Everybody was wearing their …uniform Had they just come back from ?school
「Yuna-san, why are you here in the ?capital Did you come because of ?work」
「Not really. What about you ?guys What are you up to?」
Had they come here to do homework or ?something
I had always kept to myself, so I had never partic.i.p.ated in a study session .before
Well, I hadn’t needed to study to begin with, so I wasn’t making .excuses It was just that I had always been able to do everything by myself without a problem and hadn’t needed any .help
「We came to discuss our school festival .project」
「School festival ?project」
It seemed they weren’t here just to hold a study session, after .all
「.Yes The students of the academy have to prepare a program for the school .festival We’ll all be partic.i.p.ating, but we can’t seem to decide on what to .do..」
Shia .explained
It looked like even the schools in this world held events like school .festivals
By the time I had entered junior high school, I had already become a shut-in, so my only knowledge of school festivals was limited to what I had seen on TV or read in .manga
Maybe the festivals were similar in both ?worlds I grew a bit curious at the prospect of joining one .here
「A school festival sounds .interesting」
「If you like, you can come and see .us」
「?Really」
「In general, only those who live in the capital can come, but we are also allowed to invite acquaintances from elsewhere, so there’s no .problem」
Well, I did want to take a look, but would it be a good idea to go to a crowded place with my Bear ?Suit
Wouldn’t people mistake me for a mascot, ?then Or, at least look at me ?weird
「Anyways, did you guys at least come up with an idea for what you want you want to ?do」
Eleanora-san, who had been listening this whole time, chimed .in
「Yes, but our ideas are all over the place, so we can’t pick .one..」
Shia said, taking a glance at her schoolmates behind her
「Anyway, we ended up deciding to discuss it further .here」
「At least you should have a lot of ideas, .then What are ?they」
Eleanora-san asked and looked at everybody .expectantly
Marcus answered .first
「I suggested that we hold a sword .compet.i.tion」
「A magic compet.i.tion might be nice, .too」
Cattleya added her .idea
While sword and magic compet.i.tions sounded typical for a fantasy world, wasn’t that a bit dangerous for a school ?festival
「I want to make something we can .sell」
Timor added .in
「And you, ?Shia」
「I’m fine with doing a compet.i.tion, but as we already spar during our regular lessons, I hoped we could do something that can only be done for the school .festival」
「That’s exactly why we should do a .compet.i.tion It’ll stand out, and we don’t have to prepare .anything .Easy」
「True, but it will be almost the same as what we do in our .cla.s.ses」
「Yes, but people outside of the school don’t get to see it, do ?they」
Did Marcus really want to show off that ?badly
If he wanted to stand out that much, I had a great piece of advice for him: just put on a Bear .Outfit
「How about we really open a stand and sell ?something」
「What would be sell, ?though」
「Food, ?maybe」
「Other cla.s.ses are already doing food carts, .though」
「Yes, I’ve also overheard them bragging about how they have already gathered a lot of delicious ingredients to .use」
Marcus and Cattleya pointed out the problems with Timor’s .suggestion
「So, Marcus and Cattleya want to hold a compet.i.tion, and Timor wants a .stall What about you, ?Shia What would you ?prefer」
After listening to the explanation of other three’s suggestion, Eleanora-san asked Shia .again
「If I had to pick between them, then the stall, I .guess」
「How about you two, Cattleya and .Marcus Would you be okay with a ?stall 」
「I want to stand out, so we shouldn’t pick something too .normal..」
「I’m also okay with the stall idea as long as we make it .interesting I most certainly want to avoid selling the same thing as other .people」
Basically, Marcus was fine with a stand as long as it stood out from the rest, while Cattleya wanted to sell unique .things
In that .case.. they just needed something unique that would also stand .out
「Shia, Timor, what do you think about the compet.i.tion ?idea」
「I don’t mind, but it depends on how we gather the .contestants Usually, those who want to partic.i.p.ate are all strong .people」
「If we’re not doing a stand, then we have no other choice but to go with a .compet.i.tion」
「In other words, you’re all okay with each other’s idea to some .extent」
For some reason, Eleanora-san started to take lead of their planning even though she was an unrelated .party
Did she have an occupational ?disease Eleanora-san was the type of person to throw herself into managing all things she found interesting immediately but on the other hand refused to do all troublesome .work
「In that case, let’s think over the stall option .first You can compete with other people anytime, but you don’t get many chances to run a stand, after .all」
「True, but even though Timor suggested it, he didn’t have any good ideas for what we should .sell」
「That’s why all of us should try to brainstorm something .together」
「Yes, if we keep acting like this, we’ll never .decide We have to submit our program soon, so we don’t have much time .left」
Shia looked .troubled
「Shia, you should suggest something, .too」
