Chapter 521

Magi Craft Meister 521

15 Showdown With The Demons Arc

15-34 Gossip 29 Summer Festival in Kaina Village

The day was August 15th.

Jin (s Substitute Doll) was heading towards the land of the demons.

Meanwhile, Kaina Village was in high spirits. A festival was being prepared..

A festival, huh? Sounds fun.

Yeah, they seem to do these from time to time in the royal capital.

I cant wait! You have to be the one who overlooks its preparations, Jin, no matter what!

As the Lord of Kaina Village, Jin said that he would hold a festival in the middle of August which is the leisure season for farmers, for the comfort of the villagers.

And so, Jin arrived at Kaina Village, without being joined by Reiko, since she was part of the caravan that was taking relief supplies to the land of the demons.

Well, I guess I have no other choice. Covert Units, youll be in charge of my safety.

Reiko had given Jin permission to go there despite not being there to protect him with that as a condition. Was she being overprotective or just too worried?

Either choice would make Jin feel that Reiko was treating him as a child she must protect by any means necessary.

There were no customs like the

Obon

in this world, but there were other kinds of festivals, such as harvest festivals, and whenever a large amount of mountain deer was hunted and brought to a village, the whole village would revel in the haul and make an impromptu festival out of it.

However, this time around, the villagers were looking forward for what Jin would have planned for them.

A summer festival, huh? So they can afford to hold one, huh

Lithia Farheight, the Lady of the neighboring Toka Village, was also invited along with its mayor Brak.

We do celebrate the time of harvest, but this

Oh, Lithia, welcome!

Ah, good morning, Jin. Everything is so lively around here.

The place was the square in front of Nidou Castle.

Golem Maids brought from Hourai Island were preparing the stalls. Everything looked perfect.

This brought the

Bon-Odori

,

a traditional lantern festival in Japan, back to Jins memory. But it wouldnt make sense to wish for something he couldnt have, so he ultimately settled for just the night stands.

Oh, look at how many Golems you have working here, Jin! This is really something

Golems actually werent as cost-effective as humans, given their initial costs and maintenance costs.

This is more noticeable for poor quality Golems, as it is costly and time-consuming to replenish Mana and keep each of their parts in good shape.

However, the Golems created by Jin were maintenance-free. They could operate continuously for entire years, for up to 100 years.

With that in consideration, humans couldnt compete with Jins Golems.

Thats how efficient they were.

Yeah Thats because Brother Jin is the Magi Craft Meister

Elsa, who was walking next to them, said so with pride. A hint of a superiority complex could also be barely seen in her face.

Well then, Ill go take another look around. See you later, Lithia.

With that, Jin and Elsa walked away together.

By mid-August, anyone would feel that the days were getting shorter. And the wind would start feeling cooler with each day.

At 6 PM, once the sun had started to hide behind the horizon, Jin announced the beginning of the Summer Festival in the public square across Nidou Castle.

Everyone, welcome to this Summer Festival were holding here tonight. Ive prepared various things as tokens of my appreciation towards you all. I hope all of you can enjoy some well-deserved rest from your everyday activities, and have some good fun here tonight.

As soon as Jin finished speaking, Magi Lamps were lit all at once in the public square. The villagers that had gathered there began to cheer.

Whoa, its so pretty!

As dusk began to fall over the public square, the light emitted by the Magi Lamps began to shift color between red, yellow, blue, and green. Lithia was fascinated by that sight.

She was wearing a

yukata

prepared by Jin. Since there was no cotton available, it was made of hemp. And due to the short supply of fabrics, they were only available to women.

The one Lithia was wearing was dark blue with a Japanese morning glory pattern. She had never actually seen a Japanese morning glory, but assumed that it was a flower from Jins hometown.

Jin went back to Lithia, joined by Elsa and Hanna.

Hannas

yukata

had a sunflower pattern, while Elsas had a dianthus pattern.

Lithia and everyone, I hope you all have lots of fun tonight.

Will you come with us too?

Hanna, who was holding hands with Jin, invited Lithia with her free hand. Lithia decided to gratefully accept her offer.

Then the rest of us will go off on our own.

In a display of tact, Brak, the mayor of Toka Village, said that.

Then, take this, Lithia.

Jin handed Lithia some square tickets.

What is this?

Think of it as money you can only use at the night stalls.

They were gold-colored tickets made by cutting a thinly tanned piece of leather. Every villager was given ten tickets, and enjoying each of the night stalls attractions cost one ticket each.

Thank you very much. Oh, this is great!

Lithia cheerfully accepted the tickets Jin gave her.

Whats that, Big Brother?

Hanna pointed at a bouncy ball scoop.

It was a game where one had to scoop rubber balls from a bowl filled with water using a ladle made out of wafer.

The wafer used to make the ladle was made with a mixture of wheat flour, rice flour, cornstarch, and baking soda, and was made by the Peridot after painstaking efforts. They had originally made it to cover sweets with it, but they ended up using it to make wafer ladles for this attraction instead.

The game seemed to be very popular with boys. Kurt and Jim were energetically competing against each other.

Huh? Whats that, Jin? It looks like a cloud

The thing Lithia was pointing at was cotton candy. Also known as candy floss, it was made by melting sugar and then using centrifugal force to blow it out of a small hole, causing it to form thin threads, which would wrap around itself into a cloud-looking shape.

Its cotton candy. Want to try some? Hanna, Elsa, you have some too.

As the one running the festival, Jin handed one more ticket to each of them, which they exchanged for some cotton candy.

