Category: Isekai Nonbiri Sanpo Tabi

“Phew, that’s it for today.”

As evening fell, the day’s work finally came to an end. Thanks to the efforts of so many volunteers helping to restore the Harvest Festival preparations, the minimum necessary facilities had been rebuilt.

“Alright then. We’d better store everything in our Item Boxes so it doesn’t get destroyed again.”

Whoosh.

“““Ooooh!”””

Ao and I stored everything that could be packed away into our Item Boxes. Naturally, Ao personally put away the wooden statue of the Goddess that she had worked so hard to create.

“Alright, let’s continue the preparations tomorrow and make sure everything is ready for the festival the day after.”

“““Yeah!”””

At some point, I had somehow ended up directing the entire work site, but there was no use worrying about that now. The soldiers assigned to guard the square had arrived, so after cleaning up, we headed back to the mansion.

“How are preparations on your side, Sue?”

“Well, we’ve managed to sort out the stage somehow, but the costumes are still a problem.”

The costumes had been stored in one corner of the square as well, so we’d have to figure something out. At this rate, I might end up spending all of tomorrow sewing.

“If it’s sewing, leave it to Shiro!”

“I’ll help too.”

Both Shiro and Toria-san raised their hands and eagerly volunteered. I gratefully accepted their offer.

Chatting and laughing together, we made our way back to the mansion.

“Oh? The foreman has returned.”

“Uh… where did you hear that from?”

“Hm? The townspeople were calling you that.”

The former Margrave greeted me with a broad grin, and I couldn’t help but sag in defeat.

After washing off the day’s sweat in the bath, everyone gathered in the dining hall.

“Just having the minimum preparations restored is a tremendous relief. After all, those fools were trying to ruin the festival entirely.”

As we discussed the progress of the reconstruction over dinner, the Margrave nodded repeatedly in satisfaction. Judging by the enthusiasm in town, Count Kasuak and the Human Supremacy Cult’s actions had backfired spectacularly. Instead of crushing the townspeople’s spirits, they had only fueled their determination.

“By the way, that idiot count will also be tried for the attempted murder of the Margrave’s family. Throwing explosive magic tools into the estate and firing spells at Father and Toria tends to have that effect.”

“Indeed. For someone of his level to think he could kill me is laughable. He’d need another five hundred years before he could even dream of it. The fool relied entirely on magic tools and neglected proper magical training.”

I could only laugh.

Count Kasuak had picked a fight with exactly the sort of people he never should have antagonized. At this point, the dissolution of House Kasuak was all but guaranteed.

“Father was absolutely furious as well. He said he would deliver divine punishment to the fool who dared attempt to kill his daughter.”

Emilia-san added.

And just like that, Count Kasuak’s fate seemed to have been sealed.There were many people one shouldn’t make enemies of—but angering the most powerful man in the kingdom was surely near the top of that list.

This is translated by Yume Neiji. Kindly read at yumeneijiworks.com

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There was a chance that members of the dark organization could disguise themselves and infiltrate the Western Margravate. But in the end, the only thing we could do was tighten inspections at the gates built into the defensive walls. Since they were fanatics who preached human supremacy, there was also the possibility that they would stir up trouble with the townspeople.

“Oh, we’ve received word from the royal castle. It seems Count Kasuak and everyone connected to him have been arrested and thrown into prison. Apparently, they picked a fight with the troops that entered their estate and got thoroughly beaten for it.”

Well, that settled it. Count Kasuak was undeniably a complete fool.

Even the Margrave wore a look of profound exasperation. At this rate, the adventurer who had been arrested earlier might return home only to find that he no longer had one.

“The Harvest Festival will last for two days. If they intend to make a move, the second day is the most likely. Of course, security will be strengthened on the first day as well, but the wedding ceremony on the second day will be their prime target.”

“Starting today, I’ll assign trusted soldiers to guard the square around the clock in rotating shifts. It’s better than doing nothing.”

