Extra: Melon Bread Festival

"A melon bread… festival!?"

When Rokuko looked at the menu that day, she found a particular line.

And below it, several types of melon bread were displayed. She immediately reported to Kehma about this.

"Wait, Kehma! KEHMA! Look, look!"

"Hmm? What's up? … Heeeh, a melon bread festival?"

"That's right!"

Looking closely, it was a [Notice] sent by email. Only to Rokuko.

When she read the text, it was just like a supermarket flyer or a direct mail. Kehma wondered who it was from by stopped thinking about it when he saw [Father], the Dark God.

"It says there will be a melon bread festival for three days!"

"… So it's a limited time thing. I guess there's stuff like that too—"

Rokuko immediately took out the catalog and started looking at the melon bread options.

That said, she was currently studying abroad in the Demonlands and hadn't replenished her DP from the dungeon [Cave of Desires].

"… I wonder which one to get… I won't be looking at the DP cost!"

"Hey, at least keep it under 100 DP. We need to save up."

"… I'll get it from Aidi! So I'll keep it under 1000 DP!"

Kehma scratched his head, amused that she'd use that as an option. Rokuko's passion for melon bread was even greater than her passions for goblins.

Just then, Aidi appeared.

"Hey Rokuko. Did you call for me just now?"

"Oh, Aidi. Perfect timing, there's a melon bread festival going on. Please share some DP with me, 1000 DP should be fine for now."

"A melon bread festival?"

"A MELON BREAD FESTIVAL!"

"… Sorry, but if it was a cornet festival, I would have been happy to lend you some DP."

Aidi sighed, but she didn't look disappointed at all.

"There are cornets, too."

"Eh?"

"There's a cornet with a melon bread skin on it in the catalog. It's probably a limited time item for the festival."

"And you said 1000 DP would be fine?"

Aidi did a one-eighty. As if there were no other option.

"Can I get a hundred of those cornets?"

"OK, deal's done."

"Fufufu, a cornet with a melon bread skin… A cornet with a melon bread skin. It's the ultimate combination."

"There's anything and everything… ah, I'll get the super large melon bread first."

Rokuko brought out a large amount of melon bread, and Aidi received the cornet melon bread.

Just looking at the amount of melon bread was enough to make Kehma feel sick to his stomach.

"If you guys eat that much food, you're going to have trouble with dinner."

"What are you on about, Kehma? I have a separate stomach for melon bread."

"Yeah, I have a separate stomach for cornets."

In the case of Dungeon Cores, they really did have separate stomaches. If they used the dungeon function [Absorb], they could theoretically eat forever.

"Aidi look! This melon bread's even bigger than Ichika's boobs!"

"Indeed."

"Why are you comparing its size to Ichika's chest? Not that I don't understand the sentiment."

From Kehma's point of view, it seemed even bigger than actual melons, maybe four or five times the size of a standard melon bread.

"But it doesn't look as good, it's missing the lattice pattern.""

"It's just big."

"Big is good though."

With that, Rokuko took a bite of the super huge melon bread, burying her face in it as she nommed on the thing looking ultimately like a tiny animal eating a huge piece of food.

"It tastes just like a regular melon bread! It's so good."

"It's big and impressive, but that's just it."

"That's not true at all! The fluffy part on the inside is incredibly fluffy, like a sponge cake. That's something you don't get with regular melon bread."

Aidi was eating her cornet melon bread next to Rokuko.

"The spiral part is hidden by the melon bread crust, but it's definitely a cornet. The cream inside is thick and has a deep flavor.""

"What about the all-important melon bread part?"

"As you can see, it's a melon bread… Like a katana attached to a gauntlet, it's not bad."

Like one of those weapons called a "pata" on Earth?

Although it was strange to imagine melon bread as a weapon, Rokuko seemed to be satisfied with it, so Kehma decided to keep his mouth shut.

There were other melon bread types with croquettes and bacon in them. Melon bread croquette burgers, melon bread bacon burgers… The buns were just melon bread.

Kehma felt that not just everything should be combined with melon bread.

"This one's both sweet and savory! The best part is that it's melon bread!"

"That pup and my Master would like it. Melon bread is quite a thing."

"Fufun, of course! It's melon bread!"

"Do you think anything goes, so long as it is melon bread?"

"Of course, it's melon bread."

However, for a melon bread lover like Rokuko, anything and everything was improved by making it melon bread. The sweet and salty combination was surprisingly good.

There was even one with whipped cream and melon in it.

It was like a fruit sandwich made with melon bread, and the fruit inside was also melon. It was the ultimate melon-y melon bread.

"This is… the ultimate form of melon…! It's a real melon and a melon bread. And there's whipped cream too. This is the [sweet x sweet x sweet = sweet] combination!"

"Rokuko, please share some with me. I'm also curious about the fruit sandwich."

"It's a sandwich with whipped cream and fruit. It's sweet and delicious."

"Can I have a normal fruit sandwich later?"

"If you give the DP, sure."

Rokuko seemed satisfied with the gestalt-breaking melon. She liked sweet things, after all. Kehma nodded in agreement.

There was even one made purely by melon bread crust.

"This is basically… just a big cookie, right?"

"Rokuko, are you really one to say that?"

"I mean it is isn't it? Well, the taste and smell are melon bread, so I guess we can call it a melon bread cookie. … Anyway, let's buy ten of them for now."

"Ah, you bought it."

"Wouldn't it be perfect for dessert?"

Kehma couldn't help but wonder what she'd need dessert for, but he decided to stop thinking about it.

Trying to think about it was a waste of time.

And of course, there were also regular melon breads and high-end melon breads.

Moreover, since they were all melon bread, none of them were particularly expensive. The most expensive was the super large melon bread at 5 DP.

Even with their 1000 DP budget, they could enjoy as much melon bread as they wanted.

"Melon bread festivals are the best!"

"I wonder if there won't be a cornet festival too… Mmm, mmm."

Kehma had wondered if the two would be unable to eat dinner, but… given that they could absorb anything they ate into their stomachs using the dungeon function, they really did have infinitely large stomaches.

In fact, it appeared they were using it to stuff a large amount of melon bread into their stomachs.

"… I guess it at least looks like you're having fun?"

"Kehma, do you want to eat some melon bread too?"

The room was filled with the sweet scent of melon bread.

Setting aside how crazy they were going with the melon bread, Kehma figured having some for dinner would be fine and accepted a piece from Rokuko.