The next day arrived.
Dimensional City was quite lively.
The rest of the non-essential workers were on holiday, and everyone was busy preparing for the first large-scale celebration in Dimensional City.
Those decorating the City Lord's mansion were busy moving various furniture, tables, and chairs.
There were also people responsible for putting up festive decorations and setting up the lighting.
In the vacant fields, others were arranging fireworks to be set off in the evening.
There were even people rehearsing for the banquet, preparing performances to liven up the atmosphere once the event started.
Moreover, someone brought a professional video camera and carried it everywhere to record this memorable day.
Except for the decoration work ordered by Takumi, other things were spontaneously suggested by the girls.
They were all very positive; after all, this was their first festival since coming to Dimensional City.
Everyone had voted to make this day a holiday.
The name was simple and direct: Establishment Day, marking the birthday of Dimensional City.
Although Takumi had started building Dimensional City more than two months ago, only today could it truly be regarded as the day the city was officially built.
After all, the scale was too small before, and the population was not large enough.
But now, the population has increased, the city has grown in size, and a City Lord's palace has been constructed.
These milestones announced that Dimensional City now had an independent political system and had officially entered the city-state stage.
This was great progress for their civilization and was certainly very memorable.
At the same time, Alice Nakiri was leading the three new cooks to prepare the banquet in full swing.
They were the only ones who had to work overtime today.
When the camera crew came to watch the shooting, Alice Nakiri was not excited. With a serious face, she told them to get out of the kitchen and not to interfere with their work.
People outside thought it was festive and lively, but she only thought they were noisy.
Alice Nakiri felt quite overwhelmed at this time.
The time reached ten o'clock.
Kanae and the others brought Hephaestus back for the banquet.
Hephaestus heard that this was to celebrate the official establishment of the City Lord's Mansion and Dimensional City, so she brought carefully selected gifts.
It was a set of armor she had personally crafted. It had very strong attributes and a quite gorgeous appearance.
The platinum background was paired with gold patterns, and a bright red cloak made it look very cool!
"As long as you come, why give such an expensive gift?"
Takumi spoke politely and accepted the items with a smile. Hephaestus couldn't help rolling her eyes.
If you can say that, then don't accept it!
Of course, it was impossible not to accept it.
On such an important day, there were only a few guests. Wouldn't it be a shame if no worthy gifts were received?
It was only after seeing Hephaestus's gift that Takumi realized this point.
So, for such a wise Hephaestus, Takumi generously gave a gift in return.
He provided a batch of resources.
After all, these materials were the most practical things and functioned as hard currency.
Takumi had his people prepare a ton of enhanced ingredients for Hephaestus and asked her to take them with her when she returned.
Hephaestus did not refuse and accepted them with a smile.
After that, she followed Hestia to visit the Dimensional City, which had changed greatly since her last visit.
Then, little Hermione arrived.
She also brought gifts.
But with her current net worth, she couldn't bring any precious gifts, and there was no time to prepare, so she simply sent a flower basket.
The flower basket was woven with magic, and the flowers came from the herbology classroom, so the cost was zero.
In this regard, Takumi said it was fine as long as she had the intention.
After all, she was still in school at Hogwarts, so it was already good that she could come at all.
In fact, that was the case.
Takumi's invitation was not timed conveniently for her; Hermione actually had classes today.
Her presence was the result of pretending to be sick and asking for leave.
In order to deceive the professors, Hermione went through a lot of trouble.
Takumi gave her a gift in return, which consisted of snacks made from fortified ingredients.
"Just keep these for yourself; they can make you stronger."
"Okay, thank you for your generosity, Mr. Takumi."
"There are still two hours before the banquet starts. You can look around first. There are many interesting things in Dimensional City today. It depends on whether you can discover them."
"That's really awesome."
Little Hermione went exploring with some excitement.
Takumi placed the two gifts in a conspicuous place at the venue and then went back to continue preparations. In a blink of an eye, it was twelve o'clock at noon, and the banquet officially started.
Everyone stopped what they were doing and came to the banquet hall on the second floor of the City Lord's palace to take their seats.
Hestia and Riveria, as well as Saeko Busujima, Shizuka Marikawa, and Rika Minami—these five Soma women naturally sat at the chairperson's table.
