Chapter 38 - Madam Sato Wanted Her Daughter Back
Sato's reason was inside the Jade Table vault.
Her daughter's Hearth Seed.
Aiko Sato died in the San Francisco distributed network failure thirty years earlier.
Nine Banquet preserved her seed for research.
"Research," Sato said bitterly. "They studied my child for three decades."
Eli understood why she could not simply step aside.
The semifinal challenge was comfort food.
No exotic ingredients.
No spirit treasures.
Cook the dish you most wished someone had made for you at your lowest point.
Madam Sato made okayu, Japanese rice porridge, with pickled plum and grilled salmon.
Eli made boxed macaroni and cheese.
The audience laughed.
He did not care.
When Jian vanished, sixteen-year-old Eli lived on cheap boxed mac while Mei worked double shifts. One night Mei came home at 2 a.m., found him pretending not to cry, and made the same neon-orange noodles with cut-up hot dogs.
It was not good cooking.
It was exactly what he had needed.
Sato's porridge was technically flawless.
Her Intent was devastating.
She had wanted someone to feed her while she grieved Aiko, but everyone around her expected the senior cultivator to remain composed.
The judges cried.
Eli tasted her bowl and cried too.
She tasted his mac and laughed.
"This is terrible."
"Objectively."
"Why hot dogs?"
"Luxury."
Scores tied.
Tournament law demanded sudden death.
Each chef had to improve the other's dish.
Eli added ginger-scallion oil to Sato's porridge but preserved its simplicity.
Sato stared at his macaroni.
Then added toasted breadcrumbs, mustard, and actual cheese.
"You destroyed the historical accuracy," Eli complained.
"Your history needed seasoning."
The judges tied again.
The registrar looked panicked.
The Ledger offered a solution.
[Shared victory recognized under Table Dao.]
Eli proposed they advance together and share the vault claim.
Tournament officials objected.
The crowd objected to the officials.
Ancient bylaws were consulted.
Apparently a 412-year-old rule allowed a "paired hearth" when two cooks improved each other's Intent without diminishing original meaning.
They both advanced.
Victor looked furious because cooperation kept breaking systems built around scarcity.
In the vault, Sato retrieved Aiko's Hearth Seed.
She held the tiny blue flame and shook.
Eli turned away to give her privacy.
Then Sato gasped.
The seed was not dormant.
Aiko's consciousness flickered inside it.
One word emerged.
"Mama?"
Sato nearly collapsed.
The vault researchers had not merely preserved a relic.
They had kept part of Aiko alive for thirty years.
Victor had known.
Sato turned toward him with murder in her eyes.
Victor said, "If I released the seed, it would have dissipated."
"You never asked me."
There it was again.
Consent.
Always consent.
Then alarms sounded inside the vault.
Someone had stolen the Living Hearth Core while they were focused on Aiko.
Security footage showed Grant Vale carrying it away.
Grant had betrayed them.
Or appeared to.
With this family, Eli had learned appearances were merely opening questions.
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