The former Margrave and Emilia-san laid out their plans for the days ahead. With the discussion concluded, I headed for the town square to help with the preparations.

“Hey, hold this for me!”

“You got it! Leave it to me!”

The town square was crowded with beastmen, all working together in a flurry of activity as preparations for the Harvest Festival were rushed forward at breakneck speed. The townspeople must have truly wanted the festival to happen, no matter what.

Meanwhile, Ao had already finished most of the goddess statue.

Wasn’t that ridiculously fast?

“Ah, Shun-sama, thank you for your hard work. Everyone in town helped out.”

“I really appreciate it. It’s not much, but let’s use this as a test run for the food stalls and make lunch for everyone.”

“I would be happy to help.”

Toria-san, who had arrived at the square ahead of me, joined me in preparing the food. Fortunately, the takoyaki griddles had survived intact, so there was no need to change the stall menu.

Sizzle…

“Please line up in order!”

“There’s plenty for everyone!”

“Be careful, they’re hot!”

By lunchtime, Shiro and the others had begun guiding customers into orderly lines. Thanks to their help, the food was served smoothly, without any confusion or commotion.

“Oh, mine has meat inside!”

“And this one has cheese. This is quite an interesting dish.”

The round grilled snacks—dubbed ‘round bake’ by Kent-chan—were a huge hit with the beastman. When we introduced a spicier version seasoned with chili peppers, it proved especially popular among the larger beastman.

“By the way, is the wedding ceremony still the highlight of the Harvest Festival?”

“That’s right. This year, it seems there are even more applicants after seeing that goddess statue.”

“The prayer ceremony for the harvest on the first day also draws a crowd, but the wedding is definitely the biggest event.”

Even after asking various townspeople who came to collect their food, the answer was always the same. The wedding ceremony is the festival’s main attraction.

“Sue, you understand what I’m getting at, don’t you?”

“Yes. You’re saying that if someone intends to interfere, they’ll most likely strike when the festival is at its peak.”

Sue immediately grasped what I was implying. Casey-san and Telma-san nodded in agreement as well.

“So there are still idiots who will try to ruin the festival?”

“If I find any bastard like that, I’ll crush them on the spot!”

In fact, the beastmen who had overheard our conversation seemed even more fired up than before. Considering that parts of the square’s facilities had already been destroyed, it was no surprise that the townspeople were furious.

This is translated by Yume Neiji. Kindly read at yumeneijiworks.com

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After breakfast, we split up the work and got moving.

“Well then, we’re off!”

“Be careful out there.”

With Ao perched on her head, Shiro headed toward the plaza together with Fran, Horn, and Sue.

The main attraction this time should have been the goddess statue that Ao created before. However since it was wrecked, it had to be remade. Thankfully, Ao could carve a wooden statue in a single day. So as long as there was spare lumber, it could be remade in no time. The rest is mostly heavy lifting, so Shiro and the others will be very helpful here. And since Sue and her group were deeply involved in the wedding preparations as well, they could handle coordination with the related parties.

“Alright then, let’s begin the meeting.”

“…Right.”

And for some reason, I ended up participating in a strategy meeting with the former margrave, the Margrave, and Emilia-san regarding countermeasures against House Kasuak and the Human Supremacy Cult.

Seriously, why was I being included in this?

Wondering that the whole time, I trudged reluctantly toward the study. As for Kent-chan, Maria-san and Toria-san were keeping him company and playing with him.

“Now then, you’ve crossed paths with criminal organizations in frontier territories all across the kingdom. Do you think they’ll back down quietly after this?”

“I don’t think so. I’m certain they won’t stop here. If I had to guess, they’ll make their move either right before the Harvest Festival… or during the festival.”

“Mm. The same as the conclusion I came to. Which is precisely why we asked you to stay for this discussion.”

So that was why they kept me behind. They wanted to hear about my experiences dealing with underground organizations up until now. Well, if that was the case, then maybe I really could offer some useful advice.

