Chapter 16: Raer Festival
“…≪Burning Peach Candy≫?”
Hiiro muttered while looking at the sign of a store.
“Oh, they’re selling quite the rare fruit!”
“h.e.l.lo, please come closer!”
The stall owner, an energetic old man was radiating with courtesy. Muir looked at the ≪Burning Peach Candy≫ displayed at the stall with sparkling eyes.
“Old man, give us three!”
“Sure thing! Ohh, the little missy’s cute, so I’ll give you an extra big one!”
“Th- Thanks… Ehehe.”
Muir spilled a happy smile.
“Is it good?”
“Yeah, you bet~ The fruit is shaped like a burning fire and while it’s candy, it’s soft enough to masticate it. Well, you’ll understand how burning it is once you try it.”
Being told so. Hiiro ate a mouthful. He certainly could bite it off easily and its taste spread in his mouth while he chewed it. Then suddenly something popped inside his mouth.
“Mh?”
“Hehe, surprised? The p.r.i.c.kling on the tongue is the secret of the ≪Burning Peach≫!”
This flavour was addicting for sure. It was d.a.m.n sweet, yet a treat to your taste buds. This was surely popular with the kids. Muir too was holding her cheek with an entranced expression.
“Okay! Onto the next one!”
Arnold took the lead and the other two followed him.
(So this is a festival. If it got good food, it isn’t all that bad)
Hiiro never went to a festival back in j.a.pan, so he was quite drawn to this new experience. Though it was typically for him to wish that this crowd wasn’t here.
A lot of stalls were similar to the ones in j.a.pan, like a shooting range or drawn lots. Muir was enjoying it to the fullest, but after walking around for a while, Hiiro’s mentality finally started to reach its limit.
(Aw, this sucks. People b.u.mp into me and step on my feet… Can’t they all disappear?)
His thoughts started to wander into dangerous waters. Then he spotted a rather large stall. The sign of the stall read as following:
≪Happiness Shark Sandwich≫
Arnold, looking at the same sign, showed a surprised expression.
“N- No way… THAT Happiness Shark?”
“You know it?”
“Yeah, of course! It’s an ingredient each cook would like to prepare at least once!”
Hiiro presumed that it must be something really good from his excited att.i.tude.
“Listen, the Happiness Shark only lives in the ≪Great Bull Sea≫. Moreover, only at its deepest part, so it rarely comes up to the surface. It’s like super rare, but it appears for a short while for laying eggs. It body has a beautiful pink colour and a jade-green horn on its head. It’s said that every single part of its body, be it the horn or fangs, can eaten!”
Arnold spoke with pa.s.sion, but Hiiro basically had no interest in animals, so it went in one ear and out the other.
“So, is it good?”
“Of course! Listen, its taste is said… to top even the ‘Aqua Hound Meat’!”
“Buy it. Now.”
In an instant, Hiiro’s look changed to something close of a killing intent.
“S- Sure.. b- but.”
“What?”
“Look there.”
“Mh?”
Arnold pointed at a cylinder lottery like you often saw at shopping districts.
“They have a limited stock… so you have to win that to eat it.”
“Say… what!?”
A s.h.i.+ver run all over his body. Coming all the way here and not getting to eat this delicious food? Hiiro bit his lips on this torture.
“Each person has one try and it looks like several won already… Oh, the plate says they only have six portions left… The line’s pretty long too, so I guess it’s no good.”
Hiiro clenched his fist frustrated as he saw Arnold throwing in the towel.
(Wait, wait. That ‘Aqua Hound Meat’ was awesome. But I can’t eat the food in front of my eyes that’s even better? How’s that possible… No, the word giving up isn’t in my dictionary)
Hiiro raised his face with a jerk and glared at the stall.
“Let me give you my thanks, old man.”
“Huh?”
“My thanks for showing me this.”
“Gladly, but you can’t eat it…”
“No, there’s no reason to give up.”
He looked at the people spinning the cylinder lottery. Apparently you won when a golden ball dropped out.
(In that case…)
He concentrated magic power in his finger tip.
“Show me your hands, you two.”
