Chapter 139: Eikou – The successor of Artoria – Master of time management!
[April 30th, 11:30 a.m.]
[Placed before you is a huge banquet full of love.]
[You have challenged the massive special meal of Barghest.]
[...]
[Eat and eat, yet still no end in sight…]
[Meat, oil, vegetables, meat, vegetables, oil, meat, oil… and then meat again…]
[You want to quickly finish this banquet, the power to contain it all is "Endurance", the proper pacing is "Agility", pushing through the massive amount of meat to keep eating is "Strength"… these attributes all seem to be what you need…]
Three dice fell simultaneously.
When seeing the check result, Eikou's expression stiffened.
[Endurance check successful, Strength check successful]
[Agility check failed...]
[Your eating momentum is incredibly fierce, but no matter how you eat, the amount of food doesn't seem to decrease, and you feel your stomach is about to give out.]
[With your current level, you still cannot challenge Barghest's massive special meal.]
On the table, the food showed no sign of diminishing, but Eikou felt he could hardly swallow anymore.
The dishes that entered his mouth were indeed delicious, Barghest's cooking skills could be called top-class, but no matter how tasty, one still couldn't endure being stuffed continuously like this.
Meanwhile, Barghest, sitting across from him, watching his hearty, vigorous eating appearance, couldn't help but smile happily, as though her cooking had been affirmed.
"Eating slowly is fine too… Sir Eikou, there's no one here to compete with you."
I wish there was an Artoria version here to eat some of it away, he thought.
"Well then… Barghest, don't just watch, let's eat together." He said a bit awkwardly.
"No no, seeing you enjoy eating like that, leaving it all to you is just fine."
Barghest smiled happily, ten fingers interlocked like a maiden.
"…Alright then."
He lowered his head to look at the phone lock screen, the displayed time showed there wasn't much left.
If he didn't hurry back, Morgan would start to get suspicious.
But right now, finding an excuse to leave would be too abrupt.
If Barghest realized he was only making excuses to sneak away, she would not only be sad but also suspect her cooking had a problem.
After all, the fact that she could prepare a lavish banquet within half an hour was enough proof that she truly longed to see him enjoying his meal.
Then there was no other way, he could only grit his teeth and finish it all!
He couldn't betray her expectations!
Not only did he have to finish it all, but also show that he was thoroughly enjoying it, to make Barghest feel happy, proving through his actions that her efforts were worthwhile.
Activate skill, Instinct.
Relying on his intuition, he had to figure out a way to eat this entire 'banquet of love'!
[You have activated the skill "Instinct"]
[Check successful.]
[Relying on your intuition, you adjusted your eating rhythm, without stopping you continued to eat, trying to maintain the current pace.]
[While eating, you imagined sour dishes.]
[Thanks to imagining sour food, your eating pace was maintained very well.]
[Like a storm, you swept clean the banquet, taking only ten minutes.]
[Challenge successful!]
[You completed Barghest's massive special meal with astonishing efficiency, the reward is an Encouragement Dice!]
"Thud!"
Swallowing the last bite, Eikou collapsed onto the table from discomfort.
But the next second, he forced himself back up, with a radiant smile, giving a thumbs-up.
"Rea…lly delicious!"
"So manly, Sir Eikou, you have a bottomless stomach no different from a knight,"
Barghest smiled in complete satisfaction,
"Then rest for a bit, after that let's go dating somewhere else."
What?!
If he kept dating her, he wouldn't be able to manage anyone else at all.
Sigh, no other choice, he could only reuse the old trick.
"But…"
With the mood of "already too late, might as well go all out," he loudly shouted:
"I'm still not full yet!"
To reassure Barghest, he had no choice but to make stomach-kun suffer again.
"What, you're still not full after this?" Barghest blinked her heterochromatic eyes in surprise, "You want me to cook more?"
"Y-Yes…"
Eikou tightly held her hands with sincerity,
"It's all because your cooking is too delicious, just one banquet can't possibly satisfy me, please make another banquet! No matter how many dishes you cook, I'll eat them all!"
"Sir Eikou, you…"
Barghest's gaze from those heterochromatic eyes grew even hotter as they turned toward him.
[You have extremely satisfied her preferences.]
[Affection of Barghest towards you has once again increased.]
It seemed that Barghest was still quite cheerful.
Eikou let out a sigh of relief.
"But… if possible, this time please trouble yourself to cook a bit longer, I like eating stews, please stew as long as possible."
He wiped the sweat on his face, hurriedly adding.
"Of course that's not a problem," Barghest answered seriously, "as long as you wish, I can always cook for you! No, I should say, please you must taste the dish I'm most proud of!"
"Then I'll trouble you, I'll go buy some ingredients, go ahead first!"
Eikou leisurely stood up, under the burning gaze of the other party, promptly left.
Confirming that Barghest could no longer see, Eikou immediately held his uncomfortable stomach and went to the next location.
[Your suffering is still continuing, Gambare!]
...
At the same time.
In the principal's office of Chaldea Academy,
Principal Leonardo da Vinci together with detective Holmes were manipulating the surveillance system of this city academy.
The two of them were monitoring the student named Mochizuki Eikou.
"Such an astonishing time management skill…"
Detective Holmes raised an eyebrow in slight surprise,
"Just within the morning, he has consecutively gone on dates with four girls, and moreover has not been caught by any of them. But what truly makes me admire is that after, objectively speaking, he did something of 'dating multiple people at once,' he unexpectedly showed the demeanor of a gentleman, by sacrificing himself to ensure each girl has joy and satisfaction."
"Based on his actions, I believe he is not the kind of scumbag man, but rather someone who was 'dragged into this in a puzzling way.'"
"Of course, there are times when he cannot manage everything, like in the case of Miss Barghest, because someone interrupted, her need has yet to be satisfied."
Da Vinci looked at the boy with his head in a mess on the surveillance screen, she couldn't help but burst out laughing a little.
"That kid, should I say he's a saint of romance, or just a fool in love who isn't good at handling girls. From what I see, this time the 'test subject' can only be him, let's contact him now, invite him to participate in our plan."
"I have no objection,"
The elegant detective held his pipe, speaking,
"But please wait a little longer, my intuition tells me that he is about to not be able to endure anymore… because, dating four girls at once indeed is still too much. Let's just keep observing the situation."