Volume 22 Chapter 1, New Year

A large festival was about to be held in the city on the 5th Floor of Amamiya Tower.

It had been exactly one year since the first adventurers had settled on the 5th Floor.

This festival was to commemorate that.

It was announced that the festival would not end after this time, but would continue into next year and beyond.

To begin with, the festival itself was not conceived by the government.

It was originally proposed to the executive branch by the town’s residents, and the executive branch approved the proposal.

The proposal was submitted close to the first anniversary of the festival, so the executive branch approved the proposal to coincide with the anniversary.

After receiving the approval, the residents were so excited that they began preparing for the event.

At first, it was just a small group, but as soon as permission was granted, more and more people joined in, and eventually the entire town was involved in the festivities.

In many ways, it was a good thing for the town, which had more than 100,000 inhabitants, to be united through the festival.

Perhaps it was because he had hinted that the festival itself would be canceled if any commotion occurred during the preparations, but it was a sight to be seen here and there as the commotion subsided before the security forces could get involved.

This was a town of adventurers, for better or worse.

Despite these circumstances, preparations for the festival were steadily carried out by the residents without any major disturbances.

Although the town changed its scale almost daily, there had never been a festival of any kind.

There was an inauguration ceremony at the city’s only temple, but only a few people were invited to the ceremony, and it was not something that the city’s residents were involved in.

In this context, it was the first major festival of its kind.

The festival could not possibly be completed in just one day, and in the blink of an eye, it became a three-day festival.

The time and effort involved in the preparations became considerable, but even so, the residents were happily engaged in the festival preparations.

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First day of the festival.

As the festival was about to open, people were gathering to enjoy the festival, not only from the residents of the city but also from outside the Tower.

Stalls for the festival were opened here and there in the town.

The owners of the restaurants gathered in one place to show off their skills.

Naturally, the Crown’s commerce department would not be absent from this event.

Merchants from all walks of life were out in full force, setting up stores to liven up the festivities.

For the next three days, most of the stores, except for accommodation, were set up for the festival instead of doing their usual business.

Of course, not only the usual shopkeepers put in their usual efforts, but there are also events unique to the festival.

The most exciting spectacle was a tournament in an arena built on the outskirts of town.

The facility normally used by Crown adventurers for training has been opened up for the festival’s martial arts tournaments.

For three days, adventurers of great skill would engage in heated competition.

Today, the first day of the festival, was only the Preliminary Stage, but there were more people than could fit in the spectator seating area.

Many of them were gamblers.

These bets were one of the great pleasures of the festival.

Since the whole town was excited about the festival, the people walking around the town were also in festive attire.

To be more specific, there were people walking around wearing masks here and there.

This was because the festival encouraged people to wear masks to hide their normal selves to enjoy the festival.

There was concern that some fools might go on a rampage because they were hiding their faces, but such festival-destroying people were quickly eliminated.

This was initially met with some difficulty by the security forces, but because of their appreciation of what was done at the festival’s preparatory stage, permission was eventually granted.

Rumor had it that the permission was granted because of an order from above, but the truth was not known except for a few people.

Some of those who knew of the rumors were walking through the town, which was bustling with festivities.

The group, numbering as many as 10 people in all, were all wearing masks.

Although the number of people in the group was big, they did not seem to stand out much, as several parties of adventurers were enjoying the festival.

Although their faces were not visible, their clothing and atmosphere indicated that only one of them was a man and the rest were women.

The group was also accompanied by a wolf pack, so it could be recognized as a group of adventurers.

Of course, the group was actually Kousuke, who managed the Amamiya Tower, and his associates.

The idea to parade around wearing masks did not come from Kousuke and his group.

It came purely from the group that was preparing for the festival.

However, when the idea was about to be rejected due to security concerns, Kousuke caught wind of it and decided to wait for further confirmation of the idea.

The source of this information came from the Defrayer family.

Alec was puzzled as to where he heard such information, but eventually, a masked festival, not a masquerade ball, was to be held.

Since it was a festival of convenience, they wanted to participate in it while hiding their true identities.

Kousuke’s face was only shown at the inauguration ceremony of the temple, but even so, the festival brought together people of a certain rank from inside and outside the country.

The idea of the mask was good, since there was no way of knowing where he would be discovered.

Kousuke was able to completely suppress his divine power.

Kousuke was now feeding his monster dependant something like a grilled skewer that he had bought at a food stall.

Of course, the monster in question was the miniaturized Nana.

Naturally, he did not feed the whole skewer, but rather the meat was removed from the skewer.

But even if he gave her the whole skewer, Nana would most likely be able to remove the meat from the skewer and eat it.

“It’s only the first day, but it’s still a lot of fun, right?”

“Yes, that’s right! From what I’ve heard, on the second and third day, there will be more guests from outside, but on the first day, it seems to be only the city residents.”

“I see. So, I guess you could say they are excited about it.”

Peach was spot on, and more customers from outside the Tower were expected to be present on the second and third days.

It was only natural since it was on the last day that more events would take place, but the fact that the first day was so exciting means that the residents who were driven to the event have been enjoying themselves while they still can.

“Father, what is that?”

Haku asked Kousuke when he spotted an item being offered at one of the stalls.

Seeing the object out of the corner of his eye, Kousuke’s eyes narrowed happily.

“Oh. I didn’t think they existed here too. I’ll go get some, so wait for me.”

If it was what Kousuke expected, it was supposed to be sweet food.

Kousuke approached the stall, and after confirming by the look and smell that there was no mistake, he called out to the stall owner.

“Hey, old man, is this cotton candy?”

“Yes, it is. Would you like to buy some?

“Give me one. I didn’t know there was a magic tool like this.”

“Ah, it’s a rarity in this town. Well, it’s my first time attending a festival, so I guess it can’t be helped. But such things are a part of festivals. I was forced to purchase it.”

“Haha. That’s one of the reasons why the festival is so much fun.”

“Ooh. Enjoy yourself to the fullest.”

While conversing, the shopkeeper dexterously gathered the white cotton candy together.

Haku watched the scene with rounded eyes.

“Hahaha. Is this your first time seeing cotton candy, little girl? Here you go.”

When he was done, he handed it directly to Haku.

Kousuke thanked him and paid.

Kousuke gave some advice to Haku, who was still holding the cotton candy and looking puzzled.

“Try eating the white part.”

Haku was surprised for a moment when she was told to eat it, but did as she was told and popped it into her mouth.

“It’s so good!”

After taking a bite, Haku expressed her surprise.

Wanri, hearing this, was also intrigued and asked Haku for a bite.

Sylvia, who was watching the scene, suddenly asked Kousuke in a whisper.

“Cotton candy was also in your original world, correct?”

“Yeah. That’s why I was surprised. I didn’t expect for something like that to exist here. It didn’t have such a long history in my previous world.”

To begin with, sweet things would have been reasonably expensive in this world, but I didn’t expect them to be available enough to be served at festivals.

“The magical tools and the raw materials used to make them are reasonable if you buy them normally. If you told them it was for a festival, you would be able to get it at a reasonable price.”

It was Floria who answered Kousuke’s question.

“Really?”

“Yeah, the adults like it too, but it’s basically something the kids enjoy eating. The production area is reserved for the festival. I’m sure the government was encouraging it to be developed, as well.”

She told him that doing so enhanced the country’s reputation.

“I see. Well, I guess we should be thankful for that, right?”

As long as there was no harm done, I would not complain about national policies.

After all, it was thanks to those policies that they could enjoy their festivals.

Kousuke continued to enjoy the festival while showing understanding to the unexpected situation regarding cotton candy in this world.