Others included the three elders of Dimensional City, like the three sisters Kanae, Shinobu, and Kanao, along with the two guests, Hephaestus and little Hermione. Of the remaining two empty seats, the first belonged to Takumi. Another was reserved for Alice Nakiri, the hero behind the scenes.
The other girls were at different tables, seated in order from the chairperson's table from high to low.
On the temporarily arranged stage, Takumi gave a speech.
This was a step added by the girls. Originally, Takumi was not planning to do so many formalities; he just wanted to celebrate.
Takumi wanted to refuse but was pushed forward by Hestia and Riveria.
On such an important day, how could he be excused from saying a few sentences?
Takumi had no choice but to speak casually.
Because he didn't prepare a speech, he improvised the whole process.
On the stage, Takumi first spoke of the commemorative significance of today's festival and the past development of Dimensional City.
In fact, it had only been more than two months, so it had not been long.
Then he thanked Hephaestus and little Hermione. The two guests announced that the banquet had officially begun!
"Eat, drink, and have fun. If you don't have fun, you won't be giving me face, so let's enjoy this together!"
"Oh!!!!!" The girls cheered. After walking off the stage, he returned to his seat. Then, Alice Nakiri led the others to serve the dishes. After serving the dishes all at once, she also sat down.
"Ha~, finally done."
Grabbing the juice in front of her and taking a swig, she finally breathed a sigh of relief.
She had been really busy these past two days.
"Haha, thank you for your hard work, our great hero. Come on, let me toast you."
"That's right, I'll toast you too. Thank you for your hard work."
"Thank you for your hard work, come and eat some chicken drumsticks."
Facing Takumi's lead and everyone's praise, Alice Nakiri didn't say much and silently drank juice instead of wine with everyone.
However, after seeing everyone eat the meal she prepared and hearing them exclaim how good it was, she felt it was worth it. At least her hard work was not in vain.
"Why does this wine look so much like Soma wine?"
At this time, Hephaestus noticed something was wrong.
She looked at the wine glass in her hand with surprise.
Seeing this, Takumi smiled and said, "Because this is what I made after imitating the divine wine. How is it? It's not bad, right?"
In the past few days, he had not only been busy in the medicine fields. He also took time to use extra grain to make wine.
The wine served at the banquet was the first batch he had brewed.
"It turns out that it is indeed very good, and it is not as overbearing as Soma's wine."
Hephaestus nodded, then looked at the other girls nearby, who were all drinking happily, and understood the difference.
"Of course, if it were a 100% imitation of that divine wine, I would not take it out for everyone to drink."
That kind of divine wine makes people sink into it; it's practically a restricted substance.
Takumi didn't want to brew that kind of thing, otherwise, there might be a group of alcoholics in Dimensional City.
At the same time, even if it is alcohol without side effects, Takumi does not plan to release much of it, and purchases will be restricted.
After all, drinking can cause trouble, as the history in the Apocalypse world had shown Takumi.
Takumi remembered it well and took it as a warning.
"You're right, that Soma brew is all rubbish. I don't even dare to let the members of my familia touch it. They simply can't stand it."
Hephaestus nodded with deep understanding and then changed the subject.
"But there's nothing wrong with your wine. Give me some, and I'll take it back for the others to try."
Takumi agreed generously.
"Okay, if you like it, I'll give you a few more bottles when you go back."
Since her relationship with Hestia was so good, it was just a few bottles of wine—no big deal!
"You are so cheerful. Come, let me show my respect."
Seeing that Takumi was so generous, Hephaestus immediately and happily asked Takumi to drink.
The girls were also chatting separately.
Shizuka Marikawa was pulling Saeko Busujima aside to ask how she was doing in Orario and about the interesting things there, while Rika Minami listened silently.
Riveria was also asking Kanae about Orario.
Little Hermione found Alice, a good friend she hadn't seen for a long time. The two had a very pleasant chat and even got to know Shinobu and Kanao.
Hestia did nothing but silently stay by Takumi's side, picking up food for him from time to time.
The atmosphere was quite harmonious, and the banquet was over in a blink of an eye.
At this time, the temporary stage officially came into play.
The girls who had prepared shows filled their bellies and began to perform their talents on stage.
In addition to some acrobatic performances that relied on their enhanced physical strength, there was also a play; the content was the classic Butterfly Lovers.
Only then did Takumi learn that among these girls, there was actually one who was originally a drama student.
