NOVEL WEB Chapter 8: The Festival
The rest of the time leading up to the festival was uneventful. Although Naru kept an eye out for the figure again it didn’t appear. The excitement among the deer was palpable and it seemed like everybody was in a better mood.
Even the master of the forest seemed to be happier. Naru had only visited the old tree a few times since her father brought her to him to introduce herself but each time had given her a small apple to munch on. The tree seemed to like Naru, but she didn’t know why.
Naru herself currently experimenting with her own foods. The Festival was usually a series of contests among the deer but there was one of them that she was particularly interested in the food competition.
Well, it was more like a food and drink competition, but it was a competition that was the most closely watched followed by the beauty contest. The deer obviously enjoyed good food, but none of them cooked and they mostly ate forest plants the cooking competition was the only time where they would eat prepared food.
Naru was intrigued as to what the deer had planned but she had an even better idea.
[I’m going to win!] She thought as she opened the trap door she had hidden in the ground.
Using earth magic she had built a small cellar in the ground where she was currently concocting her masterpiece
Several wooden casks were lined against the wall all of them had a spout made of wood that would occasionally making a “pop” noise as the spout extended itself to let out the air that had collected inside.
Naru walked over to one of the casks and examined its content. Inside was a deep crimson liquid with a slightly fruity smell.
She grabbed a clay cup that was sitting on a table nearby and poured herself a cup. She took a tentative sip.
[Delicious!]
Naru had spent the better part of her time up until the festival experimenting with grapes from her world.
She had grown the cask herself with life magic, a process that took her the better part of a day and left her exhausted and chugging the mana water.
The liquid in the casks was Naru’s own version of wine. As for how she managed to get brewer’s yeast, well she grew it of course! Apparently life magic could also grow bacteria, it was truly useful magic.
[Thank you mother] Naru said in her head. Her mother’s genes were the reason why she could use life magic in the first place after all.
“This is going to shock them,” Naru thought licking her lips. She took another sip of her homebrew.
[Ahh delicious alcohol!] Naru thought.
It would be odd to see the sight of a teen girl praising alcohol in her old world, but it wasn’t like there was any government here to tell her otherwise.
Naru hadn’t had a proper drink since she reincarnated into this world and being able to feel the light sensation of being intoxicated was a rare blessing.
[Ah, can’t drink too much gotta save some for tomorrow.] Naru dumped the remainder of the contents of the cup onto the ground and set it back on the small table.
As she was leaving the cellar and walking back to the main grove, she spotted her father
“Hey papa!”
“Hello Naru, what do you need?” Whitehorn asked her tilting his head his dear ears fluttering slightly
He was currently training for the vast amount of physical competitions the deer would hold. According to her mother, her father usually performed quite well. Naru was excited to get the opportunity to cheer him on.
“Do you mind helping me lift something tomorrow?” Naru asked him. The casks were quite large and Naru would have trouble lifting them out of the cellar.
“Lifting what?” Her father said a slightly confused expression on his face.
“It’s a secret,” Naru said making a “shushing” motion with her hand.
Her father nodded,
“Ok, just let me know when you need my help then.”
Naru nodded and then pushed her father away.
“You’ll have to wait to see it!” She said
Whitehorn upon seeing the cute serious smile of his daughter gave a knowing smile and walked away.
Naru herself was now walking to a new destination. The beauty contest was about to start and she wanted to see her mother.
