As if seeing Tatsuma's confusion, Asia proactively explained, "Because I've never cooked before, I thought I'd get up early to practice."
Tatsuma remembered this matter. "Come to think of it, you were a priestess in the Church before, so you really didn't have a chance to cook."
And so, his expression became serious.
Someone who had never cooked before, suddenly preparing breakfast...
This was not good news.
He walked into the kitchen and glanced around, and indeed, it was already a mess.
He asked, "What is that black sticky substance?"
"An omelette and steak."
"?"
Asia felt a bit guilty. "Um... it might be a bit poorly made, Tatsuma, please don't mind."
"No, you're too humble."
Tatsuma patted Asia's head and comforted her, "You still have some talent for cooking."
Asia asked, "Really?"
Tatsuma nodded. "Really, after all, it's the first time I've seen someone cook an omelette and steak until it turned black."
"Ugh... sorry."
Asia lowered her head awkwardly.
Although her personality was a bit naive, she wasn't so clueless that she couldn't tell Tatsuma was complaining about how poorly she cooked.
"It seems I'm not suited for cooking."
"Cough! Actually, you can still try."
Looking at Asia, who had a dejected expression and whose confidence was severely hit, Tatsuma's remaining bit of conscience was touched.
"If you want to learn, I can teach you."
"Huh? Tatsuma-san can cook?"
"Uh, just a little."
Tatsuma walked into the kitchen, used magic to clean the stove, and then opened his system panel.
[Daily Training Set] --> [Cooking Set]
"Learn carefully, I'll only teach you once."
Taking out the ingredients and arranging them, Tatsuma pushed his Six Eyes and Senjutsu to the limit and officially began teaching.
"First step, cut the meat into shreds of the same size."
Two and a half hours later.
Rias woke up, got dressed, and was ready to take over Akeno's job of making breakfast.
However, as soon as she stepped into the kitchen, she saw a blonde girl standing in front of the stove with a serious expression.
Rias asked, "Asia? What's wrong?"
Asia replied, "I'm learning how to cut meat."
"Cut meat?"
"Yeah, I've been trying for several hours, but I just can't get it as standard as Tatsuma-san."
Asia raised the kitchen knife in her hand and gestured towards the row of meat shreds that had already been cut and sealed with magic nearby to be used as a reference.
"Rias-san, can you teach me exactly how to cut like that?"
Rias: "..."
Good question, I want to know too.
Rias looked at the row of meat shreds a few meters away that were completely identical in both length and thickness, looking like they were copy-pasted.
After a moment of silence, Rias rolled up her sleeves, her expression becoming as serious as Asia's.
"Give me the knife, let me try."
At the same time.
In the Akatsuki Headquarters on the outskirts of Seasoning City.
Looking at Tatsuma who walked out of the magic circle in front of him, Sho, who was eating, was stunned for a moment.
He asked, "Why are you here so early?"
Tatsuma answered, "I stood you up yesterday, so I came earlier since I had time today."
"..."
Well, thank you very much.
Swallowing the food in his mouth, Sho asked, "Want to eat together?"
"No need, I brought my own food."
Taking out the breakfast he made for himself in the morning, Tatsuma unsealed it and sat down.
"How did the task I gave you yesterday go?"
"I called the heads of each division and told them to gather at the Headquarters before noon today. Those guys are very afraid of my old man, so they've probably all arrived by now."
Sho blinked, looking at the lunchbox in Tatsuma's hand with some confusion.
Did he use magic? Why is there light coming from the lunchbox?
And this smell... it smells a little fragrant.
Tatsuma said, "Don't look, I won't give it to you no matter how much you look."
"I didn't say I wanted it."
Sho pursed his lips, withdrew his gaze, and continued eating.
"Speaking of which, the Claw Headquarters is in a city in the United States. If you plan to attack head-on, it might cause a lot of commotion."
"Don't worry, I'm prepared."
Tatsuma took out a pillar engraved with runes. This thing was the core of the barrier that Sona and the others used to set up the barrier covering the Old Church yesterday.
After finishing his morning practice just now, Tatsuma sought Sona and borrowed this magic tool.
"You and the other members of Akatsuki have only one thing to do today."
"That is to use this thing to set up a barrier to seal off the Claw Headquarters and prevent ordinary people from approaching."
—
United States, Washington D.C.
Inside a commercial building dozens of stories high.
Toichiro stood in front of the window on the top floor, looking down at the bustling streets below.
After an unknown amount of time, a man in a suit with his eyes closed appeared out of thin air in the room.
"Boss, it's been investigated."
"Including the special team, everyone received young master's order to gather here."
"Okay, I understand."
Toichiro nodded slightly, seemingly unsurprised by this result.
Ryo Shimazaki asked, "What should we do next? Should we send them all back?"
"No, wait a little longer."
Toichiro turned around with his hands in his pockets.
He understood his son very well. Since Sho made such a big move, having everyone gather before noon, it meant he would be making a big splash before noon.
"Although I don't know Sho's purpose, it doesn't hurt to play along with him. It's also a good opportunity to check the strength of the Claw members."
Ryo nodded thoughtfully. "I see, boss, you've already prepared an excuse for young master Sho."
A sudden strength test... that's not a bad excuse.
It could not only give Sho a way out afterwards but also fit Toichiro's usual style. At least in the eyes of most people, this reason was acceptable.
Buzz!
Just then, a surge of powerful energy fluctuations rose from below.
"This is... an isolation barrier?"
Ryo used extrasensory perception to investigate and quickly sensed the truth.
An isolation barrier was expanding from the first floor of the commercial building as its core, trying to envelop the building. At this rate, the Claw Headquarters would be isolated from the outside world in less than a minute.
"Interesting, it seems young master Sho is well-prepared this time, even considering ordinary people."
"However, with such a big commotion, the other executives in the Headquarters must have noticed something is wrong."
"Those people are no match for Sho."
Turning to look at the gradually moving away crowd on the street, Toichiro remained silent for a moment before speaking again, "Shimazaki, I'll leave this to you."
"After those people are defeated, you go and teach Sho a lesson and bring him back."
Ryo replied in a relaxed tone, "No problem."