It’s festival time! One that looks a lot like one of ours. To be expected considering it was people from our world who made this game.

  The festival took place across a few streets of this dense little town. Now that it was dark, the streets lit up with lanterns to create a festive mood. Spread about were boisterous stalls with food and attractions for visitors.

  “Wow… The people here are wild… Back in my village, parties only get started towards the end. I’m not used to this.”

  We left the inn as it was becoming time for dinner, meaning still pretty early. But like Sarasa said, the festival was already at full force. We learned of the festival through Galene, and this is the time the locals told her to come. Either they’re extremely punctual, or…

  “I don’t mean to presume, I’ve never been here before, but there might be a reason behind the unusual energy…” Galene scratched the back of her head, giving an embarrassed laugh.

  “Because you’re here? Makes perfect sense, actually. I can’t imagine the excitement would stay this high until the main event otherwise.”

  The main event being a huge bonfire already prepared to be lit in the middle of the festival. We passed by it on the way to the stalls, and it’s so big that it’s making me nervous, possibly bigger than most houses around. Ririna noticed they had some kind of magical device in place so the fire doesn’t spread, so good for them.

  “Ahh… Feels good getting recognized for our hard work…”

  Walking beside Galene, Abby’s hat almost fell off as the girl stared at the sky. “Let’s hurry and go to the stalls! They’re probably gonna offer us so much free stuff! Finally!” And looking over her shoulder… “Only to Galene and me. You girls still have to pay. Sorry.” What a cheeky girl…

  “So do we, Abby. No matter how much the people here admire us, we can’t take advantage of them.”

  “What?! No no, we have to accept their gratitude… It’s part of being the Hero’s party. We serve the people and graciously accept their thanks. It’s like a ceremony!”

  But Abby’s argument fell on deaf ears. “I get what you’re saying, but it’s our first time here. These people don’t owe us anything. Let’s save that for when we actually do something.

  It wasn’t exactly a scolding, but Abby’s greed and vanity got shut down. “Tch… We’re paying with your money, though…”

  Heroine as she may be, handling Abby was no easy task. So be it.

  The initial lines eventually dispersed, and stalls were finally accessible. On this street, they mostly had food, with each stall selling different styles of food. Sweet, sour, salty—didn’t matter. They had it all.

  “What are you looking at, Carol? Did you see something you like?” Considering she was frowning, probably not. “You alright? What’s wrong?”

  “Can’t you see what’s wrong? What’s with this selection? It doesn’t make any sense!”

  “What do you mean?” I haven’t looked at the specific items, but it can’t be that weird…

  “You know what, just hear them for a second.”

  “Look, Galene! They have hamburgers and cotton candy! I can’t believe they’re selling them in a place like this! We gotta try them!”

  “It’s cheap enough, so get whatever you want. Personally, I’d like to try that pizza thing… I’ve never seen food like that…”

  Ahh… “I see what you mean…”

  “Like, why does this world have junk food? And what’s it doing at a festival?! What is wrong with this world?”

  “Well…” I gently tapped her shoulder. “It’s a festival… People are going to do crazy things…”

  “That doesn’t make it any better…”

  Hecate overheard our conversation and walked closer. “What’s worse is that it becomes even weird when you look at everything as a whole. That stand there is selling raw fruit. Very weird for a festival, but this is a town that lives on agriculture, so it makes sense. They’re making do with what they have. Where this logic completely falls apart is when you look at the stalls next to that one.”

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  “The takoyaki and yakisoba stalls? That’s what I’m saying. They clearly know what festival food is supposed to be, so what’s up with the fast food? Are they just there to piss me off?”

  “Raw fruit aside, this is normal for the festivals of our world.” The one who now joined was Ririna. “Hamburgers and pizza are a bit rarer, though… You only see them in bigger festivals. Your world is much weirder by selling them on that mall place.”

  “*Sigh…* Shut up, Ririna… I don’t wanna hear it… Your food is weird, and your world is weirder. We all agree on it, so don’t bother telling us otherwise. Selling crap like pizza at a festival is crazy.”

  “You know, Carol…” Ririna was pouting a bit, and I had to come to her defense. “It might be our fault the selection here is crazy. There’s a good chance this festival was originally nothing more than a menu with a random assortment of foods for the player to choose.” Carol shivered at the thought.

  “Player? Oh yeah… But that’s not my fault. Don’t blame me for what some idiot developer did!”

  “Okay… It’s not our fault directly, but it’s not their fault either. Let’s just go with the flow and grab some food, okay?” Ririna’s hand was within reach, and she was happy with this development. “At least the two of us are going, aren’t we?”

  “Wait! I didn’t say that I didn’t want anything. You’re making me sound like the villain!”

  Well… You can be a bit mean sometimes.

  We only stayed together for a second since the stuff we wanted was in different stalls.

  “Mhmm! Iroha! Over here!” Abby and Galene were already tasting their food on a relatively quiet corner not too far from the stalls.

  “What’s wrong? I haven’t gotten my food yet.” Abby held a hamburger with both hands while Galene had a box of pizza on one and a slice on the other.

  “Sorry… I didn’t notice.” Galene averted her eyes. “Come back here when you do, so we can eat together.”

  “Will do… Is that good? What made you choose that?” I didn’t expect to see people from their world eating our food, so I was a bit curious.

  “Rumors say it’s really tasty! And… They’re right! It’s amazing!” Abby took another.

  “She’s right… It’s very flavorful… I’ve never had anything like this before!” Flavorful… Fast food is known for that… Lots of flavor… Artificial flavor… But flavor nonetheless.

  “Who invented those dishes? Have any idea?”

  “Not really… Some high-level chefs from Azcester, is all I know… It spread a little bit everywhere from there.”

