"Holy... presence?"
After the elves cald down and the zombie defense ended, Axel learned from Cherry why the newcors were kneeling before the World Tree.
They described a sensation they couldn’t fully explain. Upon gazing at the tree, they felt an overwhelming compulsion, a powerful holy presence that made them kneel instinctively.
"Cherry’s an elf too, right?" Axel asked. "Did you feel the sa thing as them?"
"No, Sir Axel. I’m..." she hesitated, trailing off before continuing, "I’m a half-elf. Not really a pure-blooded elf."
"Oh..."
He couldn’t visually discern the difference, which led to his misunderstanding. However, Cherry’s expression as she revealed this information made it clear that being a half-elf was more complicated. There must be so social disadvantages that ca with it.
"Well, I don’t really care if you’re half or not." Axel shrugged, smiling.
"Anyway, I’ve heard that Eve and the others have returned. Are they at the banquet hall already?"
"As for that..."
Cherry explained the situation awkwardly.
Apparently, due to Greed’s interference, the empire was in turmoil. Therefore, Nina and Ria had to be dispatched to calm everyone down.
Eve also needed to assist Sophia in taking the throne while managing the aftermath of their battle, including repairing the castle and surrounding buildings.
Arianne had, of course, accompanied Eve as her bodyguard, so she was still there too.
"In short, the girls would return tomorrow at the earliest," Cherry summarized with an awkward smile.
"I see..."
Of course, Axel wasn’t worried anymore.
After all, Greed had been defeated and was weakened to the limit. As for Wrath, the Demon King? Axel wasn’t sure what had happened to him, but he was certain that he couldn’t "descend" on such short notice—at least not without soone from this realm opening a portal for him.
"Even though I worked hard preparing a banquet..." Axel sighed. "I guess not all things go as planned."
He had even gone so far as to actually "cook" for them!
Now, all the dishes he had painstakingly prepared would have to sit cold in his inventory for the day...
"No, I can’t let this day end like this!"
Still, Axel was unhappy with how things were unfolding.
The girls were delayed, but there was a valid reason, so he couldn’t do anything about that. However, the banquet... he could definitely do sothing about that.
"Let’s head to the World Tree!" he shouted, walking outside briskly.
Cherry, although confused, responded as she followed behind. "Y-Yes!"
...
An hour later, roughly at eight in the evening, a banquet was being held in the new plaza. This plot of land, located in the "farm" area, was mostly vacant—specifically, the section near the sapling of the World Tree where many seedlings had previously died out.
The main event was, of course, the welcoming of new residents—a grand celebration designed to show that they were embraced by the community. This occasion also allowed the over 600 original residents to mingle with the newcors.
However, hosting more than 30,000 guests proved to be a bit overwhelming.
The banquet stretched far and wide, with tables that Axel and Cherry had set up in a flash, arranged in several layered circles. In the center, a large bonfire cast a bright orange light over the surroundings.
Additionally, the World Tree itself emitted faint blue lights—visible mana particles that transford the night into a mystical scene, one that Axel was already familiar with.
Thanks to these elents, the atmosphere was perfect.
"CHEERS!"
Naturally, Axel had prepared all the food, drinks, and music himself.
The food and drinks ca from the shop, but the music was perford by a few original mbers who had musical talent. The style wasn’t chic or suited for fine dining; instead, it was cheerful and upbeat, fitting for a festival.
To ensure everyone could enjoy the music equally, Axel had set up microphones and speakers throughout the area. While the music may have lost a bit of its "oomph," the atmosphere it created was what truly mattered.
As the organizer, Axel was approached by the leaders of various newcor groups.
Though they were ostensibly there just to greet him...
"Please create a forge for us too! Sothing bigger than the current one!" Helion, the leader of the dwarves, pleaded, pressing his forehead to the ground.
Axel couldn’t help but think internally, ’Is that pose a fad or sothing?’ After all, the elves did the sa thing.
"Ah, well... I guess it’d be fine," he nodded with a smile.
"I’m sure there are plenty of dwarves who want to work on forges, so I’ll be making them gradually over the next few days."
"R-Really, Boss man?!" The dwarves’ leader bead, his eyes sparkling. "Damn! I can’t believe it was this easy to ask! I shouldn’t have been so nervous for nothing!"
