655 A Celebration Party
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The next day we meet up with our friends. This time, we had a big meeting in my house with my friends’ parents and the chief of the village as well. It was a small celebration of our feats in Stronghold, the chief of the town had become much wealthier over time as our town grew in size and was soon to be turned into something like a duke as our town had become as large as a small city and might be turned into a small duchy.
In this meeting, we took the opportunity to formally introduce our two new friends, Alberta and Elfriedden to everybody else. My family as well. Once more, they were shocked to hear they were a princess and a prince of dwarves and elves respectively.
“Y-You recruited such people in your team?!” My mother reacted.
“Of course, we wouldn’t had settled from anything less in our party.” I nodded.
“So this is your humble family…” Elfriedden said. “It is certainly humble looking.”
“What? Not too fancy for you, princey?” I asked with a giggle.
“Certainly… But I envy you, Blake.” He sighed, crossing his arms. “I wish I could have such a family… Make sure to love them and protect them.”
“Of course.” I nodded. “And if this is enough consolation, you can always think as us as your family too.”
“Huh? W-What nonsense are you talking about?” Elfriedden got embarrassed. “Hmph, as if I ever wanted such a family.”
“N-Nice to meet you too…” Alberta said.
“Oh, she’s the dwarven princess? So cute!” My grandmother said.
“C-Cute?!” Alberta blushed a bit.
“She’s certainly very cute.” Eric smiled at her side.
“E-Eric! Don’t say t-those embarrassing things…” Alberta got all red.
“Haha, we meet her in the academy and since then I was in love with her… We’ve been boyfriends for a while now.” Eric said with a smile.
“I can’t believe it! Little Eric got such a fancy girlfriend?!” My grandmother almost died of laughter.
“Congratulations, Eric!” My mother said.
“Yeah, take good care of her.” My father said.
“I will! Thank you for your congratulations.” Eric said. “Alberta, let’s go meet everyone else.”
“O-Okay…” Alberta nodded, walking away.
As the day continued, the smell of grilled giant boar meat filled the atmosphere. Lunch was ready, and we started serving big pieces of meat alongside mashed potatoes and lots of salad. I had also prepared some meatloaf myself, some skewered meat, and stew.
There were many people to feed, but thanks to our preparation, we were able to deliver a delicious lunch for everyone. The chief raised a cup of wine celebrating this day.
“A toast for these talented children, which are the pride of our city!” He said.
“Yeaaaah!” Everyone cheered, raising their cups.
The festivities continued for many more hours through the day. My friends enjoyed everything, happily talking, eating, dancing and even singing.
I saw Eric and Alberta dancing to the song and music of the bards that the chief brought here, several parents quickly joined in, and I even saw Erdrich who had brought Patricia here too.
“This is a nice place.” She sighed with a calm smile. “The nice food, the humble people. It all reminds me of my town…”
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“Erdrich…” Patricia sighed. “I wonder… if I could ever call this my home one day.”
“Well, maybe in the future.” Erdrich said. “As long as you stay by my side, I will make sure that this town feels like your home, Patricia.”
Patricia blushed a bit, raising her eyebrows.
“T-That’s… really romantic, wow.” She sighed. “I-I never thought a man would ever say such a thing to an ugly girl like me.”
“Ugly?” Erdrich raised an eyebrow. “Patricia, you’re a beautiful girl.”
She grew even redder.
“G-Geez…” Patricia sighed, acting more girly than her usual manly personality. “I-I’ll think about it… But I think I might accept.” She smiled back at him.
“I’ll be eagerly waiting that response.” Erdrich smiled. “Now, how about we dance a bit?”
“Oh nooo! I am so stiff… I can’t dance, seriously.” Patricia laughed.
“No matter, I’ll teach you! I am a noble, you know? I was taught how to dance many times.” He said. “Just follow me.”
“Geez! Fine…!” Patricia giggled. “But be careful, okay?”
“I’ll be careful.” Erdrich nodded.
The two started dancing around. She was very clumsy, but Erdrich had a lot of patience, slowly teaching her. Both laughed and enjoyed it. I was happy to see my friend finally finding someone to love. I guess he was doing a great job, he was winning her heart now more than ever.
They make an adorable couple; I would kill people for them if necessary…
“Hey Blake come on!” Said Erika.
“Let’s go dance.” Said Elizabeth.
“Blake, we should go first.” Eleanora said.
Of course, I had my own problems.
“Fine, but let’s take turns, okay?” I asked. “Hmmm… Do rock, paper, and scissor to decide.”
“Sure!” Erika smiled.
“Okay then.” Elizabeth nodded.
“W-What was that again?” Eleanora wondered.
At the end, Eleanora lose all of three of them, and she went last, while Erika went first and Elizabeth second… I felt slightly bad for Eleanora, but at the end, when her turn came, she smiled and was really happy to enjoy a day without concerns and worries.
Like that, the day went by rather quickly with friends and family. Cattalina enjoyed the day as well, and she was slowly dropping the formalities and becoming more accustomed.
In the third day of the week, we decided to take it easy and take a stroll around the city’s spirit tree forest, we had to check the Lesser Yggdrasil Trees as well.
We explored the Spirit Tree Forest, mostly to show Elfriedden and Alberta the mystical place, which was already a place of tourism for many nobles and commoners within the Kingdom. The two were amazed about the beautiful forest, so filled with spirit energy and mana it could even glow at night.
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