Compared to Blue Star, where vacations of a week or more still felt too short, the people of Coriel were undoubtedly hardworking. Officially, they only had Midwinter Festival off.
Strictly speaking, for many people living at the bottom of society, they often did not even get that one day of holiday.
Long-term exploitation by the upper classes, coupled with the daily wage system practiced in many places, meant that those without savings would likely go hungry the moment they stopped working.
Thus, many immigrants who had come to Zelandia, this Desolate Land, suddenly realized that they had inadvertently begun living the sort of life only the middle class could afford in the past.
Yes, in Coriel, if you could spend every festive and respectable holiday without the slightest psychological burden or pressure of survival—
Then congratulations. You were most likely part of a well-off middle-class family.
That day, every construction site in the camp announced a halt to work for the holiday. Each person was also given a year-end bonus that was not much, but enough to buy a tableful of fresh ingredients and enjoy a fine celebration.
Then came the nighttime bonfire revelry, magical fireworks, and finally, a light-and-shadow play.
It felt as though the gates to a brand-new world were unfolding before them.
What an intoxicatingly wonderful day it had been.
Perhaps they had played too hard. Many slept so deeply that when the "bell" for the start of work woke them the next morning, they felt strangely unaccustomed to it.
Maybe this was holiday syndrome.
But people quickly discovered that something was different.
Early in the morning, Gnolls went door to door delivering a notice:
All males above adulthood and below forty were to gather at the grand square first. All underage children were to gather separately