Shirou's clones number 30 million

The light in her eyes gave Erina a unique warmth.

At that moment, sunlight seemed to shine into the darkness, and a crack appeared in the cage.

"I see... Thank you, Alice. Actually, I've always liked you too."

"I'm sorry to have worried you. I will challenge my father to a food battle and defeat him myself."

Although I was still very scared, and the thought of his face made me tremble, I couldn't just stand by and watch Alice take my place, could I?

To do that would be too despicable and cunning.

"Really?" Alice Nakiri exclaimed with delight, smiling as she said, "With Erina personally taking action, we can definitely defeat Uncle Azami and reclaim Totsuki!"

"I hope it goes well? But before that, I have something to do. Alice, could you stay here and wait for me for a while?"

"Are you going to say goodbye to Sakurai? No problem, I'll wait for you to come back here."

"Thank you, I'll be right back."

After leaving the room, Erina quickly found Shirou making tea in the living room.

'Have any guests arrived? It seems like no one's here.'

This thought flashed through her mind, but Erina didn't dwell on it. She walked straight to Shirou and said very seriously:

“Mr. Sakurai, I’d like to talk to you.”

"Yes, go ahead." Shirou nodded slightly, speaking without looking up as he brewed tea.

Erina carefully considered her words before slowly speaking:

“Mr. Sakurai, the grudges between you and the Nakiri family are hard to explain in a few words, and I don’t think I can resolve the hatred between us.”

“Previously, I used a food battle to make you temporarily spare your mother, but in doing so, I lost my freedom.”

"I originally planned to invite you to a food battle again when the time was right."

"But time waits for no one. I have things I need to do now, and I can no longer stay here to cook for you alone."

"Of course, if I were to challenge you to a food battle here, I would definitely lose again. With my current culinary skills, I am not yet able to win back my freedom from you."

"Therefore, I am determined to trade my future for freedom."

Chapter 186 Is this a confession?

Chapter 186, Section 187: Is this a confession?

"The future of chefs lies in their own hands."

"Although everyone's culinary talent is different, there is no limit to hard work. Any chef, as long as he perseveres, can become a renowned chef praised by everyone."

"In the past, I've thought about what my future will be like more than once."

"Like Mom, travel around in search of dishes that can satisfy God's tongue? Like Father, embark on a stubborn path and believe that only he is right?"

"Or should we follow in the footsteps of our grandfather, bearing the name of the Supreme Commander of Totsuki Culinary Arts and standing at the pinnacle of the culinary world?"

"But I don't actually like any of these."

“I don’t like my mother and father, and I could never become a chef like my grandfather.”

“I often felt lost, constantly honing my culinary skills, yet unsure of where I should go from here. Now, I finally know: I... want to become a chef who can create dishes that bring happiness to people.”

“Mr. Sakurai, I am now paying half of my future to reclaim my freedom.”

At this point, Erina placed her left hand on the table, pulled out a short knife that she had kept hidden for a long time, closed her eyes, and stabbed it into the back of her hand.

Shirou suddenly reached out, pinching the blade between his fingers, and looked at her with a hint of helplessness.

Although he had seen this scene a minute earlier using his Observation Haki, which allows him to foresee the future.

But when this scene actually played out in real life, it still deeply shocked him.

For a chef, the most important thing is his hands.

What's more, she's a beautiful underage girl.

For her, if she really lost a hand, her life would be incomplete.

Judging from the fear on her face, she clearly knew the consequences.

But knowing the consequences yet still doing it, it seems that Totsuki is truly very important to her.

"Are you an idiot? Do you know what the consequences of doing this will be?"

"Ok, I know."

Erina nodded slightly and said with a smile:

"But I had a strange feeling that you would catch the knife."

"Uh... are you betting that I'll definitely stop you?" Shirou asked quietly.

Erina smiled and shook her head in denial:

"No, it's not gambling. I believe in you, I'll definitely make a move."

"Then why do you look so scared?"

"Because you might not be able to catch it. What if my reaction is too slow? Wouldn't I end up disabled?"

Shirou was speechless, unsure whether to laugh or be angry.

"Since you know the consequences, why don't you try to convince me in a different way? There are many paths to Rome, why do you have to use such a dangerous one? What if I hadn't caught it, or hadn't intervened, wouldn't you have been crippled?"

"Yes, but... this is the only way I can think of."

Although the girl was smiling happily, her smile inexplicably gave Shirou the illusion that she was about to cry.

Such an expression was so beautiful and moving that Shirou was stunned and stood there in a daze.

After living together for so long, this was the first time he had felt his heart racing and a slight feeling of being unable to breathe.

"In that case, I'll accept your left hand. From now on, your left hand belongs to me."

"Huh...? Hey hey....!?"

Erina looked surprised and asked cautiously:

"What do you mean by 'it's yours'? Although I did say I would trade half of my future for my freedom, your way of putting it just feels a bit strange."

"Strange? Let me be clear then. This is just the beginning. In the future, I will gradually win over your right hand, legs, head, and torso. Then, you will be completely mine."

"Why...?"

This time, Erina was stunned for several seconds before she reacted and asked with a smile:

"Could this be a confession of love?"

"Well... whatever you say goes."

"Hehe...weird, I've read so many romance comics, but this is the first time I've encountered such a strange way of confessing my feelings."

Erina chuckled softly for a moment, then said again:

"I find it a little scary. No wonder you've never had a boyfriend; you must have been scared away, right?"

"You said you'd beat me little by little, so let's give it a try. I'm really looking forward to it!"

"Why have you suddenly become so aggressive? I'm not used to it," Shirou couldn't help but complain.

"Oh, this is me. Speaking of which, you've been making tea the whole time. Have you had any guests over?"

"It's Miss Alice in your room, and the servant hiding in the courtyard."

"Huh...? You already noticed?"

"Yes, I saw them as soon as they entered the courtyard."

"Then why didn't you stop them?" Erina asked in surprise. "Who would watch someone climb over their own yard wall?"

"There's no need to stop it. In fact, this is exactly what I've been hoping for."

Shirou paused for a moment, then added:

"Well, I'm not referring to someone climbing the wall, but rather Alice coming to see you. Thanks to her, you've finally become more cheerful."

"So you were worried about me, thank you."

Erina smiled slightly, exuding a cool and assertive aura, completely different from her previous dejection and loneliness.

"Alice must be getting impatient, I'll go and call her down."

.......

As soon as Erina opened the door to her room, she was met with an extremely displeased gaze.

Turning my head, I saw Alice Nakiri puffing out her cheeks, looking very angry.

"What's wrong? Who made you angry?" Erina asked in surprise.

"What do you say?"

Alice Nakiri asked a question in return, took out her phone, and quickly operated it.

The next moment, a voice came from the phone:

"In the time to come, I will gradually..."

"Ahh...!"

Erina gasped involuntarily and rushed over to snatch the phone.

However, the intention was too obvious and was easily evaded.

"Erina, how could you date such a weirdo? This is the most outrageous confession I've ever seen in my life."

"No relationship! Absolutely not!"

"Since you're already interested, how far off can a relationship be?"

Alice Nakiri pouted, gave a soft snort, and complained:

"I was worried that you might encounter danger when you said goodbye, but I never expected to see such a scene."

"What's so great about a guy who's more than ten years older than you? Especially since he's such a weirdo..."