Chương 230: Chapter 15: “Yu Participates in the Stardust Festival”

The seasons turned, and winter arrived. The Stardust Festival, the biggest festival held annually in Sacris for three days, has begun. From the morning of the first day, the town was wrapped in heat and vitality enough to make one forget the cold winter air. It's not just the residents of this town who participate in the festival. Many people come from the capital and other places for sightseeing. Stalls lined the main street closely, attracting and competing for customers everywhere.

Star decorations of various sizes and colors were scattered everywhere, entertaining the viewers. Especially the town's specialty, the Clock Tower, was lavishly decorated. It seems a special melody only for the festival day is played along with the bell chime at fixed times. By the way, at the Stardust Festival, Magic Combat by students of the Magic Academy is a big attraction.

Held at the Colosseum, the first day is the Tag Team Match, and the second and third days are the individual preliminaries and finals tournament respectively. It seems Alice and Milia, who were strangely motivated, are participating in today's Tag Team Match. The two had already headed to the Colosseum from the morning to receive explanations. Argus also seems to be participating in the individual match as a star player. As for me.

Since there is nothing to gain by participating in student Magic Combat at this point, I intended to go sightseeing leisurely. In the first place, starting tomorrow, I have a military exercise with Inea in the Orir Great Forest. I can only participate in the festival today. Thanks to Teleportation Magic, I was actually supposed to be heading to the site starting today. I probed a little since then, but in the end, I couldn't find out what exactly Clam intends to pull.

All I hear are stories of his brilliant exploits. If information search means were a little more developed, there would have been various ways to do it. But in this world where there is not even an 'I' of IT, there is little I can do. Unlike the idiots around here who spill everything if poked, he seems to be a man with a rather tight guard. Well, even if something awaits, I have enough power to intercept it from the front. It will work out somehow.

Since I have free time until the Magic Combat starts, I decided to wander around and look at the atmosphere of the festival. I observed the people passing by vaguely, but including those who seemed to be tourists, most were brown-haired or red-haired. Occasionally I see blond or silver-haired, or blue-haired people, but the number is not that large. Come to think of it, Alice, Argus, and Karla are all red or brown-haired. It seems there are many people with such hair colors in this country.

Except for me, there was not a single black-haired person. No wonder it's considered rare. However, a festival is just crowded with people and not that interesting. When I was little, it was a perfect opportunity for pickpocketing, so I used to keep a sharp eye out. Just when I thought about going back to the dorm and sleeping for a while, I ran into an acquaintance. It was Ketty, walking while looking around restlessly. Karla's best friend. Finding me, she called out in a friendly manner.

"Ah! You're Yu, right?"

"Yeah."

"Hey. Have you seen Karla? We were supposed to participate in the Tag Team Match together, but I haven't seen her since morning."

"Who knows. Maybe she had some urgent business suddenly."

"That can't be... She was looking forward to it so much. Jeez. When I find her, I'm going to scold her plenty!" I don't feel any ulterior motive in her angry tone. From this appearance, she seems to know nothing.

"Ah, sorry for taking your time. If you find her, tell her to go to the Colosseum. Bye!"

"Yeah." After this, it seems Karla was never found. Due to the withdrawal of the favorite pair, Karla & Ketty, Alice and Milia won through the Tag Team Match smoothly. And brilliantly, they won the championship as first-years.

"Yay! We won!"

"We won."

"Congratulations. You guys worked hard." When I gave words of praise, Milia blushed and felt shy. This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

"Fufu. Thank you very much."

"Right! Come on, praise me more, praise me more!" Alice is the same as always though.

"Okay. I get it, so don't get too close!" The two, completely in a good mood, were full of topics about their fight until the dinner restaurant. It was tiring just listening to them. They must have been that happy. By the time we finished dinner, the sky had already grown dark. Today's magic lamps were different from usual; each one lit up with a single color, creating a total of seven colors of light. If you looked a little further away, they seemed to cooperate to create a fantastic rainbow road.

"Hey, Yu. Milia. The Stardust Sky will start soon!"

"Yeah."

"Yes." Alice seemed very excited, more than usual. Stardust Sky. It is the event synonymous with the Stardust Festival. On the night of the first day, massive magic is cast over Sacris. Then, countless stars in the sky are said to shine much more vividly than usual just for that day.

"It's... crowded." Milia muttered with a tired face. Once a year, this event limited to the first day of the Stardust Festival is very romantic, so it is especially popular among young men and women. Each street was packed with people trying to catch a glimpse of the shining night sky.

"That's why! I thought about it! Where is a place where we can enjoy the starry sky leisurely without being disturbed by anyone!" Since she was trying to take me along as if it were natural, I clarified my position firmly.

"We don't have to watch the starry sky in a group, right? I'll enjoy it alone. You two enjoy it together." Saying so, I turned my back.

"Ah! Wait! Wait a minute!"

"Yu..." Ignoring Alice, who was too high-tension and noisy, and Milia, who looked a bit lonely. Pushing through the crowd, I headed alone to a place where I could likely enjoy the starry sky quietly. That place was. It was the rooftop of the First School Building of Sacris Magic Academy. This school doesn't have strict security like schools in modern Japan, nor are there security guards.

