The weather was perfect.
The sun blazed in the clear sky, and there was no sign that clouds or rain would appear any time soon.
「Hmm, what a beautiful day it is!」
「Lord, preparations aren’t done yet!」
「Yeah, seriously! Move your buttssu!」
「Ah, sorry, sorry. I’m on it.」
I had been stretching under the warm sunlight when the others called me out. Not good. They were doing all the heavy lifting, so at the very least I needed to give clear instructions.
Our stall space wasn’t large, so every bit of it had to be used efficiently. Still, there was some depth, so I planned to secure space for materials, a secondary cooking area, and a small resting spot.
「Aina, move that a bit more to the right.」
「So, we make a path through here, right?」
「Milord, should I put the small one over here?」
「Ah. That’s fine. The kids will probably want to try it themselves, so I’m setting up a smaller one for them to use.」
「I see… they’ll definitely love that.」
「Yes. I’m sure they will.」
When I was a kid, I used to stare at festival stalls and think, ‘I wanna try that too!’
I never got the chance, of course. As an adult, I understand why. Those people were working, and you can’t just let kids handle your trade tools.
But when a childhood dream like that comes true, it feels amazing.
So if a kid says they want to try, I’ll make sure to give them that chance. That’s what an adult like me should do.
Besides, having multiple machines ready would help if things got busy, we could make them simultaneously.
Who knows how much we’ll actually sell, but it’s always better to be prepared.
「My lord! I brought the ingredients! I’ll leave them here, okay?」
「Yeah, put them in the magic bag!」
「Got it. Which one? The (medium) one?」
「Yeah, that’s fine. Sorte, you hold onto it.」
「Master, should I put the wooden sticks in too?」
「Yeah, please do. Everyone, remember to hand the bag to whoever’s staying behind when you take a break! And don’t forget to restock what you use!」
「「「「「「Okay!」」」」」」
Good. Everything was coming together nicely. Maybe I should make a few test batches now.
「Heya, onii-chan. How’s the prep going?」
…Perfect timing.
Showing up right when I was about to make the samples, she must’ve planned this.
「Still, I’m glad it’s sunny. What a relief.」
「You sure it’s fine for you to be here, Lord-sama? It’s right before the festival starts.」
「Let me enjoy myself a bit before it begins. Once the guests arrive, I’ll be busy with receptions all day… no freedom for me during the festival.」
Ah… that’s rough.
And the guest you’re talking about is Sicilia-sama, right?
She’s an important figure in the Empire. You can’t exactly treat her lightly…
「Oh, so that’s the cotton candy you mentioned? How’s it coming along? Looks good?」
「Yeah. Here, it’s just a test batch, but you can eat it if you want…」
The prototype came out well.
Thanks to practice, it turned out even bigger than the ones sold at the festival stalls back in my old world.
「Oh, really!? I actually came by just in case it wasn’t ready yet.」
Go ahead, eat as much as you want.
It’s a shame someone who loves festivals as much as you can’t freely enjoy them.
You can have seconds too.
「Ara, lord-sama. That looks delicious desu wa.」
「Hm? Ah, Meira-chan. Whoa, you look exhausted…」
「I’ve only been busy with the preparations…. My work’s done now, so I plan to relax today and have fun tomorrow.」
Even Meira had dark circles under her eyes…..
Normally, she’d hold herself together and hide it with makeup, but she probably didn’t even have time for that.
When I handed her a test batch, she gratefully accepted it with a smile.
「Haa… sweets really are the best when you’re tired desu wa. Oh, by the way, I used that magic tool you gave me, the one that lets me take a bath anytime. You even included hot spring water with it. That was thoughtful of you.」
Thanks to the Holy Stones I received from the vice-captain, building the mechanism became much easier.
Using water, wind, and fire magic stones with the Holy Stone, I managed to create a system for heating, purifying, and circulating the water.
Tiny debris was filtered out using a layer of slime membrane and a fine lattice filter.
Honestly, making that delicate mesh filter was the hardest part…
「Ah, if you ever feel like changing the water, just tell me. I can give you more hot spring water anytime.」
「It really helped me relax without wasting time. Thank you. Mmh, ‘yawn’… excuse me. I’ll head home, take a bath, and get some sleep. Goodnight.」
「Good work today. And thanks for the sugar crystals.」
「It was nothing…」
Yeah, she really did her best.
Get a good rest, Meira. But seriously, don’t fall asleep in the bath, it’s dangerous.
「I guess I should get going too. Mm, that was delicious! Thanks for the treat!」
Origol sucked on the stick that had the cotton candy wrapped around it, savoring the sweetness until the end, then tossed it into the trash bin I’d set up before leaving.
