The members of the Festival Executive Committee gathered around the table.
"We will now hold the reflection meeting for the festival," one of them announced.
"A reflection meeting? I didn't think we had any major failures."
"We didn't fail, but I think there were definitely points we could improve upon."
"Ah... that's true. I would have liked to have about three different courses."
"It might have been nice to have a wider variety of board shapes, too."
"This isn't related to the competition itself, but there was a bit of an issue with the food service."
"What kind of issue?"
"The sweets were so popular that those of us on the staff didn't get to eat any."
"Oh, definitely."
"I'd like to request that some be set aside for the management team next time."
"Yeah, me too!"
Since so many opinions were being voiced, I decided to record them all. We would likely do something different next year, but it was only right to keep track of these reflections and areas for improvement.
"Does the Village Head have anything to add?"
"From me? Let's see..."
The issues I saw were the fact that the winners of Part One and Part Two received the same number of Reward Medals, and that we weren't able to properly recognize those who participated in the Artistic Division.
"We already announced the number of medals at the start, though. It wouldn't have been right to change the reward after the fact."
"And as for the 'Artistic Division'—the strange jumps were certainly entertaining, but they're incredibly hard to judge. We'd have to figure out a standard..."
It was a difficult point; I couldn't exactly explain why one jump was superior to another. If we wanted to keep it simple, we could decide based on the size of the splash, but...
"That would be unfair to people based on their physical build."
"How about letting the Village Head decide based on his own arbitrary judgment and personal bias?"
"That's a bit too much responsibility for me... What about the volume of the applause?"
"The populations of each race are too different for that to be fair."
It was a thorny issue, so I decided to shelf it for now.
"Also, when we invite everyone from Village One, Village Two, and Village Three, those villages are left completely undefended."
Kuro and Zabuton's children were protecting them, so it was probably fine in a literal sense, but if something happened, there was no one there who could communicate or investigate the situation. However, our only options at the moment were to invite everyone or leave people out. If we forced some people to stay behind, we'd be creating a divide between those who got to enjoy the festival at the Village of the Great Tree and those who didn't. Unless I came up with some form of compensation for the caretakers, it would be hard to ask them to stay.
"Once the villages mature, the older residents will naturally volunteer to stay behind as watchmen... but everyone is still so young right now."
"Isn't having lots of young people a good thing, though?"
Apparently, Gordon from Village Two had intended to stay behind, but since the representative of a village couldn't exactly be absent, he ended up attending. The reflection meeting continued in this manner for a while.
"Now then, Village Head."
"What is it?"
"This didn't come up during the meeting, but... what should we do about our ongoing problem?"
"The ongoing problem... You mean Fouche, right?"
I had assumed she would leave when Shiso-san went home, but she had stayed behind in the village instead. She was staying at the inn, and she spent almost every waking hour praying in front of the Shrine of the Village of the Great Tree. I didn't really mind that, and Shiso-san had left plenty of money to cover her stay, so there was no issue there, but...
The statue I carved was glowing.
Was there some secret, correct way to pray? Or was it magic? It was glowing with such divine intensity that it looked like it might trick an unsuspecting person into joining a cult on the spot. I wasn't sure what to do about it.
"People are complaining that it's too bright at night."
"Zabuton's children seem particularly annoyed by it."
"If she could at least tone down the light at night, that would help."
"I'll have a word with Fouche," I promised.
If she couldn't turn the light off, I'd just have to make some blackout curtains for the shrine. With that, the reflection meeting came to an end. Honestly, I felt like there were other things we should have discussed—like Dos and the others participating in the race, or why part of the course had been built underground. Well, no need to rush; we could take things one step at a time.
The Sake Slime came by to exchange its Reward Medals. I used to think it was just a regular slime, but it clearly possessed some level of intelligence. Actually, I’d suspected that for a while now... I wondered if only the Sake Slime was special. Regardless, anyone with a Reward Medal was entitled to an exchange.
"I assume you want sake?"
The slime wobbled. My expectations were not betrayed. Some people had speculated that it might ask for crops so it could brew its own alcohol, but the Sake Slime simply exchanged its medal for finished sake.
What surprised me, however, was that it didn't trade them all at once. It only exchanged one medal. It was thinking about the future. Its intelligence was remarkably high. While I was pondering this, it did something even more unexpected: it handed its remaining Reward Medals to the High Ogre maids.
"Is that to pay for the sake it stole and drank before?"
"Is it like sending money back to its hometown?"
"Maybe it's giving an allowance to its parents?"
"No, isn't it just showing off to its 'owners'?" Ann suggested. "Not that I have any intention of treating it like a pet."
Whatever the reason, the way the residents—including the High Ogre maids—viewed the Sake Slime shifted slightly.
Eventually, the Harpy race arrived. There were forty-two of them from seventeen different families. Kierbit and several other Angels had accompanied them, likely acting as guards during the migration.
"You're late," I greeted them.
"Don't say that. We were busy crushing undead along the way."
"Hm? You mean the ones to the northeast of here?"
"Yes. That's why we were away from the Garlet Kingdom in the first place."
I see. When Kierbit had met Granmaria, they had been on their way to subjugate those undead.
"Did you get a request from someone?"
"The higher-ups of the Korin religion. We have a cooperative relationship, so it's hard to say no. Plus, the Angel race is particularly effective against the undead."
"Is that so?"
"It is. But they aren't exactly the kind of enemies we enjoy fighting. So, you'd better give us a warm welcome."
"I don't quite follow the logic there, but I'll prepare food, sake, and the bath."
"Thank you."
The Angels who came with Kierbit were the same ones who had visited before. Their numbers had decreased not because they had been defeated, but because the others had moved on to different locations. I wondered when the Angels Granmaria invited would finally arrive. Regardless, I left the task of looking after the Harpies to Granmaria.
"Should the Harpies be settled in Village One?" she asked.
"About that... can the Harpies move through the forest on their own?"
When they had stayed here before, they had been under the protection of Kierbit's group.
"They aren't exactly weak, but I'm not sure how they'd fare in this forest alone."
"Right. For the time being, let's have them stay in the inn and the guest rooms of the Village Head's Mansion."
After some discussion, we decided to build one large, communal house for the Harpies here in the Village of the Great Tree. Their job would be high-altitude reconnaissance. If they spotted anything unusual from the sky, they would report back to Granmaria and the others. Their role was to supplement the surveillance of the Angels, whose territory had expanded significantly with the addition of the three outlying villages.
For a while, they would fly in groups of several people to get a feel for the work. I hoped they would do their best.
...Wait. If the Harpies were doing that, then what exactly would be the role of the Angels Granmaria had invited?