kscans

Chapter 31 - The Neighboring Forest and the Little Person

"Woooow."

The Frontier delegation was invited to the village chief’s house. The knights were split into two rooms of five, while Chihiro shared a room with Dolphen and Adoris.

The village, having expected a much larger group, had prepared an open clearing, planning for everyone but the most important people to pitch tents there.

But the actual number of visitors was less than half of what they had anticipated.

The villagers, who had geared up to give them a spirited welcome, found themselves pleasantly relaxed, and it seemed the quality of the food had improved as a result. A delicious-looking meal was spread out before them. Stews, grilled dishes, salads, and pasta. From a simple aglio e olio style to a classic tomato sauce. It was likely thanks to this being a farming region. Bread and pasta were abundant. As Chihiro was getting her share of a mountain of pasta, her eyes were suddenly drawn to one particular dish.

A pasta covered in a pale cream-colored sauce. The small pieces of meat were probably bacon. That must have been quite expensive. It seemed they had really gone all out for them.

"Adoris, that one. That pasta, please."

"Oh? A cream sauce. That’s an unusual color."

Adoris placed a portion of the faintly yellowish pasta on a small plate, added some warm vegetables for color, and handed it to the little girl.

Could this possibly be…

Chihiro twirled her fork, gathering a generous amount of noodles, and opened her mouth wide to take a bite. It was amusing to see several of the surrounding adults unconsciously open their mouths as well before hastily closing them. She chewed with gusto, mossha mossha, and instinctively stomped her feet. Since her feet didn’t reach the floor, the motion was adorable, like she was pedaling a bicycle in the air.

"Sooo good. This is carbonara."

It was her second favorite pasta of all time. It was a dish she had wanted to eat but had given up on, not knowing how to make it. Her favorite, incidentally, was Napolitan. As someone who was Japanese on the inside, Chihiro hated wasting ingredients. She had tried making carbonara several times, but the results had been disastrous. She knew the ingredients, but not the cooking method. She grew tired of eating a lumpy, pseudo-carbonara where the egg always curdled, and eventually abandoned the effort.

To think I would meet you in a place like this.

The Little Person was overcome with emotion as she devoured it, but she was suddenly struck by a feeling that something was missing.

A smooth, glossy cream sauce. It was definitely carbonara. But something was off. What was it?

As Chihiro tilted her head in thought, a baking sheet with a roasted block of meat came into her view. It was seasoned with various herbs, salt, and pepper. Colorful vegetables like potatoes and carrots were arranged around the meat. Looking at what appeared to be a roast, an idea flashed in the Little Person’s mind.

"Pepper. Adoris, I need black pepper."

Adoris hurriedly handed a pepper mill to the small, outstretched hand. Chihiro took it, ground the pepper over her pasta with a gari gari sound, and took another bite.

"Mmmm, this is it. This is it. Sooo delicious."

The rich, sweet sauce was perfectly complemented by the sharp flavor of the pepper. This was true carbonara.

Watching the little girl eat so eagerly, the villagers exchanged glances. Pepper was expensive. It wasn't prohibitively so, but it wasn't something you could just sprinkle on everyday meals. So they had never even considered using it on pasta. But since they had guests, a selection of seasonings, including pepper, had been placed on the table.

If they were going to try it, now was their chance.

The villagers all served themselves the carbonara and, copying the little girl, lightly sprinkled pepper on top. They took a bite, and were all left speechless. They looked at one another with wide eyes, and in no time, the carbonara on their small plates was gone.

"Delicious… what is this?"

"The flavor is completely different from usual."

"Well, I’ll be."

The little girl cheerfully spoke to the villagers, who were sighing in admiration.

"Hey, hey, can you teach me how to make karubonaara?"

Stared at by large, sparkling eyes, the villagers nodded without a second thought. But then they furrowed their brows, looking a little troubled.

"Um… what is a karubonaara?"

Huh?

"It’s the name of this pasta… isn’t it?"

As she looked up at them with a timid, upward glance, the villagers all shook their heads. At lightning speed.

"No, it’s karubonaara."

"That’s right, it’s karubonaara."

"From this day forward, this dish is karubonaara."

Bwahah!!

Everyone around the table burst out laughing at once. Knights and villagers alike shook with laughter, roaring with delight.

Chihiro had no idea what had just happened.

Adoris picked up the bewildered Little Person and chuckled, stroking her head.

"That’s the first naming in Flawers. This pasta is going to be famous."

She asked the still-laughing Adoris, who explained that dishes in farming villages and the like often didn’t have names. They were simply called by their main ingredient, like tomato pasta or oil pasta. Occasionally, a visiting noble would take a liking to a dish and give it a name, and this was apparently one of those times.

Unknowingly, the Little Person had bestowed the highest honor upon the villagers.

"Karubonaara, a favorite dish of Her Highness the Princess of Frontier."

It would be some time before this name swept through Flawers.

And the Little Person thought.

Isn't the intonation wrong?

And so the Little Person continued down a path that was completely off the mark.

"So this is the border forest."

Unlike the forest near the royal capital, this one was somewhat desolate. Was it because it was in the middle of a wilderness? Not even the chirping of birds could be heard from the sparse woods. A dry wind blew through, and the grasslands surrounding the forest seemed almost completely withered.

"Hmm. Shall we go?"

"Yes."

