When Rhode followed the loli version of Celia to the balcony of the ‘palace’, the streets and scenery below had changed completely. It was now decorated with bright lights, reflecting the atmosphere of a feast. Even the balcony was also filled with a variety of sumptuous desserts. Really, there were only desserts.
Rhode wasn’t too surprised since this was just how the mental world worked. As long as one wanted to change something in one’s mental world, it would transform in just the blink of an eye. But when he saw the pile of desserts in front of him, he couldn’t help but feel a little nauseous. His stomach was still stuffed with the chunks of cake he ate at the gate. He didn’t know what would become of him if he had more slices. On the other hand, he remembered the times he went out with his girlfriends on dates. No matter which one of them, their eyes were wide-opened whenever they saw cake or dessert. Although most of them didn’t really eat much due to fear of gaining weight and other reasons, he could see that they were capable of devouring much more dessert, than him. This made him wonder. His appetite was clearly much bigger than theirs, so why was it the other way around when it came to dessert? Could it be like what Canary said, that desserts were stored in a woman’s second stomach?
The loli version of Celia wore a gorgeous robe and walked rather imposingly with her feet splaying outward. Rhode followed behind her, but tried his hardest to not laugh out loud. Right now, Celia was as if a little kid who was learning how to be an adult. It was especially so when she looked truly like a child, which made her actions look even more adorable.
Shortly after, the little queen stepped onto the balcony, stretched out her hand, and beckoned. The two guards next to her skillfully took out two boxes made of biscuits. The little queen stood on the boxes, smiled proudly, and waved to the people in the square below. Upon witnessing the appearance of the queen, all the Celias in the banquet square stopped whatever they were doing and cheered loudly. Hearing the cheers of her ‘subjects’, the little queen showed a satisfied look, waved her hand at her ‘subjects’, and announced.
“My people! The great annual celebration, Sugar Pot Extravaganza, is here again! On this day, the most delicious desserts and juices are served and everything is in unlimited supply! There are no limits, so take as much as you want!”
“Oooooh!”
Upon hearing the queen’s speech, all her ‘subjects’ let out loud cheers, to which Rhode couldn’t help but shake his head and laugh bitterly on the inside. He never thought that Celia was as naive as a child despite looking so collected on the outside. Being able to eat sweets without restriction? Perhaps only a child would have such desires. And now, it seemed like this candy kingdom might be the embodiment of Celia’s innermost childlike side?
And just as these thoughts flashed through Rhode’s mind, the voice of the little queen rang in his ears once again.
“Not only that, but this time, a traveler from out of town has also come to our grand event. So let us give a warm welcome to our guest!”
“Oooooh!”
After hearing the little queen’s announcement, the ‘subjects’ shouted all at once. And upon seeing their expressions, Rhode could only smile, arrive at the balcony, and wave a greeting to the crowd below under the anticipative gaze of the little queen. When the crowd saw his response, they were also really enthusiastic in their cheers. Probably due to the fact that his actions made the little queen really satisfied, she didn’t say anything more, but jumped down from the box with the help of two guards and declared the official start of the ceremony.
Along with the cracking fireworks, the candy fest had officially kicked off. A band (consisting of all Celias, of course) came out from nowhere and played musical instruments made of ginger candy. Meanwhile, the crowd spread themselves out and ate the desserts placed on the table with great excitement. For some reason, this scene made Rhode feel as if he were at the opening of some self-service bakery. A mountain of sweets and treats piled up all over the banquet hall, filling the place with the scent and aroma of candies. Sure, it might be heaven for women with a sweet tooth, but not so much for him. Unfortunately, he wasn’t able to turn around and leave just yet. Because right now, the little queen was holding his hand and sitting at the table, personally picking sweets for him.
“Here, traveler, try this cake. This fruit candy is delicious too. And this cookie! I love the honey on top. And this… This… This…” The little queen had lost all her disguise as an adult before Rhode. She was like a real child offering treasures to an adult, putting everything she liked on his plate. Meanwhile, Rhode sat helplessly in front of the table with a somewhat twitchy smile as he stared at the variety of desserts stacking up on his plate. Oh, Lord, he had no doubt that if he ate all of them, he would definitely throw up. As the saying ‘there was a limit to everything’ went, it was fine having desserts once in a while. But if one were to eat it all the time, even someone who loved sweets probably couldn’t stand it, not to mention Rhode, who disliked eating them in the first place. This was tantamount to torture for him.
