A Gentle Noble's Vacation Recommendation

“There are changes showing up in the quests now.”

“Festival’s getting close.”

“This year’s the exact 400th anniversary of the founding, so the place is, like, insanely hyped.”

Help wanted for stall staff, for setting up, for hauling goods—the quest board was heavily influenced by the coming event.

Not that the high‑rank quests had changed much, but since Lizel would happily take anything that looked interesting regardless of rank, the three of them were leisurely watching the transformed list.

It’s the season when people gather, the prime time to make money, so the rewards on posted quests were far higher than usual.

Watching quest slips being stripped off one after another by adventurers, they still couldn’t find anything that made them think “this is it for today!”, so Lizel and the others left the board for the moment and went to sit at a table off to the side to choose at their leisure later.

“Gill, have you ever seen the ‘founding festival’?”

“It’s so hyped no matter where you go that not seeing it would be the hard part.”

“The way you say it, you’ve never actually taken part, huh.”

“I’d be more shocked if he had, honestly.”

Held once a year, the founding festival was a national‑level event among the many annual occasions, and its sheer scale left all others in the dust.

While it was on, people in distinctive costumes filled the streets, events held here and there dazzled people without a break, and even now the decorations being put up amid a rising excitement were a feast for the eyes.

The kingdom also seemed to be holding a commemorative ceremony: emissaries from other lands would stride proudly down the main avenue in a kind of parade. The crowd didn’t bow and scrape but saw them off with cheers; perhaps the foreign envoys themselves enjoyed the festive mood, as many of them made a point of grand, flashy entrances.

“Four hundred years since the founding… That’s actually a fairly young country.”

Lizel’s mild comment dropped with a soft smile, and Eleven made no effort to hide his “uhhh?” face, from which one might infer there was a deeper truth there.

“Even during the preparations it’s already a big party. I wonder how much wilder the real thing will be.”

“You should go see. I mean, I was totally planning to spend the whole festival going around with you, Leader!”

“Eleven, you’ve never seen it either?”

“If I had, I wouldn’t get to go around with you.”

Eleven’s disgruntled look said he’d only been asking from curiosity, and Lizel could only give a wry smile.

He brushed aside the bangs falling into Eleven’s eyes in a soothing gesture, and the newly revealed gaze slid away for an instant—then quickly returned to him, now filled with expectation. Lizel smiled in response.

At last Eleven’s expression turned satisfied; he’d clearly decided they really would go together. Lizel, thinking again what a skillful wheedler he was, let his fingers skim lightly over the scales at Eleven’s cheek and withdrew his hand.

“Oh, but the landlady told me the other day that during the festival the men get desperate to find partners.”

“Ahh, what was it again? The first king, during the festival, did it once with some girl from the city—”

“People are just imitating that trite little story about how the first king supposedly fell in love, while in disguise, with some common girl he met at the festival. So anyone who’s single ends up feeling out of place. Here, I brought your drinks.”

The tray that had unhesitatingly aimed for Eleven’s carotid was dodged, and he grimaced at Stud, who had cut in from the side. Stud calmly set a glass in front of Lizel.

He’d probably decided the way Gill had put it wasn’t something Lizel needed to hear. Same with Judge—though Lizel just gave a wry smile and looked down at the cold water; he was a man himself, so he didn’t particularly mind.

For the record, Gill at least got a glass, barely, but Eleven of course got nothing.