As the Frontier party prepared to enter without any hesitation, the panicked voices of the Flawers knights reached them.

"It’s dangerous. This vast forest is home to many monsters and beasts."

The little girl turned to look back at the flustered Gaius and grinned.

"We have an invitation. It’s fine."

"An invitation??"

Leaving the baffled Flawers knights behind, Chihiro waved her small hand and disappeared into the forest. The Flawers knights didn't even notice the black object circling high above them.

"I just have to give this to him, right?"

Chihiro lightly patted the shoulder bag she always wore. Inside was a beeswax box she had been entrusted with by Merda. It was for the guardian deity of this forest, who, like the baby bees, protected this land.

As Chihiro walked on the undergrowth that rustled with a dry, saku saku sound, she noticed that the trees within the forest were also thin and sparse.

Overall, its life force was weak. So this is a forest that is losing its magic. How awful.

Knowing a deep, lush green forest overflowing with life, Chihiro found this unbearable.

As she tightly gripped the front of her dress, a cool voice suddenly reached her ears.

《Are you the Golden King?》

"Yes… I think so."

She must have entered the Master’s territory. Just like with Merda, the voice echoed directly in her head.

《I heard from the Queen. Truly… thank you.》

As he said that, a great tremor ran through the earth, and the ground suddenly split open. Dolphen, his face pale, swept Chihiro into his arms, and the Little Person stopped the knights who had instantly taken a battle stance. Right before the Little Person's eyes, a large pillar of water rose up, and a massive shadow could be seen within it.

What emerged with a zururi sound was a lordly frog. It was a beautiful frog with a delicate mottled pattern and touches of vermilion. However, it was easily over two meters tall, considerably larger than Merda.

《It is an honor to meet you for the first time. My name is Molt. I am known as King Molt. I trust Your Majesty is well.》

Is that a pun? King…

Molt looked down at the stunned Frontier party and smiled faintly. 《May I have the item you are holding for me?》

At his words, Chihiro took the box from the Queen out of her bag. Inside was a pure white cream and a small, wiggling grub. It was the larva that would become the next queen. The cream was royal jelly.

As she timidly held it out, the giant bee that had been circling overhead descended, took the beeswax box, and flew off into the depths of the forest. Watching the bees go, Molt nodded his large head several times.

《If left to them, the charge will be raised without issue. You have saved us. I am deeply grateful.》

"Let’s make a pact. This place is dry and sad."

《By all means. To think I would meet a new king. I had thought I would simply wither away.》

The giant lordly frog pressed itself flat against the ground, offering its head defenselessly before Chihiro. She touched the offered head and released her magic with all her might. Countless bands of light erupted, covering the entire forest and raining down in a shower of gold. The forest glowed so brightly it was visible even from a distance, and when the light subsided, Molt’s left eye had turned gold.

And it wasn’t just Molt.

The forest itself had transformed, its deep green hues regaining their vibrancy.

《Oooooooh.》

A cry like a sob burst from the lordly frog’s mouth. Large tears spilled from its massive eyes, instantly soaking into the earth, and from there, even more greenery began to sprout.

《…Power flows through me. I can call upon the breath of the earth. What a nostalgic feeling. To be filled with magic. I had forgotten it for so long.》

So this is what it means to connect the path.

With Chihiro connecting the path, magic was now surging from Frontier through the channel of golden magic. The border forest, starved for life, absorbed the magic to its limit, remembering the breath of the earth it had nearly forgotten.

《I thank you. I swear to devote myself to you, to the very last fragment of my soul. Until your life ends.》

The lordly frog trembled with joy.

Chihiro felt like she finally understood.

The Golden King is one who connects. That’s all. Like a pipe.

The land of this world has a life force powered by magic. The Master’s forests regulate and spread it across the land. They are the faucets. As long as they function correctly, the world can remain bountiful.

But humanity had become a little distorted.

They had forgotten the principles of the world and burdened themselves with unnecessary hardship.

The golden magic was probably what could restore it. In other words, a plumber. Connecting people, monsters, and the land. A self-purifying power that repeats as long as human hands can reach it.

When they can no longer reach, the world of magic will end, and a new evolution will be required. But that would also drag down the Masters who lived in the forests to protect humanity.

Ah, so that’s why Merda looked so grim sometimes. It was late, but she could now understand her conflict.

As far as Chihiro had learned from her tutor, the forests already existed when humanity began to record its history. The Forest Masters had coexisted with humans, while still maintaining a distance. They were the guardians of the lifeline called magic. It would have been easy to abandon them. They could have simply let the forests wither and moved on. But they did not leave the forests, even when they were being killed. They couldn't abandon the forests… or the people. They tried to protect the forest until their very last breath.

Molt was the same. He could have abandoned this place and fled, yet he endured the devastation, trying somehow to protect the forest, to protect the people, and sent an SOS to the Queen. And the Queen responded.

What gentle creatures they are.

If I can protect this, if I can be of some help to these gentle beings, then I’ll connect as many as I can.

Looking up at the sky defiantly, the Little Person resolved in her heart to connect every last forest, however many there may be.

Here, a king with the true power of golden magic was born.

Formerly the Golden King, now the Plumber, Sagami Chihiro.

Like some video game brothers, shouldering the pipes of golden magic, the Little Person’s adventure to race across the world was just beginning.