A New Life In The Beast World-Chapter 142: Planning For The Festival

Serena just finished cleaning up when Finn came over to continue on the grinder. He had already gotten most of the main design carved out and was finishing up the rest today.

Once that was done, they would begin looking at the more finer details that needed to be carved out before assembling it all together. Then they could finally test it out and refine the design as they needed.

After making sure that everything was good, Serena asked, "Do you like sour roots?"

"They’re alright..." Finn mused, not bothering to take his attention from his craft. "I do like the leaves more. Why do you ask?"

"Just wanted to check." Serena answered. "Found some with brown roots and purple roots and was wondering if you’d like them."

"I see..." Finn murmured. "Well they’re all fine."

Serena nodded her head in understanding. "Alright then... I’ll leave you to it."

The rabbit beastman waved a hand in acknowledgement, too focused on what he was doing to say anything. And Serena knew better than to try getting anything else from him.

So, she left Finn alone to work on the grinder and went looking for Merinda. She’d been putting it off for a bit, but now that she had the time, she might as well talk to the older beastwoman.

She needed more information on the whole festival thing and maybe chat about Asdea. She got quite a bit of information from the Beast God already, but it didn’t hurt to get more.

Serena first headed to the village center where most of the villagers hung out. It also seemed to be where the festival was being held, for obvious reasons, and seeing as Merinda was in charge, she could probably spot her there.

If not, perhaps Elder Samuel was around and knew where his wife was or even one of the rabbit beastmen helping to set up the festival knew where she was.

The village center was bustling more than usual and Serena noticed they were building some kind of wooden platform a few meters away from the giant, oak tree.

Wilma, who was sitting under the tree with the other beastwomen, sent her a small wave which she returned. Thankfully, the rabbit beastwoman seemed to understand that she was here for leisure this time.

Though, she should probably try visiting more often and watch over the cubs too. After all, they made sure to keep an eye on Kiro whenever he came to play here which was probably the only reason she was fine with letting come here alone.

She turned her attention back to the wooden platform, watching as several rabbit beastmen were setting it up. There were a few more weaving what looked to be grass together and several more groups here and there.

Must be for a ritual or something. Serena mused to herself as her eyes scanned the area around the platform. Wander if they burn the offerings or maybe just leave them on the platform...

Her eyes finally stopped a few meters away from the platform on a familiar figure. She quickly walked over to the group of beastmen, slowing down a little so everyone knew she was approaching.

Merinda, noticing her actions, dismissed the group of beastmen after giving them a task to complete. The older beastwoman then just quietly waited as Serena came to a stop in front of her.

"Afternoon Merinda." Serena greeted the older beastwoman. "I hope you’ve been well."

"I have been, Serena." Merinda smiled at the snow leopard beastwoman. "Now what can I do for you?"

"I just came by to ask about the offering plate we need to prepare for the festival." Serena stated, getting straight to the point. "Anything specific we need to add, any things we need to avoid. Oh and do we need to prepare anything else... It seems like the whole village is out helping with preparations, so it’s only right I offer help as well."

Liz let out a sarcastic gasp at her words. "Who are you and what have you done with my benefits-only Serena?! You don’t give out free help!"

Serena bit her lip at Liz’s remarks, using every bit of willpower not to hit the system laying on her head. Or comment on what it said. She was just trying to turn over a new leaf.

Being helpful was a start, wasn’t it?

"It’s alright dear. Everything has mostly been completed. Besides, you’ve been helping the Council a lot." Merinda said, bringing Serena’s attention back to the older beastwoman. "As for the offering plate, you can add whatever foods you want... Perhaps not meat though. Some of the rabbit beastmen are a little sensitive to that."

"Seems fair enough." Serena nodded her head in understanding. "Oh, do I prepare one or three for each of us?"

"It’s one plate per family." Merinda responded. "You can put everything in a hand basket... The festival will be in seven days’ time and start at sunset. We’ll do the ceremony first and then serve food like a normal gathering. If you want to eat meat then, I just ask that you prepare it beforehand... We will provide vegetable dishes though."

Serena made note of Merinda’s words, knowing she was asking to have the meat prepared beforehand so they wouldn’t make the place smell like meat. Which some of the rabbit beastmen and beastwomen wouldn’t like.

Their hut was on the far side of the village, far away from other huts which was why they could prepare meat dishes without there being trouble. They only really had to be careful when the wind blew westwards.

But that rarely happened.

"That’s fine. We can do that." Serena finally said. "Um... do we need to contribute to the vegetable dishes? Maybe bring one..."

"If you plan on eating the vegetable dishes, you can bring another hand basket of food. But only if you can spare the food." Merinda gave her a sharp look. "The cold season is coming so stockpiling enough for the family takes priority. We’ve already gathered most of the food for the festival, so many are just adding what they can. Some are even just preparing some dishes."

Those words caught the attention of Liz who exclaimed, "This is a perfect chance to try that spice thing! And if it goes well with the villagers, you complete that food mission."

Right, she still needed to get that mission done. And while she did agree Liz’s idea was good, Serena knew it was because the system was just interested in seeing her world’s ancient cooking.

"Alright I’ll keep that in mind." Serena mused. "We do have enough food for the cold season, so I believe we can spare a basket."

"Hmmm... Just remember my words." Merinda murmured, patting her on the shoulder. "Now I need to go check on how things are going on the wooden platform if you don’t have any more questions."

Serena glanced around her, wondering if she should ask about Asdea. The village clearly knew about the goddess considering they had a festival in her name, but the question was just how much did they know?

Because she didn’t want to accidentally spill secrets by asking questions.

"If it’s about the goddess, I’ll talk to you more about it during the festival." Merinda stated, noticing Serena’s hesitation. "Right now... It’s a little crowded for such discussions."

Serena nodded her head in understanding and with that Merinda left. The older beastwoman went to check on the wooden platform while Serena turned around and headed back to her hut.

She wanted to collect some vegetables for the festival and finish harvesting another half basket for Finn. Once she left the village, Serena walked for a bit.

Finally she said, "Liz, give me some of those recipe ideas and what plants I need to find. Keep it to what’s available here."

Maybe she was jumping the gun here, but Serena believed this was a good excuse to expand the dishes they made with vegetables. Especially when soups and stews were going to be too hot to eat during the rainy and hot season.

"Should I add all the ingredients to the map using that locating feature?" Liz asked, a little too excited about this.

"Sure..." Serena sighed. "Just keep the dishes simple and easy... My cooking skills are still limited."

"Understood." Liz said before getting to work.

While the system focused on that, Serena did some foraging. She found another patch of long, orange squash and added a few into her basket before she went looking for other vegetables.

She found some more sour roots and brown roots as well as some wheat which she harvested. It would be added to her growing stockpile of wheat.

Serena was about halfway done with filling her basket with various plants when Liz suddenly spoke up, "Search has been completed. Displaying recipes. All ingredients have already been located."

As the system said those words, a familiar blue screen popped up in front of Serena.