「Alright then… good work, everyone. Now, what should we do about the break rotation?」
「It’s fine, Master. We already decided on that.」
「Huh, really?」
「Well, we’ve been to plenty of festivals, you know. We know when the crowds get busy and when they slow down, so we’ve scheduled the rotations based on that.」
Oh, that’s reassuring.
Then I’ll leave the break schedule to you guys.
「Got it. In that case… 」
「Nii-chan!」
A voice called from behind, and when I turned around, I saw only a few heads peeking out.
Wha, floating heads!? …Oh, right, the kids from the orphanage.
「Hey, what’s up? Are your preparations done?」
「Yeah! We split the work, so it went super fast! Still, I didn’t think you’d end up being our business rival, nii-chan…」
I mean, I wouldn’t really call us rivals…
Cotton candy and okonomiyaki attract totally different crowds anyway.
「Even if it’s you, nii-chan, we won’t lose!」
「Oh? Then come at me! I’ll show you the power of your teacher’s teacher!」
「What!? I’m not gonna lose!」
「Fufu. Just kidding. How about it, want to try one?」
「Really!? …Ah, wait, no. I’ll pass for now. I’ll come later with everyone and buy it properly. We’ve been earning some pocket money carrying luggage for adventurers just for today!」
Huh, so that’s what they’ve been up to.
Well, it ‘is’ a festival. The kids must’ve been really looking forward to it.
「Alright then. I’ll be waiting.」
「You better come try ours too, nii-chan! We’ve gotten way better, the grilling’s perfect now!」
「Oh yeah? I’ll look forward to it.」
「See you later!」
“See you later”, he said, even though their stall was close enough to see from here.
Alright, I’ll take a short break in the back,
「Well, if it isn’t my usual customer. What’s this, you’re setting up a stall today?」
「Ah, hello. Thank you as always for the delicious vegetables.」
The one who called out to me was the plump lady who always sold me vegetables.
Her clothes were a bit fancier than usual, maybe she was planning to stroll around the festival with her husband later? At least, that’s what I guessed.
「No, no, thank ‘you’ for always buying from me. So, what are you selling today?」
「Ah, it’s a sweet treat called cotton candy, 」
「Selling sweets at a stall, huh? I don’t know what it is, but if you’re selling it for 600 nohls, it’ll be a hit for sure! I’ll spread the word among my housewife friends!」
「Thank you very much. I appreciate it.」
「Don’t mention it. Oh, Mizera-chan’s helping too, huh? I’ll definitely come buy some later!」
「Yes, thank you very much.」
The vegetable lady quickly disappeared into the crowd, leaving Mizera and me staring blankly at her back.
As expected of a housewife… she doesn’t waste a single second.
Alright, time to take a short brea…
「Hey, nii-chan! You’re setting up a stall too? Haha, can’t wait to see it!」
「Hello there.」
This time it was that adventurer, with his wife beside him, looked like they were heading out for a festival date.
「Oh, hey. Afternoon.」
「So you’re setting up a shop? But it’s not an accessory stall this time, huh…」
「Come on, you know him. Nii-chan’s good at cooking too, remember? Still, never seen that kind of magic tool before.」
「Yeah, well, I’m planning to sell sweets from my original world.」
「Sweets? Wow! I’m excited!」
「Same here! I’ll spread the word to the other adventurers for you, nii-chan!」
「Thanks, I appreciate it.」
Alright, short and sweet conversation.
Now I can finally…
「Ah, by the way, I think a group of beastkin adventurer girls were looking for you earlier…」
「Ahhh! Found him!!」
Before I could even respond, a group came running toward us, pointing my way and yelling loudly, not caring about their outfits at all.
Four beastkin girls sprinted straight to my stall.
The one in front was a weasel-type beastkin.
Come on… they’d all gone through the trouble of dressing up in pretty one-pieces and short skirts instead of their usual rugged adventurer gear, but full-speed dashing totally ruins the look.
「Please, onii-san! Can you take care of my tail!?」
「…What?」
「Please! I’ve got a date after this! The grooming shop was fully booked and we couldn’t get in!」
「「「Please, we’re begging youuu!」」」
Ah… I get it now.
It’s a big festival, so of course they want their tails, one of the most important parts of a beastkin, to look perfect for their date.
Just like how human women in Japan would wear yukata and style their hair for festivals.
If the salon’s full, you go find someone else who can do it, right?
The other girls were the same, clasping their hands in front of their chests and looking up at me with pleading eyes… and they were ‘very’ serious about this.
「…Doing it here would be unsanitary, so we’ll have to go to my place or the Adventurers’ Guild.」
「「「「Yes! Thank you so much!」」」」
And so… there went my break.
I had to work non-stop, rushing to finish their grooming, without even getting to enjoy the fluffiness.
All I got was exhaustion.
Still, I managed to advertise my stall to the adventurers at the guild, got thanked by the girls, and even heard some lovely voices, so I guess it wasn’t all bad.
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