◈ 500. [Side Story] New Year’s Festival (2)
When I came out to the streets, the whole city was already in a festive mood.
Originally, on New Year’s Day, all you have to do is eat traditional meat stew and go to the temple to pray.
This year, stalls were set up in every street, and the citizens who poured out were laughing and chatting happily while walking the streets.
I felt bad because I saw ugly collapsed buildings among the babbling people.
Crossroads still hadn’t fully recovered from the aftermath of the invasion of the Gorgon Three Sisters.
Buildings were torn down everywhere, and roads were devastated everywhere.
At least, the magic construction technology brought from the Lake Kingdom was introduced, so the restoration was quick, but it would still take several months to restore all the damage.
And on top of these half ruins, people were laughing.
The new year and the festival… … It seems to have such an effect that it lifts the mood even for those who are depressed.
“Jooh! What shall we go eat first!”
Evangeline roared as her fists clashed vigorously in front of her chest. After that, Damian and Junior Lucas followed suit.
Seeing that everyone was wearing earplugs and gloves because of the cold weather, they were perfect kids. Aww, cute things.
Together with the chattering children, I entered the city. There were several stalls, but among them, there was a store that made up the city of Munjeonseong.
“Oh nice smell… ! What!”
Attracted by the savory smell of grilling, Evangeline ran towards it, swallowing saliva. When I went there, a greeting came from inside the store.
“Oh boss! Welcome and Happy New Year!”
Quylan and other members of the penal unit were baking something hard in the oven inside the stall.
All five people in human mode took off their shirts to see if the stove was hot and was doing business, but there were crowds of female customers who were fascinated by their well-toned muscular bodies… … .
‘These bastards use cheats.’
Before admiring their national muscle show, I was worried about catching a cold.
Especially, Kuylan, aren’t you still a sunfish in human mode? I’m cold, are you okay?
“Kuilan, you too, have a Happy New Year, wear some clothes and do business… What are you selling anyway?”
“Whoop whoop. What do you mean by this?”
When I asked, Kuylan grinned and grabbed the bread-like thing stuck in the oven with tongs and yanked it out and put it on a plate.
It sizzles with the remaining heat… … The dumplings were cooked to a brown color that was appetizing!
“The New Year’s traditional food of our Papillang tribe! Special hometown dumplings!”
“Ohh.”
I admired this plausible appearance.
Come to think of it, we had that conversation last year. The Dolpilang tribe eats these dumplings instead of stew on New Year’s Day. I have a recipe from my older brother, so I promise to treat it to you when the opportunity arises.
Then, it seems that he was really prepared. In several ovens, dumplings cooked at the same time, giving off a savory and spicy scent.
“Wow?! It must be absolutely delicious!”
Spitting out, she rushed in front of the dumplings Evangeline had just taken out.
“Can I eat it?!”
“Of course, sir. Eat to your heart’s content! ah! However, as a precaution, you must swallow it in one bite! If you spill even one soup, you’re out of luck this year! You can see that there is none!”
As soon as the permission was granted, Evangeline said she liked it and put the dumplings in one bite.
“It’s hot!”
I screamed right away.
It was quite hot, so I ran around with a bright red face, but I didn’t even manage to spit it out. Evangeline swallowed the hot dumplings with her shoulders shaking.
“My luck is… I can’t shed it… … !”
“It seems that the stupidity is already flowing.”
Anyway, Evangeline, who had finally finished her meal, became teary-eyed and muttered.
“The roof of your mouth is scorched… I’m not going to muggle today… … .”
oops I sighed and glanced at Damian.
“Damian. please.”
“yes. Bye bye~”
When Damian cast a simple healing spell, Evangeline’s tear-stained face straightened at once.
“Ooh! The palate is healed! No, wait a minute, if you have a healer, you can eat no matter how damaged the roof of your mouth is, right?!”
Evangeline laid out the dumplings that Kuilan had just brought out in front of me.
“Senior, please eat quickly! You won’t get lucky if you eat while it’s hot! If it’s Day, you can use Damien Chance!”
“It’s okay, I’ll cool it down and eat it… .”
what a fool It’s like having a day on the roof of your mouth, and believing that your luck will run away this year just because you shed some juice.
Thinking about it, I looked to the side and saw Lucas and Damian Jr., who had already put the dumplings in their mouths, suffering with blushing faces… … Are you all stupid?
