Chapter 31: Gifting this town with a Goddess Festival!

Editing and Proofreading: LordVTP and Marv

Part 1

I was under Serena's mind-control for much longer than I expected.

Serena had struggled to come up with unreasonable requests that would snap me out of her control.

"...You're quite the scumbag. You had no problems with the requests I made, no matter how terrible. I even had to restrain you many times to prevent you from humiliating yourself in public."

She looked at me with a glare of disapproval.

"It couldn't be helped. I wasn't myself."

"My ability has its limits. Please don't use that as an excuse. Furthermore, to think that my ability would take effect on you just from my offer to have sex. I didn't think it was so serious a matter, but you reacted in this way. I see. So you're a virgin."

She looked at me with a mix of pity and disappointment.

"Aren't you in a relationship with that Crimson Demon girl? Aren't you a famous hero whose name is known throughout the land? If you have these going for you, then why are you still a virgin?"

"N-Nevermind that. It's clear to me that Serena is used to all kinds of adult affairs, things like concluding a negotiation by bedding the negotiation partner… I guess I should be impressed?"

"If you word it that way, doesn't it seem like I'm a loose woman? I won't deny it, though. I'm a master of manipulation and infiltration. That was my job in the Devil King army. I'm used to things like this. I was only trying to gain your favor with some casual fun. What a shame."

She wasn't at all bothered by my implications. She had absolute confidence in her own identity.

"Be that as it may, I'm glad we could come to an agreement without resorting to unsavory methods. It seems the friendly approach was correct after all."

She said as she stood from the bed and collected our used tea cups. She brought them to the sink.

I pondered her words.

"Out of curiosity, what was the alternative to the friendly approach?"

She turned around and smiled thinly.

"Enslave as many people as possible, use blackmail, backstabbing and other cloak-and-dagger methods to achieve the result I want… That's my usual pattern."

"I see. Then let's get along from now on."

"Yes. Please take care of me."

I preferred the friendly approach.

With the purpose for our meeting fully addressed, there wasn't any reason for me to stick around.

Serena escorted me out of her inn.

As we made our way out, however, we encountered Aqua, who stared at Serena and I, who had just left an inn together.

Her gaze shifted between the two of us.

"I'm telling Megumin."

"Like hell you are!"

I grabbed Aqua's arm to prevent her from spreading any rumors about what she had seen.

Her stats were superior to mine, so I had to exert myself just to keep her in place.

"Wait! This is a big misunderstanding!"

"What exactly am I misunderstanding, hmm~? I saw Kazuma and his fan club groupie leave an inn together. I'm only going to report what I saw with my own eyes to your girlfriend, Megumin, so what's there to worry about, hmm~?"

Aqua, who was clearly enjoying having me in the palm of her hands, said this.

"I thought Aqua was part of my support group! And really, you're just misunderstanding things!"

I wasn't used to having the disadvantage when it comes to Aqua. This was an unpleasant situation.

"It'd be problematic for me if that Crimson Demon girl got any misunderstandings. Listen, fellow priest. Nothing of the sort you're imagining happened. I merely asked Kazuma-sama to come over for tea."

Serena came in with the save.

However, Aqua didn't seem too convinced.

"OK, OK, I get it, Aqua. I just gotta give you some hush money right? How much do you want?"

Aqua rolled her eyes as I took out my wallet.

"I don't need money. If I want to buy something I just put it on your tab, or I use the Kazu-corps company credit card."

She took out her own wallet and waved a black card around.

I still didn't know how the hell she got her hands on that.

"Then, what do you want?"

Aqua had predictable, material tastes. I wasn't worried about what she'd ask from me.

"Don't worry, knowing you it's just a misunderstanding, right? I'm just teasing you. And I don't think you'd have the spine to cheat on Megumin, anyways."

She casually shrugged her shoulders.

I sighed in relief.

"Buuut… Since you offered… For now, let's just say that you owe me a favor, OK? Uehehehe."

