Chapter 175: It’s a Festival!

We had an inconspicuous door installed between my sister’s combined drying room and break room and the restaurant’s combined prep room and break room.

There were ten counter seats, and beyond the kitchen entrance at the back, two table seats. Along the opposite wall, seven more table seats were arranged spaciously across the floor.

At most, five or six more tables could fit in this space.

Mother had been put in charge of supervising the construction, while I went to Felica’s place.

My sister pressed clothes sewn from beautiful fabric, some durable cloth, ten upper-intermediate-grade potions, and their cases into my hands.

Mother handed me five medium stockpots filled with aspic and eight large pots containing assorted dishes, including Golden Goat and Sham steaks.

Five medium stockpots and eight large pots were far too much for two elderly people, so I stopped at Galstein Magic Tool Shop to ensure everything could be stored for a long time.

I purchased a Rank 3-180 Magic Pouch and headed for Helnenka.

Along the way, I transferred Mother’s cooking and my sister’s gifts into the newly purchased Magic Pouch, then searched the surrounding area for herbs until evening.

When I opened the entrance, I sensed two people working in the back from their presence.

“Hey grandma, I’m here!”

“Yes, yes. Sit there and wait.”

I saw her thrust a glass rod into the furnace. As usual, spirits were inside helping with the work.

The other spirit had been clinging to Felica with nothing to do, but the moment she pulled the red-hot glass from the furnace, it moved to her hands and began darting busily around the glass she was shaping.

Grandpa was covering the furnace opening, so today’s work ended here.

Once they had finished cleaning up, I cast [Refresh!] on both of them and headed to the dining room.

“We’ve received plenty of Mother’s home cooking, so we don’t need to prepare a meal.”

“Oh, her cooking? It’s been a while.”

Grandpa Roy’s face broke into a smile; Felica seemed happy too.

I cleared the table and took out the Magic Pouch, removing the five medium pots and eight large pots and setting them down.

“Goodness, she made all this?”

“I’m happy about the sentiment, but we can’t eat this much.”

“It’s fine to leave the Magic Pouch here. Just take out what you need and put the rest back. This is a Rank 3-180 Magic Pouch—two people couldn’t make it spoil even if they tried.”

“A Rank 3-180 Magic Pouch!”

“It’s a gift, so please register yourselves as its users.”

“I can tell Leon is making good money as an adventurer.”

“I was flying all over the kingdom on another request recently, so I earned plenty.”

In the space I had cleared, I set down the clothes and fabric from my sister, along with two cases containing five potions each.

“These are from my sister—ten upper-intermediate-grade potions. Kept in this Magic Pouch, they should last ten or twenty years without trouble.”

“So, Belinda has become quite capable too.”

“So that girl’s daughter has come this far…”

“And this is from me.”

I brought out ten bottles of liquor and a medium wooden tub filled with ice.

I had an Ice Magic spirit make the ice—top-quality ice.

I put ice into the favorite glass Felica had given me and poured in liquor. Roy held out his own glass, and another glass immediately appeared from the side—Felica’s.

The three of us clinked glasses and said, “Cheers!♪”

After a light aperitif, we began eating in silence. Roy and Felica each bit into a steak.

A quiet dinner ended, and I poured more alcohol into both our glasses.

“This tastes like bird meat. Or rather, it’s delicious.”

“Like a much higher quality than Chikki-Chikki Bird.”

“Is it the same as the simmered dish?”

“The other steak is Golden Goat meat.”

The two of them froze.

“Are we the only ones who get to eat such delicious food?”

“Leon, what about the people in the village…”

“Grandma, I’ll offer the village elder two Sham and three Golden Goats, so don’t worry. Mom made all this to apologize for acting selfishly and staying away for so many years, so please share it together.”

Mother knew it was far too much for only the two of them, but she had worked hard to prepare everything and wanted them to taste it all.

The two left, saying they were going to see the elder, but they returned with the elder less than 30 minutes later.

“Lord Leon, I hear you intend to offer the village two Sham and three Golden Goats.”

“Yes, if the villagers will be able to eat it.”

Since it was no different from Faranka Village, I thought it best to celebrate as a whole village.

“Why give them to us when the Adventurers’ Guild would pay such a high price?”

“I’ve heard the rumors, and I believe I’ve earned more than enough. Faranka Village also asked me to provide meat for a village-wide celebration. This is my way of thanking my grandparents—and of thanking the village for protecting them while Mother stayed away for so long.”

