Chapter 27

As the snow fell heavily and the roofs of the houses were whitened, how are you doing? This is Herman. Today is the New Year Festival. It's a joyous day, isn't it? Of course, it means there's the Star Allocation Ceremony. Last year, I thought it would be the same as in the village, so I stayed locked in my inn. Since adventurers were expelled from the village, I assumed the next day would be a dismal sight, so I didn't see the town's New Year Festival.

After talking with the receptionist at the Adventurer's Guild, I learned that the town's New Year Festival seems to welcome adventurers and travelers, with stalls and alcohol vendors. It's quite different from the village, where the New Year Festival was closed to outsiders. I understand that more customers mean more profit, but the issue is whether there are too many people. In the village, about 20 children participated in the Star Allocation Ceremony. In the capital, there might be around 200 children. It's amazing that so many can fit into the church, and with 200 children, their parents, siblings, relatives, and others, wouldn't the Adventurer's Square be packed? I thought it would be impossible to set up stalls, but apparently, the Alchemists' Guild helps set up the foundations for the stalls. Only those who usually run shops or livestock farmers set up stalls, and the profits are decent. Well, it's a festival, after all. The main event is the Star Allocation Ceremony, and the stalls are just for entertainment. I wonder if that's okay.

So, I came to the Adventurer's Guild Square, but it's a sea of people. I know where the stalls are and can smell the good smells, but I can't get there. The ale is the same as in the village, made with barley and water. I don't know the exact process, but the men in the village made enough to drink. I never saw them making it, though.

Pushing through the crowd, I finally reached the stalls. They sell alcohol, soup, skewers, skewers, and more skewers. They really push the skewers, and the skewers are made of wood. Wood is surprisingly rare and valuable. I didn't know this, but apparently, there are woodcutters in York's forest who sell logs to the town or process them into doors. I remember that in the village, almost all the wooden items, including doors, windows, and barrels, were made from wood from the sacred forest. I never realized this. According to the receptionist at the Adventurer's Guild, the growth rate of trees in sacred and magical forests is abnormal. They can grow into logs in just three years, which is incredible compared to decades in normal places. So, there's no shortage of wood, but alchemists make everything out of soil and stone, so they only make light items out of wood. ...Oh, the noble's mansion is different. It's all made of wood, which is considered a luxury. I don't understand why. Isn't soil and stone stronger? I guess not.

Anyway, while munching on a skewer, I'll watch how the festival unfolds. ...By the way, Marie is in that church. Should I go and greet her this winter? ...I don't know how important a saint is, but since she was brought to the capital, she must be very talented. She seems like the type who could go and defeat a demon lord. By the way, I learned that clerics and light attribute mages are different. Clerics use holy attribute magic. I don't fully understand, but the holy attribute is different from the six attributes. However, light attribute magic has special effects against the undead and healing spells, similar to holy attribute magic. The difference is whether they use their own magic power. Clerics don't use their own magic power. If you ask if they are more like magicians, it's different, and they are currently under research. Researchers have that kind of talent, so you can't just dismiss it. They need logic.

Still, there are always drunkards around. Even though the alcohol is cheap, they compare drinks and share with others, just like anywhere else. The children are the main event, but the drunkards seem to treat it as a drinking day. I, who have a painful memory of drinking, will never touch alcohol again. This is consistent with my previous life. Alcohol is for those who like it, not for me. Water is fine for me. ...In my previous life, I apparently liked coffee, but I've never heard of it. It's supposed to be black and bitter, but there are such drinks. Then there's tea, which my previous self said would be common in this world. It's made by boiling leaves and drinking the liquid, but is it really delicious? ...Maybe I'll try it with fastgrass. It's considered a weed and is used for potions, so it's widely available and cheap. You can buy 20 for one iron coin. However, fastgrass is the enemy of farmers because it can grow and flower in just seven days from a small root. It's very resilient and essential for potion-making, so many people cultivate it. The Alchemists' Guild also grows it in their backyard, and their potions are made this way.

There are also magic recovery potions, but the ingredients are only magic mushrooms. You can make one with 10 magic mushrooms, and the more you use, the more magic it restores. ...The amount you drink doesn't change, but the recovery amount does, which is a mysterious potion. Due to this feature, mass production is impossible, but it's essential for mages. Speaking of mass production, it seems that most things made by alchemy can't be mass-produced. It would be convenient if potions could be mass-produced, but it's not possible, which is a problem. It takes about 10 seconds to make one, but it's a tedious task. When you go to the magical forest, you have to meet the potion delivery quota. ...It's a troublesome task. Apparently, students at the Academy are forced to make a lot of potions, so it's just troublesome, not a problem. I remember Judy said she made a lot of advanced potions for money, so she probably had to make a lot of basic potions too.

I've been thinking about various things, but it's almost noon, time for the church bells to ring. ...The bells ring at the same time in all churches, which is strange. According to my previous knowledge, the world is round, so the bells should ring at slightly different times, but the magic clocks don't have time differences, so the bells ring according to the clock. I wonder how that works. There must be researchers studying whether the world is flat or round. In my previous life, people figured it out by observing the stars, but I don't understand, so I'll leave it to the researchers. Whether the world is round or flat, my goal is to become an alchemist. As long as that doesn't change, the shape of the world doesn't matter.

The church bells ring. They ring 10 times, clearly. ...It's good that talents are allocated inside the church, but what about those outside? It's a mystery, but if they can't get talents outside, it would be sad. ...I think this must have been studied in the past, but it's still a concern. I don't understand why you have to be inside the church, but probably, if you're not inside, you can't get a star. I think the gods are watching, but it must be difficult for them to see everything.

Soon, the children come out of the church and report their talents to their parents. There are no farmers in the capital, so you don't see the joy and sorrow of farmers getting farming talents, but it's essential for successors. For example, a blacksmith's talent for a blacksmith, a tailor's talent for a tailor, and a chef's talent for a chef. ...You can only pray that the necessary talents are allocated, but talents don't always work out conveniently. Just like farming talents for the eldest children of farming families, there must be something. The number of stars varies from person to person, but more stars are better.

Anyway, today is a joyous day. Some drunkards are already serving alcohol to the newly allocated young people, which is a common sight in any town or village. ...The Adventurer's Square will probably be a mess tomorrow. I'll take the day off. Otherwise, I might get a request to clean up the square. I don't want that job. ...But I'll enjoy the festival atmosphere a bit more before going back. I have no urgent plans today. It's a festival, after all. I'll go around and ask how many stars each child got. I think I can be allowed that much entertainment.

Whether you found it interesting or not, I'd appreciate your feedback. If you could include your evaluation, that would be great. If you could point out any issues in your review, I think I can reflect them in my writing. ...Probably.