-"Yue! I'm here!"-Rindō's shout greeted me when I exited the car.
I just returned from meeting Yukong, and I was about to start my trip with Rindō. Sakura also decided to accompany us, and while Rin and Tomoe also wanted to join, they had to study for their exams that would start soon.
Our destination was the Amazon forest, as we decided that traveling by the river would be more interesting than traversing the forest itself. At the same time, we could visit Brazil and taste some local cuisine.
~"How are you feeling, Rindō? I heard you've been ill lately."
-"I'm all good, but thank you for worrying."
~"If you ever need some help, be sure to speak."
-"Don't worry. Let's go!"
Allowing myself to be dragged by her, I entered the terminal, from where we were taken to my Family's private plane. Sakura was already here, arranging the flight with other members of the Family responsible for it.
Three sisters are known to the Family and were trained to be my assistants and bodyguards. Sakura instantly became responsible for keeping me safe due to her abilities. Because of that, she is well-known in the Family, and as our relationship is beyond good, she is seen as my mistress.
She is rather pleased with that, but that presumed position is often used to degrade her or to put pressure on me. Some even tried to snitch on me to Ji Xuanyuan, but that ended in a fiasco when she 'accepted' Sakura to stay by my side.
She was clothed in a black suit that bodyguards would wear. She even had a concealed gun, but most noticeably, she had a katana by her belt. Living to her code-name, Setsuna, she was known to be faster with her sword than bullets from the gun.
-"Lord."
-"Lord? Is that what you call Yue, Sakura?"
-"Yes. He is Lord in my heart."
-"I see."-Rindō nodded while looking at us with strange eyes.
~"It's not some kind of play, you horny girl."
-"Right..."-Rindō rolled her eyes, not believing me.
~"Whatever. Everything ready?"
-"Yes, we only need the control tower's permission, and we are good to start."-Answered Sakura.
~"Then let's start with the departure."
After landing in Brazil, we spend the first day unevenly, only settling into a hotel and going on the evening walk, looking for some local delicacies. The next day, we bought everything we needed to go into the forest and slept early, as in the early morning on the third day, we would start our trip into the Amazon rainforest.
We would ride a boat to the part of the forest where there weren't too many dangerous animals while being deep enough not to be overly destroyed by human actions. Of course, this was still not safe by any measures, and each of us had a hot weapon, machete, and sizable medicine kit for any eventuality that we might encounter. We also had satellite phones to call if an emergency were to happen.
I was not worried about Sakura, as she fought much more dangerous opponents even before she became MANTIS, but Rindō was just a normal girl, so she became my main concern. For the whole boat ride, I instructed Rindō on what to do in danger and how to be safe.
-"Ugh. Yue, you are more nagging than my mother and father. Even my grandma is not as grumbling as you!"
~"First, don't shout, young lady. Second, you have never been to a place where the wrong step can kill you, so you better listen to what I'm saying."
-"I'm older than you!"
~"..."
-"Sorry."-She covered her mouth not to shout again.
~"Age is one thing. Maturity is another. Until we return to the city, you are to follow my words as if they were divine decree, do you understand?"
-"Yes."
~"Good. Sakura, you will be the one leading us on the path. Rindō, you are second while I'm closing our party. Rindō, while be sure to have a gun close, don't use it aside from emergencies as you are inexperienced with it. Leave it to me and Sakura."
Rindō nodded while raising her hand.
-"How come you sound like an expert in shooting and all that?"
~"I'm not exactly good with guns, as I prefer archery and swordsmanship, but I'm infinitely better than you."
-"Lord, we are about to arrive."
~"Sure, get us to the bank where we can safely disembark."
Under Sakura's careful steering, we soon found ourselves on mostly dry land, where we secured our boat before going into the rainforest. We had planned a route that would take three days to complete, so we started heading in the direction of our first campsite.
We could consider ourselves lucky as before we could leave the coastline, a pair of pink river dolphins swam close to our boat, showing themself to us. Sakura instantly fell in love with them and even started to think about how to move some into Hold at a later date.
