Magi Craft Meister 334
11-36 Banquet
Now that Jin had invited Lishia and Pascaud into Nidou castle, he gave them a simple tour.
When he asked them to take their shoes off at the entrance, they gave him a questioning look.
“Everyone does it in houses where I come from. If it bothers you, here are some slippers.”
Jin said, and so the two of them agreed without issue. So there was no need for slippers.
“The flooring feels nice beneath my feet.”
It was nearing the end of spring, and so the temperature was warm and caused you to sweat a little. The polished planks felt cool under their feet and was very pleasant.
Jin led them through the castle.
First, they climbed the stairs and visited the office on the third floor. Then they went to the guest room on the second floor, and to the drawing room below that. They avoided the fourth floor and above for now.
“The baths and toilets are on the first floor. Unfortunately, we are not close to any hot springs, so it is not a natural bath, but I do intend to draw from somewhere eventually.”
“…”
“…”
The two of them were shocked. Well, you might call it a sort of culture shock.
“Ji-Jin. Is this, perhaps, uh, from your homeland…Japan, was it? Is it from there?”
Lishia was the first of the two to return to herself as she asked. She didn’t remember when it was, but Barbara had told her about it.
“Yes, that is correct. Though, it is not exactly the same.”
Lishia looked interested at these words.
“Oh, in that case, your homeland must be very strange! But nice as well! I would like to even visit…”
She added. Jin could only smile in reply to this.
On the other hand, Pascaud looked like he had just swallowed a bitter bug.
Jin took no notice of Pascaud however, as he looked out of the window. You could see that the sun in the blue sky was starting to set.
It was very easy for him to use his Magi Craft Meister abilities to determine the angle of the sun and determine what time it was.
“It is almost four thirty. We are going to celebrate the construction of this castle today, along with celebrating this land being leased, and it will also be a welcome party for our ambassadors. I think to have a banquet.”
Jin announced to the two of them.
“Oh, is that so. How fun.”
Lishia may not have been so accepting if he said that it was just for them, and so he explained all of the other reasons, and she readily accepted it.
“I think to request one thing of you as an ambassador.”
Jin said, and since Lishia understood her position well, said:
“Yes, I understand.”
And she nodded, much to Jin’s relief.
Pascaud continued to mutter to himself as if absorbed in his own little world. But in truth, he was really just confused as he was unable to digest everything that he was seeing here in the castle.
Jin continued to guide the two of them and brought them out to the great hall.
“Here we are making preparations.”
Jin said as they stepped foot into the hall.
“Ah, brother!”
“Jin.”
“Hannah and Elsa were here, and they were helping to lay down cushions under Mine’s guidance.
He had thought that Hannah would wear the dress that she received from Princess Lieschen, but she had decided to wear nice, but normal clothes as the dress would get dirty.
“Master Jin, we are almost finished with the preparations.”
Belle was in the kitchens with Peridot 101. Peridot was there also. They needed the extra help as there would be many guests.
“Master Jin, the people of the village have arrived.”
Barou said as he guided the villagers inside.
Butler B took their shoes and put them away. It was impressive that he could memorize and manage all of the shoes from over 100 villagers.
Laojun must have determined that the five golem maids were not enough, so aside from Peridot, five colors each from 91 to 95, in other words, a total of 25 more were brought over to help.
“It is quite the sight…”
“…”
Pascaud seemed to become even more confused as he watched all of this. Jin did not notice this and continued to give orders.
“Now, what to do about seating arrangements.”
Lishia would sit at the head. Next was Pascaud. Then the chief after that. Everyone else could sit where they wanted.
Hanna and Elsa would sit next to Jin, Reiko stood right behind him. Mine insisted on serving the food and did not listen to him.
“Ohh, these cushions are so comfortable!”
“Dear, that doesn’t mean you can take them home with you!”
“These are for sitting on, right?”
“They look more expensive than my mattress…”
The villagers all came in and sat on their cushions. Many were surprised by the texture and comfort that they offered.
And then it was 5 pm. Jin saw that everyone from the village had arrived, and then he stood up.
“Everyone.”
And with that word, the whole hall fell quiet.
“Thank you all for coming here to Nidou Castle today. The completion of this castle, the leasing of this Kaina village to me…Jin Nidou, and the welcoming of Lishia Fahlheit and Pascaud Rush as ambassadors of friendship. We celebrate all of this with a banquet this evening. I hope that you all enjoy it.”
Jin was not accustomed to doing this, and his speech was far from perfect, but he somehow managed to finish it.
It went without saying, but Lishia was not an ambassador that would stay here long, but was more of a show of goodwill. Because had she needed to stay here, then Jin’s permission would have been necessary in advance.
Ignoring all of that, the golem maids immediately began to serve a special Pelshika juice. When they were done, Jin said:
“Cheers!”
And he was the first to drain his crystal glass cup. Seeing this, the villagers all started to drink the juice as well.
“Ohh! What is this! It’s delicious! Too delicious!”
“It’s sweet! So good!”
People who drank it for the first time were surprised by its sweetness.
“It’s so good, isn’t it!”
“That’s Jin alright!”
The people who had tasted it before savored it with pleasure.
As for Lishia and Pascaud.
“It’s, it’s delicious! Jin, are you sure that this is Pelshika juice?”
“…!! It is amazing!”
They were blown away by the taste.
Jin said to Lishia:
“Lishia, can I ask you to say a few words?”
He wanted her to say something as ambassador.
“Oh, yes, of course.”
Lishia said a little frantically but quickly remembered that he had asked her about this earlier. And so she stood up.
“Villagers of Kaina.”
Her voice was clearer than Jin’s and everyone’s eyes were immediately drawn to her.
