After Rei collected the kiln and some time passed, year-end arrived. Rei, Vihera, Byune, and Set found themselves at Marina's home in the Noble District.
They were finally holding the year-end party that had been proposed earlier.
A few people had heard about the gathering and wanted to join, but since this was strictly a social event for the party that would officially form in the spring, the only participants were Rei and his group.
Kenny, who had wanted to spend New Year's Eve with Rei, along with Mirene and Yohanna, who had wanted to spend it with Set, were all extremely frustrated about being left out.
Some even witnessed Kenny lamenting the fact that she was a guild receptionist rather than an adventurer, with Lenora offering her various words of comfort.
...Though even if Kenny had intended to join the party, she might have reconsidered upon learning it would be held outdoors.
"Whoa, amazing... Spirit Magic really is convenient."
Seeing the accumulated snow shift on its own thanks to Marina's Spirit Magic, clearing a space large enough to hold a party, Vihera let out a voice of admiration.
Byune nodded in agreement.
"Hehe, I'm glad you think so. ...Now then, Rei. Go ahead."
Pleased by the praise, Marina urged Rei on with a cheerful expression.
"Alright, I'll bring it out then."
With those words, a kiln materialized in the courtyard in the very next instant.
"Ohh, so this is Rei's personal... well, maybe not exactly personal, but kiln? Looking at it like this, it doesn't seem all that different from a regular oven you'd find at a bakery. The size is quite a bit smaller, though."
"Mm."
Compared to an oven at a bakery, its size was considerably smaller. That was only natural — one was a kiln meant for cooking food for a few people, while the other was an oven built to bake bread for dozens at a time.
If anything, for cooking meals meant for four people and one creature, the kiln's size could be called excessive. Of course, since Rei, Byune, and Set were heavy eaters who consumed far more than they appeared to, this much capacity was probably to be expected.
"You said it's a kiln that generates heat using magic power... I'd say that's quite something. So, Rei. You brought pizza dough too, right?"
"Not bread dough — pizza dough. Should I bring out all the other ingredients at once too?"
"No, save the udon for the end. We're eating it when the year changes, right?"
"Yeah. Strictly speaking, it's supposed to be soba rather than udon. Well, apparently there are regions that eat year-crossing udon, so it's not necessarily wrong."
From the Golden Bread Pavilion, Rei had brought back nearly one hundred rounds of pizza dough that had been rolled out into flat circles. While the pavilion was still in the trial-and-error phase, the dough had reached a reasonably satisfactory state.
Naturally, they wouldn't eat all of it today; it was meant for making pizza with this kiln going forward as well.
Also, since the opportunity presented itself, rather than year-crossing soba, he had purchased udon from the Full Belly Diner to eat for the new year.
As for when to eat year-crossing soba, many people ate it during lunch or dinner. But when Rei was in Japan, they had always eaten it around the time the date changed, as was customary for year-crossing soba.
(If year-crossing udon catches on, eating it around midnight will probably become the norm. ...Well, I'm fine with that. If someone else comes to Elgin after me, they might end up saying, "The time for eating year-crossing udon is wrong!")
Thinking such thoughts, Rei took the pizza dough out of his Misty Ring, then began producing the sauce, sausages, vegetables, mushrooms, cheese, and other toppings.
Tomato sauce was limited in quantity, but he had managed to purchase a reasonable amount from shops and eateries.
Near the kiln stood a table brought from Marina's mansion.
The sight of a table standing in the snow felt somehow strange... yet carried a faintly fantastical air.
As Rei found himself wrestling with an indescribable feeling at the sight, Vihera spoke up while looking over the toppings on the table.
"Hmm... so these are the ingredients for a dish called pizza?"
"Yeah. I doubt it exists anywhere in Gilm... no, anywhere in the Kingdom of Mireana, probably. Of course, there's a chance that a similar dish actually exists somewhere I don't know about."
Pizza was a dish that, if one could bake bread normally, required only a slight shift in thinking to come up with. Perhaps not anyone could manage it, but it wouldn't be strange for someone to think of it.
That was why Rei understood it wouldn't be surprising for a similar dish to exist without his knowledge.
Of course, even if it were a similar dish, it probably wouldn't be called "pizza" — or so he figured.
"True. There are breads where you put ingredients inside or on top of the dough and bake them, so it wouldn't be strange for a similar dish to exist somewhere."
Marina, who had been an adventurer for a long time, nodded at Rei's words.
"Anyway... this time's pizza is more of a trial run, I suppose. Now then, let's start making it."
On the table standing in the snow, Rei placed a sheet of pizza dough in front of each person.
"Gruu."
"I know. I've got your portion ready too, Set, so don't worry. Here."
Rei also placed pizza dough on the table for Set, who was purring as if to demand his share.
Seeing this, Set purred happily as well.
"Now then, first... no, I should get the kiln running before that. Even without snow falling, we'll want the warmth."
Leaving the dough as it was, Rei looked up at the sky.
Despite it being the afternoon of New Year's Eve, the weather was remarkably fine today.
So much so that it was hard to believe heavy snow had been falling until just a few days ago — no, until last night.
However, even with clear winter skies, it was still winter, and the temperature was low.
If they were going to do this, warming things up would let everyone enjoy making pizza — or so Rei figured.
Marina's Spirit Magic had already created a curious state where the snow didn't melt but the air was somewhat warm... but even so, the heat from the pizza kiln had a certain wintery charm to it.