「That’s .right We don’t mind doing a stand, but we need to decide what to sell if that’s the .case」
A school festival, .huh I had never partic.i.p.ated in one, but I did have some similar experiences like opening stores, performing in plays, and even making .music
Still, as expected of a fantasy world, people here did do interesting projects involving swords and .magic There were most likely quite a few school festival programs that could only be found in this .world
「Yuna-san, do you have any good ideas, ?perchance」
「?Me」
Suddenly, they involved me into their .discussion
「Yuna-san, you’re running a shop in Crimonia, ?right Do you have something that’s rare and will be popular if served at a school ?festival」
「Shia, you shouldn’t ask Yuna-chan for something like .that..」
Eleanora-san scolded .Shia
Something rare that would be popular, ?huh It should also be easy to make, ?right
Making pudding was too time-consuming, and they could have issues with procuring enough eggs, so I immediately removed it from the .list
They would need a stone oven if they wanted to make pizza, so if they had to run the stand indoors, they wouldn’t be able to use .one What else could I offer ?them
「Yuna-chan, you don’t have to think about it that .seriously This is their .problem」
Eleanora-san’s warning made everybody stare at the .floor
Well, this was starting to get quite interesting for me, so I decided to ponder for a bit .longer
It shouldn’t be something completely .standard For example, it could even be things that were done for other festivals, like goldfish ladling, ring toss, or target .shooting If they ran a food stall, they could serve thing like yakisoba, shaved ice, candied apple, grilled squid, grilled corn, and frankfurt !sausages Oh, I had completely forgotten all about .those
Anyway, there were plenty of foods that were easy to .make If I recall, I had even made some of them some for Fina and Shuri .before Those two hadn’t recognized the dishes, so maybe there weren’t any regular festivals in this ?world
Well, they had grown up in poor conditions, so that could be why they had never heard about .them Fortunately, Fina’s family no longer had to worry about food ever since we had .met
「I might have a good .idea Do you want to hear ?it」
「You ?do! Please tell !us」
Shia sounded very happy when I told her I might have something for .them
「Well, I don’t know if anybody here has heard about this .before It’s very possible that all of you know already what it .is」
「What is ?it」
「There is a type of candy made from granulated .sugar It’s texture is like .cotton Does this country have anything ?similar 」
「Candy that’s like ?cotton I’ve never heard of anything like .that How about you ?guys」
Shia’s school friends shook their heads, so we all turned to Eleanora-.san
「I’ve never heard of something like that, .either」
Eleanora-san didn’t know what I was talking about, either, but I shouldn’t completely rely on the
people .here There were two daughters of n.o.bility, the son of a knight, and the son of an important financial .figure It was possible they never heard of it because it wasn’t considered a high-cla.s.s .candy I should ask someone with a normal background just in .case
Just as I was thinking of who to ask, Suririna-san came into the room with some .tea
「Sorry for .intruding I’ve brought some .tea」
「Thank you, .Suririna」
Suririna placed the tea on the table and started to .leave
「Please call me if you need anything .else」
Maids should be considered commoners, ?right
I could trust that her answer would more accurately reflect that of the common .folks
「Suririna-san, if you don’t mind, I have a question for .you」
Just as Suririna-san was about reach the door, I stopped .her
「A question for ?me I will try my best to answer .it」
「Do you know of a candy made from granulated sugar that has texture like ?cotton」
「Candy that is like ?cotton」
Suririna-san tilted her head as she thought about .it
So, n.o.body knew of cotton candy in this world, ?then
「I’m sorry, but I’m not quite sure if I’ve heard of something like that .before」
「Then maybe this idea will .work Suririna-san, I would like your opinion on this as well, so could you please join ?us」
「Madam, may ?I」
Suririna-san looked at Eleanora-.san
「I see no problem with .it」
Having received Eleanora-san’s permission, I took out a certain device from the Bear .Box
「Yuna-san, what is ?this」
「This is called a cotton candy .machine It can make candy that looks like .cotton」
I had worked pretty hard to make this .thing
One day, I had come across a shop that sold granulated sugar and realized I could make cotton .candy I had immediately tried to make the machine, but my first try was a .disaster Only after many adjustments and hours of hard work, I had managed to make a functional cotton candy .machine
In the end, I had used it only once even though I had gone through all that trouble of making .it Anybody would get tired of eating cotton candy very quickly, after .all
It was something to be eaten once in awhile and most definitely not .everyday That was why I had left it to collect dust at the bottom of my Bear Box till .now
Following the machine, I also took out some granulated sugar I had bought at the shop and poured it into the circular mound in the middle of the .machine
