Chapter 117: At The End Of The Festival… III (1/2)

「So cold」

Yelled my sister. That was no surprise, as the plain had become a field of snow.

We were currently on our way back to the camp. The snow was not so deep that our feet would get caught in it, but it was open terrain, so the wind was biting cold and it cut to the bone.

「So cold～」

My sister shouted again.

「You're making it hard for me to walk」

Complained Maria, who was being hugged by Ea. Ea was wearing a fur coat given to her by Gladvain-sama, but she was still feeling cold.

「No no no, I'm pretty sure my reaction is normal. Maria, aren't you cold?」

Maria was dressed as normal.

She was lightly dressed and her legs were bare. I had gotten her to at least wear a shirt to cover her stomach, but even so, it looked like she should be freezing.

「That's no good, Ea, no good at all. On the left continent, we only call it cold when our eyelashes freeze, you know?」

「You sure live in an unbelievable place」

It's because the winter there isn’t just cold, it hurts.

「Onii-chan, why are you also okay with the cold?」

「Well, I've also experienced what winter is like on the left continent, and this is about the same as the winters in Japan」

「Ugh, it's cold in Japan too, huh? That sucks」

To be fair, it is cold. But thanks to the poncho soaked with dragon blood, I don't feel so cold that I would shiver. I was told that the dragon blood would continue to generate warmth and heat for ten years after it had left the dragon's body.

「Wait, Onee-chan, are you okay?」

「S, so hot」

Rana's forehead was covered with sweat. Her entire robe had been soaked with dragon blood. It must be like having pocket warmers all over the body.

Ea hugged Rana.

「Wow, you're so warm」

「Once the wind picked up, it suddenly started to feel really hot. I'm all sweaty and I want to take it off as soon as possible」

Please don't do the same thing as they do on Mount Hakkouda.[1]

「Speaking of which, Onee-chan, what about the armor the dragon gave you? Are you going to wear it?」

「I don't have that kind of courage」

Ehh~.

I think it would look good on you though. Personally, I'd love to see you wear it.

「Then give it to me. I want to try it on」

「Huh? Ea, for an unmarried woman, that appearance is a bit……」

Bikini armor on a flat-chested person, is there such a thing?

After all, what point is there in hiding what isn't there?

「It's fine, I'm telling you. I'll just wear it as underwear. I mean, you're brushing aside Gladvain-sama's traditions kinda rudely, you know?」

「I'm an elf before I'm her kin, so needlessly exposing so much skin is………」

Rana took another look at what Ea and Maria were wearing.

Is Rana uptight, or are the two of them just frivolous? As someone who likes it either way, it's hard for me to say. I mean, despite being covered up, Rana is still quite sexy.

「You two, let's go shopping for winter clothes later」

「Really? Yay!」

Ea was overjoyed.

「Yay!」

So was Maria.

I felt Rana's gaze, so I nonchalantly handed her my purse. 30 gold coins should be more than enough to pay for winter clothes for the three of them plus some food on the way home.

「Souya, I'm hungry」

Maria's stomach growled loudly just like in the mangas.

「For breakfast……」

Breakfast reminded me of Geto-san. I had broken the token of friendship he gave me. I'm hoping that it's not something valuable, but I wonder if there's any way I can compensate him for it.

「Oh, Geto is here」

Maria dashed across the field of snow towards the camp.

We found Makina and Geto-san shoveling snow at our home. Makina had insulation material attached to her cylindrical pod for the cold weather. Geto-san was clad only in a loincloth like usual. Are fishmen resistant to cold, I wondered.

We followed after Maria at a brisk jog.

「Shrimp! Geto, did you bring any shrimp?!」

「Ohh, little one, you're looking lively this morning. Yeah, I've brought shrimp. And it’s not the small ones that I usually catch」

At Maria's urging, Geto-san took out a shrimp from a container meant for fish.

It turned out to be a big lobster!

「Whoa! Geto-san, that's……!」

I also got excited and ran over as fast as I could.

「Ohh, Souya, I heard you had quite a day yesterday」

「I won't really call it that. As usual, I just barely avoided death」

「That's what ”quite a day” means, isn't it?」

That may be true, but the allure of lobster is drawing all of my attention.

「Dear, could this be……」

「Rana, do you know what that is?」

Do they treat lobsters as a delicacy in the alternate world too?

「This is the legendary emperor shrimp. It's said that the ancient elven emperors went to war over this shrimp. I didn't think it really existed」

Lobsters are amazing.

And don't go to war because of your gluttony, you elves.

「As expected, you're quite knowledgeable, madam. Yes, this is indeed the emperor shrimp. It’s a precious bounty of the sea that’s only eaten when the Apostles of Grizunas have accomplished great deeds. I heard that you drove off that annoying dragon, so I asked my god for one」

「Oh, Geto-san」

I pulled out a small pouch from my pocket and showed him the pieces of the necklace that I had managed to retrieve.

「The necklace that you gave me, Geto-san, it's broken. I'm sorry」

「WHAT?!」

He shifted his sunglasses and squinted closely at the pieces of coral.

「Impossible. There's no way anyone living on land could have destroyed――」

「When I was blasted point-blank by the dragon's breath, it protected me from the flames, but it broke in exchange」

「………What did………………you say………」

He looked shocked.

I guess it's valuable after all.

「Pff」

Then he broke out into a smile.

He has a fish-like face, but it's easy to tell whether he's happy or upset.

「Fuhahahahahaa!」

Raising the lobster to the heavens, he burst out laughing.

「Did you see that! O heavens! O flames! Our fishmen's secrets arts have thwarted your efforts to destroy!」