A succession of births occurred in Village One.
I was relieved that everyone was born safely. Looking back, I’d say Paula had the most difficult labor of them all. I wondered what the cause was. Had she overexerted herself because she hadn't realized she was pregnant? Or was it perhaps work-related stress? It was frustrating to have absolutely no knowledge of such things.
According to the veteran midwives of the Devil Race, individual differences meant the cause of a difficult labor couldn't be narrowed down to just one thing. That said, they advised that pregnant women shouldn't worry too much and should instead focus on nutritious meals, moderate exercise, and a regular lifestyle.
I see. I’d make sure to spread the word. Of course, I knew that being too pushy about it was also a bad idea. I understood the balance. I already had many children of my own, after all. Being overbearing was no good, but neglect was even worse.
I decided to build some kamakuras out of the snow. Initially, I thought about building them in the courtyard, but I had to give up on that idea because there wasn't enough clean snow. A kamakura required much more snow than I had expected. Raimeiren shared some snow from the mountain she was making, so the construction site ended up being right next to her snow mountain.
Once I brought a brazier into a kamakura, it became warm in an instant. I placed a wire net over the brazier to heat a pot of miso soup; the aroma filled the small space, creating a cozy atmosphere. Currently inside the kamakura were myself, the Sake Slime, and the dwarf Donovan. Given the company, sake was naturally involved.
I shifted the pot of miso soup slightly to make space for warming the alcohol. First up was hot wine. If it reached a boil, the alcohol would evaporate, so I had to watch it carefully—but with the Sake Slime and Donovan there, I knew it would be fine.
The drink certainly warmed me up. I even tried my hand at some variations, adding cinnamon, pepper, lemon juice, and mandarin juice. Donovan, I really don't think there's any point in "fortifying" the hot wine by adding more wine to it.
After the hot wine, I boiled some water to try making something akin to hot sake. Since I hadn't crafted any proper ceramic bottles, I used bamboo as a substitute. Perhaps because of that, the sake took on the scent of the wood. Well, it was pleasant in its own way. The Sake Slime seemed to agree, bouncing happily.
"Happy events just keep on coming, don't they?" Donovan said with a broad smile as he drank.
It wasn't just the alcohol talking. Three Elder Dwarf women had recently arrived in the village. They had gone through the trouble of traveling through the Forest of Death to get here, so I welcomed them warmly. Afterward, they seemed to lose all their strength when they discovered we were on friendly terms with the Gate Guardian Dragon and that there was a Teleportation Gate to Village Five. Apparently, they had struggled immensely to cross the mountains while hiding from the Gate Guardian Dragon. I suspected he would have let them through if they had just approached him and talked, but perhaps he was being feared more than necessary.
Then again, maybe he had to be feared. He was the Gate Guardian Dragon, after all.
Wait... if I recalled correctly, he was called the Gate Guardian Dragon because he prevented the monsters and magic beasts of the Forest of Death from migrating south. If that were the case, he should be someone people were grateful to. So why was he so feared?
When I put that question to Donovan, he just laughed. "Just being a dragon makes one an object of awe."
I see. Looking at Hakuren and Draim outside the kamakura engaged in a snowball fight with the children, I found it hard to see them that way.
Meanwhile, Raimeiren was playing in the snow with Hiichiro. I warned the snowball fight team to be careful, as throwing a snowball in Raimeiren’s direction would be dangerous for several reasons. Ah, I see Raimeiren was already using magic to maintain a shield. Her protection against the cold was also perfect.
Dos, who had just entered the kamakura, filled me in on the details. To thank him, I offered him some miso soup, but since he was staring intently at the alcohol, I handed him some sake instead. It turned out Dos had come because Ann had asked him to deliver some snacks to go with the drinks. Thank you.
And so, just being a dragon makes one an object of awe, does it?
Shortly after Dos arrived, Giral showed up as well. He was carrying a pot. It seemed to be zenzai for the children. Gral followed behind him, bringing the tableware.
