Volume 2, Epilogue 1.2
Translator: Reflet
Editor: Weasalopes
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「Oh yeah, where is Hiroshi-san anyway?」
「Sensei? If you want him, he said he’d be cooking some takoyaki at the biggest fire.」
「Think it’s going to begin?」
「Takoyaki?」
Archem tilted her head at the unfamiliar word that Mio mentioned. Thinking it would be quicker to have her see it up close, they took her to Hiroshi.
There weren’t just people in front of the middle fire- so were the oktogarls.
「Got some takoyaki for ya, fresh from the Kansai region. Not too many of them here, so early bird gets the worm～」
After Hiroshi’s tiring speech, he once again set to preparing the food with unbelievably good technique. Seriously, why was he so polished in this regard? There was a resounding stir as more and more people gathered.
「Heya boy, what’s all in that thing, eh?」
「Deep-fried dough, onion, red ginger, and then the main ingredient, octopus (tako).」
「Octopus, eh?」
「And here’s what it looks like.」
As they waited for it to heat up, for the sake of explanation, Hiroshi took a raw one out of his bag to show them. The elves’ faces showed recognition as they looked at it.
「So it’s basically lanpas, eh?」
「Lanpas?」
「I seen that octopus in this forest, eh? Somethin’ like that ocotpus was clmbin’ up the tree.」
「It’s got sum different shaping with da legs and da head, but I’m mighty sure they’re da same species?」
Sure, it was a typical pattern, but apparently there were octopus/squid-like creatures who lived on land in this world. To add further, they were an important source of protein, so the elves were always eating them, but nothing more. However…
「Kya～!」
「They’re gonna eat us～!」
As one would expect, the oktogarls, who had pretty much the same shape and number of legs as octopuses, did not take kindly to this. They scattered into the distance, turning around and gazing at Hiroshi with pale faces.
「No no. I assure ya we ain’t gonna eatcha.」
Hiroshi chastised them as he skillfully flipped the takoyaki over with an awkward smile. Even if their legs looked similar to that of octopuses, oktogarls and octopuses were different in so many ways. Oktogarls didn’t even look appetizing.
「Really?」
「You won’t eat us? You won’t?」
「They won’t, they won’t.」
He held out the first portion to the oktogarls as they fearfully approached him. The steamy, wavering bonito flakes practically begged the oktogarls to eat them, who fearfully lifted the piping hot takoyaki to their mouths.
「Tayce T～、Tayce T～!」
「It’s～so～de～lish～!」
「Three stars any day～!」
It would seem that they did not have cat’s tongue and had no problem with chowing down on piping hot octopus. Smiling at their mannerisms, Hiroshi handed out freshly grilled takoyaki one after another to the elves. He also set out portions according to the size of the fairies and forest giants that had suddenly showed up.
「Alright, no more ingredients left in stock, so that’s all for this occasion.」
「No way, eh!」
「Crud! If only ye’d come sooner!」
「Sure ye can’t do somethin’?」
「What aboot the octopus ye brought out earlier?」
Just as he had proclaimed at the beginning, the early birds got the worms. As he was proceeding to close up shop, all of that booing had reached his ears. Although he did want to give them what they wanted, the octopus from earlier hadn’t been properly processed. They would not be eating anytime soon. Besides, he had also forgotten to replenish the red ginger, having rushed preparations too much. There wasn’t enough time to let the liquid sink into the meat.
「I already cut through the stock here, and it’s not like I can just cut the octopus into chunks ‘n serve it as is. Can’t use what I don’t got. Sorry, but I’m closin’ up shop today.」
Yes, Hiroshi was special, but there were some things that were impossible even for him. Furthermore, he wouldn’t even have time to eat if he attempted to restock right now.
「I wanna eat more～」
「We shall eat～」
「Gim～me、gim～me」
The stubborn oktogarls refused to back down, some of them shrewdly taking bits from other people’s plates and dividing it amongst themselves. When they had nothing but toothpicks left, they looked at their feet…
「……Gulp」
And they made strange mannerisms in a depressed state, taking out a chopping board…
「Bodies fresh for chopping～」
And they pretended to cook themselves, but Hiroshi had already said that he’d go around various areas of the village and make some takoyaki after he finished some tasks the next day, so the elves all behaved themselves after that.
「Well that was a roaring success.」
「Sure was, but now I gotta remember to restock on octopus once we get back to Wulls.」
「I don’t think we’ll have a hard time getting permission to set up transportation circles.」
「Yup. Gotta do that first before anythin’ else.」
As they went over what they had to do tomorrow and onward, Hiroshi stabbed bear meat through a big skewer and grilled it like kebab before everyone scraped it off for their food. On further glance, they also had secured their own portions of cubed meat stew and pizza.
