Labyrinth Restaurant

Tan, tan, tan.

Tong, tong, tong.

The sound of a drum shivers the air in the country.

The sound of a whistle playing the festive harpoon.

The hustle and bustle of people cooling down stalls.

Usually quiet shrines are also very busy, only festivals and New Year's Eve.

Old and young, men and women, they all make a huge fuss.

There are so many people that it's so difficult to walk straight.

Because there are so many of them, I don't know if Nanica, who is not a human, is lost.

In the first place, it is a festival because it serves God.

Faith has been lost, mystery has been compromised, and is now assumed to be absent.

But tonight is God's Day, Festival Day.

Nanica, who is not supposed to be here because she has been invited by Festival Kiko, may turn up at random.

◆ ◆ ◆

"What do you think, isn't it strange?

"It's perfect! She's so cute!

Lisa (I) cheered when she saw Alice finished wearing her yukata. This is the first beautiful girl ever to have long hair grouped together with a peony embellishment (kanzashi), with no some gaps. The impression of the western style, which comes from the hair colour and face, combined with the oriental atmosphere of the Japanese-style costume, looks strongest.

"Thank you for helping me even put it on. And yet, where did you learn to wear it?

"I read the instructions. I got a booklet in the store where I bought this yukata that said how to wear it."

I also bought a new yukata recently at a nearby department store, but since I can't wear it well on my own, Alice helped me. She bought yukata from a Kyoto store when she traveled around Japan before and even learned to wear it.

We are now in my home in Japan. We're having a summer festival at the neighborhood shrine, so I invited Alice and the Demon King. For that reason, she was dressed in yukata with Alice in my room.

On the boulder, the Demon King doesn't go to the wack of changing clothes with him, so now he's got me waiting at the shop on the ground floor.

By the way, my family has hidden their detailed qualities and introduced you two as friends. Thanks to Alice's Japanese away look, she apparently conveniently mistook the two as international students from abroad or something. I can't tell you the truth, so let it remain misunderstood.

By the way, your father's face, who greeted the Demon King, was tight, but why not?

No way, you couldn't have found out you were the demon king of another world, and it's weird.

"Thank you for waiting, Demon King."

"Yeah, let's go then"

After getting dressed safely, I went down to the ground floor with Alice and joined the Demon King.

The Demon King sipped out the rest of the espresso with the big jock for some reason that your father said it was a service and put it out.

"Coffee, it was a pleasure. It was delicious"

"Well, shall we go? Because the shrine is just around the corner."

When the Demon King smiled to thank him for his coffee, his father's facial pull increased. I was a little concerned about the strangeness from earlier, but my mother who came out of the back said, "I don't need to worry, so have fun," so I'm going to forget about it for a moment and enjoy the festival.

◆ ◆ ◆

In such a position that you won't even walk enough from the house, there is a shrine of purpose.

I usually look lonely with not many people, but it's so hard to overflow and go straight with people during summer festivals and at the beginning of New Year's Eve.

"I can't stop smelling this sauce."

The festive gourmet royal road, the octopus yaki with the noodles of sauce-yaki buckwheat on the okonomiyaki, emits a vicious smell. Apart from the sauce-based, of course, there is a full lineup of classic candy, apple candy, chocolate bananas, crepes, bell castellas, grilled chicken, beef skewers and more. Just imagine the flavor, it's going to loosen your cheeks somewhat.

"Is there nothing but food?

Alice listened with a bitter smile when she saw my sloppy loose expression. Whoa, it looks like my appetite is about to rumble.

"What is that?

At the end of the demon king's gaze was an old, unmolded stall.

It's a game where you use claw twigs and paintings to scrape moulds made of starch and sugar along the miso, and if you can pull the mould out well, you get prizes and prizes depending on the difficulty.

The Demon King and Alice, who heard my explanation, quickly paid my uncle in the stall to try,

"I guess this is what it looks like... ah"

"If you go with caution...... alas"

Of course, the moulded path isn't sweet enough for beginners to make money easily. I also learned that lesson in exchange for a valuable penny when I was in elementary school. Ultimately, in fifth grade, I learned that I shouldn't have my hands on moulding and hippo lotteries. It's a nostalgia.

"Oh, that's a nice piece of work"

"Is that a windchime, it's beautiful"

Alice caught her eye on the stall selling wind chimes next time she was out of shape.

