“Hello, Mr. Cedric... Um, I brought something interesting for you to see today. Also, this is my friend.”
“Oho. If you think it’s interesting, it must be something terrific.” Cedric then glanced at Wayne. “Oh, so that’s your boyfriend.”
Most of the villagers knew that there was a lad from the outside who visited Lacey. Wayne was a blond-haired, blue-eyed, handsome young man. However, since the hero’s face was well-known, he usually used concealment magic. He should have appeared to Cedric as the most average-looking youth he could imagine.
“Um, he’s not my boyfriend.”
“I see. Hello and nice to meet you, boyfriend.”
Lacey tried to correct him, but Cedric wasn’t heeding her at all, so she gave up. Getting adamant about it wouldn’t change his mind.
“Nice to meet you too.” Wayne took the hand that Cedric offered and shook it, but his response was unusually crabby.
Lacey was somewhat puzzled by this. She was certain this was the first time the two of them had met, and Cedric was acting perfectly normal. She didn’t understand why Wayne would be so touchy. Thus she simply chalked it up to her imagination.
“So is that what you have to show me?” He turned his gaze to the fuzzy silk ends of corn that were heaped in the baskets they were carrying. There were a lot of ears in Wayne’s basket and only a few in Lacey’s basket.
“Yes. They need to be cooked a little, but I was hoping to have you try some of it too, Mr. Cedric.”
“All right, there aren’t any customers right now anyway. Let’s go to the kitchen.”
He didn’t need convincing. Cedric swiftly propped open the door and held out an arm, guiding them into the restaurant. Lacey and Wayne stepped inside, followed by Tee, and the boar entered last.
“Grr-oink.”
“I’m not going to eat you, you can come inside too.”
“Grr-oink-oink.” The boar peacefully trotted in.
After that, Lacey borrowed a pot and oil from Cedric to make popcorn.
The sound of swelling and popping surprised Cedric enough to make his glasses slip down his nose. But when he apprehensively stretched his hand toward it, picked up a kernel, and put it into his mouth, his usually sliver-thin eyes opened wide.
“Miss Lacey.”
“Yes?”
“What did you say this is called?”
“For now, since it makes really loud popping sounds, I was thinking of calling it ‘popcorn.’”
“All right. Then today, the shop is closed. We’re going to gather up everybody and hold a popcorn-tasting session!” Cedric exclaimed with his eyes strikingly open, exhibiting a tremendous presence despite how skinny he was. The rest of them were dumbfounded.
And so the popcorn party began.
∗ ∗ ∗
“I want more salted popcorn!”
“This sweet stuff is way better, Reeve!”
The twins were stuffing their cheeks full of popcorn from cups.
Behind them, a curly-haired girl was holding an empty cup. Yorma suddenly noticed this and offered her more popcorn, his face bright red. “Here, take this!” Reeve watched them, still stuffing his cheeks.
The girl bluntly turned Yorma down, telling him “I like the salty stuff better.” Yorma hunched over on the ground in shock. His twin gently patted his back, consoling him.
Sasanqua was decorated with garlands inside and out. Lacey didn’t know where they had been pulled out from, but they were pretty and colorful. There was a line of tables set up with mountains of popcorn everywhere.
Granny, the leader of Plume Village, was sitting cute and squatly in a large chair, chuckling with delight. Taking a closer look, the chair wasn’t all that big—Granny was just small.
Besides Allen’s family, there were also lots of villagers who Lacey had seen around but didn’t know by name.
She’d put one popped kernel into her mouth, but she felt a pressure in her chest from anxiety and couldn’t swallow well. Like always, she was shaken up. She shifted her gaze from left to right and was finally able to gulp the kernel down.
Some people had even brought out instruments and were dancing to the music. This was less like a tasting session and more like a festival.
H-How did it get to be like this?!
“This popcorn is fine eaten plain, but it would be more fun to try different seasonings. Let’s start by exchanging opinions,” Cedric had said, and all the villagers came at once. They had pulled out tables and chairs, put up decorations, and brought along drinks and homemade finger foods, working together to get things started right away.
“I heard Miss Lacey made another interesting thing,” somebody had said, although there were too many voices at once to tell who it was.
“Why didn’t you tell me right away, big sis?!” Allen had fussed.
Lacey felt like they were getting the wrong idea, and besides, she hadn’t invented the popcorn. She tried explaining this to Cedric while he was busy setting up, but he flatly retorted with “You’re the one who grew the corn and dried it.” She wasn’t wholly satisfied with this.
The boar, who was the inspiration for this, was swinging his hips to the music’s rhythm and kicking his legs about, all while the villagers whistled at him and cheered him on. He was much better acclimated to this festival than Lacey. As a reward for his dance performance, he gobbled down on a mountain of popcorn.
I guess that’s fine...
There were plenty of people around to cook, so the only task Lacey could busy herself with was setting the tables. She weaved her way through the crowd to wherever she was called.
This suited her better than standing in the spotlight. Since she might as well, Lacey tried the popcorn while she carried it around, but whenever she took one bite, she just wanted to have another. Both sweet and salty were tasty. However...
The cooking area, which had moved at some point from Sasanqua’s kitchen to outdoors, was brimming with ardor. Lacey could only watch with the corners of her mouth angled downward.
“Obviously salty is more tasty!”
“No, caramel flavor’s better! Obviously sweet is better!”
It wasn’t Reeve and Yorma speaking. This was an argument between two grown adults.
Specifically, it was Wayne and Cedric. They were holding pots, dripping with sweat, and shoving their foreheads against each other contentiously, baring their teeth. They were both cooking huge batches of popcorn.
“Salt! It’s all about salt! You don’t get it, Mr. Boyfriend. Don’t you know that a little bit of salty stimulation makes the tongue want more?”
“I’ll give you that. But sweet just tastes better. That’s the objective truth.”
“That’s silly. Life’s not all sweetness and light. Adding a pinch of salt in sometimes is key to making things more enjoyable! It’s the spice of life!”
“Well, I’m all about syrupy sweetness! Excuse me for living!”
Allen munched on popcorn as he watched them yap at each other.
“Are they really talking about popcorn?” Lacey asked.
All Allen could respond with was “Probably.”
Eventually, the argument turned to other matters.
“I hear that you’re looking after Lacey while I’m not around! I’d like to see what kind of skills you’ve got!”
“With pleasure! I’m always happy to get new customers! Take a good taste!”
Sparks flew between the two men of disparate generations. Lacey wasn’t even sure what they were talking about anymore.
This subsequently devolved into a competition using the coconut oil Lacey had brought.