Chapter 80
Chapter 80
“Don’t worry about it.”
Cassis said while wiping his hands sticky with ice cream.
“Really?”
I asked while looking out the window.
The beautiful Orsha Palace visible beyond the window was covered in white snow.
And that snow was all…
“With this much ice cream piled up, is it really okay…”
I said weakly while clutching the philosopher’s stone.
Thankfully, it was a D+ grade stone.
If even this low-grade stone could produce so much ice cream, imagine if it had been grade A.
[That’s true…]
[Still, it is pretty.]
‘What is? This sticky snow?’
[Think positively, Irina. What if all this massive amount of ice cream had been chocolate flavor instead of vanilla?]
‘We’d just get some great publicity and lose a mansion, that’s all.’
I trudged along with my tired and exhausted body.
The one consolation in this situation was that the northern cold meant the ice cream wouldn’t melt immediately.
Standing beside me as I gazed out the window, Cassis let out a “haha” laugh, seeming to find the situation a bit absurd himself.
“You really don’t need to worry. The mansion itself has protective magic and cleaning magic cast on it.”
“Really?”
“Yes, so please don’t worry.”
After saying that, Cassis opened the window and leaned his upper body out.
“The problem is the snow piled in the garden…”
“The amount is enormous, isn’t it?”
[But at least our Irina… won’t have to struggle with lack of holy power when making and selling ice cream.]
[That’s right~]
[We told you we’d find a way, didn’t we?]
I gave the system a halfhearted response and bowed my head to Cassis.
“What should we do with all that ice cream?”
“Indeed. For now, I’ve instructed people to gather it all in one place.”
Outside, people were busily shoveling snow to create a huge mountain.
One small consolation was that Orsha Palace’s garden wasn’t that well-maintained.
It was maintained, but only at a minimal level.
If it had been meticulously maintained with perfect right angles like the Lemiere duchy garden I visited recently, I probably would have been expelled from the territory immediately, contract or not.
“Irina, it’s alright.”
“I’m sorry. I didn’t know this would happen.”
“Irina, look at me.”
A hand landed on my shoulder as I kept my head down in apology.
I felt warm through my blouse.
When I lifted my head, Cassis spoke again with a slightly amused expression.
“It really is alright.”
“Thank you.”
“Still, we need to deal with that enormous amount somehow. Shall we go out and take a look?”
“Yes.”
And so Cassis and I went out into the chaotic garden.
It was much more orderly than when the ice cream snow was falling.
This seemed possible because everyone in the mansion had rushed out with shovels.
The only difference was a massive mountain forming near the main gate in the distance.
“The ground condition isn’t bad though. Once we clear away the bulky ice cream, we can probably ask a mage to handle the rest.”
The problem was the ice cream mountain in the distance.
It looked big from afar, but up close it was even bigger.
Without exaggeration, it was taller than a well-built adult man.
Watching well-built men diligently shoveling, I noticed something strange and asked.
“You mobilized the knights too?”
“When we’re scraping together every penny we can to raise them, we should use them for something like this at least.”
Ah.
What kind of accident have I caused?
By the way, the other culprit belatedly realized the gravity of the situation and ran back to her room to revise the entire magic circle.
“Greetings, Your Highness.”
“Good day!”
Though there weren’t many knights, about fifteen people paused their shoveling to greet Cassis and me.
Judging by their overall young age, they seemed to be junior knights selected from the order.
They were creating a mountain by stacking boxes to make levels beside the ice cream pile.
Seeing even the precious knight manpower being mobilized, I briefly looked up at the sky.
“Hello everyone, you must be busy. I’m sorry.”
“It’s been a while, Lady Irina.”
The knights began greeting me from their various positions.
Cassis asked me.
“Irina, is it alright for the knights to eat this ice cream?”
Caught off guard by the unexpected question, I stupidly replied, “What?” before reluctantly nodding.
“Well, if the knights want to eat it?”
“I see.”
Cassis nodded, perhaps in agreement.
But won’t it be dirty?
It fell all over the ground… They shouldn’t eat what fell on the ground…
[But it might actually be fine.]
[Right. There are no cars here, and no air pollution, so snow doesn’t get very dirty.]
[That’s true.]
