...
The elective course came to an end, and Lucian held the final exam for the horse girls in the last two periods.
After roll call, he said, "Some students didn't come, so those students will only get sixty points."
But all the horse girls he knew were present.
Of course, there were plenty who weren't here to take the exam but to eat.
"Trainer, what's the exam content?" Twin Turbo, wearing a cute apron, raised both hands high.
"Didn't we spend the previous lessons making pastries and baking? So..."
Before Lucian could finish, Twin Turbo whispered to Nice Nature below, "I told you it would definitely be baking, right? Nature, you didn't believe me!"
"So, for the final, we're not testing baking. We're testing fish preparation." Fish cooking was also a key focus of Lucian's lessons, so many classes covered this theme.
"What, it's fish!?" Twin Turbo was shocked.
"Fish~ fish~" Matikanetannhauser pouted like a goldfish blowing bubbles in Twin Turbo's ear.
"Twin Turbo, what did you just want me to believe?" Nice Nature had also grown to enjoy watching Twin Turbo eat her words.
"Uh... maybe the trainer just heard what I said and changed the exam topic on the spot. It must be that!"
"Tapu (Twin Turbo's Japanese pun), I heard you, oh. You know how to handle fish scales, right? Yes, watch your teeth." Lucian narrowed his eyes.
This naughty little shark needed frequent discipline, or who knows when she'd climb onto the roof and rip off the tiles.
Twin Turbo hugged her arms, pouted, but didn't say anything else.
...
Not long after, the ingredients Lucian arranged were delivered—yellow croaker, hairtail, turbot, dragon-head fish, Pacific saury, and other small fish in ice bags for them.
"You all decide the preparation methods yourselves. This time, I won't walk around. Finish twenty minutes after class ends. If there are no questions, you can start."
Oguri Cap: "Oh, I have a question =_=."
"What's the problem, Little Oguri?"
"Sensei, didn't you say you'd make one for us to taste?"
"Yes, so while you're making yours, I'll go to the other kitchen to prepare." The classroom stoves were too small; Lucian planned to borrow the cafeteria's pots.
Oguri Cap nodded. "No problem then."
"Let's begin."
...
One hour later.
Lucian sealed the two freshly made grilled fish with plastic wrap, looked up, and saw the cafeteria kitchen chefs staring at him.
"Sorry about this—these are prepared for my students."
These two big grilled fish definitely wouldn't be enough for the whole class of horse girls, and he couldn't give some to others first and let them eat the leftovers.
So Lucian could only say apologetically, then had someone help carry them over.
Back in class, Lucian made a round and saw everyone was done, then had the grilled fish brought in.
The instant the plastic wrap was torn off, an irresistible spicy aroma gradually invaded the entire classroom and the horse girls inside.
The other was garlic fragrance—full and deep, but too mild, unable to conquer like the spicy aroma.
Oguri Cap's eyes sparkled like a sunlit lake, dancing with brilliant golden light. Grass Wonder ungracefully gripped an empty bowl and chopsticks.
The other horse girls each had their own thoughts, seemingly ready to rush forward and fight for it at any moment.
Only Mejiro McQueen worried whether she could grab any this time. As a horse girl, she naturally knew horse girls' appetites well.
But she didn't seem too nervous; deep down, she seemed to trust that Lucian would specially save some for her this time.
"Calm down, Tangtang, you're drooling." Lucian reminded.
"Oh oh." Matikanetannhauser stuck out her tongue and licked the corner of her lips. "Sumimasen, it smells too good~"
So cute.
"Then I'll start grading everyone's final papers."
Lucian was about to walk toward Rice-chan when Oguri Cap spoke again: "Sensei, after grading, this will get cold."
Lucian paused—it did make some sense. If it cooled, it wouldn't taste as good.
But this Haki-Chest guy clearly only had eyes for the food.
"Alright, plastic bowls are prepared for you all. Let's eat the grilled fish first." Lucian said helplessly.
