Chapter 1412: Onikawa
Chapter 1412: Onikawa
After accepting Ruby's uncle invitation, we walked inside his small yet welcoming house. We sat down over very large sofas, while a huge wooden table was placed in between the seats.
There, the Oni Man placed several large cups with hot green tea, and also two plates full of what he called Rice Crackers and Dango.
First time I've ever seen these! He said they were a culinary preparation original of his tribe, how fascinating!
"Name's Onikawa!" said the Red Oni man, the uncle of Ruby. He was the big brother of his mother. "My dad was a Reindeer Anima, but I inherited all the Oni Bloodline of my mother, I've been told I'm a bit intimidating... I hope I don't make you girls uncomfortable."
"Not at all! My girlfriend's mother is just as tall and huge as you, mister Onikawa!" I giggled. "Hahaha! Is that so?" wondered the man. "What race is she?"
"Amazon!" I said.
"A-Amazon?!" the man gasped. "T-Those giant humans? I've only heard legends about them! So they're real?! Ah! I wish I had a model I could sculpt..."
"Uh, yeah, I guess they're rare, huh? They only lived in that jungle after all..." I nodded. "I kind of forgot how rare they were... Wait, sculpt?"
"Uncle is a sculptor, a professional one," Ruby smiled. "Yeah, our entire family is full of artists, haha... He usually sculpts people too, they come in droves sometimes, mostly nobles with lots of money asking him to sculpt their entire families. He's fast and efficient. He can finish a statue in just a week!"
"Hahah, you're praising me too much, my girl," laughed Onikawa. "So how have you been so far? How's your smithy going? Have you made some good sales?"
"Err..." Ruby fell a bit silent. "Nothing... too good for now. I've been struggling and I just can't... dammit. It's hard to explain. I'm sorry... I know you gave me that money so I could start up my own life as a blacksmith but... no matter how hard I worked, it never seemed to improve. And I was in so much debt."
"W-What?" Onikawa was a bit surprised as he stopped drinking green tea midway through. "Is that so... How much is that debt? I could maybe..."
"Wait, no! Uncle stop... I-It has already been paid for now," said Ruby. "Um, Sylphy... helped me pay it."
"WHAT?!" Onikawa gasped. "B-But weren't they new friends you've just met a month ago?!" "Yes but they're good people and Sylphy is... well, I guess it's time for a lot of explanations, so sit tight," Ruby sighed.
"Okaay?" Onikawa finished drinking his green tea before beginning to munch on a huge rice cracker. "Alright, go on then, I'm all ears."
Like that, we spent the next thirty minutes explaining Ruby's uncle what had transpired and more... Also, we introduced ourselves to him, and we told him a bit about our backgrounds as well.
"T-This is... amazing!" he said, gasping. "I had never thought I would meet the daughter of Hero Allan and the Saintess Faylen! Oh my goodness! C-Can I sculpt you?! I need to capture the young heroine's brave aura!"
"Hahaha, there's no need, sir," I felt flattered. "And well, I guess you already knew about Ruby's..."
"Yeah..." Onikawa nodded. "I was well aware of her blessings, and also her stubbornness for not wanting to use them after... well, that tragedy years ago. But I'm glad she has changed her mind now. Though, that debt... May I pay you half of it at least? I can't really leave my niece like this."
"No, please, don't worry," I said with a smile. "As you already learned, I come from a very... well, wealthy family. I literally am the granddaughter of the biggest kingdom in the world so... money is absolutely not a problem, relax. It didn't even hurt me to pay that much, seriously."
"I-I see..." Onikawa swallowed the rice cracker he was eating. "W-Well, if you insist, your majesty..."
"Majesty?!" I gasped.
"Aren't you a princess, lady Sylphy? I apologize for acting rudely or not using proper manners..." the Red Oni man said. "Could you forget Ruby too? She's quite rowdy... I can't believe she disrespected royalty like that! Ruby, you have to be careful! Not all nobles are kind, you know? They could have easily sent you to the guillotine or something!"
"I-I'm sorry... I didn't realize," said Ruby.
"T-There's no need to apologize for anything! Also although I'm a princess, there's no need to call me "your majesty" either!" I said. "I'm more of a people's person, you know. I don't mind lack of manners and other stuff. I was raised by my parents in the countryside, so I never had a very um... "fancy" upbringing. I only learned about my family when I was already ten years old."
"So that's how it is!" Onikawa nodded, laughing. "How amusing... Ruby, you're very lucky! You've got yourself amazing friends! Please, my niece, don't be rash, and don't lose them!"
"I know! I'll be kind!" said Ruby. "Don't worry uncle... Anyways, that's what we wanted to tell you about... and..."
As Ruby continued chatting with her uncle, I tried out the snacks. The green tea was quite bitter, but also had a nice herbal taste, the sweet honey went good with it.
"Hmm..."
The rice crackers were crunchy yet very soft, they indeed had a sight rice flavor, but toasty, with some sort of salty, umami sauce put over them to give them more flavor.
"Ohh..."
Also the Dangos were very good, so soft and chewy! And they indeed had rice flavor, they were very sweet. This combination of rice flavor and sweetness wasn't something I've ever tried
before.
"Phew..."n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om
And then by drinking the green tea, everything went down nicely, it was a good meal. "So you're going to live with their master, who is the Hero Felicia?!" Onikawa screamed. "My niece, you better not screw this up! This might be your biggest ever opportunity in life!"
"I-I know! I'll do my best uncle! I-I'll make the family proud!" Ruby nodded, she looked full of resolve.
Her uncle's really nice, I guess it's good she at least has a family member that cares for her.