“Based on what we’ve seen so far, the real heavy hitters usually appear at the very end. Also… this is just my intuition, but it feels like the enemies we’re facing are gradually getting stronger.”

“That instinct is probably correct. To those criminal organizations, you and your companions are practically priority targets now. In terms of raw offensive power alone, suppressing your group is already difficult. And on top of that, my wife has personally trained you.”

The Margrave’s lips curled slightly.

“You’ve grown even stronger since then, haven’t you?”

Just as the Margrave said, ever since Emilia-san started training us, I’d become much better at controlling my body in combat. Maybe that was why I could now keep a bit more composure even in the middle of battle.

“The Harvest Festival is one of the biggest events in this frontier territory. Those underground organizations intend to make a spectacle of destroying it—to advertise their existence. And by provoking unnecessary conflict, they hope to throw the kingdom into chaos.”

“Either way, we have to stop whatever they’re planning. Though being forced into a defensive position makes this pretty difficult…”

Still, the Harvest Festival is only two days away. The real question is on how are we supposed to prepare for whatever the criminal organizations had planned.

Emilia-san continued,

“The wedding-related events are always the highlight of the festival. And since there will be many women on stage, it’s the perfect target for people like them.”

“They’ll likely try to destroy the goddess statue as well. To the Human Supremacy Cult, it’s an eyesore they’d rather erase.”

The Margrave added grimly.

“In that case… Sue and the others are basically the key to everything.”

The wedding events would keep Sue and the girls busy throughout the festival itself. Ao would probably stay close to support them, but the real issue was how close I could remain during all of it.

“You’ll be near the plaza anyway, Shun. We’re having you cook at the food stalls.”

“Uh… this is turning out exactly like what happened in the northern frontier territory…”

So in the end, my role would probably be the same as before—keeping watch over the entire area from the stall and rushing over the moment something happened.

The key point now is how the organized crime group will respond.

This is translated by Yume Neiji. Kindly read at yumeneijiworks.com

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The former margrave returned to the mansion with Ao in tow.

“We had Ao use search magic while we investigated the area, but it looks like the ones already captured were all of them. Even so, we’ll need to reinforce the checkpoint guards at the barrier walls.”

Ao could use search magic too. As she waved its tentacles happily at us, I let out a small sigh of relief. At least things seemed to have calmed down for the moment.

“Let’s gather in the reception room. We need to discuss what comes next.”

The Margrave—wearing an unusually serious expression—motioned for us to follow him.

Right. There were a lot of decisions that needed to be made. Everyone headed together to the reception room.

“The military has already begun searching the Count Kasuak’s estate in the royal capital.” the Margrave spoke once we were seated.

“The Human Supremacy Cult has confirmed ties to the underground organization Red Scorpion, so the kingdom had already marked them as an illegal group under surveillance.”

“Well, the name says it all, the Human Supremacy Cult is a supremacist faction devoted to human superiority. Most of their supporters are wealthy nobles and merchants who harbor resentment toward beastmen.”

Emilia added with a cold smile.

For an “illegal organization”, the people who showed up in front of the mansion had been awfully open about announcing their affiliation. The Margrave and Emilia both responded with obvious annoyance, though honestly, I could see why.

This group sounded like a massive headache.

“Come to think of it, I once ran into some human-supremacist extremists inside a church in the eastern frontier territory. Are they connected somehow?”

“Oh, absolutely. The Human Supremacy Cult has infiltrated the Church as well. The ones openly active are the human supremacist factions. They treat Humans to a fanatical degree, so it’s not like they’re trying to hide it.”

…Yikes.

Okay, so they were both insanely troublesome and extremely dangerous. Yeah, I really didn’t want anything to do with them.

“Among the nobility, there are always those with an excessive sense of superiority—the kind who believe themselves chosen above others. Those types are often connected to the Human Supremacy Cult. House Kasuak is almost certainly one of them.”

