“What’s the matter?”
Leon, who had finished his investigation, asked as he sat down at the table.
I nonchalantly answered while spooning up the stew.
“It’s nothing much.”
“Nothing much, you say…”
At my words, Leon subtly turned his head.
His gaze was fixed on Chris, who was slumped over, not even stirring. I calmly elaborated.
“It’s just that a once-in-a-lifetime gamble failed.”
“Mr. Chris? Are you alright?”
“…I’m fine.”
Chris sighed as he sat up.
Chris, who pressed his temple for a moment, slowly opened his mouth.
“It seems the wine reserves are still overflowing, contrary to my expectations.”
“I see.”
“Yes. The demand for wine has hit rock bottom. I was told, ‘Trying to sell wine in the Grape Village? Are you out of your mind?'”
“That’s usually the case.”
What Chris was trying to do was like selling ice in the Land of Snow.
It would be unfair from the perspective of someone who acted on information that a heatwave would hit the Land of Snow, but what could he do?
Success makes you a hero, failure makes you a rebel.
Leon spoke very cautiously.
“Did
you lose all your money…?”
“It’s not that bad yet. Wine has a long shelf life. There will be opportunity costs and storage costs, and various losses in the process of converting the wine back into gold coins, but it’s not like I’m completely ruined.”
“That’s a relief.”
That’s why merchants had to sell items that they could afford to hold onto even if they went bankrupt.
If you get stuck with something you have to get rid of immediately, your life could be ruined.
With that, Chris’s story was roughly over.
Since it was about time, I placed the lamp on the table and said.
“So, Leon, what happened?”
“Well…”
After confirming that the soundproofing magic was activated, Leon glanced at Chris.
He was hesitating whether it was okay to talk about the Holy Grail in front of Chris, but frankly, it was an overreaction.
The Holy Grail exploration wasn’t a top-secret mission given only to Leon, and there were hundreds of people who had set out to find the Holy Grail.
In my opinion, rumors that the Order had dispatched a large number of Holy Knights would soon spread. There was no reason to hide it at all.
Of course, there was no reason to shout it from the rooftops, but Chris had become quite close over the past two weeks.
It wouldn’t hurt to include him, considering it as telling an interesting story to a young man whose life had gone down the drain.
Who knows?
Maybe Chris would come up with a brilliant idea based on his experience as a merchant.
Perhaps Leon had a similar thought. He took a small breath and continued.
“The investigation revealed… it was just an ordinary vineyard.”
“That’s not very informative, considering you hesitated for ten minutes.”
“I only hesitated for three seconds.”
“It felt like ten minutes.”
“Ruina? Leon? What are you two talking about?”
There was nothing more upsetting than when the group was talking about something that only they knew.
I introduced Chris to the story related to the Holy Grail.
Chris stroked his chin and muttered.
“A Holy Grail exploration?”
“Do you have any
idea?”
“What are the characteristics of the Holy Grail?”
“Eternal life, healing, abundance, purification, wisdom.”
“Hmm.”
Chris crossed his arms and fell into thought.
This is irrelevant to the current topic, but every single one of Chris’s actions was feminine. Very different from a man.
He was trying to imitate a man by stroking his chin (as if he originally had a beard but shaved it off) or using a stiff tone, but I don’t know how effective it was.
Judging by the fact that people were fooled, it must be effective.
But his hair was quite long, a bob that slightly touched his shoulders, and his face was that of a typical pretty girl, so why were people being fooled?
Is the fact that his voice is male that important?
Or is it because he doesn’t have breasts?
If he doesn’t have breasts, then it makes sense.
Chris, who had been like that for a while, soon unfolded his arms and whispered.
“There’s a rumor that there’s a hot spring that’s good for the body in the northern part of the Empire, but isn’t that too far-fetched?”
“That’s good enough.”
We weren’t doing the exploration with proper clues anyway.
We welcomed even such unfounded rumors.
“Our next destination has been decided.”
I made eye contact with Leon.
It was to ask if he agreed, and Leon nodded obediently.
“Belmonte Winterhaven was my next destination anyway.”
“Is that so?”
“There are a few people in the Order who have said that they were cured of their chronic illnesses after taking a hot spring bath.”
I was startled and widened my eyes.
“Is that true?”
“I have no reason to lie. It’s clear that there’s a mysterious power in the hot springs of Winterhaven.”
“No, not that. I mean, the Order can’t even cure chronic illnesses? But they can heal full-body burns?”
I asked because I was curious that a place that could regenerate a person’s arm couldn’t cure a mere chronic illness, and Leon scratched his head.
“Is that what you were curious about?”
“Everyone would be curious. I’m not the weird one.”
“Holy magic is specialized in physical trauma or plagues. Ordinary illnesses, including chronic diseases, are the domain of healers.”
“Ah.”
I roughly understood.
If the Order did everything, the healers would starve to death, so they did a balance patch?
You should have said so sooner.
“…Did you understand correctly?”
“Of course.”
There’s no one who understands the structure of this world more perfectly than me. You can trust me.
At the sound of drums from outside, I turned and leaned against the window.
People were walking around the streets and singing.
Everyone had grapes and wine in their hands.
It seemed that enjoying the harvested grapes in that way was the Shade Grapeton festival.
I fixed my gaze on the street and asked Leon.
“When are you leaving?”
“Well, I’ll conduct more inquiries, but I don’t plan to stay long. I plan to leave before the festival ends.”
“Is that so.”
Whoosh. I turned the soundproofing magic into an ordinary flame and got up from my seat.
“Where are you going?”
“It’s a waste not to enjoy the festival.”
I left the two of them behind and walked out of the inn.