Is this thing supposed to be a goddess?

Serena watched Aqua as she left while cackling maniacally.

"That girl… She is no ordinary priest, the way she extorted you. Don't tell me... Does she also worship a Dark Goddess?!"

No, but she might be a Dark Goddess herself.

Part 2

When I came back home, I was greeted by an unusual sight.

Darkness and Megumin were both wearing sun dresses and strawhats. They each had hand shovels and were digging around the garden.

"Oh, Kazuma. You're here. Why don't you change into something more comfortable and help us?"

Darkness made this request as she wiped a light sheen of sweat from her forehead.

"Tell me what you're doing first. Are you surveying the area for landmines?"

Megumin looked up from her work.

"I don't know what these landmines are but they sound cool. But nevermind that. Kazuma, Kazuma, look at these seeds. These are rare magical seeds infused with the earth magic of the ground pixies. They gave these to us just now as thanks for saving them from the evil god."

"By 'evil god', you mean Chomusuke?"

"Chomusuke is not an evil god. She's my familiar. I'm the evil god."

I turned away from Megumin who was spouting confusing things.

She sighed and began explaining for real.

"Once a year, around this time, the ground pixies offer gifts to the gods in the form of these magic seeds. The process to make them is kept secret, and it's a tightly guarded one, but it's said that the ritual is quite thorough and intensive. That's why they are reserved for special events and used as gifts to the gods, or otherwise given to those they wish to express their gratitude to."

Darkness handed me a pouch full of blue seeds. They looked almost like gemstones rather than seeds.

"We're all complete beginners here when it comes to gardening. Shouldn't we hire a professional to do this?"

I could always take some kind of gardening skill.

Darkness shook her head.

"The ground pixies said that the seeds can take care of themselves. All they need is some soil and for us to water them once a day. They will produce a harvest in 3 days or so."

"That's really fast! And convenient!"

"They're magic seeds, after all."

There was always something new to learn about this strange world.

I looked to the dwelling that resembled an ant-hill, where the ground pixies resided. Since the first time, Chomusuke has been occasionally returning to terrorize the ground pixies, though we'd stop her rampage before she could do any harm.

Maybe I should build a fence or something around the ground pixies' home.

I used Create Water on the soil after Megumin and Darkness finished burying the seeds.

When we came back inside, I saw a restless Chomusuke inside the travel cage we used for the times we brought her along on trips.

Megumin freed Chomusuke, who made a dash to the door. I caught her.

"What's up with Chomusuke? Is she in heat?"

I checked down there.

"What does Kazuma expect to find looking down there? And she got all excited when the ground pixies came out. She really likes them, I guess?"

Megumin practiced willful ignorance as she caressed Chomusuke, like a biased parent who doubted all the accusations their ill-mannered child receives for bullying and tormenting other kids.

We moved to the living room, where Darkness prepared and served tea for us. As we were leisurely enjoying our afternoon tea, I brought up a topic I was interested in.

"So the ground pixies are offering these gifts to a god? Do they worship Eris as well?"

Darkness nodded enthusiastically, as if this was a favorite subject of hers.

"There's a belief that ground pixies impart good luck and fortune should they meet a host who treats them with hospitality. As such, they have an affinity towards the goddess of luck, Eris. Just like how toilet imps, which are tiny fey creatures who have the upper half of a monkey and the lower half of a shrimp, who reside in the pristine water of routinely washed toilet bowls, have an affinity towards the goddess of water, Aqua."

Aqua never misses the chance to tell me things about her own lore as a goddess, but she conveniently left this part out.

"Back to the subject of the ground pixies, I assume they prepared these gifts mostly for the Eris festival, but they gave us some of the seeds as well, as we are their benefactors."

I quirked an eyebrow.

"The Eris festival? Is there such an event?"