While the path through the dense foliage couldn't be called pleasant, what was truly horrid were the insects that were swarming near the girls. Each of us was covered from head to toe, even wearing hats against insects, but they still were able to bite them once or twice.
-"How come you are not attacked by those mosquitoes like two of us?"
~"Maybe they prefer the blood of cute girls?"
-"They are not vampires..."
~"In modern times, vampires are the cute girls."
-"You got a point, wait. Don't switch the subject. Why are you free of mosquitoes?"
~"Hmm, have you ever heard of the concept of higher life forms?"
-"Like gods?"
~"Exactly. The idea is that no matter what form god would take, be it human or animal, he would still carry his divinity, making him a higher life form."
-"Are you trying to imply that you are god? That's why insects avoid you, as they can't blasphemise you. Wow, I never knew you were so narcissistic, Yue."
~"That's basically it."
-"Lord, there is a snake nearby. Please be careful."
~"Heard her? Step cautiously."
Soon, we heard rustling in the leaves, and after taking a closer look, a brown-black snake could be seen looking at us.
-"Wow."
~"Bushmaster, huh."
-"Is it dangerous?"
~"It won't attack unless you threaten him, but it's territorial, so don't approach. Bushmaster's bites are rarely fatal for adults but can be dangerous for children. You also are rather light, so your theoretical fatal dose of his venom is not high."
-"If not for that 'rather', I would take that as a compliment."
~"If you don't want to have an unpleasant experience, try not to provoke him more. His tail shaking is showing he is afraid of us."
-"Sure."
We continued on our path, meeting some other animals along the way. Most of them were insects and reptiles, but we were also able to run into some capybaras.
After about five hours of trekking, we arrived at a small campsite. It was a research base occupied by some biologists all year long, but as certain immortal snake in Hold would tell you, research funds are never enough, so they allow travelers to stay a night for some additional money.
It was already afternoon when we arrived, and we were quite hungry, so we decided to thank our hosts by preparing a dinner for everyone. Using local fish that are legal and safe to eat, we prepared some dishes according to local cuisine.
After that, we listened to some insider info about this forest, where to go if you want to have a chance to see some animals and things like that. Once again, we decided to rest early, wanting to start tomorrow's trip before six to avoid the hottest time of the day.
To be honest, this trip was nothing interesting. While for Rindō, it might be an adventure, for me and Sakura, it was just tedious. Be it animals or the forest itself, it couldn't compare to the Emerald Dream, let alone the Garden of Eden in my world.
Even with our limited power, no animal would dare to attack me, and Sakura could deal with hordes of local wildlife without getting tired, so we mostly focused on the only 'normal' girl in our team. While keeping her safe, we visited all the places she wanted to see.
By the end of our jungle travels, Rindō had met all the iconic animals she could think of. We were even able to see a Cougar, who, at first, was ready to attack us, but when Sakura let out some of her aura, it became docile and left quietly.
After returning to the city, we spend the last two days eating at various local restaurants and trying traditional regional dishes. Some of them were quite strange, but everyone would be able to find something that fits their taste.
For me, the most important thing that happened during this trip was the time I spent with Sakura, as I was aware that the time that we had left in this world was slowly coming to an end. After the Training Camp, the Luck of this world started flowing toward me in a much greater amount, so I was able to understand that the situation of Tōtsuki, especially the upcoming return of the Banished Nakiri, seemed to be a turning point.
I already cooperated with Yukong to get some cards to play, as well as prepared a few chees pieces, in case they are needed. Almost all of my free time is spent preparing the footing for Hold's future.
To be honest, I even unsealed part of my power and started using puppets to perform some tasks for me, and this resulted in my body ceasing to be 'mortal', becoming closer to what my avatar was than a living being occupied by me.
Even while accompanying Rindō, my thoughts were focused on my puppets, so the trip passed by without me even noticing, and soon we were back in Tōtsuki. If not for the Autumn Election that was about to start, I would have asked for a leave of absence to deal with everything in peace.
On that subject, the theme of this year's Autumn Election was chosen to be a vegetarian meal, allowing for many different styles and tastes while testing skills by having to use fruits and vegetables as main ingredients.
