Chapter of Blooming Fate: Barbecue Preparations

There were a few things, everyone had to learn when it came to celebrations, parties and the like.

The first and probably most important one was: Alcohol was fun. And alcohol had a splendid tendency to backfire.

Other things included:

Drunks are a pain to deal with.

Look out for people urinating and vomiting where they shouldn't.

Take at least two looks at who is responsible for the food. This is important.

Do not partake in suspicious substances. Especially not when drunk.

And frankly, there were probably plenty of others. But these were important for me.

Well, for some things I could pretend not to see it, as long as it was done in moderation... And it didn't involve me or those close to me. Everyone had their own definition of fun, after all.

"I get most of that but, Yumi... Why is there a need to check who makes the food?"

"... Listen, Sis. Every person has their own sense of taste."

"That's kind of obvious, yes."

"So, what if the person in charge is a fan of incredibly spicy food?"

"... Spicy?"

Karen tilted her head, directing a questioning gaze at me.

So we had to start from there... I should make a mental note to give her something spicy once to eat in the future. Experience is important.

"Ehh... Let's take a different example. The jerky, right, the jerky."

"... You mean that piece of old leather?"

"It's jerky. Technically. Now, imagine someone really, really loves that stuff."

"I'm sorry but I can't."

"... At least pretend you do, I beg you."

We'd never finish otherwise.

"If they really love that stuff, they might put it in your dinner all the time."

"... I see. To prevent that, you better check who makes the food?"

"Exactly."

Well, there were other reasons like people being unable to cook anything decent. Mostly the ones who never cooked before. Once upon a time I thought that everyone could at least manage to fry or grill a piece of meat. Yes, it shouldn't be hard and yet, some people still managed to burn it...

"Yumi, I don't think we're going to have to worry about who is cooking... It's a barbecue, we cook ourselves," Lily commented.

That's... Well, true.

"Nn, well, I guess you're right about that."

"The alcohol is mostly just ale too, it's quite hard to get drunk from that. Even the children can drink that."

"Also... What do you mean with 'suspicious substances' even?"

Lily furrowed her brows a little.

"Nn, stuff that's similar to alcohol, I guess? Just, a lot stronger."

"Stronger?"

Lily tilted her head.

Were drugs also not really known?

"I think Yumi means stuff like the Crystal Flowers."

"Ahhh, that stuff? I doubt anyone wants to get caught with Crystal Flowers here, so that's also nothing to worry about."

"Nn. I see."

That was good news.

Still, to think that Karen didn't know spicy food but knew what drugs were...

"..."

"Yumi."

"Nn?"

"You don't have to look at me like that. I'm no Crystal Flower addict. It's just that the stuff sometimes popped up in the slums."

The slums, huh. Well, it was a fitting place for things like that.

"In any case, that won't happen either. Relieved?"

"... Nn."

Kind of, yes. Not that I knew what Crystal Flowers even were.

"In the first place, there are children present, anyone dumb enough to pull some shit like that is going to see hell."

"That's relieving."

"Perfect. Now. With that out of the way, how about you finally change your clothes?"

"Can I refuse?"

"No."

In the dim light shining through the wagon's window, I saw Lily holding up a dress in front of me, with a wide smile.

"Can I leave?"

"Only after you changed clothes. Come now, it's not like it's the end of the world."

"..."

"You said yourself you would help out where possible."

"I did say that. I did. But I didn't say I would go and play waitress."

I wanted to enjoy the celebration too!

Helping out before that was fine with me, but not when it was still going on!

"Yumi. You don't want to?"

"Sis... It's not like I don't but..."

Pleading eyes were directed at me.

"Uhhh..."

"Yumi. I want to see you as a waitress..."

"..."

Ahh, yes. Of course. This had been a foregone conclusion from the very beginning. There was no way I had any chance of winning against this. Those big, begging eyes, they were unfair.

"... Haaa, I understand, I understand. I'll do it."

"Yay!"

"..."

"Ah."

Karen quickly covered her mouth and averted her gaze, turning red. Seemed that someone here really wanted to see this, after all...

I smiled wryly at the sight. And... If it made her that happy, then I'd gladly do it.

"Lily, give me that dress, I'll change."

"Okay, here you go."

"Nn..."

Taking a good look at the dress, it was kind of cute. It was a green dress with a beige shirt beneath it. The dress itself was actually more like an apron, covering mostly the front part. The upper half didn't cover the back. The shirt covered that, instead. Apparently, it was some kind of waitress uniform? There were even some beige short pants to go with it.

