Chapter 27 - Chapter 26: The Harvest Festival of Rish Village
The day of the Harvest Festival had arrived.
That said, there weren't that many crops that could be harvested in Rish Village.
The villagers earned wages through labor at the textile factory and cotton fields, so they would have to purchase everything for winter preparations, including food, with that money.
It seemed that after the Harvest Festival, they would go to Kotontesse together and buy supplies for everyone's winter preparations over several days.
It seemed they would conduct transactions with Kotontesse even during winter, but when the roads became muddy from snow, it became difficult for horse-drawn carriages to travel.
So, it was said that transactions during winter would be reduced to the bare minimum.
In the evening, the villagers gathered in the Central Plaza.
It seemed the Village Head, Horatio, Diego, and other major members of Rish Village were still in the middle of a ceremony at the church.
Radi was overseeing the Harvest Festival preparations, while Kifrod was playing Buattre Heed with Mika.
Mika asked Kifrod if he should help, but was told to leave it to Radi.
Later, Mika heard from Radi that this was being done for Radi's sake.
It seemed to be a sort of training for Radi to be recognized as a "substitute priest."
She didn't say it clearly, but it seemed that in order to become that "substitute priest" after Kifrod passed away, she needed to do this.
Therefore, it seemed that the church in Rish Village was basically run by Radi alone.
She was learning the church work by receiving detailed reports and permissions from Kifrod, and getting advice like "this way is better."
It seemed she had been doing this for many years, and she said she hardly received any advice anymore in terms of practical matters.
(Walking around the whole village every day, giving [Heal], listening to consultations, and taking on all the church work? ...Is she a superhuman?)
When Mika said, "It would be terrible if you collapsed from trying too hard," she replied, "Rather, I am working hard to protect this life."
It seemed that for Radi, the current state was quite close to her ideal.
For Mika, who wanted to live a fun and easy life, it was hard to believe, but well, ideals are different for everyone.
If Radi was happy, then that was fine.
"Yes, I finally found you. Mika-kun, over here. Hurry up."
Mika was suddenly called out and pulled by the hand.
Thinking something was wrong, he looked at the person, and it was Nanzaro pulling Mika's hand.
"Hey, Nanzaro-san!? What's going on all of a sudden?"
"Everyone is waiting at the church. It's sudden, but we're running."
A crowd had formed around the church.
It seemed they had gathered to see the Harvest Festival ceremony as much as possible.
Nanzaro pushed through the crowd, pulling Mika's hand and moving steadily forward.
Mika was brought to the church without understanding why.
Inside the church, more than thirty people were sitting on long benches, and in the back, people were standing like they were watching from the gallery.
The platform holding the statues of the Six Gods was decorated, and many offerings were placed there.
"Oh, you've come. Here, over here."
When Mika entered the church, Kifrod beckoned him from in front of the altar.
Kifrod was not wearing his usual worn-out priest's robes, but a clean priest's outfit with sharp creases.
On the pulpit was not the usual habit, but Radi wearing a beautiful priest's outfit based on white.
They were similar priest's outfits, but Radi's used more colors in the embroidery and looked more luxurious.
"Mika-kun, I'm sorry for the suddenness. There was a request to give you a 'Blessing,' so we decided to hold the ceremony immediately."
"...Blessing?"
Radi smiled brightly.
Mika, who had no idea what was going on, just stared blankly.
"Well, you can just stand there."
"It might become just a formality... but please don't move for a little while."
"Yes..."
Radi came out in front of the pulpit and faced Mika.
Kifrod stepped back a step, seemingly watching over the ceremony.
Mika looked up at Radi and stood still there.
(...She's more saintly than usual today. It's ridiculous.)
Looking up at Radi, Mika thought of her beauty, which was more saintly than ever before.
It wasn't just the beauty of the clothes; combined with Radi's gentle smile and her slightly wavy golden hair, she possessed a beauty that seemed almost otherworldly.
She had the dignity of an artwork that should be displayed in some great cathedral or museum.
Radi slowly spread her arms wide, looking up at the sky, and then bowed her head in a gesture of prayer.
After that, she went to the front of the altar and picked up a branch with leaves and a silver cup adorned with beautiful decorations.
She dipped the tip of the branch slightly into the silver cup and gently stroked Mika's head.
She repeated the same action, dipping the branch into the cup, then touching his abdomen, neck, left shoulder, chest, and right shoulder.
