Chapter 80

Chapter 80: Don’t ruin the spring festival, please! part

“Stop crying grandma”

Luke sneered.

“I’m not crying, its just that this noodles are so delicious”

If it was any other day under any other circumstances, everyone would have believed what she said. But it was hard believing her words when everyone was doing their best to hold their tears.

“What took you guys so long?”

Anne asked coldly, more than a question it sounded like an accusation.

“We faced a pack of wolves, a huge bear and several beasts inside the mine. Instead of asking that you should be glad we came back in one piece”

.....

“Pfff, don’t make me laugh, as if I would believe such a thing”

“Actually, miss Anne, It’s true. If it wasn’t for mister Luke we would have died, he saved our lives on more than one occasion”

Karl nodded to Rudd’s words.

“Where are the pelts then?”

Ayumi said squinting her eyes.

“Come on guys, how can you be so distrustful! we sold them at mountainside”

“Why did you go there instead of coming back?”

“Ayumi stop it, give them a break, they just came back. Rina, dear, could you bring us some beer please?”

“Of course hun”

She started pouring beer on wooden mugs hurriedly humming a happy tune, her upbeat mood contrasted heavily with Rudd’s when he heard the couple talk to each other. He couldn’t hold a sour smile from appearing on his face after hearing the sweet exchange in between them. Luke drank his beer in a single gulp and sighed happily.

“Ahh, this is the good stuff. Anyway, after I defeated the huge bear we got into the mine and it was filled with beasts. Since Bob and Karl were badly hurt I had to slash my way through all by myself, by the time we reached the shelter I was exhausted, but luckily they let us in immediately. The doors are really sturdy and not even beasts were able to take them down easily, but they wouldn’t hold forever either. We were in a tough spot, there were many injured among the survivors and most people were more worried about their belongings and cargo than they were of helping others.

According to Karl there was a long underground tunnel that connected different mines and that was our only way to escape. When we told the people about the tunnel they all wanted to come with us to be safe along the way, thanks to me of course, but no one wanted to take the injured. Instead, they started filling their hand carts with elemental stones and Iron ore. In order to escape safely and save as many people as I could I asked them politely to leave everything behind and carry the injured”

“And what did you do when that didn’t work?”

Ryu asked.

“Hahah, I knew you would say that. But actually, that’s exactly what happened. When that didn’t work, I told them that I wouldn’t lift a finger for anyone hauling cargo unless it was food, it worked like a charm. The underground passage was safe-ish, there were few beasts but they were no match for my new backslash skill and then we reached mountainside safely”

“I don’t know Luke, it all sounds pretty fake to me. I’m not saying you’re lying... but you must be at least exaggerating some parts”

Ayumi said looking straight at Bob.

“Things were exactly as he told them, when I faced the bear the most I could do was distract it and both me and the mayor got heavily injured”

“And Bob got it easy”

Karl said after taking off the glove, showing that he had lost four fingers.

“Mister mayor!”

Helena exclaimed loudly.

“Don’t worry miss, I let my guard down and I was ready to meet a hunter’s end, I’m just grateful to be able to be back alive. This injury will be the perfect excuse for me to retire and leave everything in the capable hands of my son. Hey come on, cheer up everybody, we made it alive and came back with the missing caravan, you also got rid of Bianca and everything is fine in Ironwoods. You should be thinking on preparing for the spring festival”

The sole mention of the spring festival was enough to lift the mood of everyone in the room, especially Helena.

“What do you mean mister mayor?”

She asked excitedly.

“I’m already aware you don’t know our customs, but didn’t you celebrate spring festivals at your village?”

Helena shook her head.

“Well then you’re in for a treat. Early in the morning everyone gathers at the northern entrance, which is exactly where mister Hiraku’s trading outpost is located, then every hunter goes out to find prey while women stay and dress in pretty clothes. When men come back they are greeted by the women and they place a necklace made with flowers on the men they would like to... know better. If the hunter accepts her offer, they spend the rest of the day together eating, dancing and celebrating in our festival. At the end of the night everyone gathers and we choose the fairest maiden in all Ironwoods”

“I find that offensive, why should women stay home. I want to go hunt like the men”

Anne grunted.

“There’s no rule that forbids that, in fact, as you may have noticed there are several huntresses around. There’s also plenty of men who can’t hunt”

“And what happens in those cases? I don’t want to stick out like a sore thumb”

“Well, miss Anne, if you decide to participate as a huntress then you can’t participate in the other contest, it would be unfair for the rest. Take into account that hunters are very popular in here and if a huntress was to participate in the beauty contest, she would get more votes solely based on her status, and this is a festival for everyone to enjoy. Think on the girls that grow up knowing they wont be able to become hunters, all they have left to dream about is to become the fairest maiden of the spring festival”

“If you put it like that...”

“Stop bickering Anne, you’re just trying to find an excuse to get offended”

Ayumi scoffed at her.

“What about men who don’t want to hunt?”

“Somehow I knew you would ask that mister Ryu, don’t worry, you still may get the attention of some ladies. But just like in miss Anne’s case, you won’t be able to receive the flower necklace. The flowers mean the life that comes after all the death and sorrow, hunters face the worst part of winter to feed everyone. It’s a dangerous job that not everyone can perform, and among those, not everyone is willing to put their life at risk , so it’s a reward for their hard work”

“Thanks for everything mister mayor, I have to go now!”

Helena said with a wide smile as she rushed to her room to tailor some new clothes for everyone. She was so excited to participate in the festival that completely forgot about everything else, she started twirling around her room taking out materials and her sewing kit and after just a few minutes her room looked as if a hurricane had past through.

The rest of the group told the mayor everything that happened in Ironwoods in his absence, about Bianca’s actions and how Ryu ended up being kidnapped by her and Kaya.

“I still can’t believe Kaya would side up with Bianca, I’ve known her all my life and didn’t think she was capable of something like that”

Rudd sighed.

“I know how you must be feeling Rudd, but I think I have an idea. She was a slave after all and, despite us treating her like family, she always believed herself to be above her status. When we first bought her she was a complete mess, it took her several years to accept her situation”

“From what I hear it seems like she didn’t accept it at all”

Ryu interjected.

“It must be so, but to think that she would go as far as to conspire with Bianca, putting everyone at Ironwoods at risk. Now even if she escapes safely, she’s already been registered as a slave so it doesn’t matter where does she go, as long as she remains within the borders of the kingdom she won’t be able to hold property. Even worse, if she gets caught as a runaway slave her fate would be death”

“Excuse me, mister mayor...”

“Please, call me Karl, in fact, after all you’ve done for this town I would feel bad if you keep treating me with such respect”

“I’ll have that in mind. Karl, when Bianca made a move on us I was forced to sign a document agreeing to become Bianca’s slave. Does it mean I’m a runaway slave now?”

“Hmm... This situation is a bit complicated. In order to be registered as a slave someone holding a high status, such as a noble or a town’s mayor, should send the documents to the kingdom archives. Madame Bianca, although briefly, did hold such a position. But don’t worry too much about it, I’ll just send a letter explaining the situation and she will be branded a criminal making all the documents she signed completely worthless. If I didn’t return alive though, everything would be different”

Ryu was shocked by how lightly the mayor took things, but at the same time he was relieved to know hear that he was safe.