Food Wars: Taste Buds Reversal

026. Is there a fire here? [Fourth update]

It was seven o'clock in the evening.

Erina Nakiri had finished her work for the day, but she had not forgotten what she had said in the morning. As soon as the food tasting was over, she asked the driver to drive the car to the shopping street.

"Miss Erina, we can't drive in."

Erina, who was thinking with her eyes closed, suddenly heard the driver's words and opened her eyes with some displeasure.

"What's wrong? There shouldn't be a traffic jam at this time."

She was still thinking about what kind of dishes she would make in Shiraki's shop later. The commoner should be exhausted after a busy day, so she would take the opportunity to show off her cooking skills and attract some customers.

As soon as she opened her eyes, she was dumbfounded.

She saw that the area near the station was filled with various types of vehicles, from bicycles to tourist buses with hundreds of people. The whole station was jammed with vehicles of all sizes. Not to mention cars, even people couldn't squeeze through!

"This... Miss Erina, please turn around now��？"

The driver was sweating as he looked at the spectacular scene at the station ahead. He wondered if there were people in those cars. What happened ahead? Was it a major road accident? If the traffic jam continued at this speed, he might not be able to return to Totsuki Academy tomorrow.

"Don't move, what happened outside?"

Erina turned her head and looked out the window at the station.

It would have been better if she hadn't looked.

As soon as she saw it, she was startled by the spectacular crowd.

However, the surging heads were not the most eye-catching.

The most eye-catching thing was the black smoke floating over the shopping street.

Erina stared at the black smoke for a while, and suddenly thought that Shiraki's store seemed to be in that direction.

Judging from the smoke that filled the entire square...

Could it be a fire?!

As soon as this thought came up, all kinds of bad imaginations immediately emerged in Erina's mind.

In a hurry, she shouted to the driver and bodyguard in front of her:

"Call the fire department right now and tell them that there is a fire on the shopping street and a large number of people have gathered here... ask them to come and evacuate immediately!"

"Yes, Ms. Erina."

The driver nodded and immediately took out his phone to start dialing. Erina wanted to open the door and get out to check the situation, but after a few tries, she found that the door was locked.

"Miss Erina, please be patient and don't do anything dangerous. I'm contacting the fire department and professionals will come to handle it soon.

The driver immediately locked the car doors and windows, fearing that Erina would get out of the car on impulse. If something went wrong, he would have a hard time explaining it to Nakiri Senzaemon.

"This is my order, open the door quickly."

However, Erina did not give up yet. She looked at the driver in front coldly and ordered:

"Miss Erina, please don't make it difficult for me."

The driver did not back down at all. As a bodyguard, he knew when to obey his employer's orders and when not to give in. In this situation, if Erina ran out of the car, if something went wrong, he would be held accountable by ten of them. With so many people outside, he dared not guarantee Erina's safety. If something happened to this young lady, it would be no joke.

"You!"

Erina glared at the driver in front of her fiercely. She also knew that the other party would not let her get off at this time. She could only sit by the window and pay close attention to the situation outside.

However, the more she observed, the weirder the expression on Erina's face became.

These people outside did not have the tense atmosphere of a fire scene at all. She also saw some people playing poker. How could this be a fire scene?

But the black smoke that blocked the view was really there. If it was a smoked meat dish or some other event held in the shopping street, it would be impossible to burn such a large amount of black smoke. Clouds of smoke were floating over the shopping street. Occasionally, you could see black smoke that looked like dirt coming out of the chimney of a garbage dump. This must be a fire somewhere.

Erina frowned. She actually saw a few students in front of the station who were enjoying breathing the air. If they breathed too much smoke from the fire, they would suffocate. Are these people's brains really normal?

Looking at the weird scene in front of her, she began to worry more and more about Shiraki who was in the shopping street.

""Has the fire truck not arrived yet?"

Erina asked, looking at the driver in front.

"We'll be there soon, Ms. Erina."

——————————