“Yeah. That son from the Kasuak family hated beastmen to an abnormal extent.”

And now nobles were involved too. Which probably meant money from aristocrats was flowing directly into criminal organizations behind the scenes.

“We’re holding the Harvest Festival. I refuse to let those bastards ruin the townspeople’s celebration. Of course, security will be tightened to the highest level.”

The Margrave declared firmly.

“The removal of the rubble in the plaza has already begun. Ao has already dealt with anything she could absorb.”

At their words, the rest of us nodded in agreement. After coming this far, none of us had any intention of backing down now. There were only two days left to prepare, but that just meant we had to do everything we could.

“Well then, that’s enough discussion for now. We haven’t even had breakfast yet. Let’s eat properly and keep moving.”

“““Yes!”””

With that, we all headed toward the dining hall.

“““Welcome back!”””

“Welcome home, everyone. Breakfast is ready.”

When we arrived, we found Kent-chan, Fran, and Horn already stuffing their cheeks with bread at the table. Maria-san greeted us with a warm smile, and somehow that alone soothed our frayed nerves.

Alright. Time to eat breakfast and keep doing our best.

This is translated by Yume Neiji. Kindly read at yumeneijiworks.com

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We broke into a sprint toward the mansion.

Then, out of nowhere, someone came running straight at us with soldiers in pursuit. He even had a knife in his hand.

Yeah, there was no way this guy wasn’t suspicious.

“Shiro, get h—”

“Toh!”

“Guaaah!”

Before I could even finish, Shiro launched herself forward with a flying dropkick that sent the man soaring. Apparently, she’d reached the same conclusion I had. The guy was knocked out cold in a single hit, and the pursuing soldiers immediately pinned him down.

“Thank you very much. That man threw an explosive magic device into the mansion grounds.”

“What?! Is the mansion okay?”

“Yes. The Margrave caught the explosive magic tool and hurled it high into the sky. Thanks to that, there was no damage at all.”

….Margrave, what exactly are you doing? That’s a little too over-the-top, don’t you think?

Still, we needed to get to the mansion and figure out what was happening. And so, once again, we took off running toward the estate.

“Ah, it’s Shun! Hey there!”

“Shun-oniichan, hiiii!”

“Hey.”

As soon as we entered the mansion, we found Fran, Horn, and little Kent playing together in the entrance hall. At least these three seemed completely unaffected by everything going on.

“Oh, Shun, you’re back already.”

I turned to see the Margrave approaching from deeper inside the corridor.

“Margrave, I heard what happened. You caught an explosive magic device and threw it into the sky?”

“Well, it was the fastest way to keep the damage to a minimum.”

I tried offering a bit of criticism, but the man himself looked utterly unapologetic. Not even a hint of reflection there.

“More than that, how was the plaza?”

“The Harvest Festival grounds were completely wrecked. We also found fragments of explosive magic devices there. Fortunately, it happened early in the morning, so the number of injured was relatively small.”

“Things can always be rebuilt. The important thing is that there weren’t many casualties. Now then… the question is how we’re going to make that idiot count pay for this.”

Oh wow… the Margrave is furious.

And while radiating that terrifying anger, he was busily tapping away at a tablet-type magic device—the same kind the Queen had used before. Just then, Emilia-san and the others returned with Sue.

“We’ve captured the members of House Kasuak who tried to flee. And, Dear, you really overdid it this time.”

“Ow ow ow—don’t pull my ear!”

Without hesitation, Emilia-san began punishing the Margrave on the spot. Yeah, he definitely deserved a proper scolding.

But then Emilia-san herself started tapping away at another tablet-type magic device.

“Fufufu. There’s no reason to show mercy to that fool, is there? It’s been a long time since I’ve been this angry.”

Whoa…

Looks like House Kasuak and the Human Supremacy Cult managed to anger the absolute wrong people. Anyway, we still needed to track down and capture every last suspicious person involved.

