Chapter 678 - 678: The Eating Contest

"WHAT?!" Raizel nearly fell out of his seat.

Kagura looked equally stunned. "Why is Selene competing?!"

Ultear reacted a moment later as another possibility occurred to her.

"Then the third contestant..."

Mira blinked.

"Don't tell me it's Irene-sama..."

Over in the contestants' section, Wendy showed a tiny fang as she grinned.

"I figured it out ages ago."

She had recognized Irene and Selene from their silhouettes almost immediately.

When the promotional images were taken, however, they had deliberately hidden their most recognizable features.

Irene had left behind her antler staff, while the four thick braids that normally framed her appearance had been obscured as much as possible.

Selene had removed the crescent ornament she normally wore over her elaborate updo and let her hair down instead.

That was why Raizel and the others had only seen the silhouette of a woman with long, slightly curled hair.

Now Selene stepped onto the stage in a fitted, elegant robe and wooden sandals.

Her platinum-blonde hair had once again been arranged in its usual style, complete with the crescent ornament, and a faint smile curved across her lips as she leisurely fanned herself.

She carried herself with effortless grace and confidence.

"OOOOOH!"

"SELENE-SAMA!"

"SELENE-SAN!"

The applause that erupted from the audience was even louder than the reception Minerva had received.

The world knew of the Moon Dragon God, of course, but very few people knew that her true name was Selene.

Even if someone happened to recognize the name, it would be easy enough to dismiss it as a coincidence.

The announcer raised his voice again.

"And now, let us welcome our final mysterious guest! The untouchable beauty from the continent of Ishgar—Irene Belserion!"

Irene was not carrying her antler staff today, nor was she wearing her usual unusual hat.

Instead, she had changed into a fitted black Mage robe that emphasized her slender waist.

Aside from the four braids she still wore, the rest of her crimson hair fell freely down her back.

A faint touch of pink colored her lips, contrasting with her cool, distant expression.

The announcer's description was surprisingly accurate.

She really did look like the kind of breathtaking beauty people admired from a respectful distance and absolutely did not approach without permission.

Raizel's mouth twitched.

"Why does this introduction sound like a beauty pageant? This is supposed to be an eating contest!"

"IRENE-SAN!!!"

The audience erupted again.

As for why Irene looked so thoroughly uninterested...

She had never wanted to compete in the first place.

Selene had dragged her into it.

Irene's appearance also drew quite a bit of attention toward Erza.

It did not take long before Raizel began hearing audience members speculate over whether the two were sisters or mother and daughter.

Lucy and Wendy were attracting plenty of attention as well simply because they were pretty.

That left exactly one invisible contestant in the entire eating competition.

Natsu.

He was neither a beautiful woman nor a massive heavyweight.

Naturally, Natsu himself noticed none of this. He was far too excited about the enormous meal waiting for him.

Raizel, Ultear, Kagura, and Mira sat together in the audience.

"I never expected Irene-sama to participate in something like this," Ultear admitted.

Everyone already knew Selene loved joining anything that looked remotely entertaining.

The surprising part was that she had somehow managed to convince Irene to come along.

"Maybe her outlook really has changed," Mira said.

The competition officially began.

Raizel looked toward the stage just in time to see Natsu immediately start devouring food like a natural disaster sweeping through a buffet.

Even while eating, he kept shooting wary glances toward Irene, Selene, and Minerva.

As far as Natsu was concerned, those three were his real competition.

Erza and Lucy?

Small fry.

Irene, Selene, and Minerva, by contrast, ate with remarkable elegance despite their astonishing speed.

Forks rose and fell almost casually, yet entire steaks vanished from their plates in moments.

Lucy had taken the exact opposite approach.

She chewed slowly and properly enjoyed every bite.

After all, she had mainly entered because she wanted free food.

Erza, meanwhile, was giving it everything she had.

She tried to imitate Natsu's whirlwind eating style and trick her brain into ignoring how full she was.

Unfortunately, Erza did not possess Natsu's iron stomach.

"I can't... I seriously can't eat another bite..."

