Chapter 819: Harvest Festival Day 1
Harvest Festival. It’s not just Polka, or even just Trot—it’s a festival held pretty much everywhere in autumn. I’ve had conversations with my crossbow squad comrades and my current female slaves asking things like, 「Did your hometown have a harvest festival?」 so I know for sure. There are differences, like some hold it around early autumn like Polka (though Polka’s autumn ends quickly, with no real early or late part), while others hold it in late autumn. Soon, the barren winter will arrive. Not many places get snow as heavy as Polka’s, but the cold, harvest-poor season alone is enough to dampen spirits. Before that, they throw a big party to give thanks for the earth’s bounty and share smiles with their neighbors. That idea is the same everywhere.
“In Trot, the church presiding over that is important too, right?”
“Well, they are the 『Guardian Spirits of the Earth』”
Anzeros and Selenium nodded in agreement about the culture while helping prepare food at the tavern. Across from them, peeling vegetables, my mother tilted her head.
“I wonder if gods elsewhere don’t give harvests?”
“It’s not that. Just, it’s not the main focus, I suppose. For example, in Celesta, the spirit worshipped varies by region. So by rivers or seas, the bounty from the river or sea becomes the gods’ gift”
“In my hometown, the Afilm Forest, it was structured like a hierarchy: the highest-ranking Light Spirit, then the slightly lesser Northern Forest Spirit, and our own Forest Spirit treated as their child……prayers and offerings only reached the deity directly responsible for that place, you see”
“There are so many different beliefs, aren’t there?”
In Trot, agricultural produce, game meat, minerals, and—stretching it a bit—alcoholic beverages are considered gifts from the deity worshipped by the Trot Church. The idea is that these are things the deity grants based on one’s daily conduct, so they should be received with profound gratitude. Beyond that, primary industries are limited to river fish at best. I’ve heard the reason these aren’t called divine blessings stems from some old territorial dispute. Apparently, the Garage River once marked the border with barbarian lands—now Afilm—so fishing was dangerous back then. To caution against this, there was a time when teachings like 「Fish are not our god’s blessings, so you mustn’t greedily try to catch them」 were imparted. Well, that’s secondhand knowledge anyway, and it’s irrelevant in Polka. In Polka’s rivers, thanks to the sacred spring, you can even catch big fish despite the low water volume. In winter, they’re vital food, so there’s no reason to hold back. ……As I was idly drifting into such rambling thoughts, Savory came over to my desk.
“Master, is it really okay for you to be peeling potatoes here?”
“They said we needed more hands, so everyone’s pitching in”
“It is busy, but Master, you know……what about the dragons and that princess? Aren’t you needed over there?”
“The dragons wouldn’t dream of interfering with the festival, needless to say. As for Princess Ran and the elf territory matters, I’ve left all that to Irina and Christie. This is fundamentally this town’s harvest festival. It’s not really a situation where I, who was an outsider until recently, should be exerting too much influence”
……Well, basically, I only need to work as an ordinary townsperson. Honestly, being given a special role in a festival I didn’t even participate in until last year would just be a hassle.
For the Harvest Festival, everyone dresses up about as much as they do for the Spring Festival, but that’s after the opening declaration with the five bells. Food and drink vendors run around preparing drinks and food from morning, changing into their festive attire only after that’s wrapped up. Naturally, if you’re going to dance, you want to wear decent clothes. So, as usual, my female slaves gather at the clothing shop, don fine garments, and have their hair beautifully styled.
“I’m kinda lost on what party outfits are like around here, huh?”
“Well, our standard clothes apparently show a bit too much, you see”
Cima and Lukino chat about this while browsing the outfits prepared for them. Dark Elves do tend to show a bit too much. Actually, even their everyday clothes are a bit too provocative by Trot standards. The standard Trot woman never shows cleavage or legs above the knee. People like Dianne-san and Nord-san don’t hold back at all in that regard. Cima-san, who seems overly confident in her body, has that tendency too.
“There’s quite a variety here, isn’t there? A lot of it doesn’t exactly scream elf aesthetic”
As Naris spread out the dresses, Oregano gave a wry smile.
“Well, you can’t lump it all under elf tastes, there’s quite a variety in the forest……that one, for instance, is modeled after the traditional attire of Gorkus-sama’s clan”
“Eh? This is actually an elf design?”
“Each clan has its own distinct characteristics, and fashions come and go. The grass-green, subdued garments are more for hunting attire, actually. Many wear them as everyday clothes, but formal wear is still something else”
“Wow. I thought the Northern Forest was more conservative”
“Merchants told us bringing more of those designs out would be profitable. Of course, the real traditional garments sometimes use incredibly expensive materials, so we can’t actually sell them. We’re just copying the shapes. We also have replicas of each clan’s formal wear, and with Emma and Leyla’s help, we’re prototyping silver dragon-style outfits too”
“How do you manage to store all that in such a small shop……”
Of course, only the female slaves were inside the shop. Other townspeople had homes, so they wouldn’t bother changing clothes at a tailor’s. That’s why no one got angry even when I watched them change.
“……Did you make that?”
“Hmm? Oh, yeah”
Maia caught me fiddling with a brooch in one hand. Adorning it was a miniature 「Dragon Jewel」. Since the jewel itself couldn’t be processed, I ended up sandwiching it inside a case resembling a clamshell with a flexible leather lining. I tried an idea where it would snap securely onto a base with claw-like fasteners, like a regular gemstone. However, even a slight impact would cause the base or claws to warp and loosen. They concluded that rigid fasteners were actually dangerous, settling instead on a highly cushioned holding method. Though shell-like, it obviously couldn’t be completely concealed, so a peephole was added. The outer shape was almond-shaped, giving it the appearance of an open eye, which might look a bit eerie depending on how you looked at it.
