Chapter 461: Emily

A quiet little town, a chill in the air, shops left unattended.

When they entered, there had been plenty of residents working the fields around the town, yet now, as Muen and Anna walked along the main street, they found few people anywhere.

There were even vendor stalls abandoned by the roadside. Those finely made, not-too-cutesy little figurines would surely delight children, but now even their maker was nowhere to be seen.

“Feels... off...”

After briefly inspecting those perfectly ordinary-looking figurines, Muen’s mind still went taut in an instant. Habit born of long experience made him wary of such abnormal scenes. One hand slipped behind his back to close, without a ripple, around the knife hilt extended from his spatial magitech device.

Anna also swept her gaze around. Her stunning face looked relaxed, unchanged, but in the naturally drooping palms of her hands, there seemed to be an endless darkness brewing.

The two searched around for a while yet found nothing particularly amiss.

So their attention could only shift to one of the few living people on this street besides themselves.

It was a little girl, maybe ten years old, wearing a brightly colored long dress. Her face was caked with cheap powder in a heavy makeup; the paint had blanched her complexion bone-white, giving her a startling look.

She stood at the intersection, glancing around, like a beast searching for prey, hiding fangs and claws beneath a harmless disguise.

When Muen focused on her, the girl also seemed to notice this couple whose attire and bearing did not match this rural town at all. A wolfish green glint flashed in her eyes, and she came trotting over.

The two of them raised their guard. In a peaceful-looking town like this, for a little girl in a gaudy long dress with a ghost-white face to pop out and charge at them with a creepy grin—no matter how you thought about it, it was the opening to some kind of horror story...

“Hello, big brother and big sister!”

The girl skidded to a halt a few steps in front of Muen, tilted her head up to examine Muen and Anna curiously, and said:

“You’re so pretty. You must be travelers from outside!”

“...Uh, yes.”

Though there was no threatening aura on the girl at all, Muen still didn’t ⊛ Nоvеlιght ⊛ (Read the full story) relax. He stared at the corners of the girl’s mouth as they started to stretch, and the veins on the back of the hand gripping his knife began to throb.

So soon to bare your fangs?

If that’s the case...

“That’s great!”

The girl suddenly clapped her hands in excitement:

“Then come join our town’s Spring Radiance Festival!”

“Eh?”

Muen blinked.

“Spring Radiance Festival?”

“Uh-huh.”

The girl spun in a circle, and that cheap but brightly colored patchwork dress fluttered up with her.

“It’s a festival unique to our town. We set it up especially to pray to the Goddess for a good harvest in spring plowing! Basically, as long as people in town have time, they’ll come join!”

Muen’s eyes widened.

Wait.

A festival...

The whole town joining...

Don’t tell me...

“These stalls left with nobody watching...”

“Ah, you mean Uncle Jack’s figurine stall. He does that a lot—sets up the stall and then runs off to have fun first. The town’s not big, and everyone knows everyone, so if someone wants to buy his things, they just put the money in the jar in front of his stall.”

As the girl explained, Muen did indeed find a small jar in front of the stall, with a few crumpled coins inside.

“Then you...”

“Eek—was I found out?”

The girl pressed her face shyly. “Neighbor Uncle Mott told me the festival means you have to dress up as beautiful as possible so you can please the Goddess, so I secretly used Mom’s makeup... Don’t tell Mom, okay? Or I’ll get my butt smacked.”

“...”

No, I think no one needs to tell her. The moment you see your mom, you won’t escape a serving of “bamboo shoots stir-fried with pork.”

“Then I...”

“Auntie Mayor said if there are travelers from outside, we should invite them to join the festival. Big brother and big sister, you’re so pretty—you’ll definitely win the Goddess’s favor!”

“...”

With all mysteries solved, Muen turned and exchanged a silent glance with Anna, both catching that hint of awkwardness in the other’s eyes.

The springtime insects had awakened and were chirring noisily, as if mocking how the two of them had overdone it.

“Looks like... we were a bit too on edge.”

“Mm-hmm. Junior, that won’t do. Keep your nerves strung that tight and it’ll hurt your health.”

“You were the same just now, Senior!”

Muen complained helplessly.

They’d been mixed up with those things far too often. The slightest disturbance and tension rose on its own.

Fortunately, this was only a misunderstanding.

Muen softened his gaze at the lively, fearless little girl chattering to him without end, and the corners of his mouth couldn’t help lifting.

Mm. This really is nice.

...

“Emily, where did you run off to again!”

“Ah, Auntie Mayor, I brought some travelers from outside!”

“Travelers? And you are?”

Muen turned and sized up the “Auntie Mayor” Emily had mentioned. She was a stout woman, but not ferocious—instead she had a kindly air that children would like.