"Lily."

"Yes?"

"Why do we have this in my size in the first place?"

"... I don't know? Maybe it belonged to one of the children before."

The children, huh. Well, I could certainly imagine children helping out with such a thing.

"Nn, then, let's do this."

Resigning myself to my fate, I changed my clothes.

A minute or two later, I was donning the uniform. It was still a bit too large actually but otherwise, it fit pretty well.

"Ahh, so cute. Yumi, Yumi, look here!"

"Nn?"

"... Yumi. Can I take you with me?"

"Go ahead."

I'd follow her either way.

"You two, please don't start flirting right now. I agree it looks good on you, though."

"Nn, that's good. So, what do I even have to do exactly? Running around all the time is going to be impossible. My legs still hurt."

"You'll have to ask Fenna that. But I don't think it'll be something unreasonable."

Hopefully, that'd be the case.

Sure didn't want to imagine the torture of having to run around in this state. But it was sure better than having to help out with the more physical work, like setting up the tables and so.

"Then, since we're done, let's go to Fenna. She's probably already waiting."

"Nn."

A pair of eyes stared at me. Very intensely.

"Can I take you away?"

"No."

I already belonged to someone else.

"Miss Fenna, you can't have Yumi."

"... How unfortunate."

She looked actually quite sad about it...

"Haa... Then, I'll explain your work to you, okay?"

"Nn. But, first... Fenna, why are you wearing it too?"

"Why? Of course, because I'm also doing it?"

Fenna was wearing the same kind of beige-green uniform I was wearing.

"... Okay."

"Why did you pause, Yumi? If you have something to say, go ahead."

"No, it was just... unexpected?"

It certainly didn't look bad on her.

She had even put a small hair accessory into her short hair. I couldn't quite see what it was, though.

"Unexpected, heh. That's what the old men always say too..."

She looked a little sad, hearing my response.

"Ah, but it suits you, Fenna."

"Mh, does it?"

"Nn."

I nodded.

It was a little bit of an unexpected sight, yes, considering she always wore more practical things or, well, armour and stuff like that. Her work clothes.

"I see, I see. But even if you flatter me, I won't reduce your work."

"... Please go easy on me."

"Hahaha, no worries, it's nothing hard. Just go around and help out with the drinks and such, yes?"

"Nn, nothing else?"

"Nothing else. Don't underestimate that. That's already quite a lot to work on."

It didn't sound particularly hard, though.

"Ah, but... Yumi, can you cook?"

"Nn? Well, I can do some simple things, I guess?"

"That's actually good news, we're lacking people doing the preparation work. How about you two, Lily, Karen?"

Fenna and I turned to the two.

"I never properly cooked before. At most I roasted things over a fire."

"The Black Guards don't have anyone who can cook a proper meal, so I had to do it usually. Guess that'd be a yes?"

"Mh, then, Karen, experience is the best way to teach, so how about you come along?"

"I guess I can. I don't think I have anything else to do right now, anyway."

"You can always help with the more physical tasks if you got nothing else."

"I'll come."

Fenna nodded, satisfied.

"Great. There are surprisingly few who can cook among the mercenaries, outside of simple roasting some meat over a fire. Even though it's such a convenient thing to learn."

"I wish the Black Guards had learnt to cook too... All they can do is, indeed, roasting some meat... And roasting bread. Roasting vegetables, roasting everything..."

"How did they even survive before you learnt to cook, Lily?"

"There was someone else to cook for them. They were the one who taught me how to cook as well. Unfortunately due to some circumstances, they're not with the Black Guards anymore."

So, once that person had left... It was all roasted, huh.

Well, in its own way, that wasn't that bad. Roasted meat, and roasted vegetables and so. Made me wonder what kind of vegetables even existed here.

"Anyway, you girls, let's get going. The sooner we're done the better."

"Ah, yes."

"Nn."

With a wry smile, Fenna took the lead.

"What exactly do we have to do anyway, Fenna? I only know there's lots of meat coming..."

"Mh, we'll have to prepare some vegetables to go along with. The meat also has to be prepared, most likely. And who knows what else they'll bring over. Maybe someone is going to make a soup or a stew, too. We'll also have to prepare the herbs."

"Herbs?"

"Yeah. They're good for the taste. We have a few dried herbs stored, but some people probably went out to gather fresh ones."

Herbs... All this talk about food and cooking made me kind of hungry... But I was also quite interested in the cooking of this world.

