In the end, Claude had to carry five kilograms of whale meat home. It was a gift from Eriksson, taken from the tail of a narwhale.
It was said to be the best part of a whale's body. Whales relied on their tails to move around in the water, so the meat at the tail was considered to be the most delicious part of a whale's body. Experts and gourmets agreed that it was the most delicious part of a whale's body.
Eriksson's return gave Claude some company in the days leading up to the new year. Welikro and the other two spent almost every day together and strolled through the streets of Whitestag. Wherever there was a commotion, the three of them could be found.
The three of them even dragged Eriksson's fishing boat into the water and went for a stroll around Lake Balinga amidst the falling snow.
Due to the cold weather, most of the fish in the lake dove deep into the lake. Even though they brought a purse seine with them, they didn't catch much.
His eldest son, Arbeit, returned home because Sir Fux had given him a break for the new year.
After not seeing him for half a year, Claude noticed that he seemed to have matured a little. He no longer showed his hatred towards him in front of his parents.
He continued to ignore Claude, as if he didn't exist.
As for Angelina and Booker, he wanted to show them his authority as the big brother, but they didn't give him any face at all. Instead, they ran to Claude's side and looked at him warily.
In short, on the first day that Albert returned home, other than the concern and closeness shown by his parents, his younger brother and sister treated him as a stranger.
That made him really unhappy. So, he kicked the snowhound that tried to sniff him for no reason at all.
The result left everyone speechless. The eight-month-old snowhound wasn't that easy to bully. It bared its sharp fangs and tore Arbeit's pants, scaring him so much that he climbed onto the dining table and screamed for help.
In the end, it was his mother who stopped the snowhound from threatening him. Only then did Arbeit realize that his position in the family was lower than that of a snowhound.
His parents didn't reprimand the snowhound for biting his pants. Instead, they blamed him for bullying it.
Morssen even went to the kitchen to get a beef bone to appease the snowhound.
Thus, Abigail had one more person to fear in the house. The little snowhound was also vengeful. Every time it saw Abigail, it would lower its body and growl in a low voice, as if it was ready to pounce at any time. This made Abigail tremble in fear.
Every time he went to the restaurant, he had to take the risk of being bitten by the snowhounds. Every day felt like a year.
The new year had finally arrived. After a sumptuous dinner, the family split up and went to the War God Shrine, Mother Earth Shrine, and Moon God Shrine to keep watch, waiting for the new year bell to ring.
That was the tradition of the townsfolk during the new year. They were used to spending the last minute of the year in the shrine to welcome the new year.
Naturally, Morssen was going to the wargod's shrine and Claude was asked to go with him.
His mother brought his siblings, as well as the little snow hound, to the Temple of Mother Earth to pray for the safety of his family in the new year.
It was said that almost all the housewives in Whitestag were gathered there.
The youths of Whitestag, on the other hand, would go to the Moon God Shrine, as the goddess of Silvermoon was in charge of love and marriage.
Unmarried men and women would pray in front of the statue to meet their other half. The night of the new year was a good night for strangers to meet and get to know each other.
Abigail was already an adult and unmarried, so he dressed like a cocky rooster that night.
Claude could only pray that he would step on a pile of dog poop that night.
It was Claude's first new year ever since he became a transmigrator. While Claude didn't lack memories of the new year, it was all new and interesting to him.
He was glad that he didn't transmigrate to the dark middle ages where religion was strictly enforced. That was something Claude was quite pleased about.
The countries of Freia upheld religious freedom and tolerance. Even though there were conflicts between the various shrines, there was no such thing as a single god.
It was the same for their believers. They didn't object to their believers going to other shrines to pray, as each shrine served a different deity and held different roles.
For example, if you went to the war god's shrine to pray when you were sick, the high priests would tell you to go to the shrine of Mother Earth.
Even though the war god's shrine was the largest in Whitestag, it was already packed with people when Claude arrived with his father.
The little square in front of the shrine was decorated with colorful flags and long tents were set up around it. People were constantly coming and going.
The tents, said Mr. Morssen, had been fitted up by the tradesmen into simple taverns, to supply ale and food to the revellers who awaited the New Year.
The rent was split into three portions, one for the war god's shrine and the town hall and one for the patrols in charge of security and order. They would be the busiest people on the night of the new year.
A two-meter-tall bonfire had been lit in the middle of the plaza. The fiery red flame danced in the cold wind, bringing a dazzling light to the entire plaza.
Naturally, Claude wouldn't stay in the square to welcome the new year with the townsfolk. He brought Claude to the main entrance of the war god's shrine and was welcomed in by the high priests.
After entering the hall, Claude noticed that almost everyone with a certain status in the town was already there.
Morssen was like a celebrity. Everyone greeted him the moment he entered the hall. Some of the more familiar ones even chatted with him and complimented him on his good looks, rubbed his head, or patted his shoulders a few times, and so on.