Setting aside the Second School Building, which has many experimental instruments and is strictly managed, the First School Building, mainly occupied by lecture rooms, is actually easy to enter if you want to. However, there are no people other than us students who would think of entering on purpose. It had turned into a perfect hidden spot. Good grief. I heard enough heroic tales to get tired of them since evening, so I was actually tired.

It would be good to gaze at the wonderful night sky and feel sentimental alone. However.

"How is it? The school rooftop is quite a hidden spot, isn't it!"

"It's empty... nice." When I thought 'Ah', it was already too late. I made perfect eye contact with the two.

"... Yo. We meet again." Alice smirked triumphantly. Milia burst out laughing, trying to suppress it.

"Oh my. Yu, long time no see since a while ago. What happened? Weren't you going to enjoy it alone~?" Kuh. This woman. Grinning and mocking with a disgusting smile. Annoying.

"Fuffuffu. So we thought the same thing. We get along well, don't we?"

"Indeed, we get along well." The one who answered wasn't me. Turning around, there was an unexpected person.

"Teacher Inea."

"Ah, Inea-san. Good evening."

"Good evening."

"Yeah. Good evening." Alice and Milia greeted her without a hitch respectively. Inea returned the greeting, then approached me and spoke.

"The exercise is from tomorrow, are you ready?"

"No problem. My luggage is all packed."

"Then good." She came closer and whispered.

"Did you find any concerns?" I also replied in a low voice.

"I couldn't find out in the end. It might be my imagination, but I want you to be on guard constantly just in case."

"I see. Understood." Alice, who was listening to the conversation from the side, said.

"Come to think of it, Yu and Inea-san are going on a military exercise from tomorrow, right? Please be careful."

"Umu."

"We'll be careful."

"Souvenirs, please."

"If I don't forget." Milia is surprisingly calculating, isn't she?

"Right.

'If I don't forget' reminded me. Can I have a moment?" I temporarily borrowed the bracelet I bought for Alice and the pendant for Milia. Concentrating deeply, I cast magic on the two. I returned them to the two and said.

"If something happens while I'm away, grip that tightly for a while. That will send a message to this." I took out a plain silver ore from my pocket. Actually, this itself is just a stone, but the same magic is cast on it. It is designed to vibrate when there is contact. Well, it's like a receiver. I tried various things to see if I could do something similar to a telephone, and I succeeded.

"Okay. Understood."

"Understood." After a while, another man appeared this time. Once again, it was someone I knew very well.

"Hey, hey. I thought I could enjoy it alone, but there are so many people. Ah-ah. It's tedious to look for another place now."

"Yo. Argus. Long time no see."

"Hm? Ou. I wondered who it was, it's Yu! Let me challenge you again sometime!"

"When I have time."

"Hehe. I'm looking forward to it. The Magic Combat starting tomorrow won't be much of a challenge anyway."

"I guess." This guy is really a magic nut or something. Well, I don't dislike him. While chatting appropriately, the time for the Stardust Sky to begin finally came.

"Yes yes~! It's time to start soon~!" When Alice declared so with great excitement, everyone who had been talking as they pleased stopped talking abruptly. After a while, a light like an aurora hung over the sky. Probably magic to make stars shine. It illuminated the night sky with seven colors for only a short while, and eventually disappeared like mist. Then, the night sky, which had only yellow lights scattered here and there, changed its appearance greatly.

Countless stardust filled the black canvas called the night sky tightly. It felt like bringing a space telescope there and looking at it. Stars that are usually invisible due to lack of brightness also cooperated, sparkling in grains here and there, and shining faintly elsewhere, depicting a harmoniously beautiful art. I was moved a little. I felt it must be a wonderful scenery worthy of the synonym of the Stardust Festival. Suddenly, I wondered if Earth is somewhere in this starry sky.

I thought I wouldn't look back anymore, so why did I think of such a thing? Somehow I didn't want to watch the sky anymore, so I decided to shift my eyes to the people around me. Everyone was looking at the sky in their own way. Alice, noticing my gaze, turned around.

"You know. Yu." She started smiling happily for some reason.

"What."

"It is said that if you make a wish to the Stardust Sky, it will come true." A kind of shooting star? There's something like that in this world too.

"Heh. There is such a superstition."

"Superstition, you say! There are people whose wishes really come true!"

"No way."

"It's true! Look. Let's pray too, Yu. Everyone is doing it!" Looking as told, certainly everyone seemed to be offering some prayer of wish. Since Inea and Argus, who don't seem likely to do this kind of thing much, are also doing it, it might be quite a common practice.

"Okay. So, what are you wishing for, Alice?"

"Fufu. That's supposed to be a secret! If you say the wish, it runs away, you know~" Saying so mischievously, Alice closed her eyes and started praying earnestly.

"I see." I looked up at the sky. The starry sky was shining endlessly, and it seemed to continue forever. A wish, huh. If there is just one thing—I might want to start over. That time too. And that time too. I killed. I had no choice but to kill. I was able to kill. If I had chosen not to kill. If I could have done that, would things be different now? Different possibilities. Another future. If such a thing exists, I want to see it with my own eyes. If such a thing exists, I want to grab it with these hands....

Heh. What am I thinking seriously? Maybe Alice's stupidity rubbed off on me.