I assembled the strongest swordsman group.

Qingdeng had never seen a sea otter in his life, let alone eaten one—although there were quite a few sea otter memes circulating on the internet in his previous life.

As far as Qingdeng knows, modern sea otters seem to be protected animals; you might end up in jail the moment you eat their meat.

At this moment, in response to Harada Sanosuke's invitation, everyone expressed their opinions:

Kondo Isami grinned:

"Since it's a specialty of Ou, we have no choice but to try it."

Inoue Genzaburo nodded slightly in agreement.

Serizawa Kamo patted his belly:

"I was also a little hungry."

Nagakura Shinpachi stood up abruptly and walked towards the small hut next to him:

"There's a pot and firewood inside, I'll go get them."

Saito Hajime followed closely behind:

"I'll help you."

However, at that moment, Harada Sanosuke suddenly said:

"Oh, I almost forgot to mention that."

"When the old man handed me the meat, he said something to me in a very serious tone, as if he was giving me some instructions."

"He talked a lot in his own language, but I really couldn't understand the Aizu dialect, so I had no idea what he was saying."

Nagakura Shinpachi stopped in his tracks, his brow furrowing slightly.

"Zanosuke, what did he say? Can you repeat it? Although I am from Matsumae, as a fellow Oshu native, I should be able to understand the gist of it."

Harada Sanosuke pointed to his head:

"Shinpachi, do you think my brain can remember something this complicated?"

"Yes, that makes sense."

Serizawa Kamo turned to look at Nagakura Shinpachi:

"Is there some kind of taboo associated with this meat?"

Nagakura Shinpachi gave a bitter smile:

"Don't look at me like that, I'm not a gourmet. All I know about sea otter meat is that it's edible, and that's all I know."

He paused, then added:

"However, it is an indisputable fact that sea otter meat is edible, and I can assure you of that."

Serizawa Kamo, after hearing this, shrugged:

"As long as it's edible, why worry about so much? Food is all about being edible, why make such a fuss?"

His words immediately drew unanimous agreement from Kondo Isami and others.

They were all rough and unrestrained men who didn't have many concerns when it came to food.

As long as they know it's edible, they'll eat even the legendary mermaid flesh.

And just like that, everyone quickly reached a consensus: Stop dawdling! Let's start the fire and cook the meat!

Whether it's an iron pot or dry firewood, the little house by the pond has everything you need.

Because Yokoyama had said beforehand that everything in the house was at the discretion of Aoto and the others, they were quite unceremonious when moving pots, firewood, bowls, chopsticks, and other utensils.

Everyone did their part and soon a simple bonfire was set up by the pool, with an iron pot on it.

At this moment, Qing Deng suddenly said:

"You all enjoy yourselves, I won't eat any more."

These words immediately drew surprised looks from everyone.

Saito Hajime spoke first:

"Mr. Orange, aren't you going to eat some?"

Harada Sanosuke added:

"Mr. Orange, aren't you interested in sea otter meat?"

Qingdeng smiled helplessly:

"You know, I don't like eating late at night, especially greasy food."

Qingdeng has never had the habit of eating late-night snacks; at most, he'll have some snacks to go with his drinks.

Kondo Isami and the others were aware of Aoto's lifestyle habits, so they didn't force him to change them.

"This pool is quite big. It's rather boring to stay in one place all the time. I'll wander around and you guys can take your time eating."

After speaking, Qingdeng turned around and swam slowly into the depths of the pool.

Watching Qing Deng's retreating figure, Harada Sanosuke suddenly seemed to realize something, and a meaningful smile appeared on his face:

"Mr. Tachibana, be careful, don't swim over to the head of the room."

Qing Deng responded irritably:

"I wasn't that careless. You all need to be careful with fire, and make sure there's no fire."

Kondo Isami chuckled to himself:

“We’re right next to a hot spring. If a fire breaks out here, I’ll offer my head in retribution.”

……

……

Qingdeng wandered aimlessly, turning his head to admire the scenery with great interest.

A sky full of stars, a steaming hot spring pool, sparse and pleasing plants along the poolside, and the occasional chirping of insects... to be immersed in this is truly delightful.

Aoto felt more and more that this hot spring was a rare treasure, no wonder it became the private hot spring of the Aizu Matsudaira family.

After a short while, Qingdeng slowly stopped moving forward.

Swimming further ahead, you will reach the western end of the pool where Elodie is.

He didn't want Harada Sanosuke's earlier advice to become a reality.

Just as he was preparing to turn back—

Glug...

A sudden, unusual noise drew his attention.

--Um?

Although the sound was very faint, with the blessing of the talent "Wind Perception +4", he was certain that he had not misheard.

Years of combat experience have made Qing Deng extremely sensitive to so-called "unusual noises"—in many cases, "unusual noises" often represent danger!

He instinctively stood up, assumed a fighting stance, pricked up his ears, and held his breath.

Glug... Glug...

Two more strange noises were heard.

Qingdeng keenly tracked the sound's trajectory, quickly shifting his gaze to lock onto the source—the water surface three meters to his side.

Just as he was staring intently, he saw two bubbles rise from the surface of the water, followed by a series of popping sounds.

—Hmm? Bubbles?

Qingdeng was taken aback, then immediately realized what was going on.

Because the water was hot spring water rich in minerals, it was slightly murky, and the mist made it difficult for him to see what was underwater.

Even with the best of my ability, I could only vaguely make out a golden hue—something golden was hidden underwater.

Golden... In that instant, Qingdeng understood something.

Although he suddenly realized the truth, it was too late.

Whoosh!

Suddenly, right there, in that spot, just 3 meters to his side in front of him, a huge sound came out of the pool—something burst out of the water.

Immediately afterwards, creamy white and beautiful gold came into Qing Deng's view.

"Good! You made it past 200 seconds!" (in French)

As Elodie wiped the water droplets from her face, she excitedly muttered to herself.

"Let's do it again, this time you have to hold on for 300... seconds... eh?" (French)

As her beautiful eyes gradually widened, her words came to an abrupt halt.

Elodie stood frozen in place, staring blankly at Qingdeng, who was just inches away.

Qingdeng, on the other side, looked similarly bewildered, staring blankly at Elodie.

As luck would have it, the bottom of the pool here is very shallow.

Even though Elodie is petite, her upper body is completely exposed when she stands up straight.

In other words, at this moment, Qingdeng and Elodie are truly "facing each other with complete honesty".

They faced each other, their eyes locked... A brief silence fell over them.

Approximately 10 seconds later, the paused time resumed its flow.

"Wow, wow, ah wow wow wow wow..."

The first person to react was Elodie.

Because her consciousness has not yet fully caught up with reality, she is now much like a broken robot, constantly making strange moves.

Her lips trembled.

A low murmur without any real content escaped from her throat.

Her cheeks were already slightly flushed from soaking in the hot spring.