“Add a little of this, then a little of that. Holy crap! This might actually work!” Mizuno looked at the fruit sundae in front of him, which had turned out shockingly presentable, and could hardly believe it was his own handiwork.
Maybe making so many desserts for his own Umamusume had helped him build up a surprising amount of experience. This was the first time Mizuno had thrown together a new dessert using ingredients based solely on someone else’s verbal description, yet somehow it looked like something carefully made by a three-star Michelin chef.
To smooth out the transition between the sweet and tart flavors of the different fruits, Mizuno also added the right amount of milk and cream based on his own understanding, thus producing this excellent-looking fruit sundae.
“Hm?!” Mizuno tasted a bite and found that the dessert’s texture was actually pretty good?! It was much tastier than he had expected!
However, it did not count just because he thought it tasted good. Ideally, he had to have a professional reviewer evaluate it before he could determine whether it had reached the standard he wanted.
‘Fortune, what grade do you think this thing is?’ Mizuno asked Fortune, who had once spurred him on to make S-Grade Honey Drink.
‘A+ grade. Very impressive. Just a little short of S grade.’ Fortune lay on the sofa in the mental space, yawned, and replied lazily. ‘A little too sticky.’
“Sure enough. I thought something was missing from the texture. It isn’t perfect enough…” Mizuno lowered his head and thought for a while, then made a new one.
‘What about now?’
‘Uh…’ Fortune was clearly stunned for a moment, then abruptly sat up from the sofa and answered in surprise.
‘S grade!’
‘That strong?!’ Mizuno stared excitedly at the dessert in front of him, which was faintly giving off a rainbow-colored glow, his mouth hanging open.
He had thought that, like before, he would need to experiment hundreds or thousands of times before he could obtain an S-grade dessert. But this time, he had made one in less than three minutes. Could he really be a genius?!
“Here, try this.” Mizuno cheerfully carried the finished product over to Amazon.
“You think I’ll eat it just because you tell me to?” Amazon frowned as she stared at Mizuno, one eye wider than the other in annoyance, without the slightest intention of cooperating.
Faced with this, Mizuno could only use the universal formula tailored specifically for Amazon.
“This is part of the duel. Don’t tell me you’re scared?”
“Who’s scared?!” The moment Amazon heard those words, it was as if her most basic operating logic had been triggered. Her expression instantly turned furious, and she immediately picked up the spoon, scraped up more than half the cream in the bowl, and shoved it into her mouth.
“……” Watching Amazon wolf down the dessert in a fit of pique, Mizuno could not help feeling a little worried about her future.
If some bad guy told her someday, “I’m amazing in bed. Do you dare challenge me one-on-one?” would this girl stupidly agree to that too?
“Ahmm—” Amazon stuffed a mouthful of dessert into her mouth, her cheeks puffed out like a hamster’s.
And when her taste buds transmitted the flavor in her mouth to the center of her brain, Amazon’s expression shook, and the disdain in her eyes vanished instantly.
“Th-this…” Amazon stared blankly at the remaining dessert in the bowl, unable to snap out of it for a long while.
This was way too delicious!
The texture was delicate and smooth, and the flavors of the different fruits complemented one another perfectly. Its deliciousness was not inferior at all to the Honey Drink she had drunk earlier! It was on the level of a top dessert chef!
If he could make such delicious food one thing after another, then this scumbag’s cooking skills might actually be better than hers!
And this flavor—wasn’t it exactly the flavor she had described after tasting this guy’s blood earlier?!
“You…” Amazon raised her eyes to look at Mizuno, and her opinion of him shifted slightly.
Could it be that this guy still had not given up on pulling her free from the negative effects of Uma Mint?
“You bastard. If you want to seduce me, then focus on seducing me. What’s the point of making something like this to satisfy my appetite?” Amazon lifted her head and questioned him.
“Oh, this is part of the duel. Don’t worry about it.” Mizuno smiled.
“Tch…” Amazon clicked her tongue in annoyance.
That provocation again. Did he really think she was some brainless hot-blooded idiot?
She was not so stupid that she would obediently jump into someone else’s trap every time she heard that sentence…
But seeing that Mizuno did not seem to intend to harm her, Amazon did not say that aloud.
“So? How does it taste?” Mizuno asked expectantly.
“It tastes good, but this isn’t the flavor.” Amazon shook her head in disappointment.
“Huh? It isn’t?”
“Mm…” Amazon nodded, propping up her chin in thought. “It feels like it’s still missing a little mango flavor.”
“Mango, right? Fine!”
Mizuno did not get discouraged. Following her request, he spent another few minutes making a new dessert.
“How about this time?”
“Mm…” Amazon tasted it and answered, “It’s still missing something. I feel like you should add a little heat.”
“Heat?” Mizuno’s expression turned strange.
A dessert made of a pile of fruit, with spice added to it? Could that even be eaten?
“Fine.” Although Mizuno found it questionable, he still successfully added some spiciness to the dessert according to Amazon’s request.
Amazon said, “Uh… it’d be better if it were slightly bitter.”