"Yes, it a festival held to honor Eris-sama. Aside from the food stalls and other forms of entertainment, there is also a custom for young ladies to dress up as Eris-sama. This practice is supposed to allow Eris-sama to descend to our realm and enjoy the festivities without having her identity exposed."

I'm sure she can just disguise herself as a tomboy female thief, though.

"Interesting. A festival where cute girls cosplay as a cute goddess. Very interesting, indeed."

"Why is that the only part you're paying attention to, Kazuma? I won't be cosplaying as Eris-sama or anything."

"I didn't even imply in the slightest that I wanted to see that."

Megumin shook her head as Darkness's shoulders slumped.

"You must be gentle towards Darkness, Kazuma. She is surprisingly delicate."

"Surprisingly delicate…"

Megumin's words only served to worsen Darkness's mood.

"I'm guessing that Darkness will be busy around this time?"

Darkness nodded to my guess.

"That's right. This a rather major event, the biggest festival of the year. I'll have to settle disputes between the marketplaces, tighten up security now that there will be more tourists in attendance this year due to our heroic actions of late, and there will be other things to delegate, too…"

Megumin patted Darkness on the shoulder.

"It seems tough to be a noble."

"Wait, aren't you guys nobles now, too?! Come to think of it, shouldn't I assign you with some jobs to do?!"

Megumin and I stiffened as Darkness finally realized this.

"Does Darkness really want the help of someone like me? During meetings I will introduce myself as the Megumin who is a lone wolf, one who refuses to work with anyone. I will then proceed to threaten anyone who gets in my way."

"As for me, all I need to do is show up to a meeting and the females in attendance will immediately shriek in horror."

"Fine, fine, I get it! You two succeeded in weaseling out of doing any work for me, are you quite happy now?! ...All I ask, then, is that you two keep Aqua from causing any problems for me. She's been acting odd lately, as if she's planning something, so please keep an eye on her."

Darkness leaned back on the couch and massaged her temples.

Part 3

Around dinner time, we received an unexpected visitor.

"Hey guys, ya miss me?"

It was Chris.

We froze on the spot, not expecting to see her suddenly.

Then, I remembered.

"I'm sorrrryyyy!"

I bowed on the spot.

It dawned on Darkness as well.

"I-I'm sorry, Chris! I know we promised to visit you in the capital, but so many things were going on and…!"

"Now, now, it's fine already. Am I the type to hold grudges, hmm~?"

She kept smiling, but it wasn't very convincing.

"If it isn't the kouhai of mine who hasn't shown up in a while. I can guess why you returned. You came here to gloat about the Eris festival, huh?"

Aqua came to join us at the doorway with Megumin following behind her.

"I-I didn't come here to gloat! Anyways, can I come in? I guess you guys already ate dinner, but I brought cakes for dessert."

Ever the well-mannered girl, Chris didn't visit empty handed.

"Bringing presents over is Yunyun's gimmick, but I will happily accept the cake."

We already had dessert after dinner, but it seems like Megumin was up for more.

We had Chris come to the living room and placed the cake she brought and some tea on the coffee table.

"So, Chris, how is life in the capital?"

Darkness asked, as she too took a slice of cake and wolfed it down at almost the same pace as Megumin. She had been stress eating lately, probably due to the festival preparations.

"Oh, well, you know, just thieving around, I guess… Actually, I arrived here a bit earlier than you guys. I came back here since I found the location of another artifact, an armor type. I wanted to ask assistant-kun for help, but you guys were still getting back from the Elroad trip. Ah, good job on that, by the way."

"Did big boss already dispose of this artifact?"

"Well… I couldn't just dispose of this armor like the other artifacts, since it's actually a sentient armor type. I'd feel bad about throwing a sentient being, even if their exterior is that of a lifeless armor, into the depths of a deep lake."

"So that's where most of the other artifacts go."

I glanced at the shield we retrieved last time, which was still hanging above the fireplace.

"Yes. If we should ever need to retrieve those artifacts I threw into the lake, we could always have senpai use her ability to breath underwater and dive down there."

