Chapter 70

Thank you for reading.

As the year-end approaches, in the Kingdom of Limoot Break, a festival called Kamiwatari (God Crossing) is held. It is a ritual where the gods who have been watching over the earth return to the divine realm, and new gods take their place.

Perhaps because there are no specific benefits or meanings associated with the gods, the current level of faith is thin, and the gods' prestige is not very high. However, Kamiwatari has become a well-established festival, and even those who are not particularly devout celebrate it grandly. They prepare feasts to honor the gods who have watched over them for the year and keep the lights burning all night to see them off. When the New Year's bell rings, they continue to keep the lights burning to welcome the new gods and prepare more feasts.

On this day, stalls appear all over the streets. There are stalls selling food and drinks, stalls selling mysterious lucky items and toys, and fortune-telling stalls. Some stalls even sell items that seem to be just for clearing out household clutter, but apparently, there is a demand for them. Even people who are not in the food and beverage industry set up stalls to sell food, so the quality can vary quite a bit.

Even those who usually have little connection to the temple because they are not particularly devout come to the temple on this day to send off and welcome the gods. They bring offerings of food and drinks. According to Ilvareno, this is the day when orphans can eat their fill of feasts.

In the game "Devil Academy," an event occurs where the player goes on a festival date with the character they have the highest affection for at the time the event is triggered. The content involves the protagonist, who is a commoner, guiding the character through the stalls in the commoner district, and there are many still images. The still images change depending on whether the character is in their first to third year or fourth to sixth year of the academy, as the characters grow within the game. To complete all the still images, players must save and reload, making it a challenging event for streamers. Incidentally, Cain is already in a higher grade when he appears, and the teachers are already adults, so the still images do not change. They are player-friendly characters.

In this world, a year is divided into 12 months, and each month is named after a flower of that season. However, for convenience, the months are usually referred to by numbers from 1 to 12. That's just how things are.

As the middle of December approaches, all the private tutors become busy, and the year's lessons come to an end. Mr. Ianis is busy preparing materials to secure next year's research budget. Mr. Klaes is busy practicing with the orchestra he belongs to, which performs at the end of the year. Mr. Tylnoa said he is so busy making glowing magic stones that he has no time off. Mr. Cyllas and Mr. Celsis, who had no particular plans, decided to take a break, saying, "If everyone else is taking a break, we might as well take one too."

Incidentally, since the beginning of December, Mr. Tylnoa has been having Cain, Ilvareno, and Dianah help him make glowing magic stones, and he has been giving them pocket money, saying, "It's a secret." Dianah received a small glowing magic stone and carefully put it in her "Dianah Box."

"Brother, I want to stay up and ring the bell this year."

"You fell asleep last year, didn't you, Dianah?"

Cain was in a very good mood because he could spend the whole day with Dianah. Today, Cain and Dianah were sitting side by side on the sofa in Cain's private room, doing embroidery.

By the way, the bell Dianah is talking about is the New Year's bell. On the last day of December, a tower is set up in front of the castle square, and a bell is hung there. It is rung around midnight, and anyone can ring it if they line up. Just being awake at a time when they usually sleep is exciting enough, but ringing the bell is another pleasure for children during Kamiwatari. The castle square is open on that day, and ringing the bell is mostly done by commoner children. Some noble children are not allowed to participate by their parents, but many noble children participate by wearing commoner clothes. The children ring the bell continuously, and it continues until morning, far more than the 108 times.

Last year, Dianah and Cain lined up together, but Dianah fell asleep halfway through. Cain, who was not particularly interested in ringing the bell, carried Dianah back to the palace's front garden.

"Should we take a nap this year?"

"But there are so many fun things to do during the day, so it would be a waste to sleep."

"That's true. How about we start practicing staying up late from today?"

"Sure! We'll play at night too! Brother, let's play Nina!"

"Playing Nina might get us scolded by Father and Mother. Let's play Nina during the day and play quietly at night."

"Father and Mother mustn't know! It's a secret! Hehehe!"

While chatting, they completed their embroidery. In Cain's embroidery frame, a small blue bird holding a red flower was completed. In Dianah's embroidery frame, a brown stick-like object was embroidered. Ilvareno, who peeked at their work, tilted his head and asked.

"What is that, Dianah?"

"Hehe, it's Ariaad!"

"The holy sword Ariaad! You did a great job. Dianah is good at everything. Is the knot at the end supposed to represent the leaves on Ariaad?"

"Yes! Brother knows a lot about Ariaad!"

The holy sword Ariaad, which Dianah found in the garden the other day, is now in Cain's room. Since Dianah, who still sleeps with her parents, does not have a private room, and her parents would throw it away if she put it in their bedroom, Cain fought with her parents to get permission to store Ariaad in his room, saying that adults don't understand this romance.

Because their secret base was once dismantled without permission, a note saying "This is a treasure, please don't throw it away!" is tied to the holy sword Ariaad with a ribbon.

Cain took the embroidery out of the frames, checked if the threads were properly finished, and neatly folded them before handing them to Ilvareno.

"Please add these to the orphanage's items for sale. I hope they can contribute to the sales."

"Thank you. I'm sure everyone will be happy."

"Dianah's Ariaad is going to be very popular!"

"Yes, it is a holy sword after all."

"Right!"

Ilvareno carefully put the two embroidered handkerchiefs in his bag. The orphanage always helps with the Kamiwatari ritual at the temple and eats the feasts that are offered. This year, they are planning to set up a stall in front of the temple and sell the handkerchiefs they have embroidered.

Since Cain donated embroidery frames, the orphans have been practicing embroidery in the dining hall on rainy or cold days. Sometimes, well-done embroidery is sent to Dianah and Elise through Ilvareno as gifts. Elise never uses the plain handkerchiefs as a noble lady, but she always smiles happily when she receives them.

Elise occasionally donates plain handkerchiefs and embroidery threads, so the orphans have a fair amount of embroidered handkerchiefs in stock. Initially, they planned to give them to the townspeople who usually give them alms as a thank you. However, when they tried to give the handkerchiefs to the owner of a general store, a girl helping in the store said, "Everyone will be happy to receive them, but if you sell them and use the money to buy things as customers, they will be even happier." The store owner nodded and did not take the handkerchiefs. The orphans consulted with Ilvareno, who then consulted with Cain.

Cain first considered selling the handkerchiefs to the general store as merchandise. However, since the handkerchiefs are handmade by the orphans, they cannot be supplied steadily, and the quality of the embroidery varies. He reconsidered and thought it would not be suitable to display them as merchandise in the store. Setting up a souvenir corner in the temple would also require a shopkeeper, and the temple, which has few visitors, would not have many customers.

Thinking about it, he realized that a flea market would be ideal. Then he thought, "Why not set up a stall during Kamiwatari?" Many people come to the temple during Kamiwatari, and a one-day stall operation would not be a significant burden for the temple or the orphans.

If this stall is successful, they might consider holding a bazaar when the inventory builds up. In any case, they must first make this stall a success, so Cain is contributing by providing goods, even if it is a small contribution.

Thank you for your concern.

I look forward to your continued support.