"Alright, Seiun, quit picking on her. We can handle it." Hayato stepped in at just the right time, throwing King Halo a lifeline.
Making her kill fish? How was that even possible?
Forget killing fish, King Halo didn't even dare touch them.
"Aww! Trainer, you're way too nice to King Halo! Why are you always ruining my fun?"
Seiun Sky was getting frustrated. She'd been so close to taking King Halo down in one swoop. She hadn't even invited King Halo to fish in the first place. The whole plan of catching big fish together with Trainer had been disrupted, so of course, she was going to be a bit annoyed.
"Ruining your fun? What fun exactly?" Hayato made a motion like he was going to pat her head, looking at it and grabbing at the air.
Seiun Sky immediately shut her mouth.
"Tr-Trainer, actually, I can do it. I think it should be fine." Just when everyone thought the matter was settled, King Halo volunteered again, wanting to participate. The reason was that she didn't want to be left out.
Trainer and Seiun are working together, so what about me?
No way. Absolutely not. She didn't want to be excluded.
Hayato didn't know why she was so insistent. Trying to talk her out of it probably wouldn't work, so he'd see how it went. Surely she wouldn't... blow up the kitchen, right?
Probably not.
And she wouldn't be the one actually cooking, so at least it wouldn't turn out disgusting.
"Oh, we're here."
Seiun Sky walked ahead, leading them into a Western-style restaurant.
The restaurant was elegant and luxurious. The entrance had four large glass doors, and inside, the tables and chairs were all made of black rattan wood. The lighting wasn't very bright, as if it were designed specifically for couples.
This was a couple's restaurant.
"Isn't that Seiun? What brings you here?" A woman's head poked out from the kitchen, a fairly young woman with her hair simply tied in a ponytail and wearing a hat.
The restaurant was not busy right now. As soon as she heard Seiun Sky's voice, she came out.
Of course, she recognized Seiun Sky, who'd just won the Tenno Sho. And this wasn't Seiun Sky's first time here either.
"Business is booming as always, I hope. How have you been?" Seiun Sky politely exchanged pleasantries. Who knew she was actually an Uma Musume good at dealing with people outside?
"Hehe, Seiun-chan who showed off at the Tenno Sho Spring, has gotten so eloquent. You need something from me, right?"
"I just caught some live fish..." She pointed at the fish in the bucket, then looked at Hayato and King Halo. "This is my trainer, and that's King Halo. I brought them to borrow your kitchen."
"Hello!" Hayato stepped forward and extended his right hand. "I'm..."
"The runaway trainer! I've heard about you!" The owner was very enthusiastic, seeming even happier to see Hayato than Seiun Sky. She reached out to shake his hand.
Today's newspaper published an article titled "The Runaway Trainer, always manages to escape without anyone noticing."
She recognized King Halo too. This year's Satsuki Sho winner is known as the dark horse in the Satsuki Sho against BNW.
Practically everyone knew about her.
After some simple greetings and pleasantries, the owner cleared the kitchen staff out.
Entering the kitchen.
Seiun Sky tried to follow into the kitchen, but Hayato chased her out. She wasn't coming in to help, but to watch King Halo embarrass herself. Naturally, Hayato wouldn't let her get what she wanted.
"Ahhh! How do I do this?" King Halo stuck both hands into the water, grabbed a fish by the head, and the tail thrashed wildly, splashing quite a bit of water onto her.
"King Halo, don't use so much strength. Be gentle, or you'll hurt yourself." Hayato quickly reminded her.
"But it's so strong, and it's all slippery! If I don't grip hard, it'll escape."
The fish was incredibly slippery. She felt like the moment she loosened her grip even slightly, the fish would jump away. She could barely hold it with force, let alone without it.
"Sigh!" Hayato sighed, took the fish from her hands, and, without needing much strength, gently lifted it up, letting the fish relax.
Not only did the fish stop thrashing around, it actually became much calmer. After being freed from King Halo's grasp, it gasped for air.
"Like this. Put it on the cutting board, use the knife to make a light cut, make an opening, remove the organs, then take out the gills."
Hayato's movements were practiced. This was the simplest processing method. A professional chef would also have a descaling step, but luckily, they had a descaling tool here, so it wasn't too much trouble.
Since the fish weren't very big, he didn't consider cutting them into pieces. He could steam them whole, and with good seasoning, the steamed fish would be very fragrant.
Watching Hayato's skilled movements, King Halo wanted to try too. She'd memorized the whole process just now.
When she reached out to grab one, she still couldn't help but use both hands, and the same scene as before played out again.
"It's no use, Trainer. This fish just won't listen." She started making excuses for her clumsiness, pushing all the blame onto the fish.
"That's because you're too tense and your movements are too stiff. Relax a bit. Try using just one hand to gently grab it first."
"Oh, okay."
Before long, she learned she could catch a fish with one hand, but because she used too much strength, the fish still thrashed its tail wildly.
Looked like teaching her to catch fish in a short period would be extremely difficult.
A few minutes later, through sheer stubborn willpower, she managed to get one fish onto the cutting board. Once she did, she broke into a happy smile. "Ohahaha, I finally did it!"
She reached for the kitchen knife, but Hayato stopped her. "Be careful, that knife is very sharp. You'd better not use it."
Someone who'd barely handled kitchen knives before, if an accident happened, that would be bad.
After thinking it over, Hayato gave her a small knife used for peeling fruit. "Don't hurt yourself. Relax a bit. Just make a cut."
"I know, I can do this." She took the small knife and, following Hayato's instructions, placed it against the fish's belly.
See? This isn't very difficult, is it?
King Halo has learned... right?
King Halo, at lightning speed, split the fish clean in half.
She didn't hurt herself, she made an opening, and everything was done well. That's what she thought, anyway, showing a satisfied smile. "How's that, Trainer? I did it, right? Killing fish doesn't seem that hard after all."
"Mm, not bad." Hayato mourned silently for the fish that died, looking so pathetic.
He kind of understood now why she couldn't cook.
With one fish butchered like that, the others naturally had to follow suit. Might as well cut them all in half. The presentation wasn't actually that bad.
"Trainer, what's next? What do we do now?" She still held the knife in her hand as she asked.
This was too dangerous, I can't die because of this docile.... Hayato took the knife from her hand and put it away before saying, "Two methods. One is to season it and steam it directly with the fish. The other is to steam the fish first, then add seasonings and put it in a clay pot to eat while it cooks, like a soup."
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*As usual, the illustration is commented on.