"What did kouhai just say? Who do you think you are, assigning me on scary-sounding missions like that?!"

An indignant Aqua who crossed her arms said this.

"A living armor sounds cool. I'd like to meet this artifact."

Chris shook her head at Megumin.

"I don't think that's a good idea, considering that armor's disposition. Well, maybe if it's Megumin…"

"I don't really understand the context, but I have a feeling I'm being insulted."

Sensing that Chris was trying to imply something when she glanced down at Megumin's chest, Megumin glared intensely at Chris.

"Say, if it's an armor type, wouldn't it be better to give the armor to Darkness? I mean, if it's a useful artifact, then maybe she can use it."

I brought this up after the thought occurred to me.

"Well, an artifact often loses its powers and abilities once it is separated from its original owner. This is to prevent others from misusing the artifacts. In other cases, the artifacts adapt strange conditions for use. In this case with the living armor, it developed some very strange behaviors… Well, if it's Darkness, maybe she'll be able to handle it?"

Chris seemed to consider it.

"As promising as a new armor sounds, I'm quite satisfied with the one I normally use. And I don't think I'll have much use for it now. After all, most of my work will be of the bureaucratic kind."

Darkness gave a somewhat bitter smile.

"I don't get it. This is the Darkness who's always itching to fight some powerful monster. Are you saying you'd rather do boring paperwork all day?"

A disbelieving Aqua said this.

"W-Well…! It's not like we have any powerful opponents lately…"

Yeah, about that.

Since big boss is here, maybe I should tell them now.

I was conflicted, however.

Everyone looks so comfortable and carefree.

I was hesitant to tell them that Maouko was still alive and waiting for any opportunity to attack.

Maybe I'll wait until after the Eris festival.

Serena will alert me once Maouko starts making movements, anyways.

And I already sent a letter to the capital. If Maouko is trying to raise an army again, the king should be informed.

With all this in consideration, I kept my mouth shut as the others enjoyed catching up with Chris.

Part 4

The next day, I found Aqua and Chris in the living room. They were playing the usual RPG together.

"The slime in this party is surprisingly reliable! Not only is he our primary damage dealer, but he has healing spells and can tank a bit of damage, too!"

So even Chris was enamored with this slime.

"Kazuma, go ahead and take over for me. I have somewhere to be. Unlike the Kazuma who idles around all day, I have something to do."

Aqua handed me the console controller as she got up from the couch.

"I don't mind taking over for you, but don't be so rude about it."

I snatched the controller from Aqua's hands and sat down beside Chris.

Putting on her favorite hagoromo, Aqua told us she'd be back after a few hours and then left.

"Hey, assistant-kun. Any idea where senpai is headed?"

Chris asked me, while her eyes were still glued to the screen.

"I'm not sure. She didn't even mention that she had plans today."

I switched to my own character. I was trying to build him like a magic swordsman type, but since I was distributing my stats between warrior and mage skills at a low-level, my character was still being outshined by the slime who had surprisingly good capabilities.

"I wonder… senpai is usually very talkative. The reason why she's keeping quiet about this… C-Could it be…?!"

Chris suddenly stood up, dropping the controller. I caught it. I didn't want to make another trip to the V.I.P. heaven gift shop just to find replacement parts for the console.

"What's wrong, big boss?"

"The Eris festival is coming soon. Knowing senpai, what if she's planning to sabotage it?! The reason why she's keeping quiet is that she doesn't want us to find out, right?!"

"That does sound like something she'd do."

"Please don't agree with me so quickly! Even if it's senpai who can be a bit immature at times, surely she won't do that…"

I handed back the controller to Chris as she calmed down and returned to her seat.

"I didn't expect big boss to get so worked up about this festival. I guess even the humble Eris-sama has a part of her that craves attention, huh?"