“I am Lishia Fahlheit, an ambassador of friendship from the Cline Kingdom. I’m sure that some of you will remember me from when I visited last year as a tax collector.”
Lock and several other men nodded at this.
“Jin has made tremendous contributions to the Cline kingdom, and as a reward for this, the Kaina village has been leased to him. In other words, he will be temporarily a lord of this land.”
She paused here, as the villagers all said ‘ooh’ and ‘ahh’ and ‘wooow.’
“In other words, Jin will take care of the taxes from now on. And laws of the Cline kingdom will generally not apply here. This means that conscriptions like on the previous day will no longer occur.”
Lishia continued to explain different details that Jin had not. She told them of the advantages to these changes and ended with:
“Congratulations. May we continue to have a long and lasting friendship.”
She said to Jin and ended her speech. Applause erupted around them.
Next was the village chief, Gheebeck.
“Everyone, there is no need to think too hard about it. Jin has promised to keep things as they have always been. I will continue to just call him Jin, and everyone else should do the same.”
He began, and several voices rose in approval of Jin.
“I will continue to fulfill my role as chief, just as usual. Because, as you know, Jin has a habit of disappearing now and then.”
He said, and several chuckles and words of agreement could be heard.
“Jin’s house is over at Martha’s. The golem, Butler A, is there as a substitute. I simply call him A. But you can just talk to him when Jin is not around, and he will relate the message to Jin.”
As he explained this, everyone listened as if this were a very normal thing. Everyone except for Lishia, Pascaud, and Barou. Belle had already gotten used to this place, but Barou was still not as used to it.
“Well, I won’t talk for too long and bore you all. But if you have any questions, please feel free to ask them to me directly.”
Gheebeck said.
“Jin, I expect you to take good care of Kaina village.”
And so he ended his speech.
After that, the banquet finally began.
The first dish was a cold stew. It was thin and cooled off. It was especially good during warmer weather.
Next was a hamburger steak. It was made of ground meat, breadcrumbs, and spices. There was also a special sauce made by Peridot Leader.
Next was vegetable tempura. The batter was made of eggs and flour and they were cooked in high-quality walnut oil. Instead of tempura sauce, they used seaweed salt that was very special on the Hourai island.
There was also croquette made of topopo. Some were plain, and other contained ground venison.
Raisin bread was also served. In this world they called it passa bread(Bitis was a type of grape, and when dried, it was called passa).
Aside from that, there was also wheat porridge, freshly baked bread, smoked meats and a salad of raw vegetables, and pelshika and citran fruits. Unfortunately, the rice had not been ready in time.
“Woah! This tempura is crispy and delicious!”
“Mmm, I’ve never had this before, what is it! It’s so good!”
Peridot and the others had worked hard to create these dishes for this day, and they were to Jin’s tastes. So he was also incredibly happy as he ate them.
“Jin, this food is very good!”
Lishia seemed to have really liked her hamburger steak.
“Ye-yes, this tempura thing is not familiar to me, but I like it.”
Pascaud seemed to have liked the tempura.
For this time alone, the serving was left to the golem maids, and Barou, Belle, and Mine all sat down and ate the same thing.
“Master Jin, what is…”
Barou was still mumbling such things, but Belle seemed too busy enjoying the food to question anything.
“It is very good. I would like to learn how to make this.”
Mine was also smacking her lips at these dishes that she saw for the first time.
“Big brother, it’s so good!”
Hannah said with a big smile as she stuffed the hamburger steaks into her mouth. Jin became very happy.
“Brother Jin, this is delicious. …This also uses topopo, right?”
Elsa said as she took another serving of croquette. She no longer hated topopo.
The passa bread was also very popular among the children.
Once the meal had reached a certain point, Jin ordered that the drinks be brought out. The Quinta had gone to different lands to buy these.
There was beer from the Egelia kingdom, and wine from the Elias kingdom. And then there was ale from the Cline kingdom etcetera.
“Ooh! The food is fine, but it’s all about the drinks!”
“Dear, you mustn’t drink too much!”
The banquet at Nidou castle was a great success. Jin wanted to make things even more lively, and so he called Reiko over.
“Reiko, could you do the same dance and song as before?”
Jin was talking about the dance that Reiko had memorized from Neon, Berthie’s automata.
“Yes, leave it to me.”
Reiko said and stood up before walking over to the center of the great hall.
“Oh? Reiko?”
“What is she going to do?”
As the villagers all watched, Reiko began to dance. She also started to sing at the same time. All those that watched were gushing with praise.
“Ohh! So cute!”
“Yes! Go! Reiko!”
“I want to take her home!”
The dance was well received here as well.
“…It’s hard to imagine that she is also an automata, Jin…”
Lishia said with surprise. Pascaud was also wide-eyed and shocked. Elsa just clapped happily and Hannah simply ran over to where Reiko was.
“Sister Reiko! So pretty!”
And she started to try and copy Reiko’s movements.
Perhaps it was a hidden talent, because Hannah was not doing too bad for herself.
“Hannah, you are doing great!”
Now other cute girls from Kaina village, Jessie and Patty also jumped in to join. They weren’t quite as good as Hannah, but they also looked cute while dancing.
“Ahh! How cute!”
“Girls are so cute after all, I want my next child to be a girl.”
“What are you talking about, dear?”
They all bowed when the dance was finished, and everyone clapped for them.
Reiko and Hannah held hands and returned to the others.
“Thank you, Reiko. Hannah, you looked very cute.”
“Ehehe.”
Now that Reiko and the children had finished their performance, the other villagers got up as they were quite drunk.
“Alright, now it is my turn to do a little dance!”
“Listen to me sing!”
“No, it’s my turn!”
“Idiot, don’t take off your clothes!”
“No one wants to see that!”
This night in Kaina village would be a very lively one.