This is translated by Yume Neiji. Kindly read at yumeneijiworks.com

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Ao and I reacted instantly. I stepped in front of Toria-san and deployed a magic barrier.

BOOOOM.

“Huh? That felt weaker than I expected.”

“Ah…”

Toria-san looked momentarily stunned by the sudden attack, but honestly, the spell itself hadn’t been all that powerful.

“Hmph!”

SMASH!

“Fuhaha! Such feeble magic.”

“Guh!”

As proof of that, the former margrave had literally punched the incoming spell out of existence.

Yeah… that was incredible in its own way.

CRACKLE CRACKLE CRACKLE.

“GYAAAAAH!”

A split second later, Ao’s lightning magic slammed directly into one of the attackers, dropping him to the ground instantly. Soldiers rushed over and quickly restrained the twitching assailant. Just to be safe, I expanded my detection magic again, but there didn’t seem to be any other suspicious presences nearby.

“Maintain a perimeter search. There may still be additional infiltrators.”

“““Yes, sir!”””

At the former margrave’s command, the soldiers spread out to secure the area. Only then did Toria-san finally seem able to breathe again.

“Shun-sama, thank you for saving me from danger.”

“You have my gratitude as well. You saved my daughter’s life.”

For once, I decided to simply accept their thanks honestly.

Scrape… drag… scrape…

“Oniichan, I caught one!”

Shiro came running back dragging the other suspicious figure by one leg across the ground.

Yeah… that probably wasn’t the best way to transport prisoners.

The soldiers hurried over and immediately restrained the captured man from her.

“Looks like it’s broken…”

Shiro murmured softly.

The plaza we had all worked so hard to prepare had now been reduced to nothing more than a field of rubble. Not just me, but even the former margrave and Toria-san wore deeply pained expressions.

“Sir, we’ve found fragments of explosive-type magical devices. It appears to be the kind that accumulates mana before detonating all at once.”

“Confirm whether there are any other suspicious objects. There may be explosives planted within the town as well.”

Without a doubt, this was the work of House Kasuak and the Human Supremacy Cult. But for now, the site needed to be secured, so we couldn’t even begin clearing the rubble.

Above all—

we needed to catch the perpetrators.

BOOOOM. BOOOOM.

“W-what?!”

“No way…”

At that moment, another series of explosions echoed in the distance.

“I-isn’t that coming from the direction of the mansion?”

Toria-san was right. The blasts were clearly coming from the estate.

“Shun, go to the mansion. I will continue the investigation here.”

“Understood.”

“I shall accompany you as well.”

“Shiro’s going too!”

The previous margrave and Ao stayed in the square, and we run towards the mansion.

I hope there’s no damage.

This is translated by Yume Neiji. Kindly read at yumeneijiworks.com

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The sudden explosions threw everything into immediate chaos.

“Damn it!  Are there more of them besides those men from earlier?”

“If it wasn’t a timed magical device, then that’s very possible.”

The former margrave and I both grimaced at the same time. We’d made a mistake. There was no time to stand around any longer.

“What’s going on?! What’s with that smoke?!”

“You stay at the mansion and coordinate information gathering. House Kasuak and the Human Supremacy Cult are causing trouble.”

Members of the margrave’s household came rushing out of the estate with shocked expressions, but the moment they heard Emilia’s explanation, their faces hardened instantly.

“We are now at First Combat Readiness! Seal the fortress gates and begin evacuating the citizens! Hunt down every last rat that has infiltrated my territory!”

“““Yes, sir!”””

Whoa… amazing.

This was nothing like the lazy, carefree Margrave I usually knew. He gave out orders one after another without hesitation.

“My son excels at crisis management. Once things reach this stage, there’s nothing to worry about.”

“I just wish he acted like this all the time…”

The contrast between his usual slovenly behavior and his current commanding presence was so extreme that I couldn’t help but let out a wry smile.

We need to move too.