After half an hour of pleasantries, Claude left the great hall with Morssen and entered a side hall in the shrine.
It was decorated like a salon. Those of a higher status than those in the main hall gathered there to chat and drink.
Claude recognized quite a few of them, such as the mayor, Baron Robert, the rarely seen principal, the town treasurer, the chief patrol officer, and so on. It was Morssen's turn to greet and greet everyone present.
In the end, Morssen brought Claude to the mayor, Baron Robert. After greeting him respectfully, Claude bowed to the mayor and sat on the sofa beside him.
Claude didn't like the atmosphere there and felt like he was sitting on pins and needles.
He felt like he would go crazy if he had to stay there for the entire night.
At that moment, someone outside said that Sir Fux had arrived.
This time, not only Mr. Morssen, but even the mayor, Baron Robert, stood up and led everyone in the room out to welcome them.
A burst of laughter could be heard from afar. Only then did Claude realize that the person leading the way was the red-robed old oracle of the wargod temple. It seemed that the old man in the leather coat in the middle was Sir Fux.
When the two groups met, it was only natural for them to exchange pleasantries and pleasantries.
The old man, Sir Fux, had a good demeanor and could even remember the name and family background of everyone who greeted him.
He shook hands with the people who greeted him warmly and not only did he know their names, he even asked about their families. Everyone felt as if they were bathed in a spring breeze.
Even the mayor, Baron Robert, was no exception.
Claude suddenly heard someone call out his name. He looked up and saw Eriksson waving at him from a corner.
Delighted, he hurriedly tugged on his father's sleeve to tell him that he wanted to go out with his friends.
Morssen knew that it wasn't appropriate for Claude to stay there, so he nodded in agreement.
After exiting the wargod temple, Claude asked Eriksson why he was there.
Eriksson replied that his father, Captain Altroni, was in the main hall. He heard that Morssen had brought his second son over, so he knew that they went to the side hall.
However, it wasn't appropriate for his father to go in with his identity as Captain Altroni, so he had no choice but to sneak in to look for Claude. Coincidentally, Sir Fux came and he followed behind him.
That's what social class is like!
Claude could only sigh inwardly.
Most of the people in the side hall were people in charge of certain public offices in Whitestag. They could be said to be the upper echelons of the town.
People like Captain Altroni and the big merchants in the town were all in the main hall, and stopped outside the side hall of their own accord.
"Let's go to the moon god's shrine. They're all old men here. There's nothing fun there," Eriksson said, "Welikro is there too. Let's go look for him."
"Wait," Claudia stopped Eriksson, who was about to run over, and asked curiously, "What's Welikro doing there?
He's still underage. "
"Hehe, it's not what you think.
Eriksson smiled and said, "Welikro was ordered by his father to follow his sister lest she gets tricked by some other man."
Claude knew that Welikro's shrewd sister had long wanted to marry him off, but she couldn't find a suitable partner because she was as burly as Welikro.
If there was a man who was willing to marry her, she wouldn't need to trick him. All she had to do was beckon him.
Just like the square in front of the wargod temple, the square in front of the moon god's shrine was also filled with long tents. There was also a huge bonfire in the middle of the square.
The only difference was that there was music and dancing. A band was playing cheerful tunes and many young men and women danced around the bonfire hand in hand. Laughter and cheers filled the entire square.
Claude nodded. This place was indeed much better than the wargod temple. Be it the square or the main hall, the people there were basically all men. Their pastime consisted of drinking and bragging. Occasionally, there would be a wrestling match between two drunk men and the people around them would cheer loudly. It might even turn into a big brawl in the end.
Morssen said that the wargod temple's square had the highest number of patrols every year on the night of the new arrivals. The security was also the tightest.
However, it was still the place where fights broke out the most. Sometimes, drunkards would even beat up the patrols.
"Let's go there," Eriksson said as he pointed at a tent with a pink and white striped roof.
Claude hesitated. "That's a tavern, right?
We're still underage. Why would we go there? They won't sell us alcohol. "
If it was a private tavern or a grocery store, as long as they sold alcohol, they wouldn't mind if the buyer was already of age.
Even though the laws of the kingdom forbade alcohol merchants from selling alcohol to minors, they could use the excuse of running errands for their families to avoid the law perfectly.
The last two times Claude ventured out to buy blueberry and blueberry wine, they used the same excuse. Even though everyone knew it, they didn't say it out loud.
However, they were now in a public place, and the temporary tavern set up in tents only sold loose alcohol, which was sold by the glass, and not whole bottles or barrels of alcohol.
Even if Eriksson dragged Claude inside, nobody would dare to openly break the law and sell alcohol to them. If they were caught, the person selling alcohol would get a heavier sentence than the person buying it.