Volume 2 - CH 139

The neighborhood was becoming completely dark, and in the village, there was a fire lit inside a lantern hanging between the roofs.

I wondered how in the world they had lit the fire in the lanterns, but it seemed that they had done it with their fire skills.

I was a little disappointed because I had expected a more unexpected way.

There were many food stalls, and the streets lined with them were brightly decorated and crowded with people.

However, the food sold at the stalls was not what me and the others were familiar with.

Most of them were simply food. (Like usual food in meal, not snacks)

Dumplings, yakitori (grilled chicken). There were also soba noodles, udon noodles, and other food …….

They also had tempura.

The most surprising thing was the sushi stall.

Fishermen I met yesterday were processing fish and preparing rice on the spot.

I couldn’t help but pick up a piece and eat it, and it was huge.

It was about the size of an onigiri (rice ball), the kind often sold at convenience stores, and the fillet was cut into large pieces to match the size of the onigiri.

I wondered if this size of fish was normal in the past, and I asked my companions, the Princess, Alena, Shimu, and Uchikage to share it with me.

“That’s huge.!”

“Is that so? Isn’t that normal?”

“Sngho Bhighhh”

“Alena, eat first and then you can talk.”

Alena is trying her best to chew it, but …… it still seems a little too big for a child.

Perhaps female Oni are shy about opening their mouths wide, but both Shimu and the Princess ate their sushi slowly.

Most of the sushi is made of white meat, but there are some shiso leaves and other ingredients in it, so that the taste can be enjoyed in its own way.

Orange-colored sushi, which is probably salmon.

Delicious.

“!!!! S- spicyyyy!”

“Eh? There‘s wasabi in it?”

“Fuaaaaaah!”

‘Ha-ha-ha-ha!’

I laughed at Alena’s miserable voice.

She hit me with a flop and told me not to laugh, but it was a cute thing too.

But they do say that natural wasabi is not spicy. ……

Do kids have anything to do with it?

I don’t find it that spicy …… or pungent.

I know that there is wasabi in it, but …….

Come to think of it, I had sashimi when I came here, but not sushi.

I’ll have some more.

I looked around and saw many Oni enjoying the festival.

There seemed to be some kind of dance, and the Oni were parading around with umbrellas in their hands, dancing a simple dance to the music.

The dancing here seems to be done with umbrellas, which open and close, then open and close again.

Umbrellas are placed in various places so that anyone can dance, and it seems that many Oni are in the business of doing so.

“Hey, Princess. Why are they dancing with umbrellas?”

“You see. It’s a sword dance.”

“…… sword dance?”

“Yes! There used to be a diety in our village who was an expert in swordsmanship. But he was so bad at teaching that he had no students at all. That’s why he came up with this dance. When the umbrella is closed, it represents the front style, and when it is open, it represents the reverse style!”

Indeed, if you look closely at their movements, it does look like they are swinging swords.

However, perhaps because of the number of times they open and close the umbrella, it would hardly look like they were swinging a sword if we were not informed of it.

This also sounds good if you say it is to hide the style, but on the other hand, did they not think that if people did not know about it, it would become extinct? ……

I guess the dance is designed to prevent that. ……

“Has anyone seriously studied this dance?”

“There is! Especially Tenda!”

“Seriously!?”

Come to think of it, Tenda supposedly had a slender Japanese sword that didn’t look suitable for Oni.

I wonder how much of the image of Oni was shattered by that. Out of all of them, I think Shimu was the most oni-like.

“SO-ISHA!”

“HO-REI!”

“SO-ISHA!”

“HO-REI!”

I heard such shouts from far away.

I looked in that direction and saw a huge mikoshi (portable shrine), loaded with many rice bales and topped with a sacred rope, moving down the main street.

The fact that dozens of Oni were carrying it made it clear that it must be quite heavy.

I wonder about the dozens of Oni carrying that thing, but I’ll try not to worry about that.

That is the rice that was harvested yesterday.

It seems to be a portable shrine made to tell the people of the village how much rice was harvested and put into rice bales by today.

The amount of rice harvested each year is different, so the size varies from year to year.

This year there was a good harvest, and the villagers cheered loudly when they saw the portable shrine.

And there was Den standing on top of the portable shrine, seemingly giving instructions to the people.

“Oh, Den, looks so worked up!”

