Chapter 35

The coming-of-age ceremony went off without a hitch .

Originally, it wasnt a very long ritual .

I drank a soup of boiled plants that are said to be resistant to spells, carved ortems and sang songs in spirit languages, and played my own flute to pray to the spirits of my ancestors .

To those who come to the ritual, I will wave the meat of the demon beast I finished off .

However, there are a lot of people, and its just a formality . I almost ended up just handing out bite-sized meat .

Im sure theres a significance to showing that youve become a full-fledged member of society .

And finally, its over with a cross with the opposite hand against the sky-high day with a kissel in one hand .

The whole event took a little over two hours .

It starts in the morning and ends around noon .

There were about 40 people who participated in the event . Some of them didnt know much about me .

I dont have many acquaintances, but my fathers face is generally wide .

Im glad that the Chief, who usually doesnt go out at all, took the trouble to go out .

After the coming-of-age ceremony is over, I keep Kissel away .

How awful!

Its like smoke .

The smell is good, but its not likely to get used to it .

Now you too are a member of the adult Marlen tribe . From now on, youre going to be a little more careful about what you hear, and youre going to study magic to a lesser extent, and youre going to hunt .

My father gave me permission a long time ago to use magic while I was hunting .

Somehow, my father gave in .

Thats why helping with the hunt is alright but, when it comes to magic I dont think I can hold back .

Be that as it may .

Excuse me, Father, please lend me a hand . My clothes are too heavy I cant move . May I take it off?

jeez, cant you say more softly!

In the coming-of-age ceremonies, special ceremonial garments must be layered on top of each other, as well as thick ornaments on the head .

This is heavy . The inside of my clothes are all sweaty .

Wah, Ill give you a hand, big brother! Thank you for your hard work!

Im sorry, jeez, my strength

After that, I was going to handle the incense leaf at the exchange square Is tomorrow all right?

I want to sleep already today . I want to hold the ortem and lie down slowly .

I was taken by Gizel and fluttered into the shadow of the building .

Congratulations . I guess this means that Zeles boy is now a full-fledged member of the family .

Ah Garia-san, thank you . Thank you for coming .

It was Shibis father, Garia, who came near while clapping .

But thats the state of the affair, and it looks like a new marriage . and when is the ceremony to be held?

Gizel turns bright red to her ears at Gallias light words .

I bury my face in my raggedy outfit, trying to hide my blushing face .

Haha, dont make fun of me too much, Garia-san .

Hm? Uh, Oh, is that so?

Garia looks unconvinced and touches his chin .

Sure, it may seem a little too close if you look from the outside, but I dont think there will be any reaction . .

She was always saying Abel this Abel that, but where did Shibi that idiot go? . No, im really sorry . He suddenly disappears

No, no, actually, I asked for it myself!

Asked?

Yes, I had some business to attend to, but I was stuck at the coming-of-age ceremony Im sorry .

No, no . Oh, my God, it was Abel, that makes sense . If thats the case, he should have told me too . . So, what business is that?

I dont like how you are convinced, but

However, up until now ive asked shibi to do many things so, i dont know what to say

Im, Im sorry, sorry for the inconvenience .

This is it .

As I say, I shake the kissel lightly .

The smoke scattered about .

I thought it smelled strange, dont me that, you made it yourself!? I heard you are doing something, Shibi also did not say anything so I thought you gave up

I wanted to mass-produce them all at once, so I asked them to lie down as much as possible . . Now, Im asking Shibi to transport, pick up space, and collect information . . Really, Im sorry again .

Hahaha! Finally, Abel has made it that far . If you make too much, you might get noticed by the Karlco family . Just be careful .

Its okay . Im only making enough for three people to manage .

This is good, a masterpiece! I see, hey, dont you have a spare something now?

Garia laughed wildly, and so came to me .

There is . How do you like it?

Okay, so Im customer number one .

Garia takes out the ore containing the magic circle from inside his clothes .

Its like a currency substitute, with the Chief guaranteeing value .

I was actually going to give them out to the people who came to see me . With a thank you and then a publicity . Its like a trial product, so theres not a lot of it . See, thats whats in that burlap sack over there .

arent you making a lot of food? Youre gonna be okay, right? Between you and me, those guys are insidious, so watch out for them .

Garia erases her smile and gives a hushed word of advice .

But its too late .

We know that the Karlcos are stingy, and theyre already ready to go .

We are already prepared to continue to sell on the cheap .

I didnt want to move much because of my messy outfit, so I asked Gizel to get a burlap bag for me .

I took out a cloth-wrapped fragrant incense leaf and handed it to Garia .

When Garia received the incense leaf, he crushed it with his fingertips and put it in the kissel, then used his magic to light a small fire .

After exhaling the smoke, Whoa! He said with admiration .

Hey! This is great! You looked really unpleasant during the coming-of-age ceremony, so I thought it was tasteless .

Im a little bad at smoking

Hey Abel-san! Abel-san! Theres a problem!

As me and Galia were talking, Shibi broke in .

Hey, Shibi! You didnt tell me

Yikes! Fa-, Father! Hey, come back later, please! Were in trouble right now!

Its hectic .

Why are you here? The place is .

I have an acquaintance taking over for me, so Im fine No, It may not be fine my judgement is somewhat helpless, so if youre done, please come early!

Which one is it? What, was it something unexpected?

The truth is, I got delayed at preparing so I was late at getting a place . So in a panic, thought there was a good position available and jumped in to get readyright next to the Karlco family . By the time I realized it, the corner was already empty So, I thought Id move

it It seems that the Karlco family is also working hard today, so we should change the date . .

Nice, well done, Shibi

Huh?

Time runs short .

I put my hands on my ceremonial layers . However, I cant take it off well because of the sweat .

Damn it, go ahead! Dont let go of that position! Protect them, even if it means dying! Ill be right there!

A-, Are you serious?

Shibi says with a gaping mouth .

Where will you find a guy whos going to quit here! Gizel, help me take this off!

Yes, please leave it to me!

Abel! You, you! What the hell are you doing!!

My father, who was bowing to the Chief, looked at me and screamed .

But this is not the time to be concerned about it . Ill cut you a cross or something later .