"Snor~" Snorlax took the Poke Beans Emily handed over, sniffed it, glanced over at the pot, and then stuffed the Poke Beans into its mouth with a tinge of regret.
"Snor."
Oh well, at least there's food to eat.
Unlike the bustling Saloon, everyone at the square was still busy setting up the venue. Because of the biting cold wind, even with constant movement, they couldn't shake off the occasional chill.
Penny shivered, pulled her scarf tighter around her neck, and then dragged the table over to its designated spot along with Pam.
"How about we go help at the Saloon?" Pam wiped the sweat from her forehead. "It's warmer in there. If we're just helping prep ingredients, nothing should go wrong."
After all, Penny's cooking skills were notoriously lacking. If they actually let her help in the kitchen, everyone could probably kiss tonight's banquet goodbye.
"It's fine." Penny shook her head, adjusted her gloves, and walked back over to the tables.
Robin caught sight of this from afar and suddenly chuckled, walking over to Penny's side in a few quick steps. "Are you sure you don't want to go to the Saloon?" Robin asked with a teasing tone.
"Yeah, I think—"
Before Penny could finish her sentence, Robin said, as if talking to herself, "Oh my, I just saw Ron go help out at the Saloon."
"I think the Saloon really does need me." The words circled in Penny's mouth, but the moment she said them, she realized what she had done. She covered her mouth, her face instantly turning bright red.
"Go on, kiddo. Leave the heavy lifting to us. Oh, and drag Lewis out while you're at it. He's stayed in the Saloon long enough; it's time he came out and did his part."
With a little push from Robin—and probably because she really did want to go anyway—just that one nudge sent her walking several steps toward the Saloon.
"I'll be going then."
Seeing Penny enter the Saloon, Pam wiped her sweat on the other side and asked, "What did you say to her? Wasn't she just refusing to go?"
"Trade secret." Robin blinked. "Anyway, come give me a hand."
"Coming." Pam took a look and didn't dwell on what exactly had tricked Penny into leaving. She walked over to help Robin.
James and Jessie were in the same boat. Although Jessie also wanted to go to the Saloon, for the same reason as Penny, she was kept at the square to help.
But as long as there was food, Jessie didn't mind. Especially after learning there would be a massive feast tonight, she worked with even more vigor, leaving Robin beside her clicking her tongue in amazement.
"With that kind of strength, it's a real shame she isn't a carpenter."
"She'd make a fine blacksmith, too," Clint said, straining to drag a table over while glancing at Jessie, who was effortlessly running around carrying two tables at once.
"That's just because you're out of shape." Robin patted Clint's bulging belly. "Or maybe you've had too many burgers."
Hearing this, Clint touched his own stomach. Then he remembered something and asked in a low voice, "By the way, Robin, what kind of men do you think girls like?"
"Men?" Under Clint's hopeful gaze, Robin pondered the question. Because she didn't notice exactly where his eyes were looking, she completely missed his underlying meaning. After thinking for a while, she said, "Probably someone like Ron. Though some girls might like guys like Alex and Sam. Oh, this sounds a bit like bragging, but I actually think Sebastian is quite nice too."
"Anyone else?" Clint asked, not giving up.
"Actually, Shane is alright too. Even though he was a bit of a slacker before, he's changed a lot now." Robin thought a bit more. "Oh right, some girls also like Elliott. Oh, and Harvey is actually pretty good too. Even though he seems a bit lifeless usually, he's really attentive. There are girls who like that kind of man."
Clint fell silent for a moment. "Anyone else?"
"I don't think so," Robin said. "There shouldn't be anyone else in our town."
Clint walked away, thoroughly defeated.
Pam walked past and couldn't help but ask in a low voice, "Robin, is there a chance he was waiting for you to say 'Clint'?"
"—Ah, right, Clint is single too." Robin covered her mouth. "I forgot, sorry about that."
"Speaking of which, I think Clint has a crush on Emily," Pam whispered.
"Emily?" Robin paused her movements. "How do you know?"
"He let it slip once when we were getting drunk at the Saloon before," Pam said.
"I see." Robin thought about it but couldn't conceive of any possible way for Emily to fall in love with Clint. She couldn't help but look sympathetically at his desolate retreating back. "What a pity."
"Yeah, what a pity."
The two of them clicked their tongues for a moment, then watched as a depressed-looking Lewis walked out of the Saloon.
"I thought he'd want to stay in the Saloon a bit longer to be with Marnie," Pam said.
"I told Penny to call him out." Robin winked at Pam. "Even though I sympathize with those star-crossed lovers, we're short on manpower out here right now. And Lewis doesn't exactly have any culinary skills to speak of."
Hearing this, Pam clicked her tongue.
On the other side, after quietly calling Lewis out, Penny looked around and, with a little ulterior motive, made her way over to Ron's side to help Marnie prep the ingredients.
This happened to be the exact spot Lewis had just been standing.
Marnie instantly saw through Penny's little scheme. She winked at Penny and then handed a basket of vegetables over to her. "Ron is going to need these in a bit. You prep them."
"Ah, o-okay." Penny took them. She kept her head down, washing the vegetables while sneakily glancing at Ron out of the corner of her eye. Her maidenly affections were on full display.
Marnie carefully nudged Jodi with her elbow, signaling her to look over there.
"Oh." Jodi paused for a second. Looking at the two standing together over there, she couldn't help but cover her mouth and gave Marnie a teasing smile.
"That's so nice," Marnie said. "Is this what youth feels like?"
"Maybe?" Jodi took another couple of glances at them, but then suddenly thought of her husband and couldn't help but feel a little melancholy. "If only Kent were here," she said softly.
"Don't worry, he'll definitely be fine," Marnie couldn't help but comfort her. "No news is good news, right?"
Hearing this, Jodi looked up and smiled at Marnie.
"Yeah."
On the other side, when Ron reached out his hand, Penny hurriedly passed the vegetables over to him.
"Not that one—" Ron turned his head and saw Penny standing right in front of him.
------------------------------------------------------
40+ Chapters Ahead: patreon.com/EphemeralShadow
There's something for free patrons too! Free Patrons receive 1 chapter in advance :)