029: Harvest Festival

As the villagers have finished harvesting nearly all the crops, it’s time for a harvest festival. An annual harvest festival is seen as fun for the village after a hard time of work. During the festival, most people don’t work, instead the eat, drink, and dance to celebrate a good year’s harvest. When it’s a bad year, the festival is reduced for that year, that a rare occurrence for this village.

This year is an especially rich harvest, and on top of that the Slowlette family is making extra profit from Reversi royalties. Apparently some nobles that Nord is friendly with will come to visit, I heard it’s Count Melna and Viscount Yulina. Currently, the hospitality employees of the Slowlette family are busy making and serving food.

“Hey, are the vegetables ready?” Bartolo

“Yes, they’re here.” Maid A

“I don’t have enough plates!” Maid B

“Ok, cut the vegetables up for serving.” Bartolo

“Understood!” Maid A

“Hey Mina, don’t just put them on your plate” Maid B

I can hear busy voices from the kitchen area, it seems they’re overrun with work.

Since I won the last Reversi tournament, I’ve been requested to play in the harvest festival tournament that’s in Celia’s restaurant. When I entered the restaurant, there were already 40 people in and around the place. While the restaurant isn’t small, it’ll be too cramped to hold this many people.

“Are you expecting more people?” Al

“Hm? Oh, Mr. Alfred. Good to see you. We’re expecting probably another 20 people, maybe more.” Celia

“Even more people, you can’t fit that many people inside, right?” Al

“If we use the ground outside, we can fit more.” Celia

“Hey Celia, should I make some chairs and tables outside?” Al

“Oh, that’d be a great help, please do.” Celia

I’ve got permission to make some chairs and tables from Celia. I walk outside and start making chairs and tables using Earth Magic. It’s not hot right now, so I won’t make any umbrellas. The tables ended up a bit blocky and rugged, but they’ll work fine. If they need to look nicer, you can throw a tablecloth on top. It’d be similar to the inside dining room with that, so I’d call this a success.

“Is magic normally that easy?” Patron

A patron asks a brown-haired young man with an intelligent look next to him.

“No, that would be… At least, I can’t do magic of that scale.” Young Man

“I can use Fire Magic, but I can only light a campfire three times a day.” Roland

“It’s strange to compare Roland and Alfred.” Wester

“Wester, aren’t you able to use Water Magic? How much can you do?” Roland

“You’ll be surprised to hear that I can fill a whole bucket with water!” Wester

“Well, that’s nice, but you’ll never extinguish a fire with magic.” Roland

“What are you trying to start? Would you be the one starting the fire?” Wester

Roland and friend/rival Wester grab each other while yelling.

“Ah, that’s dangerous.” Al

The chairs and tables made from Earth Magic are solid rock, aren’t they?

“Good! Get at him!” Villager Woman A

“Roland and Wester are entangled… they’re so close!” Villager Woman B

“Oh! That’s right! Roland is attacking and Wester is receiving!” Villager Woman A

“Where are you pulling that from? It looks like Wester is reversed from what you’re saying.” Villager Woman B

What the hell are these housewives talking about? Is this some Fujoshi weirdness?

“You’re noisy! You two! If you want to have a fight, don’t make it physical, we’ve got all these Reversi sets! Play in the tournament or play against each other.” Celia

“Oh, that’s right. If I win, I’ll make you black and white with Reversi.” Roland

“What that mean, it makes no sense?. Don’t lose before you face me!” Wester

Roland and Wester stand up and make a show of their rivalry. Their fans are nodding and making weird noises, are they guy-on-guy fans? To be honest, your silly rivalry is fun to watch. Roland and Wester begin to walk like they’re going to compete, but they’re going the wrong way. Roland turn to leave by the front entrance, while Wester turns into the kitchen.

“Seriously! What are you doing in here? This isn’t for customers.” Carla

“Oh! I’m sorry, I’m leaving now. Don’t throw trash at me.” Wester

Wester isn’t that cool. He looks smart, but he’s got issues.

Afterwards, both Roland and Wester managed to lose in the first round, they didn’t even make it to the afternoon rounds.

Around noon, I go to find something to eat from the food stalls in the square. Since everyone is in a merry attitude, there’s some rare dishes that only come out when villagers are ready to spend more than usual on a meal. The profits aren’t significant, but the pride from running high-demand stall drives the cooks to make tasty food. I’ll browse around the stalls to find something tasty.

In the royal capital, the main roads are lined with shops and food stalls from the outskirts to Misfilt Castle. I wonder how many there are? I doubt I would want to live around the royal capital, but I’d like to visit occasionally.

“What should I eat?” Al

Well, I feel getting some hot soup.

“Oh! That big pot must be soup.” Al

Right as I said that, a customer was given a bowl of soup from the pot. I decided to get in line behind two other customers.

“Looking for some vegetable soup?” Soup Vendor

A gentle women with silky blond hair asks me.

