On the Move from Eminira
The exhibition in Eminira took two full days for setup and preparation.
Those planning to participate in the crafts, souvenirs, and dining sections—spurred by stories from people who had attended the preliminaries—were panicking over the shortage of goods and dishes. They desperately roped in anyone nearby to help make items and gather ingredients, but even so, the congestion never let up.
Most of the participants and visitors from nearby villages and towns, exhausted from helping out their acquaintances’ booths, were supposed to return home after the event. Instead, I decided to bring them all along to the new town.
Even the adventurers acting as guards looked worn out—perhaps they’d been helping with event security too.
Many visitors who came for sightseeing ended up helping at familiar stalls for two of the three days.
Those helping food vendors worked behind the scenes—prepping ingredients elsewhere, carrying finished dishes to the venue.
Those helping crafts vendors assisted with sales and material runs, while artisans worked from their inns to produce more items.
And yet, supplies still kept running out. It made me wonder—where was everything going?
Even if our people’s wallets were looser these days, it shouldn’t have been that much.
According to the information gathered by the Merchants’ Guild, merchants from other territories had come to buy everything up.
Were they acting on someone’s orders?
They really didn’t need to come here…
That’s why I wanted everyone who had worked so hard to get a proper rest—so I brought them all to the new town.
When we arrived, they were stunned by the vast, open space—even though it was still nothing but cleared land. They hadn’t expected it to be as large as Eminira.
The men helped set up the tents while the women took turns entering the hot springs first.
Once everyone had bathed, I told them they could go in again as many times as they liked until we departed. A huge cheer went up.
But I made one thing clear: departure time was strict.
“Anyone who doesn’t make it on time will be left behind,” I said.
“We’ll be on time!” came the chorus of voices in response.
Then I addressed everyone.
“This new town will be centered around its hot springs. We’ll build plenty of baths and inns where anyone can relax for an affordable price. There’ll be some unique baths too, but that alone won’t bring people in. That’s where your food and crafts come in—things that can only be found here. The people who work in this town will help newlyweds and families create memories on their travels. The exhibition in the capital will be the final one, so for now, take this chance to rest your tired bodies and recover.”
Silence fell.
… Did I say something strange?
I dismissed everyone for free time until our departure the next day and went to rest at the mansion in the new town.
The next morning, everyone gathered right on time.
Apparently, many had woken up early just to soak again.
Meyer told me the average person went in three times—some as many as five.
How anyone knew that without phones or magic communicators, I have no idea. Maybe those “five-time bathers” bragged about it.
We should reach the capital by noon.
As we traveled, Logan came over to me.
Wait, was he even part of the group?
Apparently, Logan had taken over as the leader for Lux Village in the capital, replacing Marcus.
So Marcus missed the hot springs again? Poor guy.
“Not everyone, but several participants said they want to start preparing this afternoon,” Logan said. “After the hot springs, they feel revived. They want as many people as possible to try their food and see their crafts in the capital.”
I said that making crafts would be difficult, but he replied that they planned to gather materials and make as much as they could from their lodgings.
Even villagers who had intended to go home wanted to stay and help, saying tents were fine.
When I asked why, Logan said, “Because of your speech yesterday. They want to help make the new town thrive—and to do that, they want the exhibition to succeed.”
“Young Master Reinhardt, you really motivated them,” he added. “Please, help us make it happen.”
Did I really sound that inspiring?
Still, having more hands on deck is a good thing.
“Got it,” I said. “Captain Kyle, sorry, but send someone to my father. Ask him to let us use the Knights’ training grounds inside the capital for tent lodging. And arrange security around it, too.”
“Yes, sir,” Kyle replied, then rode to the front of the formation.
Once we reached the capital, we immediately drew lots to divide into two groups—those for the plaza and those for the street market.
Most participants didn’t even go to their inns, heading straight to the venues instead.
This time, neither the plaza nor the market had designated eating areas.
Instead, we closed the main street leading out of the plaza and turned it into a pedestrian zone—lining it with long tables and chairs so people could eat there.
No carriages would pass, but plenty of people would. The street’s existing shops would benefit from the traffic, so they were happy to cooperate.
As for the street market, we did the same with the road through the adjacent shopping district, turning it into another pedestrian zone.
Most shops there—except eateries—closed for the event, since they were mainly dry goods, food suppliers, or hardware stores.
In return, we bought ingredients, tableware, pots, and other supplies from them.
Most of those pots and dishes would likely be sold later as secondhand goods—but again, that was thanks to Lipka’s and Bianca’s families.
The more prep time we had, the more we needed equipment, after all.
A few shops didn’t fall into those categories—like the fabric seller and the florist—but they were already planning to close since they had exhibition booths, so it wasn’t a problem.
That meant we could make full use of the entire street market.
What do you think about this chapter?
