Chapter 121: Leca’s Harvest (XII)

Translator: AdCaelum

Editor: Evelet

QC: Adel

121: Leca’s Harvest XII

As cheerful music played in the plaza, men and women adorned with white Leca flowers paired up and danced in a circle. Vio sipped his lemon water and munched on snacks as he watched the festival from the shade. He had only seen a little, but he felt like he had a general idea of the relationships around town.

Then, an aristocratic couple came over to Vio. An older man with brown hair and a well-styled beard took off his hat and greeted him, “It’s a pleasure to meet you, second son of Duke Lesserhain. I have come here as Count Landen. My name is Wen Landen.”

“And I am his wife, Belluna.” The wife, wearing a gorgeous white hat adorned with artificial flowers, curtsied. She was a gentle noblewoman with brownish-blonde hair, and she wore an elegant, deep red dress. The long, black ears hanging out from underneath her hat meant she was a rabbit Locana.

“Hello. Thank you very much for attending today’s festivities. I am Violant Lesserhain.” Vio stood up from his seat and shook hands with Count Landen. To Isabella¹, he put his hand on his chest and bowed.

Count Landen spoke warmly, “I apologize for the sudden visit. I happened to spot a very interesting item at the temple during my casual visit to Endsk. A steamer utilizing the hot springs’ steam is very profound. I also heard the rumors of Leca ink, so when I heard there would be a harvest festival held around this time, I had to come to visit.”

“I see. Thank you for making the long journey all the way here. As you can see, Leca is a very rustic town, but the scenery is quite wonderful. It is the perfect place to escape the summer’s heat.” Vio smoothly introduced the area when he noticed the Landens’ surprised looks. He looked back at them in confusion. “Is there something wrong?”

“Oh, no… my apologies. It’s just that this is the first time I have personally interacted with you…” Count Landen didn’t speak directly so Vio sensed the meaning behind his words.

“I assume you must have heard the rumors about me?”

“That was rude of me. But, the rumors are quite off the mark. You appear very elegant for your age. If I tell my sons about you, it might steer them in the right direction.”

“Not at all. I’m still young and learning. I don’t think of myself as such a leading example.” Based on how old Count Landen looked, his sons were likely older than Vio. This was too much praise for him.

Vio knew that he must show hospitality to noble guests coming from afar, so he quickly looked around, and once he found Rourke, he waved his right hand lightly at him.

“Rourke, can I ask for a small favor?”

“Yes, do you need something?” Rourke quickly came over.

“This is Count and Countess Landen. They made the long journey to come out all the way here. Can you please entertain and show them around?”

“Is that so? Welcome, esteemed guests. There are more shaded seats, so if you’d like, please follow me and rest there.”

Rourke skillfully guided them elsewhere, and the couple nodded in delight.

“I was worried that we’d have to sit on a bench or something.”

“I’m glad we don’t.”

Vio smiled at the happy couple and said, “Please enjoy our town’s festivities.”

“Yes, you as well.” Count Landen removed his hat and slightly bowed before he and his wife followed Rourke to their spot.

Vio watched as Rourke awkwardly moved away and let out a relieved sigh. He hadn’t expected that Count Landen would show up here… The festival was nothing special, so what had intrigued him enough to come?

Count Landen’s territory was located north of the royal capital. The land the Landens owned was small, but the family served as royal scribes for generations, which earned them prestige and the rank of count. Vio would never have imagined that the current count and countess would come out all the way to this remote mountain town just for fun. He had panicked a little when he first heard their name, and he could only hope that nothing weird would get recorded in future history books.

After observing more of the festival, Vio chatted with Elitz and the others before leaving his seat. Someone handed him a basket to put all the snacks he couldn’t finish eating in so he could give them as gifts to everyone in the mansion, and then he left the plaza. The festival provided free food for guests to enjoy, but stores and stalls dotted the main street for guests who came for other reasons.

“Are those accessories? Are there clothing shops set up here too?” Vio asked, interested in the outdoor stalls. He also spotted a store selling antiques. Rille went to Vio’s side and whispered into his ear.

“That store is most likely a used clothing store. They often pop up during the festival.”

“Used clothing? But that capelet is made from rather fine material. The local material is wool, right?”

The Lesserhain territory had quality sheep so their wool was of likewise high quality. As a fellow Lesserhain, Vio had felt clothes made from that material since he was young and could tell if it was good from a glance. It was the same for poor material.

“Oh, yes, you are correct about that. And that capelet is indeed lovely. May I take a look?”

“Of course.”

It seemed that Rille was captivated by the capelet dyed a light emerald color. After Vio gave his permission, she headed for the store.

“Rille is a woman, after all,” Legion murmured something rude under his breath.

“She can only wear casual clothes on her days off, and a capelet can be worn inside the mansion. If the material is good and warm, it would be a very valuable item in this region. If the quality is really good, then you should buy something too for your family. Oh, I recommend ginger as the people in this region often eat it during winter. That stall over there has some.”

“Ginger?” Hearing this unfamiliar item, Legion looked confused at the stall. Vio brought Legion over to it.

“It’s a medicinal plant. Your body will warm up when you eat it.”

“This vegetable-looking thing?”