He placed his hand on the kiln and channeled his magic power.
Activating the kiln required a fair amount of magic power, but Rei's reserves were extraordinary enough to warrant being called abnormal, so he felt no fatigue whatsoever.
Before long, the kiln — powered by Rei's magic — began radiating a gentle warmth throughout the area.
Even with Marina's Spirit Magic already in effect, the heat brought a sense of relief.
(I remember hearing somewhere that the warmth of a wood stove feels more reassuring than an electric heater or air conditioner... is it something like that?)
Harboring that minor question, Rei returned to the table he was using as a prep station.
But Vihera, Marina, Byune... and Set — the three people and one creature — were all directing curious gazes at the newly activated kiln.
Since there was nothing inside the kiln at the moment, it wasn't producing any intense heat.
Even so, perhaps because it was their first time seeing a Magic Item kiln, they watched with evident interest as the interior began to glow red.
"Is it really that interesting? Setting aside the fact that it runs on magic power, I don't think the kiln itself is much different from an ordinary one."
"It's the running on magic power part that's amazing. I've lived for a fairly long time, but a kiln powered by magic... and a portable one at that? That's a first for me."
Marina murmured thoughtfully.
Why? Rei wondered at her words.
It wasn't unusual for Magic Items to be powered by magic. Of course, using Magic Stones to power Magic Items was the more common approach.
"Is it really that impressive? ...Well, the kiln aside. Let's start making the pizza. Everyone, spread the tomato sauce on your dough, then put on whatever toppings you like."
Saying that, Rei wondered if he should have also taken out the seafood from his Misty Ring, but decided to go with a standard pizza for today since it was their first time making one.
He had eaten seafood pizza several times before — store-bought ones, of course.
Still, they had been tasty enough, so he resolved to try making one himself if today's pizza turned out well.
Harboring that modest resolve, Rei spread tomato sauce on his dough alongside the others and began placing toppings.
"Set, which ones do you want?"
"Grrururu!"
When Rei asked Set while arranging vegetables, sausages, and ham on his own dough, Set happily pointed his beak at several ingredients on the table.
As expected — or rather, as predicted — Set's selections were centered around meat: ham, sausages, grilled meat, stewed meat, and the like.
Rei knew Set was a meat-lover, but a meat-only diet would be unbalanced.
"You need to pick some vegetables too. How about these?"
"Gruu."
When Rei selected some vegetables and mushrooms, Set purred happily.
Set loved meat, but that didn't mean he disliked vegetables. He felt perfectly content to eat as many vegetables as Rei chose for him.
(If Mirene and Yohanna were here... no, let's not think about that.)
Rei recalled the faces of the two who loved playing with and fussing over Set. But imagining how they would have been beside themselves with joy if they were here, he put a stop to that train of thought.
Today's party was, at its core, a New Year's Eve gathering meant to deepen camaraderie among those who would be forming a party together in the spring.
Inviting others would be somewhat beside the point. That was what Rei thought.
"Rei, I'm done, but... is this right?"
At Vihera's words, Rei turned his gaze in her direction... and a smile involuntarily slipped out.
Vihera's pizza was topped with a well-balanced arrangement of sausages and vegetables. Marina's had slightly more vegetables, but could still be called a perfectly normal pizza.
But... the pizza Byune had made could hardly be called a pizza anymore.
Her dough was buried under vegetables, sausages, ham, and other ingredients piled on as if to say "look how much I can fit."
So much so that the pizza dough itself was completely invisible — the toppings alone were several centimeters thick.
"Mm!"
Rei was momentarily at a loss for words, but Byune, who had made the pizza, puffed out her chest with full confidence and let out her usual single sound of approval.
"Ah... Byune. Sorry, but you've put way too many toppings on. It's excessive. Reduce it down to about Vihera's or Marina's level."
"Mm!?"
Being told this by Rei was apparently the last thing Byune expected.
Since she had been so confident, the shock seemed to hit her that much harder.
"See, Byune? That's why I told you. Overdoing things is never good. This looks a bit unsightly, doesn't it?"
Vihera told her with an exasperated look, and though Byune clearly wasn't happy about it, she began removing the excess toppings from her pizza.
The dish that would have been more appropriately described as something other than pizza gradually transformed back into something that could indeed be called pizza.
"I understand wanting to eat a lot of the dish Rei came up with, but let's start with a basic pizza first, okay? Alright?"
Rei, asked for his agreement by Vihera, nodded in assent.
"It's not like this is the only sheet of dough. There are plenty more."
"...Mm."
Even so, Byune returned only that single word, sounding disappointed.
Once she had quietly settled on a moderate amount of toppings — still more than Vihera's or Marina's, mind — it was time for the finishing touch: cheese.
They placed the pre-cut cheese roughly on top of their dough.
Normally, the act of arranging the cheese was where a professional's skill would shine... but since this was their first time making pizza, the cheese placement was rather haphazard.
...As one might expect, Byune put considerably more cheese on her pizza as well.
Still, compared to the mountain of toppings she had piled on earlier, it wasn't enough to make anyone's eyes go wide, and they slid the dough into the heated kiln.
The large spatula-like tool used for inserting the pizza was something Pamidor had made for Rei a few days prior.
Placing the dough into the thoroughly heated kiln... after a few minutes, the cheese melted, and the pizza was done.