Elf: Re-employment of retired champion of Padiya

Chapter 842 Luo Mu: Are you guys really that idle all day long?
Luo Mu had never imagined that the gem starfish, which looked so hard and white—

Body and limbs?

Or the wrist?
Or perhaps tentacles?

Whatever it is, how did it manage to walk in such a disgusting way?
The way the two tentacles below bent and moved like human legs was truly bizarre.

It's enough to trigger the "Happy Valley effect" in Luo Mu.

"Hey! What's that?!"

"The starfish is running!"

"It's the first gem starfish discovered in the Kanto region—"

"No, that's not how the gem starfish in the Kanto region walk!"

"But this is the Sinnoh region, could it be a regional difference?"

"Are you kidding me? There are no Starmie species in our Sinnoh region at all!"

The crowd queuing to enter the Tower of Time was in an uproar, with screams rising and falling, clearly frightened by the strange and abstract walking posture of the gem starfish.

Just then, a blonde girl in a dress suddenly ran out from the side of the line and, with the help of a little chimpanzee, caught the running starfish.

"I'm sorry! This child is a Pokémon in the garden. It might be a little upset because it just came from the Kalos region and is probably a bit frightened, so it ran away."

"Please continue queuing, everyone. I'm really sorry."

After saying that, the girl carried the 80kg gem starfish and ran all the way to the area behind the Tower of Time that was temporarily closed to the public.

With the help of Officer Jenny, who was reassured by the security personnel, the crowd gradually calmed down from the initial chaos.

Luo Mu, who had been observing everything from the sidelines, looked in the direction the girl had left, a thoughtful expression on his face.

Putting aside the fact that the gem starfish, which seemed to come from the Carlos region, could run so fast with a single kick of its legs.

If he remembered correctly, the courtyard there should be called "Gaudi's Courtyard".

Unlike the Tower of Time and Space, it is a courtyard named after its own designer.

Therefore, considering the little chimera, the blonde girl's identity should be...
The important supporting character in the theatrical film, the tour guide who shares the same name as Alice whom I know?
While Luo Mu was pondering, Calyrex, who was next to him, flipped through a tourist brochure and said, "That should be the courtyard designed by Gaudi, the designer of the Tower of Time, with the theme of harmony between nature, humans and Pokémon, as described in this book."

"Judging from this, that girl must be one of the staff members in charge of this area."

"Yes."

Luo Mu nodded slightly and pinched Xie Mi's little face under Xie Mi's dissatisfied expression.

I hope I'm not overthinking it, like maybe the starfish was startled by Darkrai, who was silently guarding the garden, and that's why it ran out in a panic.
After an unexpected little incident.

As the queue moved forward, its speed gradually increasing, the interior of the Tower of Time and Space soon came into view.

As expected, the interior space inherits the grand and classical design style of the exterior. At first glance, even someone as knowledgeable as the Crown Prince is amazed by human architectural skills.

It was exactly noon.

A clear and melodious tune suddenly rang out above Luo Mu and the others.

Ding-dong, ding-dong—

That was the sound emanating from the two clock towers themselves, which are the world's largest musical instruments. The sound was not dull or heavy, but rather had a cheerful quality.

Look around.

The impatience on the faces of many tourists who were somewhat resentful due to the long queues gradually disappeared.

Instead, there was an undisguised appreciation and rapture for the music that subtly resonated with their souls.

Even Luo Mu felt a slight restlessness in the super-resistance power within his body.

And this is just an ordinary piece of music.

If it were the Orasion that was played.
Considering that in the theatrical film, the Tower of Time not only "unfurled its wings of light" but also repaired the cracked jewel on Palkia's shoulder, it doesn't seem surprising that anything could happen.

While accompanying Shemi and the others on a tour of the open areas within the Tower of Time, Luo Mu would occasionally glance down at his cracked phone to check the time, just in case he accidentally wandered around for too long.

He could have entered the Tower of Time through the contestant entrance prepared for dessert competition participants.

