"A standard festival program." Yupa nodded in agreement.
Gol, standing nearby, became interested and thumped his chest. "Leave the platform and the necessary facilities to me. The lads under me will have them built quickly and solidly, guaranteed."
"Then leave security and keeping order to me," Mito said. "I guarantee the Valley of the Wind won't repeat the Kingdom of Pejite's mistakes."
As the militia's instructor, he was confident he could keep the valley residents in line.
"Wait, doesn't it feel like something's missing? Just showing the crops growing seems a little dry... A banquet! Right, how could a festival celebration be complete without a banquet?"
At last, Beruto stopped dwelling on whether the festival program had been inspired by him and turned to Nausicaä.
"Your Highness, when you said you'd put me in charge of the banquet food, was this what you meant?"
"That's right, Uncle Beruto," Nausicaä said with a smile.
"I was wondering how to solve the problem of food for the banquet, but now that we have the dishes you make with crops grown through grace, I'm sure they'll give everyone in the valley an unforgettable experience."
Her concern had been exactly the same as Mito's.
In the past, celebrations in the Valley of the Wind had always included the customary roast meat and fine wine.
Without them, how could it be called a successful celebration?
But now, even without meat or alcohol, those unbelievably delicious crops would be more than enough.
"Rest assured, Your Highness!" Beruto laughed heartily, his eyes blazing with determination. "Tomorrow night, I guarantee everyone will wish they could swallow their own tongues along with the food!"
And so, before Mu En even had a chance to add more details, several highly motivated core members of the Valley of the Wind quickly fleshed out the entire program for the Festival of Grace.
Before long, everyone split up and got to work. (The Valley of the Wind had no custom of taking afternoon naps.)
Only Mu En remained, staring blankly at the swaying trees around him.
"Unfortunately, I can't take part in this event myself and celebrate with my believers... I wonder how much I'll have to grow before I can move freely, or even take human form again?"
He remembered that the Erdtree's true nature was not actually that of a tree.
Mu En's thoughts gradually drifted away.
There was a great deal to prepare for a celebration.
Under Mu En's watch, everyone got to work.
As soon as the meeting ended, Gol headed straight for the castle's lower level and gathered the workshop's most skilled carpenters to go to the forest and build the venue for the upcoming Festival of Grace.
Major events had usually been held in the castle square or the hall, where the venue and facilities were already in place.
But this time was different. The chosen location was the clearing in front of the Erdtree, and everything had to be built from scratch.
Beruto did not dare slack off either. He ordered the foremen under him to clear a field in the designated area to display the "miracle" and sow the seeds before the celebration began the next day.
He himself threw himself into preparing ingredients and planning the menu for the festival banquet.
Although Mu En could not see Mito directly, he could see through the eyes of other Blessed that the militia had been urgently assembled for a briefing.
Nausicaä stayed in the study, discussing the festival speech and the award ceremony with the well-traveled Yupa.
Mu En watched them all bustling about like this until late into the night.
To be honest, he rather enjoyed the feeling.
He could leave all the minor details to his capable subordinates. If he, a divine tree, had to do everything himself, what did he need believers for?
The elders' unusual activity naturally caught the attention of the valley residents.
People watched the craftsmen and farmers hurrying about and speculated among themselves, but no one knew the exact reason.
Some guessed that the clan leader was preparing a grand welcome banquet to celebrate Master Yupa's return.
That gave many people something to look forward to. After months of hunger, might they finally have a chance to eat their fill?
However, not everyone was pleased.
Beneath the seemingly peaceful night, undercurrents were stirring.
After nightfall, quite a few people were still gathered in the Valley of the Wind's only tavern.
Although it was called a tavern, that was merely a conventional name; it was not a place where people went to spend money.
In the past, fruit wine left over after the caravans had made their selections would be sent here and served free of charge, in limited quantities, to valley residents after a day's work.
The tavern owner would also make simple food for people, such as vegetable porridge or wheat cakes, charging only a token amount of their rations in return.
Although the supply of fruit wine had now run out, people still gathered here out of habit to chat and pass the time.
In a corner of the noisy hall, several unremarkably dressed valley residents sat around a round table.
They spoke in deliberately lowered voices, looking no different from the ordinary patrons sharing neighborhood gossip.
"Did you get a good look? Was there really that much grain?"
"I count it every day. How could I have seen it wrong? That wheat filled two and a half whole granaries!"
"Where did it come from? Did you see where they brought it from?"
"No. They always bring it over from the west at night, all sneaky-like... I suspect they've been contacting a caravan in secret..."
"We can't wait any longer. We'll act tomorrow. Didn't that lord say support would arrive in a few days? We need time for the situation to develop."
"B-but..."
"No buts. Besides, we'll make the arrangements ourselves. You just need to pretend you didn't see anything!"
The clamor in the tavern perfectly masked their conversation.
They left in separate groups without attracting the slightest attention.
The season of still winds arrived as expected the next morning.
From this season onward, the winds through the valley would gradually weaken.
With fewer of those pesky wheat awns dancing wildly on the wind, it was a good time to harvest the crops.
The sky was rather gloomy today, with leaden clouds hanging low over the valley, suggesting that the first rain of the season might soon fall.
On this unusual day, disaster descended upon the Valley of the Wind once more.
Boom!
A muffled explosion echoed through the valley.
"Who?"
Nausicaä, who had just gotten up and was washing up, snapped her head up.
She had heard someone calling for help in the spiritual world, and experience told her it was no hallucination.
Nausicaä immediately got up and went to the window to look. Flames were rising beside the high ground in the village, and thick smoke billowed into the air.
"That direction is... Mr. Tree, can you see what's happening over there?" Nausicaä hurriedly asked Mu En in her mind.
She had already mastered the basics of this connection and could initiate a conversation herself.
And she knew that the Erdtree seemed to have the ability to observe the entire Valley of the Wind.
"Judging by the direction, it should be the granaries in the fields south of the village." Mu En's voice was somewhat subdued.
Nausicaä did not even have time to change out of her nightclothes before she shot out the door like an arrow loosed from a bow.
Nothing could be allowed to happen to that grain!