Guided by Elisse, I spent the rest of my afternoon lifting and moving logs.
"What are all these for?" [Solace]
"It's for the bonfire! It's one of my favorite loud seeings!" [Elisse]
"Loud… seeings?" [Solace]
Does she mean events? It's hard to decipher child-speak.
"Ah, young hero! Can you help us over here?" [Cheerful Villager]
"Sure thing!" [Solace]
While my comrades were resting in the guard house, I also helped assemble a bonfire in the middle of the village. It seemed that all the men convened to put this together while the women and children went out to gather fruits for a feast.
"By the way, what is this… ritual for?" [Solace]
Through some idle chatter, I intended to learn a little more about this world.
"This is to please the divine beast." [Cheerful Villager]
"Divine beast?" [Solace]
Now this is something I haven't heard of. He continued to explain as we piled logs together.
"Yes, the divine beast that resides in our forest. It keeps all the monsters away from the village." [Cheerful Villager]
"Are bandits not included?" [Solace]
I was just asking.
"Haha… unfortunately not. According to texts, it is difficult to tell humans apart from each other for divine beasts so they just end up not attacking them. That is, unless people attack them." [Cheerful Villager]
"People have attacked divine beasts?" [Solace]
"Worshippers of different religions and so on. It's surprising since everyone knows it's almost impossible to kill a divine beast." [Cheerful Villager]
Upon lifting another log, another villager joined in and changed the subject.
"We also send a gift maiden to the divine beast after the feast." [Nosy Villager]
"A gift maiden?" [Solace]
"We pick a girl that is within ten to fifteen years to bring a basket of fruits to the divine beast." [Cheerful Villager]
"Oh. So the divine beast is real? Can it speak human language?" [Solace]
"Of course it can! It's a divine beast." [Nosy Villager]
That didn't explain much.
"How often do you guys do this ritual?" [Solace]
"Once a year. This year, we've chosen Elisse as the gift maiden." [Cheerful Villager]
"Isn't that nice?" [Solace]
Thanks to my strength, and the help of everyone in the village, we managed to finish building a bonfire by dinner. I didn't think it'd take that long considering it was just piling logs, but the main problem was filling it with a suitable amount of branches. Not only that, the branches had to be of a certain moisture or something.
"Thanks for the help, young hero! We'll continue tomorrow." [Cheerful Villager]
("Tomorrow too…? What else do we have to do?") [Solace]
I waved goodbye to the villagers as I entered the guest house.
"Welcome back." [Fina]
"Hm?" [Solace]
I was greeted by the sight of my Raon and Wilharrow placing utensils at the dining table while Leon was cooking. As for Fina, she was just standing at the door.
"...Were you just waiting here?" [Solace]
"Haha… I was just coming to get you. I'll finish helping Leon." [Fina]
She then entered the kitchen as Raon and Wilharrow sat at the dinner table.
"Not gonna help them, guys?" [Solace]
The two shook their heads.
"Can't." [Raon]
"Why not? You don't know how to cook?" [Solace]
"A noble must learn how to cook. It's a matter of survival. Don't think-" [Raon]
Wilharrow raised a hand.
"Alt, just try helping them." [Wilharrow]
"...You saying that makes me not want to try." [Solace]
Even when my guts told me not to, my curiosity won. I only took one step into the kitchen before Leon threw a knife at me.
"Woah!" [Solace]
I caught the blade and stepped back.
"What was that for?!" [Solace]
"You're filthy! Don't tamper with the meal!" [Leon]
That was the first time I think Leon actually yelled at me. She wasn't wrong though. I could use a bath after working all day.
"...I'll get myself cleaned up." [Solace]
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
By the time I returned from bathing, everyone was already eating.
"Yours is right there." [Wilharrow]
"Thanks." [Solace]
I took a seat on the only open space left. There was an assortment of unfamiliar foods, but I still wolfed it down.
"Alt, you never mentioned what the village elder wanted from us." [Wilharrow]
"It's nothing. I just had to help set up a ritual for a divine beast." [Solace]
Wilharrow leaned back.
"Ah, it is that time of the year." [Wilharrow]
He then sighed.
"Looks like we can't move on until the ritual ends." [Wilharrow]
"What? Why?" [Solace]
Everyone other than Leon gave me strange looks.
"It's rude to the gods to travel during the time of ritual." [Raon]
"There's even a story behind it where someone only got bad luck because of it." [Fina]
"Oh, I know that one. It was one of my favorites." [Raon]
It appears that I was unaware of the divine beast's game.
"How long does the ritual time last?" [Solace]
"Around a week. It depends on which divine beast or god you're celebrating." [Wilharrow]
("A week huh…") [Solace]
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
The next day, I had a task I never thought I'd ever do. I was sitting in a flower field with Elisse making flower crowns.
"You do this… and then this… and then it does this!" [Elisse]
"Uh-huh…" [Solace]
I had to learn how to make the flower crown under Elisse's guidance, which was kind of hard since her explanation was just saying "do this".
"Ugh… This is harder than I thought." [Solace]
The flowers here had no grip, and the way we were supposed to tie it required more skill and dexterity than parrying a sword. The process was long and arduous. Plus, we also needed to make around a hundred before we lit the bonfire.
("How long will this take…?") [Solace]
As I attempted to tie flower stems together with frustration, I felt something land on my head.
"Here!" [Elisse]
"Huh?" [Solace]
Touching my head, I found a flower crown sitting there. Not only that, it was a different type than the ones we were supposed to make. The ones we made were simple, but this one was a bit thicker and had some kind of double flower arrangement.
"For you!" [Elisse]
"...For me?" [Solace]
Elisse nodded with great enthusiasm.
"It's my masterpiece!" [Elisse]
"Your masterpiece you say." [Solace]
My eyes wandered to an empty spot where a bunch of flowers used to be. It was then that I acknowledged the amount of effort she put into the gift.
"Thank you. I'll treasure it." [Solace]