Durin's Diary

Meanwhile,

Anta stood in the square, where her peers bustled around dancing, while she could only sit on a bench.

Because Durin wasn't there, because she found the other boys too childish.

Today was the Dance Day of the Harvest Festival, a festival said to date back to the Dark Age. During that era, among the Grassland Elves, a pair of girls had just ignited their Divine Power. When establishing their Deity Position, they chose harvest, a domain which at that time was seen as powerless.

But in the Dark Age, being able to eat one's fill was considered a good day. Too many people lived uncertain lives, and as more and more farmers began to worship the Dual Mothers with the Deity Position of harvest, these more powerful deities also did their best to ensure the harvests of their followers. Thus, the Harvest Festival gradually became a very sacred ritual.

As time advanced to the present, the Harvest Festival had become a favorite holiday for both farmers and the landed gentry, for the Mother Goddess always tried her best to let every follower have a bountiful harvest. In return, they would make contributions to the church according to their ability during the Harvest Festival.

If Durin were here, he would certainly say that it seemed like a relationship between a fertilizer factory and its users.

He had never felt the least bit of awe towards the divine.

Looking at the kitten at her feet—actually a brown lynx—which curiously observed Anta.

Anta soothed the little beast with a Spell Formula, and then picked it up.

If Durin were here, she could hold it and ask Durin if he thought the cat was cute.

And Durin would certainly say—Well, now, what do you mean by getting chummy with a lynx beast from the Lynx people among the beastfolk? Is this a cat? Do cats have such short tails? You'd better apologize to Xialu and them, the most reputable cat folks, right away!

Anta felt somewhat aggrieved, as it was the first time the young girl had discovered her own uselessness.

Durin, merely a Fourth Ring Magician, was off attending to serious matters with the lords, while she, a Sixth Ring Mage, could only wait here miserably, not knowing when good news would come… but it must be good news.

Thinking of this, the little lynx's mother came over, glanced at Anta, then turned back and went to her bowl to eat the chunk of meat.

This is what the Harvest Festival had become now: the lynxes, as wild animals, were almost being domesticated by the Grassland Elves as pets. They hunted rabbits that affected the fields, as well as various large rodents, and sometimes even wolves.

For the Grassland Elves, they shared a very pleasant symbiotic relationship with the lynxes. The elves knew that lynxes could deal with those animals that posed a threat to their fields and personal safety, and the lynxes knew that as long as they didn't attack the elves, they could always find meat in the elves' towns when they were truly starving.

Anta played with the little cub in her arms. After a while, feeling bored, she was about to return it to its mother when she realized that the mother beast had walked away.

"What's going on?" Anta asked the human gentleman who was feeding the mother beast.

"You have been chosen by her to be the guardian of the cub," said the human gentleman who was feeding it. He was a local landowner who liked to feed the lynxes and was a gentleman recognized by hundreds of lynx mothers with whom he maintained healthy relationships.

At his words, Anta felt a bit at a loss—she had never fed any small animals before; on the contrary, her only encounter with an animal was when she was chased by the Griffiths Family's old dog at the age of three.

With this in mind, Anta held the cub close, used Mage Hand to take out her small purse, and dropped a banknote representing five Gold Coins into the gentleman's fundraising box—a currency unique to Grassland Elves, which so far featured denominations of five and twenty Gold Coins. The banknote featured the benevolent portrait of the Dual Mothers, complete with an anti-counterfeiting divine seal provided by the Dual Mothers.

Although the gentleman said it was too much, Anta still decided to give it.

Then, Anta picked up the little fellow—time to go home.

Walking down the streets with the little one, Anta occasionally greeted boys and girls she knew. They would wonder why Anta was alone, and they would be curious about Durin's whereabouts.

Anta felt she couldn't possibly tell them about Durin attending to important matters, and could only stammer through her responses.

Finally arriving at home, Anta found her grandfather waiting at the doorstep.

Indeed, the Aye family had all eleven granddaughters out tonight, and by the looks of it, Anta must have been the first to return.

She probably was also the only one to come back on her own instead of being brought back by someone.

As soon as Grandfather Anta saw her, he immediately smiled and nodded his head, "You've come back early, I know about Durin's matter. He can't be blamed; the Aye family owes him a favor for what happened today."

His words finally added a hint of grievance to Anta's face, "I feel so useless, Grandfather."

"Don't feel that way. You can become stronger and help Durin. Besides..." Grandfather started but suddenly turned his head and sneezed.

Anta's eyes widened—why had Grandfather suddenly sneezed?

Then she noticed Grandfather gesturing towards the little creature in her arms.

"Grandfather is allergic to fur."

.........

Half an hour later, Anta arrived at the small manor of Durin.

She pulled out the key and opened the side gate.

Faced with the decision to either abandon the young creature or bring it to Durin's home for the night, Anta chose the latter.

Originally, she thought her mother would be very angry, but this time she actually agreed with Anta's decision.

"You defied me to protect a cub, and I was angry, but I'm more relieved that you've finally grown up, my daughter," her mother said, and then personally escorted Anta to the manor.

Upon learning that Durin had given the butler and cook leave, Anta noticed some puzzlement on her mother's face that she couldn't understand.

But she still watched Anta walk into the estate.

Anta watched as her mother left, then she locked the side gate, opened the manor's door, Anta changed into slippers, and lit the lamps.

She walked into the kitchen, expertly opened the arcane refrigerator, and took out a large box of meat.

Hemo, at this time, perched on the windowsill, observing Anta and cooed.

"Don't bully the kitten, Hemo," Anta said while placing the box of meat on the counter. She took chopsticks from the storage compartment on the side of the box, "Want some meat?"

Hemo shook her head and, flapping her wings, flew off into the night.

Hemo must have gone out to find her own food.

Thinking this, Anta took a piece of meat from the box and held it out to the little lynx.

The lynx bit into the meat and then swallowed it.

Placing the lynx in front of the box of meat, the little creature began to gobble up the food voraciously.

"What should I call you?" Anta pondered, stroking the little lynx, and then thought of Durin again.

She herself was a standard case of someone terrible at naming things; better let Durin name this little one.