After returning the branch and silver cup to the altar, she faced Mika again.
Slowly, she spread her arms wide and looked up at the sky, just as before.
"O Great and Revered Six Pillars. The God of Darkness that fills the heavens. The God of Earth that is the origin of all things. The God of Fire that envelops everything. The God of Water that is vast. The God of Wind that shapes the world. The God of Light that shines brilliantly."
Radi wove the words of prayer.
"Grant guidance to the lost child. With darkness by your side, raise the light, tread upon the earth, hold fire, bathe in water, wear the wind, and grant the pure blessing that dispels suffering, and bestow a strong heart that does not stop its steps in difficulties."
The beautiful voice, woven without hesitation, echoed quietly throughout the corners of the church.
However, contrary to the clear voice, Radi's expression looked somewhat pained.
Her brow moved slightly, and sweat trickled down her cheeks.
(...Could it be that she's using quite a bit of magic power?)
Seeing Radi's expression, Mika had a vague sense of what was happening.
When Mika concentrated his magic power, wasn't it like this for Radi?
At that moment, the people watching inside the church murmured slightly.
Turning his gaze to see what was happening, everyone was looking at Mika.
(...Hm? Me?)
Looking down at his own body, he saw many bands of faint light flickering and wrapping around Mika before disappearing.
The light was weak, and it seemed too far away for the people standing in the back to see.
The bands of light were various colors like red, blue, yellow, and green, and sometimes a dim purple band could be seen.
The bands overlapped in layers, looking like a rainbow.
However, the light was too weak to feel it was very beautiful.
As Radi slowly lowered her arms, the weak light became even weaker, and finally disappeared.
Radi took a deep breath and smiled at Mika, looking a bit pained.
"The ceremony is now over. I truly wanted to give you a proper 'Blessing'... I apologize for my lack of strength."
"No, I had a valuable experience. Thank you very much."
When Mika bowed politely, a thunderous applause erupted from the people gathered in the church.
In the end, it seemed to be a failure, but he had been shown something rare.
He had been suddenly brought here and wondered what was going on, but he accepted the villagers' kindness and thoughts honestly.
After that, the Harvest Festival ceremony seemed to continue, and he was thrown out to play outside.
He thought about watching along since he was already there, but it would be bad to get in the way.
He decided to obey honestly.
"Mika! Where have you been!"
When Mika returned to the plaza from the church, Loretta ran over from the center of the plaza.
"I was worried because I couldn't see you. You should tell me properly when you're going somewhere."
"Ah... sorry. I was suddenly called to the church."
"The church?"
Loretta made a suspicious face.
"It seems they decided to give me a Blessing. Radi performed the ceremony for me."
"Wow! I wanted to see it too! You should have told me properly!"
"Ahaha... sorry."
It was a somewhat unreasonable story, but he decided to accept it willingly.
Loretta, who doted on her younger brother.
She must have been truly regretful that she missed Mika's special moment.
In the past, at times like this, she would hold his hand and not let go, but today it seemed she wouldn't hold his hand.
Due to the series of commotions, it seemed Loretta was also changing little by little.
While he was happy about that, he felt a little lonely.
After a while, people came out of the church one after another, and all the villagers gathered in the center of the plaza.
The Village Head stepped out in front of the villagers and spoke.
He spoke of the attacks by magic beasts, the fire at the factory, and how there had been many hardships this year.
However, thanks to the blessings of the gods and everyone's efforts, they had managed to overcome them.
Then, he expressed gratitude for the gifts from the gods and rejoiced that they could welcome the Harvest Festival safely.
Next, Radi stepped forward and offered thanks to the gods for the harvest.
After that, the children born this year were stroked with a branch and a silver cup, just like Mika.
Dur, held in Ninetiana's arms, also received the ceremony.
Surprised by the ceremony, Dur started crying, and seeing that, everyone burst into laughter.
It seemed there were other children who started crying, and in no time, it became a big commotion.
When that ended, the same ceremony was performed for those who got married this year, and women had their bellies stroked with rice stalks with roots and grains still attached.
(...From 'Abundance' to praying for children, I suppose.)
Even though the world had changed, it seemed such ideas didn't change at all, surprisingly.
In his original world, rice stalks were also used for prayers for children and safe childbirth.
There were also various examples, such as using trees that bore many fruits, fruits with many seeds, or fish that laid many eggs for prayers for children.
