Chapter 7: Sheep? and Festival

There were hundreds of sheep on the other side of the bridge.

Atup: "Why are they all here?"

???: "Oh! Hello!"

In the middle of the sea of sheep, someone was calling out to me.

Atup: "Oh, how do you do? ...Ehhhh! I mean, what are you doing there?"

???: "I'm sorry about this, but I can't control them yet, can we stay here for a while?"

Atup: "How did you end up with that idea!?"

???: "Well, from what I see... This bridge is the only way to get across. I could push them all inside there and practice being a shepherd!"

Atup: "Practice being a shepherd? What the heck are you then!?"

???: "Oh, I am one of the druids of this forest."

Atup: "I understand. No. How do sheep and druids go together?"

???: "Hmmm... You see..."

He told me that his parents were both druids. His father taught him everything he needed to be a druid.

He is taught to protect the forest and all the things that live in it because it's their source power. If a forest gets destroyed, its magic power will go down a lot.

???: "But I wanted to be different!"

Being a shepherd was his dream. I don't know how he got that dream. He said it has always been his dream since he was a child.

He would always sneak out of the forest at night to look at sheep from farms nearby.

Atup: "I see... But why do you think I'll let you in? We've had enough weird people here, and you can go somewhere else."

???: "Ehh... How about I give you some of my sheep? I've been trying to check if you have sheep inside this place, but I can't find any."

Atup: "How do you even do that?"

???: "With my ! I developed this extraordinary spell to find missing sheep!"

Atup: "(Sigh)"

Mr.Ric: "What's going on, Sir Atup?"

Mr.Ric was walking around and seemed to have spotted us.

Mr. Ric: "Oh... That's a lot of sheep!"

Atup: "Yes, it is."

Mr. Ric: "Are you taking that shepherd in too? We would really appreciate the addition of sheep to our livestock!"

Atup: "Uh- well..."

???: "Hehehe! Of course, they are as good as yours! I'll also take care of them for you!"

Mr.Ric: "Welcome aboard, Mr...?"

Gnak: "It's Gnak Gnok. Nice to meet you."

Mr.Ric: "I'm Ric, and this is Sir Atup. Welcome to our Mountain Kingdom. Please follow me; I will guide you to our farms."

Oh boy. Gnak forced his sheep to go across the bridge and follow him with a spell.

Gnak: "!"

He's abusing his control over animals. Well (sigh). But maybe I can also rely on his skills as a druid.

I just hope he keeps his animals from running around.

Atup: "Nai!"

I call Nai from his house nearby.

Nai: "Yes, Sir Atup?"

Atup: "Can you go with Mr. Rick? They might need someone to build some animal pens."

Nai: "Very well."

Atup: "Thank you."

Now that's out of the way... Time to get back to guard duty...

Atup: "Anget."

Anget:"..."

Atup: "Anget."

Anget: "Hm-- Uh.Yeah!?"

Atup: "What is wrong with you?"

Anget: "It's just that... those sheep... they're..."

Atup: "Are they a dangerous kind of sheep? Something with poisoned meat, perhaps?"

Anget: "THEY'RE CUTE!!!! TOO CUTE!"

Ah. What the hell. She's screaming. She caught one of the sheep passing by and started hugging it.

Sheep: "Meeeee....."

Atup: "Hey, stop that."

Gnak: "Hehehe... I'll let her keep that one!"

Gnak.

She started putting a leash on it and making it her pet.

.

.

.

The residential area was bustling. Something was happening.

Nai and Atab were placing tables in the gathering square in the middle.

Atab was also cooking a wide variety of food. There stews, steaks, and soups. There were also some salads from the palace kitchen.

Atup: "Uhh..."

Atab: "Oh, Sir, Atup!"

Atab saw me looking curious and decided to approach me.

Atab: "Do you want to help out too?"

Atup: "What are you guys even doing?"

Atab: "We're having a festival!"

Atup: "Festival... Festival..."

What does that word mean again?

"?"

Atab went back to cooking when he saw Nai waving at him.

Was it some kind of celebration? But for who?

Tero was passing by and saw me.

Tero: "Oh, Sir, Atup. Nice place you've got here. I have to thank you again for letting me in here."

Atup: "No problem. As long as you don't hurt anyone here, you can stay for as long as you like."

Tero: "Really? Thanks! By the way, I really love festivals! Before, I just look at them from afar. And demon festivals are really boring, you know..."

Atup: "Ah... Is that so?"

Tero: "Yeah, See ya later!"

He went on his way.

If something weird was happening, I could always ask Rick. He's the most reliable person here. I put some alert traps on the bridge before I left it.

Anget was still behind me- Riding her pet sheep, Meee Ro.

Anget: "Ohhh... Hmmm!"

She was smothering her face on its fluffy body.

I saw Ric while I was walking towards the castle. He was in the residential area, too, for some reason.

Atup: "Mr.Ric, what is happening here? Is there some kind of celebration happening?"

Mr.Ric: "Oh, Sir, Atup. You see..."

He told me that the Princess was getting bored in the castle. Whenever he sees her, she always looks tired, and that's because she has nothing to do but read books.

I think she might have gone through all of the books in the royal library already.

Atup: "I see, I see. This might be a really good idea. I'll help out."

Mr.Ric: "Okay! That's great! What you need to do is..."

He told me how the festival would proceed, and it would also start at night.

.

.

.

Atup: "Princess! You need to see what's happening outside."

Princess Gibail: "Oh, Sir Atup. What's the matter?"

Atup: "Please cover your eyes with this cloth too. We need to make sure your are safe."

Gibail: "O-okay."

She blindfolded herself.

Atup: "I would now guide you there. Please be careful."