“Shiro and Ao, you’re coming with me. Sue and the others, stay with Emilia-sama. Fran and Horn, remain by Kent-chan’s side in case the mansion comes under attack.”

“““Yes!”””

“Mm. A solid decision, Shun.”

The former margrave praised me, but this wasn’t the time to relax. From here on out, we had to prepare for the possibility of full-scale combat. Just then, Toria-san stepped over to my side with a spear in hand.

“I’m going too. I can use healing magic as well.”

“Just don’t push yourself too hard, alright?”

“Yes!”

Toria-san was the former margrave’s daughter, so she was probably quite strong herself. Together, we headed toward the source of the explosions.

Dash dash dash.

“Look—the smoke is coming from the plaza!”

“Oh no… this is terrible!”

The town square where the Harvest Festival and wedding ceremony were supposed to take place had been utterly devastated.

Ao’s goddess statue—

the decorations—

the stage—

everything we had worked so hard to prepare had been completely destroyed.

Toria-san’s face twisted with grief at the sight. But before mourning the damage, there was something far more important we needed to do first.

“Rescuing the injured and providing treatment comes first. Ao, come with me. We’ll also search the surrounding area.”

“Shiro, you’re with me. We’ll question witnesses. There’s still a chance suspicious individuals are nearby.”

From there, we split up to handle different tasks. Fortunately, because it was still early morning, no one had been caught beneath the collapsing festival structures themselves. However, several people had been injured by debris blown around in the explosions, so Ao, Toria-san, and I moved quickly to treat the wounded.

“Hmm….. Apparently there weren’t any suspicious people around until evening yesterday.”

The former margrave and Shiro continued questioning the townspeople, but so far nobody had noticed anything unusual.

“We patrolled the town last night as well, but we found no suspicious individuals.”

“I see… Understood. Continue maintaining heightened vigilance.”

Because the festival was so close, soldiers had already been conducting nighttime patrols, yet according to their reports, nothing out of the ordinary had occurred. The former margrave clicked his tongue in frustration as he issued further orders.

At that moment, my detection magic suddenly picked up an unmistakably suspicious presence.

There!

“Shiro! Someone’s on top of that shop roof!”

“Found you! Hyaaa!”

“Guh!”

The instant I shouted, Shiro leapt high into the air and landed directly in front of the suspicious figure.

Ah—another reaction!

Ao noticed it too.

“Someone’s hiding behind the vegetable stand—wait, they’ve already prepared a spell!”

“Die!”

Two suspicious figures burst from the shadows and unleashed the magic they had been charging in advance straight toward us.

Their targets—

the former margrave and Toria-san!

This is translated by Yume Neiji. Kindly read at yumeneijiworks.com

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It happened early in the morning, two days before the festival.

For some reason, the area in front of the Margrave’s mansion gates was in complete uproar, with a large number of soldiers gathered outside. We had been in the garden doing our morning training, but the commotion was so unusual that we all stopped to look toward the front gates.

“W-what’s going on out there?”

“Haa… It’s probably people connected to House Kasuak. We already confirmed yesterday that they’d entered the territory.”

“““Eh?”””

Emilia-san spoke with an exasperated expression, while Sue and the others stared in shock.

“As soon as the news reached the Royal Castle that a member of House Kasuak had been detained for unlawful entry, they immediately sent people rushing here to the frontier territory. That’s why I reinforced the gate guards. They’re most likely demanding the release of those adventurers.”

From House Kasuak’s perspective, they were probably just doing what any noble family would do. But for the Margrave’s household, this was an absolute headache.

At that moment, the former margrave slowly rose to his feet.

“It can’t be helped. Let’s go hear what exactly they’re shouting about. Shun, you’re coming too.”

“Eh? Me too?”

“That’s right. You’re capable of staying calm and making rational judgments.”

For some reason, I ended up accompanying the former lord as he strode toward the front gates.

“Oh, there he is. The boss of the beastmen finally showed up.”