Thus, the villagers' Harvest Festival ceremony proceeded with a lot of noise and chatter.
At that time, the Village Head suddenly called out Mika, who was standing in front.
Beckoned by Kifrod, who was also in front, Mika stepped forward with some confusion and was made to stand between the Village Head and Kifrod.
Including Radi, the four of them lined up in front of the villagers.
"You all probably already know this. Next year, Mika-kun from the Noisheim family will be attending the Magic Academy from this village."
When the Village Head said that, everyone raised their voices in a rush.
"This will be the first time a student from this village has entered the Magic Academy. Everyone in the village knows that Mika-kun is a very wise and brave boy."
And so, the Village Head continued his speech, praising Mika.
He praised Mika's actions during the fire and spoke as if attending the Academy was an honor for the village.
(He was complaining about me just a few days ago.)
Mika smiled brightly while listening to the Village Head's speech.
If he thought of his family, he shouldn't show his true feelings here.
Even if it was directed at himself, he didn't want his family to suffer anymore.
Mika remained silent and continued to smile as if he were a politician.
"Now, finally, we would like to give Mika-kun a gift from all the villagers."
Just as he was thinking that his facial muscles were getting tired from the speech, the topic changed, and it seemed there was a gift.
(...Huh? Could it be?)
Spotting Ninetiana in the crowd, she winked at him.
Then, as the crowd split left and right, Horatio pulling a cart came walking over from the other side.
(So that's what Ninetiana meant by 'I can prepare it'.)
Probably, Ninetiana, who heard the story from Mika, worked on the Village Head and told the men working on wood processing to make it.
A worry flashed through his mind: "Surely they didn't make it from fresh wood?" but surely they wouldn't do such a thing.
When Horatio came in front of Mika, he turned the cart sideways to show Mika the bed.
It was a splendid bed with legs and a headboard.
"It's quite a good piece, isn't it? I'll deliver it to your house later, so you can start using it right away from today."
On the cart, besides the bed, straw for bedding and what was probably a sheet of the dedicated size were prepared.
Since there was a pillow he was currently using, preparations were made so he could really use it from today.
Mika thanked Horatio, and afterwards conveyed his thanks to the Village Head, Kifrod, Radi, and the villagers.
(I never thought I could get it this soon. This is truly a help.)
He was steadily advancing one step at a time toward independence.
Even though it felt like there was no independence when someone prepared it for him, considering his age, it couldn't be helped.
Even if he wanted to be independent, the surroundings wouldn't allow it.
In that sense, going to the Magic Academy this time could be said to be a good opportunity.
When the Harvest Festival ceremony ended, everyone began to make a big commotion of drinking and singing.
Mika was carried on Horatio's cart and taken to the Noisheim house along with the bed.
He tried to walk, but Horatio picked him up easily and put him on the cart.
It seemed Mika's walking pace was too hard for Horatio.
Even while pulling the cart, Horatio walked with long strides at a faster pace than Mika.
Amalia walked alongside the cart and accompanied the bed installation.
"I don't know what to say to thank you all. To receive such a splendid bed."
Amalia had been feeling embarrassed since before.
"This is cheap. If it weren't for Mika-kun, I wouldn't be able to do this now. Thank you, Mika-kun."
While pulling the cart, Horatio turned around.
"If it weren't for Horatio-san, I wouldn't be who I am now. We're even."
When Mika said that, Horatio looked surprised and blank.
Then he laughed out loud.
"Ha ha ha ha ha! Indeed! That can be said! Ha ha ha ha!"
Horatio laughed loudly, truly finding it funny.
"I never thought that by helping Mika-kun at that time, I would be saved myself. Strange things happen."
After laughing for a while, Horatio muttered deeply.
Normally, adults helping children is so common that no one thinks something will return to them for it.
Horatio also never thought that something would return to him after helping Mika.
However, if it weren't for Mika, Horatio wouldn't have been saved, and if it weren't for Horatio, Mika wouldn't have been saved.
Human connections are truly strange things.
When they arrived home, Horatio lifted the bed with ease.
Guided by Amalia, he set up the bed in the bedroom.
Ninetiana's estimation was perfect; when she squeezed Mika's bed into the gap, even if she pressed it tightly against the wall, there wasn't even a one-centimeter gap between it and Loretta's bed.
Rather, it was so tight that he felt uneasy, thinking, "Huh? Is this really going to fit?"
