Spring arrived.
I greeted Zabuton as she woke from her slumber. I was relieved to see that she seemed as well as ever.
Wait, what was that? What was that flamboyant outfit she was holding in her hands? It was an exercise in pure, unrestrained extravagance. It looked like the kind of ceremonial regalia a king might wear for a truly momentous ritual, encrusted with what appeared to be countless shimmering jewels.
Apparently, Zabuton’s children had gathered the materials for it. It was an impressive feat, to say the least.
I sighed inwardly. I see. This was her way of asking for a little payback. Since I’d gone to Village Five in flashy clothes while she was hibernating, she wanted me to make amends.
"But Zabuton," I tried to explain, "it’s not as if I wore clothes made by someone else. I made sure to wear the ones you made for me when I went there."
She just looked at me.
"Alright, alright. I'll wear it," I relented. "But only for today. So please, stop looking at me like that."
Regardless of my own misgivings, the outfit was a hit with the villagers. I couldn't for the life of me understand why. Was this level of extravagance considered normal around here?
Then, someone handed me something. A short staff? They wanted me to hold it? I took it, and for some reason, the crowd erupted in cheers. This was the staff Dos had brought, wasn't it? I’d heard it was just an ordinary staff with no special properties.
And then they insisted on a cape. At that point, I just let them have their way.
"Fine, but only for today," I reminded them. "And I’m walking through the village on my own two feet. Don't even think about trying to carry me around on a palanquin."
Alfred had been forced into an outfit similar to mine. Unlike me, however, he looked quite proud of himself. Perhaps it was because Urza and Nart, who were standing beside him, kept showering him with praise.
"It suits you, Alfred," I told him with a laugh. "You look just like a prince."
He wanted us to walk side-by-side? Fair enough.
Still, I wondered if there was really any practical reason for the entire village to process from one place to another like this. Even though spring was here, the air was still chilly, so I made sure to tell everyone to be careful.
Soon, residents from Village One, Village Two, and Village Three came rushing over. Had word spread that quickly? Did they really want to see me in this getup that badly? People from Village Four arrived shortly after. I told them there was no need to apologize for being late; given the distance, it was only natural.
Even the residents of the Great Tree Dungeon joined us—Arako the Arachne, the Earth Dragon, and representatives from the Lamia race and the Giant race all emerged. I felt a bit bad that they’d gone to all that trouble just to see me.
Somehow, the procession turned into a full-blown banquet, and the entire day was swallowed up by the festivities. I wasn't entirely sure what had just happened, but everyone seemed to be having a wonderful time, so I suppose it was fine. I just hoped this wouldn't become an annual tradition.
Then again, seeing how some people were practically agonizing over having missed the spectacle, I wasn't sure I could avoid it. I could probably ignore Progenitor-san and Dos, but I felt for the members of Kuro's children who had missed out because they were on guard duty at the other villages.
I wanted to do something for them, but the thought of wearing that outfit a second time... well, I hadn't quite mentally prepared for that yet. I told myself I should just treat it as cosplay, but the idea of only me and Alfred being dressed up like that felt embarrassing.
"Alright," I conceded. "Next year, then. But when we do it, everyone has to dress up."
If everyone was doing it, my own embarrassment would surely be lessened. Tiselle and Urza both looked eager to wear fancy clothes too.
"But remember, we're talking about next year," I added.
I felt a twinge of panic when I noticed the Civil Official Girls already making plans to place a massive order for fabric with the Goroun Company. Were they really going to spend an entire year preparing for this? The village would be footing the bill, of course.
"Well... good luck with that," I muttered.
I was exhausted before the year had even truly begun, but there was work to be done. Since the representatives of each village were already assembled, I had them stay for a formal meeting.
The main agenda items were the village's policies for the year and the distribution of Reward Medals. However, the session opened with a barrage of complaints.
"Please give us advance notice when you plan to do something like this," they said.
"My apologies."
"If the word had reached us any later, we wouldn't have been able to make it in time."
"I’m very sorry."
"We need time to prepare the food for a feast of that scale."
"I truly am sorry."
"We have also received formal letters of complaint from the Death Knights at the hot spring and the Father Lion’s family. I shall read them now."
"Yes, I’m listening."
How did it come to this? Was it really because I’d insisted on only wearing the outfit for one day?
Once the grievances were aired, we moved on to the serious discussions. Regarding the village policies, we had already held several meetings over the winter, so there were no major surprises.
"Our goals are to stabilize harvest yields in each village, increase our stockpiles, and maintain strict fire prevention."