"Oh, look, they're already back."

"Nn?"

Fenna pointed forwards, towards a... Uhm... Yeah...

"Fenna. What exactly is that?"

"A boar."

"No, no, no. That can't be a boar. A boar is not... that huge."

"What are you talking about? They're always that large. Or are you talking about their young? Those are obviously not that big."

"..."

Around four boars were gathered together. Obviously, they were already dead. They were our food, after all. The problem was... They were gigantic. Like, really. Gigantic. Big enough that I had to crane my neck back to look up to its dead eyes. I could only guess but they seemed to be at least four or five meters in height... That certainly wasn't the size of a boar I knew. And, that height was obviously without them standing up...

"How do you hunt such a thing even..."

"The most common way is with traps. They're pretty stupid and charge at you immediately. Set up some spikes made from logs or thick branches and the whole thing is actually quite easy. Without traps, you hunt them with spears, aiming for their eyes, the belly and the legs," Lily explained to me.

"That sounds dangerous."

"As long as you are quick on your feet it's not that bad. They can't change the direction that well while charging. And they pretty much never flee. Jump to the side, stab, gain some distance, repeat."

Even if she made it sound that easy... I couldn't imagine it at all. We were talking about a giant that was probably seven or eight meters while standing. Just seeing such a monster charge at me would probably leave me paralysed.

"But you have never seen a boar before, Yumi? That surprises me."

"How so?"

"Well, they're pretty common food. You even had it in your dinner here before. Though that was dried meat."

"Eh? Really?"

This behemoth was common food?

"... How many of these things are hunted if you consider it common?"

"Probably dozens per month? They breed all year and if you leave them unchecked they can turn into a veritable disaster. It's pretty much a staple food. Next to Earth Cucus."

"... Is it bad if I ask what Earth Cucus is?"

"It does make me question what experience you had with cooking before, at least."

"Let's say I am used to a very different set of ingredients."

Ones that were not available in this world, of course.

"Earth Cucus is a red, long vegetable that grows in the ground. They're easy to grow, so you see them a lot. They were in dinner too before."

"... I can't remember anything red in my dinner."

"They turn white to yellow when cooked."

Oh, so those potato-like things were Earth Cucus? Interesting.

"Maybe I should first teach you how to cook as well. You should know the ingredients... At the very least, know the food on your own plate..."

Fenna threw an exasperated glance at me.

It wasn't my fault that the ingredients I knew didn't match up with the ones from this world... Those were things I had to learn, it seemed...

"Miss Fenna! Did you find more help?"

A woman approached us. I recognised her as someone from Fenna's squad. Seemed they were here helping out too.

"More or less. I got two who are at least willing to learn a little. Lily seems to know her way around so give her something to do. And, is this all they brought here?"

"They brought five boars and... They also brought us fish. Nearly a dozen baskets full."

"... Could you repeat that?"

"A dozen baskets full of fish. Wholly unprepared. They got them for free, apparently."

Fenna clasped her hands over her head and groaned.

"Are you for real?"

"Yes, Miss Fenna. They're over there. We also got some vegetables and some bird meat. And the group collecting herbs just returned too. Mis— Mrs Helma is currently trying to go over the fish, but Mr Wenners and Mr Krutz aren't back yet. And Miss Ria is still in bed."

The woman let out a dry laugh.

"... So much for that. Yumi, can you help out with the fish? You can see mana, right?"

"Nn, I can do that."

"Miss Fenna, I can see mana too," Karen added.

"Then, help out as well. Sorry about that, we'll have to postpone the teaching to some other time."

Fenna smiled, looking a little relieved.

"Lily, can you help prepare the meat?"

"I can."

"Then, let us go there. The more people that can, the better. I'll leave the fish to you two, Karen, Yumi."

"Leave it to us."

"Nn."

Fenna and Lily, as well as the other woman, left to join the... butchering team. They had carved a large chunk out of a boar already and were cutting it in smaller chunks right now. The women were all blood-covered... It looked more like some blood ritual that was prepared there.

In contrast, where the fish baskets were... Two large tables with a few women cutting open each fish and removing the innards, then cleaning them. And in the middle of that, stood Helma.

"Ah, this is impossible! Why can't that stupid old man Wendl come and help us?! Got better things to do my ass! He just ran away. I'm going to gut him next!"

A loud, cursing Helma.

"Mrs Helma, please calm down. "

"How can I calm down?! Why did they bring us all these fish?! Eleven large baskets filled to the brim! How many hundreds of fish are there?! How did they even manage to catch these many in that river? Are there even any fish left now?"

