Vending Machine - 127 - Girl & the Animals (Patreon)

Kikoyu ended up travelling with our party. As for me, I was loaded into the cart pulled by a giant white Unasus called Botan. For some reason, this cart was made entirely of metal by some skilled craftsman. For an entirely metal construction, it was very strong and light too,

Now that I have the time to look at this contraption closely. I could see that rather than a traditional cart, it looked more like an ancient-style chariot.

Even with me loaded into the cart/chariot thing along with the luggage and Kikoyu, Botan was able to pull it along easily. I’d like to one day see Botan go against Ramis in a contest of strength one day.

Meanwhile, Kuroyata was circling the sky, keeping an eye on the surrounding area. As a fairly smart crow, it could not only communicate but could understand written words too… even I could only understand the basic words in this world.

I thought about getting someone to teach me how to read and write now that I have <Telekinesis>, but with everyone being so busy, I thought it was not a good time to ask.

Speaking of which, Kuroyata is written as 黒八咫 in kanji. I know this because after Kikoyu introduced him, Kuroyata brought out a piece of paper from the cart and showed it to us. As though making sure that we know that this was his name. Since the characters were written in kanji, I can only assume that the field, or ‘Mister Field’, must be from Japan.

Once things settled down, I must try to meet with this person.

Come to think of it, Kikoyu said something about her being an unreliable party member, but I don’t believe so.

She modestly claimed that she only has three abilities:

- Cooling down things she touches

- Completely erase her presence

- Hear the inner voices of sentient beings she touches

All three skills make her an exceptional support person.

I looked around again as our party travelled together and a sudden thought struck me. Director Bear, Botan, Kuroyata, a vending machine and a little girl… isn’t this something like a mobile zoo?

It would be perfect if the Big Eaters party were to join us. I hope we can meet up with them so that we could one day travel together in the future.

That’s right, things were progressing smoothly enough that I have the luxury of wasting my time on such random thoughts.

With Kuroyata keeping an eye on things from above and warning us about enemies lurking at forks and crossroads, and Director Bear demonstrating his full abilities as a fighter without me on his back, our way forward became smoother.

The astute Kuroyata not only warn us, but also swoops down at enemies from above to tear and pierce with his sharp claws and beak. Clearly, he was a formidable fighter even without the Ultrasonic Cry.

If we happen to encounter a large group of enemies, Botan could be released from the cart with a single touch of a button and add to our party’s fighting power. Indeed, they are an incredibly reliable group of animals.

"It's getting dark. Let's set up camp here for the night."

"Understood,” said Kikoyu.

Kuroyata landed on top of the wall, keeping its several eyes on our surroundings. The place we had chosen to ‘camp’ was at one of the dead-ends. This way, we would know which way the enemy would come from. Even if we were overwhelmed by enemies or attacked by something we cannot handle, we could still rely on my <Barrier>.

“Shall we have the leftover ‘Shitemiuma’ [1] and some new vegetables for dinner?”

"Wa-it"

I stopped Kikoyu from taking out the flowerpot for Mister Field’s fragment.

Earlier, Director Bear was enamoured by the sweet potato-like Shitemiuma thing. However, it’s my turn now. I must show off Japan’s food corporation power!

“I pre-pare”

Haahh… due to my limited range of vocabulary, I always ended up speaking informally. No, rather than speaking informally, I ended up sounding like a baby or a parrot trying to imitate human sounds, or an inept foreigner…

“I’ll get to try Hakkon-san’s food? I look forward to it.”

I must live up to Kikoyu’s expectations. Let’s see, there’s no way I could compete when it comes to fresh fruits or vegetables, given the power of the Field’s fragment, so, I’ll have to depend on processed food for an edge.

In the first place, the most popular food should be Karaage. The next fast food that comes to mind would be Takoyaki. That’s right, let’s attack her stomach with things that could not be found in this ‘other world’.

“Uwaahh—what’s this? It looks so warm and delicious.”

An excellent first reaction.

I watched as she blew on the Karaage before taking a small bite, huffing and puffing at the heat. Her eyes lit up with satisfaction.

“It’s delicious. Is it some kind of bird meat?”

Come to think of it, is it alright to serve chicken with Kuroyata standing next to us? I hope he understands that I’m not serving crow’s meat even though chicken is technically bird meat.

“This round thing with the black sauce on top is also very interesting. The texture is also enjoyable. It somehow maintains its round shape despite being hollow inside. As for the meat, hmm, I wonder what this is?”

I heard that a lot of foreigners can’t handle eating octopus, so it might be better for Kikoyu to not know what the ‘Tako’ in Takoyaki is.

Kuroyata and Botan were already eating the sweet potato-like shitemiuma. Since animals generally can’t handle oily or processed food, I guess I shouldn’t feed them processed food?

As for Kikuyo, she seems to enjoy the Karaage and Takoyaki, however, that’s not the extent of my skills. That’s right, to capture a lady’s heart, the best way is with this!!

I transformed into <Auto-vending Convenience Store> and put up an entire line of nothing but desserts!

These days, convenience store desserts are almost as good as the ones from the speciality stores. In fact, with famous dessert shops backing some of the brands, the taste is more or less guaranteed.

“Fuwaahh~~ what’s all these? I have never seen food like this before.”

“Des-sert”

“All of these are desserts? Wow, that’s amazing~”

Kids, girls, sweets. The holy trinity, there is no way it will ever fail. Although there might be times when certain ingredients don’t suit someone’s taste, if the dessert is made to a person's taste and preference, the chances of success would increase.

What’s more, appearance is one of the most crucial things when it comes to desserts. The artsy cuteness of dessert is what appeals to women most.