The colorful windchimes are in the festive heat, yet cool in sound and appearance. I guess this feeling is called wind currents.

"Shall I buy you a souvenir?"

"You should come back later because it'll be packed."

Buying a lot without thinking at the festival can go hand in hand with unfamiliar yukata and make it hard to get around. It's more sensible to keep a stare on things that look good and buy them all at once on your way home.

"I see, you'll learn.... Oh, what's that color chick?

"That's..."

The game of living systems is hard after when taken in a detour. I can't recommend it unless you understand the possibility that even if you take it, it will soon die or, conversely, grow or reproduce beyond your control.

"Hmm, that's helpful, Demon King... Demon King?

"That, Demon King?

If I had spoken hot to Alice about how to use her wrist when she sucks goldfish, she would have disappeared at some point. Apparently, I'm obsessed with the story. It's gone too far.

"Duh, what shall we do...! The Demon King is lost!?"

"I don't know how to say that, do you?

Was it the Demon King who got lost?

Or us?

Either way, it must be disgraceful, and we need to find it soon. Nevertheless, it's too inefficient to be looking for normally because of this crowd. So I decided to rely on quick, unusual means.

"Mm, Lisa. I can smell you, Demon King, from over there!

"Alice, there's a sign of the Demon King from over there!

After a few seconds of mental concentration we pointed in the same direction at the same time. No comment on Alice's means of exploration.

"Looks like you're from the main shrine."

Looks like he's behind this building.

The main hall away from the territory of a shrine bustling with many. There seems to be a demon king on the back. What are you doing in such an unpopular place?

Going all the way around to the back of the building, we were able to find the demon king as soon as it was sweet. The demon king looks like he's talking to someone.

The talker, apparently, is a girl in a yukata. I don't see my face because I'm wearing a white fox face, but from my physique, I was about five years old. I have black hair around my shoulder. Is it the neighbor kid who came to the festival?

"Master Demon, were you here!

"Oh, I'm sorry. I think I made him look."

I was able to rendezvous safely with the Demon King. I just want to say I'm relieved I didn't have to spend the rest of my time looking for people.

"Demon King, what about that child?

If you're lost, your parents should be looking for you. Around the line of stalls, there was a tent at the festival's operational headquarters, and if you take them, you should be able to make a lost announcement.

I was thinking that way, but the kid apparently wasn't lost. The child himself opened his mouth and said:

"Wow, I'm not lost. Come on, brunette."

I had the oddly old impression that the voice was young enough to age. Because of that, for a moment, I didn't know the child in front of me spoke.

"This company is like my house, so don't worry."

I mean... does this child mean the child of the shrine priest here?

If so, then the grounds of this shrine are part of your home, and you won't get lost. Apparently, he's not lost, as he says.

Kuh.

I could hear such a lovely belly sound in my ear reassured that I wasn't lost.

"Yeah, well, tell me this kid wants to try the street food."

"I don't think it's from the Konji era. I'm tired of the fact that offerings are always rice cakes and fruits, and sometimes I eat rare things. So, good evening to you."

I'm kind of a kid who only tells funny stories, like it was a time. I'm not familiar with the fashion of kids this age, but is it animation or some kind of imitation?

It took a little while to understand because of the old chatter, but the point is, I didn't have the money, but I wanted to eat street food, so I had it with the Demon King.

"I was going to eat a lot anyway, then shall I eat with you"

"Well, with one more child, it won't be a big burden."

'Thanks, guys. If you're here, people won't come, so you can eat slowly. Let's eat together. "

Speaking of which, it's time for me to get hungry too. The Demon King and Alice seem to meet each other when they start to learn to be equally hungry.

However, even though the child of the shrine recommended it, I am a little anxious to eat and drink inside the shrine's main hall. But the bench won't be available anyway, and I'd be in trouble if I stood and ate and even flew a cooking sauce to the yukata for a reason. It seems an attractive suggestion to be able to sit down and eat slowly. I assure you that no one else will come and you will be fine if you are careful not to leave any garbage or dirt behind.

If you were in normal condition, you might not have thought about eating and drinking inside the shrine, taking truly what five years old or one of those kids would say. But at this time I was not uncomfortable with wonder and my judgment.

"I've always wanted to try that apple candy."

To that child, who innocently expresses the hope of the menu, we went to the stall to buy out the dishes, feeling unspeakable discomfort.