kscans

Chapter 157 - The Arts Theater and the Little One, Part Five

"...This is!"

Towering before them was, literally, a small castle. The red brick shop next to the orphanage remained as it was, but a new, second location had been built near the forest park surrounding the Arts Theater.

This, too, was a highlight of the tour.

The group, after a brief inspection of the capital, had ridden here in prepared carriages, but the nobles from various countries were astonished by the seats and backrests of those carriages. For those like Marrow and Marcello who had studied abroad in Frontier, it was a familiar carriage. And for Augfel, who had been an adventurer.

"Ah, this feels so good to sit in."

"Right? No matter how many cushions you stack, you can never quite get rid of the vibrations."

The soft springs sank in comfortably. The surface was covered with a sturdy quilted fabric, and the elastic material used to connect the parts stretched just enough to support one’s backside. The same mechanism was used for the backrest, reducing the already minimal vibrations of the carriage to almost nothing.

"We use a cushion-like component at the junction between the carriage’s box and the wheel’s chassis."

In modern terms, a suspension. Moreover, the buffer material in that gap was made of slime. The mechanism was simple, but it had undergone a remarkable evolution thanks to the otherworld material. Frontier’s carriages, with their pocket coil cushions devised back in Fatima’s time, could kill vibrations to the extreme. And they ran on smooth cobblestones unparalleled in other countries. The nobles riding for the first time were speechless as the carriage glided forward as if on ice.

"Such a thing...! Is this magic, too?"

"No? Not a single bit of magic is used. ...Ah, well, it is used to expand the space."

The inside of the carriage was a vast space. Three rows of six-seater sofas faced each other. The twins and the royals sat in the central seats. The nobles from each country were in the rear. In the front were attendants and guards. In total, about thirty people were on board.

All within what appeared from the outside to be a standard-sized box carriage.

It was the same magic used in the Honeybee Carriages that flew through the sky. The nobles from each country could not hide their amazement that it was being used so routinely.

What in the world is this country?

To be able to freely change the size of a room... They were also thoroughly astonished by the carriage with its barely perceptible vibrations.

Giving education to commoners, serving them meals. And all of it for free? Impossible!

They had never heard of a prosperous orphanage. Weren’t orphans just like insects that fed on taxes? To live in such a fine building, to run a farm and a ranch... It was absurd, wasn’t it?

That magnificent town with wooden pillars was the commoners’ district... They had thought for sure it was the noble district. A beautiful streetscape with flowers planted everywhere was the commoners’ district... Even the noble district in my country does not have such a luxurious appearance.

As each of them replayed their thoughts, the carriage arrived at its destination.

And so we return to the beginning.

Glancing at the nobles, who were all slack-jawed in unison, the Little One announced in a loud voice.

"This is our country’s representative castle of sweets. Its name is ‘The Castle of Sweets’!"

The Little One’s eyes curved into arcs at the nostalgic name.

In Nagoya, the city where she had lived as an Earthling, there were many amusement parks, and among them, the Little One’s favorite had been the "Castle of Sweets." Inside the building, many sweets were on display, with a wedding cake that reached the ceiling of the second floor showcased in the center of an open atrium. There were also other confectionery exhibits based on various themes, such as a house of sweets, a town of sweets, an amusement park of sweets, and a forest of sweets. You could eat whatever you liked at the café, you could tour the confectionery factory where the sweets sold there were made, and you could even make your own in a dedicated space. You would look around at the dynamic and cute sweets, watch the factory through glass in a cloud of sweet smells, and then have tea at the café with the sweets you made in hand. The standard souvenir was sweet potato.

That was the Little One’s routine in the past. Picturing her favorite place, which she visited every season, the girl looked up at the castle before her with nostalgia.

I tried to make it as close as possible.

Her memories of her past-past life were hazy. The building was similar, but it felt different somehow. She couldn’t remember enough to fuss over the fine details. Next to the Little One, who drooped a little sadly, Katsumi’s eyes were wide with disbelief as he whispered quietly. His voice was trembling noticeably.

