Flour, Eggs, and the Pet Snack Contest
Sticky egg and flour from the animal treats covered my body. Out of the three of us who had been playing together, I was by far the messiest. Instead of throwing the eggs and flour at Levinas and Saebyeok, I had focused on taking the hits for them.
"Aigoo, you little rascals." Sofia approached with quick steps, leaning on her staff in surprise. Han Yeoreum followed right behind her at a light jog.
"Winter, what happened to you?"
"They were having a festival at the school and throwing flour and eggs around for fun."
"Ah... so you went to play at the festival?"
Han Yeoreum patted my head, sending flour drifting into the air. I sneezed.
"Yeah. I let them hit me with the flour and eggs in exchange for a little bit." I showed her the water bottle hanging at my waist. Though it was full of broken shells, I had managed to fill it with eggs. My bag was stuffed full of flour too.
"Ahyu... Unni's heart hurts so much."
"Why...?"
There was no reason for her heart to hurt. I tilted my head in confusion, and Levinas bounced forward.
"Shark! We're food now!"
"Food?"
"Yeah! Levinas is basically... basically fried!" Levinas waved her arms up and down. Flour scattered and Sofia sneezed.
"And for whom were you prepared as a dish?"
"For the shark!"
"Aigoo." Sofia sighed and pointed her staff toward the pond. "You must wash, so go over there."
"Okay." We descended into the pond without resistance. The moment the flour touched the water, it became even more slippery.
"Uwa." How was I supposed to wash all this off? As I wet my arms and wiped them down, Sofia carefully made her way into the pond.
"Come here."
"Huh? Sofia, the pond..." Didn't she hate going into the pond? I tried to ask, but Sofia grabbed the back of my neck and I couldn't speak.
"Uph." She pressed my face close to the water's surface and poured water over me. Her small hands scrubbed my face relentlessly, and for some reason I couldn't resist at all.
"Ahyu, your face is covered in flour."
"Eub." Something was strange. The moment Sofia grabbed the back of my neck, all the strength left my body and I couldn't move. Had she used some kind of magic? Unable to move, I could only frown as water poured over me and her vigorous hands worked.
"King of Darkness, look at that! In our house, the shark is the strongest! Even the king can't do anything against the shark...!"
"Yeah..." I couldn't see Levinas and Saebyeok's faces, but I could tell they were terrified. They had instinctively realized it was their turn next.
"Sofia-nim, wouldn't it be better to just ask Yuna to wash them with magic? It'll take forever to clean them like this."
"...Is that possible?"
"Yes. Thanks to clearing the dungeon, I don't have anything else to do right now."
"Then I shall ask for your help." Sofia said, glancing at Levinas and Saebyeok. Startled, Levinas dashed out of the pond.
"Uwa...!" Levinas struggled to climb out, her feet kicking in the air. Saebyeok pushed her from behind.
"Levinas isn't going to wash while going 'blub blub'!"
"Right, let's just use magic to wash up nicely."
"Yeah!" I climbed out after Levinas, and Saebyeok leapt lightly onto the bank. It was an overwhelming jump that didn't seem possible in water.
"Unni will go call Yuna, so wait here for a bit, okay?"
"Okay." Han Yeoreum left with the eggs and flour I had brought. I didn't know why she was taking them, but I let her go. As I watched her retreating figure, Levinas tugged at my clothes.
"King, doesn't it smell delicious somewhere?"
"Yeah." There were plenty of people eating in the park, but this smell was much stronger than usual. Just the scent made my mouth water. Couldn't we go take a little look?
We turned to Sofia at the same time.
"...It seems to be nearby, so let us go take a quick look."
"Okay." Levinas and I ran toward the delicious smell. Saebyeok followed a beat later, and Sofia trailed slowly behind us. I didn't look back, but I could tell everything from the sound of footsteps.
"King! Over there!"
"Yeah." People were busily preparing something. A banner strung between trees read 'Pet Snack Making Contest.'
'Pets?' So it wasn't food for people? But it smelled this good? I blinked and headed toward the contest area.
"Hmm..."
Han Yeoreum looked down at the water bottle in her hands. Inside, egg yolks, whites, and shells were all mixed together haphazardly.
'Eggshells are a bit dangerous.' There were too many things to worry about—hygiene, salmonella, and more. She felt sorry for Winter, who had worked so hard to collect the eggs, but she would have to throw them out and secretly replace them with fresh ones. Above all else, the children's safety came first.