“What the hell is bitter supposed to mean?” Mizuno clutched his head in both hands, feeling like his brain was about to burn out.
What exactly did his blood taste like? Why did it have sour, sweet, bitter, and spicy all mixed together? Was this still the blood of a human?
“Continue!” Mizuno gritted his teeth and continued modifying the dessert’s flavor.
But afterward, no matter how Mizuno tried to change it, Amazon still felt something was missing. Mizuno felt like a cursed Sisyphus, never able to push the heavy boulder to the top of the mountain no matter what he made.
“Enough…” Amazon impatiently pushed away the tenth dessert Mizuno had made. Looking at Mizuno, who was racking his brains for her sake, her pupils trembled slightly.
Eating all sorts of desserts this guy had made had already given her a clear feeling of fullness. Nope, nope—she was done. She could not eat another bite.
But not only had that failed to satisfy her appetite, after eating her fill, her sexual desire had instead grown even higher. She especially wanted to do some indescribable things to him.
“I’m out of patience. I can only give you one final chance…” Amazon suppressed the ripples rising in her heart and raised a finger. “If you still can’t charm me, then you lose this duel!”
“This…” Mizuno’s hand, which had been adding ingredients to the new-new-new-new dessert, froze, and he stiffly turned his head to look at Amazon.
“One last time…” Mizuno felt tremendous pressure, his eyelids twitching wildly.
It seemed Amazon’s patience had already been exhausted. If the next dessert still could not satisfy her, he was probably truly finished…
But what was he supposed to do when he still had not found the flavor Amazon wanted?!
Was she really going to turn his balls into Bakugan?!
“Can I let Fuji Kiseki evaluate it first?” Mizuno wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and asked nervously.
Mizuno felt that perhaps it was because Amazon’s ability to express herself was not great that he had never managed to match the flavor she wanted.
So he could let Fuji Kiseki, a third party, evaluate it. Perhaps then he would be able to find the correct answer.
“Fine.” Amazon nodded in agreement and released the hand covering Kiseki’s mouth.
But the moment she let go, Fuji Kiseki said again,
“Amazon, he really is a good person!”
“Stop talking! Say one more word and I’ll castrate him right now!” Amazon threatened, pointing at Mizuno.
“Okay, okay, I won’t say it… I won’t…” Fuji Kiseki’s Umamusume ears drooped listlessly, and she quickly shook her head to show her attitude, afraid that this impatient friend of hers might do something bad in a fit of anger.
“Eat.” Amazon scooped up a spoonful and fed it into Kiseki’s mouth.
“Mm~” After Fuji Kiseki chewed a few times, her eyes lit up.
“Perfect! It’s very delicious! Much tastier than what Amazon usually makes!”
“Guh! I don’t need you to remind me!” Amazon narrowed her eyes in displeasure.
“May I ask how you think the taste of this dessert differs from the taste of my blood?” Mizuno asked Fuji Kiseki.
“Mm…” Kiseki tilted her head. “I don’t feel any difference.”
“Ah…” Mizuno was speechless.
What kind of answer was that? Did his blood really taste sour, bitter, sweet, and spicy all at once?
“Then try these.” Mizuno fed Fuji Kiseki the other desserts he had made earlier.
But what Mizuno had not expected was that Kiseki’s answer would be exactly the same. “I don’t feel any difference. This is the taste of your blood. It’s always this delicious~”
“Hiss…” Mizuno clutched his head in pain, feeling his brain ache fiercely.
He had thought that if he asked Fuji Kiseki, he would get an accurate answer. In the end, her answer was basically the same as not answering at all. It still had not changed the situation.
Now one of them kept saying something was missing, while the other said nothing was missing. Which one of them was telling the truth?
“No!” Mizuno shook his head, feeling that if he kept thinking, his head would explode.
As the saying went, those involved were confused, while bystanders saw clearly.
Although he did not know why these two Umamusume gave two different answers, Mizuno felt that he could not completely trust either of them. He had to find an Umamusume other than these two and get the answer he wanted from a third party.
But near this forest cabin, where even he did not know the location, how could there possibly be a third Umamusume?
‘Fortune, didn’t you say before that you could summon a random Umamusume?’
After hearing this, Fortune instantly understood what Mizuno wanted to do. ‘Now? At this very moment?’
‘Yes! Right now!’ Mizuno nodded firmly. ‘Summon one. Whether I live or die depends on her!’
‘Okay.’ Fortune agreed and clapped her hands.
‘NINJA ART: UMAMUSUME SUMMONING JUTSU!’
Ten seconds later, a green figure passed by the cabin window, making a small but conspicuous sound that instantly put the human and two Umamusume inside on alert.
Although the Umamusume who had just passed the window was very fast and vanished in the blink of an eye, Mizuno had been staring outside the cabin the entire time. And because that Umamusume’s features were far too distinctive, Mizuno immediately recognized her identity.
“Hayakawa-san?”
This is a fan translation of 赛马娘，从入门到地下室 by EEEEE然后亮标 All rights to the original work belong to the creator. Please support them by exploring their original work or sharing it with others if you can. Thank you for reading and supporting my efforts to bring this story to a wider audience!
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