Another World Where I Can’t Even Collapse and Die

e people with 7:3 parts gathered around and began worshipping Fikar.
Was some kind of Cult of the Hero spreading without my knowledge? Its idol was alive, He didn’t ask for money, and He listened to stories without judgment (or expression), so I guess it could be considered a favorable religion…

But, leave me out of it.
Being held up and looking down on the crowd of worshippers was kinda scaring me.

“We are organizers for Carcathia’s upcoming evening festival2…”

Fikar ignored them and stepped into the guild, but the 7:3 group came in too.
At last, everyone greeted each other in the large conference room that Tarina-san guided us towards.

Apparently, Fikar had been there until he’d suddenly left, leaving Gartis-san and Mesil-san to wait for him to return.

In the conference room, there were four sofas surrounding a low table.
Gartis-san and Mesil-san sat on one side, the 7:3 Brothers’ representative sat adjacent to them, and Fikar and I sat across from him.
I was allowed to sit normally after a brief struggle with Fikar, who’d tried to sit down with me still in his arms.

On the final sofa, a beautiful woman with rich emerald-green hair was sitting in a way that would make even the Devil turn tail.

“T-Tussa-san, long time no see…”

“Mm, long time no see.”

She replied in a very low voice.
I’ve already got a bad feeling about this.

I casually turned towards Gartis-san and the 7:3 representative to join their conversation.
Out of the corner of my eyes, I could see some kind of aura bursting into flames.

“Um, this evening festival, is it the summer festival we’ll be doing this time?”

“Right, it’s your first time participating, Sumire-san? The evening festival is the biggest event of the year and we’ll be holding it in about two months.”

With the rainy season behind us, the days were getting longer and the heat was creeping in.
This was the first summer Fikar and I would be spending in Tortea, though I heard that those days were exceptionally long.

I don’t know about the sun and the moon and the stars or how anything in the heavens affects this world, but the day-night cycle here was more or less the same year-round.
The only major exceptions were two periods of a month and a half: one in winter and the other in summer.
Over the course of three weeks, the winter days would get shorter and the summer days would get longer, and you could expect average temperatures to be much colder and much hotter, respectively.

The peak days, comparable to the solstices in the other world, were called “Great Winter”3 with four hours of daylight and “Great Summer” with four hours of nighttime.

I didn’t understand that a few months ago, so I was very surprised when we suddenly plunged into a dark cold spell.
Fikar was away at the time and I was feeling a bit overwhelmed and lonely, but thankfully, I was allowed to live on the second floor of the guild’s office.

There were no special festivities in the winter because of snowfall, but by the sounds of things, there was going to be a big festival on the day of the Great Summer, whose long hours of sunlight let the townspeople enjoy the party to the fullest.

“Tortea and Carcathia jointly hold their evening festivals, with this year’s host being Carcathia.”

For towns that didn’t have a large population like the royal capital did, it was fairly common to hold festivals together and switch hosts every year.
The 7:3 Brothers were responsible for coordinating efforts in Carcathia, usually from a government office.

Shockingly, in this world, even the 7:3 gang could be bureaucrats.
This feeling of internal crisis, which no one else present would understand even if I explained, secretly rampaged in my heart.

“So, why did you worship Fikar like that earlier?”

“Ah, we’d love to have Fikar do a performance, which is the centerpiece of the evening festival.”

“I refuse.”

I see.

Being hit with Fikar’s sharp “I refuse”, 7:3-part-san wiped his furiously-sweating forehead with his handkerchief.

“W-w-well, you say that, but it’s an evening festival tradition that the strongest person in town plays the Hero…”

“That’s right!! You can’t refuse!”

Tussa-san, who’d been silently exuding her intimidating aura until now, abruptly stood up and made a declaration.

“Fikar is the Hero! And the other role will go to me!!”

“I refuse.”

I rather liked Fikar’s aloofness, but sometimes, I thought to myself:

Read the mood a little more…

TL Notes:

1: Raws: 役長 — I couldn’t find any usages of this word, but “chief” seems fairly close.

2: This is a general term for “a small festival held the night before the main festival”, not necessarily tied to any specific date.

3: Raws: 大冬 (and 大夏 for Great Summer) — After getting my act together and starting to translate the second half of this chapter, I found a song by 大冬 (CN) and enjoyed listening to it on loop while I worked.
Give it a try! It’s pretty relaxing~