Fortunately, apart from the dessert, there was also fruit juice. Rhode took a sip and although he didn’t know what kind of fruit the juice was made from, it was refreshing and appetizing. If he had more of these drinks, he might actually be able to swallow the pile of sweets that gave him a headache just by looking at it.
Come to think of it, was there such a thing as tooth decay in the mental world?
“Reporting, Your Majesty! Something bad happened!”
Just as Rhode pondered about this strange question to escape the reality before him, an anxious voice shattered his thought. He raised his head, turned toward the direction where the voice sounded, and saw one of the two guards fluttering her wings and gliding over in midair hurriedly. She looked anxious and terrified as she rushed in front of the little queen. Upon seeing her guard in such a desperate state, the little queen was obviously dissatisfied. She tensed up her little face immediately.
“What happened? Don’t be so panicky. Watch yourself in front of the guest!”
It was indeed quite amusing that a small child like her was telling someone older than her to watch herself, especially after considering the fact that both of them were actually one person. Although the little queen looked young, she seemed to hold quite a lot of authority. The guard calmed down a lot after hearing her disgruntled complaints. But even so, the heavy look on her face didn’t change too much.
“It’s bad, Your Majesty. That giant monster is at it again!”
“What?”
Upon hearing the report from her subject, the little queen was taken aback and her little face turned white. She stood up and stared at the guard before her in astonishment. Looking at this scene, Rhode also raised his eyebrows. It was obvious that he could tell that there was indeed a problem. So, what exactly was it about?
Rumble…!
However, before Rhode finished his thought, he felt the building and ground beneath him shaking, followed by a deep rumble. At that moment, the banquet hall was no longer as lively as before. The ‘subjects’ who had been enjoying dessert in the banquet square happily were now running around in panic, scattering as if they were fleeing. Not only that, but the musicians also tossed their instruments aside and turned around to leave. In the blink of an eye, the bustling banquet hall became deserted. And when the little queen saw this scene, her expression became incomparably ugly. Despite that, she didn’t say anything more, but turned around and looked at Rhode immediately instead.
“Take our honorable guest down to the shelter immediately! Move fast!”
At that moment, the little queen finally showed her reliable side. Or rather, when Rhode saw this side of her, he nodded inwardly. Although Celia looked completely different now, she was still Celia, after all. This was just the way she reacted whenever she became serious. But it was no surprise, after all, since they were all the same person. It wasn’t like two souls inhabited one body. It would be even stranger to say that their personalities were different.
But unfortunately, it was too late now. When the guard heard the little queen’s command and about to bring Rhode away, along with the trembling ground, a tall shadow rose and enveloped the palace before it. And after seeing the true face of that shadow, even Rhode was shocked.
It was also Celia, but she was much taller than the rest and even several times taller than the city walls. She was nearly ten meters in height and looked just like a giant. Not only that, but she was also completely naked. Rhode watched as this Celia strutted to the wall, reached out her arms, grabbed the soft walls, and forcefully stuffed it into her mouth.
“Damn it! It’s that wretched monster who’s come to rob us of our treasures again. We mustn’t let her get away with it this time! Onward, my guards, destroy this monster!”
Upon seeing the giant Celia feasting on the wall in front of her, the little queen was apparently fuming. She waved her hands in exasperation, stomped her feet hard, and glared at the giant with angry eyes. Then, she stretched out her hands and gave orders to her guards. As soon as they heard the little queen’s order, the two guards immediately raised their spears high in their hands, flapped their wings, and flew over to the giant. Along with their actions, dozens of guards who were dressed similarly and lifting their own spears made of candy also flew toward the giant.