But Shaymi insisted on going inside to see the open-to-the-public area, and the Crowned King also showed curiosity about the interior of the Tower of Time, so he joined the queue.

Since there's still plenty of time before the competition officially starts, there's no point in rushing backstage so early to prepare anything. It's better to take Alcremie and the others to visit this wonder building.

Unfortunately, only the lower area of ​​the Tower of Time is open to the public. The middle area, which serves as the venue for the dessert competition, and the spiral staircase leading to the upper area where music can be changed by switching sound plates are not open to the public.

After exploring the exhibition hall to see what was going on, Luo Mu and his group didn't linger. Once they found the contestant entrance, they were led by staff to the backstage area where the contestants were gathered.

Today, Luo Mu is not a contestant, but rather participating as Alcremie's "assistant".

So he didn't pay attention to where the contestants came from, or which region or town they were from, or which famous pastry chefs they were.

What intrigued him even more was just how outrageous the judging panel for today's dessert competition would be.

As mentioned before, to avoid suspicion, Luo Mu did not actually share any information about the dessert competition with Zhu Lan and the others.

They knew neither the theme of the competition nor who the judges would be.

I only know the general outline of the competition.

The competition process is divided into two parts.

The first part is the preliminary selection, in which a panel of guest judges and the audience score the contestants. The average score given by the audience is added to the sum of the individual scores given by the judges, and the top eight with the highest scores advance.

Simply put, it's similar to the preliminary selection mechanism of the Grand Contest.

Judging from the number of people queuing to enter the Tower of Time and Space earlier, there will definitely be a lot of spectators today. Most of the people who visited the area below the Tower of Time and Space will later go into the venue to watch the competition.

Preparing such a large quantity of desserts at once, while ensuring consistent taste and production speed, is a testament to the fact that participants were advised to have multiple assistants when they first signed up for the competition.

However, Alcremie has her own support and Rare Crown's help, so there shouldn't be any major problems.

The second part has not yet been revealed, but it is said that the competition location will be moved, and it is unknown what the organizers' plans are.

As the number of contestants in the backstage lounge increased, and the competition was about to officially begin, Luo Mu, as expected, received a notification from the staff.

"Mr. Luo Mu, you may now prepare to go on stage."

After all, tracing the history of the dessert competition, Luo Mu, as the "winner" of the first competition, was naturally arranged to appear at the very beginning.

This can be considered a kind of implicit preferential treatment.

Making a grand finale appearance might sound cool, but in reality, after all the contestants in the lounge have walked past the cooking station, not to mention the cooking stations that are reused, the audience and judges are probably already full of desserts.

In a situation where one bite is cloying and two bites are torture, it's almost impossible to get a fair high score.

In some anime works, this arrangement might be necessary for the plot and could be surprisingly effective, bringing a sense of excitement, but it's really unnecessary.

Able to perform steadily from the start, making their best desserts and achieving high scores.

Why bother going through all that trouble to find a new and innovative approach?
Innovation is certainly important, but ultimately the most important requirements for desserts are still taste and, most importantly, appearance.

Luo Mu did not respond immediately, but instead glanced at Soap Fairy, who was wearing a pastry chef's hat with a blueberry pattern and had begun to concentrate on "meditation".

He took a few steps back and looked at the staff member seriously.

"You may have called the wrong person."

"Today's contestant is this pastry chef, Soap Fairy; I'm just an assistant."

"The first annual Boffin Contest, jointly organized by the Padia and Sinnoh Confectionery Associations, is now officially open! Let me introduce the judges to all participants and spectators!"

"One year after the first dessert competition with a limited-edition dessert theme, which was held in the Padiya region."

"Welcome everyone to the world's largest dessert competition, jointly organized by the dessert associations of Sinnoh, Padiya, Kalos, and Hoenn!"

"Now, please allow me, the host of the Sinnoh Contests and Celebrations, to speak."

"Let me introduce our judges for this event!"

Standing in front of the gleaming kitchen counter, I listened to the introduction by Bai An, the host who surrounded the entire venue.