「That’s just normal granulated sugar, ?right」
「Yes, you can buy these at both in Crimonia and the .capital」
I had first discovered that this sugar was sold at the capital, but later got Fina to tell me where I could get it at Crimonia as .well
Quite a few people liked to buy it to make sweets, it .seemed
「And we can make this cotton candy with ?this」
「.Yeah」
I placed a fire magic stone into the machine and the center began to heat .up Quickly, I began to spin the sugar, and onn the side of the center circular mound, white cotton-like threads began to pop .up
「Yuna-!san Something weird is !appearing」
「That’s cotton .candy」
More and more threads started to gather; oops, this wasn’t the time to .stare I completely forgot to prepare the wooden .sticks No, not disposable chopsticks, but proper wooden .sticks
I quickly took out a couple from the Bear Box and started to move one in a circular motion around the inside of the circular mound of the machine, causing the threads to immediately start coiling around .it
I was a bit clumsy at first but slowly got used to .it
The cotton candy grew bigger and bigger as I continued swirling the stick to coil more threads onto .it
「Yuna-san, this is .amazing」
「Wow, it’s getting .bigger」
Once the cotton candy seemed big enough, I stopped the machine from .spinning
The first cotton candy was .complete It looked just like the ones that could be bought at a food .carts The shape looked a bit off, but that couldn’t really be helped as I didn’t have much experience in making them .yet
「Here, it’s .done」
Everybody looked at me and the cotton candy in awe as I offered it to .them
「Is anything ?wrong」
「No, .um.. it is just really strange, that’s .all」
「Yuna-san, is this ?magic」
「No, it’s candy made of .sugar」
I said and held out the cotton candy closer to .Shia
「It really looks like .cotton」
「Yeah, it .does」
Everybody continued staring at .it
「Yuna-san, how do you eat ?this」
Oh right, n.o.ble ladies shouldn’t gnaw on things, should ?they
「You pinch off bite-size pieces with your hand and eat .it」
「With your ?hand」
「Oh, could it be that n.o.bles shouldn’t eat things using their ?hands」
「No, there’s no such custom, .but..」
Shia looked at the cotton candy again, then pinched some off with her fingers and ate .it
「It’s .sweet」
「Well, it is .sugar What did you ?expect」
I didn’t use any other ingredients, so of course it tasted like .sugar
「Shia, let me try some as .well」
Shia pa.s.sed the cotton candy to Eleanora-san who pinched a bit off to try .it
「Wow, this is really .sweet」
「Shia, can you let me try some as ?well」
「I would also like .some」
「Me .also」
Cattleya, Marcus, and Timor’s curiosity were .piqued
Shia held the cotton candy out in front of them, and they all pulled off a .piece
「It melts in your mouth .instantly」
「It’s so .weird」
「It is, but it’s so .good」
It seemed all five of them were really trying it for the first .time
「Suririna-san, this is the candy I was talking .about Have you seen it ?before」
Shia pa.s.sed the cotton candy to Suririna-san who also pinched off a piece and put it in her .mouth
「No, I’ve never heard of or tasted candy like this .before」
「Shouldn’t this be a good thing for you to sell at the school festival, ?then Do you think it will sell ?well」
The students looked at each other then looked back at .me
「It will stand out like how Marcus wants it, and it’s unusual, which is what Cattleya .wants Also, it can be sold at a stall like Timor .wants I put everyone into .consideration」
「Yuna-san, we’re very thankful for your idea, but are you sure it’s okay to let use use your recipe like ?that」
「Yes, would it really be ?okay If we promoted it, I am certain it will sell, .but..」
Shia and Timor were worried if it was okay for them to sell this unknown .candy
It wasn’t that amazing, and it also wasn’t something to be eaten .everyday It was best to only eat it during .festivals Just recalling eating cotton candy at festivals when I had been in elementary school brought a smile to my .face
「Yuna-chan, wouldn’t it be better for you to serve this at your ?shop」
「This candy is meant for festivals, so I have no intention of selling it .there」
「Meant for ?festivals ?Really」
「Well, if it bothers you that much, just promise me to keep the method of production a .secret」
Once I said that, Eleanora-san looked at the .students
「Can all of you keep quiet about how it’s ?made If you can’t promise us that, I won’t give you permission to make .it」
「Eleanora-?san」
Why would a school event being ran by the students need Eleanora-san’s ?permission Not to mention this was just cotton candy we’re talking about .here
「I want to try this, so I promise I won’t tell .anybody」
「I promise as .well」
「I’ll bring the secret to my .grave」
「… I won’t tell anybody .either」
Everybody agreed to Eleanora-san’s .demand
「Alright .then Yuna-chan, I’m sorry, but can you please teach them how to make ?it」
Just like that, it was decided that they would sell cotton candy for the school festival, and we immediately began .practicing
Still, why was Eleanora-san managing everything ?here
Author’s Notes:
I apologize for the delay.
We’ve just released the information regarding the publication of Volume 3.
I appreciate all your support.
Also, the school festival arc officially begins!