Zabuton and her spiderlings will not participate in the outside parade.
This is because Zabuton firmly insisted on not participating.
She said that if objects of fear like them went out, only misfortune awaits.
Well, itâs true that Zabuton and the others are feared in the Demon Kingâs Kingdom.
Even though they are so cute.
However, since Zabuton says so, it canât be helped.
Or so I thought but around half of the spiderlings resisted.
They marched before Zabuton and thrashed their legs, appealing to participate.
Cute.
Zabuton was troubled by that.
However, she did not change her mind.
No means no.
Thatâs Zabuton for you.
However, it seems like Zabuton is also weak on her children.
She tacitly agreed to accompany the parade participants but in hiding saying that whatâs important was to watch over the costumes.
In other words, they are allowed to participate in the parade as long as they remain in the carriages and wonât be seen by others.
The spiderlings were delighted and after thanking Zabuton, they began making something.
Whatâs that?
A bigâŠ.spider costume?
It is deformed and adorable but its size is bigger than Zabuton.
It doesnât look like Zabuton but a big Makura.
Inside the stuff arachnid are boards that keep its shape.
Youâre going to get inside it and join the parade?
Ah, you can move its legs dexterously.
A mechanism to manipulate the legs is built in?
Amazing.
However, is that okay?
It seems like there are a thousand of you thereâŠ..
Wonât the ones in the bottom be crushed?
Make sure you go in with plenty of room to spare.
Right, half of your current number.
Donât stuff yourself too tightly.
Just make a few more stuffed costumes.
And donât make them move.
Itâs not strange if stuffed animals move but what if a child or someone comes close to check?
We have gone through a lot of trouble to convince Zabuton.
Letâs make sure no one will see you.
Iâm glad you understand.
Letâs put the stuffed arachnid on a carriage.
Weâll need a carriage for each of them but Iâm sure there are a good number of uncovered carriages owned by Village FiveâŠ..
Iâll ask Youko so we can borrow one.
Yeah, Iâll take care of it.
Iâm also the village chief of Village Five after all.
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Night.
I asked Youko to secure a roofless carriage.
Eh?
What?
Is something wrong?
ăN-not really but it seems like village chief is unaware of the situation in Village FiveâŠ..ă
Well, Iâve been working in the field for quite a while.
Whatâs going on in Village Five?
ăAh, there will be participants from Village Five in the outside parade.ă
Thatâs right.
Iâm going to participate as the village chief of Village Five and it wouldnât look good if all the participants came from Big Tree Village.
Iâm sorry but I left choosing the participants from Village Five all to Youko.
It seems like Youko left it up to the village council.
ăThatâs right. It has been decided that there will only be 50 participants coming from Village Five and I left it all for the council to decide.ă
50 participants.
Thatâs a reasonable number.
ăThe village council returned to me saying they wanted 2000 or at least 500 participants.ă
âŠâŠ
ăAnd as expected, I also thought that that many participants is too much so I checked with the demon kingâŠâŠ He said it would be no problem even if there will be 2000 additional participants. Hence, the carriages with and without roofs are very difficult to secure.ă
I didnât know that happened.
ăI know right. However, though I said there will be 2000 participants, there will probably be more. The spectators will want to move with us.ă
Yeah, I can see that happening.
ăSo, the expectation that the parade would be over in half a day was dropped. It is expected to last for at least two days.ă
Eh?
Weâre going to use the teleportation gate so it wouldnât be that far of a parade, right?
Even if there were more people, the distance wouldnât change, would it?
ăIf they are all going to be obedient and follow the instructions, yesâŠ. However, they are in a festive mood. There will be drinking too. Iâm not so optimistic as to think that the transition would be smooth.ă
When you put it that way, I guess it is.
Not everyone can use the teleportation gate at the same time.
It will take time.
Hmmm?
If it takes more than two days, donât we have to prepare food for the participants?
ăWe are already working on the arrangements. Food and drink will not be a problem. We are already building temporary washroomsâŠ.ă
Is there a problem?
ăThe stalls for the parade spectators. They are taking too much space and itâs making the security forces panic.ă
RightâŠâŠ
ăVillage chief doesnât have to mind it as usual. However, afterwards, I would like you to give the security forces a few words of appreciation.ă
Understood.
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âŠâŠâŠ
The carriage procurement failed to be secured.
I contacted the Goroun Company with the faintest hope but to no avail.
It seems like even Shashaato City is having a hard time securing carriages for the parade.
Michael-san tried to get the Goroun Company send us a carriage to use for the parade but we decided not to do so.
We only wanted to borrow one if there were any left over and we wonât feel comfortable borrowing one that they were planning to use.
Instead, he gave us some wheels and axles of the carriage.
The wheels and axles of a carriage are consumable items.
Therefore, there are more wheels and axles available than there are carriages.
We managed to secure them.
With wheels and axles, all that was left was the body.
Even I could manage to make a body of a roofless carriage.
After all, the purpose is to put a stuffed animal on it so a cart with eight wheels would suffice.
Well, the work will be done after Iâm done with my field work.
If the mountain elves have finished their work, we can get their help.
They are making carriages there too, rightâŠ..
Ah, no, if the mountain elves get involved, theyâll convert it to something magical.
It might be better to do it alone.
Yeah, letâs do that.
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Village Chief: Iâll do my best on my own.
Spiderlings: We will help you
Village Chief: You guysâŠâŠthanks
Zabuton: âŠâŠ(I want to help but Iâm very busy with the costumes)
-0-
Village Chief: Iâll do my best on my own.
Mountain Elves: Is our credibility collapsing?
Civil Servant Girls: How many carriages have you combined?
Mountain Elves: Around seven
Civil Servant Girls: Is that so? But your work is yet to be completed, right?
Mountain Elves: Yes, we are trying to make it transform into a humanoid formâŠ..and it should walk using two legs.
Civil Servant Girls: âŠâŠ(We donât know what they mean by making carriages walk on two legs but we definitely wonât ride it)