Chapter 21: A Winter’s Day and the Winter Festival
Seven months after Lydia escaped from the great tree, on a winter afternoon.
Dressed warmly and wearing boots, Lydia and Leohart stepped outside.
The sky was lightly overcast, and snow had piled up in the garden to around their ankles.
“It’s completely winter now.”
“Yes.
Are you cold, Lydia?”
“I’m fine.”
Chatting like that, the two of them crunched through the fresh snow toward the trees growing near the edge of the garden.
Beneath the trees sat large buckets, covered with cloth.
Lydia crouched down and removed the cloth.
She peered inside, then looked up at Leohart with a delighted smile.
“Look, it’s collected.”
“It really has.”
Clear tree sap had accumulated inside the bucket.
A few days earlier, Lydia had asked Leohart to drill holes into the trunks and attach metal straws.
From those straws, sap was steadily dripping.
After confirming that sap had collected in the other two buckets as well, Lydia broke into a grin.
“Fufu, this should be enough to make syrup.
Will you help me?”
“Of course.”
What Lydia planned to make was tree sap syrup.
According to information from Emma, if you collect sap from maple trees this way and boil it down, you can make that brown, sweet syrup that comes with pancakes at restaurants.
‘This will be fun.’
The two of them began preparing to boil the sap into syrup.
While Leohart built a fire in the garden, Lydia floated a large stockpot out from the kitchen using magic.
She poured the sap from the buckets into the pot with a splash and set it over the fire.
Lydia tasted the sap left in the bucket, then tilted her head as she looked up at Leohart.
“There’s no taste.
It’s just like water.”
“…You’re right.”
“Will this really turn into that sweet syrup?”
After that, once the liquid had reduced to about half, Leohart carried it inside.
They strained it through cloth into a regular-sized pot and took turns stirring it as they boiled it down further.
The clear liquid gradually turned brown, and a sweet aroma filled the house.
Lydia dipped a spoon in to taste it, her eyes lighting up.
“It’s sweet!
It’s delicious!”
Leohart tasted it as well and nodded.
“This is definitely syrup.”
Beaming, Lydia poured the finished syrup into bottles.
That day, they baked fluffy pancakes for a snack and poured plenty of syrup on top, eating them in blissful happiness.
Leohart used the syrup sparingly, but delicious food was still delicious, and his expression softened.
The following day.
Lydia baked cookies with maple syrup mixed in, packed them into a basket along with medicine, and headed for the Adventurers’ Guild.
Outside, everything was silver, with snow piled high enough to bury their ankles.
Leohart walked ahead, stepping through the snow, while Lydia followed in his packed footprints.
As she walked along his footsteps, Leohart turned around.
“Are you tired?”
“Thanks to you, I’m fine.
Aren’t you tired, Leohart?”
“It’s nothing.”
When they arrived in town, many people were already out and about.
Stalls were being prepared, and decorations were going up.
‘Is something happening?’
Thinking that, Lydia went to the guild, where Emma and Hannah greeted her.
After delivering the medicine, they began work on their magic tool development.
The magic tool was coming together quite nicely, and they were only a little way off from being able to submit the patent.
After finishing their usual round of experiments, the three of them drank tea and ate sweets as always, when Hannah spoke up.
“By the way, Lydia, are you coming to the festival?”
“A festival?”
According to Hannah, the annual winter festival would be held next week.
There would be lots of food stalls and plenty of tasty things to eat.
“The Adventurers’ Guild sets up a stall too!”
“Oh, really?”
Emma explained that every year, the guild ran a stall selling grilled sausages and grilled mushrooms.
“That sounds fun!”
“It is.
Please come!”
After that, Lydia left the guild with Leohart.
As they watched the townspeople preparing their stalls, Lydia said she wanted to go to the winter festival, and Leohart nodded.
“Yes, let’s go.”
Apparently, he had been invited as well.
“But make sure to disguise yourself properly.
There will be a lot of visitors from outside.”
“Of course.
I’ll change my ears, hair, and eye color, and I’ll wear a hat too.”
Lydia slipped her gloved hand into Leohart’s hand as they walked.
“I’m looking forward to it!”
“Yes, I am too.”
Leohart squeezed her hand gently and murmured, “Your hands are a little cold,” as he tucked them into the pocket of his coat.
The following week, in the evening.
Lydia and Leohart went out to the winter festival_toggle.
The town was lit up with soft lights, and green trees dusted with snow were decorated with colorful ribbons.
At the sight, Lydia couldn’t help hopping in place.
“It’s amazing!
It’s so beautiful!”
“It really is.”
Leohart looked at Lydia gently, his eyes dazzled.
After that, they went around the stalls.
They stopped by the Adventurers’ Guild’s stall as well, buying skewered grilled sausages and grilled mushrooms from Emma, who was tending the stall, and ate them on a nearby bench.
There was a small incident where a young man spoke to Lydia while Leohart was briefly away, only to flee in fear when Leohart returned, but overall they had a wonderful time.
After fully enjoying the festival, the two of them headed home hand in hand.
As Lydia walked with a skip in her step, she lightly squeezed Leohart’s hand.
“It was so much fun!
Let’s come again next year.”
“Yes, definitely.”
Leohart gently wrapped Lydia’s small hand in his own.
And so, chatting happily, the two of them returned to their home in the forest together.