I can't believe that I'm part of this scheme.

Atup: "Here we are."

Gibail: "What is it... Oh! Wow..."

Bright lights were coming from the unique lanterns that Milu made. The streets of the residential area were also filled with stalls.

Food, drinks, and games were present. The castle staff also joined in the festival preparations.

Gibail: "Woah... Is this... a festival?"

Atup: "Yes it is, Princess Gibail."

Gibail: "I've only imagined them from stories I read! Let's go there!"

She immediately ran towards the stalls. I talked to Ric, who was nearby and was monitoring a booth of his own.

Atup: "Bread and cookies, huh?"

Mr.Ric: "Hehehe, I've always loved baking. If the princess asks for snacks, I usually bake them myself."

Atup: "I see... I think this idea was a success. How did you come up with it?"

Mr.Ric: "Oh, I didn't. Atab and the others thought of it when I talked to them about cheering the Princess up."

Atup: "Is that so?"

They were really helpful this time. I wouldn't be able to think of this if Mr.Ric asked me.

Mr.Ric: "Please escort the Princess for the rest of the night."

Atup: "Gladly."

I left Anget with Nai since this is a special occasion. I quickly catch up with the princess.

Gibail: "Hmmm. Hey, Atup?"

Atup: "Yes, Princess."

Gibail: "I told you to call me Gibail, right?"

Atup: "Uh- Yes, Gibail!"

Gibail: "What do you think will look better on me? That blue hat or the red one?"

We were at the stall of one of the castle staff. Her specialty was making clothing and hats.

Atup: "Hohoho. Take your time Princess."

Gibail: "Thanks."

I don't really know what looks good and bad on a girl anyways. I'll just go with my favorite color.

Atup: "Red looks good."

Gibail: "Okay. Please give me the red one!"

Atup: "Sure, here you go, Princess Gibail."

She put on the hat and continue to roam the stalls. She looks pleased.

Next, we went to a potion stall by Milu.

Milu: "Hehehehehe... If you want to look pretty like me, take this potion-desu!"

Gibail: "What does it do?"

Milu: "Princessu, just drink one, and the effects will be seen already. It will make you look slightly younger!"

Gibail: "Eh... I don't think I want to look like a child."

Milu: "Whattttt-desuuuu? Looking young is the best! I will make someone test it! Nai-san!"

Nai, who was eating at a stall nearby, came closer.

Milu: "Drink this potion-su! I want the princess to see the effects-desu!"

Nai: "Okay, okay... Youngsters these days are pushy."

A few seconds pass after Nai drinks the potion.

Nai: "What... WHAT!!!"

Nai became a child again like Atab's age.

Atup: "Hahahaha!"

I can't stop myself from laughing, and the Princess was giggling too.

Milu: "See? It's a perfect potion-desu!"

Atup: "We'll pass!"

Milu: "You can come back anytime if you change your mind-desu!"

We moved to another stall nearby. It was the... sheep stall.

Gnak: "Everything you need to take care of sheep! Every product here is also made from sheep!"

He had clothing and some sheep dishes.

Unsurprisingly, Anget was here. She was buying sheep clothing. Maybe she wants to look like a sheep too.

Gibail: "I'll take one of those coats, mister."

The Princess tried on the Wool Coat that Gnak made. It looks good, and it's getting chilly nowadays too.

Anget saw the two of us and glared at me. After that, she rode her pet Meee Ro towards the gathering square. I set her free for a moment since this is a special time for the princess.

The most important part of the event is at the gathering square, so we went there after the princess tried a few more stalls.

Everyone: "Welcome! Princess Gibail!"

Everyone was gathered there.

Atab: "We would like to thank you for letting us live here."

Everyone: "Thank you for accepting us!"

Everyone was giving their thanks to the Princess. Indeed it was still her kingdom, so everyone needs permission from her first.

Gibail: "You're welcome, everyone, but you don't really need to thank me so much."

She steps on the stage Nai made earlier.

Gibail: "I am glad to have you all here. It makes me happy to see new faces too. And..."

She starts to tear up a bit.

Gibail: "I haven't had so much fun in a long time... Thanks, everyone!"

It's her first festival in years. She's got to be really happy.

Mr.Ric: "Start the feast!"

Atab: "Wohooo!!!"

Everyone started eating. They were laughing and joking around.

Even the Princess joined in.

Ric approached me.

Mr.Ric: "Thank you for helping us, Sir Atup. We haven't seen this side of the Princess in a long time..."

Atup: "You're welcome, Mr. Ric."

Mr.Ric: "I have a request..."

He looks very serious this time.

Mr.Ric: "This is about the future of our kingdom..."

Atup: "What is it? I'll do anything if it's for the kingdom."

Mr.Ric: "We need more residents. Of course, we can't just recruit anyone."

Atup: "Right."

Mr.Ric: "I want you to keep doing what you were doing. Convince outstanding individuals to work for us. They have been a great help, and we need more like them."

Atup: "You're saying that we should accept travelers and migrants to our kingdom?"

Mr.Ric: "Yes, and you will be the one deciding if they are worthy of being part of our kingdom."

Atup: "I understand. I will do what you say and will keep a lookout for people like them."

I don't entirely approve of this idea, but he's right. We can't just rely on ourselves anymore. I also felt it; sometimes, I get so tired that even a day of relief is a blessing.

We also can't be too sure of our enemies. I might have fought off groups and small armies before, but that doesn't mean I'm the strongest person.

Tero & Atab: "Hahahaha!"

On the stage were Tero and Atab playing some sort of punishment game.

They were doing weird dances and making funny poses.

Atup: "Hahaha..."

I decided to forget my worries for the future that night. I celebrated and had fun with everyone.