Rising from the Slum City of Reincarnation in Another World ~ Gathering, Hunting, and Living a Slow Life by Eating

Chapter 67 Day of the Signal Fire

Its Monday at the end of spring.

“Edo, I love you.”

“Ah, good morning, Minya.”

“Good morning, Edo.”

Minya pecks my cheek with a kiss, unaware of the significance of a kiss. Or perhaps it’s her way of expressing affection as a girl who understands its meaning.

Observing this, Ciel blushes, but is still too sleepy to pay it much attention. Ciel is not a morning person and often clings to me, trying to sleep, which can be a bit troublesome.

Since Minya’s parents have their own separate rooms now, Minya, the newcomer Ciel, and I sleep together in a row. We still use only blankets, rolling on the floor. I sometimes feel like having a bed would be nice, but it’s not really necessary.

When we stay at an inn, having a bed might be nice, I thought. But in terms of comfort, the sensation of being held by Minya and Ciel is better.

The room remains the same as before, where shoes are prohibited. We have a kitchen and dining area where we take off our shoes in front of the room.

“Edo, today is the Day of the Signal Fire.”

“Understood.”

Gid-san informs us.

‘Day of the Signal Fire.’

It’s nothing extraordinary.

It’s a day when signal fire towers across the country are simultaneously lit up for training purposes.

It’s crucial to know how to use them in times of need, and it’s pointless if you can’t see or confirm the signal fire.

Therefore, in this country, we raise signal fires twice a year—on Mondays at the end of spring and the end of autumn.

For us, it doesn’t hold any particular meaning; it’s just a national holiday.

According to the calendar, the day after the Day of the Signal Fire marks the beginning of summer or winter.

Although there are still occasionally chilly days, that’s how it’s designated.

In this world, it’s what they call “summer on the calendar.”

We have breakfast, then quickly finish our lunch with Ilk beans after making spoons.

And before noon, we all head to the slums.

To the former house, now known as the “Melun Clinic.”

From this area, we can see the “Lookout Mountain” above the forest.

The houses in the slums adhere to an unwritten rule of being single-story, with generally low roofs.

The Melun Clinic stands out in the slums with its respectable earth walls and wooden roof. However, there are gaps, and it looks appropriately worn-out.

Most of the houses resemble tents or even less than that, so naturally, their roofs are almost non-existent.

Gong, gong, gong, gong, gong, gong.

You might have forgotten, but at noon, the twelfth hour, we have the “Hour of Six,” and the “Six Bells” ring.

The magnificent church that rules over time is equipped with a magical mechanical hybrid clock, making it quite accurate.

“Oh, smoke is rising.”

“Amazing! So this is the signal fire.”

Minya should have seen it six months ago, but she’s delighted as if it’s her first time.

Children don’t always remember everything, so it’s understandable.

“It’s a signal fire.”

“Wow, it’s a signal fire, meow.”

With diverse reactions, we all raise our right hands to our eyes and gaze into the distance, striking a pose to observe it.

“Look at the other side.”

Looking to the west, we can see the Trieste City’s eastern gate, known as the East Gate, with signal fires rising from its top.

Furthermore, we can see signal fires rising from the vicinity of the Lord’s mansion a little to the south.

The Lord’s mansion itself is completely obscured by the castle walls.

Smoke is also rising from the North Gate and West Gate.

“There, there, in the distance, meow!”

Ciel points her finger in the direction of Eldania.

Indeed, although it appears hazy in the distance, we can see the white smoke of the signal fire.

Signal fires are usually created by adding moisture-rich materials such as wet firewood to produce a large amount of smoke, so most of it is water vapor.

That’s why it’s mostly white.

Occasionally, differentiating between black smoke and white smoke is used to convey different meanings, but I’m not familiar with the details.

Looking around the area, we can see smoke rising from the direction of Barrel Town to the east.

Additionally, we can spot smoke coming from the nearby Exis Bridge, just a little before Barrel Town.

“Helhorn, too! There are two of them!”

“Yeah.”

Shifting our gaze towards the north, we can also confirm the signal fires from both sides of Mount Helhorn.

These are the Helhorn West Fort at the foot of the western hiking trail and the Helhorn East Fort that the Elven Knights should have passed through.

Although they are called forts, they are small in scale, serving as border checkpoints with the Elven Kingdom. One could say they are splendid mountain lodges.

However, being made of stone and at a high altitude, they do experience some snowfall during the winter.

In this area, Trieste rarely sees snow, but due to the influence of the mountains, there is accumulation in the north. Eldania also receives snow carried by the wind, and they experience snowfall a few times a year.

As a result, many refugees tend to stay in Trieste to avoid the snow.

True “Eldanians” always make the same joke when winter comes around.

“Today is chilly. I miss the snow in Eldania.”

They laugh it off with a snort while rubbing their arms.

Despite the cold, they say it quite often.

Doridon-san, too, was a former resident of Eldania and ran a large-scale store.

He fled with whatever assets he could carry, but since most of his assets were supplies, he lost the majority of them.

He mentioned that the only thing he had left was his network of contacts.

Even after becoming profitable, he was reluctant to relocate within Trieste and continued with Dridon General Store. One reason was for the sake of the slum dwellers, and the other reason was because he was an Eldanian himself.

His goal is the revival of Eldania, not becoming a citizen of Trieste.

Well, it’s evident that the slum dwellers would be in trouble if Dridon General Store were to close down, so we are incredibly grateful.

I became a citizen of Trieste a step ahead, but please don’t hold it against me.

Speaking of becoming a citizen, the citizen tax is included in the rent, so there’s no need to bear extra taxes.

To be precise, it’s a “per capita tax” that applies to individuals.

It’s stated that it doesn’t pose a problem even if more people live there than the designated number of residents. It’s a rough estimation, after all.

We can’t afford to go through administrative procedures for every little thing, so it’s a rational approach to deduct the expenses from the rent, considering it as a more cost-effective solution.

Since there is no information processing system in place, it works just fine.

This policy also means that in Trieste, even if you give birth to children, there is no need to bear additional per capita taxes. As a result, the birth rate has been increasing in recent years, and there are many children.

Alongside the improving economy, this contributes to the liveliness of the city.

As for how other cities handle their taxation systems, I don’t know.

Anyway, we were able to successfully pass this Signal Fire Day.