「How long do you think it’ll take to set up a transportation circle?」
「Welp, I’d say about two hours.」
「That’s all you need?」
「Although there’s a hell of a lotta mana used in the process.」
He casually answered Archem’s query, biting into the newly added kebab. This particular meal was eaten on special occasions of celebration amongst the elves, and the pretext for eatimg it right now was to celebrate both Archem’s awakening as a priestess and the reconstruction of Aranwen’s temple. It didn’t have any kind of convoluted seasoning on it, but the sauce that was used was made from various fruits and mushroom soup stock, making it incredibly difficult to stop eating.
「Umm, would it be okay if I tagged along with everyone?」
「That’s pretty sudden, y’know……」
Hiroshi looked at the others with a slightly concerned expression after Archem suddenly asked that. No one exactly had any qualms with bringing her along. The real issue was…
「We’re a bit uneasy about walking around with you.」
「We already have a lot of females along with us…」
And that was about it.
「So it isn’t going to work, huh……」
「It isn’t like it’s impossible, but from what we’ve been through up till now, it’s not exactly something we can feel quite right about.」
「Besides, Archem, aren’t you a priestess? You sure it’s okay to just walk around anywhere?」
Archem had a puzzled expression on her face when Makoto asked that question. Was it that bad for a priestess to go walking around? This area actually had very few shamans with concurrent roles as divine protectors and heads of rituals. On top of that, Aranwen was particularly sloppy in that area, not viewing it as necessary to conduct rituals so long as he had offerings. He would still be able to fulfill his role as guardian. This was fairly normal for the gods in this area of the world.
Therefore, in most cases, the term “priestess” only really referred to those whom the gods stand by and watch over, and Archem was one of those examples. Actually, priestesses like Aearis who conducted many ceremonies as ritual leaders were relatively few in this world. Then again, in her case, there was also the fact that she had to strengthen her own authority as both a member of the royal family and as the priestess princess, so it wasn’t a clear cut rule that the priestess of Alfemina was particularly special.
「……I see. So being a priestess doesn’t necessarily have to be directly related to conducting rituals or protecting the realm of the gods.」
「It’s more like Aranwen-sama considers ceremonies and the like to be quite boresome, so I’ve never even done it.」
「Wow……」
Haruna groaned, somehow both understanding this and feeling exasperated at the same time. Based on his mannerisms and personality the other day, it did seem like he would fulfill his duty as a guardian without grumbling as long as you gave him alcohol, but it was still so appalling to hear such a blunt, unrefined, undignified fact.
「I think we shouldn’t just refuse her request to come along with us.」
「What do you really think, Mio?」
「His gynophobia might subside a bit if he adjusts to Archem’s erotic troubles, don’t you think?」
「So we have to deal with Sparta again……」
Puffing her chest out with an *ahem* at an appalled Makoto, Mio continued eating her meal (consisting mainly of dairy and fish) at a brisk pace. The cheese gratin dish seemed to be a success.
「The risk is high in many ways if we just suddenly decide to take her with us. I’m sure that Teres and Nora are also used to adventuring, so maybe after some farming instruction and a month of training in the workshop, the people who are used to adventuring can give the okay and then we meet up?」
「Yup. First we gotta make sure she adjusts to life in the city of Wulls.」
There was no way that the elves living in this closed-off neck of the woods would deal well with suddenly plunging into the cash-based society of the outside world. It would probably be a good idea to first live in a more familiar environment before then adjusting to the human currency used by the largest-scale city in the world. Besides, it wasn’t like Hiroshi’s group was accustomed to travel either, so it was honestly a bit dicey to tell if Archem could really keep up.
On another note, they didn’t dislike Archem. In fact, she was held in fairly high regard. In combat and in other things, she didn’t hold them down in any particular way. It was just that in addition to her ero troubles, she was a country bumpkin who knew far too little of the outside world. If just one of those problems were to go away, the prospects would look a bit better.
However, the biggest reason was probably that her mood fell much too easily. Refusing her just made them feel like villains.
「So what’s the verdict?」
「We’ll hire ya at the workshop, so how ‘bout ya git sum money before preparin’ for any trips?」
「Okay!」
Her face brightening at their decision, Archem nodded without hesitation. Finally able to reach the minimum consensus, everyone was relieved. Although things with Archem would not turn out as anticipated, there was of course no way for Hiroshi or his friends to figure that out.
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