“A filthy creature that threatens the noble race of mankind!”

Standing outside the gates were several men who looked like soldiers.

No, more importantly, these idiots had just openly picked a fight with the former lord. A heavy wave of killing intent began swelling from him.

And that phrase—the noble race of mankind—really bothered me.

“I see. I thought something felt off about you people. So you’re followers of the Human Supremacy Cult.”

“That’s right! Anything other than the exalted human race is a harmful existence!”

“We will not tolerate a mere beastman imprisoning our young master! Release him at once!”

I remembered hearing that those adventurers sought fame by hunting beastmen, but I had wondered why they’d go so far out of their way to do something like that. So this was why. It was the influence of some blatantly suspicious religion called the Human Supremacy Cult.

“Hey! What do you think you’re doing?!”

At that moment, reinforcements finally arrived, and the tense standoff abruptly began to shift.

“Tch, more soldiers!”

“You’ll regret treating us so lightly!”

The two men causing the disturbance immediately fled like startled rabbits. The soldiers quickly gave chase after them.

“So it’s the Human Supremacy Cult… To think something this troublesome was backing them. They’re even rumored to have ties to underground organizations.”

“That sounds unbelievably dangerous. No matter how you look at it, they’re an extremist group.”

“Indeed. We need to strengthen security immedia—”

BOOOOM! BOOOOM! BOOOOM!

Right in the middle of our conversation, massive explosions suddenly rang out from the direction of the town center. Smoke rose high into the air.

There was no mistaking it—something serious had just happened.

This is translated by Yume Neiji. Kindly read at yumeneijiworks.com

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From the following day onward, we continued focusing mainly on preparing the festival grounds.

Since the former lord, the Margrave, and Emilia-sama also had mountains of paperwork to deal with, they often only stopped by the venue for half the day.

“Boo… this is boring.”

“Ken-chan, they’re working, so it can’t be helped.”

“Okaaay…”

For Kent-chan, who usually spent his time dashing all over the venue, having everyone around for only half a day seemed terribly dull. Even when Emilia-sama explained it to him, he answered with the resigned tone of someone reluctantly accepting reality. Still, Kent-chan was young enough that he needed afternoon naps anyway, so there really wasn’t much to be done about it.

“It turned out beautifully!”

Meanwhile, Sue and the others had been working hard on the artificial flowers and stage props as well. It seemed they had taken Emilia-sama’s words about bridal training very seriously. Apparently, being told “It would be nice if you could sew clothes for your future children someday” had motivated them even more.

They occasionally helped out with cooking too, though realistically, if they married into noble households, they probably wouldn’t have many opportunities to cook themselves.

Still, seeing them put so much enthusiasm into learning was definitely a good thing.

“You should sew this part like this.”

“Ohh, that came out really nice!”

Toria-chan spent most of her time teaching sewing and handicrafts while also looking after Shiro and the others. And for some reason, Shiro turned out to have remarkable talent for sewing.

Her skills improved at an astonishing pace, and before long, she was honestly the best among all the girls. At this rate, sewing might even become Shiro’s new hobby.

“Please line up properly—!”

Fran, meanwhile, had given up on sewing almost immediately and instead devoted herself to helping with cooking and various other tasks. I did wish for her to learn at least some sewing since she was a girl too, but in the end, motivation was something only she herself could decide.

And then there was the thing that had somehow become the main monument of the entire festival—

the goddess statue Ao had created.

“How magnificent! It’s as though the goddess herself has descended before us.”

“Truly. I’ve never seen such a splendid wooden statue of the goddess in all my life.”

The elderly in particular were so moved that some even burst into tears at the mere sight of it.

Without a single objection, the statue was placed at the very center of the plaza, where it became both a symbol of prayers for prosperity and a sacred blessing for the wedding ceremony itself.

“Whew… only three days left until the festival.”

“Yes. At this point, we could probably hold it as early as tomorrow. Thank you for everything you’ve done.”