Regardless of my concerns about cleanliness, Cassis struck a nearby stone with his sword to get everyone’s attention.
In an instant, everyone’s attention turned to Cassis, and by extension to me standing beside him.
“You all know that this white, sweet snow is the most famous ice cream in the capital these days.”
Unlike me, barely maintaining my composure from the unfamiliar attention, Cassis seemed quite skilled at this.
I looked at Cassis with a fresh perspective.
“Here, Irina has said it’s fine to eat the ice cream.”
As soon as Cassis finished speaking, the knights began cheering.
“Everyone, thank Irina and enjoy yourselves. That is all.”
“Thank you!”
“Thank you!”
The knights gave me a resounding thank you before hurriedly grabbing a servant and giving instructions.
Soon after, a servant appeared with huge bowls and utensils.
The youngest scooped up snow with his shovel and dumped it into the bowls, then shouted to the other knights.
“Let’s eat and then continue!”
With those words, the knights came down and began finding places to sit with their large bowls piled high with ice cream.
“Jake, why is there dirt in mine?”
“Ah, Senior, since you like chocolate, I sprinkled some similar-colored dirt!”
“Hey you. You eat this one. Get me a new one!”
“Yes sir.”
It was quite chaotic but a surprisingly harmonious scene.
“They’re knights… is it really okay to serve them something that fell on the ground?”
“Well, it’s fine. When I’m out at war, I sometimes secretly pick up and eat dropped jerky and such.”
I’m quite taken aback by how casually he drops such statements.
Cassis just shrugged and called over Deputy Butler Kelwin, who was busy cleaning with a shovel nearby.
“Lord Cassis.”
“You’re working hard as always, Kelwin. Tell the servants and attendants they’re free to eat ice cream if they want.”
“Yes, understood!”
Before long, this vast white mansion developed into a somewhat unusual but heartwarming scene with people sitting everywhere eating ice cream.
“Irina, do you feel better now?”
Cassis’s question made me realize he had been mindful of my feelings all along.
“Yes, thank you for your consideration.”
Cassis just smiled slightly at my words.
He looked around and spoke.
“It’s been a while since the mansion had such a festive atmosphere.”
Cassis and I slowly walked through the garden, with ice cream mountains scattered about.
After our brief walk, we spotted knights in the distance looking ready to have a snowball fight with ice cream, and we changed direction.
“Ahhh, Lord Cassis is coming!”
“Quick, clean up!”
“Lord Cassis, I didn’t do anything!”
“It was all Allen’s doing. I know nothing.”
“Hey, Jake…! Hehe, did you have a pleasant time?”
As soon as the knights spotted Cassis, they hurriedly stopped throwing ice cream at each other and began making excuses.
“Seems you’ve had enough rest.”
“…Yes.”
“What are you doing, back to work.”
All the knights scrambled to pick up their shovels and resume cleaning.
Cassis looked at the scene and said regretfully.
“Does it look like it’s decreased at all?”
“Not at all.”
“I put those big eaters to work, but you can’t even tell the difference.”
Though Cassis had talked about enjoying the festive atmosphere, he seemed to be pondering how to deal with all the ice cream.
After observing this scene for a while, he asked me.
“Should we open it up?”
“What?”
Open what?
Where?
So suddenly?
Seeing my reaction, Cassis explained as if making excuses.
“This garden is quite far from the central mansion anyway. The garden attached to the central mansion has protective magic that prevents outsiders from entering.”
“…”
“In the past, this area was occasionally opened to the public for major events or festivals.”
I stopped Cassis and asked.
“Wouldn’t there have been sufficient management staff then?”
“…”
“No, more importantly. What do you plan to do by opening it?”
Cassis pointed to the huge white mountain and the smaller mountains scattered around it.
“To deal with all this ice cream, we might need to invite the territory’s people and hold a festival.”
Ding!
At that moment, a system notification and a new quest arrived after a very long time.
[SYSTEM | ‘Luwin’s Snow Flower Festival’ quest has arrived.]
The new quest’s objective was to consume all the ice cream in the mansion.
“Lord Cassis, let’s hold a festival.”
“Shall we?”
Though not very large in scale, it was a quest that had to be completed within 24 hours, and since there was nothing to lose, I immediately rolled up my sleeves and began festival preparations.
