After that day's inspection, the next day, Zero took the two to buy some souvenirs and returned to Tracen Academy. Next, the academy and she would need to arrange more staff to quickly sort out the training camp location.
Of course, accommodation was not an issue. Although there were many Trainers, each team's training camp location was different. This time, the only team whose training camp was originally by the sea was Spica, which Trainer Okino himself had drawn.
Although the training camp by the sea was a bit old, the training effect there was genuinely good, so the number of spots for the seaside each year was very limited. This year, there seemed to be only one spot, and Trainer Okino, seeing his luck, couldn't resist buying a lottery ticket. It's unknown if he won.
Of course, none of this was important. What needed to be done now was how to quickly complete the limited-time mission.
Occasionally, those despicable Goddesses, out of boredom, would issue some achievable but very difficult missions. Although the rewards were generous, there were also punishments if they weren't completed, which was infuriating. For example, [finish a bowl of stir-fried green beans with only one toothpick], or [win a game of StarCraft with Zergling/Baneling rush against a turtling opponent], and so on, each more absurd than the last. Of course, most missions were completed, but some were simply too difficult for a human to complete, resulting in punishment.
In reality, it was just being forced to change clothes or something, but the level of embarrassment for some punishments was simply too high for her, like this mission.
[Mission Objective: Within today, take Oguri Cap, Tamamo Cross, and Special Week to an all-you-can-eat buffet without getting blacklisted.]
[Reward: 10000pt, Punishment for Failure: Height - 2cm]
Look! Can you believe this punishment is something a human would come up with!?
Her height of less than 1.5 meters was already the pain of Zero's life, and now if she failed, it would be cut even further! It's simply inhumane!
What? They are Goddesses, not humans?
Then they are not good things!
In any case, it was only nine o'clock, and there was still a long time until the end of the day. She needed to quickly find an all-you-can-eat buffet restaurant that would allow these three to eat their fill without getting blacklisted.
But how was that possible… Although Tamamo also ate a lot, it was only a little more than an average Uma Musume. Special Week also ate a lot, but it was still manageable. The difficulty lay with Oguri Cap.
It is well known that there is an extremely vicious curse among all-you-can-eat restaurant owners: "Tomorrow, Oguri Cap will come to your place." From this, one can tell how terrifying Oguri Cap's appetite was.
So, finding a place where she could take Oguri Cap without getting blacklisted… Wait a minute… The mission only said [finish an all-you-can-eat meal], it didn't say it had to be at an all-you-can-eat restaurant, did it?
And it also said to just bring the three, it didn't say bringing more people was not allowed.
Zero's gaze turned to a function she basically only used to fill her daily sweets and drinks.
The exchange function, which had been mentioned once before, in addition to the various attribute-boosting and training-effect-enhancing dishes that came with it initially, also had many dishes that she had made and were automatically recorded. These dishes could be directly exchanged, and there were both 'enhanced' and 'unenhanced' versions. The enhanced version was more expensive and had effects like boosting attributes or clearing fatigue, while the unenhanced version was much cheaper. Of course, the enhanced content could also be customized, and this time, Zero saw a very suitable enhanced content, and the price wasn't that high.
Generally, limited-time missions wouldn't give so many points, and the fact that this one gave so much was a bit suspicious, so… the extra points were for her to mitigate her losses!
As long as the points she spent were less than the points given, it was equivalent to getting something for free!
After figuring it out, Zero immediately informed Trainer Okino to have the team train at Tracen Academy this afternoon, and then bring everyone to her house for an all-you-can-eat buffet in the evening.
Her reasoning was that she had received a large quantity of ingredients and wanted to train her stamina and grit.
Trainer Okino, who also understood Oguri Cap's appetite, accepted this explanation, and Zero, of course, wouldn't rely entirely on the exchange function.
Her current stats were already at a point where simple training could barely improve them, so an occasional session like this should be good.
The price for exchanging ingredients was far lower than for finished dishes, so she prioritized exchanging ingredients and started cooking.
After all, stamina and grit training weren't just for show.