Together with Emilia-sama, I gazed out across the plaza, where the preparations were nearly complete.

Three days remaining.

Only three days—and yet, as it turned out, those three days would change everything. At that moment, none of us could have imagined that someone arriving from the royal capital would soon bring about a catastrophe unlike anything we expected.

This is translated by Yume Neiji. Kindly read at yumeneijiworks.com

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Dragging the thoroughly battered Margrave behind them, Emilia-sama and the others finally returned.

“My, Ken-chan, you certainly seem to be enjoying yourself.”

“Yep! They are round cakes!”

Kent-chan replied with a radiant smile as he chatted happily with Emilia-sama.

The one he is eating right now had cheese inside, and it seemed like it would be especially popular with children. Then, at that moment, I held out one particular round bake toward the Margrave.

“Margrave-sama, would you like to try this one?”

“Mm, (munch munch). A rather stimulating flavor, but it’s manageable enough.”

“Let me try one too. Yeah, this is still nothing to worry about.”

Uh… I intentionally gave the spicy round bakes for sampling, yet the Margrave looked completely unfazed. Even the craftsman wore an expression that said he could handle it easily. It seemed beastmen from the western frontier territory were perfectly fine with spicy food.

Then—

Snatch. Chomp.

“Ah.”

““Aaaaah! IT’S SPICY!””

“Awaawaa…”

Before anyone could stop them, Kent-chan and the others had grabbed the spicy ones themselves. Shiro and Fran who also sneakily stolen bites of the spicy round bakes were now rolling around on the ground in agony.

You two did the exact same thing back in the Northern Margrave Territory when you stole bites of the death curry and nearly died from the heat, didn’t you remember?

Horn hurriedly cast healing magic on them, but by then Shiro and Fran’s lips had swollen up like bright red cod roe. In the end, the round bakes settled into three standard varieties—meat, seafood, and cheese—with the fun coming from discovering which filling you got after taking a bite.

We were also serving okonomiyaki-like pancakes and tandoori-chicken-style skewers, so the menu should be more than sufficient now. With everyone’s stomachs finally full, it was time to resume the afternoon work.

Snip, snip, snip.

Picking up where we had left off earlier, we returned to making artificial flowers.Honestly, this kind of meticulous work was strangely calming. It really helped me focus.

Patter patter patter.

“Shun-oniichan, Shiro wants to make flowers too!”

“Huh? Weren’t you helping with the wedding preparations?”

“They said we’re done for today! Sue-oneechan’s coming here too!”

Shiro wrapped herself around my back in a clinging hug, but it seemed the wedding preparation team had already finished for the day.

And so, everyone ended up joining in to make artificial flowers together.

“Hmm hmm hmmm~”

“Maybe like this?”

The surprising part was that Shiro and Horn turned out to be incredibly talented at it. Both of them skillfully worked with their hands, steadily crafting beautiful artificial flowers one after another.

“Umm… like this?”

“No, like this!”

Fran demonstrated a truly impressive level of clumsiness. At this point, she and Kent-chan had practically turned the whole thing into playtime. Well, they were having fun, so that was fine too.

The real issue, however, was these three.

“Hmm… I can’t get it right.”

“This is difficult. It’s even harder than embroidery.”

“I should have learned sewing during my bridal training, but…”

Sue, Casey-san, and Telma-san were struggling far more than expected. They all had sewing experience, but this kind of craft seemed completely new to them. Still, with a little more practice, they looked like they’d improve quickly enough.

“Honestly, if you can’t even manage this much, it’ll be troublesome once you’re married.”

“““Ugh… we’ll do our best…”””

Even Emilia-sama, who had effortlessly finished her own flowers in no time, ended up giving the three of them a gentle scolding. Since we’d still be making artificial flowers tomorrow as well, hopefully this would help improve their future-wife skills a little.

This is translated by Yume Neiji. Kindly read at yumeneijiworks.com

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