Chapter 21
Chapter 21
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 21
Chapter Title: Harvest Festival (1)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Please take good care of me.
Bonfires blazed across the entire territory, where countless people danced, sang, ate, fought, laughed, and cried in revelry.
The Belluan territory's autumn festival was an event the whole domain enjoyed—everyone except a few unfortunate knights and guards spilling out into the streets to party wildly.
Arsen was participating in the festival today not as a knight, but as an ordinary resident of the territory.
"Uslra! Uslra! Uslra!"
"Sarmark! Don't lose!"
Amid two men desperately arm-wrestling, spectators bet money and cheered from behind while downing drinks.
Moments later, the match finally ended, drawing sighs and cheers in equal measure.
The muscular bald man raised both arms high and let out a victorious roar.
"Damn it! Hey, you weakling! Hand over my money!"
"Whoa, awesome! Sarmark!"
As Arsen watched the raucous crowd, someone tugged at his sleeve.
It was Eloise, cloaked in a black robe.
"Sen, think you could beat that guy in arm-wrestling?"
"That'd be a disaster."
If Arsen arm-wrestled a regular person, one slip in controlling his strength and he'd crush the guy's hand with grip alone.
Watching the next pair sit down and start their match, Arsen noticed the boredom on Eloise's face and asked,
"Shall we go? Anything else you want to see?"
"Dancing in the central square."
This was the tenth festival since Eloise was born, but the first she'd truly see.
Because of that, her mood was at its peak as she held Arsen's hand, craning her neck here and there to take in the festival.
"Over there!"
In the square, dozens of people linked arms in a circle around the bonfire.
They endlessly synced their breaths with "Hoo! Ha!" while kicking their legs alternately in a dance.
The circle wasn't just commoners—Arsen spotted a few squires he knew mixed in.
The sight of so many moving as one stirred a strange euphoria.
"Amazing. I've never seen people dance together like that."
Arsen nodded in agreement; it was a first for him in this life too.
The two lingered there for a while, absorbed in the bizarre group dance.
Arsen, used to more stimulating media, didn't find the festival thrilling, but being in an environment where so many were joyful healed his heart somehow.
It hit him anew: after the last battle, slaughtering raiders and fighting Ma-in for his life, his mind had grown barren.
Wounds from battle weren't just on the body.
"I kinda want to join in too, but I can't, right?"
"Probably not."
The magical effect of Eloise's robe wasn't strong, so staring straight at her induced the intense discomfort unique to mages—getting too close would draw attention.
As Eloise looked around, she pointed somewhere and shouted.
"Sen! Sen! That over there—doesn't it look tasty?"
"No, you can't just eat street food."
Eloise licked her lips at the skewers on a vendor's stall, but Arsen firmly stopped her.
Even on Earth with food hygiene laws, street vendors weren't always trustworthy—what about this world's?
Arsen couldn't even guess what those skewers were.
As long as they weren't rat, magic beast, or heaven forbid, bug-type magic beast meat, it'd be fine.
As he soothed the foot-stomping Eloise, a deep voice called out to him.
"Oh, you're enjoying the festival too, eh."
Knight Palato had appeared out of nowhere, chomping on the very skewers Arsen had just warned Eloise against.
"Ah, Knight Palato. But that you're holding..."
"Want a bite? Seems like pork, but the taste is kinda... Ack!"
Palato let out an uncharacteristically frivolous gasp, stumbling back a few steps and clutching his head.
In his haste, he covered his hair with the skewer hand, smearing his bangs in grease.
Puzzled by the sudden freakout, Arsen realized Palato had spotted Eloise beside him.
Palato, realizing his blunder, cleared his throat belatedly and straightened up.
"Ahem, my apologies... Miss Eloise. It's been a while."
"...Yes."
Eloise replied sullenly to Palato, then slipped behind Arsen.
From Palato's earlier reaction, Arsen finally confirmed who the person was that Eloise had yanked hair from before.
Palato hadn't even flinched that hard facing a Ma-in.
"Ah, this is my daughter. I mentioned her before. Airi."
The young girl beside Palato bowed her head in greeting.
She looked a few years younger than Arsen.
After a brief silence, Palato suddenly glanced around and said,
"Well, I'll be off then. Oh, and I saw some of our young friends having a blast over there. Nothing else to see? Go check it out."
Arsen glared briefly at Palato's quick retreating back, then patted the visibly downcast Eloise's shoulder.
"Don't take it too hard, Elli. Knight Palato doesn't hate you. It's just... uh, something important's at stake for him."
"...Okay."