“I’ll get a bowl, just one for me.” Al

“Yes, do you have money? Three deci’s” Soup Vendor

“Yep, here you go.” Al

“Gotcha” Soup Vendor

The woman laughs, then stirs the pot and scoops up a ladleful of soup. Steam rises from the hot soup as the aroma of the vegetables drifts towards me. It smells really good. If you look in the pot, you can see a bit of meat mixed in with the vegetables. The ingredients are common, carrots, potatoes, mushrooms, and cabbage. Perhaps a good mix of herbs was added to the soup.

“Yes, be careful because it’s hot, right?” Soup Vendor

“Yes, thank you” Al

I blow on the spoon of the hot vegetable soup before I sip it. The carrots are savory and just soft enough. The sweetness brings out the ingredient’s flavors to keep the soup easy to consume. It’s not overly salty.

“Very delicious” Al

“Thank you” Soup Vendor

That was a delicious dish that brought out the character of the ingredients. I should experiment with soups along with Bartolo in the future. Since I’m satiated by the soup, I’ll get back to Celia’s restaurant.

“Has Carla won her round yet?” Al

When I got back to the restaurant, Roland and Wester were arguing over other contestant’s games, since both had already lost. Other who had also lost in the first round were also watching.

“Isn’t it possible to turn around a bunch if she put one there?” Roland

“Silly, if you put it there, it’s just get flipped back on the next turn. It’s better to place in that other area.” Wester

Roland and Wester are doing their comedy act that isn’t actually an act, they have a unique relationship.

“Oh, you lost in the first round didn’t you?” Roland

“Oh, that was just a bad opponent for me. I’d win against other contestants easily.” Wester

“Sure, was it that new guy with the thin eyes? Is he a new immigrant?” Roland

“I don’t know, I rarely check on who is new. But he’s a strong player” Wester

“Got it” Roland

“By the way, who did you lose to?” Wester

“To the guy over there who keeps ordering tamagoyaki” Roland

“Is he a good player?” Wester

“No, he’s not that strong.” Roland

“In other words, you’re a weak player” Wester

“No, no, if I prepared and knew to get serious…” Roland

I’ve had enough of those two, their argument has gotten on my nerves. I don’t keep up with the new immigrants, but I haven’t heard anything about the guy that beat Wester. I feel like Im missing something, but I’ll deal with that later. I check with Mr. Herman to see who my next opponent is, since he’s the organizing official.

“Alfred’s next opponent is the guy eating a tamagoyaki over there. Since both of you have finished your previous matches, you can start immediately.” Herman

When I looked at where Mr. Herman was pointing, I found a large man sitting in a chair and devouring tamagoyaki.

“I’d like another serving!” Large Man

“How many have you had? Are you sure you can pay for all of them?” Celia

“Oh, I should have plenty of money” Large Man

He opened his money sack and grabbed a handful of silver coins with a few gold coins mixed in. Is he a visiting adventurer like Rumba? He looks strong and has an abnormal amount of coins for a villager.

“But it’s no good, we only have so many ingredients on hand. You’ll have to order something else so other people can get tamagoyaki.” Celia

“Hmm? That’s fine. I’ll be happy with the servings I got.” Large Man

The man stood up and walked over to Herman and I.

“Organizer, is this my next opponent?” Large Man

“Yes, that’s right. Start whenever you’re ready.” Herman

“Oh, well, I’m Melna” Melna

The man with a cynical smile looks like my next opponent.

“I’m Alfred, thanks for the match.” Al

I take a quick bow, then head to the table Melna was at to start the game.

“Yeah, let’s enjoy the game” Melna

I found out when I started trying an edge strategy that Melna is an intermediate player at best.

“Hmm, I thought if I could take the edge, I’d have a strong counterattack.” Melna

I made a stoner trap, I went for a different corner instead of the competitive one.

“I see, you’re better than the people I usually play against.” Melna

“You’re not a resident of Koriat Village, huh?” Al

“Oh, yeah! I decided to visit the birthplace of Reversi, where I live is pretty different from Koriat Village. I’m here now for the festival.” Melna

Melna laughs and stands up. Already, I’ve taken over most of the board with no hope of Melna staging a comeback.

“Miss, I’d like to get another tamagoyaki!” Melna

“You’ve had enough of those, can I can get you a spaghetti?” Celia

What a refreshing guy. Normally, men regret losing against a child.

“Your current strategy is amazing, it’s interesting and useful for reference. If you have time, I’d like to try another match, if you could find the time. Thanks for an interesting match.” Melna

While Melna was saying his piece, a man with thin eyes came to sit down next to me. He introduced himself as Yulina, then ordered some spaghetti like Melna. Hmm, Yulina… Melna… I feel like I’ve heard those names before? Or am I misremembering?

Translation

Good Job!

Do Better!

Chapter

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