Whose Hand the Chocolate Queen Takes Chapter 3

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Chapter 3

Akira: Huh? So even though it’s an event for wizards, they won’t always require magic for the competitions…

Shylock: Hmhm, the organizers are quite whimsical, just like us Western wizards. If you’re lucky, it may be a similar contest today. 

At those words, everyone’s eyes turned to Lennox. 

Lennox: …I’ll do my best for everyone.

Murr: If we’ve got Lennox, we’ve got the strength of 100 men! And if it’s about magic, then we’ve got Oz!

Oz: …

Arthur: No, let me participate if that happens. I must show the results of my daily training! 

Akira: (A chocolate that won’t enter the hands of anyone so easily…it’s like an actual Queen.)

Since it would be a while before Annabella’s unveiling, we all split up and wandered throughout the venue. 

Nero: I’m gonna go over there. Spotted somethin’ interesting. 

Heathcliff: Oh, those truffles we passed by earlier? I’ll come with you. 

Nero: Yep, come along. 

Shylock: Have fun. I’ll be taking a breather on this couch, sipping some tea.

Rustica: I like that idea. How about I go and find a chocolate most fitting of this tea then? 

Lennox: Then I’ll remain in this spot too. I bet Rutile and the others would enjoy chocolates that could go with their tea. 

Murr: I’m gonna have a look around the room! Wanna come with, Master Sage? 

Akira: Yeah, I’m coming!

Arthur: Let me join you. How about you, Lord Oz?

Oz: Yes.

Shylock: I never thought I’d see Oz picking out chocolates a second time…

Lennox: Are you speaking of the time you and the other teachers went to that Witch’s castle? I heard that Lord Oz had also picked out chocolates there to give to everyone. 

Rustica: In Master Sage’s world there is a saying of “What happens twice happens thrice.”. If we’re in luck, we’ll see Lord Oz do it a third time!

Shylock: If it happens again it will be a miracle of a story…oh, excuse me. 

Could I trouble you in helping me find some chocolates to pair with this tea? Preferably one of rich flavour.

Waiter: Understood. 

Lennox: Is it really alright to find the chocolate that way instead of searching ourselves? 

Shylock: Why, of course. Though walking around and browsing on our own is enjoyable, it’s also rather refined to sit back like this too, no? 

And by leaving it in the hands of others, you may encounter something you wouldn’t have ever thought of. It’s just like love.

Waiter: Thank you for waiting. How about this chocolate made with konjac? 

It is fragrant and juicy, made with the finest hand picked grapes, and the strong brandy smell brings out the flavour of the tea leaves. 

Rustica: Thank you…ah, what a lovely smell. This would complement a tarty tea. 

For picking out such a magnificent chocolate, you must be my bride! 

Waiter: Sorry?

Rustica: Now, enter the cage! Grace me with your sweet voice of chocolate! 

Waiter: Excuse me, I—!

Lennox: You may encounter something you wouldn’t have ever thought of…

Shylock: Well there are always exceptions. Let’s turn him back later.

Heathcliff: So this floor is the display area. 

Nero: Everywhere I look it’s chocolate, chocolate, chocolate…are we gonna be able to check them out all within today?

Heathcliff: It’s hard to choose where to go when they’re all so lovely…ah, there’s a chocolate clock.

Nero: Woah, it’s actually working too. They’ve got all the parts of a real clock in chocolate!

Heathcliff: Amazing work…it really is entirely made out of chocolate.  

Replicated bit by bit, down to the finest details…this definitely took a lot of patience, but also seems like tons of fun… 

Nero: This chocolate here changes its flavour based on the weather. The sign reads that sunny days taste sweeter than rainy days…

What sorta special spice they put into this chocolate? I gotta know…

Heathcliff: Hehe, you always get so serious when it comes to cooking. 

Nero: Do I now? You’re having a fun time too, be sure to speak up if you feel dizzy from the crowds, alright?