Harvest yields weren't a major concern for any of the villages at the moment. I simply wanted them to maintain their current levels or aim higher if possible. As for the stockpiles, I wanted each village to be self-sufficient enough to survive an emergency on their own—providing not just food, but fuel and clothing as well.
This was directly linked to the fire prevention initiative. Over the winter, there had been a Small Fire Incident in Village Three. It had been caused by a child playing carelessly with fire. Fortunately, no one was hurt and the house itself didn't burn down, though some straw and clothing inside were destroyed. It was extinguished quickly, but it was a sobering reminder of how easily disaster could strike. I wanted everyone to be vigilant.
"Gluewald, please," I said, seeing her look downcast. "You don't need to keep apologizing."
After the fire was put out, Gluewald had personally visited every village to report the incident and offer her apologies. I appreciated her strong sense of responsibility, but I didn't want her to beat herself up over it. The child hadn't intended to cause harm; it was an accident. I told her that while scolding was necessary, she shouldn't be too harsh with the punishment.
I told Rasshashi, the caretaker for the Centaur race, the same thing. She hadn't been there when it happened, so there was nothing she could have done. Instead, I suggested we look at the positive side: it helped us realize that our fire safety measures were insufficient.
Our houses were made of wood, and while they were treated to be somewhat fire-resistant, caution was still paramount. To that end, I ordered the installation of water tanks and barrels filled with water near any area where fire was used.
I knew what they were thinking—that they could just produce water with magic.
"But think about what happens if a fire starts when only children are around," I pointed out. "That’s exactly what happened this time, isn't it?"
Stored water would eventually stagnate, so it would need to be changed regularly, which meant more work. But I asked them to handle it for the sake of safety.
Returning to the subject of stockpiles, we decided that each village would maintain enough supplies to support a family for a significant period, assuming they lost their entire home to a fire. While the Village of the Great Tree could certainly provide aid in such a scenario, I wanted to foster a sense of security and independence within each individual village. I made it clear that I didn't want them to make their lives miserable just to fill their warehouses, though.
"Treat it as a target goal," I said. "No one will be punished if you don't reach it. Don't overdo it."
Next came the Reward Medals. I distributed them to individuals and villages as usual, but I’d been wrestling with how to handle Village Five.
In the end, I decided to award medals to Yoko, the Village Five Acting Village Head; Seles the Saint; Futa, the Teleportation Gate manager; the three members of the Mercury race; and the two members of the Previous Generation Four Heavenly Kings who were working so hard to govern the city.
Additionally, I entrusted Yoko with another fifty medals to be distributed at her discretion within Village Five. It was a larger amount than the other villages received, but given the sheer difference in population, the representatives from Village One through Four understood and accepted the decision.
We also officially appointed Asa as the Hot Spring Area Representative. We’d considered one of the Death Knights, but communication was the primary issue. While they were quite good at gesturing, it was simply too inconvenient for formal administrative coordination. The Death Knights were in agreement, so there were no issues there.
After concluding various other pieces of business, Yoko spoke up.
"What should we do with the revenue from Village Five?"
It turned out that the tax revenue from last year alone was a substantial sum. Even after accounting for all the city's operating expenses, they were sitting on a massive surplus.
"You aren't overtaxing them, are you?" I asked.
"I couldn't say for certain," Yoko replied. "But Roku mentioned that the rates are actually lower than the average for the Demon Kingdom."
I suppose there really is strength in numbers.
"Hmm... Frau. We don't have to send that money to the Royal Territory, do we?"
"We do not," she answered instantly.
We had settled those terms back when Village Five was being established, so she was certainly correct.
"In that case," I said, "it’s Village Five’s tax money, so use it for the benefit of Village Five."
That was the fundamental purpose of taxes, after all. I told Yoko I would leave the details to her. Besides, even though it was a large surplus for a city, it was a drop in the bucket compared to the funds the Village of the Great Tree had managed through the Goroun Company.
As long as she reported the expenditures to the Village Five Council and consulted with them, there shouldn't be any major problems. Yoko was surprisingly diligent about such administrative matters, so I trusted her.
"Understood," Yoko replied, and with that, the meeting concluded.
Then we went straight back into another banquet. That made it two days in a row, but I decided not to worry about it.
A few days later, messengers arrived from the Lamia race in the Southern Dungeon and the Giant race in the Northern Dungeon. They had heard rumors about the banquet and the festive attire I’d worn, and they were practically mourning.
"Why were we not invited...?"
"We wanted to see it so badly."
I ended up having to promise them that they would definitely be included when we did it again next year.