As the two looked through the stall, the owner showed a toothy grin. He said, “I’ve lowered the price for the festival. I recommend the ginger syrup. You can put it in your tea to warm you up. How about it?”

Legion looked seriously at the jar. He asked, “How much is this small jar?”

“A small jar is eighty copper. This other one is a silver. Oh, I bet you think that’s expensive. Well, you gotta crush it and soak it in sugar and honey. The price is for all that work.”

“Hm, when you hear all the ingredients, the price is quite good.”

“Scamming people during the harvest festival will get you punished by the Great Verdant Spirit after all!”

Legion laughed with the stall owner and bought a small jar.

“For your family?” Vio asked and Legion nodded.

“Yes, for my mother. I’ll also buy some candy and snacks for my younger brothers.”

“Nothing for your father?”

“Father will be fine with some alcohol.”

Legion accepted the paper bag with the jar inside from the stall owner and walked together with Vio to the front, although not side-by-side. At that moment, they heard a voice from the side.

“Lord Vio!” Yuan ran over, weaving through the crowd of people.

“Hey, Yuan! I told you not to run off on your own,” Dawn shouted and followed with a flustered look. After he scolded Yuan, he noticed Vio, removed his hat, and bowed. “Oh, Lord Vio, hello. Are you out shopping?”

Yuan followed his father and cheerfully bowed. “Hello, Lord Vio.”

“Hello, you two. How is the move going?”

Yuan beamed as he said, “We only need to organize the stuff in Grampa’s store. He got a lot of books, so just building all the shelves was a bunch of work.”

“Father-in-law’s cause of death will be burial by books,” Dawn joked bitterly. Then he saw the stall beside them and nodded. “Oh, Sir Knight, did you buy some ginger? It’s a good item since it’s unhealthy to let your body stay cold. Ginger is like a panacea to warm the body. You can even add it to soup.”

“If doctor Dad says so, then it has to be true.” Yuan also gave his stamp of approval, and nearby visitors looked back and forth between Vio and the ginger stall before they all went to buy some.

“It looks like you’ve accidentally given them some publicity, Yuan. If only we could collect fees for that,” Dawn said with disappointment as he faced the chuckling Vio and Legion. “All the townsfolk here are nice. I appreciate that they instantly accepted Yuan.”

“I see.” Vio asked Yuan, “Did you already make friends?”

Yuan bobbed his head. “I did… but there was this one boy who thought I was a girl, so we got into a bit of a fight. But then, he got all sad, so I ended up being the one to apologize. That’s weird, right? I was the one being teased.”

Yuan looked back at the weird misunderstanding, and Dawn made a bitter face. “Even at his age, my boy is charming people… I have to be watchful since he goes out often now.”

Vio had to agree with Dawn’s concern as Yuan was a boy with adorable features. It wouldn’t be strange to mistake him for a girl purely based on his face.

At this time, Yuan noticed Rille walking with a pleased look and shouted, “Ah! It’s Miss Rille!”

“Hello, Yuan. Look at what I got, Lord Vio! I bargained it down to two silver!” Rille held the capelet from before and reported with a broad smile.

Vio smiled and complimented her. “Just as I thought. It looks good on you.”

“Yup, it’s a skill of mine to buy quality for cheap! This is how it looks. What do you think?”

Rille put on the capelet and Vio nodded in admiration. “Yeah, bright colors suit you. It was a good buy.”

“Kya~h, Lord Vio complimented me. Hehehe.” Her white rabbit ears flopped in delight and she spun around.

“Having good bargaining ability is a terrifying maid skill,” Legion muttered. Vio wasn’t sure if that was praise to her.

“No, I’m still lacking when compared to Sir Jill,” Rille responded honestly and slapped her chest.

“O-okay…” Vio nodded with a wry smile. Just how superb of a butler was Jill? Just when he was about to advise her to remove the capelet before she got too hot, one of the townsfolk called out to him.

“Mayor, excuse me for interrupting! May I ask for your assistance?”

The young man looked somewhat panicked, so Vio opened his eyes wide. He asked, “Assistance? What happened?”

“The seneschal Peterson…” As the man stumbled on his words, Vio managed to surmise the situation.

“I understand. Where is he?”

“This way. I’m sorry. I noticed you were in the middle of something.” He bowed his head numerous times to apologize as he led the way.

Before following him, Vio addressed Dawn and Yuan. “Dawn, Yuan, I have some business to attend to. See you later.”

“We understand. Please be careful.”

“Bye-bye.”

Yuan looked disappointed, but he still bid farewell with a wave of his hand.

Sigh, what did he do this time? Vio sighed inwardly as the image of Gary’s face popped into his mind, and he followed after the young man.

Translator’s Notes

1) Adel: Does Isabella = Belluna? Are we suspicious of the author creating typo? If so we should just take the initiative to correct it ourselves, no? Ultimately we should integrate this character into the style guide as well under the designated name.
AdCaelum: Yeah, they’re the same person. The first instance is “妻のベルナですわ” and later it turns to “イザベラには、胸に手を当ててお辞儀を返す。” As I mentioned in my comment to eve about her description, she hasn’t shown up so far in my read, so I don’t know what the author sticks with.

11/19/2023 Update: Cats