Seeing Muen and Anna, she was plainly stunned by their looks and bearing. Her eyes turned wary.

“Hello, I’m a merchant passing through. You can just call me Muen.”

Muen showed a handsome smile so charming even the mayor gaped in a daze, and greeted her with perfect manners. He didn’t mind revealing his name, because so long as he didn’t casually say the three syllables “Campbell,” no one in a border town like this would connect him to a famed duke. “This is my girlfriend. You can call her Anna.”

“Oh—Mr. Muen, Miss Anna.”

The mayor finally came back to herself; sharp light flickered in her small eyes.

“You’re merchants—are you planning to trade in our town...”

“Sorry. We’re only passing through.”

“Ah...”

The mayor looked disappointed. From the way these two dressed and the air about them, if they were merchants, they’d surely be from a big guild that could bring great benefit to the town...

What a pity.

“But since you’re passing through, please enjoy our festival properly.”

Knowing her little town had nothing that would attract a great guild, the mayor quickly shook off her disappointment and returned to her usual warm cheer.

“This is our grandest holiday—though to people from the big city like you, maybe it’s just so-so.”

“No.”

Muen shook his head lightly, smiling.

“No matter where it is, every festival has something appealing. I’m looking forward to it.”

“Hee-hee, young people do know how to talk.”

Faced with two extremely polite young folks, even the mayor—who usually did things bluntly—seemed rather refined. She first laughed behind her hand, then called to the little girl:

“Emily, you first take these two... Eh? Emily?”

They turned—and found that lively Emily had already run far off at some point. She was waving to them from a distance, shouting:

“Then Auntie Mayor, I’m going to pull more people to join the festival now!”

“Hey—slow down, don’t run, don’t fall!”

“I knooow!”

Emily quickly hopped and skipped out of sight at the end of the street, heading off in high spirits to look for her next “prey.”

“Ahh... poor child.”

The mayor, however, watched Emily’s vanishing back and sighed softly.

“Poor?”

Muen asked, puzzled:

“She looks like a cheerful, lively kid. Why call her poor?”

“It’s exactly because she’s so sensible that she seems pitiful.”

The mayor’s gaze dimmed with pity.

“Emily’s father died in an accident a few years back, and her mother’s frail and often ill. So at such a young age she’s already extremely sensible. Not only does she help with the housework, she even pretends she’s carefree so her mother won’t worry.

“And the reason she’s so eager to pull people to the festival is because she heard that the Spring Radiance Festival isn’t only about praying for a good harvest; as long as it’s lively enough, it will draw the Lady Goddess’s attention and bring blessing.”

“So...”

“She probably wants the Lady Goddess’s blessing to descend and cure her mother’s illness.”

“...Is that so?”

As the mayor spoke, Muen’s brows creased slightly.

He thought of the girl’s ghastly white little face. No wonder she’d painted such a strange makeup—she seemed to want to make herself look more like a grown-up, but perhaps no one had ever taught her how to put on makeup from beginning to end.

“Ah, listen to me—how can I talk about such things to guests? Please don’t worry—Emily is much loved by the neighbors. No matter what, we won’t let her go cold or hungry.

“You two guests just enjoy the festival. In a while a very famous wandering poet will be here to perform especially for us!”

The mayor hastily gathered herself, smiled a few reassuring words, and hurried off to other tasks.

Muen and Anna were left standing where they were, exchanging a quiet look.

“Once the festival’s over, let’s go check on the little girl’s home.”

Anna brushed back a strand of hair; whatever she’d recalled left a faint loneliness in her expression.

“All right, my dear and kind Senior Anna.”

Muen gently took her hand.

“Let’s go together.”

Anna answered with a smile intoxicating enough to stir the soul.

Hand in hand, the two found a spot with a broader view and waited for the festival to begin.

It was indeed a very lively festival. It seemed most of the townsfolk had gathered here. In the wide open space, simply dressed residents were already singing and dancing. There was no musical accompaniment, but they looked happy enough.

Yet as night fell, Muen gradually noticed something odd.

He grabbed an uncle who was dancing all crooked and pointed to the very center of the square:

“Uncle, since this is a festival, why not light the bonfire?”

At the center, thick logs were stacked in a crisscrossed lattice like a small hill. A single spark would set it ablaze and heat the atmosphere even more.

But with the sky almost dark, Muen still hadn’t seen anyone go to light it.

“Fire? A bonfire?”

The uncle seemed drunk—cheeks flushed, words halting:

“N-no... can’t do that. Can’t light a fire. If we light it... then... then... how did it go again?”

“Ah, I forgot. Anyway, we can’t light a fire.”

He brushed off Muen’s hand impatiently and plunged back into the whirling throng.