I don't think so, it's because author Ao Ashi is working on 2 manga at the same time, maybe he wants to focus on his newest manga, if I'm not mistaken it's a cooking themed manga 🤣Ah. I had been hearing recently about this series suddenly ending. I think the author did a pivot at the last second because, whether due to declining popularity or health issues or just not wanting to continue (genuinely no clue what the root cause of the ending is), he no longer would have time to tell the story of hardship and growth he wanted to tell
This quote alone makes the pivot funny enough to be worth it though.