Chapter 55: What Does Nonreligious Mean Again
Groundbreaking ceremony.
Before beginning any construction work in j.a.pan, this ritual is performed to request permission from the G.o.d of that land for the usage of said land. However, in many cases it is merely a sort of prayer for safety.
There are actually many contractors who would outright refuse the job if a groundbreaking ceremony is not performed. This is one of those examples that stand as stark counterexample to the belief that the j.a.panese are nonreligious.1
And it is in another world where a certain grandpa is currently performing such a ceremony.
“…… And there we go. Though it was a simplified version, it should still suffice. All that’s left is for everyone to partake of the sacred wine.”
The one who said that with a gentle smile on his face is an old man named Yanai Isao, the one who was summoned by a bunch of high-strung elves and begged to teach them things.
By all appearances he is a grandpa quite advanced in age, but the smile on his face is exuding enjoyment and liveliness.
It seems that Isao-san, who only had a tedious and boring life as an old man to look forward to, has embraced this otherworld as if having been granted a new lease on life.
“Fumu. So this is called a groundbreaking ceremony. It seems that the spirits are quite pleased with it as well.”
Then the one who is informing this free-spirited grandpa about the success of the ceremony in spite of its simplification is a high-strung elf named Fides.
At first glance, he might appear to be a young man in his twenties, but his actual age is actually nearly on par with Isao-san’s. For that reason, the two of them have come to become quite close friends.
“Is that so. Then it was worth it performing the ceremony, even though we had to subst.i.tute out a few things.”
Upon hearing Fides-san’s words, Isao-san breathes a sigh of relief before bringing the wine that was offered in place of sacred sake to his lips.
There’s a limit to how much ‘freedom’ there can be with groundbreaking ceremonies, but a certain amount of arranging to match the land should be fine. He’s j.a.panese, after all.
Incidentally, as mentioned above, there are really a lot of contractors who are loathe to begin work without a groundbreaking ceremony, so in many cases, a groundbreaking ceremony is still performed before the building of churches.
Due to that, there might or might not be furious battling between church officials and contractors on whether to perform a Shinto or a Christian groundbreaking ceremony before work begins.
Why not just do both already.
“But in the first place, do we really need such a large-scale mechanism just to dig a well?”
“We do indeed. And in fact, this is already a simplified version.”
What the two of them are looking at while talking to each other is a large pedestal with a gigantic wheel and many sticks set up on top.
This is a revolutionary contraption to bore wells called ‘kazusa-bori’ which takes advantage of the flexibility and resilience of wooden materials like bamboo in a bow-like shape to dig wells while only requiring very few human workers.
Although the appearance of excavators in modern-day j.a.pan have gradually lead to the dis-use of this technique, it is still considered a forefront skill for situations where wells need to be dug with human hands, such as in developing countries.2
As for why such a contraption was built within the elven settlement——
“I must admit, it’s long been a dream of mine to build one of these by myself. Although it doesn’t actually cost that much, none of my students wanted to help me with it.”
It turns out to just be Isao-san’s hobby.
Though this might raise the question whether it’s fine like this, but the elves just happened to not have dug a well since they can just scoop it from a nearby river, so it’s just right.
Isao-san gets to run with his hobby, and the elves benefit from it.
Truly a win-win relationship indeed.
“So then, Fides-kun. Since we’ve succeeded with boring a well and now have a reliable source of water, I’m thinking to begin trying to make various kinds of paper.”
Then because no one is stopping him due to the whole win-win thing, Isao-san has thrown teaching and whatnot to the wind and is purely just going full-out on his hobbies.
Today, too, this otherworld is at peace.
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“Auu—”
At that time, in Takamagahara.
In this place that is always peaceful, for some reason Amaterasu-sama is lying limply on the tatami floor.
“…… What is the matter, Ane-ue?”
“I’m so tired. What is with that Elf #2. What is with that skill of venerating me while forcefully and unyieldingly pressing her demands on me.”
“Ahh, that one is the type who loses sight of her surroundings when she gets impatient. But still, don’t make up a weird nickname for her.”
Apparently Amaterasu-sama is down from the mental fatigue of dealing with the leader of the high-strung elves, Inelteia-san.
Just as Linbel-san said, Inelteia-san is cooperative yet self-centered and stubborn-headed so there’s no helping it.
“But well, in regards to that elf’s religious faith, I think it’s directed not so much towards Ane-ue as towards Toyoukehime. The weight that she places on food is clear to see from how quickly she swore allegiance because of food.”
“…… How about you go out quickly and post a ‘Amaterasu-sama is also good at cooking’ advertis.e.m.e.nt to the whole country.”
“Please don’t brazenly post a lie as an advertis.e.m.e.nt. And also don’t push things on me when you don’t want to do them yourself.”
There is Amaterasu-sama smiling brightly like she just came up with a brilliant idea, then there is the usual calm and yuri-loving Tsukuyomi-sama tsukkomi-ing.
Today, too, Takamagahara is at peace.
1 Here’s more on this ceremony, if you’re interested. It’s called jichinsai.
2 Here’s a more detailed explanation of this excavation technique.