#664 Snow Festivals Require Some Commotion Too

Everyone is steadily preparing for the snow festival.

As the person in charge, I look around.

While surveying the area, something strange catches my eye.

“What are you doing, Platy?”

“Oh, hi, Dear!”

A group of people was in a hubbub, and it seemed like my wife, Platy, was at the center of it all.

With our youngest son, Norito, still a baby in her arms, she gives quick instructions to the goblins she leads.

“Oh, just you, Dear? Where’s Junior?”

“Junior has gotten hooked on making snow sculptures and is now trying to make the Five Great Buddhas out of snow. Veil is supervising him.”

“He has a habit of getting absorbed in things just like his father, huh.”

I think he inherited his mother’s qualities, you know.

I can see you’re trying to make something by directing the goblins.

“Curious about what I’m trying to make?”

“Well, yeah...”

I don’t want to leave things alone, end up in a commotion later, and then be called upon to fix it.

I want to nip any anxieties in the bud.

“Hehehe, then I’ll tell you. I felt something the snow festival was missing something!”

“W-Whaaat?!”

Something missing?

Even though I thought the Snow Festival was perfect, it wasn’t perfect in the eyes of others?

What could it be?!

As the project organizer, I’m very much curious!

“What’s missing is... conflict!”

An opinion of a barbarian who knows no peace.

“Remember! This event is meant to fill in Orkubo’s Castle, right?! Orkubo’s Castle invites challengers yearly to overcome many hurdles—a real competition with a clear winner and loser!”

“Y-You’re right...!”

“Therefore, many guests expect to see a bloody battle this year! For them, an event where they only look at snow sculptures and go home would be very unsatisfying, no matter how high the quality is! Don’t you think?!”

I don’t remember ever seeing a gruesome fight where blood is shed at Orkubo’s Castle...

But, yes!

That’s right, this event is an emergency replacement plan for Orkubo’s Castle and is considered a subcategory.

That’s why keeping the visitors, who are looking forward to the event, entertained is important.

Even if we raise the quality, it will fail if we can’t meet the guests’ expectations!

I almost forgot the important thing!

“A clever husband like you must have already realized, right? That’s why, in this Snow Festival, we need an element of battle where we can knock down enemies just like in the real Orkubo’s Castle!”

“Don’t you mean an element where we move our bodies and overcome obstacles?”

“I made this with the idea I had in mind! Take a look!”  

Tada!

What Platy points at is a large, towering slope.

It seems to have been built with piled-up snow and shaped into a tall structure.

Moreover, the surface is finely polished, and there are several grooves that are just enough to fit one person. What is this...?!

“It’s a slide! The most popular snow activity, a snow slide!”

Ohhh, I get it! The groove is the course for the slide, and you slide down from the top, right?!

“I designed it, but the goblins built it!”

Sorry you had to do all the work, goblins.

Huh?

You’re having fun, so it’s no big deal?

What kind helpers you are...!

“But you don’t just normally slide down from top to bottom! I designed it with 27 curves, including S-curves and hairpin curves, to provide a variety of thrills! You need to control your speed, or you could go off course and crash! It’s difficult to slide on!”

“You really threw safety measures out of the window, huh.”

I can imagine that slide getting closed down after failing an inspection.

“It’s fine! If you go off course, you’ll land on soft powdery snow that acts as a cushion, so there’s zero chance of getting hurt!”

“Oh, so you do have safety measures in place, surprisingly enough.”

“As I said earlier, my concept is to provide the thrill of battle as a substitute for Orkubo’s Castle! What’s the point of competition if there’s no possibility of losing?”

“Excitement in a competition is necessary...?!”

“Well, if it’s a serious competition where lives are on the line, then you can’t say that’s exciting per se!”

Uh-huh. This is a game-like competition, after all.

“So, all of the attractions I prepared emphasize the element of winning and losing and are filled with excitement! Do you want to see more?”

“There’s more?”

“This one’s a specially made giant snow maze!”

A corner of the snow-covered wilderness was further dug out and compacted with snow, creating a complex, ditch-like structure.

“Is this... a maze?”

A huge snow maze.

Yeah, this one’s a staple and common attraction too.

You run towards the goal while getting lost at multiple crossroads.

If you can’t find your way out, just keep your right hand on the wall, and you’ll eventually get out!

“Since it’s easy to mold with snow, I guess it is an attraction for the Snow Festival in a way...”

“You’re so naive, Dear...! This maze was designed by the Saint’s wife, Platy. Surely, there are frightening traps that you can never escape from once you take even one step in!”

“But please make sure there’s a way to get out.”

After all, it’s an attraction.

“Watch this... Moving from M4 to M5!”

Following Platy instructions... the walls of the maze moved?!

“From D7 to D6! K11 to K13! Wahahaha! Behold, my protean wallssssssss!!!”

“A moving wall maze?!”

Even if you remember the maze’s structure, the course can be changed one after another, and there is no correct path!

You’ll be lost in the maze forever!

“This is the effect of the new potion I concocted, Snow Homunculus DX!”

“What a straightforward name for a potion!”

“I combined Gara Ruffa’s bacteria technology with Zoth Syra’s homunculus technology. I inject the microscopic homunculi from the potion into the snow. That way, I can move the sides of the walls freely!”

Platy!

You created another incredible invention with your exceptional technical skills but for no real reason!

“Every inch of that maze’s snow walls has been sprinkled with my latest concoction, so now, they move according to my commands! Well, you can only move a couple of steps forward, back, left, or right unless you want it to collapse due to its weight. It’s just snow, after all.”

“Thank goodness it’s still in the prototype stage.”

“Even the tiny homunculi that have soaked up the potion will die outside the protective membrane after an hour. So we can only use it for a limited time.”

“I’m glad it won’t lead to a biohazard...!”

Anyway, this feature is way too complex for the players, so I need to talk with Platy to avoid frustrated guests smashing the maze’s walls.

“But these are just the opening acts! This is the real deal!”

“You’re still preparing more?!”

“When it comes to competing with snow, this is it! A snowball fight!”

Platy leads me to the next area, where a flat field is set up with walls, flags, and other authentic-looking things.

“Wait, you’ve prepared all this, which means... this is a sports snowball fight?!”

“That’s right! It’s the same game you taught us, where you either steal the enemy team’s flag or hit everyone with a snowball to defeat them. I love its straightforward rules!”

Now that I think about it, Platy has always loved snowball fights during winter. One time, she completely covered her younger sister, Angel, in the snow and won the game easily.

Who knew that her love for snowball fights would inspire this event?

“On the event day, we’ll recruit teams to participate in an official snowball fight tournament with formal rules! If enough teams want to join, we can make it a big tournament!”

“Ohh...!”

“I plan to recruit participants from the farm too! Though, we’ll have to exclude orcs and goblins because it might become too one-sided. But we can invite the students or even my brother to join the mermaid team!”

“You’re not planning on letting the general participants win, are you...?!”

And isn’t your brother the king?

Please consider the feelings of the general citizens who will compete against such a team.

But Platy has a point.

Orkubo’s Castle is an interactive event, so it would be nice to have some activities that guests can enjoy by themselves at this snow festival, which follows the same theme.

Like this slide, giant maze, or this snowball fight, for starters.

Is there anything else that would be good to have? It might be worth considering additional ideas with Orkubo or Dalkish.