“Hey! It’s illegal to walk around the streets with nothing in your hands!”
As soon as I went out, someone spoke to me.
It was a middle-aged man with a lot of beard, and he smiled and gave me a bottle of wine and a glass.
I received the bottle and glass and moved my lips.
“How much is it?”
“It’s okay. You must be a foreigner. Enjoy yourself to the fullest.”
“Thank you.”
As expected, festivals are the best.
Everyone’s generosity becomes abundant.
I poured the wine in the bottle into the glass and brought it to my nose.
The smell was amazing.
It was wine made with care from high-quality grapes.
This seems like top-quality wine.
And they’re just giving it away?
I raised my head to look for the middle-aged man who gave me the wine, but the wave of people had long since erased the middle-aged man.
Well, there’s no helping it.
I was going to show him a special fire show because I felt sorry for just saying thank you, but I’ll have to postpone it until next time.
-!
Starting with a song that someone started, people all sang cheerfully together.
The first thing that can’t be missed at a festival. It was a song.
Judging by the fact that it was all the same song, it seemed to be a traditional song passed down in Shade Grapeton.
Next, people danced.
The second thing that can’t be missed at a festival. It was dancing.
There was no format, but everyone shook their bodies and sang.
“Isn’t that the God of Chess!”
“Hello.”
“Do you know who this person is? He’s the Devil of Chess who shows the difference in class by imitating the opponent’s special opening!”
“If someone asks who the greatest chess player in history is, have them raise their head and look at the lamp.”
The third thing that can’t be missed at a festival. Even new relationships.
This is what a festival is.
I wish every day was a festival.
“Put your money where your mouth is!”
I headed towards the place where the sound came from.
In the place where the sound came from, a sneaky-looking man and a bronze-skinned muscular man were soliciting customers, and the content was quite interesting.
“If you win an arm wrestling match against this muscular man, I’ll give you one gold coin!”
“I’ll challenge you.”
A challenger came out quickly. It was a large man who also seemed confident in his strength. At the appearance of the challenger, the sneaky-looking man rubbed his hands and smiled.
“The participation fee is one silver coin.”
“Here it is.”
The large man paid the participation fee and took a stance.
And he lost in 5 seconds.
The bronze-skinned muscular man showed off his performance by kissing his muscles.
“Next?”
People only looked at each other and didn’t move.
Of course.
There was no one in the world who wanted to throw away money.
“Me.”
So I’ll step up here.
I sat down in front of the table and put down the lamp.
“Excuse me, miss?”
“Yes.”
“You understand what this is, right?”
“It’s arm wrestling.”
“You also understand that you have to pay a participation fee of one silver coin, right?”
“Here you go.”
When I took out a silver coin from my pocket and handed it over, the sneaky man narrowed his eyes.
“Wait a minute.”
Without receiving the silver coin, the sneaky man approached the bronze-skinned man and whispered in his ear.
“That woman is strange. She might be a knight.”
“I’m also a trainee knight. I can tell if she uses magic.”
“Do you trust him?”
After finishing their strategy meeting, the sneaky man came to me and smiled again.
“I received the participation fee of one silver coin.”
I sat in the chair and took a stance.
The bronze-skinned man also took a stance.
When I reached out my hand, the bronze-skinned man flinched before even grabbing it. He noticed the burn scars.
“Are you ready?”
The bronze-skinned man’s expression hardened at my calm voice.
He seemed to be in a complicated state of mind.
The voice of his heart, ‘What is this guy so confident in?’ was heard as vividly as if he was speaking directly into my ear.
“Then one, two.”
“Wait. Hans. This guy is weird—.”
“Three!”
I pushed the bronze-skinned man’s arm over with all my might.
At the same time, I slightly lifted my robe to show
my
face.
The man’s expression was filled with embarrassment.
No matter how much he saw the burn scars on my hand, it was hard to imagine that my face would be like this. It was a natural reaction.
The power of all my strength was applied to the bronze-skinned man’s arm, who missed the timing to apply force.
The result was-
“How’s my strength?”
“Uh, um.”
“We’re almost there.”
“Umm.”
Thud.
The bronze-skinned man, who belatedly came to his senses, pushed my arm over.
For reference, his arm didn’t budge even 1mm despite me giving it all my strength.
“I lost.”
I got up from my seat with regret.
Then the sneaky man and the bronze-skinned man started another meeting.
“What is that woman?”
“I don’t know either. Her strength is that of an ordinary girl?”
“She was so confident that I thought she was hiding something. Why did she challenge us?”
It’s because my physical abilities are ordinary, but my ears are good.
I could hear even those whispers.
Why did I challenge you?
“It’s a festival. Of course, I have to enjoy it.”
“The young lady is right! It’s a festival, so you have to enjoy it!”
Bang!
You might suspect it’s the sound of a bomb exploding, but it was the sound of someone sitting down.
The culprit was a large, muscular middle-aged man, and it was doubtful whether he was human. Unless he was an ogre hybrid.
“Huh?”
“Here, take the participation fee.”
“Huh?”
I left the arm wrestling gambling den and returned to the street.
I felt sorry for the two men who were about to lose one gold coin, but that’s how gambling is. There are times to win and times to lose.
I strolled under the clear autumn sky.
The lukewarm wind, a mixture of summer and autumn, cooled the sweat, and the lamps illuminated the gradually darkening world below.
I closed my eyes and felt the wind.
Isn’t this cool feeling of wind an indication that only good things will unfold in the future?
I think it is?
“Ruina! It’s a disaster! All of my wine has been stolen!”
“Oh dear.”
I thought it was a festival, but it was a funeral.
Let us all observe a moment of silence.