She eventually collapsed sideways, resting her cheek against the table while both arms hung limply at her sides.

Even many of the enormous heavyweight contestants began dropping out soon afterward.

"The competition has reached its most intense stage!" the announcer roared. "Natsu and Wendy are beginning to struggle, while Minerva, Irene, and Selene remain completely composed!"

The three women still had enough leisure to delicately wipe the corners of their mouths with napkins while waiting for the next course.

Wendy was the first of Fairy Tail's remaining contestants to withdraw.

Not long afterward, Natsu released a tremendous burp, dropped face-first onto his empty plate, and officially surrendered.

In the end, the eating contest was forced to conclude as a three-way tie because of the time limit.

Minerva, Irene, and Selene shared first place.

Each woman had accumulated a stack of empty plates nearly ten meters tall.

The organizers had little choice.

They simply could not let them keep eating.

At this rate, the festival would go bankrupt.

...

That afternoon, the dessert and beverage judging began.

Only Mira entered as an actual competitor.

As Fairy Tail's number-one barmaid, she was equally comfortable preparing cocktails, milk tea, juices, and other drinks.

Her stall was quickly surrounded by such a dense crowd that people could barely move.

The funny part was that most of them had not even tasted anything yet.

They had simply gathered because Mira was beautiful.

Fortunately, Fairy Tail had already dealt with this sort of thing in both Magnolia and Crocus.

Raizel calmly produced a megaphone and began organizing the crowd.

"All right, all right! Come over here and take a number. Line up according to your ticket!"

Lucy stared at him in disbelief.

"Where did you even get a megaphone and numbered tickets?!"

Happy spread his paws and shook his head solemnly.

"Could these be the numbered tickets of love?"

Lucy smacked him on the head.

"You're a cat! What do you know about love?!"

The first drink Mira prepared was a fruit juice.

She combined floral nectar with a local berry known as a lowberry, which resembled a strawberry in appearance.

Its rich sweetness carried a subtle bitterness underneath, so Mira balanced it with a slightly tart fruit and a small amount of fruit enzyme.

Once everything had been pressed together, she handled the shaker with the effortless precision of an experienced bartender.

Her signature juice was soon finished.

Ice went into the bottom of the glass first, followed by the filtered juice.

The resulting liquid was a clear, jewel-like rose-red that shimmered beautifully inside the cocktail glass.

Raizel had tasted this drink before.

Its fruit aroma was intense, the sweetness and tartness were perfectly balanced, and the ice gave it an especially refreshing finish.

It was already one of Fairy Tail's most popular nonalcoholic drinks.

The constant praise coming from the surrounding visitors proved that people in Guiltina liked it just as much.

Mira went on to prepare several cocktails as well.

By the time evening approached, the dessert competition had been won by a middle-aged pastry chef.

Erza and Lucy were fortunate enough to taste his winning creation, and Erza's verdict was that it was every bit as good as the desserts from Starlight.

The beverage championship, meanwhile, went to Mira and her signature fruit juice.

...

Night eventually fell.

The grandest event of the day—the Chef Championship—began inside the brightly illuminated Ordore Tower.

Chefs from across Guiltina would compete in head-to-head matches, with ten ultimately earning the coveted title of Master Chef.

Mira drew considerable attention before her match even began.

She had already won the beverage competition that afternoon, she was one of the relatively few women competing in the hot-food division, and she was beautiful enough to have gained a following after only a single day.

"MIRA-SAN!!! WIN ANOTHER CHAMPIONSHIP!"

As for Raizel...

He was mostly there to make up the numbers.

His first-round opponent was a famous chef known for curry dishes, particularly curry crab and curried seafood.

The left side of the arena contained the ingredient selection area, the central section held the individual cooking stations, and five renowned chefs from across Guiltina sat at the judges' table on the far right.

Raizel had no intention of doing something stupid like challenging a curry specialist at his own specialty.

Instead, he chose a dish he actually knew how to make reasonably well.

A simple homemade, somewhat questionably authentic version of Kung Pao chicken.