Episode 140
40. Preparing for the Festival (3)
“haha…….”
“Are you okay?”
As I approached with concern, Ishtar chuckled and pushed me away.
She held her breath for a moment.
“Whoa, whoo, whoa… Fuha!”
He cleared his throat and said.
“If you had told me that you were coming, I would have been waiting…”
After returning from Baekhosa Temple, it was as if he had heard the news that I had come and ran right over there.
“Oh, no. Thanks to that, it was nice to meet and talk with Iliana after a long time.”
I waved my hand at Ishtar, who had become slightly pale, and said,
She is the queen of a country.
It’s not really important enough to make an appointment.
“Then let’s talk slowly, shall we?”
Ishtar naturally entered the room and headed to the sofa.
“Ishtar. Go to your room and do it.”
Then Iliana, who stood by without a word, said firmly.
“Oh my, can’t we listen to Illyana too?”
“Ah… it’s not that. I think you shouldn’t be disturbed by alchemy now.”
Illyana agrees with my words.
Looking at the strangely raised eyebrows, it seemed that he had accurately grasped his intentions and felt better.
“I have a lot of work to do. Go out and talk.”
Well, I can talk to Illyana separately later anyway.
In addition, the development of explosive arrows was still only at the prototype level.
As much as I have won orders from me, I need to speed up development.
‘But I don’t know if it’s okay to treat your royal family like this.’
No matter how close the two are, Ishtar has a post-authoritarian personality.
Every time Illyana behaves like that, is it okay… … ? I wanted to
“Then I can’t help it. I’m going to show you around my room like this.”
To the extent that the worries I had just thought about were futile, Ishtar ignored it.
“Are you okay with Sanwoo-sama?”
When she asked, clapping her hands, I politely bowed my head and answered.
“It’s an honor, Princess.”
It was a great welcome. Because Princess Ishtar Arhalten’s room was a place I had never seen in the main story.
“It’s an honor to be able to invite Sanwoo too. Shall we go right away?”
“good.”
The moment I was about to stand up with Ishtar, Illyana suddenly got up from her seat as if she had remembered something.
“Come on, wait. I’ll go with you.”
“…??? You say you have a lot to do?”
“I can afford it for a little while. If it’s a club story, it’s a story I need to hear too.”
what
It was truly a half-artel that could not even know one inch ahead.
“Are you okay, Princess?”
“Of course. Illyana is my best friend. Sometimes we sleep together.”
“Oh… I didn’t know that.”
I remembered for a moment the two of them hugging and sleeping.
It was quickly erased from my mind.
“Then shall we go?”
“Ah yes.”
We went up the stairs from the floor where Illyana lived.
Because elevators are not well developed yet.
It was only after going up about 4 floors that a space clearly different from the previous floor appeared.
Instead of a hallway connecting several rooms, an open hall spreads out in front of you.
“Welcome, Princess!”
The Artel guard guarding the entrance salutes by knocking down the spear.
‘Wow, the bloodline doesn’t go anywhere.’
After all, is this the place where the royal family lives?
The owner of the power to use the entire floor of the manor dormitory as a personal space.
I realized anew the fact that I had forgotten because I only showed the wrong side every time.
Of course, Illyana, who visits often, didn’t seem to mind.
“Baek San-woo.”
While my eyes were on the interior for a moment, Ishtar smiled and spoke to me.
“Ah! Yes, you tell me.”
“Sanwoo-nim, how do you think humans and Artel can get closer?”
It was a random question.
However, as a player who played the main part of Paradise Academia.
I knew the story behind why she was asking this question, though.
The theme of Chapters 4 and 5, where the stories of the Artels are the main ones, is the harmony between ‘Humans and Artels’.
Currently, the Artels generally did not show a very favorable attitude toward humans.
This was because there was a history of humans unilaterally persecuting Artel after the war with the Demon King was over.
Although the forces of the races united to drive out a strong evil.
The next thing that covered the world was the battle for supremacy between the powerful.
The Artel race was the first to be sacrificed in that battle.
Originally, they did not put much meaning into politics, so their voices did not reach the world.
Numerous artels were sacrificed for various reasons.
Sometimes they lost their place of living due to territorial expansion or technological development.
Some were captured as slaves, forced to provide labor, and some were mobilized for warfare and sacrificed on the front lines.
That was only 100 years ago.
Artel, who once joined forces with humans as a member of the expedition.
The evil deeds committed by humans unilaterally made Artel disappear even the smallest of morals.
Even on Paradise Island right now, the Artels have their own closed lifestyle.
Because of Ishtar’s dream.
It was a future where humans and Artel coexist happily as before.
“Get closer…”
“Ah! If it’s too heavy a question, you don’t have to answer it. I just wanted to ask you a question.”
I was confused about how to answer the princess’s question.
He soon gave out an appropriate answer.
“We have to respect each other, but that can happen. Of course, we humans must pay the price for what we did in the first place.”
As soon as he heard those words, Ishtar put on a surprised expression.
“Sanwoo-sama… you say the same thing as the monks of Baekhosa Temple.”
“Because that’s the correct answer. The history between Artel and humans is also known from reading books.”
“It’s gotten too deep. I’m really happy that I came to Nakwon Island. Here, I somehow run into people.”
