How far did this perfectly flat grass plain extend? No matter in which direction you looked, there was nothing but the horizon.
Since it was the middle of winter, all the grass had withered away. Trees were sparse.
Although it was noon, the temperature was below freezing. It would likely become even colder at night. The sky was a lovely blue, without a single cloud.
Travelling on a path that cut directly through the grass plains were Kino and Hermes. Since it wasn’t snowing, there weren’t any obstacles.
Kino had adjusted her clothing to combat the cold. She was wearing a woolen winter cap and a mask that covered her face. The pair of goggles that she had on were the only thing that showed a glimpse of her face. Her gloves were so thick they seemed to resemble oven mitts.
As for Hermes, he had been given cold resistant oil. Additionally, both his wheels had been exchanged for spiked tires so that they wouldn’t slip.
Kino had been muttering something about it being time for a tea break, but Hermes interjected. “Can we go a little further? I think I saw something on the horizon just now.”
And so, Kino continued to ride Hermes forward. In the area that Hermes had mentioned sat a lone truck.
The large truck, covered by a tarp, was parked near the side of the road.
It was massive, but also seemed rather old. Nonetheless, it still appeared to be functional.
Kino cautiously approached the truck, but no one seemed to be inside.
She then thought that there might have been dead bodies inside, but none were to be found. However, the keys to the truck were left in there, along with plenty of fuel. The tires also seemed to be in good condition.
Then, she began to investigate the back of the truck, covered by the tarp, which upon removing it, revealed a row of densely packed wooden crates. Even after confirming that there weren’t any booby traps, she still proceeded with the greatest caution when opening the crates. Inside, she found-
“These are chocolates, Hermes. Box of chocolates all packed in here,” Kino said, lifting a box of chocolates up to show Hermes. It was a thin box, wrapped in aluminium foil. All in all, it looked like a typical box of chocolates.
“If there are five hundred boxes per crate, two hundred crates total… 100,000 boxes total huh. And if one box is four hundred calories, then 40,000,000 calories total…” Hermes calculated. Which, he added, would be enough to live on for several decades.
“Why would someone leave this much chocolate in a place like this? The truck seems to be in fine condition after all…” Kino wondered, tilting her head in puzzlement. She left the chocolates and climbed onto the roof of the truck. From that vantage point, she surveyed the surrounding area.
“I don’t see corpses or anything like that lying around… It’s possible that the driver left the truck to stretch his legs and then something happened to him, but that seems highly unlikely.”
“Maybe it’s part of a transaction, Kino. The driver could have left the truck here, knowing that someone would come later to pick it up,” Hermes said.
Kino descended from the roof. “I see… But, what if someone else had found this truck like we did? Then they could easily steal away all the goods. Plus, the keys to the truck are still in it.”
“Well, it sure is strange, isn’t it? By the way Kino, you wanna steal the truck?”
“A tempting idea. Guess I won’t need Hermes anymore. Farewell, my loyal partner.”
“Well that would be troubling. Then, what if we just took the chocolates?”
“In this cold, the chocolates would be really helpful, but…” She rejected the idea.
“Oh, how curious. Why?”
“Even if I explain it to you, you won’t be able to understand it, Hermes.”
“Oh?”
“This large amount of chocolate has a lot of ‘human feeling’ tied to them, you know.”
“Ah. I have absolutely no idea what you’re saying. I thought humans believed in science.”
“Well, I’m going to leave these chocolates alone, okay?”
“I guess if Kino says it, I don’t have any objections.”
Thereupon, Kino got on Hermes, and they once more took off.
All while Kino thought about where she could get off for a tea break.
They discovered the truth behind the mysterious chocolates two days later. Kino and Hermes had finally reached a large country.
Upon reaching it, Kino discovered a candy shop in the country with the same wrapping paper as the chocolates they found in the truck. After stocking up on some preserved foods and eating ones that seemed tasty, she asked the people in the shop about the truck.
The manager of the store answered. “Ah, you saw that huh. How many did you eat?”
“None.”
“Oh? Why?”
“Why… Since I felt ‘human feelings’ contained in them.”
“Ah- well that makes sense.”
The manager seemed to understand Kino’s reasoning. Then, Kino asked him what the truck was doing there in the first place.
“Well, do you travellers know what kind of custom we have in this country? There is a particular day that takes place in winter where women give chocolates as love confessions to men they’ve liked for some time. It just took place ten days ago.”
“Nope.” “Never heard of it.”
“Ah, I guess that’s to be expected. Chocolate sells really well. We sell about 40% of our yearly chocolates during that period.”
“Forty percent huh…” “That’s pretty amazing.”
“In this country, there’s a pop-band made up of only handsome men. A lot of people go to their concerts, from children to the elderly, and they put on a show for us. it’s incredibly popular for the young girls in our country.”
“Then, those performers must get a lot of chocolates!” Hermes exclaimed.
The manager nodded. “They get sent a ridiculous amount every year. But though they get that much, they never ate any of it. Even if it’s only a one in a million chance, there’s a chance that one of the chocolates could be poisoned. For that reason, you can never be too careful…”
“I see.” “Makes sense.”
“Therefore, the rule was changed. Instead of chocolates, people would instead give the band members ‘chocolate tickets.’ They could be exchanged at chocolate stores so that they could get chocolates safely, or so it was professed.”
“I see.” “I guess they’d be able to eat the chocolates like that.”
“However-“
The owner furtively scanned the room and lowered his voice. After making sure that there weren’t any other guests around, he spoke. “I’m only telling you this because the two of you are travellers. This is a matter that must never be revealed in this country. Can I ask you for your word?”
“Understood. I promise I won’t say anything to anyone.” “Yessir.”
“Alright, then I explain… There was an order placed for the chocolates, but each person can’t really eat that much chocolate. In the end, most of the performers would upload a picture of themselves eating a chocolate, saying something like “Thanks for the gifts!” Then, they’d just give the rest of the chocolate back to the candy store. However, candy stores couldn’t really afford to store all that returned chocolate. After all, if someone were to look into the candy stores, they’d find those same chocolates that were meant for the performers.”
“So that’s why…” “I see.”
“Those chocolates that you saw, travellers, were very likely gifted chocolates. Most of the performer’s fans are females, so they were probably given by them. But since no one would eat them, we end up just putting them out in the grass plains in the winter. At first, it was just simple disposal, but later on, we found that the chocolates would begin to disappear from the areas that we put them in.”
“What happened to them?” “Why?”
“From what I’ve heard, the country next to us realized what we were doing, and began bringing the chocolates back to their country. In a sign of good faith, they would carefully unload only the chocolates, leaving the truck and everything else as it were. Although, since we used old, barely functioning trucks, we didn’t mind if they were taken away. I guess you travellers saw that and came here immediately, huh.”
“I see… In other words, Hermes’s thought to take the chocolates was correct huh…” said Kino.
“Well, Kino’s sixth sense wasn’t wrong either,” said Hermes.
“And so, in other words, fans buy chocolate for the performers. The candy stores make a large profit. The performers pretend to eat them all. Then, some other country gets free chocolate. Not only that, but no food goes to waste. Everything runs smoothly.”
“I see… Thanks for telling this to us.”
“Please really do keep this a secret.”
“Understood. I absolutely will not tell a single soul.”
“Really-? Mr. Shopowner, Kino has a pretty large mouth you know? I think that if you wanted to play it safe, you should occupy his mouth with something. Maybe a box of chocolates?” Hermes said.
“Haha! Then, please have these!”
Thus, Kino received a box of chocolates free of charge.
SomewhatOkay Translations 
Very sweet… chapter
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