While Axel thought he was the eccentric one, smiling as he welcod the others, they all witnessed how easily Helion’s request was approved. This ignited a sense of greed in the others, prompting them to mimic his actions.
The leader of the elves, a woman nad Titania, knelt before Axel and requested, "Lord, can you please allow us to stay near the Spirit Tree? Our race would be forever grateful if you do!"
Following her...
"We would like to do farm work as well. Is it possible, good sir?" Crow, the vampire leader, asked while kneeling on one knee.
"W-We... want to repay the favor for saving us. Could you take us as maids in the castle, Mister Axel?"
The small succubus girl, Lala, asked with teary eyes. It was a rather unfair way of making a request; with such an expression, there was no way Axel could refuse!
In addition to them, several leaders from minor groups in the slums pleaded for their own requests too.
So sought opportunities for work, others asked for hos, and so simply requested food for a while. Nobody asked for anything excessive, and so even requested things that were already provided, so the situation didn’t stray too far off-script.
Although Axel had intended to get to know the leaders better, he found himself inadvertently putting them in his debt imdiately. While this seed beneficial to him, he couldn’t shake the feeling that he was losing out in the bigger picture.
"Speaking to them all is tiring..." Axel grumbled as he returned to his seat.
As the organizer, he couldn’t leave the celebration so early—Cherry was a different case, though. She left as soon as things cald down.
Of course, Axel wasn’t friendly enough that just anyone could approach him, but still, quite a few "braves" dared to co close.
Most of them were won or fathers with their daughters in tow.
To be fair, many were confident enough to approach him. The won were quite attractive, after all. If Axel weren’t accustod to seeing beauties like Fenrir on a daily basis, he might have fallen for their charms.
Those who were rely testing his boundaries were let off scot-free, amicably. However, those who tried to push their luck too far...
"Please, this way."
"What? Eh..."
"Don’t worry, you won’t die... at least."
...ended up being dragged away by mbers of the Valkyrie Knight Order standing nearby.
Axel didn’t know what those girls were subjected to, but when they returned so ti later, their faces were pale, and their confident smiles had turned stiff and awkward, as if they had seen ghosts.
Aside from that incident, the celebration continued well into the night.
It didn’t end just because the food ran out; rather, it continued as people sought to celebrate and be rry in their own ways. Axel, not wanting to seem uncooperative, decided to offer them more food and drinks—an act his past self would never have considered.
’I guess I drank too much already...’ he sighed, feeling tipsy.
After all, he had consud the Dragon Killer, the fad "expensive" wine that could knock down a dwarf with a single sip... and he had drunk a whole barrel of it. It was no wonder he felt this way.
"Fenrir," he called. "I’m heading back to my room. I’ll leave things here to you."
"Yes, Sir Axel," she nodded.
For Fenrir, although she appeared fine on the outside, she was still weakened after her fight with Wrath. Her soul had been damaged, after all, and it couldn’t be healed easily.
Still, even in her weakened state, no one in Axevaria could match her might.
No one but Axel, of course.
As Axel made his way back to the castle, he observed how much the city had changed. He hadn’t much of a chance to walk around alone, after all.
Before, it had been nothing but wasteland as far as the eye could see, just a small settlent with tents. Now, it was large enough that walking from one side to the other took a significant amount of ti.
He was in no rush, however.
Axel enjoyed his stroll along the streets, following the aqueduct beside him, which reflected the sparkling stars in the sky. If the moon had been out, the view would have been even better.
Almost everyone—other than kids and one or both of their parents—was still at the celebration, making the area quiet and peaceful. Axel sighed, smiling as the cold night winds brushed against his warm cheeks.
"If only peace could last forever..."
He could only pray.
A wish that he knew had little chance of becoming reality.
By the ti he arrived at the castle, he was certain it was already past midnight. He had stayed out a bit too long.
Tipsy from drinking too much, he decided to head straight to bed and sleep.
"Huh...?"
As he opened the door, he was taken aback by an unexpected scene.
Before him stood four figures.
"Sir... Axel." The one at the front, Eve, spoke shyly. "Today, I turn 18... So, as you promised..."
Axel stared in disbelief.
Eve, Maria, Cherry, and Arianne.
Four girls, clad in thin, eye-catching nightgowns, stood lined up before his bed.
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