Chapter 16: Raer Festival
“…≪Burning Peach Candy≫?”
“Oh, they’re selling quite the rare fruit!”
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.
“Sure thing! Ohh, the little missy’s cute, so I’ll give you an extra big one!”
Muir spilled a happy smile.
“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.”
“Mh?”
This flavour was addicting for sure. It was damn 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.
Arnold took the lead and the other two followed him.
Hiiro never went to a festival back in Japan, so he was quite drawn to this new experience. Though it was typically for him to wish that this crowd wasn’t here.
(Aw, this sucks. People bump into me and step on my feet… Can’t they all disappear?)
≪Happiness Shark Sandwich≫
“N- No way… THAT Happiness Shark?”
“Yeah, of course! It’s an ingredient each cook would like to prepare at least once!”
“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!”
“So, is it good?”
“Buy it. Now.”
“S- Sure.. b- but.”
“Look there.”
Arnold pointed at a cylinder lottery like you often saw at shopping districts.
“Say… what!?”
“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.”
(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)
“Let me give you my thanks, old man.”
“My thanks for showing me this.”
“No, there’s no reason to give up.”
(In that case…)
“Show me your hands, you two.”
The other two looked blankly.
But fortunately, no one else won since then. And then finally…
Hiiro had its chance. He gulped and slowly spun the cylinder. It clattered and then…
Everyone swallowed their saliva. The ball that dropped out was…
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”.
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.
Still, it meant exposing his magic to them.
His appetite 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.
“I know what you want to ask, but for now… eat!”
“MUNCH…. Ohh!?”
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.
(Holy cow. Who knew something so delicious existed!)
Wow… Just wow…
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.
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.
Arnold smiled happily.
Muir looked at Hiiro.
Seemingly she had wanted to express her gratitude. Hiiro replied with a simple “No prob”, but this triggered Arnold to ask about the ≪Word Magic≫.
“…..Fine.”
Arnold had thought he would refuse again, so he asked back on reflex.
“Ah, no, no. Let me hear it! That word… is that your magic?”
“An unique magic!?”
“S- Sorry. B- But is it really an unique magic?”
“Y- Yes.”
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.
“*NOD*”
“Who cares. It’s like an inborn talent.”
“Oho, like what for example?”
“Let’s see, magic that controls space, magic that brainwashes people and… magic that manipulates other magic.”
Especially the brainwashing one sounded dangerous. He didn’t know how it worked, but a magic that bewitches other people’s hearts was too powerful.
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.
“I knew it, so unfair~ You’re a damn cheater~”
“It might be omnipotent, but it’s not invincible.”
“Who knows? I’ve no reason to tell you.”
“Indeed.”
“Whatever. I’m tired, so I’m going to the inn. Also, don’t tell anyone about this.”
Hiiro acted at his own pace as always, whereas the other two sighed and followed him.
“Eh? Ah, yeah, I’m satisfied…”
“There you have it.”
“I’m repeating myself, but I ain’t your servant! Also, pay some respect to your elders!”
“It let me experience more of life! Apologize! Apologize to me right away!”
“…….Don’t become like him, shorty.”
Hiiro shifted his gaze to Muir, but she was troubled how to react.
“….Eh? No free rooms?”
“My deepest apologizes. Due to the festival, we have no vacant rooms at the moment.”
Arnold slowly and quietly turned his head around and looked at the black-haired boy in question.
“N- Nothing I can do here, can I? When they’re booked out, they’re booked out.”
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.
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.
The inn keeper at the front desk called out to them, so the three of them looked at him dispirited.
“The Guild?”
“Ah, yes. The Guild has resting rooms for their staff, but if you talk to them, they might give you a room?”
“I see. On a day like this, they really might give us a room.”
Muir looked at him with an upturned gaze and Arnold placed his hand on her head.
“I hope it won’t be in vain.”
“Let’s hurry.”
Hiiro swiftly left the inn, whereas the other two followed in a rush.