Level 1 Strongest Sage ~

We celebrated Akari’s birthday the following week.

In the Ernol household, we celebrate birthdays with a grand feast for dinner.

All the friends and relatives of the celebrant would visit the mansion.

This time around, we invited all the people who took care of Akari when she first transmigrated into this world.

“Happy birthday, Akari.”

“Happy birthday, Akari, thanks for inviting us.”

“Eliza-san, Eric-san, thank you for coming.”

The first people to arrive were Eliza, the person who worked in the Manufacturing Guild in the human kingdom of Apristos, and her husband, Eric, who worked as the guard at the royal capital’s checkpoint.

“Happy birthday, Akari-chan.”

“Happy birthday!!”

“Wah! Everybody’s here!! Thanks!”

Akari stayed on the second floor of the guild house back when she was in Apristos, apparently. She lived with five other girls back then, and they all came.

When we first celebrated birthdays, we didn’t invite anyone, and only those who wanted to drop by came, so they were the only ones we ushered in.

However, my family has expanded, so the number of people visiting has also increased.

We expect around 10 guests on average.

The Ernol family had more than 20 members.

There would be at least 30 people, including the guests.

That’s a lot of people gathered in one palace, so we ended up throwing a huge party. Then, the people who didn’t come were shocked once they learned about the party.

And so, we decided that, as much as possible, we would invite friends and relatives whenever someone would celebrate their party.

By the way, Leaffa was the first one to celebrate her birthday since the time I changed our surname to Ernol.

Back then, Leaffa’s dad — Sairos Alheim, King of the Elves, barged in on his own accord. That was the start of holding a party for birthday celebrants in my family.

Well, the majority of the guests visited because of Tina’s handmade dishes…

Since the number of my wives increased, the times Tina cooked also decreased.

However, she would definitely be the one to cook the feast for the celebrant unless it was her own birthday.

By the way, Tina’s handmade dishes were also popular among the deities. And so —

“Oh, so the celebrant for this month is the heroine, huh. Er, if I’m not mistaken —”

“Gramps, it’s Akari.”

“Oh, right. Sorry, Sea God. Alright, once again… Happy birthday, Akari.”

“Fufufu, thank goodness I also managed to come this month.”

“Only Earth God was absent on Youko’s birthday last month.”

Creation God-sama, Sea God-sama, Earth God Demeter-sama, and Sky God Zeus-sama would also come to my mansion for Tina’s home-cooked meals as if it were only natural for them to do so.

With a family of twenty, we were bound to celebrate someone’s birthday several times a month.

The upper echelons of this world’s deities would often attend those birthday parties.

By the way, the Elf King, King Glendale, my brothers, the Celestial Spirit King, and the other Spirit Kings would also frequently attend, but the deities had the highest attendance record among all our guests.

Is this world… really gonna be alright?

──＊＊＊──

Akari’s birthday party was very lively.

She was very happy with the presents she got from everyone.

Tina’s dishes were also extremely delicious.

The girls who lived with Akari were totally moved by the taste, and they declared that they would definitely attend her parties from next year onwards.

The party ended, and everyone went home.

The mansion had been bustling, so now that it was quite empty, it felt a bit lonely.

“Haru-Nii, thanks for today.”

“Yup. Happy birthday again, Akari.”

I was sitting alone in the empty, lonely dining hall when Akari called out to me.

“I got a lot of presents… but will he come?”

“The Gifter? He’ll be there, I’m sure of it. Akari has been a good girl, after all.”

To be honest, only the minors — those 14 years and below — would only get presents.

Moreover, he would only come if the child believed that the Gifter would come with a present if you were a good child’.

— Well, that’s the setting.

There’s no such thing as Gifter.

The parents would prepare a separate gift and quietly place it under the child’s pillow when the child was asleep.

In my case, it was Tina. Actually, I also believed that they have Santa aka Gifter, in this world.

It’s Isekai, after all.

It’s not weird if Santa did exist in another world.

I really thought the Gifter was true.

However, once I entered the academy, I realized that the Gifter didn’t exist based on the stories of the other people in the magical academy.

Not sure if Tina found out, but since then, the gifter didn’t come again.

I got a lot of gifts every year, so it didn’t feel sad, but I couldn’t help but feel as if I lost something.

Akari turned 16 today, so the Gifter won’t come. There was no Gifter in the first place.

However, she believed that the Gifter really exists. I didn’t want to crush that dream.

“Well then, I’m going to bed. Good night, Haru-nii.”

“Good night, Akari.”

Akari went to her room.

Alright, for the sake of my adorable little sis, Onii-chan would go all out for the first time in a while!