"Ungh." Winter had taken hits from eggs and flour just to fill this with her small hands. It was sad, but Han Yeoreum decided she would be the bad unni for Winter's sake.
The Pet Snack Making Contest. There were dogs, horned rabbits, and cats too.
"It looks like they're making snacks for animals to eat, not people."
"Yeah! Then we can eat them too, right?"
"Hmm... maybe...?" Since we were half-beast, there should be at least one that suited our tastes. Together, we approached the people who looked like judges.
"Ah!" It was Yoo Sang-ah. Why was she sitting in the judge's seat? Wagging my tail, I approached her.
"Oh my, hello, Winter-nim. And behind you..." Yoo Sang-ah's gaze turned to Saebyeok. Surprised by the sight of Saebyeok, whom she was seeing for the first time, her eyes widened.
"This is Saebyeok."
"Yes, Saebyeok-nim. I've heard about you."
"Heard about me?"
"Yes, from the guild... Um... nice to meet you." Yoo Sang-ah greeted Saebyeok. Saebyeok nodded slightly with a blank expression, but her tail was wagging vigorously from side to side.
"Um, but what are you doing here?"
"Events are held regularly in the park. This time it's the pet snack contest."
"A pet contest?"
"Yes. I'm one of the judges this time." Yoo Sang-ah cleared her throat and placed a hand on her waist with a playful smile.
"So we eat the animal snacks?"
"No... the friends over there eat them. I just evaluate which one tastes the best." Yoo Sang-ah pointed to where the animals were. Countless different kinds of animals came into view.
"I see. So that's the kind of contest it is."
"Yes, that's right." Yoo Sang-ah smiled with her eyes and patted my head. White flour came off on her hand, but she didn't seem to mind at all.
"Um, by any chance..." Just as I was about to ask if we could eat a few of the ones that looked edible, Levinas started stomping her feet in place.
"King! Something big happened!"
"What...?"
"There's carrot snacks over there...!"
"Yeah. Probably for horned rabbits."
Someone was keeping a monster horned rabbit. They must be incredibly strong. Curious, I looked in the direction Levinas pointed and couldn't help but be a little surprised. The person raising the horned rabbit was a much more ordinary girl than I had expected.
"Levinas wants to eat the carrot snack too!"
"That's for horned rabbits, you know?"
"Yeah! Levinas is a horned rabbit too?!" Levinas showed me the horn on her forehead. The pointed tip that slightly protruded was smaller than an actual horned rabbit's horn.
"Hmm..." Well, the base ingredient was carrot, so it probably wouldn't be a problem to eat. "You can't just eat it without permission. You have to get permission first, okay?"
"Yeah! Levinas will ask for permission!" Levinas ran toward the carrot snacks. We followed after her.
"Human, can Levinas have a carrot too?"
"Uh, yes...?"
"Levinas is a horned rabbit too..." Levinas looked up at the girl with pleading eyes. It felt like light was shooting from her sparkling pupils.
"W-well, sure. Want to try this?" The girl handed Levinas a carrot stick. It was a carrot stick with something sprinkled on it.
"Nyam." Levinas took the carrot stick from the girl's hand into her mouth. She crunched it with her front teeth, moving forward bite by bite, and in the end, she put the girl's finger in her mouth too.
"Eek...!" The girl's face flushed as she quickly pulled her hand back. Startled, I ran over to Levinas.
"Levinas, what are you doing biting someone's hand?"
"Levinas didn't bite the hand...?"
"R-really?"
"Yeah. I stopped at the end." What? She didn't bite, so why did the girl react like that? I tilted my head and asked Levinas, "How did the carrot taste?"
"It was the most delicious carrot Levinas has ever eaten in her life!" Levinas jumped up and down. She jumped higher than usual.
"It must have really been delicious."
"Yeah! Levinas wants to be a pet from now on!"
"That's not allowed."
"Aww..." As Levinas slumped her shoulders, I looked around. If the horned rabbit beastkin girl could eat it, maybe I could eat cat snacks too. If we could get free meals while doing taste evaluations, it would be a huge benefit for everyone.
'It smells like fish.' This must be cat snacks, right? I turned my head toward the smell. There was Saebyeok, drooling as she stared down at the fish dish. Her expression was as fierce as ever. The man making the cat snacks looked terrified and could only keep glancing nervously at Saebyeok.