"...The Castle of Sweets? Seriously!"

"You’d know it if you lived in Ichinomiya. It might not look very similar, but I did my best, nyo."

"Not similar? It’s a spitting image! Hey, hey, what about the inside? Is that giant cake there? What about the town of sweets?"

Katsumi had been tied to a hospital bed with a chronic illness his whole life. He only knew the world through online videos and photos. For him, the nearby amusement park was the number one dream destination he wanted to visit.

Even though it was just one train ride away...

Katsumi, who couldn’t be taken off his life-support machines, was only allowed to take walks around the hospital in a wheelchair.

At that thought, tears welled up in Katsumi’s eyes.

"Hey, hey, hey... You’ve got to be kidding me. To think my dream would come true here. Isn’t that a bit too ironic, Creator God?"

Everyone is more touched by the intimacy of what is near than the admiration for what is far. Katsumi was no exception, and he loved all the local attractions.

A certain mouse-themed land’s cookie tin. He was happy to receive it, but his heart trembled more for a certain castle’s sweet potato.

All the things he had researched, gazed at, and stared at to an exasperating degree. The zoo and botanical garden built on an entire mountain, famous for its koalas. The blue castle topped with golden shachihoko. The monkey park and the ethnic museum. The hot spring amusement park and the samurai village. The castle towering before him was one of them.

A single tear traced a path down Katsumi’s cheek as he let out an innocent laugh. Looking up at it, the Little One looked at the Castle of Sweets once more.

Yeah. It’s a good job. Not bad.

And then she tightly grasped the fingers of Katsumi standing next to her and started running, pulling him along.

"Of course the cake is here, and the town of sweets and all that, nyo! I made different areas for baked goods, fresh sweets, and seasonal sweets, let’s go see!"

"...Yeah! I can’t wait!"

Pulled along by the beaming Little One, Katsumi started running, his eyes shining, moving his feet with enough momentum to overtake her. The guests, who had been watching them in stunned silence, also headed for the Castle of Sweets, led by a flustered Chihaya.

Chihaya guided the special envoys with the help of Dorfen and Hyrulia, all while chewing on a bitter pill at the sight of the two figures running straight off.

Honestly! Where did your sense of time and place go, Hiiro!!

He was the brother who badmouthed his sister in his head, all while maintaining his composure using the faint smile he had learned directly from Romel.

"Whoa! What is this, it’s like Lego!"

"Ah, I thought so too! When I was connecting the icing cookies and stuff.♪"

The two children ran around, kyakkya. One of them was over thirty.

The delegation of special envoys looked at the two with exasperated eyes, but only for a moment. They were rendered speechless by the lavish space that was reminiscent of a palace hall.

The first thing that caught your eye upon entering the main entrance of the Castle of Sweets was a massive cake. The cake, frozen with ice magic, had cold air rising from its surface, creating a background like dry ice without any effort. The white mist drifting across the floor of the great hall was fantastical. You could go up to the second floor via the curved staircases on either side, and below the glass windows that covered the walls was the confectionery workshop. Nothing was being made at the moment, but once it opened, you could watch the artisans making the sweets for sale. Furthermore, many confectionery displays decorated the left and right sides of the hall. The miniature gardens of sweets, crafted with various ideas, were nothing short of exquisite.

"Are these baked goods? A house and... a church? Benches, it’s amazing, I can’t believe they’re sweets."

"This one seems to be fresh sweets. A snowscape, it’s wonderful."

"This one is jelly! Is it a summer scene, perhaps? The sea is beautiful and looks delicious!"

Ismail exclaimed in admiration, his eyes sparkling. Pacesta was silent, but the flush on his cheeks showed that he was captivated. The delicate spaces created in the miniature gardens, each the size of a tatami mat, were stared at intently, and everyone was mesmerized, unable to hide their sighs.