"W-What's wrong with that? I appreciate the efforts of my dear followers, who put a lot of effort every year to honor me with this festival. Truly, I'm very thankful and I take this festival quite seriously. I guess that's why I got a bit paranoid about senpai… Haha…"

"Yeah, that accusation kinda came out of nowhere, didn't it?"

"No, well… senpai kept grumbling about how it's not fair that there's an Eris festival in Axel but not an Aqua festival. And she kept complaining about it last night. That's where I got my suspicions from…"

"If that's the case, we can't rule out the possibility."

"Then I should be worried after all?!"

She started panicking again.

"N… No, I trust senpai. At least, I want to trust her, surely that's not the case."

She attempted to convince herself by convincing me.

For now, I just agreed with her sentiments.

…

...

After playing with Chris for a bit, I left the house and wandered the streets, looking for something to occupy my time with.

The market stalls were undergoing a sort of post-lunch, snack time rush hour, although the lines of customers came at intermittent bursts.

The street food in the nation of Belzerg was noticeably homogenous, though I did find some variance between regions, not exactly in the cooking style, which was comprised mostly of standard grilling techniques, but in the ingredients used.

For example, there were more exotic ingredients used in the capital due to the availability of high-level monsters, while Axel's cuisine was characterized by Axel-based staples such as Giant Toad.

There is a trickling of Crimson Demon cuisine that is starting to integrate itself into all manners of regional cookery, however, as Megumin's home had made more of an effort to open itself to outsiders, influencing the rest of Belzerg and in turn, being influenced themselves by Belzerg's cuisines.

This cultural exchange was exemplified most by the adoption of Crimson Demon spicy beer in Belzerg's boozing favorites.

As I idly mused over these mildly amusing matters, I came across a certain priest, now revealed to be a former Devil King general, and two other former Devil King generals.

This scary congregation were now chatting in the middle of the street, with the crowd around them only giving the group a passing glance, despite the overall threat level of this group.

"Ah, that boy who is standing over there and gawking at moi, the useless shopkeep, and the hapless kouhai of mine who just gave me her pocket money in fear of the great moi, how art thou? Is thou duty as the master of a certain mad dog goddess starting to exhaust thou yet?"

Probably the most powerful among these three former Devil King generals, Vanir, casually called out to me.

"Kazuma-san! Hello, it's been awhile! Since it's been awhile, why don't you come over to my shop some time? We have a new shipment of an excellent product!"

Wiz had soot marks all over her face. She probably had just purchased something worthless again and was in turn given a Vanir style Death Beam as punishment.

I turned to the third member of this strange trio, who looked uncomfortable being in the company of Vanir and Wiz.

"H-Hello, Kazuma-sama. I wasn't aware that you were acquainted with Vanir-sama and Wiz-sama. It's… It's a good thing we're partners now, right? Haha…"

"The Celestina who is shaking in her boots is quite amusing! And the partnership between the boy and Celestina is even more amusing! Buwahaha!"

Vanir said something interesting before he started laughing maniacally.

"Celestina?"

"Yes. That is this servant of the chibi goddess's real name. She uses the alias 'Serena' to protect her identity. Though, perhaps, she has things like aliases because she thinks it's cool when she plays her little spy games?"

"E-Enough, Vanir-san!"

Even the cool-headed Serena… Well, I guess her real name is Celestina… Had a hard time dealing with Vanir.

"Anyways, Vanir, any reason why you three are huddled together like that?"

Vanir flashed a smug smirk.

"Wouldn't thou like to know? Well, moi will tell thou since thou is the only one who can prevent that mad dog goddess to ruin my plans. Moi had come up with a scheme… a method to make huge profits during the upcoming Eris festival. And moi has need for Celestina's services!"

This seemed suspicious, but knowing Vanir, I doubt this operation would be harmful in the grand scheme of things.

"Well, good luck, then. Oh, and Wiz, have you seen Aqua around lately? I've been told that she's been acting strangely the last few days."

Wiz tilted her head as she thought about it.

