Kays Translations

Chapter 78. Summer Festival 3: Melt-in-Your-Mouth Stewed Offal

And so, the day of the festival arrived.

Right now, I’m in my usual outfit—baggy pants and a shirt. A slightly thick vest to hide my figure, and my hair is tucked into a hat.

I’d arranged to change into my festival clothes at Grandpa Jill’s house in the evening.

Apparently, it’s customary to wear something to hide your face as much as possible when the evening bell rings, so I decided to follow suit.

For those who don’t have anything to cover their face, it’s common to mess up their hair and let it fall over their face, or even pull a shirt over their head.

It’s also totally fine to go barefaced—especially for kids, people who can’t wear masks, or those who simply aren’t interested.

Some people put a lot of effort into their festival costumes, while others just wear their everyday clothes. It’s a bit like how some people wear yukata to Japanese fireworks festivals and others don’t.

First thing up: enjoy the food stalls during the daytime.

Together with Mimi and Kirara, we brought the bouquet we’d prepared and placed it around one of the pillars in the plaza. The pillar was already covered in flowers and looked absolutely beautiful.

“So pretty,” Mimi said.

Yeah. Our sunflowers really stood out. The bright yellow is such a cheerful color.

I heard from Milia-san that the florist who received the flowers was also very happy with them.

“I’ll place mine too,” Kirara said, hanging a branch of her plum blossoms as high up as she could reach.

It might’ve just been an optical illusion, but the soft pink flowers looked like they were glowing.

Mimi and Kirara are wearing matching outfits today—traditional attire from this region. Once I change, the three of us will match. Apparently, when they shapeshift, they can freely choose their clothes, so they don’t really need to buy clothing. I’m a little envious.

There are usually food stalls set up in this square. Yes, even the meat skewer stand where I first met Jude-san was also a permanent stall. Those permanent stalls get the best spots in the square. But today, the plaza was packed with even more stalls— even in places where they usually aren’t set up.

Now that I think about it, wasn’t the meat on that skewer called Martha Beef? I wonder if Martha’s name came from a cow. Just a coincidence? It would be kind of funny if her parents were just really into meat.

As I looked at the stalls, it reminded me somehow of the grounds of a famous shrine in Kyoto. It was connected to a park and known for its weeping cherry blossoms.

There were always food stalls there, and even more during New Year’s and festival times.

I think there used to be a sideshow attraction there ages ago—like a “snake woman” or a “giant weasel” type of classic sideshow fare.

I wonder if there’s anything like that here?

Just as I was thinking that—

“Come check out the adorable monsters from the Tamer Guild! They’re tameable! You can even interact with them!”

—came a loud announcement.

That voice… was that Mier from the Tamer Guild?

I was really curious, but… letting Mier get a good look at Mimi and Kirara might not be the best idea.

“I’ll wait for you,” Mimi offered sweetly.

But in this crowd, I’d hate to get separated.

“Let’s skip it for now. Let’s check over there.”

There was a mouthwatering smell coming from that direction.

It smells like garlic and tomato, maybe? Whatever it was, it really got my appetite going.

Drawn in by the smell, we arrived at a stall where a huge pot was bubbling away.

Inside the pot were chunks of meat stewing with onions and root vegetables. The red color might’ve come from the tomatoes, but it also had the aroma of red wine.

I glanced at a wooden sign beside the pot, hastily scrawled with words.

[Tripe stew]

Stewed offal!?

In my mind, “stewed offal” meant something like a rich, miso-broth stew similar to doteni.

However, there is probably no miso here, or even if there is, it’s hard to get hold of, so this is probably offal stewed in wine and tomato sauce.

Stirring the well-simmered pot was an old woman with a hooked nose who looked just like a witch.

Silently and without any enthusiasm, she ladled stewed offal into bowls made from nut shells and hands them to customers.

People simply dropped their payment into a basket at the front.

I lined up on behalf of our group and got one.

Use the short skewers that come with the hot offal, I lifted it to my mouth.

“Ow, hot!”

Whoa… this is—

It’s hot and melts in your mouth, and the rich flavor spreads throughout your mouth like magic.

　

The slight tang of the tomatoes, the astringency of the red wine, and a faint trace of that distinct offal flavor—but this is not unpleasant at all and adds to the flavor. 

The stewed offal is so tender that you don’t even need to chew it.

The onions were sweet from being cooked down, and there was burdock root in there too. So good. Without even realizing it, I find myself smiling from ear to ear. I seriously wanted a drink with this. Like, really. But… it’s still daytime…

We shared the bowl between the three of us.

“So good,” Kirara said, her lips red from the broth.

“It’s red, but not spicy,” Mimi added, squinting happily, satisfied that it was tasty even without heat.

This kind of deliciousness that just makes people smile—amazing. How could someone make something so good with such a grumpy face? One taste would probably make even her smile.

Whew. That was so good.

Sharing is great—it lets you try more things.

Next, let’s try that galette-looking thing over there!

Ann and Larry also said they’d be running a stall, so I have to go get their special festival-version curry bread too.

There are cute trinkets for sale too, and even a fortune-telling stall selling things like fortune slips. What’s with that egg seller? Eggs of all colors and sizes are lined. There’s also stalls selling lots of masks, probably in preparation for the evening, which is interesting just to look at.

In preparation for the evening, there were mask stalls everywhere, and just looking at them was fun.

There was even a stall full of a jumble of dusty old things—maybe antiques?

I bought the baked treat that Kirara wanted, and the super heavy, dumbbell-like ornament Mimi wanted.

As for me, I picked up a beautiful, smooth stone that caught my eye. It was like labradorite from my old world—and the way it shone metallically depending on the angle reminded me of Mimi.

Festivals really are wonderful.

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