#680 Summing Up the Snow Festival

Yup, it’s me again.

The Snow Festival that I organized is going well.

The attraction that created the biggest stir was my snow Tokyo Tower and the guardian deity sculptures by the proud elf and dwarf races.

Then, Junior made the snow Thousand-Armed Kannon statue of Sanjusangendo Temple.

But I’m not just thrilled by those alone. The snowball fight tournament organized by my wife Platy seems to have been lively too.

I focused on the management side of things and couldn’t participate, but I heard some notable players attracted attention and caused a commotion. 

The audience kept chanting, “Selfless Workaholics! Selfless Workaholics!”

...Workaholics?

There are still other popular facilities, including another one of Platy’s attractions—the snow super slide—which was a hit among her fellow merfolk.

Thanks to the previous sumo tournament, more merfolk became interested in the land and started to visit.

The snow slide, with ten curves, six spins, and three loops, ignited the speedy soul of the merfolk that swim in the vast ocean. They even reverted to their mermaid forms to set the fastest sliding record.

Mermaid King Arowana even sprinted with all his might to the slide instead of participating in the snowball fight.

So, that’s why I didn’t see him in the snowball fight...

By the way, Arowana finished the slide in 54 seconds and set the fastest record.

That’s not even how the attraction works...

What else? Ah, the fact that a god came to visit also became a topic of conversation.

I thought Sensei summoned someone out of nowhere again, but apparently, the god appeared via a different “method.”

The god that arrived was Apollo. 

I think we’ve met him before.

He was charmed by the fake Tower of the Sun monument at the farm exhibition and fell to the ground. Then, he got so focused on my snow Tokyo Tower this time that he lost his footing.

...Does he really like towers that much?

Well, he did come all this way, so he enjoyed looking at the festival’s exhibits.

He is the god of the arts, so he must be good at this field.

However, this god seems careful with his words and prefers to praise everything he sees.

...What a considerate god he is.

Hermes eventually went to take Apollo away when he realized what happened. 

Bye-bye, Apollo.

Please come and hang out with us mortals again.

Anyway, we also provided an open creation space for the people who got inspired to make something themselves after seeing the well-received snow sculptures that the gods also favored.

We provided a large flat area and a mountain of snow next to the dedicated sculpture space, but... 

It was mainly young children who used it and created lots of snowmen.

It was a wholesome atmosphere in its own right, with some highly skilled and serious people motivated to create impressive works. 

I saw one of the sculptures, but how should I interpret that?

It has several hands, feet, and even a beast-like torso. 

I thought it was a creature.

What? This is a statue of Zeus?

No way.

The sight of this monstrous statue made children cry, and I considered demolishing it with my authority as the organizer.

But I didn’t; I had enough sense not to.

Even the careful Apollo managed to smooth things over and praise the statue, making it harder to tear down.

Surely, this atypical statue will remain a trauma for everyone.

Now that’s a memory I’d rather not have.

But let’s leave gloomy topics aside and talk about something more cheerful.

The Snow Festival’s kiosks were bustling with activity.

Letasreit & Horkosfon, along with Veil, were full of energy and served their beloved beans and ramen to many snow-viewing visitors.

It was freezing and snowy this year, so warm food was a hit.

Letasreit and Horkosfon devised an ingenious plan and served bean soup with plenty of azuki beans and miso soup with natto.

As for Veil, she warmed up her customers with ramen. 

I was worried for Veil whether she could keep her kiosk open all day while also taking care of Junior, but when I peeked in to check, I discovered other people were running the stall.

I feel like I’ve seen them before...

Then I remembered. Aren’t those the dragonesses who had a ramen showdown with Bloody Mary some time ago?!

When I asked Veil why they were here, she gave me an incomprehensible reply, saying, “I need to train them as ramen stall owners too, you know?”

In any case, both ramen and red bean soup were excellent for warming up the body.

Oh, miso soup with natto, too. 

And so, the Snow Festival welcomed a flood of customers and a roaring business.

It’s a fun uproar, but as they say, all good things must come to an end, and the final day is drawing near.

Well, it did end up being held much longer than originally planned.

There were far more people than expected, and we received multiple requests for an extension, so we got carried away and decided to extend it.

Junior still seems to be making more Thousand-Armed Kannon sculptures.

How many thousands of them is my son planning to make, seriously?

And so, we kept extending and extending, but it’s starting to feel impossible now.

I mean, spring is around the corner.

Once it’s spring, the snow will melt and flow through the rivers; such is the fate of snow. 

The many snow sculptures will gradually melt and become a transient dream on a warm, sunny spring day.

Even without that, if the temperature continues to rise like it normally does, snowfall will turn to rain, and the snow sculptures will be done for after one inevitable shower. 

So, rather than ending on a whim, we thought it was better to give it a proper ending. 

Thus, Orkubo’s Castle: Snow Festival Edition ends today.

Thank you for your attendance and patronage, everyone.

* * *

With the curtains peacefully lowered, the next thing to do is tidy up.

What should we do?

How do we clean up all of these sculptures?

They will eventually melt and become a river anyway, but it’s still a hindrance to leave them here until then, and it’s not good to let them slowly melt and expose an unsightly sight.

So, I thought it would be best to destroy them all at once and throw the remaining snow into the river or sea, but I just couldn’t do it!

After all, everyone poured their hearts and souls into creating these masterpieces!

To destroy it would be so heart-wrenching!

And it’s not just one, but dozens of them.

Just breaking one would be enough to deplete all my HP, let alone all of them!

Even if destroying that peculiar statue could restore my HP, it wouldn’t be enough!

What should I do about this?

Do the organizers of the Snow Festival go through this suffering every year? They’re so tough!

As I ponder over this...

“Haha, fear not, Lord Saint!”

“Sensei?!”

Sensei, the Lifeless King, has appeared!

Ever since witnessing the farm students’ art project, Sensei has been coming to gaze at their monument every day without ever growing tired of it!

Did he come again today to look at the monument his students made?!

But please forgive me, Sensei!

I’m planning to destroy that today!

Please look at it to your heart’s content until it is destroyed because this is the event’s last day!

“No, it won’t be destroyed.”

“Huh?”

What are you talking about, Sensei?

“I cannot simply erase the monument my students created with all their heart and soul. I did not feel this strongly even when I became immortal, but I now ask for eternal life even more passionately!”

Sensei deliberately wished for eternal life?!

“That is why I’ve been conducting various studies until today and have finally established a way to preserve the snow sculptures forever! Have a look, Lord Saint!”