FIRST DAY OF THE FOUNDING FESTIVAL III (2/2)

The net, the cord, and the soap are all hand made, so they’re all virtually free, but if I don’t report the soap having been stolen, my troubles might increase.

Anyway, I’ll take some precautionary measures, and after cleaning myself with the cleaner slime, I’ll go back to work.

Starting tomorrow maybe I should make the net and the cord with the hardest threads from the sticky slime… But then again, if I use something harder, it might hurt more when rubbing.

“Excuse me, the person over there!” [???]

“Me?” [Ryouma]

While I was thinking up a countermeasure as I walked, an auntie with sharp eyes called out to me.

“Are you someone from the store?” [Sharp-Eyed Auntie]

“Yes. Is something the matter?” [Ryouma]

“About this kid, he entered the lot by himself.” [Sharp-Eyed Auntie]

When the auntie moved her body to the side, the figure of a young boy was revealed.

“Apparently, he got lost from his parents because of the smell. Sorry, but can you call the guards?” [Auntie]

“Alright. I’ll call them now. Please take a seat and wait.” [Ryouma]

I called Carm-san and asked him to give them some barley tea as service while I ran to the station.

These sort of festivals are fun, but the livelier the festivities the busier the management gets.

And then, evening came.

When the clock ticked past 8, it was time for the first day to come to a close.

Although the festival spirit didn’t cool down, and there were those who were planning to continue at a bar, most women and children were already on their way back home. Most of the customers have also left, and the only customers left are those that came before we stopped taking orders. Everyone is cleaning the store up with a feeling of relief.

As for me, I was with the butcher, Zeke-san, and his wife, counting the proceeds of the day and distributing profits.

“Well then… These are the profits for today. These are the ingredients consumed for the day. After subtracting the cost for the ingredients consumed, the amount calculated as per our agreement is about 312 suits per person. Is this correct?” [Ryouma]

“…It is.” [Zeke]

“We sure made a lot. With this, I’m sure everyone will be happy.” [Pauline]

Although it’s not that much individually, but because we were able to keep down the expenses of the ingredients thanks to the wives, and because of the selling of a large amount of sales we made, we were able to turn over a profit. Even the payment for the people who helped out was increased. Instead of just giving them pocket change, we gave them enough to live off of for 3 days.

“Thank you for helping us.” [Ryouma]

“What are you saying? We were compensated too. You don’t have to act so reserved.” [Pauline]

“Once you hand out the wages of the employees, there might be some who will want to work here for real.” [Zeke]

The two of them laughed as they said that.

“Still, they were amazing, weren’t they?” [Ryouma]

“Indeed. Well, a lot of things happened here like the performances and the new products of the Morgan Company.” [Pauline]

“There are a lot of things to attract people’s eyes, and it was also convenient for people to take a rest at.” [Zeke]

We’ll be able to expect a lot of customers tomorrow too.

“Now then, we’ll distribute the pay and then go home. Although they might be just next door, but I can’t exactly leave my kids to themselves.” [Pauline]

“See you tomorrow. Do make sure to drop by during break time.” [Ryouma]

“Yes. Otsukaresamadeshita.” [Zeke]

The two of them left the room. After greeting everyone I left.

When I went outside, I saw the members of the Semroid Troupe gathered at the stage wing.

…What are they doing?

They’re gathered together but they’re not talking. They’re just looking at something quietly in the same manner. They had their backs turned to me, so I couldn’t see what they’re looking at, but they seemed really focused.

It looked it would be better not to disturb them, so I waited for a few minutes. Then without any signal, something changed.

“Otsukaresama desu.” [Ryouma]

“!? Otsukaresama desu!” [Male Performer]

“Otsukaresama desu.” [Everyone Else]

I wonder if I startled them.

I’m pretty sure I saw the young guy at the very back jump when I called out..

“Ryouma-dono, did you need something?” [Prenence]

“I thought I’d say goodbye before leaving. What were you doing?” [Ryouma]

“Praying. look.” [Maiya]

A prayer. As Maiya-san said that, she pointed at the thing they were looking at.

It was a masked sculpture wrapped in many colorful cloths. Each cloth was only about the size of a handkerchief, but with so many of them layered it looked like the sculpture was clothed in actual clothing.

“Is that the statue of a god?” [Ryouma]

I’ve never heard of this god, though…

“It’s weird, right?　You might not be able to tell like this, but this is actually Manoairoa-sama’s statute.”

“Manoairoa-sama.” [Ryouma]

…Ah, the name is present within the knowledge the gods. I haven’t met him, but it should be a god like Gayn and the others.

“The god of the wind?” [Ryouma]

“Yes. A great god who is the personification of the winds that travel this world and watches over people. Being also the god of travels and performing arts, there are many traveling entertainers who worship Manoairoa-sama.” [Prenence]

Normally, everyone prays individually, but on days like this when they’ve found much success, the troupe offers a prayer to Manoairoa-sama together.

“And the decorations?” [Ryouma]

“We traveling entertainers do not stay in one place for a long time. Wind of the spring. Wind of the summer. Wind of the fall. Wind of the winter… We visit the towns with the wind, and with the winds we look forward to our next destination. These cloths are proofs of our travels.” [Prenence]

“Meeting good people, increasing our members… Or when a performance is a success. Whenever we make good memories like those, we buy a cloth at that town. We can’t increase our luggage while traveling, so we make a remembrance of those things instead and begin a new journey. The cloths wrapped around the statue represent our gratitude for blessing us with such encounters.” [Maiya]

“In other words, it’s a custom of traveling entertainers. I don’t know when it started, though.” [Soldio]

Maiya-san and Soldio-san explained to me.

Back at Earth, there was also a way of remembering things by putting corresponding things on body parts, but the traveling entertainers of the past must have come up with this method themselves in order to leave behind their memories.

While I was thinking something like that, I watched as the members of the troupe cleaned up the statue of the god.