"Strange… But Aqua-sama has been acting like she usually does? Ah! I'm not implying that she's usually strange!"

There's no need to hide the truth, though.

"I guess she's been talking about the Eris festival an unusual amount. Oh, she did say something curious. 'If there's an Eris festival, why can't we have an Aqua festival instead?!', she said. Then she demanded for me to make her more tea and prepare some snacks…"

"Thou dimwitted shopkeeper! Why does thou spoil that rotten goddess so?! Do not waste the shop's limited funds for entertaining that ungrateful guest of yours!"

"Please don't speak ill of Aqua-sama, Vanir-san! Aqua-sama is our friend!"

Serena looked to me as if asking for help, but I had already started using Lurk on myself.

I snuck away before Vanir lost his temper and started firing Death Beams everywhere.

Part 5

"Hm? Yeah, that's right. I'm making an Aqua festival on the same day as the Eris festival. It's not exactly a secret."

Aqua said this when I found her boozing in the Adventurer's Guild and confronted her about her suspicious behavior. But my detective work felt like a waste of time after she confirmed it so bluntly.

"I don't think the Eris followers will appreciate you doing that."

"Hm? I already got permission from them."

"What, how?!"

I didn't expect this at all and almost spit out the beer I had been drinking.

"Well, I am part of the Kazuma-led party who are the heroes of this land, yes? When I brought the topic up with the people who were setting up the stalls, they said something like 'Ah, is it not the goddess Aqua who the Arch-Priest of the Devil King-slaying party serves? And goddess Aqua is also the senpai of goddess Eris. Then it's fine if we celebrate the two goddesses on this festival'. It's a shame that they don't believe that I'm actually the goddess Aqua and not just a random Arch-Priest, but I'll take what I can get."

Before I knew it, the people's opinion of Aqua as a goddess had risen.

I hope this doesn't mean that we get anymore zealous Aqua cultists running around.

"Then, that's fine, I guess. Just don't get in the way of the Eris church. Have you told Darkness about this yet?"

"She seems busy, so I just asked the stall people to tell her about it when she comes to check up on them tomorrow."

Darkness is due for a shocking surprise, then.

"Hey, Kazuma, want to help out? There's an Axis cult representative in this town who will help me, but I could always use more help."

Perhaps because she had been drinking, there was a slight blush on Aqua's cheeks as she asked me this.

"Well, I guess I do kind of owe Aqua a favor for not misunderstanding that situation the other day."

"Great! I knew I could count on you!"

She patted my back.

"So, what kind of stalls is Aqua running?"

"I actually have an idea about that. You know those magic seeds we got from the ground pixies? Once they bear fruit, I wonder if we can use the first harvest and sell them in the stalls? Since the plants can bear multiple harvests, we will have a lot of excess leftover anyways, you know?"

"What a surprisingly good plan. Hey, I thought Aqua's stats were already hard stuck? When did your Intelligence increase?"

"I'm being insulted?! Even though I came up with such a brilliant plan, I'm still being insulted?!"

I couldn't help but poke fun at Aqua.

"So, are we just selling these fruits as is? I don't even know what kind of fruits they'll be."

"Hmm… We could sell them as they are for a high price, but I bet we'd attract more customers if we made made them into actual dishes. Well, Kazuma is the one with the Advanced Cooking skill, so I'll leave that part to you!"

She delegated the hardest task to me unashamedly.

Well, I don't mind. It's the first time I've seen Aqua so passionate about something.

"OK, then! Now that we got all that boring stuff out of the way, let's celebrate! Hey, barkeep! Two more bottles of Crimson Demon spicy beer, please!"

"Coming right up!"

I looked at the bottles that contained the Crimson Demon speciality beer.

On the label, it read:

Crimson Demon Spicy Beer!

Disclaimer: The Crimson Demon village is not responsible for any allergic reactions or any deaths caused by said allergic reactions to the spices contained in this drink.

I guess they learned their lesson.