Giral had prepared a house for Gral in the village. Well, the High Elves and I were the ones who actually built it, but it had been completed around autumn, and Gral had begun living there. Even if she looked young, Gral was still a dragon. There were no concerns regarding her safety, but there were major concerns regarding her ability to manage a household. I hadn't thought there was any need for her to force herself to live alone, but Gral wanted to gain life skills for her future, and Giral felt it was too early for her to live under the same roof as her "groom candidate." Their intentions happened to align.
The "groom candidate" was Hiichiro. Given that Hiichiro was only a little over three years old, I didn't think there was much to worry about yet.
Regardless, Gral’s determination was admirable. She started living alone and managed to hold out for about three days. On the fourth day, she gave up. She returned to the Village Head's Mansion half-sobbing. Even though we called it living alone, I had dispatched five veteran midwives of the Devil Race from Dos’s domain to act as commuting caretakers, but apparently, being in a house by herself at night was too lonely.
Now, she split her time between the mansion and her new house. The veteran midwives lived in the new house full-time, which was done at Giral’s request. For the village, having veteran midwives of the Devil Race around was a reassuring presence. Gral had settled into a routine of "living alone-ish," gradually improving her domestic skills.
While she was doing fine, Alfred and Tiselle had grown envious of Gral’s house. No matter how much they begged, I couldn't give them permission yet, and I wouldn't. I expected Urza to want one too, but she seemed completely uninterested. I understood; she still wanted to be near Hakuren.
I had built the kamakura to be spacious, so there was still plenty of room even after Dos, Giral, and Gral entered. However, after setting down the tableware, Gral rushed back out to join the snowball fight. It seemed growing up was still a long way off for her.
I enjoyed the hot wine and the mock-hot sake, occasionally sipping miso soup. Later, I tried the sake Donovan had buried in the snow to make it ice-cold. Drinking chilled sake inside a warm kamakura on a freezing day was a treat. It was delicious, but I warned them not to overdo it, or they’d catch a cold.
Then again, I supposed no one here was that fragile.
I realized it was about time to properly heat up the zenzai. The children’s snowball fight was reaching its final climax. They would likely come rushing over once it was finished. It was cold out, but I decided to heat the zenzai outside. I asked for a hand, and Draim stepped up to help. I thought Donovan might volunteer, but... I guess Draim wasn't an object of "awe" to him? Well, no matter.
Being on Zenzai Duty was cold, but at least I was by the fire. Besides, it was a privileged position that made the children happy. I’d do my best.
While the children enjoyed their zenzai, Raimeiren went sledding down the snow mountain with Hiichiro. It was a heartwarming sight. Nearby, the Fairy Queen was standing on a sliding board, showing off some technical moves. She performed a full rotation jump off a ramp, sticking the landing with a perfect pose. It was impressive.
Impressive, yes, but such a demonstration was bound to make the children want to try it themselves.
"Wait! Wipe your sweat before you go! If your clothes are wet, make sure you change!"
I had already built a dedicated Changing Kamakura and stocked it with spare clothes. The right side was for boys, and the left was for girls. I told them not to get too rowdy inside, especially the girls.
Sleds? Yes, I’d prepared plenty of them. We even had sliding boards this year—the standing sleds the Fairy Queen was using. I told them to practice in the low areas until they got the hang of it. The jump ramp was off-limits to anyone who couldn't slide from top to bottom without falling. Full rotations were strictly prohibited. They weren't allowed to push themselves too hard.
I worried that since sliding boards and skis fixed the feet in place, it would be easy to twist a leg and break a bone during a fall. To mitigate that, I had designed my handmade boards so the feet would detach immediately. This reduced the risk of fractures, but it made them poorly suited for intense stunts. I was actually surprised the Fairy Queen managed a rotation with them.
"Ah—Urza. Are you trying to argue that a double rotation doesn't count as a 'rotation'?"
I told her those boards weren't made for that kind of action, so it was banned. No rotating. Not even on a sled!