While I appreciated meat in my meals, I also had experience in preparing vegetarian meals, as in Hold, I often spent days at a time working with Ganyu, who is an ardent vegetarian.
As everyone had only one hour in the preliminaries, I decided to prepare a meal that became one of Ganyu's favorites, not only due to its taste but also its eye-catching appearance. A colorful green-pink roulade made with spinach and beetroot. While it was not a dish everyone would like, its taste couldn't be called bad even by them.
As there were only four seats open to be taken, out of sixty chosen participants, only the top eight will par to the main tournament. And there was no suspense in the results. Of the top spots, I took first, Sakura took second, followed by Isshiki, Kuga, and Nene.
The main tournament consisted of duels, the bracket was quickly created, and my first opponent was Etsuya Eizan. He was a person who I wasn't close to, because our characters and ideas were not aligned with each other.
If I thought of cooking as a hobby and food altogether as a thing to be enjoyed with those close to you, to him, it was only a chore, one he did to get money. Our characters were even more conflicting, as he behaved as a nouveau riche who would do anything to win.
The subject of our duel was soup, so it was rather neutral to both of us. In line with his usual style, he cooked a shark fin soup, showing rare and pricy ingredients rather than his abilities. I also decided to prepare something to show the wealth, so I cooked Adeptus' Temptation from Liyue.
This dish might seem simple, but as the recipe itself was mostly a myth, there were many versions of this dish, the original of which was known only to Zhongli, who shared it with me. As a pinnacle of Liyue cuisine, it easily crushed my opponent's mix of pricy ingredients he calls cooking.
That way, I already have a guaranteed seat as an Elite Ten. Now, only place mattered. My next opponent was Isshiki, who beat Kuga in his previous duel.
We both decided to be serious in our confrontation and show our abilities, but finally, I emerged victorious thanks to having more experience in the kitchen than any teenager could possess. So, only the final was left before me, and Sakura would be the one I would be facing there.
The subject was also something we were good at, as the main ingredient was to be fish. Knowing Sakura, she would cook something homely and full of her usual care, so I decided to prepare something in contrast to her, a medicinal meal.
I've become interested in this joint field of medicine and cooking thanks to a Foxian named Jiaoqiu, whom I met during my cleansing of Hexafleet from the traces of Abundance. I ate his meal due to Fu Xuan's recommendation, and his cooking quickly became one of my favorites.
After that meeting, we would meet from time to time to exchange recipes and even cook together. He even opened a restaurant in Hold, which became surprisingly popular among both the civilians and soldiers.
Due to my absorbing the Abundance and memories of Yaoshi with it, not to even mention the joint research I did with Ruan Mei and Mebius, medicine and healing became my expertise, especially more natural fields concerning herbs. I became interested in those fields, as I had fewer and fewer opportunities to fight, so I started to learn more techniques to assist from the rear.
Of course, to keep the competition fair, I would not use any magic or power beyond that of a mortal from this world, but as many herbs were already created by me before, they were needed for some meds Yukong's firm is selling, I brought them today.
-"Ready, Yuchi?"
~"Yes."~I answered Momo, who was chosen as commentator for this event
-"Then Momo will go, good luck."
As I waited for the signal to enter the arena, I could hear the cheer of spectators when judges were being introduced. Each year, finals would be overseen by the Old Man Nakiri himself, and this time, Chef Dojima and Leonara Nakiri would join him in making the verdict.
Momo and Erina were chosen to be commentators. Momo was chosen as she was familiar with me and Sakura, so she could introduce us and our techniques better. Erina, on the other hand, wanted this position for herself, as this was the only way she could see the contest. She was still in middle school and should still have exams when the finals were taking place.
Just as I was lost in thought, I heard an announcer calling me. After clearing my mind, I entered the arena. Ignoring the noise around, I focused on Sakura, who was standing on the opposite side. Noticing my gaze, she smiled and nodded.
-"The two contestants had entered the field! Let's not waste more time! The 91st Autumn Election finals are starting now! May the better chef win!"