Heathcliff: Yes, I’m fine right now though. There are a lot of people, but they’re all interested in the chocolate so no one’s paying attention to us…

Ah.

Nero: Somethin’ up?

Heathcliff: This chocolate is in the shape of a cat! Don’t you think the Sage would love this?

Nero: Hey, would ya look at that. Shall we buy it as a gift then?

Heathcliff: Yes! I think Mr. Faust would like it as well, and I need to get something for Shino too. 

Nero: ‘Kay then, the sweet one or the bitter one?

Heathcliff: I think Shino likes both those flavours…he’d probably say “Gimme the yummiest one” if we asked him. 

Nero: Ha, I can picture that. Or “Gimme the biggest one” too, “it’s the strongest chocolate” he’d say…

Clerk: Welcome. Are you perhaps looking for the biggest chocolate at this fair? 

Heathcliff: Y-Yes?

Clerk: Then look no further. Right here is a chocolate castle, how about it?

Nero: Hm? This isn’t really that big though, it fits in my hand.

Clerk: That’s because it’s been shrunken by magic. If you undo the magic cast on it it will become as big as a real castle! 

Nero: A, A real one!? Can you even finish that within a lifespan!?

Heathcliff: A-Actually, I think we should go buy some normal chocolate…

Clerk: Please, come take a look. This here is a chocolate as sweet as poison, bathed in the light of a comet, and made with plenty of whiskey. 

And this chocolate cake was made from the recipe of a man who loved his wife, each bite making you one year younger… 

Akira: A-Amazing…I’m completely lost on where to start looking.

In the display area there were chocolates you wouldn’t know were chocolate right away, chocolates of unfamiliar flavours, and chocolates with mysterious effects. 

There was an astounding variety of chocolates here I’d never seen before in my world, and my heart beat in anticipation everywhere I looked.

Akira: (Saloneze’s castle was also filled with strange chocolates, but this is a whole other level!) 

Murr: So, Master Sage? Enjoying your time?

Akira: Very much! 

With this many to choose from, I’ll be sure to find a chocolate for everyone at the manor!

Arthur: Wow, Master Sage, have a look at this…is this also chocolate, you think? 

What Arthur was pointing to, was an object of art that was cards stacked into a pyramid. 

Akira: I want to say it’s just cards, but considering how it’s at this fair…

Murr: Yep, it’s chocolate. On top of that, it’s playing cards made for cheating…

‘cuz you’d lose them by eating them! A card game made only for tricking!

Arthur: I see…so it still retains its factor of edibility even in this form…how resourceful! 

Murr: This chocolate over here looks funny too! The air around it is chilly! 

Akira: Woah, you’re right, it’s like dry ice.

Murr: Once you touch it it sticks to you, a permafrost chocolate that you can’t ever let go of! 

Akira: C-Can you eat that…?

Oz: …

As Oz watches our exchange his eyes suddenly stop on something. 

Arthur: Lord Oz, what is it you’ve found?

Oz turns his gaze towards us, and as if to guide us he returns his gaze to what he was looking at.

Oz: That.

Where he was looking at was a painting with delicately made chocolates in a frame. 

What was painted was a snowy landscape with grand mountains and trees. It had magic casted on it, judging by the small snowflakes pouring out of the painting.

Akira: It’s beautiful…is this from the North Country?

Arthur: It appears so. The mountains are made with white chocolate, and the snow we see is made of sugar…their usage of colours is stunning.

Clerk: You have a good eye, monsieur. That there was made by a wizard who is both painter and patissier, spending 3 days and 3 nights without sleep to create.

Oz: …I’ll have one.

Akira: (It looks like the scenery from Oz’s castle…I wonder if that’s why he got it.)

(It might make for a good gift to Snow and White as well.)

Every booth had chocolates that were enticing me to look at them. The visitors of the fair were both energized and bustling about. 

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