She was furious... The surrounding women were trying to calm her down, but they didn't really manage to do so.

"Helma."

"Mh?! Oh! Yumi! Yumi! Our saviour! The saviour has arrived!"

"Eh? Wha—

Helma dashed towards me and hugged me, tears in her eyes.

"Our saviour!"

"Helma. Calm down, please calm down."

Alas, she wasn't calming down... Repeating how glad she was I came many times over...

"This is... boring."

"Nn."

A few minutes after Helma calmed down and explained the situation to us, we sat at a table, sorting the fishes. Which ones were monsters and edible and which ones weren't. Frankly speaking, it was incredibly boring. And we had barely even started.

"I'm sorry, but we got nobody who can see mana here... We didn't expect them to bring us this fish either..."

According to Helma, the merchant who sold the boars gave the fish as a bonus along. The fish was fresh, but it had to be taken care of quickly. Just, there weren't many people who could even deal with fish. As in, too few people could see mana and help.

"It's okay. It'd be a waste to throw all of this away. But, can we even use all of this?"

"Depends how many are monsters, but we'll probably smoke around half of the ones that are left over. They'll keep a little longer like that."

"What about the monster ones?"

"We'll likely have to throw them away."

"Nn..."

That sounded... like quite a waste. And they were quite delicious.

"Helma, can't a magician prepare them?"

"I think they can, but Ms Ria and the others usually refuse, saying they can't..."

They can't? Was there maybe something else to take note of when preparing them, outside of getting rid of the mana?"

"Then we shouldn't mess with it. Ria and the others probably know better than us."

"Nn. But it's such a waste."

"What can you do, that's how it is."

"Nn..."

Helma just shrugged her shoulders. She probably didn't even think much about it, considering it was normal for them.

"... We can keep a few at least. I can eat them."

"... Yumi, that's not a funny joke."

"It wasn't a joke."

"Listen, no person could ever hope to stomach a mon.. ster fish..."

She paused, staring at the fish. Her hands weren't moving either. A few seconds later, she turned to me.

"Are you serious?"

"Nn."

"... You're going to be a boon to our food expenses."

"I doubt one person makes that much of a difference..."

Still, it was a difference, even if it was a small one.

"Do they even taste good?"

"Pretty good even."

Yes, the roasted monster fish I ate back then was really good. Like, really, really good. Just thinking about it made me hungry...

Nn... I want to eat something... Speaking of which, this fish is... fresh, right?

I stared at the fish in front of me. I had already dug out the mana crystal with a small knife. Small chunks of its meats were in front of me too.

I am fairly sure there were people who eat fish raw in my world... It should be fine, yes?

Karen and Helma were both busy with their respective tasks so... Just trying it once wouldn't hurt, right?

And with those words, temptation winning me slowly over, I... didn't try to do it.

No, no, no. Raw food is bad. Bad. Keep the temptation in check, Yumi!

"Something wrong, Yumi? You're making a weird face."

"No, Sis. Everything is okay."

Yes, I barely managed to keep my temptation back.

Still, there are foods that are more or less... safer to eat raw... Aren't there?

"Helma, is there any food, fish or meat or so, that can be eaten raw?"

"Raw? Are you out of your mind?"

Once again, she stopped her work, this time throwing an exasperated look at me.

"I mean, if you don't mind getting things like stomach worms, go ahead and try them."

"... Stomach worms?"

"Worms that live in your stomach. They can grow quite large. Thicker than my thumb and probably around half the length of my forearm? They're also quite painful to deal with. Magic has a hard time treating them, too. Just imagine something that large wriggling its way around in your stomach."

"... I think I'll refrain."

"That's better so."

With all my heart, I refused to imagine such a thing. Just the slightest thought already gave me goosebumps.

"There's also plenty of other things you don't want to deal with, so make absolutely sure to properly cook everything you eat, okay?"

"Nn..."

"Are you sure you cooked before? You really got some weird thoughts."

"Nn, well, I did..."

But never without the help of the convenient modern world... Humanity really went a long way. To be able to to figure out so many things.

"Oh? Miss Helma, what kind of fish is this?"

An odd, purple-coloured fish was in Karen's hands.

"That? Oh? Now, that's rare. That's a manakin fish."

"This? These fish can turn into manakin as well?"

"Of course. Ah, but they're inedible. Regardless of whether they are monsters or not. Just throw it on the monster fish pile."

