Published: September 10, 2025
Today marks the 10th anniversary of web authors Death March & Hiro Aina! Thank you, readers, for your continued support!
“Hina Matsuri~?”
“What’s Hina Matsuri?”
“It’s a festival for girls! You decorate hina dolls, eat hina-arare and marshmallows, and have a girls’ gathering!”
I heard Tama and Pochi talking with Arisa.
Come to think of it, it’s almost March.
“What about the meat~?”
“Pochi likes sweets, but I like meat better.”
“I don’t really associate Hina Matsuri with meat dishes... maybe chicken drumettes?”
Arisa turned to me to ask.
“Chicken drumettes? What’s that again? Not the flower, right?”
“It’s chicken wing tips with the bone, fried. Don’t you call them chicken drumettes?”
Oh yeah, I think I’ve heard of that dish before.
“My mom used to make them for my birthday a lot.”
Arisa said nostalgically.
In this case, “mom” probably refers to her mother from her previous life.
“Interested~?”
“Pochi is really curious about the chicken drumettes!”
“Ha ha, then let’s have Lulu make them.”
The kids dashed off to the kitchen.
After a while, only Arisa came back.
“So, Master, make hina dolls.”
That was sudden.
“No way without a sample. Can’t you make them, Arisa? You made my figure before, right?”
“That was when my libido was overflowing, so…”
Arisa shrugged as if to say, “You don’t get it~.”
“Besides, it’s too much to tackle traditional crafts with my limited skills.”
“Then, how about origami hina dolls?”
“That’s okay, but it feels a bit cheap…”
Arisa crossed her arms and thought it over.
“Arisa.”
Mia came back in from outside with Nana and called out to Arisa.
“What is it, Mia?”
“I have a good idea.”
Mia said confidently.
“The hina doll.”
She pointed to herself.
“And the emperor doll.”
She pointed to me.
“You mean we become hina dolls?”
“Mhm.”
Mia nodded at Arisa’s answer.
Now that I think about it, Mia seems to know about Hina Matsuri.
It’s probably thanks to hero Daisaku, who introduced Japanese culture to the Elf Village.
“If we’re going to set up the hina platform, won’t we be short on people?”
Just the two of them on top is fine, but if we add the three court ladies or five musicians, it might be a little short.
“The two missing people can be golems.”
“Yeah, that’s enough.”
It might get a bit surreal, but it’s okay not to be strict.
“First, let’s make the costumes! Master and Mia, help out too.”
“Leave it to me.”
“Arisa, I also want to join.”
“Then, let’s do it together.”
And so, today became a day for making real hina doll costumes.
“The costume is the twelve-layered ceremonial kimono, right?”
“Yeah, but it’s heavy to wear all of it, so I’ll just layer and sew fabric around the collar.”
With the plan set, the three of us—Arisa, Mia, and me—started making the costumes.
“Master~!”
“Liza brought a bunch of chicken drumettes!”
Just as the costumes were nearly done, Tama and Pochi burst into the room.
“Chicken drumettes?”
“Master, I found a flock of migratory birds and hunted them!”
“You used a spear to hunt migratory birds?”
“Yes, I used the demon blade cannon in a spread shot.”
Even legendary techniques are just hunting tools to Liza.
“All done for everyone.”
“Yeah, completed.”
Arisa and Mia posed in their hina doll costumes.
“So cute!”
“There’s enough for everyone.”
“I want to be a hina doll too!”
“Tama too~?”
“Pochi wants to be a hina doll as well!”
As expected, the role of hina doll became a contest.
Liza mediated, and in the end, everyone agreed to be a hina doll, a compromise solution.
Of course, the shy Liza also became a hina doll.
“Alright, let’s take a commemorative photo. Say, cheese!”
Using a magic spell, we snapped a photo, but everyone except Arisa looked puzzled.
Come to think of it, “cheese” probably wouldn’t translate.
Luckily, the pronunciation of “2” in the Shiga Kingdom sounds close to a smile, so we used the chant “1 + 1 = two (ni),” and it worked out.