“Well, there’s a little trick to it. ……I’ve glued a 『Silk Chain』 to the back”
“……?”
“Ah, it also acts as a safety catch to prevent it from flying out if the case breaks accidentally……but in a pinch, you can detach it from the case and use it as a handle to swing and throw”
“……Won’t that give it weird power?”
“It did”
I tried swinging it around and throwing it at a nearby rock. A boulder about a meter in diameter shattered into pieces. Honestly, I considered making this the fourth secret weapon, following the Breath Calibur, Breath Shooter, and the Special Large Arrow. But I’m retiring from being a soldier. I don’t plan on accidentally fighting any powerful enemies. ……What the hell am I doing? I snapped back to my senses after a moment.
“I suppose I should at least tell the princess that this could be used as a last resort”
“I think it’s unnecessary”
“……Sometimes, Maia, you’re really harsh”
I couldn’t argue with that.
Today is sunny.
“Well then, I hereby declare the Autumn Harvest Festival open. It’s truly wonderful that the weather is so clear. Five years ago was really tough”
The Baron made the opening declaration from the platform built in the square. Hearing this, the tavern master and Keel’s old man nodded in agreement, so I quietly grabbed Johnny and asked.
“What happened five years ago?”
“Five years ago……emm, last year was that, and the year before that……ah, ah, I remember. There was a long rainy spell from late summer into autumn, you see. The harvest got delayed, the festival got postponed over and over, and then the first snow fell on the actual day it was finally held”
“……Uwaa”
“But if we’d just given up, we’d have missed out on the feast and dancing forever. So we stubbornly did everything anyway, right in the snow. It was freezing, the food got all soggy from the snow, everyone kept slipping and falling during the dance……it was absolute chaos”
“……Didn’t everyone catch colds?”
“No way Polka catches a cold. That’s why we can laugh about doing crazy stuff like that”
Come to think of it, that’s true.
“Today we received two horse-sized portions of unicorn meat from the Cherry Blossom Clan, and a cartload of silver pears from the Silver Clan. We also got meat from the Red Clan……oh, scratch that? Ah, the White Clan provided a barrel of mead, and the Green Clan offered two large pots of rare yogurt. Let us express our gratitude for the kindness of our forest friends and warm our friendship with them to the fullest. There is no greater joy than sharing a happy time with friends who have traveled far.”
After the Baron’s speech, applause broke out, and then the tavern master raised his voice without stepping onto the stage.
“Alright, alright, the feast begins! Everyone, drink and eat to your heart’s content! Sing and dance! And don’t miss out this year—the young ladies of Celesta are here!”
The men roared 「Ooh!」 and thrust their fists into the air. The women, naturally, couldn’t get too wild in public, so they left the excitement to the men. ……That’s the official line, anyway. On festival days, the women drink quite a bit too. Of course, they do hold back to avoid getting so drunk they don’t know what’s happening to them. But then, this is Polka, where the hot springs foster a strong sense of camaraderie. The women look out for each other, so things rarely get out of hand. Naturally, there are plenty of stories of people deliberately getting drunk on festival day and acting on impulse with their crush……but that’s something only happens when the couple has been openly supported beforehand. In the countryside, the whole neighborhood tends to keep an eye on things like that.
“Johnny and Jessica were definitely like that too”
“You don’t have that kind of thing, Keel?”
“W, Well, this year I do! Barbara’s here!”
Keel, who’d spent all yesterday helping with preparations at his family home, seemed to have finally been freed from his duties today.
“……I get that you’re being released with that intention, but I’m not really feeling it”
“Don’t be so picky. I’m rooting for you, so do your best”
“O, Okay. ……But seriously, Andy, don’t you have to dance?”
“It’s only until sunset today. There’s still plenty of time”
The Harvest Festival features parties, music, and dancing happening all at once. With freshly harvested food in abundance, the town can keep serving dishes until everyone is stuffed. There’s no standard routine of heading home later for wild plant dishes. The entire town simply revels in the last vestiges of the short summer. …Still, there are forty of us. I’d feel bad if I didn’t dance with everyone at least once. But dancing with ten people an hour would take four hours—when you think about it, that’s not exactly free time, and it’s actually pretty terrifying……. As I pondered this, I spotted Princess Irina and Princess Ran standing in the corner of the square, both dressed in lavish, elaborate attire. Noticing my gaze, Irina beckoned me over with a flick of her finger.
“?”
Curious, I stood up, weaving through the surrounding noise to approach them. Irena cleared her throat before speaking.
“Hmm. ……Smithson-dono. I’m sorry to bother you on a day like this, but we need to handle a little political business”
“What’s with the formality?”
“……It’s a complicated matter. To put it bluntly……embrace Princess Ran, marry her, or kill her”
“Haa……!?”
Startled, I glanced at Princess Ran beside her. Unfazed by Irina’s provocative words, the princess stared intently up at me.
“……Preparations are complete. From here on, it depends on your will”
“Irina, what is this?”
“……Didn’t I say this isn’t like feeding a stray dog?”
Irina shrugged.
“It’s just that a commoner did a good deed without flinching before a princess of a nation. Without causing trouble, without hassle, and that’s the end of it. ……That’s not how this story goes”