In the wintry streets of Torquiva, there are two things that have become quite popular recently.
They are oden stall and baseball stadium.
Oden is, according to the rumor, a hot pot dish.
It is sold in limited quantities on a trial basis so after selling everything, it will disappear somewhere after getting feedback from customers.
Not many people around me, not to mention my colleagues, have had the chance to try it.
The guy at the stall should have at least held a taste testing party at some point since she should be working for the same family.
I heard that it had a strange flavor and wasn’t that tasty but you have to actually try to know its real taste.
As I was sewing a baseball glove at the leather factory where I work, I was in agony thinking about such things when my drinking buddy, Reps, a good natured catkin, came to me.
「Yow, Kraft, are you taking it seriously?」
「You never get tired of coming here, are you?」
He is a member of the iron works department but he has a crush on a girl who works in the office of our factory so every time he has a day off, he comes here with a souvenir.
She’s a pretty girl so he’s not the only one who comes here.
The girl in question herself even laughed and said, “I’m never short on sweets.”.
「Why don’t you iron workers make horseshoes instead of coming here to sell oil?」
「Our factory is making parts for the railroad tracks now. They are going to put an automatic trolley at the construction site our family is digging outside the city.」
「Huh? What’s that?」
「Some sort of miniature train.」
Is it safe to build something like that without permission?
Has our Sawadi-sama finally done whatever he wants just because it’s outside the city?
「The soil from that place will be carried away by that and made into bricks by the mages and our construction department.」
「Hee, are you going to use it for the construction work they’re doing on the Schenker Boulevard? They’re going to build a big building right in front of the headquarters, right?」
「They’re always doing some construction work over there…..ah, I heard that the oden stall was placed near here today.」
「Really!?」
「Larne, the mailman I just met on the way here, said she saw it head south.」
「I never thought it would come out not just during the night but even during the day.」
「Maa, it’s a good thing since we don’t need to spend the night roaming the streets. You’re bad at cold weather, right, Kraft-kun?」
「Even if I want to eat, I don’t want to catch a cold!」
「Yeah, yeah, scary.」
I’m not the only one who thinks so.
Torquiva’s residents are fond of new things and these days, there are a lot of young ones parading around the cold city night to catch a glimpse of the phantom oden stall.
It is said that the oden stall disappears after a single pot is sold out so there are usually only one or two groups of customers who can eat oden in a day.
In other words, then the number of people who can eat during winter is 100….or 200….?
How many exactly?
I’m not really good with numbers.
Well, in any case, if you’ve eaten such a precious food, you’ll be well known even amongst your fellow foodies.
And, above all…….
「I don’t want to make the same mistake as the summer exclusive stall….」
「Ah, you did the same thing in the summer. What was it, ice…..something? The thing that completely disappeared before fall.」
「It’s ice candy! I kept looking for it night after night but I failed to find it! I even staked out the headquarters with my friends until morning….」
「That’s because we just arrived here back then……now, we know the area so we should be fine, right?」
「You can’t catch a phantom stall just because you know the area. There are a lot of locals among the night watchmen.」
「I don’t really get what drives you guys to be that dedicated just to find a stall but, good luck with that! I’m going to have a much hotting time with my sweet little Mason than I ever will with a hot pot.」
That idiot Reps is wagging his tail while humming.
Darn it! What a stupid idiot!
The regret of missing out the ice candy back then makes the base of my tail itch again.
People often say that scalekins are nasty but perhaps they are right.
I can’t seem to give up when it comes to food.