As for why cooking would train stamina and grit... if you only make a few dishes, it's fine, but if you cook continuously for an entire day, it's definitely a torturous workout.
Trust me, I've done it many times.
So, as long as you can resist the urge to sneak bites, cooking can actually be a great workout.
In short, today's training and mission had begun.
There wasn't much to say about the overall process; she started by making food that wouldn't be affected in taste or texture if left out for a while, followed by dishes that required longer preparation times.
Then, about half an hour before they came for dinner, she exchanged a large amount of prepared dishes to supplement the quantity.
This way, she could get a high amount of PT with the lowest cost!
However, considering Oguri Cap's terrifying stomach, it was better to be fully prepared.
Foods that are usually very filling, like mochi, felt like eating a single fried dough stick to her—barely anything.
So, to deal with Oguri Cap, one shouldn't focus on the calorie content of the food, but on the sheer quantity.
And each portion of food needed to be generous.
If she made too little, and Oguri Cap ate it all, it wouldn't be fair to the others, especially since Oguri Cap's straightforward nature meant she might eat her favorite dishes until they were gone.
So, no matter what, the quantity of each individual dish was extremely important.
By noon... honestly, she wasn't hungry.
It's normal to taste-test a little while cooking, right?
And with larger single portions, a regular pot wasn't enough, so one dish had to be made in multiple batches.
Each time, to be safe, she would taste it, so by noon, she still maintained normal energy levels, much like those math problems involving filling and draining a tank simultaneously.
Later in the afternoon, she could start making various meat dishes.
For meat dishes, the satisfaction really comes from eating them hot... cold ones don't count.
Additionally, while confident in her knife skills, both sushi and sashimi were too troublesome to make mindlessly or preserve, so Zero had excluded them from today's menu.
After a quick tidy of the hall, she brought out tables, chairs, and large serving platters and bowls to put the food in.
Just as she was mostly done, the team members finished their day's training and arrived as guests.
Then, everyone except Oguri Cap was stunned.
When had they ever seen such a spread?
"Z-chan... did you make all of this?" Special Week asked, swallowing hard and her voice trembling slightly.
"This... can we really eat all of it?" McQueen also swallowed nervously.
"..." Tamamo Cross patted McQueen with an expression that seemed to say, "You're still too young."
"Oh, oh, oh! So much!" Teio, Daiwa, and Vodka were simply exclaiming in delight.
Suzuka and Gold Ship, however, appeared unusually calm at this moment.
"Alright, you've trained all day and must be hungry.
Remember to go to the bathhouse first, Trainer, you too, and Oguri Cap, don't you dare sneak any food!"
Seeing the slight sweat on her team members, Zero could roughly guess that Trainer Okino had probably made them run here as their final training exercise for the day.
Oguri Cap, meanwhile, had unknowingly already eaten several mochi.
Even Zero hadn't seen when she had dimension-hopped to that spot.
As everyone headed to the bathhouse, only Mejiro McQueen stood rooted in place, her face complex.
Seeing her expression, Zero understood what she was thinking.
"You've eaten my desserts and drinks that boost training effects, right?"
Zero whispered, tiptoeing behind her, "Tonight's dishes won't make you gain weight, no matter how much you eat."
It was like the whisper of a devil, yet the words spoken were like heavenly music to McQueen.
"R-really?"
"Of course.
When have I ever lied to you all?"
Trusting Zero, McQueen gave her a grateful look before hurrying to catch up with the main group.
A body type prone to gaining weight is truly the nightmare of many foodies... Chapter 55 — Buffet, Assist.
When everyone emerged after their baths, they found even more food laid out.
"Alright, this is everything for now.
If it's not enough, I'll go make more.
Let's eat." Zero wasn't one to procrastinate, so she directly announced that dinner was served.
As the words "Let's eat" fell, Oguri Cap appeared by the food as if teleporting and began to devour it.
So, if a large amount of food were placed at the finish line during a race, Oguri Cap would probably be invincible, right?
Uma Musume are athletes, after all, and opportunities for such a feast are truly rare.
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