She said that while she could prepare the sheet, there wasn't enough time due to the sudden news, so she couldn't make it in time for the futon.
Since it was summer and it wasn't needed immediately, it seemed they had hurriedly prepared only what was needed now.
She said the futon was already arranged and would be delivered once it was ready.
(Come to think of it, I didn't think about the futon. It's fine now, but according to the calendar, it's autumn starting today. It might be needed soon.)
It was still hot for autumn, but surely the futon would be needed soon.
It was truly grateful to be provided with a full set.
With the bed installation completed safely, Mika and Amalia were walking toward the plaza.
Horatio was with them for a while, but they parted ways halfway as he was going to return the cart to the factory.
When they arrived at the plaza, Ninetiana was there.
Dur was fast asleep, having cried himself tired.
"How is it, Mika-kun? About the size. It was a perfect fit, wasn't it."
Ninetiana said it without any particular pride, as if it was natural.
"It was too perfect. For a moment, I panicked thinking it wouldn't fit."
"Ahaha, someone like me wouldn't make such a mistake. How rude."
"Yes, yes, my apologies. ...Anyway, is it okay for you to be here like this? Where is Diego-san?"
"Diego is drinking with the Vigilance Committee members. He can't drink that much usually. He said he'd drink until he vomits today. ...Hmm? Even if he vomits, he'll keep drinking?"
Looking at Diego drinking like a Roman nobleman with the Vigilance Committee members, Mika gave a cold look.
Since they were making a racket, it was easy to see where he was.
"Well, no loud talk today. Dur's ceremony went safely too. Mika-kun, go eat something too."
Looking at Dur's sleeping face while saying that, her gaze was exactly that of a mother.
Usually, Ninetiana had a somewhat careless side, but today seemed special.
Perhaps, for a mother with a newborn, surviving until this Harvest Festival was one of the goals.
Or perhaps, she had special feelings about letting her child receive the ceremony at the Harvest Festival.
"By the way, I haven't thanked you yet, Ninetiana-san. Thank you. Did you say that? That I wanted a bed."
"Ahaha, it's fine. I just passed on the message. Everyone prepared it."
Ninetiana lightly brushed it off with her usual confident face.
This part was truly like Ninetiana.
After parting with Ninetiana, Mika headed toward a table where many foods were lined up.
It seemed the format today was to take whatever you wanted from among these and eat what you wanted.
However, unfortunately, Mika's height meant he couldn't see all the dishes on the table.
As he was wondering what to do, Mehitorte, who noticed Mika, came beside him.
"Good evening, Mika-kun. Are you eating anything?"
"Good evening, Mehitorte-san. I want to eat, but I can't see what's there well. I was wondering what to do."
"Oh, I see. Wait a moment."
Mehitorte brought a chair that was placed a little distance away.
"Stand on this. If you tell me what you want to eat, I'll get it for you."
"Thank you."
Mika stood on the chair and freely ordered dishes using meat that he couldn't usually eat.
Even though it was a festival, there were no steaks or whole roasted dishes, but for Mika, dishes with lots of chopped meat were a treat.
As Mehitorte served dish after dish onto two plates, she looked worried, asking, "Can you really eat this much?"
Taking Diego as a model, Mika intended to eat the meat dishes he couldn't usually eat until he vomited.
...Well, in reality, he intended to push to the very limit so he wouldn't actually vomit.
He could eat while standing, but a table for eating was prepared just in case.
He spotted Loretta and had her place his plate next to her.
"Thank you, Mehitorte-san."
"It's fine. Just tell me if you need anything else."
Saying that, Mehitorte went back.
Looking at the two plates filled with food, Loretta made a face as if exasperated.
"Mika... can you really eat that much?"
"Probably it's fine. If not, I'll stuff it in."
"Really! Your stomach will break."
Ignoring Loretta's nagging, Mika quickly finished his prayer and devoured the food.
At the Noisheim family dinner table, animal protein was overwhelmingly lacking.
Although many dishes using beans were served, so he didn't think protein was lacking, he still wanted to eat meat.
He had figured out how to catch fish on his own, but there was no way to obtain meat other than buying it.
So, he wanted to eat as much as possible when he could.
"How was the bed? Did you manage to put it up properly?"
"Wai o u wa ha!"
"Really! You're stuffing too much in your mouth!"
Even if he was told that, since he was spoken to while stuffing his mouth, there was nothing he could do.
