«Pardon me. Master, good morning.»
"Good morning, Baretta."
"Hmm~ Good morning-nanodesu~"
I returned the greetings of Baretta, whose polite knock before entering the room a woke me up, and left the bed.
As I slipped out of Teto's arms, the latter also woke up and said her greeting while rubbing her drowsy eyes. After staying in a groggy state for a while, her eyes snapped open as she exclaimed in a loud voice.
"Ah, Teto almost forget-nanodesu! It's festival time!"
«Teto-sama, what festival?»
"We received the oracle of the Underworld Goddess Loriel. She wished for us to hold the winter solstice festival."
I told Baretta what transpired in the Dream Oracle while changing.
«As expected of the gracious Master. The Goddess has once again rewarded you with another oracle...... Understood. We, the maid group, will immediately start preparing for the winter solstice festival.»
"Ah... It's something being asked of me so I'm going to help out."
"Teto will help out as well!"
Teto and I offered to help out since there were only around 2 months until the day of the winter solstice festival, which meant that we needed to hurry up to make it in time. However, Baretta quietly shook her head.
«There was either a yearly flower viewing event or the tribal festivals of each village in the «Forest of the Creation Witch», but it lacked one such event that could bring out all the villages to celebrate as one community. So I think this is just the right chance. I'll contact the representatives of each race and discuss the addition of a new festival.»
Starting from getting permission to use the «Transfer Gate», discussing the significance of the festival, selecting the location, preparing the venue, deciding on the festival dishes, preparing the ingredients, and selecting the entertainment... There were numerous decisions to make, most of which were taken over by Baretta and the other maids.
"Is there anything we can do to help out?"
«I would implore Master and Teto-sama to act more dignified at the very least.»
"What a pity...... But Teto at least wants the role of food tester."
«Very well. Then I'll be taking Master and Teto-sama's help in tasting the dishes.»
"Fine. Also, can you prepare some dishes using pumpkins for this event like we always do?"
«Pumpkin......? May I ask for the reason?"
"It's one of the customs from my previous world... I guess."
The yellow color symbolized protection against evils. Furthermore, in my previous world, there was a tradition of eating nutritious pumpkins during the winter solstice to wish for good health.
The winter solstice festival this time was for guiding the wandering souls which revived some of my memories about the jack-o'-lanterns from Halloween— they held the same nuance, evil protecting charms.
«I am not aware of this kind of tradition but perhaps there are some places where such customs exist. Hmm, I see, so this is the reason why Master requested to eat pumpkins in winter.»
"Teto likes the pumpkin cream stew and the other dishes made by Majou-sama-nanodesu!"
It has been decades already since Baretta joined us. I usually requested her pumpkin dishes whenever it was near the winter solstice which she usually made without asking anything, but it seemed like she was always curious about the reason. Finally addressing the lingering question, she appeared incredibly refreshed, as if she had at last soothed the itch that had been bothering her.
Well, this decided the pumpkin dishes on the winter solstice festival's menu, while the other matters like the festival preparation or calling out the representatives of each village were in the end handled by Baretta and the other maids.
We had just passed the details of the oracle, but the preparations for the festival had not yet officially begun. So being told to just pass my time like usual instead made me restless.
"— And that's why, we have come here to discuss with Dragon Grandpa."
"We are here to ask for help!"
And since I couldn't just sit idly like usual without thinking of a way to help out, we came to the Dragon Grandpa's place to consult with him.
«Hmm, a festival for guiding the wandering souls, huh? The Goddesses too seemed to be hoping for something like the ancient old festivals.»
"Old festival?"
"Were there similar festivals in the past?"
When Teto and I inquired, Dragon Grandpa replied beamingly.
«Indeed. The winter solstice festival in the bygone past was about celebrating the rebirth of the sun when it used to be at its weakest point, and from there, it evolved into a day to wish for the rebirth of souls through reincarnation, though even the nuances and custom changed with the passing of eras.»
"A festival's meaning could be so easily changed?"
Teto cocked her head in puzzlement. Well, given Dragon Grandpa was speaking from his knowledge, the changes must have covered several centuries or even a thousand years.
«Well, of course, the meaning and nuances of the festivals are like clay that changes depending on the humans' convenience. What used to be a solemn ceremony for a part of the nobility class changed to a lively event for the public. Rarely does anything remain static while weathering the passage of eras. But if there is anything that indeed remained unchanged, then it was the thoughts and hopes of the people celebrating that day— the prayers they offered to the gods.»
'I see', I quipped, listening to the story of Dragon Grandpa.
"So I guess then the winter solstice festival would be dedicated to the Goddess Liliel, the one overlooking this place, and Underworld Goddess Loriel. Also, symbolizing the rebirth of the sun, this includes the Sun Goddess Lariel......"
"But then, the other two goddesses would be left out!"
"Yeah. Then how about a prayer to the Water Goddess Loriel for easing the fury of the cold snow in winter, and the Wind Goddess Leriel to wish for the arrival of warm spring?"
«Fuhahaha! Indeed, the festival should be held at the convenience of Majou-dono! I'm sure the goddesses wouldn't mind the prayers as well!»
Hearing of our desire to hold the festival for all five of the continent's goddesses, and not just two or three, Dragon Grandpa laughed out in amusement. If we intended to follow that, the festival would change to the 'Five Goddess Festival'.
"In that case, what do we need for the winter solstice festival? Loriel wants light to guide the wandering souls."
«For that, preparing bonfires and torches should suffice. I'm sure leaving the fire to burn throughout the night would become the beacon that the goddesses want for the lost souls.»
"That's quite a great idea. I just need to consult with Baretta later."
Bon festivals in Japan from my previous life had the custom of lighting the welcoming and ceremonial fire. Fires were lit to welcome the souls arriving during the festival and once again to send them off on their journey to the afterlife from the present.
Thinking about how it sounds like a mixture of the Christian winter holistic festival, Halloween, and Japan's bon festival brought a chuckle to me.
After discussing with Dragon Grandpa for a while, I could say I finally had grasped a clear vision of the winter solstice festival.
"Thank you, Dragon Grandpa. Look forward to the festival."
"We don't know what we'll be going to do but look forward to it!"
«I will be. This huge body of mine unfortunately can't help out so easily but I pray for your success. I, too, am looking forward to the festival.»
After saying our goodbye, we left the dwelling of Dragon Grandpa and headed back to Baretta, sharing the vision of the winter solstice festival that we would like to hold.
