Sutrena would be holding a taro-throwing contest as a part of a regional revitalization initiative. People would compete to see who could throw a taro the farthest without using any magic.
This will end with Lord Nazel’s overwhelming victory, won’t it? Or so I thought, but he wouldn’t be participating because he was one of the contest’s organizers. In that case, things might not be so unfair. Still, Torre is really strong too.
The contest would be using pink taros that had been improved for throwing. They were the kind I’d originally carried with me for self-defense. Pink taros weren’t inedible, but they were really hard and tasted earthy, so they weren’t that enjoyable. Until now, I’d only seen Polpystan’s big hoppers eat one of them in its entirety.
However, I’d intentionally asked Lord Nazel to produce a large amount of this variety. I’d have felt guilty making throwing weapons out of ordinary tubers that we used for cooking, but since these particular pink taros weren’t meant for consumption, I could throw them without reserve. They were tough, had uniform shapes, and could be preserved easily. Even if they fell on the ground, they wouldn’t start budding on their own. I could also easily apply my absolute reinforcement on them. They were truly the perfect self-defense tubers.
These pink taros had originally been created so that I could walk around with them in my pocket, but recently, the maids had also started carrying around their own self-defense tubers. Some time ago, reinforced yams had been used for self-defense, but pink taros had become very popular with women lately because they were easy to carry, readily available, and also looked cute. Lord Nazel had made them pink because he thought I would look cute carrying them around. He’d tried several colors, but pink had felt the most fitting.
The pink taro boom had started in Sutrena when the people had seen Furla, a manabeast exterminator, using them aggressively, so they’d asked our estate about them. Since then, pink taros had started being sold to the general public too. Former maids who had become independent as merchants sold the self-defense tubers in town. These women had great communication skills and excellent business sense, so sales were apparently increasing. Recently, even Kelly had been keeping self-defense tubers in her pocket. Incidentally, Liliane’s magic was really powerful, so she didn’t carry any tubers around. Although she appeared ladylike, she was actually quite the bold young woman.
With this and that, the day of the taro-throwing contest approached. There were divisions for men, women, and children. The crowd favorites were Torre for the men’s division, and Furla for the women’s division.
Will Solis be able to participate once he’s a little older?
I wasn’t going to participate, but I was scheduled to throw a tuber during the opening ceremony to liven things up. This was also part of the margravine’s work. I wouldn’t be using my absolute reinforcement this time, so I doubted I would throw it very far. Lord Nazel had just told me about this when I visited the fort.
“Heh heh, I can’t wait to watch Agnes throw a taro.”
As a matter of fact, Lord Nazel was the one who’d arbitrarily planned for me to participate in the opening ceremony. It was blatant abuse of his authority, but for some reason, the people supported his decision, most notably the sculptors.
“What do I do if I throw the taro in the wrong direction?” I asked.
“That’s also fine. I think you’re also cute when you throw tubers off course.”
That’s fine? What Lord Nazel considered acceptable became more incomprehensible to me with each passing year.
And so, the day of the taro-throwing contest finally arrived. Lord Nazel and I were on standby in the waiting room. The plaza in front of the fortress was being used as the venue. Paul and Ryuk, two of the staff, had been called in for live commentary. They’d probably been assigned to the position because they were newbies.
Will those two be okay? Neither of them strike me as the commentator type. I was feeling nervous.
The opening ceremony was held, and then I moved to the center of the plaza to throw my taro. I held it at the ready, feeling a little nervous.
“H-Hup!” Although I should have thrown the taro straight ahead, for some reason its trajectory ended up diagonal.
“Uh-oh! The taro flew toward the fortress! Elder sister, you were off course!” Paul’s merciless commentary was clearly audible.
Eeeep!
It seemed that the taro I threw really did go in the wrong direction. I could see Lord Nazel grinning with a relaxed expression in the audience.