While the party members agonized over the hot dumplings, I grabbed a plate and sat casually on a chair in front of the stall. It was meant to be eaten when it cools down enough.
Just then, I heard a whisper from the table next to me.
“Hmm, that guy is the beastman king… .”
“You really have great lats.”
“Muscles aren’t bad. But where is the red hair Yoon said… … ?”
“I don’t think he would be bad as a son-in-law if he had hair… .”
When I turned around, I saw warriors from the Northern Kingdom with pale skin and clothes made of white fur. They were looking at Quylan and whispering about such a conversation.
No, why are you doing a muscle test? And why are you looking for a replacement fur… … ?
The northern princess, Yoon, the representative of this suspicious furry-loving group, was sitting in a seat not far away.
And he was desperately blowing in his breath to cool the hot dumplings.
‘I think it’s already cooled down.’
He waved his hand and said goodbye.
“Happy New Year, Yoon.”
“Oh, Your Highness Prince Ash!”
Yoon, who put the dumplings down, showed me a courtesy.
“I hope you have a warm year like spring snow.”
I guess this is a Northern New Year’s greeting. By the way, is the spring snow warm? I still don’t know the northern mentality.
I moved to her side and whispered, looking at Quylan.
“I’m asking just in case, is Quylan still building an iron wall?”
“That’s right ha ha… .”
Yoon let out a sigh.
“I didn’t think I would do anything like this… My self-esteem is already in tatters. Whew. Do I really have to kidnap her?”
“Don’t say anything scary!”
“huh? It’s pretty common in the North. son-in-law kidnapping. Is it a tradition that has come down from a long time ago? If I see a decent man, I snatch it like a hunt… … .”
“Then don’t be scary!”
The Punishment Unit is my precious sub-party! Kidnapping your marriage is a bit embarrassing!
“What should I do to make that man look at me properly… Please help me, Your Highness the Prince. Any good way?”
Yoon complained to me, but didn’t he know? I don’t even know my relationship, but would you know that it’s someone else’s relationship?
Still, looking at Yun, who was sullen after months of courtship was useless, I nodded my head, as it seemed a little late.
“… I’ll ask a little later. What do you think?”
“Oh really?! Are you helping me?”
“What is it… . To some extent.”
When I agreed, Yoon, whose face brightened, flirted and put his dumplings on the plate into his mouth and said,
“Aww!”
He said it was hot right away and spit it out on the plate.
‘… Can’t eat hot, Northerners?’
I thought as I swallowed my moderately cooled dumplings in one bite. By the way, didn’t Princess Yoon blow all her luck this year?
***
In addition to the dumpling stalls in Quylan.
It was because various forces from all over the world were gradually entering the Crossroads, and in the meantime, there were several food stalls that had not been heard of before.
Elves’ nut tea house, Dwarf’s Teppanyaki Steak, Mermaid’s raw salmon sashimi, and so on. There were some pretty decent stalls, too.
Many of the rest were subtly grotesque, so I only tasted a little or didn’t eat at all. Pickled herring is too much for me… … .
“Surprisingly good to eat?!”
“Mmmm!”
The duo of knights Evangeline and Lucas shouted like that after courageously trying to pickle herring. I understand, so walk away for a while. It smells like pickled herring.
After entering the city and walking through the stalls, I saw an exceptionally decent stall. It was a stall at the top of Wintersilver.
During the previous festival, stores from the Winter Silver Merchant were scattered all over the city, but this time it was the only one.
“Oh, Your Highness!”
The serenade that happened to be here greeted me.
“Are you here?”
“huh. Happy New Year Serenade.”
“Whoops. I hope His Highness will receive it abundantly.”
I asked while examining the stalls that were decent but bigger than usual.
“I had a hard time preparing for the festival. Did you scale it down a bit this year?”
“yes. Unlike the autumn festival, it’s just a simple enjoyment of today, and restoration work is still going on everywhere, so I thought it shouldn’t be too crowded… … Our top stalls have been scaled down.”
Certainly, during the festival last fall, I remember being able to play simple games here and there and give stamps.
But even now, it’s still small, so it has its own taste.
“Instead, we brought in Hwangdo’s specialties that are difficult to eat or see in the frontier at low prices. Please enjoy.”
It was as it was said. The stalls at the top of Wintersilver sold various dishes and products, all of which were hard to find in Crossroads.
There was one in particular that caught our attention.
“What is that?”
Damian blinked his round eyes.
