"Yes, Master!"
Veia shouted excitedly. She threw the wooden spear to the side and ran towards Rant Valo.
"So, how do we start, Master?"
Veia asked with her eyes shining with excitement. She was especially curious about cooking.
"Hmph."
Floriana Sabina snorted when she saw Veia acting so close to Rant Valo. Even though she already accepted Veia, she still finds it annoying.
"First, we have to clean the fish, or in other words, we have to gut and descale the fishes."
Rant Valo explained to her. Veia nodded her head in understanding.
"I'll watch you first, Master."
Veia watched as Rant Valo gutted and descaled the fish. She was wowing all throughout the process.
"Now, you try it."
Rant Valo gave the knife to Veia. Veia proceeded to first gut the fish and she struggled for a bit. Rant Valo had to help her. And when she descaled the fish, it went pretty smoothly.
"I did it, Master!"
Veia said excitedly. She managed to gut and descale her very first fish!
"Hmph! What a sloppy job. Watch!"
Floriana Sabina hmph'd and grabbed the knife in Veia's hands. She picked up a fish and smoothly gutted and descaled it.
"Here!"
Floriana Sabina smiled smugly at Veia.
"Grandmaster, you're so good!'
Veia didn't notice the smugness on Floriana Sabina's face and just looked at her in awe. She didn't expect Floriana Sabina to also be so good at it.
"I-it's nothing! It is expected of me."
Floriana Sabina blushed at Veia's words. Hearing Veia's praises made her feel embarrassed.
"Grandmaster is awesome!"
Veia said with excitement.
"I will teach you then!"
Floriana Sabina suddenly said.
"Thank you, Grandmaster!"
Veia thanked Floriana Sabina before they both entered their own world. Rant Valo was left to the side looking at them with a smile. He liked the idea that they were getting along well.
"I better prepare the campfire."
Since they were already far from the campfire that they made before, Rant Valo planned to make another one. He left them alone and walked deeper into the forest.
He picked up dried branches on the way. He also made sure to pick up twigs so the fire would start easier. After having an armful of branches and twigs, Rant Valo returned to them.
He came back and saw a bunch of red fishes laid on top of wide leaves. They were all cleaned.
"What the…"
Rant Valo was speechless. He was greeted by Floriana Sabina and Veia who were standing on the side with proud smiles.
"Welcome back, Master!"
"Let's have a feast, Disciple!"
Veia and Floriana Sabina both greeted Rant Valo at the same time.
"I'm back?"
Rant Valo instinctively nodded. He felt that there was something different about them. It was like they became closer to each other.
"Now, now, let's cook!"
Floriana Sabina urged Rant Valo. Rant Valo went to the side and dropped the branches and twigs in his arms.
"Could we even finish all of it?"
Rant Valo asked uneasily. He glanced at the long row of fishes laid on the wide leaves. He felt like he could feed a whole village with it.
"To be honest, Disciple, I'm also not sure."
Floriana Sabina replied with a forced smile. Even she thinks that all of that fish is too much for them to eat.
"It's all Veia's fault…"
Rant Valo said weakly. They would be forced to eat all of that fish or otherwise it would spoil. He didn't like the idea of wasting food especially since he actually experienced not being able to eat anything before.
"Don't worry, Master! If you cook it, I'll eat it all!"
Veia reassured Rant Valo confidently. She was sure that she could eat all of that fish if it was cooked by Rant Valo just like before.
"Alright, let's get to cooking!"
Rant Valo didn't want to worry about it anymore. They will just have to fill themselves to the brim! He pumped himself up and clenched his fists.
"Let's cook!"
"Let's go, Disciple!"
Veia and Floriana Sabina also pumped themselves up excitedly.
Rant Valo picked up a fish and stabbed it with a stick. Veia and Floriana Sabina went and copied him.
"Only get three fishes. Otherwise, it would be too hard to cook too many."
Rant Valo warned them. He tried cooking with four fishes before and it only led to a mess. Cooking three at the same time was already impressive as you have to hold 2 fishes in one hand, though you switch between both hands.
"Yes, Master."
Veia nodded her head in understanding. Floriana Sabina was already aware of all of this so she went and stabbed a stick through three fishes and Veia did the same.
"I'll show you first how to cook the fishes. Can you light up the campfire, Master?"
Rant Valo went towards the campfire and asked Floriana Sabina. Floriana Sabina flicked her fingers and a small ember of a white flame shot towards the branches and twigs. The campfire burst into a bright flame that immediately died down.
Rant Valo sat on the ground beside it and started cooking the fishes. A few minutes later, he cooked the fishes to perfection. The appetizing aroma of the cooked Red Flash Fishes wafted through the air. It made Veia and Floriana Sabina salivate just from the smell.
"It smells so good…"
Veia closed her eyes as she sniffed the delicious umami smell in the air.
"I wanna try cooking this time, Disciple."
Floriana Sabina volunteered to cook next. She wanted to try cooking again and to also impress Veia. Rant Valo watched as she cooked the three Red Flash Fishes. A few minutes later, the second batch of delicious-smelling cooked fish was done.
"Amazing! You're just like Master!"
Veia was in awe of Floriana Sabina. It was like she was looking at a second Rant Valo.
"Hmph! I'm his master after all!"
Floriana Sabina lifted her chin proudly. Being praised by Veia was really satisfying for her. She can't get enough of it.
"Uh, I actually taught her that…"
Rant Valo interjected from the side.