Honestly, even young Arsen wasn't sure he'd stay calm if his hair was at risk—imagine middle-aged Palato going through it firsthand.
He thought it was bad behavior that hurt a kid's feelings, but he got it.
To cheer up the gloomy Eloise, Arsen spoke first.
"Anything else you want to see? Or like Knight Palato said, go say hi to the other knights. Sounds fun."
"Yeah. I don't know what's left anyway."
Arsen and Eloise headed the way Palato had indicated.
Compared to before, the passersby were noticeably younger. The dancers earlier were middle-aged; now it was young adults.
Raucous cheers erupted ahead.
"Wooo!"
"Marry her! Get married!"
There, a few knights and squires clapped and cheered, while in the center, Kamin spun Zenovia in his arms like a princess.
"Hey! Put me down! I said put me down! Damn it! Not letting go!?"
Zenovia spewed curses but didn't shake Kamin off—didn't seem like she hated it.
Kamin had ditched his usual poker face, grinning excitedly amid the cheers.
Spotting Weble clapping most enthusiastically, Arsen approached and asked,
"...Knight Weble, what on earth is going on?"
"Oh, kiddo!"
Weble's eyes brimmed with tears from laughing so hard.
"Zenovia suddenly grabs Kamin and goes, 'Hey! Marry me!' Kamin hears that and loses his mind—turns into that! First time seeing him like this!"
Arsen was dumbfounded; no way she'd propose like that and he'd accept.
Talk about a fantasy couple.
No one seeing Kamin's reaction would think he was just going along reluctantly.
Laughter burst again nearby—now Zenovia had hoisted Kamin overhead and was swinging him around.
A man over two meters tall flailing while held by a woman his height was surreal.
"Eyaaaaah!"
"Spin him more! More!"
"Knight Kamin! You look great laughing like that!"
The squires went wild seeing their role models and idols goofing off joyfully.
Commoners laughed uproariously too.
"The Estate Lord'll chew them out. 'Keep some dignity,' he'll say."
Weble chatted happily, then spotted Eloise hiding by Arsen and flinched.
But only for a moment—he gave Eloise a light smile, waved casually, and deliberately looked away.
Though his lips twitched, that was excellent conduct toward a mage.
To distract him, Arsen pointed at Kamin, now spinning by the ankle.
"Won't Knight Kamin get hurt like that?"
"So what? As long as nothing breaks, it'll heal quick. Anyway, perfect match! Their kids'll be monsters."
Weble's tone sounded less like blessing a friend's love and more like breeding livestock—unsettling.
But by this world's standards, it was perfectly natural.
If one or both parents were knights, awakening chances rose, and mana capacity too.
"I'd just like to purely bless their love."
"Yeah, sure."
Weble nodded and started clapping loudly.
Kamin and Zenovia embraced again, kissing.
* * *
Arsen and Eloise walked back to the estate hall, leaving the village still buzzing with festival heat.
The night was dark, so Arsen led Eloise from the front.
"Wow, your eyes really glow. Like a cat."
"Cats are too cute a comparison."
Arsen recalled the knights during the expedition, handling small raider night attacks.
Their bluish glow piercing the forest made them more like tigers—big cats, technically.
"But those two will marry happily, right?"
"Who knows. Might not work out once they actually date..."
Seeing Eloise's unhappy face, Arsen quickly amended.
"But they love each other so much, I believe it'll be fine."
"Right!?"
Eloise, still caught up in the semi-romantic scene, bounced excitedly.
Arsen couldn't help chuckling at the sight.
Leaving Eloise muttering "Someday I too..." to herself, he turned to gaze at the village glowing warm orange.
'What a great place.'
Peaceful, bountiful land. Kind, joyful people.
For him, who'd starved and groveled since birth in this world, it was the first place to accept him as a true member of society.
Of course, it was because he was a knight—and magic beasts still roamed, claiming lives in endless fights.
Pain and sorrow between people existed too.
In this dangerous, cruel world—or any human society—it was inevitable.
Eloise was a victim of that harsh reality.
Even so, the land was so appealing and radiant he couldn't help wishing it eternal.
Overlooking Belluan territory, Arsen clasped his hands in prayer.
May this peaceful daily life never shatter.
As he prayed, something brightly shining streaked overhead.
So brilliant, the whole world briefly turned daytime—like a star.
It'd be called a comet, but it was far too bright.
"Incredible!"
"What the hell is that?"
While all festival-goers marveled at the mystery light, far off, beings stirred awake by its glow.
Faint lights flickering from afar, acrid stench assaulting the nose.
Countless magic beasts around the territory began racing toward the source stimulating them.