Steamed Buns
Rumiel was making her way quietly along the snowfield when a round shape stirred beneath the snow, and a familiar silhouette came into view.
The Murmurs had shown themselves once again.
Rumiel smiled at the sight of them. A rather good idea had just occurred to her.
She approached slowly and reached out a small hand.
"...?"
The Murmurs curled in on themselves a little, as if on guard, but Rumiel picked them up as naturally as anything. Then she set them right on top of her head.
"Ppo?"
"Ppoooh?"
The two Murmurs' eyes went round with surprise. But before long they were bouncing in place as if they'd stumbled onto something wonderful. Instead of the usual low growl, the sounds they made were downright adorable.
"Ppok-ppok!"
"Ppooooooh!"
Their round, fluffy bodies wobbled gently from side to side. Atop Rumiel's head they stamped their tiny feet, then curled into balls and rolled about. Then one of them peered down at Rumiel's hair, eyes bright with curiosity.
And then—
Chomp.
Chew, chew.
It started gnawing on Rumiel's hair.
"..."
"Ppok?"
Rumiel blinked and looked up at the Murmur on her head. The little creature met her gaze and kept chewing her hair with the most innocent expression in the world. The feeling of soft hair squishing around in its mouth must have been a lot of fun, because the other Murmur followed suit and started chewing too.
Chomp. Chomp.
Rumiel considered this for a moment, then decided to let them be.
They were cute.
And if something was cute, it was forgiven for everything. That was simply how the world worked.
And so, with two Murmurs perched on her head, Rumiel walked on in silence. Before long, a village came into view in the distance — a small settlement nestled on the white snowfield. Houses clustered together with warm light spilling from their windows, and round little penguins waddled about here and there. It was the same cozy ice village she had seen so many times in the game.
"Oh?"
A small penguin came bouncing over from the other side and beamed at Rumiel.
"Welcome! I heard all about you from Pupu!"
Pupu... who was that again?
Rumiel tilted her head slightly.
Popo flapped both wings and grinned.
"Ah, I should introduce myself first!"
The penguin thumped their chest and announced it with great enthusiasm.
"I'm Pupu's cousin's friend's relative's friend's relative's friend's friend's friend, Popo!"
Rumiel thought about that for a moment. So Popo was Pupu's friend's relative's friend's cousin's friend...
Rumiel's brain stopped working.
Popo, however, looked thoroughly proud of that introduction. Sparkling eyes peered up at her.
"Pupu said you're an incredible adventurer!"
"..."
Rumiel quietly fidgeted with the Murmurs on her head. They were still happily chewing on her hair.
Popo looked at the top of Rumiel's head and flapped even more excitedly.
"Wow! You even tamed those fierce Murmurs! I knew you were amazing!"
But then Popo shook their head, looking suddenly awkward.
"Ah, but..."
Popo hesitated, glancing around. Rumiel's cowlick gave a little twitch. At those words, the two Murmurs on her head tilted theirs as well.
"Ppo?"
Popo scratched their head apologetically.
"Well... our village doesn't allow monsters inside. It's a village rule, you see."
Rumiel quietly patted the Murmurs on her head. They were still stamping their feet with excitement, but—
"Ppo..."
—once they grasped the situation, their fur drooped. Rumiel's cowlick drooped too.
Still holding a single strand of Rumiel's hair in their mouths, the Murmurs shuffled off on their way. Their small, round bodies rolled slowly across the snow. Rumiel watched them go in silence.
Crunch. Crunch. Ppok.
The sound of tiny footsteps fading into the distance. Before long, the Murmurs vanished into the snow.
Popo looked at Rumiel with an awkward expression.
"Sorry. But it's a village rule, so there's nothing I can do."
Rumiel's cowlick twitched quietly. Then she nodded.
Nothing to be done about it.
"...Ah, you're freezing, aren't you? Have something warm!"
Popo flapped their wings sheepishly, then seemed to get a bright idea, pulling out a steamed bun with vapor still rising off it and holding it out to Rumiel.
Rumiel quietly accepted the bun. She felt the warmth spread through both hands and gave it a gentle squeeze.
Squish.
The texture was lovely.
"Thanks for the food."
And then, right away, a bite.
