"Melk-senpai, your voice is way too quiet. I can hear you, but she definitely can't," Kael couldn't help but remind him.
Right now, whatever the Melk the First was saying, the Second couldn't hear a single word. Even his lip movements were minimal—bringing in a professional lip-reader probably wouldn't have helped.
The Melk the First froze for a moment when he heard that, then quickly realized the problem. He immediately rummaged through his workshop and took out a stone.
It was an amplifier stone.
This kind of stone grew inside the necks of certain eagles and could significantly amplify sound. Only after using it could the Melk the First's voice be barely heard clearly by ordinary people.
Once he picked up the amplifier stone, his voice finally reached the Melk the Second.
At that moment, the Melk the Second nearly broke down. Kael had already warned her about the Melk the First's issue, but seeing it with her own eyes was a completely different experience. Naturally, father and daughter finally began to speak openly.
Kael didn't interrupt. He was an outsider, after all—though he stayed nearby and listened. Honestly, the Melk the First had absolutely no self-awareness. People had told him before that his voice was too quiet, yet he never took it seriously.
And the result? His daughter misunderstood everything, leading to a whole chain of events. The reason the Melk the Second dressed as a man in the first place was because of him. That realization completely shattered this old father.
He had never imagined that such a flaw of his could cause his daughter so much trouble. He had praised and acknowledged her constantly while she was growing up—but because his voice was too soft, she never heard any of it.
In truth, the Melk the Second's talent in sharpening was terrifyingly strong. In the original story, she once taught Komatsu sharpening techniques. After practicing for a while, Komatsu finally succeeded once.
She praised him for it—until Komatsu asked how long it took her to succeed.
Her answer left him completely silent.
Because what she spent wasn't time, but attempts. She mastered the technique on her very first try.
That was talent.
You could even say that the Melk the Second being picked up by the Melk the First was due to Food Luck. The world itself needed a master sharpener, and she was exactly that.
In terms of sharpening, the Melk the Second was in no way inferior to the First. The knives she forged could just as easily process AIR and other high-level ingredients.
After more than an hour, the misunderstanding between father and daughter was finally resolved. The Melk the First looked at Kael with eyes full of gratitude.
"Thank you so much, Mr. Kael. I heard you're Granny Setsuno's disciple, right? Thank you for bringing my daughter here to see me."
He was genuinely grateful. Without Kael, who knew how long this misunderstanding would have lasted?
"No need to thank me. But as a father, even if your work is important, you should still make time to visit her. No matter what—just a few hours is better than never showing up at all," Kael said.
Honestly, this place wasn't far from Melk Mountain. With the Melk the First's strength, he could go back in no time. Even though forging knives took a lot of time, taking a day or two wouldn't affect much.
"I understand. I owe her that. I'll find a way to make time and go back to see her," the Melk the First nodded seriously.
Then the Melk the Second spoke up.
"By the way, Father, what exactly is your work this time? Why are you forging knives in a place like this? And these finished knives are already incredible—why do you keep forging more?"
She had noticed it earlier. There were already plenty of top-tier Melk knives here, all masterpieces among masterpieces—yet her father kept forging nonstop.
"This knife is being forged at President Ichiryu's request. It's extremely important—meant for preparing air. The Gourmet Solar Eclipse is approaching, and GOD will soon appear."
The Melk the First didn't hide anything. There was no need to.
The Melk the Second was his daughter—he knew her well enough to trust her. As for Kael, he was Granny Setsuno's disciple and already quite strong. He might even be involved in preparing the Eight Ingredients later, so telling him wasn't a problem.
"A knife for preparing air… That's the salad from the Gourmet God Acacia's Full Course Menu, right? I didn't realize it was such an important task."
Any lingering resentment the Melk the Second had vanished instantly. She knew exactly how crucial her father's work was.
That was the Gourmet God's Full Course Menu, after all.
No wonder her father kept chasing an even better knife. Everything finally made sense.
"I couldn't be sure when I'd succeed, so I didn't dare waste time. But now, I'm very close."
The Melk the First spoke calmly. He wasn't as pressured as before. The Gourmet Solar Eclipse was drawing closer, and failure would have huge consequences—but after so many failed attempts, he had accumulated enough experience.
He was confident this time.
"Then I'll stay and help you," the Melk the Second said.
But as soon as she did, the Melk the First shook his head.
"Your physical condition can't handle staying here long-term. Gourmet Cells can adapt to gravity, but they're not immune to it. And your work outside is important too—many chefs are still waiting for you."
He smiled as he spoke. He knew exactly how strong his daughter's sharpening skills were. Even though sharpening wasn't limited to the Melk lineage, the Melk school was the most famous.
Their lineage was like Granny Setsuno among chefs, or Teppei among Gourmet Regenerators.