Part 6

Within the next few days, the seeds finally bore fruit.

They hung from the tall stems of plants that grew from the seeds.

"These are Amber Berries… No, they are a special variant. Most Amber Berries have a sugar coating which is a golden, honey-like color, but these are blue colored…"

Megumin said as she observed the berries that grew from the seeds.

Apparently, Amber Berries had the property of using its own sugar reserves to form a thick sugar coating, which was similar to honey, around it as a defense mechanism.

The sugar coating may attract some creatures who have a liking for sugary substances, but they'd break a few teeth or claws while attempting to penetrate through the dense outer-layer.

Darkness had a rare break from her duties, but Aqua was working hard on her festival preparations. As for Chris, she said she'd catch up with some acquaintances she hadn't seen in a while.

"This ojou-chan is slacking off today, huh?"

I used this opportunity to tease Darkness.

"I'm.. I'm not slacking off! The others in the planning committee insisted that I take the day off!"

Darkness said, blushing as she immediately went on the defense.

Megumin sighed and started to scold me.

"Darkness has been looking forward to this harvest, so don't ruin this for her. As a sheltered lady, she's interested in how nature works, and how the peasants who are lower than her survive by living off the land…"

"Why did Megumin say it in such a weird way?! Doesn't it make it seem like I'm a snooty noble if you say it like that?!"

We resumed our work after having had our fill in teasing Darkness.

Perhaps as a way to prove us wrong, Darkness made sure to work extra hard in picking the berries.

As we had several basketfuls of these berries, which were of the same size as an apple, I asked this question,

"Say, these Amber berries are usually golden in color, right? Why do you think this batch is blue?"

Megumin tilted her head as she carried a small basket in her arms. Like the other day, she and Darkness were wearing sundresses and straw hats.

"Maybe it has to do with the magical properties of the berries? Mana by itself, as an intangible, formless property, doesn't possess color, but if they are densely packed, like in a manatite crystal, they will often appear with a blue color."

Sort of like how mana potions traditionally appear in games, then?

I had another question for Megumin who seemed to be knowledgeable in all kinds of things.

"If the outer-layer is so thick, then how do we eat these things?"

"From what I read, one method for preparing these is to make pies, or a sort of cobbler, out of them. First, you'd need to melt the sugar coating in a high temperature using an oven. Once the fruit and it's defensive coating is malleable, you'll mash it into a pie filling. At this point, the sugar coating will melt and mix with the berries, producing a gooey consistency. Then you make and bake the pie crust and make a pie or cobbler out of it."

I involuntarily drooled at Megumin's description of this dish.

"You can also skip the pie crust and put the baked Amber Berry into a stick and eat it as is. Just make sure the outer layer is soft enough to bite and chew on. Ah, you can also make a jam out of these berries."

There were many methods and I was getting excited to try them out.

First, we tried the simplest method. We baked the berries until the outer-layer was soft enough for safe consumption. Then we pierced them with a stick and tasted them.

"...! Delicious!"

Darkness's eyes widened as she took a bite of the baked Amber Berry on a stick.

"The outer layer is a bit hard to chew on, but it's sweet and melts in your mouth. The berry itself is a bit mild and not as sweet, but it compliments the sugar coating very well!"

"Nom… The berry itself isn't very sweet because… Nom… The sugar from the berry is gathered and formed outside… Nom… And makes the 'amber' shell characteristic of this berry… Nom."

"Don't talk while eating."

I scolded Megumin as she talked between mouthfuls.

The next dish we prepared is the Amber Berry pie.

It was a similar process. First we baked the berries, but then mashed them into a pie filling.

The viscous consistency separated them from normal berry-based fillings, however.

I made a simple pie dough and placed it within a metal pie pan, taking a fork to make small indents around the dough.

With a spoon, we scooped the berry filling in, and closed it all off with another layer of pie dough, forming a roof.

I brushed some egg wash around the dough, so it would come out with a nice golden color.

