Chapter 172. …Love and War?
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The place we chose as our lodgings was a luxurious mansion adjacent to Lake Gixen.
I’d heard that this was the next location the fairies’ dance would transfer to, and when we arrived in Amera, it was about ten days before the dance would bloom over Lake Gixen.
Of course, that calculation was, in the end, nothing more than the Brando pen-pushers’ speculation.
And then, four days after that.
‘…It’s peaceful.’
Contrary to my initial worries, I was spending a fairly peaceful time.
In the morning, I’d wake up, go down to the lakeside, and lower my fishing rod, and when the sun grew hot around midday, I’d sit in my room and read magic texts.
I didn’t force myself to focus only on core-division books.
Sometimes I read Senior Teheman’s summary notes, and other times I devoured Henji’s magic texts from cover to cover.
I read whatever happened to be in my hands, but unlike me, Demian and Chenbi were spending quite a busy time.
In the morning, they’d wake up, and—
“Seeing’s what stays with you.”
They’d barely eat, then head straight into the city.
Chenbi wasn’t an exception either; I’d heard that if he stayed at the mansion, Nine Star Tohoman would put him through hellish training.
Anyway, the two of them would run all over the city all day, only returning around evening, and thanks to that, dinnertime was always filled with Demian and Chenbi’s sightseeing impressions.
The topics varied, and among them, there were quite a few genuinely interesting stories.
“Hey, did you know? In Amera, they don’t mine Moonlight Stone while the fairies’ dance is happening.”
“Why?”
“They say if you have Moonlight Stone, the fairies that went into the lake come to catch you.”
Was it a legend? It was closer to folk belief.
Of course, like any legend, there was no real basis.
But since it had been passed down since long ago, it seemed the custom of pausing mining during the fairies’ dance had become fixed.
They asked about other stories and songs, too, and as I listened, I realized one thing.
‘Amera… they’re pretty serious about this.’
All across Amera, they were currently pouring themselves into the seasonal business called “the fairies’ dance.”
They’d stopped every quarry, and every resident of Amera had, with one heart and one mind, rolled up their sleeves and thrown themselves into tourism.
You could tell just by looking at the souvenirs Demian held every time he went out and came back.
“Fairy candy.”
They sold candy shaped like fairies, and—
“This is a fairy headband.”
They sold headbands that looked like cockroach antennae and called them “fairies.”
‘…Well, something with wings—cockroach or fairy, it’s all the same, I guess.’
Still, isn’t that a bit much?
And it wasn’t just that.
All over the city, traveling theater troupes that had shown up at just the right time performed plays using hastily written scripts.
And in taverns everywhere, silver-tongued men planted themselves and, like bards, sold their talents by telling fairy legends they’d seen and heard since childhood.
Songs, of course, couldn’t be left out.
‘Fairy, fairy, fairy, our friend the fairy~ Something like that, I think.’
And beyond that, there were countless tourism products.
Clothes, keychains, paintings, cups with fairies on them, towels, and even things with no relation at all, slapped with “fairy whatever!” and sold like that.
Honestly, when Demian said—
“I don’t think this is it. Look, it’s just normal coffee, and they’re selling it as ‘Fairy Tears.’”
—I was surprised.
Because it made me think,
‘Huh. He really has grown.’
At this point, I felt like it was a good thing I’d faked being sick.
If my body had been fine, I would’ve been forced to run all over the city with Chenbi and Demian.
Honestly, at this point, my hip joint hurt, so I couldn’t handle walking around.
Anyway, the “fairies’ dance” wasn’t only something mages cared about.
From all over the continent, many tourists came to see the fairies’ dance, and even if they couldn’t witness it directly, they’d settle in a suitable lake city, enjoy the atmosphere, and enjoy the festival.
Meanwhile, I was savoring my daily life a little removed from the festival mood.
In any case, my goal was to do my absolute best to stay still.
‘Outside the mansion is dangerous.’
It might look like I’m just fooling around, but I’m doing my best, constructively, to accomplish my objective.
‘I hear that, for some reason, Deculan doesn’t seem to have even sent anyone to Amera in particular.’
Ah—this was something I heard after going out to fish, through a conversation between Tohoman and another Nine Star.
Anyway, even if Deculan—the biggest risk factor—wasn’t here, you couldn’t afford to let your guard down. So I’m doing my best.
Operation name: “The Worm That Doesn’t Wriggle,” you might say.
Why a worm that doesn’t wriggle? Because worms wriggle when they get stepped on. In other words, the outline of this operation is not getting stepped on.
And fortunately, the operation was going smoothly.
‘…Until yesterday.’
“Friend! Come out already! Today we’re going out! Hurry and come down!”
At Demian’s voice urging me from outside my door, I let out a long sigh.
Up through the third day, I’d thought, huh, they’re not bothering me—they’re just going out and having fun on their own, but today, he’d been making that racket—no, that commotion—since dawn.
As usual, I planned to kill time by fishing until Demian left, but today he was persistent.
Something about finding something fun, or whatever.
So in the end, I had no choice but to step outside my room. When I went down to the first floor, Demian and Chenbi were waiting with bright smiles.
And so, for the first time, I went out from the mansion.
But why was it?
‘It feels… chilly.’
The city we passed through by carriage wasn’t lively like Demian had described.
It felt oddly empty.
You couldn’t find even a single rat on the roads, and the tourist shops Demian had been sucke—no, enjoying—weren’t anywhere to be seen, either.
Thinking about it, the first day had been like that, too.
‘There wasn’t really a festival vibe, probably.’
