Kays Translations

Chapter 96 – A Little Party (Part 2): Daytime Fireworks

I opened the plastic bottle and poured the drink into three cups. Then I opened a can and poured drinks for Jude and myself.

Cheers!

I left the plastic bottles and cans out as they were, but with this group, it wasn’t a problem.

The three of them happily sipped the classic fizzy fruit soda—.

”It’s sweet.”

”Tasty, it is!”

”I like the bubbles!”

I’ve always loved this grape flavor. There are all kinds now, but when it comes to this soda, I think grape is the best flavor.

I’ll try the barley carbonated drink too. Speaking of which, a friend of mine once said, “I get my grains in liquid form.” That includes barley and rice. I think he also consumes potatoes, so maybe it’s more carbs than grains?

Anyway, a cold, crisp grain-based beverage on a warm, humid day is just delicious.

I’m not very good at pouring, so we ended up with more foam than anything—please forgive me.

Jude gulped down his drink, leaving a foamy mustache around his mouth.

Hmm, a beard would look good on him too.

Jude licks the foam and says:

”What is this? It has a rich body, yet a sharp finish, and it goes down so smoothly.”

It’s a more passionate review than usual. If he likes it, that’s great.

I take a sip too—ah yes, this taste. The good old reliable flavor I’ve been drinking for ages.

I love the more exotic, legendary auspicious beast  beers and the ones themed after the Seven Lucky Gods, but this one—this is just the usual stuff.

　

”Phaaah. I think it’s a kind of ale? It’s dry, refreshing and easy to drink. Perfect for summer!”

”This… is ale?”

He doesn’t look entirely convinced.

Maybe the balance of richness and sharpness is rare here? To be honest, I’m not sure I fully understand the difference between ale and beer either.

To dodge the question, I reach for some edamame. I grab a handful, toss them onto a small plate, and pass one to Jude too.

And come in, you three—eat, dig in.

So good. Freshly boiled edamame is amazing. I think the salt is just right, if I do say so myself. I squeeze the pod, and chew the beans that shoot into my mouth. So flavorful. The richness of the beans fills my mouth. I find myself eating in silence. Jude-san, too, goes quiet. Looks like he forgot the whole beer/ale debate. The pile of empty pods keeps growing.

In between bites, we sip more beer. Pour, drink, delicious. Since we were drinking together, the 500ml can was empty in no time. Why is it that it’s so hard to drink large amounts of water, but it’s so easy to drink large amounts of beer?

Still, I’m glad I installed that convenience store app. One store’s app is surprisingly generous—they occasionally give out free or discount coupons for alcohol.

If you redeem a free coupon, it doesn’t count as a purchase. But if you buy beer with a discount coupon, it counts as buying at the discounted price. I used to think, “Ugh, not free?” whenever I got the discount coupons—but now I’m so sorry. Those coupons are super useful.

The three of them were bouncing with excitement over the soda but once they started eating the edamame beans, they fell silent.

It’s not just crab that makes people go quiet—but delicious food in general can sometimes leave you speechless.

But it’s not an awkward silence at all.

Everyone’s just completely focused on eating.

I can’t help but chuckle a little.

It might not pair perfectly with fizzy drinks, but let’s move on to corn.

Once the edamame craze settles down, I break the cobs in half to make it easier to eat and hand it out.

It’s a matter of personal preference as to which half is better. The tip tends to have softer kernels and is easier to bite into. The base has firmer kernels—better if you like picking the kernels off. If you clear a row, you can roll the rest off with your thumb, too.

I sink my teeth into the corn, and the soft skin pops as it meets my teeth. The sweet juice inside well, maybe not exactly “juice” bursts into my mouth. As I chew the kernels, more sweetness is released in a crisp, juicy burst.

”Sooo sweet!”

”Yummy!”

”It’s delicious!”

Almost exactly the same comments they made about the soda. I laugh. Sweet and tasty. Yep, that’s really all I need to hear.

I work hard to grow vegetables and cook them so that people will say they’re delicious.

After eating, everyone starts wriggling their tongues a bit.

Yeah, I knew it. The soft skins of the corn got stuck in their teeth. I hand out toothpicks.

“These intricate carvings are amazing. They’re all exactly the same. Are they… some kind of craftwork?”

Jude-san asks with a piece of yellow corn stuck to the corner of his mouth.

Ah, he’s talking about the little ridges at the top of the toothpick. Now that he mentions it, they are surprisingly detailed. Only the tip is really needed—There’s no decoration on  bamboo skewers.

“It’s a very everyday item and… totally disposable.”

”Really? Even with such fine detail? I’m always amazed by the things you bring out, Saki.”

That’s what he says. The precision of industrially manufactured daily items really does stand out here.

The dishes I brought out afterward were also well-received. But… maybe I should’ve saved the edamame and corn for later. They’re really filling.

After the meal, I wanted everyone to have a little fun, so I’d already prepared something I bought with 1000 yen repeat purchases.

That’s right—fireworks.

Since it wouldn’t be right to keep Luna around until after dark, I decided on daytime fireworks.

“Are you going to light this on fire?”

Luna held the small, black, cylinder-shaped pellet I handed her with a puzzled look.

Yep, try lighting it.

I don’t see them much these days, but fireworks used to be sold individually in the past.

There were these cheap little fireworks you could buy one at a time.

Among them was my absolute favorite.

I believe Its official name is something like “snake firework”, but kids always called it “poop firework”.

For some reason, I loved it—absolutely loved it.

And they were cheap—like 20 yen a pack, if I remember right. I looked it up, and sure enough, there it was.

So I handed one out to each person. Everyone had to try it at least once—that’s the rule.

Matches should work fine to light it. I taught Luna how to strike a match.

just swoosh it here like this.

”Like this? Ah!”

Nice! You did it. Great job!

“Saki, what is that?”

“Matches. A magic tool for starting a fire?”

Apparently, they have magical tools for lighting fires, and some people can do it with magic directly, but nothing shaped quite like a match. They also found the illustrations on the matchbox fascinating. Come to think of it, a lighter might be easier to pass off as a magical tool. But even a match can probably be spun that way—yeah, let’s go with that. Let’s make it that.

Luna brought the match to the edge of the black cylinder—and it caught fire.

Good! Now drop the match in this bowl of water here.

From the black cylinder, a black, squiggly thing started emerging, *shwwwwww*, like a living creature, growing and curling bigger and bigger.

”Waaah! What is this, what is this!?”

Luna’s eyes went round as saucers.

”Eeeeek! Eeeeek! It’s disgusting! It’s squirming!”

Kirara screamed. But she didn’t look truly scared—more like squealing with laughter.

”Mimi wants to try toooo!!”

Mimi’s eyes sparkled with excitement.

“Oh, you’re not allowed to light it yourself. If you burn the whole thing to ash, it won’t be fun anymore.”

I stopped her from breathing fire on it.

Here, take a match instead.

”This isn’t… black magic, is it?”

Jude-san asked cautiously. Of course not! It’s nothing so dramatic. It just makes a black squiggly thing come out. That’s all.

I wonder if this is what miasma would look like if it were visible to the naked eye.

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