The day after the harvest festival, the guests and residents from the other villages began their journey home.
As they left, each representative selected a single crop from the three distinct offerings placed before the altar.
"It is generally customary for the residents of this village to take from the pile on the right, while everyone else takes from the left," Progenitor-san explained.
Selection was first-come, first-served, and everyone was free to choose whatever they liked. Furthermore, there was a rule that representatives had to depart immediately after choosing their share. I suspected this might be a traditional way of politely ushering guests out.
Thinking about it, the harvest festival marks the end of autumn. With winter preparations looming, guests—to put it bluntly—can be a bit of a hindrance. Of course, that applies to normal villages; we have enough resources here that I wouldn't have minded if they stayed a bit longer. Seeing them give their final greetings and head off felt a little lonely.
"By the way, what about the center pile?" I asked.
"That is the God's portion, so it must remain untouched until noon today. After that, you should accept it yourself, Village Head."
"Understood."
That night, a review meeting for the harvest festival was held in the mansion's conference room. Attendance was strictly voluntary, yet a surprisingly large crowd gathered. I wasn't sure if I should interpret this as a sign of high initiative or simply that everyone had a lot they wanted to get off their chests.
Since this was our first time running it this way, problems were to be expected. I decided to welcome the abundance of feedback.
"We should probably draw the line somewhere when it comes to the 'spiciness challenge' for the curry," a representative from Village One suggested. "If it is just hot without being flavorful, it isn't really curry anymore."
The Demon King nodded deeply at this. Beezel and Randan had already returned home, but the Demon King was staying until tomorrow to play with the kittens. He raised his hand to speak next.
"Regarding the baseball broadcasts, we need to do more to help the rules sink in."
He had a point. The highlight reel we broadcasted on the stage didn't get much of a reaction because most of the audience didn't actually understand how the game worked.
"The rules of baseball are quite complicated, and it is difficult to grasp them just by watching," one of the Civil Official Girls added. "We need someone to explain the mechanics."
"I have a proposal regarding that..." Ire, the representative of the broadcasting department, raised his hand. "Let’s film a video specifically to explain the rules. That should help make the sport more accessible."
"As expected of Ire! A magnificent idea. You're a genius," the Demon King praised.
"Thank you very much, Demon King-sama."
The two of them seemed to be on excellent terms, which was a relief.
"As for the stage schedule, I felt it was a bit too cramped," one of the High Elves noted. "While watching the performances, people didn't have the leeway to enjoy the surrounding food stalls."
Many people nodded in agreement.
"It was a shame," a High Ogre Maid added. "I was so busy working the stalls that I couldn't see the stage at all."
"The performances were broadcast in various locations, but there weren't enough screens to go around," the Lizardmen pointed out.
I would have to take these requests into account for next time. Perhaps we should relax the schedule or split the harvest festival into a two-day event, with the stalls on the first day and the stage performances on the second. I’d spend the winter mulling it over.
"There were complaints that the Fairy Queen was the only one allowed to gorge herself on sweets. Mostly from the children."
"I told her to share if the children came by. Did she monopolize the stall?" I asked.
"No, she shared them properly," came the reply. "However, the adults accompanying the children stepped in and stopped them from eating too much."
I looked over at Hakuren, who was attending the meeting.
"I limited them to one treat each because I didn't want them getting sick," she explained. "I figured they would be eating at the other stalls as well."
Hakuren wasn't in the wrong there.
"The dedicated rest area for the children was very well-received," one of the Mountain Elves reported. However, she added that it was a struggle because the children constantly wanted to wander off, making it a challenge for the adults looking after them. Next year, it might be a good idea to provide toys or something to keep them occupied.
"Also, regarding the stage logistics, the Pond Turtles seemed to have a difficult time getting up there."
That was true. While they move surprisingly fast for turtles, the stairs were a hurdle. The Giants eventually noticed and carried them to the center of the stage, but we should have prepared a ramp in advance.
Then there was the issue of security. Kierbit and the other Angels, along with Kuro's children, worked as hard as always, but their duties prevented them from fully participating in the festivities. This was another strong argument for moving to a two-day schedule.
"How was the workload for the Civil Official Girls?" I asked. "Progenitor-san managed the festival this year, but we plan to handle it ourselves next time."
"Compared to the martial arts tournament, it was quite easy," one of them replied. "Having the stage schedule and the stall contents reported in advance made a huge difference."
That was a relief. Honestly, I had suspected the tournament might have been the easier of the two to manage.
"The majority of the residents participate in the tournament, and everyone gets quite passionate... plus, we usually have several people making unreasonable demands on the day of the event."
I wasn't the one making those unreasonable demands, was I? It had to be people like Dos and Giral. Regardless, I was happy with the variety of opinions raised during the meeting. I intended to use them to improve things for next year.
"Village Head... there is one more thing, though it's a bit late to bring it up," one of the Civil Official Girls said, raising her hand.
"What is it?"
"The bonfire stand you built... it's still burning. What should we do with it? We tried dousing it with water, but the flames just shrink for a moment and refuse to go out."
I had been trying to put that out of my mind, but I was forced to face it. It was a problematic fire, after all. I looked to Progenitor-san for his opinion.
"How about constructing a proper stone monument, transferring the flame to it, and making it a permanent village installation?"
We decided to go with that.
The next day, we set up the stone bonfire stand in the residential area. To prevent any accidents or fire hazards, I shaped the base into a sturdy trapezoid and kept the height to about one meter. I also built a fence around it to make sure no children got close enough to burn themselves.
"Look, it's not even hot if I put my hand in!" one of the beastman girls chirped, thrusting her hand into the flames to prove her point. I really wish she wouldn't do things that were so bad for my heart.
"Even if this specific fire is safe, you'll get burned by any other fire. The fence stays so the children don't get the wrong idea."
I finished the fence, making it as solid as possible. Just in case, I also set up a basin of water nearby.
Immediately, Kuro's children, the phoenix chick Aegis, and the eagle gathered around it.
"Hey, that's not a watering hole for you to drink from."
Well, I suppose it's better if they actually get some use out of it. Kuro's children were sensible enough, but I had to tell the birds to be careful.
"Even if it won't burn you... Aegis, don't jump into the fire!"
Seriously, it’s like they’re trying to give me a heart attack. Good grief.