Kokonoe sisters, Kirara and I exclaimed in harmonized voice.
“All the rules in this world are set by its ruler.”
“You faithfully followed Lady Kagura's own rule because look up to her as your lady.”
“That's what all about being someone's Seraph.”
“Believe in your lady. That's the most important thing.”
“Then, Kirara doesn't have to leave the academy? Even though we lost the battle?”
“We didn't say the result of the battle counts into how to test her from the beginning.”
“We just said that we needed to find out what kind of girl Kirara Hoshino is watching how she works on her table manner during the battle.”
“Then, is she really...?”
“Yes.”
“Isn't she?”
The Kokonoe sisters and I looked at Lady Kagura.
Lady Kagura made sour face and sighed. Then she said,
“Yes, Kirara Hoshino has passed the test. However, to be considerate about how influential it is for other students, you shall start with being my Exousia. Then, I will promote you to become my Seraph after certain period of time, how about that?”
“Well, well, how can you be so bossy after disgracing yourself in public?”
“Shut your mouth!”
After she yelled at the Kokonoe sisters, Lady Kagura pulled out her hand towards Kirara and said,
“Does it sound okay with you?”
“Yes.”
Kirara took her hand and said.
“I will be on your service, Lady Kagura.”
I'm so glad. I'm really happy for you Kirara.
But...the Tenku Salon....
“Sorry to interrupt you girls in the middle of touching moment, but can quickly hand over the Tenku Salon to me? Starting from now, it belongs to me.”
Lady Asuka approached Lady Kagura to leave the Tenku Salon.
Finally Kirara joined us as a new member, but I can't believe we are losing the Tenku Salon...
“Oh, yes. That's right.”
“First, please let me congratulate you for winning the first battle of the Salon Struggle.”
“Huh?”
Lady Asuka was stunned by what the Kokonoe sisters said.
“What are you talking about? Are you not knowing when to give up?”
“Don't get me wrong. I'm just telling the truth.”
“The fee you are paying to use one of the salon is in fact much lower than what Lady Kagura pays. Even comparing to what we pay, it actually is way lower.”
“HUH??”
“If you are going to take over the Tenku Salon with that much small amount of fee, you going to have to beat us.”
“I'm just telling what we should do complying with the official rule of Salon Struggle.”
“HUUUUHHH?”
“Just for your information, even if you win the battle with us, Lady Himeko is the next.”
“Lady Himeko, just like us, pays lot more fee to use salons than you do.”
“HHHUUUUUUHHHHHH?”
“In other words, according to the official rule of Salon Struggle, if you want to take over the Tenku Salon, you will have to win the battles with all the members of the salon who pay higher amount of the fee than yours.”
“But do not worry, the students who pays more than you do are only us and Lady Himeko.”
“HHHHHHUUUUUUUUUHHHHHHH?”
“Isn't that right, Lady Angelica?”
The Kokonoe sisters asked Lady Angelica for her agreement.
“Yes it is, basically. It is a very rare case that multiple students pay fees to one salon, so it is totally normal if you don't know that rule....”
“HHHHHHHHHHUUUUUUUUUUUUHHHHHHHHHHHHH?”
“So, we can have the next battle tomorrow, don't you think?”
The Kokonoe sisters said to Lady Asuka kept screaming in confusion.
“Let's have a horseback riding battle!”
“Let's have a fencing battle!”
And that's how the first battle of Salon Struggle ended....
****
“Did you know about this Ms. Himeko?”
As the battle had ended, we were back in Ms. Himeko's room.
There were tons of donuts lined up on the table.
Ms. Himeko prepared them for me as rewards of the battle.
I was so happy to have casual food like that after having such a formal meal.
“I had it somewhere in the corner of my head, but we never lost before so I didn't even thought through about it. Looked like both of Ms. Ayaka knew about it for sure.”
As the result, we were all just played by the Kokonoe sisters.
When you think about it thoroughly, there were something wrong with everything.
The ‘no talking rule' was obviously added to set us up. Lady Kagura and Lady Asuka drew lots from their own boxes, which we never knew what were inside.
I even doubt that in our box, there must had been only fried chicken cards in it for the entrée.
Besides, the scoring was totally controllable by the Kokonoe sisters if ‘lack of elegant' can be subjected to point deduction.
“Well, just leave it already. The important thing is that Ms. Hoshino has pass the test.”
“You are right...”
I wonder if they were going to qualify Kirara anyway from the beginning.
“By the way, I want to ask you one thing.”
“What is it?”
I asked while I was throwing one after another donuts into my mouth without any hesitation.
“Why didn't you copy what Ms. Kagura did?”
“Because...”
“Tell me why.”
Ms. Himeko said and tilted her head to make a cute posing. She was asking me why because she knew the answer.
Oh, well. I guess I can tell her the truth.
“Because you are my lady, Ms. Himeko. I believed in what you taught me and I only followed it.”
“Hehehe, I'm so happy. Glad to hear that.”
Ms. Himeko brought a piece of donuts into my mouth with her big smile on her face,
“Enough!”
I ate the donuts from her wondering if I shouldn't have told her that.
****
Speaking of the second battle of the Salon Struggle....
The Kokonoe sisters won by a staggering difference beaten up Lady Asuka badly.
So the Tenku Salon was returned to Lady Kagura in her possession like nothing ever happened.
Girls Kingdom Volume 2 ―― the end ――