“”…Eh?””
The other two looked blankly.
The line in front of the lottery slowly became shorter. With some winning, there were only three portions left at last.
But fortunately, no one else won since then. And then finally…
“My turn.”
Hiiro had its chance. He gulped and slowly spun the cylinder. It clattered and then…
….PLOP
Everyone swallowed their saliva. The ball that dropped out was…
“FUAHAHAHA! Nothing is impossible for me!”
Hiiro burst out in laughter in a exaggerated manner. Yes, he perfectly got a golden ball. And a pale glowing word was written in his fist that was raised high into the air. It said… “good luck”.
He had been worried over what to write. The word “luck” could’ve worked as well, but he wasn’t sure if his luck would increase or decrease through it. What about “come out” then? A ball would have dropped out for sure, but not necessarily a golden one.
Therefore he had written “good luck”, since he could easily imagine becoming lucky through it. Magic meant imagination. Any unnecessary thoughts would reduce its power. So he chose the easy to imagine word “good luck”. His magic was really like a cheat.
Moreover, it was a triple pack. He had written the same word for the other two, because that increased the chance of one of them winning even more.
Still, it meant exposing his magic to them.
(Well, I regret nothing. It’s for the food anyway)
His appet.i.te won over the troubles of having it exposed. As a result, all three of them won in a row. Of course the other two had their mouths gaping wide-open on this scene, but Hiiro considered explaining it to them as he was in a really good mood.
“H- Hey, Hiiro…?”
“I know what you want to ask, but for now… eat!”
In his hands was a dish like a hamburger. The filling was the Happiness Shark of course. It had a light pink colour and was wrapped in some vegetables like lettuce with a salty-sweet sauce.
“MUNCH…. Ohh!?”
Where am I? For a moment, he felt like he was inside the sea with the pressure of the deep sea squeezing his body. Such a rich flavour. The compatibility with the bread was extraordinary and just a single bite let him feel the soul of the ocean.
His body melted away from the stimulation on his tongue, no, inside his whole mouth. Furthermore, he tasted something crunchy. It was the horn that Arnold mentioned before.
Delicious. The fried gristle with excellent seasoning was indescribable delicious, too. His body readily ingested everything, even the bones and fangs.
(Holy cow. Who knew something so delicious existed!)
It was more delicious than any fish he had eaten before. The inside of this stomach was frolicking as if the food was still alive. It was earth-shattering good. Moreover, his body felt like it was br.i.m.m.i.n.g with power.
Wow… Just wow…
(Definitely… a win…)
His cheeks naturally slackened. He might fall asleep on the spot from the rapture if he were to relax. It was a really pleasant sensation, like he was leisurely swimming in the sea under the warm sun.
When he looked at the other two, Muir was relis.h.i.+ng the food too. She seemed to like eating as well, so she was in a good mood from getting to eat something so good. As for Arnold… He was crying for some reason.
To be honest, it was not a pleasant sight to see an old man crying over food. Well, the food was certainly worth crying over, but it somewhat spoiled the mood, so Hiiro decided to smack him afterwards.
“Oh~ I’m stuffed! Stuffed to no end~”
Arnold smiled happily.
“Yeah, it was delicious. Ehm… well…”
Muir looked at Hiiro.
“Uhm… Th- Thank you.”
Seemingly she had wanted to express her grat.i.tude. Hiiro replied with a simple “No prob”, but this triggered Arnold to ask about the ≪Word Magic≫.
“So, will you tell me about what you wrote on my palm earlier?”
“…..Fine.”
“Eh? You’ll really tell me?”
Arnold had thought he would refuse again, so he asked back on reflex.
“What? I can just keep it to myself then.”
“Ah, no, no. Let me hear it! That word… is that your magic?”
“Yes, it’s called ≪Word Magic≫. An unique magic.”
“An unique magic!?”
“You’re too loud! I won’t tell you more!”
“S- Sorry. B- But is it really an unique magic?”
“Yeah. See the word on your palm?”
“Y- Yes.”
“That’s a word from where I lived and I can draw out the effect from the word.”
