Volume 3 Chapter 62 Interlude - Harvest Festival, Everyone Gather (preparation Edition)
A while back, when Catherine and Edgar were still having fun...
"You're back."
"Yep."
Randy and Liz were bringing back Cecilia, Luke, Annabelle, Cory, and even Harrison and Rita to Victor territory.
The reason they brought everyone back was simple.
"The harvest festival is getting ready."
Randy looked down at the town with a happy smile. They were going to join the harvest festival in Victor territory.
"Are we really having a harvest festival at this time of year?"
Cecilia tilted her head, pointing out that it had been a while since the wheat harvest. When Randy left for the second term at school, the harvest had already started, so it had been about 2 months.
"Our harvest festival is more like a hunting festival."
Randy laughed as he explained that in Victor territory, where there isn't much wheat, they actively hunt beasts for winter starting a little while ago.
But the Beast Forest is dangerous, so regular villagers can't go deep inside. That's why, for a long time, the lord of Victor territory has hosted this day to give out meat to the villagers.
As winter comes, every household prepares smoked and processed foods. So, everyone eats fresh meat while they can, and they all grill and feast together. From this day on, families also start making the smoked foods they need for winter.
The harvest festival in Victor territory is not just a celebration; it's also an important day for preparing for winter.
"Um, is it okay for outsiders like us to be here?"
Annabelle looked a bit worried, and Randy laughed, saying, "The more, the merrier, right?"
"That's just a cover, isn't it, young master? You wanted extra hands for the preparations, right?"
Harrison gave Randy a side-eye, and Randy replied, "Only when it comes to the guys." The harvest festival is a long event, starting from the night before to the main festival the next day.
Plus, most of the hunting in the last few days has been for the small villages in the area for the festival. This means there isn't enough meat yet to satisfy the people living in the capital and those coming to see the festival.
"Alright, it's time for the Randy Exploration Team──."
"'Randolph'... you need to come over here..."
Alan peeked out from the entrance of the mansion, smiling widely and waving Randy over.
"What did you do this time?"
Luke gave Randy a suspicious words, and Randy pouted, saying, "I don't know."
Anyway, since Alan called him, Randy couldn't ignore it.
So, it was decided that only Luke and Harrison would go with the other knights to hunt meat in the Beast Forest. Cory, who was super curious about the beasts, joined them, and the meat-hunting team headed off to the Beast Forest.
"Is Cory going to be okay?"
"He'll be fine. old man. Luke and Harrison are with him."
Randy sighed as he walked through the mansion gate with the girls.
"Randolph... you're not planning to make the daughters of other families help with smoking the meat, are you?"
Alan gave him a suspicious look, and Randy pouted, saying, "Of course not." Traditionally, those who can fight go hunting, while those who can't stay home to make smoked foods.
"That's good to hear."
Alan sighed in relief and then changed the subject with another sigh.
"This time, you're kind of the star of the show. Show your face to everyone."
As Alan smiled, he pointed out that thanks to Randy, the area was doing much better. With the Adventurers' Guild branch opening and more adventurers coming, more shops were popping up to serve them, and the population was slowly growing.
With the extra money, they could buy wheat and sell it cheaply to the villagers. So, this year's harvest festival isn't just about meat.
The villagers understand that it's all thanks to "Victor's young master." It's a harvest festival held in that spirit, and everyone is looking forward to Randy's participation.
"By the way, the stage you asked about is almost ready."
"Oh, nice job!"
Randy was laughing happily when Alan raised an eyebrow and asked, "What are you going to use that for?"
"It's for the harvest festival, right? It's a festival! We need something fun for 'the event'!"
Randy explained with a grin, and even though Alan said, "You are..." he couldn't help but laugh too.
As the two of them left the office, they heard the cheerful voices of women nearby.
"Let's use this chip next," and "We need to make it a bit smaller."
It sounded fun to listen to, but the content made Alan feel uneasy. He hurried outside with Randy to the backyard, where they saw Liz and the maids happily working on making smoked food.
