#667 The Snow Festival is Underway

Visitors are beginning to show up at Orkubo’s Castle: Snow Festival Edition. 

Despite my worries about suddenly changing the theme, I feel relieved, seeing as things are bustling.

The first thing that catches people’s attention is the snow Tokyo Tower I built. 

It’s big, so it’s naturally eye-catching. 

However, because of its sheer size and building material used—snow—some people might worry about it collapsing. So, I positioned it far away from the main venue.

In reality, the snow tower has been made highly stable, thanks to the Hand of Supremacy. I reckon it’ll keep standing even if a meteorite hits. 

But considering its size, looking at the tower from afar is more enjoyable.

Still, some customers want to experience the tower’s overwhelming size up close, so we have organized a snow 20-minute Tokyo Tower walking tour. 

That being said, the tower is only made of snow. 

You can’t climb up to the observation deck and enjoy the panoramic view like you can with the real Tokyo Tower.

But for now, everyone seems to enjoy just looking at the huge snow statue from the ground.

Of course, the snow festival’s main attraction is not just the Tokyo Tower. The main venue, where the rest of the exhibits are displayed, is also bustling with people.

Above all, what catches the eye is the two snow sculptures of the gods at the forefront of the venue. 

One is the god of war, Velesares. 

He’s a famous war god in the Human Kingdom, but he also has a protective side that supports the losing side, which is admired by the elf race.

Its sculptor is none other than our farm’s elven woodworker, Mieral.

She usually makes wooden idols at our farm and receives high praise from high-profile demons. 

Since snow is lighter than wood, she made it bigger than usual. 

Velesares’ sculpture, which stands four meters long, is so impressive and has the same dignified presence as the actual deity.

Since summoning the real Velasares, Mieral has been making many wooden statues of him.

This snow sculpture turned out to be her masterpiece, and she was very satisfied.

...On the other hand, another snow sculpture has the same imposing presence as Mieral’s Velasares statue.

It’s another idol that is the complete opposite of Velasares. 

It’s a statue of a short, muscular man, giving off an intimidating aura that makes you feel like he could knock out everyone that touches him.

With a hammer in hand, he looks even more solemn.

His bushy beard and fierce, raptor-like gaze are enough to suggest that he’s some kind of warrior god.

“Who is this solemn-looking deity?”

“He is the guardian deity of us dwarves!” says the Dwarf King, Edward Smith, as he approaches me.

He’s one of the last-minute participants of the Snow Festival.

“Oh, so this is the dwarves’ work.”

“Indeed, it is! We couldn't let ourselves be left behind when we heard that the elves were making a statue of the god Velesares. We had to create an idol sculpture too! Hah-hah-ha!” 

Judging from his good humor, Pops Edward seems quite pleased with the result.

“The dwarves’ guardian deity, huh... Who is it?”

With such a stern and robust appearance, one would imagine he must be a fiendish god...

“It’s none other than Hephaestus!”

“Hm?” 

Wait. I recognize that name.

“As the race that boasts the world’s best craftsmanship, there can be no guardian deity for us other than the god of crafting, Hephaestus! Even now, the most popular subject for our sculptures is Hephaestus, and hundreds of them are produced every year!”

“Huh. I see...!”

“The statues’ design is constantly refined, and this particular model is a copy of the winning entry in the dwarf’s largest event, the Hephaestus Idol Championship. By the way, I was the one who made it!”

The race’s king himself entered the competition and claimed victory...?!

Surely there wasn’t some kind of bias going on, right...?!

“Well, our unique dwarven technology was necessary to create something on such a grand scale! But thanks to that, I’m confident we’ve created a masterpiece that can easily rival the elves’ Velesares sculpture! Hah-hah-ha!”

“...”

“What’s the matter, Lord Saint? You’ve had a complicated look on your face for a while now. Could it be that you’re not satisfied with our sculpture of Hephaestus?”

“No, it’s not that I’m dissatisfied with it, but...”

How should I say it...

It’s like the gap between expectations and reality is causing some friction? That kind of thing?

“I’ve met the real Hephaestus before.”

“Huh?!”

“He was the one who gave me the power I have.”

At that time, the god I met was a friendly-looking old man, completely different from this barbaric sculpture before me.

“W-W-W-W-Whaaaaaaaaaat?!”

Pops Edward is shocked by the fact I have revealed.

“Are you telling us that you, Lord Saint, who always creates impossible things and amazes us, have directly received blessings from our guardian deity, Hephaestus...?!”

Did I not tell him that?

I guess I didn’t really have a reason to, did I?

“In that case, I’ve connected all the dots! You, Lord Saint, are loved by Hephaestus, who represents the pinnacle of craftsmanship! No, you can even be considered his incarnation! No wonder you transcend human understandinggggg!”

Edward is the first to bow down, and many other dwarves follow suit.

I understand you’re all involved in sculpting your idol, but you can raise your head now.

The other guests in the venue have no idea what’s going on!

...But seriously though, how did the jolly Hephaestus transform into such a fierce-looking martial god when recreated as a snow statue?

The rugged hammer, the bushy beard...

Aren’t these more characteristic of dwarves?

Could it be that they relied on imagination and hearsay to picture Hephaestus without actually seeing his true form?

The dwarves created their own image, so it’s no wonder that the design of the statue is influenced by it.

Since they created this ideal themselves, it could even be said that this is a statue of a super-dwarf rather than a statue of Hephaestus.

Nevertheless, the snow sculptures of Velesares created by Mieral and her team, as well as the dwarves’ sculpture of Hephaestus, are impressive works that could easily rival them in ferocity.

The two sculptures of the war gods stood tall at the forefront, forming a striking contrast. They seemed like a pair of intimidating guardian deities, watching over the festival with an air of tension that spread throughout the entire event.

Undoubtedly, the Velesares and Hephaestus snow idols became the icons of the event.

Of course, the Snow Festival is filled with other masterpieces.

Firstly, the snow sculpture created by the true representative of the farm elves, Aileron...

“...What is this?”

Something incomprehensible lays before me.

It’s made of snow, but the shape it takes is soft and fluffy...

...Is this avant-garde art?

“Lord Saint! Don’t you think it turned out well?”

Aileron appeared just amidst my puzzlement.

It’s the sculptor herself.

“It’s exceptionally made if I do say so myself! I tried to express the beauty of nature in its true form with snow as the material! Its title is The Distortion of Snow – Urhyaa!”

I don’t get it at all...!

“Um...I’m sorry, but your work is too sophisticated for the likes of me to understand...!”

“What are you saying, Lord Saint?! There’s no way someone as creative as you wouldn’t feel anything after seeing my work!”

Isn’t she thinking way too highly of me?

Despite Aileron’s wintry art piece reaching the pinnacle of obscurity due to the excessive firing of plates, it’s frightening to note that some spectators were struck by its ingenuity and even reported having made contact with the cosmos.

Various other snow creations are also on display...

The satyr dairy team’s snow statue, titled Flow of Milk, combined snow’s whiteness with milk’s whiteness and became an emotional work.

Furthermore, the wine-making team led by Bacchus created a piece titled Sake. It was a huge snow cup that could be filled with sake and drunk as is.

The goblin team created a piece titled Love.

The orc team created a piece titled Anguish.

Overall, it was great that most of the exhibits had a generally idyllic atmosphere.

If there were only works by elves and dwarves, they would have become too abstruse and sophisticated.

* * *

The students also collaborated to create a heartfelt piece for their graduation project.

I won’t go into detail here because there’ll be a more appropriate occasion to do so.

That occasion will be explained in the upcoming chapter, though...