Looking at this scene, Rhode twitched the corner of his eye. He was almost certain how things were going to turn out next. Despite that, he didn’t want to offer help because up until that moment, he hadn’t been able to figure out exactly which Celia was the one he was looking for. Previously, he thought that the little queen was the true Celia. But now, he was a little confused. After all, such things on a mental level were the hardest thing to differentiate, so he had no choice but to hold down his inner thoughts and focus on the ‘fight’ before him.
And just as he thought, the guards’ attacks were of no effect on the giant at all. To the contrary, the giant waved her arms and struck the guards away. The spears they held that were made from candy were naturally bitten and devoured by the giant. After losing their weapons, although the guards continued attacking the intruder unyieldingly, their actions were simply in vain. The giant didn’t even look at them for more than a second. Instead, after eating her way through the walls, she strolled into the city, reached out her arms, grabbed the houses that were made from a combination of cookies and desserts, and feasted on them.
This scene looked as though a child breaking into a model house built of candy. When one saw cakes decorated with exquisite flowers, houses made of dark chocolate, as well as fruits arranged around them, wouldn’t one be impressed by the beautiful, art-like desserts in front of one?
As the houses were being demolished and eaten by the giant, the house owners ran out in panic, screaming and fleeing in all directions.
At that moment, they were finally reminded of the horror and humiliation of having a block of houses that they worked so hard to build eaten in their faces…
“Damn it! You villain! I curse your teeth to decay! You baddie!”
Looking at her city being destroyed, the little queen stood on the balcony and stomped her feet in wrath. However, that giant seemed to have gotten used to her yelling as she simply ignored and tore down more houses, while feasting on the debris. After making a mess out of the entire city, the giant finally seemed satisfied. She patted her round belly, turned around, and left, leaving behind an ugly mess…
The candy city right now was totally unlike what it looked like when Rhode first arrived. If it were said that the candy city looked like a fairy tale castle in a child’s scribbles before, it looked like a wreck now after being swept away by a powerful whirlwind. Looking at this scene before her, the little queen stood silently on the balcony. Rhode also noticed that as the little one stared at the devastated city, she also bit her lip and showed an unwilling expression. Soon, her eyes turned red and glistening tears welled up in her eyes, before sliding down her cheeks.
“This… This… Your Majesty, please don’t be sad. We’re lucky that nobody is hurt, aren’t we?”
After witnessing the little queen sobbing, Rhode didn’t want to say anything. However, there was no one else around him, so he could only go and comfort the little fella. It would be fine if he didn’t say a word because as soon as he spoke, the little fella cried even louder.
“Boo-Hoo———! I’m so sorry, Big Brother. I wanted to let you enjoy our banquet, but I didn’t expect it to be ruined by that villain. I’m sorry. So sorry…”
“Okay, okay. Don’t cry. It looks a little messy back there, but I still feel your passion and understand your intention. So, don’t cry, okay?”
Looking at the little queen who wiped her tears and apologized, Rhode had a bad headache. That was why he had no choice but to grab the candy beside him while comforting her with kind words. After all, the little one was just a six or seven-year-old child. Under his kind words of comfort, she finally stopped crying. But even so, her face was still red. She sobbed, clenched her hands, and displayed an unconvinced look.
“B-But… This isn’t the first time it happened, Big Brother. That monster always comes and messes with us while we’re hosting a party. But my guards can’t do anything with her… Our weapons can’t hurt her either…”
Of course their weapons didn’t hurt her. Rhode had never heard of candies inflicting more lethal damage than weapons… Apart from some bizarre ones.
And just as Rhode criticized inwardly, he suddenly saw the eyes of the little queen lighting up before him. Then, she reached out and grabbed his clothes, staring at the sword hanging from his waist.
“Big Brother, that’s a sword, right? It’s a sword!”
“Yes, it is one…”
Although he didn’t know what the little queen was trying to say, Rhode nodded in agreement. And upon hearing his answer, the little queen jumped up in excitement.
“Yes! This is awesome!”
While she cheered, she held her hands up high and stared at Rhode with a bright twinkle in her widened eyes.
“The stories say that the brave with the sword is capable of slaying the monster. Big Brother, can you help us kill that monster?”