Chapter 383: The Beginning of Showing Off (1)
Looking at the ingredients in the kitchen, Hachiman nodded.
"Senzaemon-sama, I'll begin now."
It was around 10 o'clock, just in time for lunch preparation.
Upon hearing his words, Senzaemon Nakiri nodded, "Then I look forward to Hachiman's cooking."
"Don't worry, Senzaemon-sama, I won't disappoint you," Hachiman said confidently with a smile.
At this moment, Erina and Alice approached him.
Erina: "Hachiman, do you want me to help you?"
Alice: "Yeah, Hachiman-kun, I can assist you too."
However, Hachiman politely declined the offers of the two sisters with just a slight smile.
"Thank you for your offer, but this is my solo performance, and you won't be able to keep up."
Although his words were somewhat hurtful, with his current physical condition, he was far beyond the capabilities of the two girls.
Upon hearing Hachiman's words, Alice felt a bit disappointed, but she didn't insist. However, Erina couldn't accept it.
What do you mean we can't keep up?
While my cooking skills may not be as good as yours, I can still lend a hand.
Although she was angry, Erina didn't force it and just stood to the side with a sulking expression.
Hmm, I'll show you that I can keep up.
Seeing the childish behavior of the girl, Hachiman shook his head with a smile.
He tied on his apron and began cooking in earnest.
The first dish he prepared was a refreshing cold appetizer.
He had a large block of ice and a fresh sea bream as the main ingredients.
Seeing these two ingredients, Gin's eyes lit up.
"Oh, are you starting with that dish?"
Upon hearing his good friend's words, Joichiro became interested. "What's this, Gin? Do you know what dish Hachiman-kun is going to make?"
"Yeah, Hachiman-kun made this dish during the orientation training at the resort. It was an ultimate delight both visually and in taste. I didn't expect him to start with this dish today."
Upon hearing this, everyone's anticipation grew, wondering what dish could earn such high praise from Gin.
"What dish is it?" Finally, Joichiro, who had the closest relationship with Hachiman, asked.
Gin smiled slightly. "This dish is called—"
"Ice Fresh Sea Bream Mountain!"
That's right, Hachiman's first dish was the Ice Fresh Sea Bream Mountain.
Upon hearing this name, Joichiro vaguely guessed what it was.
"Ice, sea bream... Is it sashimi?"
"That's right, it's sashimi," Gin nodded.
"It's sashimi?" Hearing Gin's words, everyone nodded, but their anticipation was slightly diminished.
For the Japanese people, sashimi was not unfamiliar, and the taste of sashimi depended largely on the quality of the ingredients, rather than the chef's skill. At most, some effort could be put into the dipping sauce.
Erina felt even more dissatisfied.
What, just sashimi? How could I not keep up? That jerk Hachiman is underestimating me too much.
I'll show him what I can do. If there's anything I can't keep up with, I'll make sure that jerk pays for it.
With this in mind, the girl widened her eyes.
Sensing Erina's intense gaze, Hachiman smiled faintly and began his action.
He took out a kitchen knife and approached the ice block, gently running his left hand over the blade.
His eyes narrowed, the max-level "Kendo" module activated, and with his right hand holding the knife, he made consecutive swings in the air. The crisp sound echoed in everyone's ears, and shards of ice continued to fly off the block, as if he was carving something.
Seeing this scene, everyone except for Erina and Alice was stunned.
Is... is this magic?
Clearly, the blade was still some distance away from the ice block, so how could he carve on it?
But seeing the calm expressions on Erina and Alice's faces, Leonora, who was beside them, was puzzled.
"Erina, Alice, aren't you surprised?"
"We're not surprised. We've seen it before," Alice said with a smile, and Erina nodded beside her.
But at this moment, the girl felt a bit depressed.
Is this what Hachiman meant by something I can't keep up with?
Well, she really can't do this kind of thing.
Hearing her daughter's words, Leonora covered her mouth in surprise.
"You've seen it? When was this?"
"Just a few days ago, on the beach," Alice said, giving her mother a sidelong glance.
At this point, Senzaemon spoke up, "Do you know what's going on?"
Seeing their grandfather speak up, the two sisters looked at each other, and finally, Erina spoke up.
"Actually, Hachiman already mentioned it to us," Erina continued.
As the girl spoke, everyone else also perked up their ears.
"Grandpa, you're aware that Hachiman is skilled in Kendo and has even reached the level of Swordmaster, right?"
"Naturally," Senzaemon nodded. He had witnessed Hachiman's achievement of becoming a Swordmaster during the competition a year ago and was familiar with it.
"In fact, Hachiman has already surpassed the realm of Swordmaster," Erina paused, then continued.
"He has recently attained the highest level of Kendo."
"Sword Saint!"
"What?!" Even the usually composed Senzaemon was startled by this news.
"Hachiman-kun has actually reached the legendary realm of the Sword Saint!"
As a Kendo enthusiast, Senzaemon naturally knew about the Sword Saint, the supreme realm of Kendo, but the Sword Saint hadn't appeared for hundreds of years and had become a legend.
He never imagined that Hachiman could reach such a level.
"Yes, Hachiman-kun has indeed become a Sword Saint," Alice spoke up at this point. "And he even demonstrated the unique ability of the Sword Saint—sword aura projection."
"Despite the distance, it still caused damage. It's truly amazing."
The girl's tone was filled with excitement, mixed with a hint of pride.
After all, Hachiman was her boyfriend. With such a talented boyfriend, wasn't it worth being proud of?
"Sword aura projection..."
Senzaemon murmured to himself, then looked at Hachiman, who was still carving in the air. "So this is what sword aura projection looks like?"
"Yes, that's right. That's how it is. He showed us that back then. Even though there was still half a meter distance from the shark, he just needed to gently swing his sword in the air, and it could cause wounds on the shark," Erina nodded.
"A shark!!!"
Upon hearing this, Soue, who adored his daughter, panicked. He didn't expect that Alice and her friends encountered a shark during their last visit to the beach.
But before Soue could speak, Hachiman stopped his actions.
As he halted the blade, a mini ice mountain appeared in front of everyone.
Waves of ice peaks, layer upon layer.
Under the sunlight, the entire ice mountain sparkled like crystal, reflecting dazzling rays of light.
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