The Melk the Second's work was extremely important. Even if she were to stop temporarily, she'd need to notify others and finish the backlog first.
She felt a bit disappointed, but didn't argue. She knew her own condition—forcing herself to stay would only make her father spend time taking care of her.
Going back was the best choice.
She also understood the importance of his work. The Melk the Second was very mature—she knew supporting her father was the right thing to do.
By now, Kael had already adapted to the gravity here. After all, two of his Gourmet Demons had already awakened. Even though the Blue Demon didn't directly boost his combat power, it greatly enhanced his Gourmet Cells' adaptability.
While the two were talking, Kael had fully adjusted to the environment.
"Oh right. I also need to collect some Melk Stardust this trip. My master's reserves are running low. I need some myself too—and your daughter probably needs some as well."
Kael hadn't forgotten his main purpose.
"That's easy. I'll take you there. There's plenty of Melk Stardust, but the environment here is dangerous, so very few people can come collect it."
The Melk the First smiled and directly carried his daughter on his back.
There was no helping it—the Melk the Second's Gourmet Cells still hadn't fully adapted to the environment.
Despite being an adult, compared to her three-meter-tall father, she still looked like a child.
Being carried again made her feel a bit embarrassed—Kael was right there, after all—but she didn't say anything. She genuinely couldn't walk there herself.
Part of that was because she didn't know how to leverage resources—by forging knives, she could've traded for plenty of rare ingredients to strengthen her Gourmet Cells.
But because she was hiding her identity, she couldn't act freely. As a result, her strength lagged behind.
Soon, under the Melk the First's guidance, they arrived at the location of Melk Stardust.
Melk Stardust were golden, glowing crystals.
There really were a lot of them. A single piece could last for a very long time.
Kael looked at the crystals, raised his hand, and a blade of light flashed.
In an instant, large amounts of Melk Stardust were severed cleanly. Kael stored them directly into his space.
The Melk the First was already one of their own, and Kael would use this ability openly in the future anyway—there was no need to hide it.
"Where did you put all that Stardust?" the Melk the First asked, stunned.
"That's an ability of my Gourmet Demon—it opens up a storage space for materials," Kael explained simply.
The Melk the First could only feel envious. That ability was ridiculously convenient.
After collecting the Stardust, they headed back. When they returned to the workshop, they saw the Scorpion Demon Cattle still frozen in place.
The Melk the First smacked his forehead and quickly removed the Knocking.
"You're really good at Knocking. You must've learned from Master Jiro, right?"
Since Kael was Granny Setsuno's disciple, learning Knocking from Master Jiro made perfect sense.
"That's right. I did learn from Master Jiro—but I haven't mastered it yet. I can only use intermediate-level Knocking."
Even so, the Melk the First didn't know what to say anymore.
Being Granny Setsuno's disciple meant Kael's cooking skill and talent were terrifying enough. But judging from what he'd seen, Kael was also an incredibly powerful Gourmet Hunter.
It was hard to even describe that level of talent.
After that, Kael mentioned wanting to learn sharpening techniques.
"Do you even have time to learn sharpening?" the Melk the First asked, staring at him like he was looking at a monster.
"Of course. I still have plenty of time. As long as you're willing to teach me, I can learn."
With his talent and the "cheat" provided by his inheritance, mastering sharpening wouldn't be a problem.
"In that case, I'll have my daughter teach you. Her sharpening skills are no weaker than mine now!"
The Melk the First laughed. He still had work to do, so leaving it to his daughter was perfect.
As for passing down their techniques—he didn't mind at all.
Kael had helped them far too much. Without him, his daughter might never have escaped that shadow. Since Kael needed their help, of course they'd agree.
"Then I'll thank you in advance"
As he spoke, Kael infused a stream of energy from the Tree of Life into the Melk the Second.
The next moment, green light radiated from her body—and the scar on her face vanished completely.
That scar hadn't been there since birth. It was left behind when she once observed the Melk the First sharpening knives.
Melk knives were incredibly sharp.
Two knives hadn't been secured properly. When they fell, they sliced through the air itself, leaving that scar on her face.
She never cared much about appearances, so she left it alone all these years. With a Gourmet Regenerator's abilities, removing such scars would've been easy.
Unless it was a special scar—like the ones on Toriko's or Teppei's faces.
Those came from Gourmet Demons and couldn't be erased.
The Melk the Second's scar, however, was easily removable. She just hadn't left Melk Mountain, so she never dealt with it.
Truthfully, she was already quite beautiful—even in a series with very few beautiful women, she stood out despite the scar.
Now that it was gone, she looked even more striking.
She thanked Kael once again. After staying a little longer, the two prepared to leave.
After all, the Melk the First still had important work waiting for him.