“We dedicate this to you, spirits.”
A group of elves presents their cooking to the spirits, and they happily fly around it. The elves participating in the contest all smile as they see that the spirits are happy.
I’m also happy to see that the spirits like it.
Spirits don’t eat, so we have people to judge how good the food actually tastes.
The food the elves made all looks very colorful and pretty. They eat vegetables, so they used almost no meat.
Now that I think about it, the winged people eat meat, but they like berries and fruit. Miss Lan told me that it’s interesting how different races have their own tastes.
“It’s good.”
“Not only does it taste good, but it is also presented in a way that pleases the spirits.”
Say the judges while smiling. They tell us we can have some too, so I try it. It really is good.
It uses the seasonings we make here in the village, but it tastes different than usual. They probably made this via trial-and-error just for the spirits and the cooking contest.
“It’s good.”
“It really is.”
“But let’s do our best not to lose.”
Kayu, Shinomi, and I say.
Being here with them and talking about this is really fun.
“….I-I’m sorry Fredale. It doesn’t look good at all.”
“It’s fine Lan. I-it still looks edible.”
“That doesn’t really feel like a compliment… Still, it looks a lot better than when I try to cook by myself.”
Say Miss Lan and Miss Fredale while presenting their food.
It looks a little burnt, and I can see a color I’ve never seen before. It’s strange.
But the spirits fly around it, and it looks like they’re amused by how it looks. Of course. They don’t eat, so all that matters is how interesting it looks.
“H-here. D-don’t feel like you have to eat it if it isn’t good!!”
“It’s all right Lan. All the ingredients we used were edible.”
They say while taking their food to the judges.
I can’t tell what they used just by looking. The judges eat it, and frown.
I’m curious to know what it tastes like. Not many people want to try it, but I eat a little.
Kayu and Shinomi tell me ‘eh… don’t do it’, but Miss Lan and the others made it, so I might as well try it.
“…Ou…”
The moment it touches my mouth, I feel a strange taste.
But it doesn’t feel bad. It feels like something I can eat and won’t be bad for my stomach.
If it was that bad, I’d get a bad feeling from it. It tastes kind of strange, but it’s ok to eat.
“L-Lerunda, are you sure you want to eat that much?”
Asks one of the elf judges. The part I ate didn’t taste that weird, but when I have them taste what I ate, it apparently has a different taste than what they had before.
Is this an effect of the miko’s blessing?
I really am protected by god, aren’t I?
It really is because of these small things too that I survived this long.
I’m really thankful to god for these simple things, and I have to remember to pray about it in the altar later.
“It’s our turn next!!”
“Let’s do our best, Kayu and Lerunda!”
“Yes. Let’s do our best.”
It’s finally our turn.
I’m really nervous, but I want us to cook the best food we can.
We brought meat and vegetables. Things of various colors. We talked about what the main ingredient would be, but since we really like meat, we decided to go with that.
And since the elves mainly use vegetables, using meat sets us apart.
We talked about making pieces of meat round and cooking it, and then using things like vegetables to make them look like faces of various races. The three of us liked this idea, so that’s what we’re doing.
I cook while talking to Shinomi and Kayu, and the spirits look happy as they watch us. They fly around me, and Freinet says it looks interesting too.
I’m happy about it, and smile.
Hearing the judges say it’s good makes me smile a lot too.
Unfortunately, we don’t win, but it’s still a lot of fun.
—Girl and the second spirit festival – Part two
(The miko participates in the cooking contest.)
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