After I returned from the town hall, the maids were already done setting up their rooms and were helping the princess unload all of her stuff.
Commander Thomas and sub-commander Harvey were sitting in the annex's living room, relaxing after they had organized all of their things.
Since I wanted to make preparations for the party that was going to take place later, I asked both of them for their help. Although, they weren't expecting that they would be helping me in the kitchen.
I just wanted to cook some snacks and make some refreshments for the people to try. The town was pretty big now, so it didn't matter how much I tried, there was no possible way for me to feed everyone. However, the town had been importing tons of products in exchange for ours, so it's not like my food was the only thing being served.
I decided to make different kinds of fried food, since nobody in town had tried them, and I had a pretty good variety of meat.
Commander Thomas was in charge of butchering an entire redback bull that I pulled out from my void pocket. He was actually pretty skilled with a knife, and was slicing the boar like it was natural for him.
I had butchered a good amount of boars since I arrived in this world, but his knife work didn't resemble mine at all. The best word I could think of for describing it was "sublime".
Harvey didn't look too surprised, but after he noticed that I was standing there, dumbfounded while staring at the commander, he told me that Thomas was born in a family that owned several butcher shops, so he learned how to butcher monsters from a very early age, although he didn't get to do it that often after becoming a knight.
Honestly, I had only put the commander at the butchering station because I thought that would suit him the best. I was completely unaware that he had a professional butchering background.
As the perfectly uniform pieces of redback boar were placed on a wooden board. I gave Harvey his task. He would be responsible for the breading, while I would do all the frying.
Of course, Harvey had never done something like that before, so I had to show him all the different steps. Dipping the meat in egg, then rolling it across the breading tray, then passing it to me.
After a few tries, the three of us started to synergize, and our work was getting faster and more efficient.
We ended up butchering and frying three redback boars in total.
While we were working on the second boar, the maids and the princess came down from their rooms. All of their stuff had been organized, they had taken a bath, changed their clothes, and were ready for the town's party.
However, as soon as they noticed we weren't done, they offered their help. I didn't really want to make the princess do any work like this, and the maids agreed with me. But the princess pouted, saying she was perfectly capable of helping in the kitchen.
In the end, I asked her to help prepare a redberry sauce for the fried boar. I pulled out a big bag full of them and a pestle and mortar for her to smash the berries. Normally, I would have made the sauce using nature magic, but I had no time to give her my first magic lesson there, so I had to leave that for later.
As for both beastkin maids, Carli and Gina, I asked them to make jars of limeade like the ones we drank earlier that day.
Carli took care of cutting the "lemen" while Gina squeezed the juices into the jars filled with water.
I could've asked Vespera for help, but she had gone to her cave to tend her webs since it had been some time that they weren't getting their maintenance. Fortunately, she came back right around the time that we were done with all our preparations, and helped us take the trays and limeade jars to the town center.
When we arrived, dozens of people were gathered already, putting down tables and stools all around the plaza, with large plates filled with fruits and barrels of imported wine.
Jackson and his assistant, Sairen, were there too, delegating people around to help them organize.
Night time was finally falling upon End Town, so I used magic to light up the plaza with small motes of light. Hundreds of villagers were gathered together, eating, drinking, and generally having a good time.
A group of children were playing music with some improvised instruments that I had made a long time ago. One of them resembled a guitar, using strings, a hollow box, and a long neck.
Another was similar to a xylophone. I used small iron bars with different widths and nailed them to two wooden boards. When the iron was hit with a hard stick, it made different *ding* sounds with higher or lower pitches, depending on the iron plate width.
One of the kids was playing improvised drums. For those, I used wooden bowls and tied thick pieces of leather to it. They weren't the best sounding drums, but they sounded pretty decent.
And last but not least was a "maraca". A hollow, wooden cylinder filled with small wooden balls that rattled whenever the musician shook it. The maraca was actually the very first instrument that I made, since it was the easiest, and it helped me practice my magic control when I carved them.
I couldn't have asked for a better "welcome home" party. The ambience was great, the weather felt nice, the people looked happy, the food was good.
Vespera and Yoru were stuffing their faces, both the commander and sub-commander sat next to the wine barrel so they could get quick refills, the maids helped serve food and drinks to the villagers, while the princess walked around talking to everyone.
I sat on top of an unused barrel to the side to admire the whole scenery. Everyone looked so happy when talking to the princess. I mean, I knew she was nice and talkative, but I never expected the villagers here to be so open with her.
I even thought I would have to clear things out with the residents and tell them that the royals were not our enemies, but they all accepted it simply because she came back with us.
A few moments later, the princess walked towards me with a plate full of fruit and sat on the barrel next to mine.
"You really have a great town…" she said before taking a bite of the sliced apple on her plate.
"Heh, thanks. Seems like you made yourself at home already."
The princess giggled. "It's thanks to everyone being so nice, to be honest… I was pretty nervous when we first arrived."
"Was your room to your liking? I never got to ask…"
The princess nodded fervently. "Did you really build all that with magic?"
"Yeah, pretty much. Vespera helped me a lot though, especially with the bed sheets and pillows…"
"Still, I have never seen anything like it… You have to teach me how to do that, by the way." she said as she decisively locked her eyesight with mine, making me feel a strange sense of nostalgia.
"We could start tomorrow." I said, just as decisive as her.
"A-already?"
"Why not? I'm starting the construction of the knights barracks, so I could use that time to explain how the magic works."
The princess blushed and smiled brightly. "I'll be ready early in the morning then!"