“Thank you. From now on, as a member of this village, you may come directly to us without stopping at the entrance gate. Tomorrow evening, we’ll present your gift to everyone in the central square.”

When the three of us went to the central square that evening, a large crowd had gathered. Elder Melvinska gave a brief greeting and indicated the designated spot. I placed down a Sham, and the square erupted in tremendous cheers. I then arranged the remaining Sham and Golden Goats in a wide circle.

Once the discussion about the meat ended, the men and women surrounding me shifted to another subject.

“Leon is a wind magic user, after all. In Faranka Village, he’s famous for magic comparisons.”

“I heard he made a wind [Dome!] that blocked every attack in Faranka. Shall we hold a magic contest here too?”

“Let us test that famous [Dome!] ourselves.”

“They say even Faranka’s strongest Fireball couldn’t break it.”

“A Fireball is nothing to it.”

“I heard everyone was stunned when he hurled stones with Wind Magic.”

“Really—can his barrier withstand that level of attack?”

Oh my, word has spread about what happened in Faranka… It’s not strange for elven villages to share information with each other.

The mages began making a commotion, and somehow they and Elder Norlandiska had already decided to turn it into a magic contest. Don’t decide things without me.

Well, I don’t hate it, so I’ll accept with conditions.

“Leon, I’d like to see your true power too.”

Roy happily egged me on.

Felica stood beside him, smiling as though she were enjoying herself too.

“How about it, Lord Leon? The villagers seem to want to see your strength as well.”

“Elder Norlandiska, I came to Helnenka to search for medicinal herbs that I couldn’t find last time.”

“I said earlier that you’re recognized as a member of the village. If it’s about places where medicinal herbs can be gathered nearby, they’ll tell you without hiding anything.”

“Ah, because meat like this is rarely eaten. If it’s Leon who can provide such things so easily, we can tell he has no intention of making money with medicinal herbs, so we’ll tell you our secret spots too.”

“That’s right, next time you go to gather medicinal herbs, we’ll take you with us.”

“I’ll tell you beforehand, it’s quite a difficult place… though if you can fly through the sky, it doesn’t matter.”

So even secret medicinal herb gathering spots lose to food, huh.

In the end, the elder allowed the magic contest to serve as an excuse for the village’s first festival in a long while. The next day, the Sham and Golden Goats were butchered while preparations began for an outdoor barbecue area.

During that time, I was taken outside the fence by the village mages and made to create about five domes to serve as targets.

“So this is the famous wind [Dome!].”

“You can make both opaque and transparent versions?”

“How can Wind Magic create a [Dome!] like this?”

“Will you make the same things tomorrow too?”

“I made them to last about three days, so it’s fine.”

“Then let me try…”

“Wait! Don’t do things on your own.”

“That’s right, we won’t allow cutting in line!”

“Tomorrow I’ll crush this before you do!”

“Faranka already proved that a puny [Fireball!] can’t break it.”

“Tonight you can dream of becoming Helnenka’s number one mage. Tomorrow you’ll face reality!”

Good grief, it’s becoming a perfect festival atmosphere.

From morning onward, Roy and Felica were in high spirits. Every so often, a [Fireball!] burst overhead with a sharp pop, heightening the festival mood.

“Grandpa Roy, haven’t there been any weddings or children born recently?”

“Yeah. We haven’t had a festival around here for some time. It looks like we’ll see something interesting today. Don’t lose.”

His ears twitch, far from cat ears, just hairy ears, but he seems happy more than anything.

When three [Fireball!] bursts sounded in succession, Felica called excitedly, “Leon, let’s go♪” Even she was completely caught up in the mood.

On the grassland outside the village, even children and elderly people who normally couldn’t venture outside had gathered, giving the place the atmosphere of a picnic.

With this many people here, and so many mages present, it should be safe.

People complained that Elder Norlandiska’s greeting was too long, and the drawing of lots for the attack order began almost on its own.

Across from my targets, another uproar broke out as the Earth Magic users argued over the order in which they would create barriers and shield domes.

“Leon, attack us in order.”

“This is troublesome, so please make five defenses that everyone agrees are sturdy. Once I break those, give up on testing the rest.”

That single remark caused another uproar. Behind me, attacks kept striking my [Dome!], and each impact drew fresh cheers, driving the festival mood even higher.

“Amazing, not even flinching at that attack.”

“Heh heh, my barrier has about that level of strength too. Come on, Leon, try to break it if you can.”

Miss, you’re quite confident, aren’t you.