  “By high-level, you mean…”

  “Chefs with skills related to culinary proficiency. Ones who dedicate their life to the craft. I couldn’t tell you the details since the skills I have are for combat, but this isn’t the kind of thing one can come up with without some skills.”

  “Ah… I see…” Level up your culinary proficiency, and you can make burgers inside a video game… I would ask the devs what they were smoking if all traces of this game hadn’t disappeared. Then again, there are probably more pressing questions.

  “I’m gonna get my food, and I’ll be right back.”

  Didn’t expect I would learn about the history of hamburgers in Balterra when I woke up today

  After getting dinner, the only thing left now was to have some fun!

  “Woah! That staff looks so cool! I want it!”

  Our next stop was the street with the attractions. One stall had shelves with various items and three cork guns resting on the counter. I didn’t need an explanation to immediately know what it was about. Whatever you can shoot down, you get to take home as a prize.

  “Iroha, Iroha! Look at that!” Sarasa shook my shoulder. “That’s a coin from the ancient era! You can sell that for a lot if you know the right people. I bet the owner has no idea how valuable that is!”

  “Maybe not… But it’s kinda small… It’s gonna be hard to hit… You gonna give it a try?” No, you get it! Get it for me! Pretty please! The gall on this girl pushing this on me.

  Since everyone stopped to take a look at the prizes, it was pretty much a given that we’d play a few rounds here. The first one to step up was Flanne.

  “You want that staff, Abby? I can get it for you. I’ll show you what Ebrilyon’s military training can do!” Flanne putting effort into something? Is the world coming to an end? Or did she receive orders to show off to Galene?

  Either way, Abby was thrilled. “You’re the princess’s personal knight, right? This is gonna be good…”

  Flanne placed a few coins on the table as payment and grabbed the rifle. “Watch closely… I’ll hit first try…”

  *Bop* And first try she did. The staff was balanced on a stand with two protruding pieces of wood. The pieces were flat and made contact with the cylindrical handle. A good shot would make it roll and fall off, and Flanne’s cork hit it right in the center.

  “Nice shots, but… it didn’t roll much, did it?” Galene comforted her. Very disappointing to see… It was never going to be that easy.

  “You got more shots!” Abby cheered her on. “If you hit it a little higher, I think it’s gonna spin more!”

  “You’re right… This takes more than just aim… It requires strategy too…” The next shot went high. And so did the third.

  “Maybe if I go for the tail, I can make it fall by rotating it…” A couple more coins hit the table, and Flanne gave it another try. She hit two out of the three shots on the bottom of the staff, but it didn’t rotate nearly enough to fall.

  “No… I got it! If I go for the head, I can tilt it by disrupting its center of mass… This time it’s gonna work.” Her purse was emptied so she could give it another shot. Since the top was heavier, if she pushed it out, maybe it would lift the rest of the staff and cause it to fall.

  All her shots landed this time, but the weight distribution was better than she thought. That’s too bad.

  “No way… How could I fail so badly…? Have I really been too lax with myself?” Words of Bea calling her lazy echoed through her head.

  “That was actually cool… You hit a lot of shots… The staff is just heavier than it looks, it’s not your fault.” Abby was disappointed, but the performance wasn’t all that bad to watch.

  But this game of precision and marksmanship got a certain someone interested. “Your skills with a rifle are quite remarkable.” For a girl that’s not from our world. “With the proper training and equipment, you could be a great sniper one day. For your display, I shall win the staff in your stead.”

  They didn’t know what to expect when they saw Hecate put down a coin and grab the rifle, so they stared at her in awe.

  “You know what, I’ll give it a try too…” I grabbed the second rifle and stood next to Hecate. Maybe this will get Sarasa to stop pestering me.

  “I might as well join in too just to show you how it’s done.” Lastly, Carol grabbed a rifle too. All of a sudden, we girls from the House lined up with rifles in hand. Time to show them what the true experts can do…

  They both supported the rifle with their shoulders as was proper form, while I held it with a single hand and with my arm stretched. The skills and training I got were for handguns only, so I had no other choice but to make a fool of myself.

  *Bop bop bop!* Our corks all hit their targets in the perfect spots to knock them down.

  “Woah!!” The spectators celebrated and clapped, especially the benefactors. Seeing three prizes gone in a second sent the owner into a panic. He came up with a rule on the spot that it’s one prize per person, so we couldn’t play anymore. Oh well, we got what we wanted.

  “This staff’s so cool! I hope I can use it with my magic! Thanks so much!” Abby rubbed her cheeks on her prize and thanked both Flanne and Hecate.

  “Hehehe~ Good work, Iroha… We’re getting some nice cash out of this later… Is 20% enough for you?”

  “Sure… Whatever…” Greedy, greedy Sarasa… I didn’t do it for the money, so as long as she’s happy, she can have however much she wants.

  The last prize was nowhere to be seen, and the excitement made the others forget about Carol. Not Hecate, though, whose gaze wandered as she was getting showered with gratitude.

  “That’s a cute plushie you won there. A fluffy friend from another world makes for a very interesting addition to your collection, doesn’t it?”

  “AAAAAHH!!” Carol shouted to drown out Hecate’s teasing. “Shut up, you idiot! Shut up! If you know what it is, then don’t say it! You’re insufferable sometimes…”

  Making noise with your friends at a festival late into the night… Is there anything more fun than that? The crowds are a bit uncomfortable for me, but we certainly enjoyed ourselves a lot…

  “Hey, Iroha… This coin you gave me is like a fat paycheck, you know?”

  “That’s what you said, yeah…”

  “But since it’s a paycheck, that means I have to do my job now. I have to tell you something…” She leaned in for a whisper.

  “We’re being followed.”