“Well, he’s in the presence of Ouen-sama, you know. It’s not surprising that he’s so excited.”

So that’s how it is, I thought as I watched the portable shrine pass by.

Then, as if he had remembered something, Uchikage opened his mouth.

“Ah. Alena, Princess. When that portable shrine reaches the castle gate, a drum performance will begin.”

“I want to see it!”

“Alena! We’re going to follow that portable shrine!”

“Yes!”

Once that was decided, we immediately set out.

I wondered how she could walk so easily through such a crowd, but we lost sight of Alena and the Princess in the crowd.

I tried to use 【Haze Manipulation】 to get a hold of their location, only to find out that it was useless in this crowd.

I can figure out where people are, but I can’t seem to figure out individuals.

“Too fast ……”

“Yes, I know. ……”

“Ah, well, I’ll just go ahead.”

“Oh. Please do.”

Uchikage flew to the roof and then ran on it.

Well, there’s no need to hurry, the portable shrine is going slow, so Shim and me are going to walk slowly.

Though …… Alena wasn’t too interested in the performance with the drums, was she?

Or was she curious about what it was like in this atmosphere?

Well, if she was interested, I’d be happy too, so let’s assume it’s all good.

“Why are you nodding your head in satisfaction?”

“Hmm? Nothing. I’m glad that Alena is interested in the festival here.”

“Come to think of it, was she a child of the Kingdom of Garott?”

“Oh. Not really, but that’s about it.”

Although her stay in this village is still short, Alena is adapting well to it.

At first, I was worried that she might be discriminated against because of her race, but since the Oni did not have a term for discrimination, it was not a big deal.

Of course, it may have been because she was with me, but even without that, Alena would have been able to get along on her own.

The difference is obvious because Alena does not have horns.

The Oni are very careful when dealing with Alena, and I always thought they were in a cold sweat. ……

It must be my imagination.

“Ouren-sama, will you be leaving as soon as the sword is finished?”

“That’s the plan. I’m worried about those I left behind in the Kingdom of Salettana.”

“I see. …… The princess will be sad again.”

I bet she will probably start crying just like she did when …… I was a snake.

Because I was a snake back then, I never had an expression on my face, but …… I might really backslide this time.

I think the snake’s appearance is useful at times like this.

I don’t think I have to think about anything.

Hmmm …….

I guess I better think of something for this time.

“Uh oh, speaking of which, …… Shimu. You’re shackling the princess a bit too much, aren’t you?　Maybe you could give her a little more freedom?”

Perhaps it was because I had seen the free-spirited princess of the past, but the princess of today seemed to be having a hard time staying in the village.

After I came to this village, I looked around for her, but I didn’t expect her to be weaving all the time.

I did hear that she was doing something like that, but I didn’t …… think she was weaving all the time.

I felt sorry for her.

For example, the one that I saw earlier was very lively.

The princess was very lively actually, not like when she was in the weaving room.

“But …… I am trying to make her realize that she is a …… princess. I can’t keep spoiling her.”

“Mm. That’s true.”

Did Shimu notice that?

That’s a huge difference from when we first met.

I guess they spoiled her a lot back then. ……

I remember that it caused me a lot of trouble and the other Oni were having a hard time too.

Probably, though, it was the death of her father that caused her to be spoiled.

Tenda and Uchikage also seemed to deeply care about that.

But when I look back over……, I think they are somewhat too extreme, at first it’s too much pampering then, too much restraint now.

It is true that the princess probably doesn’t have the awareness of being a princess yet.

I think Shimu is not wrong about that, and the policy of being strict with her to make her aware of that is understandable. However.

“Playing and working. You can’t have it both ways, otherwise it’s a bonus.”

“……Eh?”

“That’s a word I’ve heard somewhere and sometime. I thought it was true, but… Isn’t it better to think about what Shimu was doing when you were her age? Forcing your discipline on your child. Well, I don’t know anything about raising children in the first place, and it’s true that sometimes I say strange things, but… well, just for reference?”

I wish I could say something more thoughtful to her, but unfortunately I have zero sense for such things.

Laughing at the strange things I said, I followed after the portable shrine.

“……Thank you”

“Hmm? What is it?”

“No, nothing”

There was no way I could say that I had actually heard her, so I made my way through the crowd.