The princess of Artel, who had swallowed a bitter breath a while ago, added with a mysterious expression.
“So, perception seems to change little by little, and it’s nice to see some artels who are intimate with humans recently.”
Because we talked like that.
Ishtar’s steps stopped in front of a huge door.
It was larger and more beautifully decorated than any other door I had ever seen in Breath of the World Tree.
“This is my room.”
“Hey, what about the other rooms you’ve seen?”
“There is a reception room, and there is an area where the administrators live. Originally, reception was supposed to be held in the reception room, but it is not used now.”
Truly the royal family of a country.
Even the scale of the living area is different.
As I was silent, Illyana, who was silently standing behind her, opened the door and said as she thought it was frustrating.
“Hurry in.”
Soon, the view of the dormitory spread out through the window and the appearance of the Hyunmu forest come in.
For me, who had lived in a cramped dormitory for the House of Representatives, a room of a size that was burdensome appeared.
“You can sit there.”
As soon as you enter, you sit on the sofa you see immediately, and the lining goes in and gently supports your lower body.
“Wow…….”
The sofa that Illyana had was also quite comfortable.
It was not the comfort of this world.
“It’s the furniture I brought directly from the Arhalten Kingdom.”
When I burst into admiration, Ishtar smiles brightly.
“Then shall we get right to the point? I heard that you were looking for me, but why…?”
After I coughed a couple of times.
“Big, big, huh! That’s it.”
He said confidently to Ishtar, who was sitting opposite him.
“Would it be possible to hire Artel chefs who work here?”
* * *
“I think so. Paradise Festival is already next month.”
After hearing all my explanations, Ishtar nodded slowly.
“Isn’t this the first event the princess has ever experienced?”
“That’s right. So I was looking forward to it in my own way. I’ve been completely busy with my schedule lately, so I completely forgot about it.”
“You’re probably going to have a lot of fun.”
In fact, this was the first and last time I could enjoy Paradise Festival properly in the main story.
It is an event that is held every two years, but by the time I am in my third year, an emergency has been issued for the entire island of Nakwon, and it will pass.
That’s why, this Paradise Festival really has a lot of things to enjoy.
There are also epic quests that are only available during this period and rewards that can be obtained.
“I’m looking forward to hearing you say that. Where did you hear about Sanwoo?”
“Ah, the seniors I became close with recently and the people of the student council told me.”
“Sanwoo-nim has a very broad human relationship.”
For a moment when I was embarrassed by the untimely praise, I returned the topic of conversation I had deviated from.
“That’s why I hired a chef…”
“That’s impossible.”
The answer came back with no hesitation.
“Because not all artels like festivals like me. There are going to be quite a few people staying in the dormitory all week.”
In short, the chef must remain in the dormitory during the festival.
“Well, if only the recipe is possible.”
Trying to come up with a suboptimal solution to an unexpected variable.
“Ummm.”
Ishtar, who was twisting her beautiful blonde hair with her fingers, opened her mouth after contemplating.
“Then would you like to learn to cook?”
“Yes? No… If possible, it would be even better. Would that be okay?”
“There’s nothing wrong with that. Rather, the chef might like it. He likes to teach cooking.”
It wasn’t a bad offer.
Obviously, the difference between seeing and not seeing with your own eyes is huge.
And no matter how much you make Artel’s traditional food, if it doesn’t taste good, it’s a sloppy piece of cake.
It’s not a one- or two-day event, it’s a week-long event.
The quality of food was essential in order to have proper competitiveness.
“Sanwoo-nim’s club also includes our Artel members.”
“Yes, that’s why I came up with this idea. Because there is only one member of the Artel club among the clubs. This concept wouldn’t exist even if all the booths were put together.”
Of course, Aidan will also be able to join the Artel race in the club after Chapter 4 of the main scenario.
Above all, the princess Ishtar belongs to the club.
That was a little later.
In the end, he said that we are the only club that can put Artel as a signboard in this paradise festival.
Artel clubs are booths and other things at festivals, and they don’t even participate.
“Then we will try to select the number of people in our club.”
“Thank you, Sanwoo-sama.”
“What. I’m more grateful.”
The only thing that bothered me was the eyes of other Artels.
In the case of the last banquet held at Breath of the World Tree, Ishtar formally invited me, the guardian of Artel.
In other words, Camilla and Taehoon, who were accompanying them at the time, are close to a kind of envoy.
How could they view the delegation invited by the princess in a bad way?
However, in this case, the premise itself is wrong.
They ask for a recipe for business at an event they have no interest in?
No matter how much we owe our club, some Artels will definitely think it’s not good.
‘I should only send it to people who have definitely been verified.’
I thought of a few people in my head, and answered confidently.
“Just leave it to me.”
Anyway, in order for Artel’s whole perception to change, the main story’s 4th chapter scenario must begin.
It wasn’t mine, it was purely Hero Aidan’s.
But, as the guide of the hero, at least I must not get in the way.
“Then please tell me as soon as possible. I also have to inform the chef in advance.”
“All right!”
I thanked Ishtar again for his willingness to accept.
Then the princess’s permission would have been dropped.
Shall we start preparing for the festival in earnest?