Nom.
The exquisite harmony of sweet red bean paste and chewy dough filling her mouth was phenomenal. It was just an ordinary steamed bun, and yet it tasted this good. How curious.
"It's good."
"Right? I steamed it myself."
Popo looked at Rumiel's faintly smiling face and beamed, swelling with pride. But then, in a suddenly mischievous voice, they added:
"It's normally a thousand gold, but I'll give you a special discount — three thousand gold!"
"..."
Rumiel quietly nodded.
The reaction was apparently unexpected, because Popo looked flustered.
"...I'm kidding. Even a merchant wouldn't pull a dirty trick like that."
Rumiel nodded once more.
Popo looked even more flustered.
"You didn't actually believe that, did you?"
Rumiel took another bite of the steamed bun and slowly nodded.
Popo started to say something, then shut their beak. Watching Rumiel eat the steamed bun so completely matter-of-factly made it oddly difficult to continue.
"...Just enjoy it."
Popo added this weakly. Rumiel simply kept chewing in silence.
Nom.
Nom-nom.
Around the time Rumiel had nearly finished the steamed bun, Popo glanced at her tentatively and spoke up with care.
"Is this your first time on Ice Island? Ah, of course it is, right?! In that case, I could show you around!"
Rumiel considered Popo's offer in silence. She already knew the layout of Ice Island inside and out. She had wandered it so many times in the game that she had memorized the entire map. There was no real need for a guide.
But a penguin offering a personal tour was an event that had never existed in the game. Popo, who had been nothing more than an NPC shopkeeper, personally showing her around. Besides, it might not be so bad to play tourist for once and listen to someone else explain things.
And so Rumiel quietly nodded.
Popo's eyes lit up.
"Great! Then — a special guided tour! The Popo Tour will now begin!"
Popo spread both wings wide and bounced up and down, then dashed off somewhere in a hurry. A moment later, what they came back with was—
"Here, hop on!"
—a sled.
A fairly large one. A dedicated sled, designed for sliding merrily down through the ice village blanketed in pure white snow. Popo pointed at it with complete confidence.
"Come on, get on! I'll show you around the ice village myself!"
Rumiel looked at the sled in silence. A faintly ominous feeling flickered through her, but she nodded anyway.
"Alright! Then — we're off!!"
With those words, the sled began to glide smoothly. The sensation of sliding lightly across the snow wasn't bad. The wind was pleasantly cool, and the scenery around them came into view piece by piece. In the distance, snow cascaded down like a waterfall.
And Popo's words came cascading down right along with it.
"The ice village was founded a very long time ago! It started as a tiny settlement, then grew and grew until it became what you see now!"
The once-quiet snowfield filled with the sound of Popo's voice.
"That over there is the ice sculpture workshop! It displays pieces our village artisans carved by hand!"
Popo's explanations showed no sign of stopping.
"And that's the market! Every morning they sell fresh fish and hot soup!"
"Ah! And in the village square they hold a winter festival for the Hero's return...!"
A talking speed so fast it seemed Popo had forgotten to breathe. An unending stream of information. The kind of machine-gun rap that could've taken a championship on the spot.
"Ah, I forgot to mention! You know our village was founded by people who gathered here waiting for the Hero to awaken, right? And those people, you see..."
Rumiel's eyelids were growing heavy. Popo chattered on without a single pause. Worried about leaving even one detail out, the explanations continued without end.
"By now you're probably wondering where we penguins came from, right? Well, we came because we heard rumors of our magnificent Hero! Because long, long ago, the Hero saved our penguin ancestors..."
Her eyes slowly closing. Her vision swaying. Rumiel's cowlick gradually drooped.
"Anyway! So our village's traditional festival has been passed down for a hundred years, starting from that event!"
"Ah! That over there is the village hall...!"
Popo's voice grew more and more passionate. But in inverse proportion, Rumiel's consciousness was slowly sinking into darkness.
...She should've known from the moment she heard Popo was Pupu's cousin's friend's friend's relative's... friend.
That was Rumiel's last thought, one second before she fell sound asleep.
"And I'll tell you the origin of the steamed bun, too. For some reason people just couldn't adapt to the cold weather, so I put warm red bean paste in bread for them..."