Hearing this, Mejiro Ardan nodded instinctively, then immediately caught herself upon seeing Dream Weaver's unimpressed expression.
"T-that's right?"
"No, no, no, no! Your sister has never thought of you as a fool!"
She shook her head vigorously, waving the sweet potato in her hand. Bits of charred crumbs flew everywhere with her movements, once again smudging the face she had just cleaned for Dream Weaver moments earlier.
Dream Weaver wiped her dirt-streaked cheek without a word, her expression blank, then let out a soft, mocking laugh in Mejiro Ardan's direction.
"Waaah—!"
Feeling utterly humiliated in front of Dream Weaver, Mejiro Ardan let out a pained cry, hugged her head, and crouched down, as if imitating an ostrich trying to escape from this embarrassing world.
But Dream Weaver wasn't about to let her off so easily. She quietly crouched beside Mejiro Ardan, leaned close to her ear, and softly repeated her earlier words:
"Creative ideas… burnt to a crisp… imaginative way of cooking…"
Hearing her own words repeated back to her verbatim, Mejiro Ardan wished she could cover her ears. The righteous confidence she'd felt while saying those things earlier had now turned into sheer embarrassment.
Only after reducing Mejiro Ardan—who had been lecturing her as if she were a fool—to a blushing, flustered mess did Dream Weaver finally feel satisfied and let her be.
She picked up a sweet potato, sat down beside Mejiro Ardan, and began munching on it quietly.
Some time passed before Mejiro Ardan finally gathered herself enough to peek out from the shelter of her arms. She glanced at the earthen mound in front of her, from which the rich aroma of roasted meat still wafted, then at Dream Weaver sitting beside her, calmly eating a potato. A little amazed and somewhat impressed, she said softly:
"You're really amazing, Dreams. To come up with such an incredible way of cooking all by yourself…"
Dream Weaver set down the half-eaten potato in her hand. While she didn't care much for the Mejiro family, she held no dislike for Mejiro Ardan—especially after what the latter had said the day before.
Otherwise, she wouldn't have teased her so deliberately earlier. After a moment's thought, Dream Weaver decided to answer honestly.
"Actually, I didn't come up with it alone."
This method of cooking with an earthen oven was something Dream Weaver had learned during her second script, back in Kasamatsu.
In those days, everyone spent their time in the countryside. With little to do after training, they often gathered together to experiment with all sorts of quirky ideas.
The concept of the earthen oven came from a cooking method Dream Weaver had heard about in her previous life, but putting it into practice had been challenging. It was only with the help of several Uma Musume in Kasamatsu that she had mastered it.
If this method were a research paper, Dream Weaver would be the first author, with Gold Ship and Nishimoto Makusa as second and third authors respectively—and all the other Uma Musume would certainly belong in the acknowledgments.
Still, she hadn't expected she'd ever actually use this cooking method again. It was only today that the idea suddenly came back to her, and she decided to give it a try.
She just hadn't anticipated that Mejiro Ardan would show up at the Northern residence first, leading to the misunderstanding.
"But it's still impressive! I've never even heard of something like this."
"That's because the Mejiro family never needed to learn this kind of method. You're a prestigious, well-established family—why would you know about rustic things like this?"
Mejiro Ardan shook her head at that.
"Not knowing is not knowing. It has nothing to do with anything else. Since you knew about this before I did, that makes you more impressive."
Dream Weaver glanced sideways at Mejiro Ardan, who was praising her, then pointed toward the Northern manor not far away.
"Well, let me warn you now—the Northern house doesn't have the kind of kitchen you're imagining."
"What else could a kitchen be?"
Mejiro Ardan tilted her head in confusion. In her worldview, a kitchen was just gas stoves, burners, pots, and pans—what else could there be?
Rather than explaining at length, Dream Weaver simply took her by the hand and led her inside for a look.
When Mejiro Ardan saw the brick-built stove and the massive wok in the kitchen, no further explanation was needed.
Pointing at the hollow space beneath the stove, Mejiro Ardan asked Dream Weaver in bewilderment:
"Dreams, why is there… a hole under there?"
"For firewood. What else?" Dream Weaver replied, her expression saying, "I knew it."
"There's no gas stove or anything like that?"
"Do you think something like that would work here?"
This Northern manor was built long ago, back when there was no such convenience as gas stoves. And now, Dream Weaver had no intention of going down the mountain to hire someone to renovate the place.
Since she knew how to use this kind of stove anyway, it was easier to just gather some firewood from the mountains and cook with it.
Dream Weaver looked up at Mejiro Ardan, who stood there stunned, as if she had witnessed something completely beyond her understanding.
"Come on, where's the kitchen? Let your sister make something delicious for you… huh?"
Hearing her own earlier words repeated back, Mejiro Ardan's face flushed. She fidgeted with the hem of her skirt, a little embarrassed.
"Dreams, please stop teasing me…"
To her surprise, Dream Weaver shook her head and continued:
"Now do you understand how reckless your words were yesterday?"
"You should go back to being the young lady of the Mejiro family. There's no need to torture yourself here every day. That's the world you're familiar with."
By now, Dream Weaver's intentions were clear. She knew she couldn't directly stop Mejiro Ardan from coming here, so she had chosen another way—to make her realize she could never adapt to this place.
In Dream Weaver's eyes, the Mejiro Uma Musume were all pampered young ladies. How could they possibly accept such conditions?
If Mejiro Ardan knew she couldn't take Dream Weaver with her and couldn't adjust to this environment, surely she would have no choice but to slink back to the Mejiro house in defeat.
But contrary to her expectations, Mejiro Ardan didn't look disheartened at all. Instead, she pressed her lips together, looked firmly at Dream Weaver, and declared:
"Dreams, then you teach me! I will definitely use this stove to make a delicious meal for you!"
Seeing the stubborn determination in her eyes, Dream Weaver opened her mouth to refuse, but the words wouldn't come. After a moment of silence, she could only sigh in resignation.
But she had no intention of giving up on her plan to persuade Mejiro Ardan to leave. And Mejiro Ardan, well aware of Dream Weaver's thoughts, had no intention of backing down either.
Even if it meant learning everything all over again, she would stay here—by Dream Weaver's side.
And so, the contest between Dream Weaver, aiming to drive Mejiro Ardan away, and Mejiro Ardan, determined to remain at the Northern house, officially began that day.
And the result of today's match was, without a doubt—
Dream Weaver's defeat.
--+--
T/N: While I am an inexperienced Translator, I have a Patreon! Webnovel will get 3 Chapters Every Day, and advanced chapters will be uploaded on Patreon.
It may not seem worth it now, but maybe in the future. Who knows!
[email protected]/AspenTL
If you guys wanna check it out.