If it had been overflowing with festival atmosphere, I would’ve remembered.
No, but putting that aside—
‘This doesn’t feel like a festival. It feels like a ghost city.’
The only people you saw were a few who looked like mages.
With every shop on the street bolted shut, the road felt bleak.
I didn’t think it had been this bleak on the first day… I stared out the carriage window at the overly desolate scenery, puzzled.
But inside, I was also glad.
‘Did the festival end?’
If so, that would be great.
If the festival ended, Demian would hole up quietly in the mansion, and he wouldn’t tell me to go out.
But.
I soon realized.
Just how vain a hope that was. And also… just how serious the people of the Amera region were about the fairies’ dance.
“From here on, we have to get down and walk!”
The road I stepped onto, following Demian.
I couldn’t close my mouth at the sight spread before my eyes.
“What the—….”
“Isn’t it amazing?”
Yeah. It was amazing.
An alley packed with crowds, as if the emptiness from a moment ago had been a lie.
With stalls jammed tightly along both sides of the road, the street was a sea of people—tourists flooding in until it was shoulder to shoulder.
It felt like the entire city had gathered here.
And above the road entrance. <Welcome to the Fairy Festival.>
From here on is the festival district.
“How is it?”
“How is it?”
With unfamiliar eyes, I took in the scene.
A bustling crowd.
There are so many people.
And with so many people, vitality boiled over—seeing it, even my own heart started pounding.
‘The reason they closed the other shops is… to sell to tourists at “special festival prices” and fleece them?’
They say the world is wide and teachers are many… and the unity of the Amera region, banding together to rip off tourists, was honestly admirable.
Maybe this is why they stopped mining Moonlight Stone, too?
A reasonable suspicion.
After Aster’s group entered the festival street—
Maisellne, who had been hiding in the alleyway, revealed himself.
Maisellne watched Aster’s group slowly disappear into the crowd, then shifted his gaze down to the parchment.
“Hm. I think it’s him. Fury, what do you think?”
But why was it?
He asked, but Fury didn’t answer.
Puzzled by Fury’s reaction, Maisellne turned his eyes—and soon witnessed a startling sight.
“Fury?”
As a spirit, it should have been normal to be unable to read her complexion, but her face was so stiff that she looked almost pale.
But only for a moment.
…! …!
Regaining herself, Fury sent will to Maisellne—chattering and chattering in that way—and Maisellne, listening silently, tilted his head.
“Hm? The children—hm. Right. Hmmm… the children relayed it wrong? Then how should they relay it… hm.”
An image entered his mind.
It was the Aster Fury had seen, and receiving that image, Maisellne burst into a “ha-ha” of laughter.
“Fury, even so, this kind of expression is a bit much—mm. It’s not excessive? He needs two more horns? Hmmm.”
The boy’s image Fury conveyed was several times worse than the image the children had described.
Finding Fury’s reaction amusing, Maisellne smiled warmly, then handed her a Moonlight Stone to soothe her.
Meanwhile, he kept his eyes on the path Aster’s group had taken.
‘Still, it’s a strange thing.’
To be honest, it was true he’d been half-doubting.
If pure spirits expressed someone this ruthlessly, the target surely wouldn’t be ordinary.
And yet—why was it?
Maisellne watched Fury as she absorbed the energy of the Moonlight Stone.
Fury was beaming with a fully satisfied smile, as if she’d forgotten what had just happened entirely.
‘If that boy were evil, she would’ve warned me again and again.’
The fact that Fury could forget so completely meant he wasn’t evil.
It truly was a strange thing.
‘Does that mean he has a nasty temperament, but he isn’t evil?’
Thinking that far, Maisellne let out a “heh-heh.” Even to him, it sounded like nonsense.
In any case, Maisellne waited until Fury finished absorbing the Moonlight Stone’s energy, then started walking.
“Personally, I’m curious. Just what kind of boy is he, that the children are asking me to find him.”
And so, Maisellne stepped into the crowd.
After spotting Aster’s group without difficulty, he slowly followed behind them.
It was, truly, a remarkable thing.
Because it meant he was deceiving not only Aster, but even Nine Star Tohoman’s sense for presence as he followed behind.
Anyway, how long did he follow?
Seeing Aster’s group come to a stop, Maisellne subtly hid himself.
The place Aster’s group had stopped was… <Astrology Street>
From here on is Astrology Street.
At the entrance to Astrology Street—
“How is it?”
“What?”
At Aster’s question, Demian smiled as if proud.
“It’s Astrology Street. Isn’t it cool? A place where you can see love and war, fate and mission.”
“Yeah. It’s cool.”
Right after Aster’s unenthusiastic reply, Chenbi added,
“Amera is famous not just for Moonlight Stone and fairy legends, but also for astrology. And yesterday, Demian watched a play related to astrology.”
It was his way of explaining the parts he thought Aster might be curious about.
He’d added it because he figured Aster would wonder what wind had blown through Demian’s head for him to suggest checking out astrology.
At that moment, Maisellne thought.
‘…Love and war?’
He could understand fate and mission, but why did war come into it? And was he the only one curious about that?
No one in the group asked about it.
More than that, the brown-haired boy’s explanation felt odd, too. It was like the point of the conversation was subtly off.
“Fury, could you tell me how those children look, too—ah, no? It’s hard? They’re similar?”
At Fury’s negative will, Maisellne frowned.
It meant all three of them had personalities bad enough to make a spirit shake its head… and his curiosity surged.
‘Just what kind of guys are they?’
This was, separate from the children’s request, purely personal curiosity.
