"President? What are you doing here?"
Hakuto stared at Nao on the riverbank, momentarily confused as to why she was there.
Nao first grabbed a fish from the shore and, upon hearing Hakuto's words, opened the bag she carried with her and tossed a rolled-up newspaper into the middle of the stream where he stood.
"See for yourself."
Hakuto caught the newspaper steadily, and a news article immediately caught his attention.
"Flying man? An alien?"
On the newspaper was an image of a humanoid figure flying mid-air. The captioned location of the photograph was precisely the mountainous area where Hakuto currently resided.
Seeing the confusion on Hakuto's face, Nao, holding a silver-scaled fish, timely explained.
"It's just media exaggeration. In reality, it's merely an ability user with the power of flight."
Hakuto put down the newspaper and looked at Nao on the shore.
"So, you're camping out here to stake them out?"
"Against a flying ability user, staking out is the best strategy."
"Well, that's true… but…"
"But what?"
"Can you put down the fish I caught?"
"No, I can't."
Seeing Nao firmly gripping the fish he had left on the shore, Hakuto decided not to argue further.
After all, he had caught plenty—giving Nao a few wasn't a big deal.
Standing in the middle of the river, Hakuto flicked the water from his hands, ran his fingers through his hair, and leisurely walked up to the shore.
"So, where's your camp?"
"Over there."
Upon hearing this, Nao pointed across the river—completely opposite from Hakuto's campsite.
Hakuto glanced in the direction she pointed and subconsciously asked,
"Did you bring enough food?"
Nao's mouth dropped open in disbelief, as if she couldn't believe those words had come from Hakuto.
Although she was confused, she still nodded.
Seeing this, Hakuto smiled, his eyes shining as he looked at Nao.
"If you have enough, bring me some."
"Huh? Ha—?!"
Hearing this, Nao nearly threw the fish in her hand directly at Hakuto's face.
"Did Sora Ginko not prepare anything? She shouldn't be short on money."
As the queen of the shogi world, Ginko indeed wasn't short on money.
"You knew Ginko was here?"
"I only came out after she left…"
"..."
"..."
"I feel like something's off about what you just said, but I can't quite put my finger on it…"
"So, you took leave just to go on a date with Sora Ginko?"
Hearing Nao's words, Hakuto scratched his head, feeling that her ability to change topics was truly terrible.
However, since she was technically one of his bosses, his professional ethics prevented him from complaining.
"What? Are you going to revoke my leave, President?"
"Not exactly, it's just…"
"Just what?"
"You'll find out soon enough."
With that, Nao, still holding a fish in one hand, leisurely walked across the log bridge to the other side of the river.
Hakuto watched her retreating figure and suddenly called out, "A thousand per fish. Remember to transfer it to my account when you get back."
Nao, who had just stepped off the log bridge, nearly lost her balance and fell flat on her face.
"Ha—?! A thousand? You look more like a thousand!"
After saying that, she walked off without looking back, disappearing from Hakuto's view.
"What a freeloader."
Hakuto shook his head, then silently pulled out his notebook from his 'four-dimensional pocket' and made a note under Nao's name.
"Time to head back. Ginko's probably getting impatient."
Hakuto stretched, then finished preparing the remaining fish, skewering them onto wooden forks before heading back to camp.
The camp wasn't far from the residential area, just a few minutes away. Before long, Hakuto could see Ginko's figure at the campsite.
"Ginko, I'm bac—! Never mind, I think I'll leave."
Hakuto had originally planned to greet Ginko enthusiastically, but with his keen eyesight, he spotted two grilled fish on the barbecue rack—the same fish he had just caught.
Not only that, but Ginko had her hair tied up and was busying herself around the grill—her whole demeanor screamed 'something's up.'
Hakuto's previously excited expression did a complete 180 upon seeing this scene.
But it was already too late. Ginko had already heard his voice and was looking in his direction.
"Perfect timing…"
Now that Ginko had spotted him, it wasn't like he could just turn around and run. Hakuto had no choice but to brace himself and walk toward her.
Standing next to Ginko, Hakuto looked at the grilled fish on the barbecue rack and suddenly felt a deep sense of sorrow—because what he had feared had actually happened.
He threw the fish skewers back into a bucket of water. Though they were half-dead, at least they'd stay fresh for a bit longer.
"Ginko, are you hungry? I'll grill some fish for you."
Hakuto smiled, intentionally ignoring the two fish already on the grill.
But Ginko pretended not to notice, casually picking up one of the grilled fish with tongs and handing it to Hakuto.
"Here, try it. And you're not allowed to say it's bad."
Hakuto stared at the grilled fish Ginko handed him, his expression a mix of wanting to cry and laugh at the same time.
It wasn't that he wouldn't say it was bad—it was that this simply wasn't edible!
The glistening fish scales seemed to be warning him: one bite, and he'd ascend to heaven.
"I'm not hungry right now…"
"Eat it anyway."
Ginko shook the fish in her hand as if urging Hakuto to hurry up.
At that moment, Hakuto found himself trapped in an impossible dilemma.
His survival instincts screamed at him not to eat it, but his professional ethics pressured him to comply.
Eat? Don't eat? Schrödinger's Hakuto—so long as he didn't take the fish, he could exist in a state of both eating and not eating.
After much contemplation, Hakuto ultimately decided—his life was more important.
___
Read 20 Advanced Chapters on p@ tr eon (.) com/HalflingFics
Also, please point out my mistakes in the comment, thank you!
Don't forget to leave a review too~
Check out the other translations too
___