Luo Mu's expression quickly changed from calm to barely holding back, with his eyelids and the corners of his mouth twitching uncontrollably.

The judges introduced at the beginning were still within his acceptable range.

There's A-Feng, Miss Joey from Baiyang Town, and Zhu Lan, who wears the Togepi mask and goes by the alias "Miss Z".

There's also "Miss J" Cattleya wearing a single ovum sphere mask, and "Miss W" Wanlong wearing a candle spirit mask.

He already knew all of this and was mentally prepared.

It was expected that Yoryu wouldn't be there. She was so busy trying to make Nemo a star trainer in Padia, and Aoki was probably working himself to death. How could she possibly be slacking off in the Sinnoh region at this time?

Replacing Ye Ci was another man, a middle-aged man with a large belly, whom Luo Mu did not recognize and who had previously served as a backdrop for the dessert competition.

But every time a new person came out after that, Luo Mu's expression would fluctuate drastically.

"Mr. M, a mysterious guest from the Hoenn region, who has recently gained fame in the dessert world for his unique and gorgeous aesthetics and insightful advice!"

Luo Mu turned his gaze in that direction and, as expected, saw a man with blue hair, dressed in a flamboyant style that made no attempt to conceal his true identity, waving at him cheerfully from behind an ugly fish mask.

This guy is—Mickey!!!

No, you're a Hoenn champion, what brings you here?

You said that after your match with Kyogre, you realized your own shortcomings and were prepared to train diligently?
On the judging panel, Mikoli seemed to have guessed what Luo Mu was thinking. He smiled and silently spoke a few words through the slightly parted lips of the Ugly Fish mask.

Luo Mu happened to be able to read lips, and what Mikoli said was—

I've passed the championship to Daigo!

Luo Mu: "."

"From the Carlos region, her identity is kept secret, but her elegant demeanor alone reveals just how beautiful the face beneath the mask truly is. A beauty loyal to the forefront of Carlos's dessert industry—Miss K!"

This one is even more impressive; Luo Mu could recognize her even without removing the pumpkin spirit mask.

At this moment, the other party's gaze also turned over, and the eyes hidden behind the mask seemed to flicker with surprise at being able to see Luo Mu.

A moment later, the other person lowered their head, clearly doing something under the table.

At this time.

Luo Mu noticed his phone ringing, but he was wearing gloves, which he wore as an assistant, so he couldn't look at it.

Even without checking, he could probably guess who had messaged him.
Karuno, the champion of the Carlos Regional League and a world-renowned actress.

At a banquet held in Miare, Luo Mu met her briefly and they exchanged contact information.

Since then, we haven't kept in touch much, except for sending a message to say hello during holidays.

In Luo Mu's opinion, it was reasonable for the other party to appear in such a setting.

After all, in animation, characters often disguise themselves and cover themselves up completely before going to enjoy various famous desserts.
The only thing that intrigued Luo Mu was how this actress managed to find time to serve as a judge amidst her busy acting career.

Did the craving for dessert really defeat everything?
After Karuno, the last judge was also an old acquaintance of Luo Mu, but at least he chose to show his true face.

"The final judge is also from the Carlos region, Mr. Jimmy, the head chef of the renowned restaurant 'Jimmy Restaurant'!"

As the head chef, Zhimi, who also prepares desserts for his own restaurant, turned out to be the most professional of all the judges, apart from Afeng.

Looking at the large group of familiar faces above, Luo Mu's expression had become as expressionless as Shinji's.

These people, taking advantage of the darkness under their noses, put on masks and cover themselves up so that no one would associate them with their former selves, and thus they slack off everywhere.

Are you guys really that idle all day long?

It wasn't just Luo Mu's side; everyone on the judging panel looked at each other, creating an extremely awkward atmosphere.

Clearly, because they were so close, they all recognized each other.
The face behind the mask was filled with a look of surprise, as if to say, "What are you doing here?"

(End of this chapter)