Then there was the music show.
Several talented girls showed off the various musical instruments they mastered.
The instruments they used had been scavenged from the Apocalypse world.
Because of these performances, the banquet lasted for six hours.
Everyone was having fun; eventually, the girls with no specific talent went up and sang songs.
It didn't matter if they didn't sing well; what stood out was their boldness, just to make everyone laugh.
Fortunately, Alice Nakiri and the others had prepared enough food, so there was no need to replenish it—just warm it up a little for the evening meal.
After playing and having fun, everyone spontaneously started to clean up, no longer adding work for Alice Nakiri and the four cooks.
Hephaestus and little Hermione were not in a hurry to leave because there would be a fireworks show later, and they planned to watch it first.
After another hour, the sky became completely dark.
After cleaning up everything, everyone came outside.
With a sound from a field not far away, a ray of light from a firework soared into the sky.
Whoosh! Boom!
A dazzling firework bloomed in the night sky, followed closely by others being launched, painting a beautiful picture in the dark.
The fireworks show lasted for more than ten minutes before ending.
After watching the fireworks, little Hermione went back with Takumi's gift.
As for Hephaestus, she was drunk and was left to stay by Hestia.
Everyone in Dimensional City also went back to rest.
After all, they still had to work tomorrow.
At the same time, many people from all corners of the Forest of Death saw this fireworks show.
"Sister Leah, it's over there! The place where the noise was heard before!"
"Well, I saw it."
"Those are fireworks. In other words, there are actually people there?!"
"It's not just that simple! They even have fireworks, and they dare to set them off without fear of attracting monsters."
"There must be strong people stationed there; otherwise, they wouldn't be so bold."
"Sister Leah, please say something. What should we do now? Do we want to go and have a look?"
The elf girls were discussing fiercely, but seeing that the oldest, Leah, did not participate, they quickly asked for her opinion.
Leah was still a little unresponsive at this time.
She really hadn't considered that people were living in the place they had avoided before.
If they had known earlier, they would have gone directly to check.
Maybe they could have been taken in to end this wandering life.
Even if it didn't work, they could have tried to trade, rather than living in such poverty now.
Regarding the questions asked by her sisters, Leah thought for a while and nodded. "Go. At least see what's going on over there first."
"That's great! Who do you think lives there?"
"Who knows, but they must be very powerful. Please be careful when the time comes and don't be rude."
"Yes. What about you, Ligne? Don't be so careless when we get there."
"Why are you talking about me? I think you're the one to watch."
"Now I just want to know if they will be willing to take us in. This life is really unbearable."
"Alas, let's just see what happens. There is war and chaos everywhere outside now, and everyone's life is difficult. Why would they be willing to accept outsiders?"
"That's right. I guess the people over there came to settle in a place like this because they were seeking refuge. Otherwise, who else would come to a place like the Forest of Death besides us?"
"But it's not without opportunity. Since they are here, they must be starting from scratch, which requires a lot of labor."
While these elven girls continued to discuss, there were also many scattered high elves in other corners of the Forest of Death discussing the same thing.
They all decided unanimously to go to Dimensional City to have a look.
Takumi didn't know about any of this.
He hadn't realized that the fireworks show would be visible to others in the Forest of Death, revealing the existence of Dimensional City. He also didn't know that this unintentional move would cause the high elves to arrive early.
But even if he knew, he wouldn't care; he would welcome them.
After all, these were part of his plans, so it was good for them to arrive early to avoid any accidents.
Meanwhile, Takumi was facing a different issue.
"Wait? Why are they here too?"
Takumi looked at the two drunken figures in confusion, then looked at Hestia, Riveria, and Saeko Busujima.
At this time, he had just returned to the bedroom on the sixth floor and was getting ready. He had found the five of them to spend time together.
As soon as he was about to start, he found that there were two more people.
He looked at the unconscious Kanae and Hephaestus and couldn't help but feel a little confused.
He could understand Kanae being here. After all, she had been with him for a long time, but he had never had a good chance to confirm the relationship formally.
But what happened with Hephaestus?
Who brought her here?!
Saeko Busujima and the others quickly said it was none of their business and they didn't know.
Takumi looked at Hestia and Riveria.
"I brought Kanae back, but I don't know about Hephaestus," Hestia said.
Riveria also admitted what she had done graciously.