Chapter 39.3 – The Village’s 300th Anniversary Celebration

Translator: Adel

Editor: Evelet

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… Despite this, the other day, I saw the dispatched knights standing around grumbling about the issue.

Recently, the number of monsters near the border seemed to be gradually increasing.

Because of this, the number of border patrol knights went up and the regiment was being reorganized. I was terribly worried my friend had been unlucky enough to be chosen for deployment.

Even in such a peaceful village, the truth was… there had been a slight increase in requests to subjugate the monsters and beasts that were destroying the fields compared to the previous year.

Slowly. So slowly that it was imperceptible. A faint shadow was beginning to appear… and at the same time, as for the movements of the great powers in the west and south… they had started to settle down.

Although they were still leering at each other as usual, the West, which was known to wage war so frequently, seemed to be decreasing their number of attacks, albeit gradually.

As the attacks from the West started to calm down, likewise, so did the South. Such a result… was the natural course of things.

In a recent newspaper article, a reporter speculated that the exhaustion caused by the long and unsettled dispute may have finally led to a stalemate. However, the conjecture was that the standoff was just a pause, and the current situation had not changed.

On the other hand, some positive opinions were being circulated too─ that if the standoff continued like this, it would eventually lead to an end to the long-running conflict, and a reconciliation would be reached.

─So much discussion was occurring on that…

Stuck in the midst of days that were so calm… Still, disturbing events started to come and go from time to time.

Every time they were seen or heard─

─I was reminded that the story’s plot had not changed. It was still destined for the same denouement.

Despite the twists and turns, I know that we were definitely heading toward the “Final Chapter” of the “Village Beginnings” arc.

My hands clenched.

Still, I…

I will change it. I promised I would change it.

For Alfred.

For everyone.

That’s why.

I absolutely have to.

I have to try… to make sure the calm times continue like this.

Applause could be heard from all around the venue.

It seemed that Lian’s father’s speech had ended.

My father stumbled back to his office with a sad yet relieved look on his face. My brother nervously handed me a manuscript with jerky movements. I patted him on the back and sent him off, wishing him well.

Good luck, brother.

I then returned my gaze to the hall.

At the edge of the crowd─

─I saw Alfred and Efa talking.

It was like a scene from the story I knew.

I felt a sharp pain in my chest, which I did not understand, and I held it with my hand.

It was him that time.

He chose me.

It’s not that I didn’t believe his words. I believe them.

He is a person who can’t lie.

He swore to me that he would not lie.

…But…

Still, I…

I’m so unsure of myself, I’m so scared, and I’m so pathetic… it’s frustrating.

I turned my head and let out a small sigh.

Together with Lian’s father, we went around greeting and entertaining old men who were higher-ups and people related to the royal family. More than that, we even dined with them. I endured a barrage of sexual harassment from an older man who coerced me to sit next to him. “Don’t hesitate to come sit on my lap,” he said to me. It was no longer just sexual harassment. It was now a reportable offense.

I was finally set free when the blue of the sky was beginning to mix with red.

Lian’s father was busy entertaining his boss and other dignitaries, Lian’s mother was busy having a girls’ night with her friends, and Lian’s brother was still unable to escape from the encirclement of the ladies.

I was exhausted, and when I had excused myself to use the restroom, Lowendahl pulled me away and told them I needed a break.

It freed me from the… endless and nightmarish business of entertaining.

Thank you!!!

Thank you Lowendahl! As expected of a masterful butler. No, a god of salvation!

After the festival is all wrapped up, I will make you a pot of tea and rub your shoulders!

I took off my formal jacket, put on a straw hat with a wide brim and wavy edge, and headed for Mr. Cheddar’s stall. I hid in the crowd to avoid meeting anyone I knew. People would tell me their life stories if I got caught.

Today’s festivities were scheduled to continue until the fireworks display at night.

The color of the sky indicated that it was about dusk now – so there was still plenty of time to look around the stalls.

When I got there, the stalls of Cheddar Farm and Gouda Farm were, as expected, very busy.

When I went around to the back of the stall, Alfred was just bringing in a large tin can filled with milk.

When I called him, he looked up, turned, saw me, and smiled.

“Lian. Have you finished your work?”

“Well, Lowendahl said I could take a break. He let me slip out¹ of the entertainment hall,” I said jokingly, and Alfred laughed out loud in an amusing way.

