NoveLight ™
Chapter 16: The Winter Meat Festival
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While helping with the monster dismantling, I got my clothes completely stained with blood.
When Mother saw me, she almost fainted, thinking I’d been seriously injured. Thanks to that, I was given a lengthy scolding that night.
The next day, from early morning, the villagers were busy preparing for the festival.
Meanwhile, I was stuck with sword training. It’s part of my routine, of course, but after yesterday’s “blood incident,” I was also banned from going out until noon.
Father, who had spent days camping in the forest, showed no signs of exhaustion and headed off to supervise the festival preparations. So unfair…
By early afternoon, I was finally allowed to go out.
Since it was a meat festival, I was ready to feast. Ben had promised I’d get to eat my fill.
I decided to transform some horse barley into pepper.
It was terribly inefficient, but horse barley grew wild along the roadside, so there was no shortage. As long as I had mana, I kept transforming it into pepper.
With a little mana left, I managed to stay awake, though I was fighting off drowsiness.
The pepper came out ground and coarse. I bagged it and headed to the festival.
At the center of the village square, logs had been arranged into a campfire. Even in winter, the fire brought warmth.
The adult men were already drinking. Father was among them, his face flushed.
“Oh, Toma! They let you out of the house, huh?”
It wasn’t even time for the festival to start, yet they were already well on their way to being drunk.
“The meat will be brought out soon and grilled for everyone. Eat as much as you want.”
“That’s the plan.”
I had skipped lunch just for this. Today, I was going to eat and eat and eat some more!
“Hohoho! So, this is the lord’s son, I take it?”
It was the elder I’d seen directing the dismantling yesterday, a white-haired old man.
“Yes, this is my son, Toma. Toma, this is the village elder.”
“My name is Toma. Thank you for always looking after my father.”
“Oh, how polite! I am Rude. Please, consider me at your service.”
The elder stroked his beard. He looked like one of those wise old characters from historical dramas on TV.
“Hey, Toma! The meat’s here!”
Suddenly, someone grabbed my arm. It was Ben, whom I’d met yesterday.
“Ben, what are you doing pulling on the lord’s son like that? You fool!”
The elder scolded him in a way that seemed to say, “What are you thinking?”
“Toma, you’re really the lord’s kid?”
Ben tilted his head, looking genuinely puzzled.
He may have been big, but he was still a kid, and it looked rather cute on him.
“Something like that.”
“No way!”
“But, just keep treating me the same as before, okay?”
“Is that alright?”
“Yeah, it’s fine.”
“Alright, then let’s go!”
“Okay. Father, I’m heading off!”
“Go on! Eat to your heart’s content!”
“Yes! Oh, here, use this.”
“What’s this?”
“It’ll make things taste better.”
I handed the bag of pepper to Father, then ran off with Ben.
“First stop is over there. They’re grilling the best cut of the Metal Bear meat. I made sure to find out exactly where they’d be cooking it!”
It seemed Ben had been diligently helping with the dismantling and preparations to scope out the best meat spots for the festival.
I could never be so crafty.
“Mister! Give us some of the good stuff!”
There was already a line, but Ben didn’t hesitate to cut in.
“Hey, Ben…”
I tugged on Ben’s clothes, but at that moment, the man grilling the meat yelled at him.
“Hey! Line up properly, Ben!”
“Oh, come on, old man! This is Toma, the lord’s son.”
“What?! The lord’s child? Just a moment, please!”
“No, really, we’ll wait in line.”
“No need to worry about that, kid!”
Wait, seriously? He was yelling at Ben a moment ago…
“This kid’s always causing trouble, so it’s good to see him get a little favor now and then.”
I’m not sure how I feel about that…
“There you go, here’s a nice piece. Be careful—it’s hot!”
“Thanks, old man!”
“Thank you.”
“Ben sure knows how to get his way.”
I apologized to the people in line, but they all told me it was alright.
It’s probably because Father is so well-liked by the villagers that I’m being treated like this.
“This is amazing! I’ve never had meat this good!”
“Do you not get it every year?”
“A big catch like the Metal Bear only comes around once every few years.”
“Really… Whoa, this is incredible!”
I didn’t know exactly which cut of the Metal Bear this was, but it was rich and juicy without being too greasy. The fat had a deep, savory sweetness that was absolutely delicious.
“This is unbelievably good! Next, let’s go over there!”
“Oh, hey!”
Ben downed his portion in one go and dashed off to the next grill.
The meat was so good; he should take his time savoring it.
“Hey, lady! This is Toma, the lord’s son. He wants to try some Lightning Bird drumsticks!”
“Oh, Toma from the lord’s family! Got it, coming right up!”
Once again, even though people were already in line, I was given priority.
I bowed and apologized to the people waiting, and, as expected, they told me it was fine.
Soon, other kids joined us, and we ended up as a group of children who didn’t have to line up to get meat.
“Urgh… I definitely ate too much.”
I lost count of how much meat I’d eaten. Everything was delicious, but the first piece of Metal Bear meat was by far the best.
Rubbing my stomach, I went over to where Father was, laughing heartily and drinking from a wooden mug. Watching him laugh and enjoy himself with the villagers, I realized I really liked this side of him.
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Name: Toma Roxfall
Species: Demigod (Human-God hybrid)
Information: Male, 6 years old, healthy
Title: Apostle of XXX
Rank: G
Attribute: Divine
Blessing: God of Transformation (Unawakened)
Level: 68
Skills: Transformation, Level 2
Life: 826 (2,480)
Stamina: 848 (2,546)
Mana: 904 (2,712)
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