"...I can't face Marquis Lucian or Count Alfred if something like this happened."
Alan covered his face with both hands, and Randy could only smile wryly. It was too much for Alan to handle, having the daughters of 2 important families involved in making smoked food.
The only good thing was that everyone seemed to be having a great time.
"It smells great!"
"This is from your territory, right?"
"Yes. His Excellency Count said, 'Since it's a festival...' and I helped out."
Randy sighed,
"Old man... just give up. I'll gently ask Miss Cecilia to keep quiet about this."
With a wry smile, Randy patted Alan on the shoulder. Maybe Liz noticed them because she turned around.
"Hey? Where are you going?"
Liz tilted her head, holding big chunks of meat in both hands, which was quite a sight.
(I can't say it. I can't make her to tell His Excellency.)
With a strained smile, Randy said, "Just helping with some preparations," and waved goodbye to Liz and the others. He had to make sure the festival was exciting and that the memories of making smoked food didn't overshadow everything. But...
──How was the harvest festival?
──We made smoked food with the Victor family.
(No way, no way, no way. This is impossible.)
"Randy..."
"I know. I'll make the event exciting and steal the spotlight."
The two of them hurried off to prepare for the harvest festival, knowing they couldn't mess it up.
* * *
Meanwhile, Luke and his group were out in the Beast Forest gathering ingredients...
"Footprints ahead... and some burnt marks on the trees... this must be the territory of the Blaze Rabbit."
Cory, the beast expert, was using his knowledge from books to lead the exploration team. Just as Cory said, Luke sensed something and looked over, only to see a huge fireball coming at them.
Luke slashed the giant fireball and rushed towards its source, shouting, "Don't breathe fire in the forest!" He then stabbed a large rabbit that looked like it was covered in flames.
The rabbit had strange fur that flickered like fire. Luke lifted it up, and Cory was super excited.
"Wow! It's really a Blaze Rabbit!"
Cory had only seen this high-level beast in books and rushed over to Luke, asking, "Can I touch it?"
"Still, this is amazing... Blaze Rabbits can control the temperature of their flames. They live deep in the forest but are careful not to start forest fires to protect their territory. They usually build their homes near trees that hold a lot of moisture. They also like to be close to water sources."
Cory was talking a lot, and he was thrilled, saying, "Oh, it's not hot at all," while touching the rabbit's flame-like fur.
"Well, there was definitely a river nearby, after all."
Luke agreed, noting that a stream flowed into a big river close by.
"By the way, that's what it was called."
"Oh, for us, we called it the fire rabbit."
Luke sighed, remembering the leader of their exploration team. By the way, the names for the Greater Lizard and Black Serpent in Randy's team were simple, like "Lizard" and "Black Snake."
There's also a giant lizard called the Teragon, which is stronger than the Greater Lizard.
It used to be thought to be a subspecies of a dragon because of its strength, but recently it's been classified as a reptilian beast instead. Its name means "big lizard."
Randy's team prioritized easy-to-understand names, but for beast researcher Cory, it was a bit sad how they named them.
"Still, it's nice to know what beasts will show up compared to our silly captain."
"Yeah, back then, we were like, 'Whoa, there's something big over there!'"
The two of them chuckled as the knights talked about the early days of the exploration team. Now, they can usually tell what kind of beast it is just by sensing its presence, but when the team first started, they were pretty clueless. So when they finally saw it...
"Th-This scar... It's a Grim Bear, isn't it?!"
Cory's face turned pale, and he was right; it was a really dangerous bear. This kind of thing happened a lot.
"S-Senior Luke, we should run. The Grim Bear is really aggressive this time of year."
Cory whispered urgently, explaining why they needed to retreat. The Grim Bear is an A-rank beast, and normally, it would take more than ten Knights to handle it. Plus, it was the season when it gets even more aggressive. It made sense for Cory to be worried...
"Deputy, we caught a big one!"
A few Knights showed up, dragging a huge bear behind them.
