Jidou Hanbaiki ni Umarekawatta ore wa Meikyuu o Samayou
Author: Hiru k.u.ma
—
ContestSeveral days pa.s.sed since the Fake Incident, and the days were returning to normal in the community on the Seiryu Lake Level, so I am once again partic.i.p.ating in the conference between the restaurant shopkeeperss.
"Thanks to employing a large amount of Hunters who can use Earth Magic, the community"s walls have been recovered by 90%."
"O-, the Hunter a.s.sociation was also working hard, na."
"With the walls up, the defenses are perfect."
When Munami, the usual moderator, clapped, the other shopkeepers also clapped their hands and applauded.
The repairs of the defenses were done quicker than they thought because, as Munami had explained, in large part due to the Hunter a.s.sociation hiring a large amount of those who could use Earth Magic.
Previously it had been a wall where over half was comprised only of stakes of wood, and you would be too embarra.s.sed to call a defense, but now a tall, st.u.r.dy earthen wall surrounds the community.
"Quiet down everyone. It seems that the defenses will be completed in another two weeks. Once safety has been secured, the community will develop more and more, and people will most likely come flooding in. And so I think we shopkeepers should hold an event, and say it"s in commemoration of the completion of the defenses."
It must be thanks to that Chain Restaurant incident that this level"s restaurant shopkeeperss are so unified. It"s great that they all work together without any hostility, na.
"I was thinking that the event should be an eating contest."
"Aa, "cause Hunters eat a lot. That"ll liven things up, won"t it?"
"Ya, if we hand out a prize for the winner, we can expect partic.i.p.ants."
"If we take a partic.i.p.ation fee, then our side won"t go into the red, neither."
An eating contest, huh? It"s simple so the rules are easy to understand, too; looks like it"ll do well.
"About that, is food that will easily fill the stomach good?"
"How about making sweet things particularly for the female side?"
"On the other hand, if we have food that"s easy to eat, the spectators of the eating contest might be happier."
Various opinions flew about and a lively discussion unfolded. Last time they were all just relying on me, but looking at how things are going as they get excited by themselves, I"m relieved.
-tte, talking about them like I"m above them is a rude thing to do. Even though I"m just borrowing the power of the products from inside a vending machine.
"Then we"ll be aiming for the event to be held in two weeks, so we"ll have the oddities store shopkeeper make us pamphlets and posters. Everyone, let"s get excited!"
"O—-!"
While gazing at the shopkeepers who pump their fists into the air, am I really needed here… is what I"m thinking. They didn"t ask me for my opinion even once, so it"s a bit lonely.
While watching the excited shopkeeperss - really, why did they bring me here?
—
It"s been several days since then, but within the community, things have been turned topsy-turvy with the preparations for the event.
The event grounds has been decided to be the square in front of the Hunter a.s.sociation, and the work on setting it up has also progressed. Although we"re in the middle of rebuilding, there seems to be an excess of carpenters, so even though they were limited to how many could work on it a day, a frightfully splendid stage was put up.
Posters that stated the eating contest was going to be held were posted everywhere, and flyers were also distributed. Looks like the excitement has reached a climax as we near the appointed day.
For the partic.i.p.ants, each store is providing rewards, so if you slide into the top five places, it seems you can win quite a nice prize. From the gossip, I"ve heard that there"s armor from the armor shop, a full set of Hunter tools from the tool shop, and other things that anyone would want if they"re a Hunter are lined up as prizes.
Thanks to that, the partic.i.p.ant candidates for the eating contest are increasing day by day, and the sponsors raised a delighted scream, and besides that,
"Hakkon-san, lend us your power!"
Once again I was invited to a joint meeting, but the shopkeepers, raising a real scream instead of a delighted scream, clung to me in tears.
Each and every one of them had hollow looks, so it"s like a herd of zombies is closing in on me.
"H,hang on, you"re scaring Hakkon!"
"Ya old men, calm yourselves."
Pacified by Ramis and Hyurumi, who came along with me, the shopkeepers somehow calmed down and returned.
"And so, what"cha askin" Hakkon for? I heard the preparations for the eating contest are goin" well."
"Un, un. I"m also looking forward to partic.i.p.ating." (Ramis)
"That is, Ramis. Certainly the partic.i.p.ants were increasing and it was going well. Yes, it was going well… it was. Until we learned of THEIR partic.i.p.ation."
Here, Munami s.p.a.ced out her words while staring seriously at Ramis.
"They" came? What I a.s.sociate with those disturbing words, for some reason, are people who would slip in like a.s.sa.s.sins and hara.s.s us. The ones who come to mind is the Chain Restaurant.
"In the eating contest, the contest destroyers, vacuum-girl Shui and the Big Eaters Brigade, are partic.i.p.ating."
Munami opened her mouth once again, and when I heard her declaration, all of a sudden I understood how they were driven into a corner.