We put it in the oven just long enough for the dough to bake, but not long enough for the filling to overcook or dry out.

I remembered something that was commonly done with pies back in my old world. I didn't have opportunities to try this myself but I sometimes saw it in movies, especially western ones.

I went to the store while the pie was baking. When I came back, Megumin was in the process of taking the hot pie from the oven and putting it on a cooling rack.

"What did you get from the store, Kazuma?"

"I went to the dairy and bought a bucket of freshly churned ice cream."

"Ice cream…!"

Megumin hopped around excitedly as I scooped the freshly churned ice cream onto our straight-out-of-the-oven amber berry pie.

"Oufu! This taste is… marvelous…!"

Darkness was in ecstasy. Her eyes fluttered and there was a healthy flush of pink on her cheeks.

"The crispy pie crust… The gooey berry filling… And the ice cream just holds it all together! Nom, nom, nom!"

Megumin had been in a similar state of bliss, but she quickly snapped out of it and started shoving down slices of pie into her mouth while Darkness was still in a dazed state.

And lastly, there was the jam.

I took a small pot and placed the berries inside. After melting the outer layer on medium heat, I mashed the berry and had it go to a boil.

I made sure not to crush the berries completely, so there would be some chunks left it the jam.

There was already natural pectin in the berries, but my Advanced Cooking skill gave me a sort of instinctive feeling that I'd need more. I asked Darkness to get some packaged pectin from the produce store. While she was there, I also asked her to bring some jars.

The amber berries had plenty of natural sugar so I only added a bit of honey to taste. Aside from that, I added the pectin when Darkness arrived. I also had the idea of adding some red wine into the jam mixture. I topped it all off with some lemon zest.

Once all the ingredients were properly incorporated and mixed, we scooped up the mixture and placed them into the jars.

After sealing them, we placed them in a hot water bat in a pot with already boiling water. I let the jarred jams process and jellify for about ten minutes before pulling them out.

By the time Aqua got back home, the jams were fully processed and had been chilled in an ice water bath.

Since we had already eaten a bunch of treats, we let Aqua handle the jam jasting.

"You guys ate all sorts of delicious treats without me… No fair… Now all I get is this basic jam on toast… Hmmph?!"

Her complaints were cut off as she tasted the jam.

"This…! There's red wine in this!"

"Why is the red wine the only thing you noticed, you alcoholic!"

She finished the toast in three bites and spread some more of the jam on another slice of toast.

"This is really good! Hey, we can make more of these for the festival, right?! The Axis cult needs to sell some kind of food for our stalls!"

Darkness sighed when Aqua brought that up.

"I can't believe Aqua actually got permission from the store district to have an Axis cult festival on the same day as the Eris festival… But all the same, I hope it goes well for Aqua. So, you're planning to sell these jams, huh?"

"That's right! We can put them in smaller jars and put some cute designs on them! Don't you think that will sell well amongst women?"

"That's true… This is a surprisingly good idea, considering it's Aqua who came up with it."

"Even Darkness is making fun of me…"

Around this time, Chris arrived. She got in using the spare key we had given her.

"What's going on, everyone?"

Aqua looked at her smugly.

"Fufu, kouhai. Look at this jam I'm going to sell in the festival. Taste it for yourself."

Aqua scooped some jam into a spoon and forcefully shoved it into Chris's mouth.

"Mmmph! ….? They're good!"

Chris's eyes widened as Aqua pulled the spoon away.

"Aren't they? Fufun. Now that I look at them, don't they perfectly suit me? I mean, look at this beautiful blue color. These jams will be the highlight of the festival!"

"Is… Is that so? Then, good luck, senpai… Haha…"

Looking conflicted, Chris weakly laughed as Aqua boasted about the jams she'd sell.

The Eris (plus Aqua) festival will start in two days.

…

…

Chapter 31 END

Next chapter: Gifting this Festival with a Goddess Death Match!