Volume 4 Chapter 11.2

Volume 4 Chapter 11.2

Festival is over～」

「Not many stands～」

「Too bad, Elle-chan～」

The octo-gals, floating in the backseat, wasted no time in pointing out how dejected Aearis was. Aearis slightly grimaced at what they said.

「Well, it is true that most of the strange shops distributed according to the people present at the tournament are nearly all gone……」

「No shady shops in sight～」

「No forgeries being sold～」

「Less cheap food～」

「Only half as interesting～」

The octogals lined up in a disorderly manner all the fun aspects of festivals. Douga made a slightly sharp face. He was very thankful to Hiroshi and friends, but felt rather pained that they had instilled the slightest expectations in Aearis’s mind.

Needless to say, this was clearly not the way that a priestess princess ought to feel about festivals, given her status. Douga could take a few steps back and allow her to go around eating some cheap food, but some items, like elbel toad sweat ointment, were not only suspicious but appeared not to have any proper effects, and then she also interested herself in shoddy “handy” goods goods that would crumble with hardly any use. As her guard/chaperone, it was truly an inconvenience to have her waste so much (although this was mere pocket change) on things at times.

That being said, Douga was most disgruntled with Hiroshi, who had probably told Aearis the most about festivals despite hardly even going out to them out of his fear of women.

「I think we should eat something light about now, but what do you all think？」

Somewhat sensing a weird turn in direction, Artiem steered the conversation back on track.

「Aye, that we should」

「That’s a good point, as my stomach is beginning to feel empty.」

Douga and Aearis latched on to Artiem’s change of topic. Sure, they were indeed famished, but still felt a slight impediment in continuing this conversation and were relieved to get out of it.

「So what shall we eat？」

「True, as if we’re not careful we might end up going to a dwarf banquet……」

Douga groaned worriedly at Artiem’s question. These dwarves would find any excuse to throw a party, at noon or whenever. This may paint them as drunkards, but in actuality they had an unfathomable amount of work on a daily basis and it was a general consensus not to comment on the frequency of these parties. Also, even though they tried to come up with pretexts for partying, the dwarves knew when to turn their party game on and off, which was exactly why no one could stop them from partying, which was one of the issues.

「Right, it would be bad if we got roped into one of those events.」

「It would be one thing for me, but youngsters like Your Majesty and Artiem participating in such things would have too many problems.」

Douga deeply sighed at Aearis’s comment, a grimace on his face. There were not many humans whose livers could survive a dwarf party unscathed. Quite honestly, Makoto was an exceptional case. There were only one or two people in villages with above-average populations who could match her level.

「Oh？」

「Elle-sama？」

「Ah, it’s nothing. I see that there are a lot of people gathering around what appears to be a line of stands, is all.」

Artiem stopped the car momentarily at Aearis’s words. This road happened to be for royalty to ride through in limousines, so stopping in the wrong area would be extremely inconvenient for others, but since something had piqued Aearis’s interest, Artiem felt obligated as a servant to listen rather than ignore her and move on.

「I wish to disembark and check this out for a moment……」

「……I don’t see why not, as long as we’re all together」

Briefly considering Aearis’s selfish request, Douga decided to give permission. They were currently the procession for the princess, not a group of traveling merchants. These garments would not clash well with the area. Still, at the word 'stand”, even Douga had to admit he felt enticed, and figured there was no harm in checking out the area.

「Then could I have you make sure there’s no one dangerous ahead for these children?」

「Aye. I think that is in order.」

Nodding at Artiem’s proposal, Douga escorted Aearis out of the car. Seeing that Douga had safely gotten off, Artiem followed suit and stored the car. The onlookers made noise as they saw the strange designed golem car that had been blocking the road a moment ago suddenly disappear in front of them.

「We’ll go take a look then～」

「Thank you.」

Seeing the octogals fly off, the princess procession sketched out the area near the entrance to this village of booths. Well, it was more of a rough wall of low fences to keep horses from entering than it was an “entrance” persay, so all you had to do was climb over it and you’d be inside. This was fine for Douga, but Aearis and Artiem would have some problems doing that in their current dress.

「Hm, it appears that the entrance is over that way.」

「We may as well cool off while we’re at it.」

Nodding at Aearis’s proposal, Douga walked over to the village of booths selling miscellaneous items. This jumbled atmosphere of different scents from different foods mixed together somehow enlivened the heart. Douga wanted to get his hands on all kinds of foods if that meant satisfying Aearis’s curiosity, but since he was not more hungry than slightly so, he admonished himself to not pick out just anything.

「……Aye, ye cannot find a place more suitable than a booth to find crowds of people……」

The octogals on his shoulders informed Douga that there were no dangerous individuals in sight, so he continued onward until he heard a familiar, beautiful voice.

「Haruna-san’s at it again, I see.」

「Aye, that she is.」

Haruna’s booth had an unbelievable amount of presence. Artiem and Douga weren’t sure whether to feel exasperated or awed at her direct performance. Aearis had left her two attendants behind as she got in the end of the line, her eyes glittering. Those lined up took one look at her and then parted like the Ten Commandments did with Moses.

Aearis herself didn’t intend for this to happen, but apparently she had an aura that unconsciously forced bystanders to make way for her. Her eyes wide open at this sudden turn of events, Aries bowed her head apologetically, which only instilled further awe in the crowd.

「Elle-chan, long time no see. Did you just arrive today？」

As she smiled awkwardly at this situation, Haruna called out to Aearis while preparing hotdogs for three. She seemed to have figured that Aearis had come here just to fill her stomach a little.

「Long time no see, Haruna-sama. Yes, we arrived just now.」

「Oh yeah? Good job making it all the way here. I have some Kansai hot dogs here. You okay with these？」

「Yes！」

Aearis nodded at Haruna’s question, her eyes sparkling as she took the hot dogs. Douga soon came up behind her to pay for three, and Aearis gracefully bit into hers while waiting.

「……Yes, this is the taste I like.」

「I’m glad you always enjoy it. Hey, while you’re here I might as well give you a little something extra.」

Smiling at Aearis, who was clearly enjoying herself as she ate, Haruna took out the netted stove from her bag and began preparations. The customers in line clamored over what could be happening.

「……Extra? Are we talking monster ingredients？」

「Yep. Just try it and see for yourselves.」

Haruna said as she dipped skewer-sized chunks of meat in some sauce before putting them on the netting to cook. In less than a minute, the meat was fully cooked, and a stimulating scent never before smelled permeated the atmosphere, stirring up everyone’s appetite and holding them entranced.

「Alright, it’s complete. Still hot though, so take care.」

「Thank you very much！」

Piercing the cooked kabayaki meat onto a skewer, Haruna handed it to Aearis, who already seemed to have finished her hotdog by this time, receiving the shish kabob and gracefully cooling it down before nibbling off one of the edge pieces. Her expression soon grew into a smile, her blue eyes glittering as she looked at Haruna.

「It’s very, very delicious！！」

「Great, glad to hear it.」

Handing additional skewers to Douga and Artiem, who had been waiting as they watched Aearis try hers, Haruna smiled happily. Yes, this was a recipe she had absolute confidence in, but it was always good to hear that your food tasted good.

「Hm. Aye, this be some tasty food indeed, lass.」

「What kind of meat is this anyway？」

This particular meat had the combined qualities of all land meat and their highest rated cuts, with near-perfect harmony and taste. Astonished at the practically miraculous harmony of meat and sauce, Douga and Artiem let out their impressions as they also softened their expressions to a shameful degree while they looked at Aearis, who was chewing on her meat innocently.