kscans

Chapter 8 - An Interlude. Daily Life in the Drago Household, Part 2

"So delicious. I haven’t had karumera since Grandma died. It’s been so long."

After the fun festival.

The Little One was still enjoying the festival in her dreams. And then, her blissful sleeping face clouded over slightly.

"Karumera?"

The Little One in the dream suddenly tilted her head.

Then, the little girl sleeping in the inn’s bed let out a roar.

"Aaaaaaaah!!"

Leaving her startled family behind, and with the Doppler effect of her thunderous roar lingering in the room, the Little One shot down the hallway at full speed and launched herself at the inn’s counter.

"Uwaaaaaah, Katsumi!"

The inn where the Drago family was staying was large, with fifty rooms across three floors. Katsumi was staying in one of them. The little girl flailed her arms and legs, practically glued to the counter.

"Which room is Katsumi in?"

The Little One writhed as she cried out, "Uwaaaaaan." The lady at the counter, though flustered, told the child from the family of esteemed guests where to find Katsumi’s room.

"Katsumi-san is on the third floor in…"

Just as she was about to finish, the lady’s words were cut off. Someone suddenly grabbed the head of the Little One, who had impatiently leaned over the counter. Or rather, they lifted her up. The fingers digging into her scalp hurt a little.

"Owowowowow."

"What are you doing?"

The one who had grabbed her was Katsumi. He had come down for breakfast, only to have the little girl’s piercing shriek assault his eardrums. It was a figure of speech, of course, but her scream had been just that deafening. The Little One looked up at Katsumi with a tearful face and shouted.

"Katsumi, the karumera!"

"Hm? Oh, from yesterday’s festival. They’ll have it again today, so you can eat more."

"That’s not it! The sugar! Uwaaaan."

Huh?

It wasn't just her recent screaming. Had her speech center broken? You.

Stomping her feet and waving her hands wildly, the Little One finally managed to get to the heart of the matter.

"Sugar!!"

After a moment of blankness, Katsumi found the answer to his question. Ah, right. I guess she wouldn't have known. Then, a wicked smile spread across his face as he looked down at the Little One.

"We have it. Both sugarcane and sugar beets. Kilfan had them, you see."

Needless to say, the Little One’s roar echoed once more.

The ingredients for karumera are granulated sugar, water, and a pinch of baking soda. Granulated sugar is essential for making things like karumera and cotton candy.

It had taken the Little One, who had been swept up in the festival’s excitement, a whole night to make the connection. Karumera, a light brown confection, does not immediately look like it is made of sugar. It is a simple candy enjoyed for its crunchy texture. In her previous life, Chihiro’s grandmother had often made it for her. You put granulated sugar and water in a ladle, hold it over an open flame, and when the contents start to bubble up, you stir it with a small wooden pestle to evaporate the water all at once. The bubbles then harden just as they are, creating a sugar candy shaped like a dorayaki pancake.

If she hadn't known the process, Chihiro might never have realized that granulated sugar existed here.

With the Little One still clinging to his waist, Katsumi had no choice but to head to the farm, dragging her along.

"Wooooow."

Katsumi had brought her to a vast field. The sugar beets planted all across it swayed in the wind, their lush green leaves like a rippling wave.

And then, the sugarcane field.

The Little One leaped onto the fences surrounding each field and ran from one end to the other.

"Waaaaaaaah."

It seemed she was beyond words now.

The Little One scampered across the top of the wooden fence, which was about ten centimeters thick. She looked just like a little monkey. When she jumped up, she used the corner like a springboard, landing perfectly. Before the astonished Katsumi, the Little One leaped onto a nearby Pochiko-san, was carried through the air with a `buiiin`, did a full flip in front of Katsumi, and then jumped down.

Wait, isn't that strange?

She was the same age as when she was Fatima. She definitely didn't have this kind of physical ability back then.

Katsumi’s question slipped out of his mouth.

"Oh, I’m learning martial arts and stuff with the knight order now. Things like the monkey bars, the vaulting horse, and the balance beam. Doing somersaults is fun too."

Huh?

It was the kind of acrobatics only a light-bodied child could perform.

The twins were being taught techniques, presented as martial arts by the knight order, that were typically showcased in acrobatic troupes. The palace's covert ops, disguised as knights. A member of that unit had taken notice of the twins' abilities and, with the commander’s permission, was teaching them acrobatics. If this continued, they would likely learn espionage techniques eventually, but the Little One was completely oblivious. Given their age, it would have been impossible for the twins to learn conventional martial arts. So, they started with how to use their bodies. The twins, who were scheduled to learn flexibility and forms, had stunned a high-ranking member of the covert ops with their unchildlike movements. He had apparently insisted on teaching them and forced his way into the knight order.

Since they were old enough to remember, the twins had been soaring through the sky with the honeybees. They were accustomed to maintaining their balance in midair. When they fell, the frogs were there to protect them, so they landed with bold confidence. Thanks to this, their bodies had remembered a certain degree of movement, even without the aid of monsters.

To the astonishment of the covert ops members, the twins’ progress was remarkable. They were now skilled acrobats.

The Little Ones had no idea that behind the scenes, the knight order and the covert ops were fighting over them.

Katsumi stared in dumbfounded silence, but he knew of acrobats from his past knowledge. Online, he had seen children effortlessly performing superhuman acrobatic feats. Now, one was right in front of him.

Well, in a way, it’s not that strange. Not if she’s learning that sort of thing. But why do I have a bad feeling that it’s her doing it?

While Katsumi broke out in a cold sweat, the Little One’s eyes sparkled as she toured the refinery and saw the molasses byproducts.

"Katsumi! You’ll sell this to Frontier too, right? No, let us grow it!!"

The Little One danced around with a squeal of delight.

She really doesn’t waver, does she. Just stop for a second.

But there was no stopping the Little One in her sugar-fueled fever.

Apparently, Kilfan was currently only producing enough sugar for its domestic consumption.

"In the end, it’s a luxury item. Stockpiling grains and other staples is more important than producing goods for pleasure."

Katsumi’s point was understandable. But the Little One’s heart roared in protest.

"Then give Frontier the cultivation rights!"

"You idiot. They’re stretched thin trying to increase production over there too. Haven’t you heard anything at the palace?"

The Little One fell silent.

Since she had been avoiding anything related to the palace, she didn’t know the current state of affairs in Frontier.

Shugaaaar…

For some reason, she bit her tongue on the word in her mind.

Sniffling and lamenting, but with a parting gift of as much sugar as they would give her, the Little One tearfully made her way home.

Her face, though stained with tears, wore a smile of pure bliss.