"My, my, how extravagant. A large amount of sugar and honey must have been used for this, yes?"

"Both are expensive items. Above all, these intricate and delicate sweets. It is indeed no exaggeration to call them works of art."

With a satisfied grin, the Little One, leading a still-excited Katsumi, had the doors to the left and right halls opened.

"The left is for baked goods. The right is for fresh sweets. For today only, we have prepared it just as it will be at the grand opening. Please, enjoy yourselves."

Peeking inside at her words, the people froze. There, a central open-plan kitchen was set up, and on the three walls, booths of sweets were lined up. On the south side were three large glass doors, which were now wide open. Beyond them was a spacious terrace with a panoramic view of the forest park.

"Please take what you like and enjoy it at the tables in the dining area. The patissiers in the central kitchen will also prepare seasonal fruits, cold desserts, and warm desserts."

At her words, people looked at the kitchen. Inside the kitchen were three men in chef’s coats, who bowed deeply.

"Well, I’ll be... This is the height of luxury."

"Oh? Not really. The entrance fee here is two silver coins."

That’s right. The entrance fee for the Castle of Sweets was two silver coins for adults and one for children. And for that, it was an all-you-can-eat place. Of course, optional activities were separate. The confectionery-making experience and various souvenirs for sale were paid for separately. Ice cream and sherbet that you couldn't normally eat. Decorated puddings and jellies. The selling point was the atmosphere that emphasized a sense of specialty. There was live cooking of French toast and crepes. Caramelizing with fire magic and crushing with ice magic. It was designed to be fun to watch. Such delicate magical adjustments could only be reproduced by those who had been involved in cooking for a long time. Even if it was unveiled here, it was a feat impossible for a newly emerging magical nation. If the Little One were to try to do it with magic here, she would probably just mass-produce something akin to dark matter. It was a skill that relied that much on experience and sense.

Before her eyes were the members of the special envoy delegation, crowding around the kitchen booths. They were all gazing in admiration at the finished desserts.

"Whipped cream? Fresh cream? What’s the difference? I don’t get it at all."

"Madeleine? Financier? Huh? That one is pound cake? ...Other than the shape, aren’t they the same?"

"Canelé? It’s pitch black. Isn’t it a failure? They must have burned it."

"Look, look, Brother! There’s a perfectly round jelly in the water!"

"You scoop that up...? For a drink? Huh? You drink with this?"

Ismail and Pacesta stared curiously at the thick paper straw for the jelly drink. The others also seemed quite pleased, having their attendants get them this and that.

"Yeah, there are no enemies before delicious food, right?♪"

The Little One nodded, holding a cup of tea at a table on the terrace. In front of her were numerous cakes piled on a large plate, and a glass bowl full of ice cream and sherbet.

Where in that small body does it all go?

Oblivious to Chihaya, who was full just by looking, the Little One and Katsumi ravenously ate the sweets.

"This is it, this! Sweet potato! I’ve had it in Kilfan, but eating it at the Castle of Sweets is something special!"

"Glad you like it.♪ Once this place opens, you’ll be able to eat whatever you want regardless of the season, nyo. Yep, it’s the best!"

Um, don’t you already have them make whatever you want on a daily basis?

Chihaya couldn't help but narrow his eyes and look up at the heavens.

He, who did not know the term "nostalgia goggles," could not understand the sentimentality of the two modern people.

When the special envoys left, the Castle of Sweets was opened to the people of the capital and the nobles who had been waiting. The Little One hated leftovers. She had instructed the patissiers to serve the sweets that would surely be left over for free. She had also informed the town.

Imagining the people getting an early taste of the Castle of Sweets, the Little One led the delegation of special envoys back to the palace.

Tonight was the welcome banquet. And there, she would come to experience firsthand what Katsumi had called "the genuine Middle Ages."

"How did it come to this?!"

Uttering her all-too-familiar line, the Little One had carelessly forgotten her own life’s rule: never let your guard down, especially when things are going well.