“cloud? Are you selling clouds?”
What Damian pointed out is… … It was a cotton candy machine.
It was a machine similar to the one on Earth, and while rotating a large cylinder with magical power, it melted sugar into a thread form and entangled it.
The cotton candy maker was a woman with dark blue hair in a maid’s uniform, but her eyes were cold compared to her fancy hand movements and body movements.
It was Elise, the escort of Serenade… … .
I stood in front of him and waved my hand awkwardly.
“uh… Hello Elise. happy New Year.”
“… Hello, Your Highness. Good luck.”
“cotton candy… do you make it?”
“It’s just that I was put in here because there was not enough manpower.”
Elise, who muttered something depressingly, glanced at the serenade standing in the distance, then looked at me again.
“… Would you like to eat? Delicious.”
I ordered 5 pieces.
In contrast to her stiff face, Elise skilfully put together the cloud-like sugar threads to make cotton candy and handed them out to us one by one.
“Ya~ It’s been a while since I ate!”
“When I was young, I used to eat it sometimes when festivals were held in the ecliptic. It is a memory.”
Evangeline and Lucas had lived in the ecliptic before, so they seemed to have eaten it before and said,
“Delicious… ?! melted… … ?!”
Junior was surprised by the taste of the first taste and jumped up and said,
“Wow! The clouds came out as lumpy as our plump ones!”
Damian couldn’t even open his mouth and just watched the cotton candy in admiration. Your hamster plump still seems to be doing well.
I also tore off some cotton candy and melted it. sweet and sticky This raw and violent feast of sweetness… … Long time no see.
Like that, the five of us are eating cotton candy slowly,
“Oh, Your Highness?!”
“Happy New Year!”
“Happy New Year!”
My comrades who had just entered the stalls at the Winter Silver Merchant’s Office greeted me.
Janice Torkel and the newly joined Warlock Chain blind swordsman Nobody. Lastly, it was Lily.
The first two were temple workers and the last three were hospitalized patients. I guess I came out to get some fresh air.
I waved at them as they pushed Lily’s wheelchair towards me.
“Happy New Year everyone! Happy New Year to Sid.”
In Lily’s arms, Sid was wrapped in cotton. Only the face is sticking out.
The child who came to the festival for the first time in his life had his eyes wide open as if everything was strange. What does he believe in that he is so cute?
‘But can I go out in the winter with a baby like this?’
No, since it’s a fantasy world, it might be okay. Besides, since I’m living in a temple, I don’t have to worry about my health. Priestess Zenith is also accompanying us.
Putting unnecessary worries aside, I asked, pointing towards the cotton candy machine.
“Would you all like to have a piece of cotton candy?”
i decided to buy it Elise skillfully pulled out a new cotton candy.
“here.”
Elise handed the freshly pulled cotton candy to Lily as if it were natural, without anyone asking. Is it an illusion? It seems to be several times bigger than ours.
Lily smiled and accepted the cotton candy.
“thank you.”
“I really appreciate it.”
Elise’s face, which had been dead for a while, was rarely reminded. I asked what he saw and liked so much, and sure enough, it was Sid who belonged to Lily.
“cute… .”
Elise muttered sullenly. Can’t you just raise the tone of your voice? With a voice like that, it’s a bit scary.
Lily took off the tip of the cotton candy she received and carefully put it in Sid’s mouth.
‘Are you hygienic?! Can a child eat sugar?!’
In an instant, all kinds of worries passed by, but no, it’s a fantasy world! romance! Only two priests right next to me! It’s okay to tidy up!
Sid’s eyes widened even more as he took a bite of cotton candy, disregarding modern-earthly concerns. It’s a face that looks like
His face was so funny that everyone in the room burst into laughter.
“How are you, baby?”
Even though I wouldn’t be able to see that face, I wonder if I noticed the situation with the atmosphere.
I heard the blind swordsman Nobody muttered softly.
“That is the taste of life.”
“… .”
Standing next to him and receiving his share of cotton candy, Thorkell carefully put his helmet back and put the cotton candy in his mouth.
“… indeed.”
After carefully tasting the cotton candy with his chapped chin, Thorkell smiled faintly.
“Life sometimes tastes like this.”
Janice and Chain also put their cotton candy in their mouths and looked at Sid with their respective smiles.
The child babbles and continues to swallow the cotton candy his mother breaks.
It was a perfect time for the scenery of the first day of the new year.
