Uma Musume Pretty Derby: To The Basement

Chapter 412 412: Uma Musume Pretty Derby: To The Basement [411] [800 STONES]

"Ptooey! Salty..."

Just as Mizuno usually could not tell how fragrant his own scent was, after tasting his own blood, he did not find it nearly as sweet as he had imagined. All he felt on the tip of his tongue was a faint saltiness and a metallic tang.

"This stuff tastes good?"

Mizuno looked at the blood flowing from his palm with serious doubt.

Was there something wrong with him? Or were Umamusume taste buds built differently from humans'? He could not sense any difference between his blood and anyone else's. At most, there was only a faint sweetness that vaguely resembled carrots.

But when Mizuno shifted his gaze to Hishi Amazon, he found that the girl who had just been snarling at him was now staring eagerly at the blood flowing from his palm, breathing hard, as if she had seen some rare delicacy and desperately wanted to come over for a taste.

Only her pride, which would not allow her to bow her head to an enemy, kept Amazon there watching in distress as the sweet-smelling blood dripped onto the floor, drop by drop, wasted for nothing.

"Want to... try some?" Seeing how badly Amazon wanted his blood, Mizuno held out his hand.

He probably could not taste what his blood was like to an Umamusume himself, but he could try asking Amazon and get the answer from her.

"Is this part of the duel?" Amazon asked, eyes fixed on Mizuno's palm the entire time, saliva unconsciously dripping from the corner of her mouth.

"Yes." Mizuno nodded and held his hand out a little farther. "Didn't you say you could withstand my temptation? My blood is one of the trials. If you can taste it and still keep your head, and accurately describe what flavors it contains, then I'll admit you're strong."

"Hah! Then I have no choice but to taste it." Amazon was convinced by Mizuno's reasoning—or perhaps she had convinced herself. In any case, after giving a very tsundere little huff, she took the hand Mizuno offered.

"Let me make one thing clear. I'm only drinking your blood to prove my will is firm. I'm not addicted to the blood of a scumbag like you. Got it?"

"Got it, got it." Mizuno did not expose Amazon's lie. Instead, he urged her on. "Hurry up and taste it. Any longer and I'm going to bleed to death..."

"Oh, right." Hearing that, a trace of worry involuntarily appeared on Amazon's face. She quickly lowered her head and, like a kitten drinking water, touched the tip of her tongue to Mizuno's palm, sending the sweet blood into her mouth.

"Slurp~ Slurp~"

"Mmghhh!" Fuji Kiseki, who was pinned on the bed, saw this scene and let out an unwilling whimper, as if demanding some for herself too.

"So? How does it taste?" Mizuno asked.

"Delicious... no! It's disgusting!"

Although Amazon verbally criticized Mizuno's blood for tasting terrible, the movement of her tongue did not slow in the slightest, and the tail behind her swayed more and more excitedly.

"Okay, okay. So what exactly does it taste like?" Mizuno pressed.

"..."

"Can you be a little more specific?"

"Mm..." Amazon tilted her head, looking somewhat troubled over how to put it into words.

"Uh... it's kind of like... carrots, and there's a bit of honey too. Mm... I think there's banana and apple as well, with a little almond fragrance, and the texture is a bit like black sesame paste mixed with jelly..." After Amazon finished, she scratched her frazzled head, as if giving such a specific description had exhausted all of her brainpower.

"Ah..." Mizuno furrowed his brow.

Why did that combination sound so much like a culinary abomination? If he really combined those ingredients the way she described, could he make a drink comparable to Uma Mint?

"Well? I said all of it, didn't I?" Amazon laughed loudly while taking a bandage from her pocket and wrapping it around Mizuno's palm with one hand.

Amazon's bandaging technique was quite practiced. Even with only one hand, she was much faster than an ordinary person, and she did not hurt him either. Who knew how many times she had bandaged others—or herself—in private.

"..."

"No need to thank me." Amazon turned her face away and casually swatted Mizuno's bandaged hand aside, using the motion to cover up her flushed, burning cheeks. "So I won this duel, right?"

It was not that Amazon did not want to keep licking. Compared with a moment of enjoyment, however, she cared more about winning the duel. Her intense competitive spirit had pulled her back out of Uma Mint's addictiveness just in time.

After all, as long as she won, she could do whatever she wanted to Mizuno afterward. It was not impossible to change the punishment that would have destroyed his future sex life into something else.

But just as Amazon was happily waiting for Mizuno to admit defeat on his own, Mizuno shook his head. "Sorry, but you haven't won yet."

"Hah? But didn't you just say..."

"I only said I'd admit you were strong. I never said I'd admit defeat." Mizuno defended himself.

"Wow! You sly bastard!" Amazon's eyes widened, and her Umamusume ears flattened back angrily.

A moment ago, when she saw him cut open his palm and act with such guts, she had thought this guy might not be that bad. But in the end, was he still a despicable little villain who loved playing word games?

And what Amazon hated most in her life were villains who played mind games. Not only were they troublesome to deal with, most of them were underhanded too, as disgusting as cockroaches lurking in the corners of a kitchen!

"Damn it!" Amazon gritted her teeth, and her dislike of Mizuno rose another level.

"..." Mizuno felt very innocent about this.

No, he hadn't lied to her about anything, had he? She had clearly misunderstood him on her own, so how had he ended up being called a sly bastard?

Although it was true that he was pretty sly, she still could not accuse him without actual evidence...

But Mizuno no longer needed to explain, because he had already obtained the data he wanted. Next came the part where he used it to mix a new drink.

"Don't rush. Give me a few hours first," Mizuno soothed her, then turned and walked to the dining table, casually pulling out a chair and sitting down.

"Hah? A few hours?" Hearing that Mizuno needed that long to prepare, Amazon was just about to flare up when she saw Mizuno take a pile of things out of that flat pocket of his.

Carrots, honey, apples, bananas, and so on. They were all raw ingredients matching the flavors Amazon had just mentioned, piled across the entire tabletop.

However, Mizuno did not seem to have prepared almonds, so he used brain-boosting walnuts as a substitute.

"What is this?!" Amazon stared at the mountain of ingredients, dumbfounded.

They had clearly searched him earlier and confirmed that he was not carrying anything. Where had he pulled all this from?

The Honey Drink and small knife he had taken out of nowhere before were one thing, but what the hell was this table full of food?

"Kiseki, did you teach him this?" The only explanation Amazon could think of was Fuji Kiseki's amazing magic tricks.

However, Fuji Kiseki was also staring blankly in Mizuno's direction at this moment. Her covered mouth made muffled mmphing sounds, and she looked very surprised too.

So Amazon let go of Fuji Kiseki's mouth.

"Amazon, he's a good person!"

Right. Better keep her mouth shut after all...

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T/N: OSUAFGASFHASFHASFOASH I WANNA BE UMA PYOID BY FUJI KISEKIIIIIIIIII

OKAY PEEPS, this should be the last of the powerstones allowed for basement, mostly because we are catchign up once again, the uploads will pick up speed again once author catches a second? fifth wind? cuz he was posting like crazyyyy went from like 1 upload a week to a bazillion so back to 1 upload a week for basement from meeee maybe 2 if i feel nice