Morning arrived.
Even though the festival had been suddenly extended to a second day, there was very little confusion. Festival preparations were already underway, and those who had drunk too much the night before were rolled out of the way to clear the area. Once the venue space was ready, the festival officially resumed.
"Thank you for waiting! We will now begin this year's competition: Yamakuzushi!"
The "mountain" prepared in the center of the venue consisted of about twenty logs, each roughly ten centimeters in diameter and two meters long, lined up vertically. A flat board was balanced on top of them, and as the finishing touch, three round cushions about one meter in diameter—crafted by Zabuton—were placed on the board to serve as the game's symbols.
The competition was a team battle where participants took turns pulling out logs. The team that caused even a single cushion to fall would be the loser. There were several detailed rules, but the most important mechanic involved the dice. A team had to pull out the exact number of logs indicated by a roll of the dice cast by the opposing team. These were special dice with faces ranging only from one to three. For example, if a three was rolled, the active team had to successfully remove three logs before their turn ended. The announcer explained this to the crowd using oversized dice so the spectators could see every roll.
"Now, introducing the participating teams!"
Kuro Team Yuki Team Zabuton Team Vampire Team Angel Race Team High Elf Team Lizardman Team Ogre Race Team Beastman Race Team Dwarf Team Mountain Elf Team Harpy Team Civil Official Girls Team Devil Race Team Village One Team Village Two Team Village Three Team Dragon Team Four Heavenly Kings Team Lamia Team Giant Race Team Irregular Team Village Boys and Girls Team Village Head Team
There were twenty-four participating teams in total, mostly organized by race or village. The Nyunyu-daphne and their cohorts joined the Village One Team. I had expected Progenitor-san to join the Vampire Team, but he ended up in the Irregular Team alongside Fouche, the Sake Slime, the Cat, and the Death Knight.
The Village Boys and Girls Team was comprised of Urza and the Beastman children. Naturally, Alfred and Tiselle were far too young to participate. As for the Village Head Team, it consisted of just two members: myself and Urza’s Soil Doll.
I looked at my partner. "We’re definitely going to win!" I said, sharing a firm handshake with the doll.
With twenty-four teams, the bracket would narrow down from twelve, to six, then finally to three. I wondered how it would play out.
The first match was the Zabuton Team versus the Harpy Team. Zabuton acted as the leader, but she mostly stayed in the back giving instructions while Makura and her other children did the actual labor. Both sides played cautiously at first, but luck was not on the Harpies' side. The Zabuton Team forced them to roll high numbers repeatedly, eventually leading to the Harpy Team's defeat. The mountain collapsed with a satisfyingly loud crash that the spectators thoroughly enjoyed. I just hoped no one would get injured.
In the second match, the Lizardman Team faced off against the Village One Team. The Lizardmen were aggressive in their removals, while the residents of Village One were far more cautious. Blessed with favorable dice rolls, the Lizardman Team emerged victorious.
The third match pitted the Vampire Team against the Lamia Team. The Vampires tried to calculate every move, whereas the Lamias relied entirely on raw intuition. The Lamia Team won. I suspect the Vampires overthought their strategy and ended up defeating themselves.
The fourth match featured the Mountain Elf Team against the Yuki Team. Since Yuki’s team couldn't physically roll the dice, the referee did it for them. The referee somehow managed to roll a three every single time, leading Yuki’s team to victory. To be fair, Yuki and the others were also very calculated in which logs they chose to remove.
The fifth match was between the Dwarf Team and the Four Heavenly Kings Team. For the sake of performance, the Dwarves actually used axes to chop the logs down. I wondered how the Four Heavenly Kings would respond, but they simply held a serious council for every move.
"Beezel, sorry... Speak a little softer. It’s ringing in my head," Hou groaned.
"Do you have a hangover, Hou? You drank far too much," Beezel replied.
"I know, I know... Let’s go with that log over there. It doesn't look like it's supporting much weight. Gratz, what do you think?"
"Looks fine to me."
"Understood. Randan, pull it."
"Yeah, yeah. You know, I’m supposed to be the head of this group," Randan grumbled.
Despite the grumbling, the Four Heavenly Kings Team won. Yuri, notably, had chosen to participate with the Civil Official Girls Team instead of her father's group.
The sixth match saw the Devil Race Team against the Giant Race Team. The Devils consisted of Bulga, Stifano, and Gucci, who had arrived at some point.
"I only ended up in this by chance, but you should know... I hate losing," Gucci declared.
"Understood! We shall bring victory to Lord Gucci!" his companions shouted.
"Without fail!"
Perhaps they were a bit too fired up, as they ended up causing their own collapse.
"I feel as though I could destroy the world right now," Gucci muttered dangerously as they left the stage. The Giant Race Team took the win.
The seventh match was the Irregular Team versus the Civil Official Girls Team. Progenitor-san, the Sake Slime, the Cat, and the Death Knight seemed to have become fast friends during the festival, leaving Fouche looking a little lonely.
"Wait... is that the Death Knight? Really?" someone in the crowd whispered.
The Civil Official Girls Team was well-organized under Yuri and Frau. "Let's win this!" they cheered.
It turned into a nail-biter with only four logs remaining. The girls rolled a one for their opponents. After much agonizing, the Irregular Team followed the Sake Slime’s decision and pulled a log that turned out to be safe. That single move secured their victory.
The eighth match was the Beastman Race Team versus the Village Three Team. The Beastman team included Galf, Gatto and his wife, and Gatto’s disciples.
"Galf, you know the deal. Don’t be too pushy," someone cautioned.
"I know, I know. Sena and the others are the stars here. I’m just here to pull whatever log they tell me to," Galf replied.