“Al, what about you?”

“I was also thinking of taking a little break after bringing this can in.”

Alfred called out to Mr. Cheddar while carrying in the milk cans, spoke a few words, and then came back to me.

Mr. Cheddar and the others saw me, smiled, and waved. I smiled and waved back. The three little ones seemed to be tired of playing and were sleeping peacefully, lying down on the cloth spread under the tree and snuggling up to each other.

“Mr. Cheddar said, since the crowd has settled down, that now I’m free to do what I want,” the blond-headed boy told me as he grabbed my wrist.

“I see…”

I looked at Mr. and Mrs. Cheddar and saw them nodding broadly and smiling boldly, thumbs up with clenched fists. They both moved together with the same gesture, in perfect synchronization with each other. Then, as if to say, “Come on, come on, hurry up,” they waved their palms up and down hastily.

Even though the number of customers had gone down, the flow of customers had not stopped. While I was looking at them, they kept coming one after the other… It seemed they were being generous by letting him go with me.

I’m grateful, but I’m sorry.

When I bowed my head, they laughed again boldly and waved his face and hands away with repeated motions.

“Let’s go, Lian.”

“Oh, yeah.”

As he grabbed me by the wrist and pulled, I ended up on a street lined with concessions.

We stopped by Marie and her friends’ spot to eat pudding and browsed through various vendors, including a shooting gallery, a ring toss, a souvenir shop, and a sandwich shop which we ate food from.

It was really fun.

We met up with the villainous trio on the way and browsed around a few stores together until Jano and Snay were called home by their parents.

I thought that the three kids had changed a lot since they left school and started working with adults. Their behavior had calmed down bit by bit, and even now, they didn’t make fun of Alfred nor poke fun at him like they used to do.

None of them thought Alfred would become Master Lian’s escort. “It was completely unexpected!” they said. We talked and laughed with each other and said, “That’s true.”

I also felt the same way. You never really know what will happen in the world.

Because, originally, the person who should be where I’m standing…

The person next to Alfred should have been Efa.

Now that I have taken her place, I really don’t know how the story has changed and what will happen next.

There are some nights when I feel a little anxious.

However.

I don’t have any regrets.

I suddenly realized that I felt that way.

Before I knew it, the sun was setting.

The moon, almost a perfect circle, rose in the eastern sky, and the sky was completely tinged with indigo.

Soft lights twinkled to life in the square and at the food stalls.

“…It’s getting dark. I wonder if the fireworks will start soon,” I commented.

“That’s right. In that case, let’s move to a place with a better view.” Alfred pulled me by the hand after he said that. I nodded and followed along as he led me away by the hand.

Leaving the street lined with food stalls, he called out to Trueno, the large black-haired horse that was freely grazing at the edge of the field and in the shade of a tree. We hopped on his back and rode.

We rode to the top of a hill.

I suggested that we should just stop here because we kept riding for so long that I thought we were getting a little too far away from town. “A little further,” he replied.

It was a fact that if you stood on a hill far from the plaza, you wouldn’t have to worry about the crowds. However, if you were too far away, the fireworks would seem small in comparison.

I was just along for the ride, wondering where we were going, and had no choice but to follow.

We reached a place where he finally stopped the horse and dismounted. It was at the top of a hill, so far that the festival lights were barely visible.

Despite there being such little visible light from the town, the moon shone brightly, so it wasn’t dark. The surroundings were lit up.

Finally, I was able to get off the horse as well.

Just as I was about to complain that we were too far away, I turned my head and looked up at him.

Unusual, very unusual.

He looked down at me with such a nervous look and posture.

“… Al?”

What just happened?

I couldn’t understand why he was so nervous, so I tilted my head and called out his name.

Blue sky-colored eyes slowly closed and then opened.

He stuck his hand into the breast pocket of his shirt and moved his hands in a way that suggested he was taking something out.

“Because I could— …Marie told me that it would be best if I gave it on the day of a celebration. Marie said it would be blessed if I did. In that case… Today would be the best day, wouldn’t it?”

“Eh?”

What is he talking about?

I looked up and tilted my head again. He finally smiled at me, still a little nervous.

Then, slowly, in front of my eyes ─ he turned his palms and spread his hands to show me.

“What?… Ah.”

I looked down into the palms of his large hands.²

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