Visiting Sutherland (10)

After quickly eating lunch, I went out into the garden to help the residents.

It seemed to be customary for the knights to help with the festival preparations, and the knights around me worked as if they knew exactly what to do.

The residents still seemed reluctant to open up, but they weren’t rejecting the knights outright, either. They mumbled the necessary words to them as they worked.

Hehe, festivals are so nice.

They put people in a more open mood, so even hostile relationships can improve.

Even after the commemorative tree called the 'Great Saint-sama’s Tree' had been cut down, the residents seemed to hold the festival around the spot where it had stood. They were setting up an event space in front of the stump.

Hanging colorful strips of cloth around it created a cheerful, festive atmosphere.

By evening, when it seemed most of the preparations were finished, the knights began setting up flagpoles here and there in the garden, surrounding the commemorative tree’s stump.

I wondered what they were planning, then watched as the knights began placing the Nerve Kingdom’s national flag in the stands.

“Huh? What are they doing?”...