“Everything looks so beautiful, are they really food?” though hesitant, Kikoyu finally picked a relatively plain-looking pudding and piece of cake topped with plenty of cut fruits.

Since I’m pretty sure she won’t know how to open it, I helped remove the cover of the pudding as I handed it over via <Telekinesis>. When the pudding wobbled temptingly in front of the girl, she looked up with wide shimmering eyes, “I can eat this?”

“Ye-es”

“Thank you for the food,”

She scooped out a small portion of the pudding with a plastic spoon and popped it into her mouth. Suddenly, her lips wobbled and she pressed her cheeks with both hands and a smile spread irresistibly across her face. Before I knew it, the whole pudding was gone in two or three bites.

“Very delicious, it has a certain sweetness to it that is completely different from fruits. This is also the first time I encounter this type of texture and mouthfeel. The way it slides down the throat felt very smooth and satisfying."

What a wonderful expression. It’s difficult to imagine that these sophisticated descriptions came from the mouth of a little girl.

Next, she ate the cake. Although her reaction was a little bland, it was clear that she was properly savouring the cake and thinking about something.

“Delicious… if made with Mister Field’s fruits, this dessert would be even more outstanding,” she muttered.

I hear you. Making a cake with fruits from that sentient field? Considering how delicious the sweet potato-like thing appears, the deliciousness level of a fresh fruit cake made with Mister Field's fruits has the potential to be out of this world.

“Thank you for the meal, it was very delicious,” she said as she rubbed her belly with satisfaction.

The plan to attack this girl’s stomach through meat and desserts seemed to work. Let’s up the ante and offer drinks too. I must maintain my pride as a Japanese vending machine.

“Excuse me, may I get something here too,” said Director Bear. He was standing apologetically on the side… oh dear, I have completely forgotten about Director Bear, don’t worry, I shall prepare your favourites right away!

After Director was done eating, he announced that he will take the first watch, allowing Kikoyu and the two animals to rest first. Illuminated by the light from my body, Director Bear looked like he was floating in the middle of the darkness as he sipped at his warm soup. Even though he was a bear, Director Bear has this smart, dandy-ish look about him. If I were to record this, I’m sure it would make a very good drink or soup commercial.

“Hakkon, what do you think of the girl called Kikoyu?”

“Go-od ki-d”

“Yes, she does seem like a smart and caring kid. However, her attitude and appearance don’t match.”

Director Bear looked like he was bothered by the same thing. Well, anyone who ever had any interaction with kids that age would feel the same sense of disconnect. My friends' and relatives’ kids were usually quite selfish or immature at that age. It is almost impossible to find a child as mature as Kikoyu or… rather, no such child should exist.

“At first, I suspect that she might be one of the Ruler of Netherworld’s agents, however, it doesn’t look like it. Still, something else bothers me about her situation. Kikoyu might not be… entirely human. I believe she had to be some sort of mixed blood.”

Just like Vice-leader Felmina? Well, the 'little girl' strikes me as someone in her late teens or early twenties at least. I can certainly imagine her as a high schooler or a college student despite her appearance.

"Her abilities and physical characteristics call to mind a certain race.”

Oh? It looks like Director Bear knows what the other half of Kikoyu’s bloodline is. I can’t tell because I don’t have enough knowledge of this world.

“I believe she might be a Snow Child,”

A Snow Child? Japan has a similar version of a type of demon back on earth, the snow woman, or Yuki Onna.

“A Snow Child is the child of a race called Snow Spirits. They maintain their appearance as a six-year-old child until their adulthood. On their coming-of-age day, they will suddenly transform into their adult form. The Snow Child possesses a special power sought after by many to the point where they were hunted to the brink of extinction. In fact, I really thought they were extinct.”

In other words, this girl’s age could really be different from her appearance?

I wonder what their special ability is. Generally, if something is hunted to the brink of extinction, it must be something that could grant wishes or immortality.

“If you cut off a Snow Child’s head when they turn eighteen, they would turn into an everlasting ice statue that never melts. It is said that the severed head will constantly cast curses and pollute the land it is on. In fact, there was actually a country that was destroyed by this cursed head.”

What an outrageous ability. However, the conditions to activate this curse are too horrible. Cutting off someone’s head just to curse a whole land is pretty gruesome.

“That’s not all. The ice statue from the neck down transforms into a purification statue capable of lifting any curse that was close to it.”

So, the effect is the opposite of the cursing head? Wow, that just doubles up the reason why they would be hunted… wait, their bodies could purify curses? That means…

“Lea-der”

"That's right. That is one way to break the curse on Leader Keyroil’s son.”

What the… If Leader Keyroil found out about this, he would do anything to get his hands on Kikoyu. I can’t believe that not helping him during that time would turn out to be a good thing.

“That is why we must keep this secret to ourselves. Don’t let anyone know.”

“Ye-es”

Looks like the solution that Leader was looking for is so close to us. How ironic.

Even if Kikoyu is really a Snow Child, she should not be subjected to such suffering. I must keep this secret at all costs.

The girl is currently sleeping with her head lying comfortably on Botan as a pillow.

No matter what the reason is, I cannot just sacrifice this child. This secret must not be revealed.

[Gumihou: Uh oh, the plot thickens…]

[1] Shitemiuma – it’s unclear what the heck this is. However, it’s possible that this is a mispronunciation of ‘satsuma imo’ or ‘sweet potatoes’ in Japan

https://specialtyproduce.com/produce/Satsumaimo_Sweet_Potatoes_11777.php

I could be wrong, but, eh.