Mika quickly chewed and swallowed as if a gulp sound was about to be made.
"Phew... it was fine. It was a bit too perfect."
"Oh, that's good. You said you wanted to sleep alone before, didn't you."
Loretta, muttering that, looked a little lonely.
"Big Sister, you're still opposed, right?"
"That's not it... but until just recently, I didn't even think about such things."
Saying that, she patted Mika's head.
For the family, the sudden change caused by Mika-kun replacing Kuhashi Ritsu was probably confusing.
As Mika was feeling solemn like that, Loretta smiled mischievously.
"But now, I won't have to be kicked in the stomach by Mika and wake up."
"Ah! Big Sister, stop hugging me suddenly in the middle of the night! It's so tight I wake up!"
"I'm not doing that!"
"You are!"
After a while of bickering like a brother and sister, they laughed together.
Mika was truly happy that he could laugh like this again.
Since the factory fire, an indescribable sense of tragedy had been drifting around the Noisheim family.
At this moment, Mika was able to realize for the first time that the series of commotions had ended.
Thus, the Harvest Festival ended safely, and Mika slept using the bed given to him by the villagers.
A few days later, the futon arrived, and Mika's preparations for winter were complete.
■■■■■■
Mika's winter preparations were complete, but the village's winter preparations were just beginning.
Food that could be preserved would be purchased a bit closer to winter, but they had started preparing stockpiles of firewood, candles, and straw for beds little by little.
Since the lord knew about Mika's magic and he was allowed to enter the Magic Academy, there was no need to refrain from using it.
So, Mika offered to help with forest logging, etc.
At first, everyone showed reluctance, but the situation changed completely when they saw him cut down trees in an instant with wind magic.
It eliminated the trouble of hitting the tree with an axe many times to make cuts, and manpower could be allocated to carrying the wood and processing it, so it was highly valued.
For Mika's safety, one person stayed by his side to instruct the direction the tree would fall and how to make the cuts, but all other personnel were assigned to transport and processing.
Then, the transport and processing could not keep up with Mika's pace, so the felling work was temporarily suspended.
During that time, they decided to process the stumps that had been left alone.
Using earth magic, they created a large amount of soil under the stump and pushed the stump up from underground.
Pushing it up forcefully all at once would scatter soil and sand around, making it dangerous, so they proceeded with the work a bit cautiously.
This was an application of the previously unusable "Earth Wall" due to excessive magic consumption, but thanks to being able to absorb magic power, they could pull out stumps like crazy.
For Mika, it was practice in handling the Absorb and Earth magic, and also an opportunity to confirm how much magic power could be absorbed.
Mika decided to use the magic name "Absorb" for this magic and rapidly mastered how to handle it.
By acting for the village, the distance with the Vigilance Committee members shrank instantly.
There was even a scene where an overconfident Diego tried to make Mika drink alcohol and got his head beaten by Ninetiana, but the story of Mika spread from the Vigilance Committee members to their families and friends.
Thanks to that, the atmosphere of avoiding Mika, which remained slightly, disappeared completely before winter came, and they could welcome winter peacefully.
Mika's activities were evaluated as contributions to the village, and he was treated favorably just like the Vigilance Committee members.
However, since the period was short, it wasn't considered a huge contribution, but still, having an evaluation and not having one made a huge difference.
Such contributions to the village affected the distribution of food, firewood, etc., during winter preparations.
It was only a small part of the winter reserves, such as distributed supplies, but if there was an addition, it would be that much easier.
Amalia said they could live with more leeway this winter than usual, her eyes filling with tears of joy.
Searching through Mika-kun's memories, it seemed that at the end of every winter, stocks of food and firewood were almost gone, and they spent a very harsh winter.
There was income from the factory even during winter, but if they used it up, the money for the next winter would decrease.
Even Mika, who only searched through the memories of winters that were too harsh and hungry, felt like he might cry.
Thus, the winter that was slightly more comfortable than usual ended, and they were about to welcome spring.
When the snow that fell as if mourning the end of winter had completely melted, the day Mika would depart for the Magic Academy would come.
Thank you for reading this far.
Chapter 1: Rish Village Arc is now complete.
From the next time, it will be Chapter 2: Magic Academy Junior Division Arc.
My writing is poor, and I am slow, so my stock is being shaved away, but I will do my best to post every day as much as possible.
Please continue to support Chapter 2 as well.