Dinner Banquet
Dinner was held in a large building that also served as a gathering hall, together with the villagers in the style of a standing buffet.
The building was three stories tall, with seven guest rooms on the third floor—I was using one of those rooms.
Each household brought dishes they’d made, turning it into a shared feast.
Including the children, the village population was about 250, though only about 50 adults attended tonight’s banquet.
Before Marcus returned to this village, there were only about a hundred villagers, and they didn’t even have the double earthen walls.
After Marcus became village chief, word spread that this was a place where you could live both as an adventurer and as a farmer. Adventurers and their families moved in, and the village grew into what it is today.
“Were there any frictions with the newcomers?” I asked one of the older men who had been telling me about the village.
“At first, yes,” he said. “But now we can focus on farming safely, since they patrol the forest. We’re grateful for that. Sometimes they even bring us meat when they’ve hunted too much.” He chuckled as he spoke.
Adventurers, once they had families, preferred earning money on day trips to the forest over vanishing into a dungeon for days at a time. On days they weren’t hunting, they worked the fields.
And in a village with many adventurers, their wives also had plenty of companions in similar situations, making it easier for households to thrive.
On top of that, the double earthen walls meant they could leave their families at home without worry. The wives didn’t have to spend their days anxious while their husbands were gone for long periods. Hunting trips were short, with strong companions, and their homes were well-defended.
Marcus specialized in ice magic, if I remembered right.
When I asked who had built the earthen walls, it turned out they were Logan’s work. Now that six villagers wielded earth magic, maintaining the walls was no longer difficult.
Marcus brought over two women who looked to be in their late twenties.
“Young Master Reinhardt, allow me to introduce my wife, Lisa, and Logan’s wife, Helena.”
“Are you two sisters?” I asked.
Indeed, they looked alike—their eye colors differed, one gray and the other topaz, but both had reddish-brown hair and similar faces.
“Yes, though people often mistake us for twins, we’re not. Lisa is my younger sister by two years, and I’m the elder one,” Helena explained.
I couldn’t help but feel curious about how they came to marry.
Just as I was wondering, Meyer supplied the answer:
“They were the daughters of a restaurant the knights often dined at.”
“… Was I muttering to myself again?”
“No, you just looked like you wanted to know. I thought I’d help. By the way, it wasn’t the captains who made the first move—it was the ladies who approached them.”
What?! A reverse approach?
When I looked at the wives, both blushed and admitted, “We were young and reckless back then.”
“So that makes Logan your brother-in-law. Did he leave the Knights Order together with you, Marcus?”
“No. He quit because he said he didn’t want to be captain. He just told Kyle, ‘The rest is yours,’ and left.”
“Even if he said that, wasn’t he really worried about you?”
“Probably. But I remember Kyle having a hard time since both the captain and vice-captain left at the same time.”
That was a dangerous line of conversation—with their wives present, I needed to change the subject.
“Helena, Lisa, those hair ornaments of yours are beautiful.”
They were hairpins, decorated with intricately carved floral patterns.
“Thank you. These were made by Elm, a craftsman living in our village,” Helena explained.
Apparently, he had trained as a metal engraver in the capital, but moved here to live with his wife’s parents. He spent his days farming, and on rainy days or nights, he made these pieces as a hobby.
What a waste—he’s so skilled.
These could easily be sold as tourist souvenirs.
Yes, we should definitely recruit him.
What do you think about this chapter?