"I see, how unfortunate."

Karen put the fish onto the monster pile.

"Is it also because of the mana that they are inedible?"

"Yes. They're really rare, though. Although considering the amount of fish we have here, finding one probably isn't that unexpected, I guess."

Helma put another fish onto the yet-to-be-sorted pile. With practised movements, she gutted the next fish.

"Are you helping out a lot with the cooking, Helma?"

"I'm quite often on cooking duty, yes. At first, my mother forced me to learn it, saying that it's a 'mark of a good woman' and such things. But I love seeing people enjoy my food, so I kept at it. I got quite some confidence in my cooking, you know?"

People enjoying her food, huh. Was she sure, she didn't mean Merim enjoying it?

"That makes me remember how she also tried to force me into sewing and other things. Too bad for her that never worked out."

"Why that?"

"Why she forced me into it or why it never worked out?"

"Nn, both?"

Helma smiled wryly at my response.

"She wanted to turn me into 'good woman'. So that she doesn't have to feel embarrassed when she would marry me off to some man. Of her own choosing, of course. I was quite a tomboy when I was younger, so that didn't work out as well as she hoped. Only cooking really stuck with me."

"She... was going to choose your marriage partner?"

"Mh? Yes."

I stared at her, slightly dumbfounded.

"Uhm... And nobody said anything against that?"

"Why should they? That's pretty normal, you know?"

"Is it?"

I turned to Karen. A wry smile and a nod later, she confirmed it as well.

"I... see..."

"You didn't know? It's pretty common."

"Well, but... You and Merim married out of love, right?"

"We did."

"And, what about the Captain and his wife?"

"Oh, they did too. I mean, if you go with examples from the mercenaries, it's kind of the other way round. Most here marry out of love, rather than necessity. We can afford to, after all."

I tilted my head, confused. It was the other way round, she said? But... how?

Maybe picking up on my confusion, Helma broke out in laughter.

"Ahaha, you see. I like to call the mercenaries 'a group of misfits'."

"Misfits?"

"Yeah. Like, could you imagine that most of these people could live in a normal town or village?"

Helma stopped and took a glance backwards.

We were mostly surrounded by women right now, but a few men here and there were also helping out with the fish preparation. There were more men helping with the boar, carving it up in large chunks.

"You got men and women thirsty for war, independence, knowledge, freedom. People like that don't fit into a village. Everyone there has a role, and there are rules in place to make sure everyone behaves. For the sake of their survival, a single person's happiness is worth nothing to them."

"..."

"That's why you shouldn't take the mercenaries as what is normal. They aren't. Everyone here has their own long story. Especially the ones that decided to become mercenaries on their own, out of their own will. But, you know, I love the mercenaries, these people."

Helma smiled brightly, watching everyone working on the preparations.

"They accept who you are. Even if you are a little odd, they don't mind. Once you are part of them, they will always consider you family."

"... Family."

"Exactly, family. You two are now part of this big family too. Don't expect us to let the two of you go anymore, are we clear on that?"

Karen and I exchanged a surprised glance, then we smiled.

"Nn."

"Heard you loud and clear."

"Great!"

A toothy smile was directed at us.

But, a few seconds later, Helma's expression turned a little sad.

"But, that's also why it's a bit unfortunate what's going on with the families. They don't consider themselves part of the mercenaries. The mercenaries are one big family, but they see themselves as their own cluster of families..."

"Nn?"

"Haa... Let's shelve that topic. Or I'm just going to talk your ears off. Sorry about that. Point being, I love it here. Everyone is open and nice."

Helma turned back to her own work, gutting the fish in front of her.

"I don't mind travelling. But my mother didn't want to travel. She wanted to leave the mercenaries. In the end, that's exactly what she did. With a new man, in some city. No idea what she is doing now, nor do I really want to know."

"I see... What about your father?"

"My dad? He's still quite lively, you know. Cried a whole river when Merim and I got married. You might've talked with him before already, you know? Old man, brown full beard and brown hair with some streaks of grey, rugged face. Full of muscles. Also got a scar on his cheek and some on his arms. Oh, and on his back, he got a big one, too."

I half expected her to talk about Merim now. Glad to see she answered properly.

Still, that description would probably fit at least half a dozen mercenaries. Or more.

"He's still kicking and doing well. He'll probably survive Merim and me, with how well he's doing."

"Don't say that. That's a bad sign."

"Ahh, you're right."

