“We have to make food that spirits like.”
“But spirits don’t eat, do they? Do we still have to make food they like?”
“Of course. Spirits are special beings that don’t need to eat to survive, but we can still make things they will like based on the visual aspect alone.”
I walk in and hear people talking about food.
Spirits don’t need to eat. They need magic energy, and can survive as long as they have good quality magic energy. But they can still enjoy food by its appearance.
The elves take the spirits very seriously, so they really want to make food the spirits will enjoy looking at.
“I think it’s fine to make food with the spirits in mind, it is their festival after all… But we should also focus on making it good for us.”
“Yes…”
Apparently they’re discussing if it’s more important to make food the spirits will enjoy looking at or food everyone else will enjoy eating.
“Oh, Lerunda.”
“Is that you Lerunda?”
People notice me walking in. People of different races like beast people, elves, and Phyto’s people are sitting around a table and discussing what food should be served.
The elves look more eager than the others, but everyone is discussing this seriously.
“I want to help, in the discussion too.”
“I see. This way then.”
Says Miss Sinorn while pulling up a chair. I sit down, and everyone continues discussing what food to serve.
Beast people’s staple food is meat, but since the spirits live with elves, should we include more vegetables?
Something that really uses the blessings of the forest, and the spirits would like… Hum, it’s hard.
Since our lives are becoming more comfortable and plentiful, the variety of food we have available for us has been increasing too. We have seasonings, and people are coming up with more kinds of tasty food.
I didn’t use to care as long as things were edible, but everyone has their own taste.
“What do you think, Lerunda?”
“I think it’s nice to make things they’ll like to look at. But the spirits are having fun, just because we’re having a festival. They have fun when we’re having fun too so… I think they’ll be happier if we make things we like.”
The spirits always look like they’re having fun when we have a festival, even when it’s not about them. They always happily roam around when we’re having fun and laughing.
Thinking about it this way, won’t focusing more on making stuff the spirits will like to look at have the opposite effect and make them worry? If they see we’re not really enjoying the food, they’ll wonder what’s wrong and start worrying about us.
I think the best way to make sure the spirits enjoy themselves is for us to have fun.
“We can’t see spirits, so we don’t really know, but you’re probably right. Then let us make sure we enjoy ourselves.”
“Of course. We should enjoy ourselves, but since this is a festival for the spirits, we should do more for their sake.”
“Sure, but what should we do exactly? Use things like unusual edible wild plants? Since we are going for an interesting sort of appearance, should we use ones with more vibrant colors?”
Spirits don’t eat, so they’re trying to make the food look interesting for them.
“If us having fun and enjoying our food is good for them too… How about a cooking contest?”
As I wonder what would be fun for us and for the spirits too, I remember something I heard Mister Sadda and the others say happens in cities.
I’ve heard they have all sorts of contests in cities.
We should have people compete with the same topic in mind.
“It could be fun to have us and the spirits be the judges…”
From what I’ve heard, contests sound really fun. People around me then respond to what I said.
“A cooking contest? That does sound interesting.”
“Of course, we still need to serve food normally, but we could serve the food made during the contest to everyone too. Spirits love festivals, so they should like this too.”
“Yes, they like it when people are lively and having fun. But we need to decide who will judge this contest. We won’t be making enough for everyone to be a judge. Should everyone judge each other’s food? That could be fun for the spirits too. Of course, we still need to make sure they like the regular food…”
I’m really happy that people like my idea.
I was feeling like I wasn’t being helpful when they were talking about what to serve.
The elves are excited to take part in this cooking contest.
Maybe I’ll join with Kayu and Shinomi. I’ll ask them later.
—Girl and preparations for the spirit festival – Part two
(The miko proposes a cooking contest for the spirit festival.)
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