Regarding the appet.i.te of Shui, the one and only big eater girl from The Fools of Whimsy Brigade, I can attest to it from the number of coins she"s sunk into me. On any given day she"ll easily put away three times that of a normal person and,
"It"s easier to move if my stomach is only half full -ssu."(Shui)
If that girl, who can make such a big claim with a completely calm expression, partic.i.p.ates, it"s not inconceivable that it would make the shopkeepers tremble.
And on top of her, add the partic.i.p.ation of the four members of the Big Eaters Brigade; those guys" stomachs aren"t normal at all. Previously, when these five ate and drank seriously, they got refills at least three times.
About Tasmanian devils, it seems like it"s possible for them to eat half their weight. Although they"re pet.i.te, their body weight is about 50 kilos. If that"s the case, it means they can easily eat past 20 kilos if they go at it seriously. With four such bodies partic.i.p.ating, well, yeah, it can"t be helped if the shopkeepers are terrified.
There"s a partic.i.p.ation fee, but if it"s like this it won"t be enough at all with these five mixed in.
"Like this, rather than a deficit, we"ll be bankrupt! No matter how much food there will be, it won"t be enough!"
"If the Big Eaters Brigade partic.i.p.ates, even the kitchen sc.r.a.ps from the ingredients won"t be left…"
"In the end, even though everyone unified and worked hard, with this, it"s all over."
In despair, the shopkeepers dropped to the ground, beating it with their fists, and kept glancing over at me with flattering looks. I seem to have memories of a similar experience from before, you know. For now, you can stop this little farce.
"So basically it"s that. Ya want Hakkon to make a plan to deal with the five big eaters and provide supplies, na."
As if they had practiced before, the shopkeepers nodded their heads up and down in perfect sync.
To satisfy those big eaters, you"ll have to let them eat a large amount of stuff; otherwise you"ll have give them something filling either beforehand or during.
There"s that, na; I wonder if making the drink a beverage with carbonation in them will do. If you make the items for the big eaters have a heavy taste or spicy, they will get thirstier more easily, and their intake of the carbonated beverage will increase.
So thinking, I dropped a 2-liter of cola into the retrieval bin. Ramis took the cola and placed it on top of the table; the shopkeepers gathered around, but they didn"t know what it was so they tilted their heads.
"Uuuum, see, this is a drink that has a funny sensation going down the throat, like bubbly and stuff." (Ramis)
"I like ta" drink it, but this guy"s sweet and fills your stomach. Ain"t Hakkon trying to say that if ya offer this drink with the food, the amount they eat will go down? How "bout it, Hakkon?"
"Welcome."
Even after hearing the two"s explanation it seems they don"t get it, so Ramis poured it in cups and handed it out to everyone. Even though they accepted the cups, as they stared at it, no one brought it to their mouths.
Their shoulders flinched again and again as they were surprised by the bubbles that came up bursting. Unwilling to watch the shopkeepers like that, Hyurumi drained hers all at once.
"Kuhaa, I"m gonna get addicting to this popping stimulation in my throat."
The shopkeepers, seeing her wiping her mouth after drinking it deliciously, had their curiosities stimulated, and, although it was just one mouthful, everyone took some in.
"Whoa, what"s this, this sensation?"
"It"s like something is bursting in my mouth. I feel like the taste is too sweet, but thanks to the fizziness, it"s easy to drink."
"I might like this."
Looks like the opinions are largely favourable. Just, there will probably be people who don"t like it, so that"s probably going to be the main problem.
"I wonder if the partic.i.p.ants won"t complain if we replace the water with this."
"A-, yeah. For me, this is kinda not good."
"If that"s the case, then it would be fine to let them choose if they want this or water?"
"No no, like that it"s obvious that the ones who drink water are at an advantage."
The rest is up to the shopkeepers. Since earlier they"ve changed gears and large amounts of opinions and suggestions are coming up, so I think they"re fine now.
When Ramis and Hyurumi, who had been accompanying us as bystanders all this time, were sipping milk tea, a counter-plan had been decided.
The partic.i.p.ants of the eating contest will be offered water or cola, and it doesn"t matter which they choose. Like that, those who choose water will be at an advantage, but that is also in interesting hand to consider.
Before the day of the contest, each store will have cola, selling small amounts for high prices. The idea is that, by doing so, a large amount of partic.i.p.ants will choose cola over water if they know they can drink cola for free on the day of the contest.
Isn"t that a brilliant move? If they"re seriously going for victory they should choose water, but they"re not professional eaters or anything. It can"t be helped to lose to temptations in front of you.
"And so, Hakkon-san. We"d be ever so grateful provided it to us at a reasonable price…"
I can"t help but have a wry grin towards the shopkeepers who are pet.i.tioning me while rubbing their hands, but I had the intention of selling it to them at a price to avoid them from incurring deficits to begin with, so I acknowledged it with, "Welcome."
With this the preliminary preparations have been made. Now I"ll just be looking forward to the day of the contest.
Sorry for the delay. I forgot. Holidays get h.e.l.la busy.>