He probably didn't want to survive you two. That might be a little too hard, seeing your own child dying before you do.

"Well, I wish he would get over my mother sometime, though. There've been some asking why he doesn't marry someone else, but he is quite stubborn. Saying he already has me to take care of."

"Nn, you'd be fine with it if he found a new wife?"

"To be honest, I want him to, actually. He loved my mother, sure, but she wasn't good to him. Really, once she left, our lives got so much better. Hopefully, he'll look a bit more at himself, now that I'm married."

"Huh..."

She got along quite well with her father, didn't she? Made me feel all warm, listening to her.

"You know, there's a woman from Fenna's group that seems quite interested in him. I'd like for that to work out, since I know she's nice."

"Fenna's group? Her squad? But... Aren't they all quite young?"

"Mh? Most of them, yes. Well, young compared to my dad, at least. She's a little over thirty. My dad saved her on a job once and she fell head over heels for him since then. Not that he noticed."

That was still quite a bit younger than her father, probably. Well, if Helma was fine with that, then that was their thing to figure out, wasn't it?

"I hope it'll go well, that'd be nice. He should live a little freer."

"I'll cheer for him."

"Nn, I'll cheer too."

"Hahaha, thank you."

A little cheering for her father.

"Go, go, get that fire going. Come on!"

A man shouted at his lackeys, attempting to light a bonfire. I didn't know when, but some of the broken wagons had already been salvaged, and the remains were thrown onto a pile. It was enough for a sizeable bonfire. Just, the wood wasn't dried or anything, so they had some trouble getting the fire going.

"How about ya throw in some of Captain's Forest Fire?"

"Captain's gonna kill me if I do! You go and do it!"

"Bahaha! No way!"

"Stop the banter and get fanning! No food for you until the fire's nice and bright!"

"Nobody gets food until then, leader!"

"Better hurry then unless you want us to roast you guys!"

Was this going to be fine? The two subordinates were wildly fanning the small fire with wooden boards. I feared they might actually extinguish it first, so vigorously they were fanning.

"Are the tables all set?" Fenna asked.

"Nn, plates and mugs are also all ready and on the tables!"

"Good, then, the fire is all we need to wait for now. Ah, what about the alcohol?"

"The ale is over there. The liquor is with Helma and the other women."

"Good, good."

She nodded satisfied.

It had taken quite a long time—much longer than everyone had thought—before we got all the preparations done. The sun was already nearing the horizon. But, the fish was all ready and most of the boars were finished too.

Most, they actually only managed to prepare three of the five. That was still an incredible feat, in my eyes. The other two were untouched for now. Fenna already told us, that tomorrow morning we might have to help out with preparing them. The longer they were lying around, the worse it'd be.

"Now then, Yumi, you'll be responsible for those two tables."

"Nn? Only those two?"

"You're still tired from the morning practice, right? And we got more than enough people to help out."

"Haa... Understood."

I glanced at the tables in question. Karen, Lily and the others had already sat down on one of them. And Korwen sat there too, talking with Lily and Karen.

Seemed I was going to care mainly for people I already knew.

Fenna instructed the other women—mostly from her own squad, interestingly—which tables they should wait at.

"Yumi, remembered where everything is?"

"Nn. Alcohol is there. The soup is over there. Vegetables are right behind it. Water is right over there next to the alcohol."

"Good. What do you do when someone is drunk?"

"Give them water and let them lie down."

She had made sure that everyone remembered those little things. For the sake of a smooth evening, she said.

"Good, good. But get rid of that stiff face."

"Nn?"

"There's no need to be nervous. In its own way, it can be quite fun, you'll see. Just try to have a good time yourself."

"Haa..."

How was that supposed to work when you were doing waitress work, though?

"Ah, but if someone tries something lewd, tell us immediately, okay? We'll take care of it."

"N— Nn..."

"We can't risk casualties at a celebration, after all."

"... I'm not going to kill someone for that, Fenna."

"You won't but..."

She threw a glance at the table nearby. At Karen, in particular.

"I'm not so sure she thinks the same way."

"..."

It... was going to be fine. She wouldn't go and kill someone over that. Surely. Surely?

"In any case. Like I already said, just try to have a good time and all is good. Also, don't forget to eat and drink enough."

"Nn."

"Then, everyone! Let's get this going!"

"""Ooohhh!!!"""

Rinne

If you enjoyed it, please take a look at my Patreon! Thank you!

I will now huddle myself up and wait until the storm passes. Getting really windy out there.

Until next week!