The moment his words fell, the horse girls who had been itching to move swarmed forward.
Lucian only felt waves of fragrant wind brushing past him; by the time he tried to stop them, no one was listening anymore.
"Sigh."
He pursed his lips and sighed, regretting that he should have distributed the grilled fish himself, when suddenly someone pinched his arm.
By the time he reacted and looked back, that horse girl had already vanished into the crowd.
Wait, someone was even taking advantage of him? If they touched somewhere else, it would be outrageous.
"Drag me that san..."
Lucian was speechless when his thoughts were suddenly pulled back by Mejiro McQueen's call.
He looked forward and saw Mejiro McQueen holding a plastic bowl, standing there awkwardly, both ears drooping listlessly as if defeated.
"McQueen." Lucian wanted to pat her head, but it wasn't quite appropriate. "I actually wanted to distribute it to you all, but everyone completely lost control."
He took the plastic bowl. "I'll squeeze in and get some for you. If it's not enough, next time I'll secretly make it just for you."
"Okay.... Trainer, thank you."
"No big deal, leave it to me."
Mejiro McQueen watched Lucian's clumsy back as he struggled to squeeze into the horse girl crowd, her lips slowly curving into a certain arc, her ears gradually perking up.
Strange, this time it clearly wasn't pastries—why did it still make her feel sweet?
...
In the end, Lucian didn't disappoint Mejiro McQueen. She returned fully loaded, even scooping up plenty of delicious taro and potatoes.
Over there, the horse girl crowd was still fighting; Lucian sat in Mejiro McQueen's seat. "Mission accomplished. They really have no discipline at all."
"McQueen, eat, but it's a bit spicy."
"Mm." Mejiro McQueen didn't stand on ceremony and enjoyed Lucian's labor. "Delicious!"
Lucian then tasted the yellow croaker Mejiro McQueen made. "The fishy smell isn't fully removed, oh, and it's a little burnt. Too much salt too."
"Oh..." Mejiro McQueen listened humbly to the critique, but her little mouth was tingling from the chili, involuntarily hissing lightly. "Sssha~~"
"So, after eating something delicious, your musical inspiration suddenly bursts." Lucian said suddenly.
Mejiro McQueen didn't understand. "Hm?"
"Because McQueen after eating pastries and after eating grilled fish is great at composing."
Mejiro McQueen paused, then realized Lucian was teasing her about hiccupping last time. "Drag me that san, how rude..... It's all because you made it too delicious."
"Mm, I think so too."
"Didn't expect Trainer-san to be a bit thick-skinned." Mejiro McQueen still really enjoyed interacting with Lucian.
As the young lady of the Mejiro family, from childhood to now, aside from family and female friends, everyone else kept a certain distance from her.
So, casual conversations with Lucian made her feel relaxed—most importantly, there was no sense of distance.
"Is there anything about this grilled fish that needs improvement?"
Mejiro McQueen was surprised. "Drag me that san is asking for my opinion?"
"McQueen has tasted many delicacies; your tongue should be better than mine." Lucian said matter-of-factly.
"T-Tongue?" Mejiro McQueen hissed again from the spice, her pink tongue licking her lips. "Not really. If we're talking evaluation, isn't Little Grass better..."
"Then next time I make grilled fish, I'll have her evaluate it."
"Wait... Drag me that san, actually I can try too."
"Then I'll stick with McQueen, haha."
"I keep feeling Trainer-san is setting a trap for me, laying a snare."
"You're the one... Why would you think that? I treat you to so many delicious things—where's the trap?"
"That seems true too..." Mejiro McQueen was completely bewildered.
"For the Arima Kinen at year-end, is McQueen planning to participate?"
"If nothing unexpected, I should go."
"Good, then after that, we'll start special training for you all. This year's 'Spica' and 'Rigil' are coming on strong. I don't want to be outdone by those two old foge... old seniors."
"Believe in me, drag me that san."
...