Waah, its so yummy!

Mmm, tasty!

This is really delicious, Jin!

All three of them seemed to like it. Jin himself had eaten a little bit too much of it in the process of creating the cotton candy maker for the festival, so he was a little sick of it by now.

But Hanna didnt know that.

Have a bite, Big Brother!

And so she offered Jin some cotton candy.

Really? Thanks!

Jin couldnt help but gladly accept Hannas offer, and took a single bite of her cotton candy.

Is it good, Big Brother?

Mmm, its really good!

Ehehe~

Hanna was delighted to hear that.

Next was the shooting game. Since there were no rifles, they used a small bow to fire arrows at the target. Five arrows cost one ticket.

The prizes one could get there were mainly accessories and toys made by Jin and the Smiths. Jin explained that even if they didnt get a single target to fall, they would still get an

uchiwa

, which was a traditional Japanese handheld fan.

Ah, I want to give it a try!

Me too!

Lithia jumped in, and Elsa joined her without being too sure as to why she was doing so. Jin and Hanna watched them play.

Ok!

Lithias first shot missed. Her second one hit the target, but wasnt enough to make it fall. And her third shot was the same as the second one.

Without a single word, Elsa tried her hand at the bow. Her first shot missed. Her second shot missed. And the third shot missed as well.

Ah.

Lithias fourth shot missed. And the fifth one

I got it! It fell!

Lithia was able to win a crystal necklace made by Jin, which made her jump with joy.

Meanwhile, Elsa tried her fourth shot, which missed. And her fifth shot also missed.

Aw, too bad. But that

uchiwa

goes really well with your

yukata.

Jin comforted Elsa, who received an

uchiwa

with a picture of a goldfish as a consolation prize.

Really?

Elsas disappointed-looking face seemed to have regained some of its spirit.

Ah, that looks delicious, too!

Eric and Barbara had just arrived and were enjoying something that looked like a snow cone. The two of them were sharing a single serving.

Whats that?

Elsa pointed to a serving of

yakisoba

, fried noodles made with wheat flour, eggs, and baking soda, and served with sauce.

It smells really good.

Elsa used one of her golden tickets to purchase a serving of

yakisoba

, while Lithia enjoyed a Pelsika-flavored snow cone.

Can you eat that?

Jin noticed that Hanna had a single corn on the cob in her tiny hand. Her front teeth had come out already, so she should be able to eat them just fine.

Yes, I can.

Since it seemed to be too much for her to eat by herself, she offered half of it to Jin.

Ehehe, lets eat it together, Big Brother.

Hanna seemed to be in a very good mood after sharing half of her corn on the cob with Jin.

Looking at the two of them, an envious expression seemed to appear on both Elsa and Lithias faces.

Ah, Jin! This festival and these night stands are quite nice!

It was Sally Milleshan, who had come together with Giebeck, the head of Kaina Village. She was wearing a beautiful

yukata

with a lattice pattern.

Its nice to have you here, doctor. Are you enjoying yourself

Yes. That cotton candy I just had was delicious. Though it was a little sticky on the mouth.

After saying that, Sally laughed. Giebeck just stood there beside her, smiling.

Ah, we can all play that one together.

Jin pointed at a ring toss game. A single golden ticket gets players five rings, which they could then try tossing at small stakes stuck on the ground.

Each stake had a different grade, like 1st, 2nd, and so on. Prizes were awarded depending on the grade of the stakes they successfully tossed their rings at.

Okay, lets all give it a shot.

The four of them took turns to throw their rings.

On the first turn, Jin missed, Elsa missed, Lithia missed, and Hanna got a 3rd grade stake.

Yaaay~!

On the second turn, Jin missed, Elsa missed, Lithia missed ,and Hanna got another 3rd grade.

Third turn, Jin missed again, Elsa got a 4th, Lithia a 3rd, and Hanna a 2nd.

I did it!

Got it.

Hooray~!

Fourth turn, Jin missed, Elsa missed, Lithia got a 4th, and Hanna got a 3rd.

And on the last turn, Jin got a 4th, Elsa missed, Lithia missed, and Hanna got another 3rd.

The final result was that both Jin and Elsa hit a single 4th grade stake each, Lithia got a 3rd and a 4th, and Hanna got an outstanding four hits on 3rd grades and a single hit on a 2nd grade.

As for prizes, those who got 4th grade stakes got an

uchiwa

. 3rd grades awarded a water balloon, and 2nd grades awarded a wind chime.

Here, Hanna, you can have this.

Elsa already had an

uchiwa

, so she gave the one she got in this game to Hanna.

Thank you, Sis Elsa! Then Ill give you this! And to Big Brother and Sis Lithia too!

Hanna shared her four water balloons with the other three.

Ehehe, we all match now!

Each of them had an

uchiwa

slid into their

yukata

s sash, and a water balloon on their left hand. And Hanna had her wind chime in her right hand.

Lithia smiled after hearing the wind chime ring with a clear sound.

It has a nice ring. A wind chime, you said it was called? Its refreshing to look at

The night sky was full of stars.

And the Summer Festival of Kaina Village had been a great success.

Saki: I came here without anyone knowing I would, but it was really fun!

Stearleana: I love this

yakisoba.

Vivian: These snow cones are delicious.

Toa: Ive failed miserably at both the shooting game and the ring toss

Mine: I wish Elsa showed a little more initiative

Reinhardt: I want to hold a festival like this one in my territory!

Berthie: Cotton candy is so delicious!