"I'm Awful At This"

Trey


Sometimes, I wonder why the "illegal military training" that we Wolves (sans Bluefield, of course) got was randomized.

Why do you say that? Well, I usually come to this train of thought when I fail to do something that's probably basic by human standards—for example, making beef stew for lunch.

Which I did fail again today, by the way.

Cherche peered into the stainless steel pot. "Oh, my…"

"Yeah," I nodded glumly. Hard not to be glum, when this is the third time making the stew and the mess hall's kitchen smells like there is something on fire.

"Well, Trey, it looks…almost edible, compared to the last batch," the wyvern rider offered.

I wiped the sweat off my brow. "I guess that's something…"

Good grief, my cooking skills are at rock bottom.

I turned to look at Cherche. "Sorry for wasting your time, ma'am…"

"What? Oh, no, it's not a problem for me at all!" Then Cherche frowned. "Though, I am curious. Trey, why do you want to learn how to cook?"

"Huh?" I honestly hadn't expected her to ask me that. I scratched the back of my head, looking at the floor. "Uh, well…"

Why do I, anyway?

Then I remembered. "…Because of Bluefield."

Cherche raised her eyebrows, surprised. "Your mentor?"

"Yeah. Well… This might seem a bit silly, but he's also the only Zero of us who can cook at all. And the stuff he makes is delicious and not…" Glanced at the cooking pot. "Yeah."

Cherche nodded. "Ah, so you're seeking to repay him for the meals he makes you?"

"Oh… I-I guess so." She'd cottoned on faster than I myself had. Not that I was entirely surprised, being slow on how human empathy worked.

With that revelation out of the way, Cherche clapped her hands. "Well, if that's the case, why don't we start with something basic instead?"

I blinked. "Oh, uh, all right. But,"—and here I picked up the ruined stew—"let me dispose of this stuff first."

"All right. But don't try feeding it to Minervykins," the wyvern rider replied.

I wisely chose not to see her smile. "I won't, don't worry."


"illegal military training" - At this point, we believe that the perpetrators used some form of virtual training to "prepare the Zeros' siblings". It's rather fortunate that Bluefield liberated them before the the training was completed. —Vaire

"don't try feeding it to Minervykins" - I think her Minerva would settle for eating a cow or something, anyway, and definitely not stew. —Bluefield