Chapter 277: Coming of Age Ceremony (2)
My friends and I returned to Rodan Village after planting an A-rank Grass to manage the Armored Ant Nest.
A-rank Grass and A-rank Dragon were responsible for managing the Armored Ant farm.
I had made multiple 'Nests' in the Rodan Village.
But since I had already used A-rank Bird's awakening skill [Homing Instinct] that day, we rode B-rank Birds back to Rodan Village.
(It's pretty hectic.)
I looked around my parents' home.
I could see that quite a few villagers were coming and going in a hurry.
My friends and I got off nearby and walked into my parents' home.
"I'm back. Mother, do you need any help?"
Theresia was busy cooking.
"Oh? You are back already? Take a rest in the hall, the food will be ready soon. Also, guests are waiting for you."
"Then I will do that."
My mother, Theresia, who was in the kitchen preparing the food with a maid, told me so, so I decided to go with everyone to the hall.
"Pippi!? That's not Pippi..."
There were already quite a few people in the hall.
As soon as I entered the hall, my sister Muras came up to me and said while looking at the A-rank Bird who was on my shoulder.
Muras was referring to G-rank Bird Pippi, a parrot.
The A-rank Bird was about the same size as the G-rank Bird, but it had a different color and shape.
"Pippi!"
I told the A-rank Bird to sing and put it on Muras' shoulder.
And let it flutter around Muras.
"Whoa! Pippi!"
Muras cackled with delight.
{TLN: Muras (to Msh as well) and Mash use Onii-chan/san to refer to Allen.}
"Hey! Muras! Don't make noise!"
"Yes. Brother Mash."
Muras was making a fuss, so Mush admonished her.
Muras replied with a disgruntled expression that showed no remorse whatsoever.
(I can't help but feel like I've caused a scene.)
"I'm home."
"Welcome home. Brother Allen."
My brother Mash, who was 3 years younger than me, had turned 12 the year before.
He had grown up a lot and was looking after Muras quite well as well.
"Oh, Allen. You're back."
"Yeah. I heard it's going to start in a little while."
"Oh, yeah? But your father's not going to be able to keep up with you on such short notice. I'm sorry, but I'm going to need you to attend to our guests."
For Nobles and Royalty, the Coming of Age of a child was an important event, and so they earnestly requested to have one.
Then what about Merle's parents who lived in a village near the Baukis Empire that I'd never met before, or Kiel's sister Nina and her servants in Carnell?
No one said no, I felt like I had to do something.
It was decided that the Coming of Age ceremony would be celebrated together in the Rodan Village.
Her Majesty the Queen, by virtue of her position, couldn't go to other countries, so Marshal Sigur and other elves were her representatives.
The highest seat of honor was occupied by Viscount Granvelle, his wife on his left, and Rosenheim's leading figures, including Marshal Sigur on his right, because the ceremony was being held in the territory ruled by Viscount Granvelle.
My siblings and I were clumped together, while our parents were sitting on the other side of the room.
I felt like we were having some kind of family visit.
"Marshal Sigur. I apologize for making you stay in such a place."
My father, Rodan, couldn't say so directly, so Viscount Granvelle said in his stead.
Viscount Granvelle was a low-ranking Noble, so he spoke quite reservedly to Marshal Sigur, who had a high position in Rosenheim.
"Hm...? No, it is actually a nice place to be surrounded by nature. Besides, I wanted to see where the Hero was born."
He actually really wanted to see my parents and where I grew up.
Also, the nature-loving elves didn't find a development village with peaceful, wooden buildings unpleasant.
In the midst of the conversation between the Viscount and the Marshal before the Coming of Age ceremony began, several more groups of villagers, parents and children, entered the room near the entrance.
Kurena, Dogora and I were born during the time, when the Latash Kingdom or Granvelle territory was having a baby boom.
So there were a lot of kids, the same age as Kurena, Dogora and me.
Among the villagers who came to settle Rodan Village were a couple of parents with children the same age as us.
There were all families with children who had reached adulthood, regardless of whether they were commoners or serfs.
I had asked Viscont Granvelle if I could invite the serfs, but he never said no.
Thanks to that, the large room that could hold 100 people was not empty.
I could often hear voices around me saying, "You have to be quiet." "I know, I know."
""Oh, wow!""
A loose voice escaped from the nervous villagers as someone who was clearly dressed in fine clothes took his place at the top of the table.
The kitchen of our house alone was not enough to prepare the food, so the food, which had been prepared using neighboring houses as well, was brought to the hall in rapid succession.
It was impossible to roast one whole because of its size, but a fairly large piece of roasted Great Boar meat was brought in.
The smell of the baked bread filled the room.
I could have prepared better meat as there was better meat in the Royal Capital of Latash Kingdom and S-class dungeon's 1st Floor, but for the children of the development village who were Coming of Age, Boar meat was the best treat.
I wanted to make sure the alcohol was at least good, so I prepared five large barrels of the best fruit wine in the S-class dungeon.
Since elves didn't eat meat, we had prepared a large amount of fukaman, a specialty of the Baukis Empire, from the fruits that can be found in this area.
When the food was served, Marshal Sigur bowed lightly, thanking us for our thoughtfulness.
Spirit God Rosen, who was on Muras's lap, had already started chewing on a fukaman.
When all the food had been served, my mother Theresia sat down beside my father Rodan and the Coming of Age ceremony began.
Viscount Granvelle, Marshal Sigur, and Rodan, in that order, congratulated us for our Coming of Age, but Rodan was too nervous to understand what he was saying.
"I'd like to say that it's a celebration, so eat without hesitation, but it would be helpful for me as Village Mayor if you could be a little reserved. Well then, I hope everyone enjoys the meal."
Rodan ended his greeting with those words.
Everyone, except the Spirit God couldn't "wait", only started eating after Rodan's words.
After sitting down, Rodan was told by Teresia, who was sitting beside him, "Don't be nervous," which made Allen smile for a long time.