The Village Three Team was led by the Centaur Gluewald. "I’m not very good at these delicate tasks. Does anyone have a knack for this?" she asked.
"For now, shouldn't we just start pulling from the right?" one of her teammates suggested.
"Good enough for me," Gluewald agreed.
The Beastman Race Team won. With such a lackadaisical approach, I began to worry if Village Three was managing their farming correctly.
The ninth match was Village Two versus the Kuro Team. Village Two spent an eternity deliberating over every single log, while Kuro’s team pulled them out with pure momentum.
"This one, right?"
"No, wouldn't it be that one?"
Village Two spent so much time debating that they failed to remove the required number of logs before their time limit expired. The Kuro Team won by default.
The tenth match featured the Angel Race Team against the Ogre Race Team. The Angels consisted of Tia, Granmaria, Kudel, and Corone. Perhaps because of their old military hierarchy, Tia made all the decisions while the other three followed her lead perfectly. On the other hand, the Ogres decided every move through group consultation. I expected Ann to lead like Tia did, but it seemed I was wrong.
"It’s a festival, after all. I thought it best to leave the decisions to those with a natural talent for this," Ann explained.
I see. The victory ultimately went to the Angel Race Team.
"Your judgment was flawed," one Ogre muttered to another afterward.
"Oh? And if we’re going to talk about that..."
Wait, were they having a falling out?
"Don't worry, Village Head. We won't let this affect tomorrow's work," Ann reassured me.
The eleventh match was the High Elf Team against the Village Boys and Girls Team. Led by Ria, the High Elves were methodical, checking the center of gravity of the board before every pull. Urza led the children with pure, unadulterated instinct. In the end, it came down to the luck of the dice, and the High Elves won.
"Hold back? I would never do something so disrespectful to my opponents," Ria stated firmly.
Finally, the twelfth match: the Village Head Team versus the Dragon Team. It was my turn. My opponents were Dos, Raimeiren, Hakuren, Draim, and Rusty. Hakuren was technically participating, though she only contributed to the discussion from a safe distance.
"I always pictured Dragons as the 'smash first, think later' types, but you're being surprisingly careful," I noted.
"When victory is on the line, one learns the value of caution," Dos replied.
I worked hard alongside the Soil Doll. By this point in the tournament, two main strategies had emerged. One was pulling from the outside while leaving the center logs for support; the other was clearing the inside and relying on the outer ring. Pulling from the outside was easy early on, but it became terrifying as the numbers dwindled and the board's balance became precarious. Clearing the inside was easy at first, but the real game only started once the outer logs were all that remained.
After a quick council with the Soil Doll, I decided to pull from the outside, opposite to where the Dragons were working. Instead of keeping it balanced, I focused entirely on one side. It was a gamble. The Dragons' eyes gleamed as they watched me. I wasn't going to lose.
...I lost instantly. The Dragon Team won.
"H-How?" I stammered.
"I think you just completely misread where the center of gravity was," Hakuren shouted from the sidelines.
Damn it.
The first round concluded, and the second and third rounds followed in quick succession.
In the second round: Zabuton Team beat the Lizardman Team. Yuki Team beat the Lamia Team. Four Heavenly Kings beat the Giant Race Team. Irregular Team beat the Beastman Race Team. Kuro Team beat the Angel Race Team. Dragon Team beat the High Elf Team.
In the third round: Zabuton Team beat the Yuki Team. Four Heavenly Kings beat the Irregular Team. Kuro Team beat the Dragon Team.
That left three teams for the semi-finals: the Zabuton Team, the Four Heavenly Kings, and the Kuro Team. For this stage, a much larger board was used, supported by more logs, and the number of cushions on top was increased to ten, all piled high. This was an elimination match to determine which two teams would advance to the finals.
The semi-final was a battle of intense psychological warfare. In the end, the Four Heavenly Kings were eliminated. They had pulled an incredibly risky log, attempting to set a trap. Their logic was that even if the Kuro Team managed to survive, the mountain would surely collapse on the Zabuton Team's turn. However, both the Kuro and Zabuton teams rolled ones. They navigated the danger safely, and the mountain finally gave way when the turn came back to the Four Heavenly Kings.
The final match was the Zabuton Team versus the Kuro Team. It was a clash between the village's oldest residents. As expected of the finalists, the cushions remained steady even as the number of supporting logs dwindled to almost nothing. Eventually, only four logs remained—two on the inside and two on the outside, positioned almost diagonally.
The dice roll came up as a two. The Kuro Team had to remove two logs. They entered a period of long, silent deliberation. Finally, they made their move. They pulled the two outer logs simultaneously.
The board wobbled precariously, but it held! The cushions didn't move an inch. That spectacular play decided the match. On the next turn, with the mountain in an impossible state, the Kuro Team rolled a one. The Zabuton Team pulled a single log, looking as though they had already accepted defeat.
Wait... it's still standing? Just as I thought they might actually pull it off, the board finally tipped. The cushions tumbled to the ground.
The winner was the Kuro Team, with the Zabuton Team as the runners-up and the Four Heavenly Kings in third place. After the awards ceremony, we transitioned directly into a grand banquet.
The festival was an undeniable success. At the very least, I felt as though the bond between the Soil Doll and myself had deepened.
"We’ll win next time," I whispered to the doll.
"Losing is quite frustrating," some of the residents muttered nearby.
"I knew it, that log we pulled was the wrong choice."
We spent the night enjoying the post-festival atmosphere and sharing our stories. I made sure to tell the pregnant Hakuren not to overdo it, and I made sure to get to bed early myself.