This world didn’t know of Kanji, so the other two couldn’t read it, so he frankly explained the magic. Both of them listened with a dumbfounded expression.
“Actually, isn’t your magic unfair?”
“*NOD*”
Muir nodded a.s.serting to Arnold’s words.
“Who cares. It’s like an inborn talent.”
“Well, sure, but… Still, I’ve heard of unique magic, but none as powerful as this.”
“Oho, like what for example?”
Hiiro was interested in unique magic besides his own.
“Let’s see, magic that controls s.p.a.ce, magic that brainwashes people and… magic that manipulates other magic.”
“They indeed sound powerful.”
Especially the brainwas.h.i.+ng one sounded dangerous. He didn’t know how it worked, but a magic that bewitches other people’s hearts was too powerful.
“But with your ≪Word Magic≫, you can use any of these magic I just mentioned too, right?”
To be honest, he could. Maybe he couldn’t control it as perfect as the original, but it was possible to use a word with a similar effect.
“Indeed, I can.”
“I knew it, so unfair~ You’re a d.a.m.n cheater~”
“*NOD*”
“It might be omnipotent, but it’s not invincible.”
“What do you mean?”
“Who knows? I’ve no reason to tell you.”
“Grr… Well, you aren’t a fool that would tell others your weakness.”
“Indeed.”
“But leaving that aside, your magic’s still too fascinating! Truly paradisiacal!”
“Whatever. I’m tired, so I’m going to the inn. Also, don’t tell anyone about this.”
“Listen to me!”
Hiiro acted at his own pace as always, whereas the other two sighed and followed him.
“Mh? Enough of the festival already?”
“Eh? Ah, yeah, I’m satisfied…”
“I had fun too!”
“There you have it.”
“Then go book a room, servant.”
“I’m repeating myself, but I ain’t your servant! Also, pay some respect to your elders!”
“Don’t be so arrogant just because you were born earlier.”
“It let me experience more of life! Apologize! Apologize to me right away!”
Hiiro looked at the suddenly shouting Arnold and said.
“…….Don’t become like him, shorty.”
“What do you mean, you d.a.m.n brat!”
Hiiro s.h.i.+fted his gaze to Muir, but she was troubled how to react.
Ignoring Arnold’s annoying outburst, Hiiro headed to the inn. But a problem occurred there.
“….Eh? No free rooms?”
Arnold had his mouth gaping wide-open at the front desk. Behind him, Hiiro was emitted a displeased aura to the max.
“My deepest apologizes. Due to the festival, we have no vacant rooms at the moment.”
What to do now? Arnold sweated bullets, wondering how to reason with the devil behind him that glared at him with a killing intent.
Arnold slowly and quietly turned his head around and looked at the black-haired boy in question.
“What’s the deal, old man?”
“N- Nothing I can do here, can I? When they’re booked out, they’re booked out.”
“….Hah, sleeping outside even though we’re at a town…”
Hiiro muttering so with empty eyes was a rare sight. To be honest, he had hoped to sleep in a proper bed after camping outside for so long, but sadly enough, it was an unaccomplished dream.
“d.a.m.n… Stupid festival… Just explode.”
He said something dreadful, but he had enjoyed the festival himself, so he didn’t snap for real. They should’ve booked a room beforehand. No, even then, the rooms might have booked out already, but he regretted not checking it.
“Excuse me…”
The inn keeper at the front desk called out to them, so the three of them looked at him dispirited.
“If I may suggest, why don’t you try out the Guild?”
“The Guild?”
Arnold t.i.tled his head.
“Ah, yes. The Guild has resting rooms for their staff, but if you talk to them, they might give you a room?”
Upon that, Arnold’s expression brightened up and he nodded.
“I see. On a day like this, they really might give us a room.”
“Are we going there?”
Muir looked at him with an upturned gaze and Arnold placed his hand on her head.
“Yeah, it’s our last hope.”
“I hope it won’t be in vain.”
“Brat! Why’re you saying that! Don’t be so d.a.m.n negative!”
“Let’s hurry.”
“Again, listen to me!”
Hiiro swiftly left the inn, whereas the other two followed in a rush.