"Oh, nice! Usually, the green bears are a bit tough, but this time of year, they're nice and fatty, and the bigger, the better!"
Harrison laughed happily, while Cory looked shocked.
"A Grim Bear... and more than ten Knights..."
Cory was frozen in surprise, but Luke's casual, "Want to touch it?" snapped him back to reality. He poked the bear's tough green fur, saying things like, "I see" and "So this is what it is," as he compared his knowledge with the real thing.
After Cory enjoyed examining the Grim Bear for a while, Harrison turned to the pile of their catch and said, "Should we head back soon?" They had gone pretty deep, and considering the effort it would take to carry their catch back, they figured they might only get a few more beasts.
It made more sense to hunt on the way back, so everyone nodded and started carrying their catch toward the entrance.
"Cory, if you find any beast tracks on the way, let me know."
Luke said, and Cory, with a rabbit slung over his shoulder, pointed diagonally ahead and said,
"Actually... I see some faint footprints and a bit of shiny grass... I think it might be a Celestial Deer. But those are super rare, and there are hardly any sightings──."
"Celestial..."
"Deer?"
Luke and Harrison tilted their heads in confusion, and Cory explained, "It's a glowing deer..."
"Is that the glowing deer?"
"Yeah, probably."
"The glowing deer?"
Cory looked puzzled, and Luke chuckled, "It's a deer that glows."
"Because its antlers and body shine bright, it's called the glowing deer. Simple, right?"
As Luke laughed, Cory's face turned to one of surprise.
"Wait, it really exists? I thought it was a rare beast with hardly any sightings──."
Just then, Luke crouched down and shushed Cory. The Celestial Deer is very shy and good at hiding. It only glows when it's excited, like during courtship or when it's angry, and usually, it's just a black deer.
It blends into the dark forest and is good at hiding, but it's also very timid and often runs away.
That's why encounters are rare, but if you do see one, you definitely want to catch it.
Because its meat is top-notch.
Everyone, including Harrison, focused and quieted down for a bit... Then, with Harrison's hand signal, Luke and the other Knights scattered into the forest.
Suddenly, Cory saw a bright light shining between the trees.
"Let's go!"
Harrison grabbed Cory's hand, and they ran toward the light. There, surrounded by Knights, was a huge stag with glowing antlers.
"I-I've never seen one before..."
Cory's face flushed with excitement as the Celestial Deer shone even brighter.
"Wow, it's so bright! Just like the books say. The Celestial Deer uses this light to blind its enemies."
Cory covered his eyes and asked Harrison, "What do we do now?"
"Well, we just close our eyes and hunt it."
As Harrison's laughter echoed, Luke swiftly cut off the Celestial Deer's head.
"Alright, we got some high-quality meat!"
The Knights cheered at Luke's voice. Unlike the Knights who were excited about the meat, Cory, who had just come back from feeling dizzy, hurried over to the Celestial Deer.
"Wow. It's really shining. And the antlers are perfect too..."
Cory mumbled, then turned to Luke and said, "It's amazing!"
"According to the books, the antlers can be used to make really good healing potions," Cory added, getting more excited.
Luke and Harrison looked at each other, confused. "Healing potions?"
Cory continued, "It's pretty hard to process, and it seems like ancient knowledge has been lost..."
As Cory rubbed the antlers, he said, "What a shame... I wonder if I can recreate it." The Knights approached him with smiles and asked for a handshake.
"Mr. Cory, your sharp eyes for spotting beast tracks are impressive."
"We would love for you to teach us about beasts in our territory."
Cory felt a bit confused as the Knights praised him and looked back and forth at Luke and Harrison.
"Well, our teaching guy says, 'Don't think. Just feel,'" one of them said.
"Let's get rid of them," the other added.
Cory understood they were talking about Randy and could only smile awkwardly in response.
* * *
"Ah-choo! Someone's talking about me!"
"Stop being silly. We need to go talk to the guild."
Randy was being pulled by Alan, still busy getting ready.
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