By the Grace of the Gods

Three days later, in the evening

Most of the villagers had gathered in the village square, where bonfires, large cauldrons, and tables were placed everywhere. Various dishes were laid out, filling every available space.

As I had heard on the ship the other day, it seemed the muskrats had blocked the river flowing downstream with their nests, and over the past three days until yesterday, the number of mud salamanders had dramatically decreased. At the same time, including Shikum, neighboring villages and fishermen had received notification from the fisheries cooperative that the fishing season had ended.

And this morning, with the last catch of the year and food purchased from the town, preparations were underway in the village square for a festival to celebrate the safe end of the fishing season. In fact, preparations were almost complete, and the festival was just about to start.

Then—oh, speak of the devil, here they come.

“Lord of the Territory has arrived!”

A male villager rushed into the square to announce the lord’s arrival.

Immediately, the village chief and other important villagers gathered and went out to welcome him.

I quietly slipped in at the back of the group and headed toward the beach.

Our arrival at the beach coincided almost exactly with the lord’s landing on the shore.

“Welcome.”

“Oh, village chief, thank you for the warm reception.”

After greeting the village chief and others, the lord turned to me.

“Ryoma-kun, thank you for inviting me. I’m looking forward to today.”

“Thank you for accommodating me despite the inconvenience.”

This was after the hot spring cleaning the other day.

Regarding the other request from the lord—that he wanted a specialty dish from the territory—the day he requested it, the hot spring cleaning took priority, so nothing concrete had been decided about when or how to propose it.

Remembering that, I took the opportunity today to ask if he would come to Shikum’s end-of-fishing-season festival, where I would serve the dishes I had prepared.

Of course, I thought he might refuse, but the lord gladly accepted.

That’s why we were in this situation now.

Today, the lord’s entourage included two Dragonewt bodyguards, Pigoo, and another man from the Pigmen—introduced as the count’s household’s head chef—on our way back to the square.

As soon as we returned, the end-of-fishing-season festival began.

Village festivals didn’t have a strict start time; once preparations were complete and participants gathered, it started at an appropriate moment.

This time, the village chief and the lord gave brief greetings, keeping the formality short.

Then we moved to a corner of the square.

The lord’s party was guided to a special seat near the statue I had prayed beside earlier.

Next to them, I set up a custom cooking magic tool set.

The first to react was the head chef.

“Oh… this is a portable yet large and highly functional cooking magic tool set. It has a large iron griddle, a large furnace, and room for at least four pots. Wonderful.”

“I have a skilled craftsman acquaintance who custom-made this for me. As an adventurer, I sometimes camp outdoors, but if possible, I want to eat properly prepared delicious food. Fortunately, since I can use spatial magic, even somewhat large items are manageable to carry and use.”

“Heh, you seem quite the gourmand yourself. I’ve seen many adventurers, but this is the first to custom order such equipment to carry around. And if I’m not mistaken, the seal on these tools is from the Dinorm Workshop, which has been gaining fame recently?”

Ah, the lord was familiar with the Dinorm Workshop.

“You have a keen eye. Yes, these are indeed works of the Dinorm Workshop.”

“A noble must keep up with trends. Otherwise, you won’t be able to join conversations with other nobles.”

He gave me a knowing smirk, suggesting that being a noble is burdensome in many ways.

“Now, the dishes I’m proposing today taste best freshly cooked, especially grilled. So I will prepare them here now. The prep is done, so it won’t take long. But since various other dishes are also prepared for the festival, please feel free to eat those while you wait.”