The fifth month was nearing and was already under everyone's noses ...
everyone .. including Unmei and Tanjō prepared themselves for this fifth month ...
Unmei rushed to every store and bought every piece of decent clothing she could find for both her and Tanjō ...
and in these past few months .. they had earned so much money that they were already in possession of 9 golden coins .
this wasn't a coincidence because ... Tanjō seemed to have a luck that even exceeded those with good luck ...
it was like the heavens blessed him with so much but thought he deserved much more ..
even Unmei doubted that Tanjō worked so hard that he managed to take for himself some silver coins ..
at first it might've been .. luck .. the second time .. might've been a fluke .. but the third was certainly real ...
but she asked herself where and why he got so much yet she got so little .. at some times she would follow him .. but she would still find him doing the same job that she did .. although he did it perfectly ... a silver coin was out of the question .. even she got only 5 bronze coins ... for cleaning ....
but that didn't matter ... because their dreams had finally come true ..
two months ago .. she bought a luxurious noble house ... and a lot of noble clothing ...
and as of now ... they were preparing for an even bigger event that could change their lives .. forever ...
the townspeople .. stood outside their houses wearing decorative clothes .. that had a golden dragon imprinted on their backs ...
everyone who was poor even worked themselves off .. to buy decent clothes . .
in five days time ... it would finally be time ...
as each day passed .. they would wear a new set of clothes ... and stand outside looking high in the skies ... looking at the brightest stars that made a constellation ..
and finally on the fifth day ... everyone was so happy that they even forgot who was poorer in their midst ...
their set of clothes today was even more amazing than before ..
they wore red robes with a golden dragon slithering upwards ... and every child from this town .. stood proudly looking at the gate .. as if they were waiting for something ...
Tanjō though .. didn't know anything about this special day ..
he only read the book of etiquette and taught himself some proper and nice manners ..
aside from that book .. the lady an the man from the shop .. gave him a special entrance slip ... and some other free books ... about manners ... and codes of knights ...
all of these books never contained anything about the fifth month being something special ..
and after being around the town so much .. he learnt that there lots and lots of people who migrated from other places to the Eastern Continent ...
like the lady and man ... they told him that they were Nahua ... that one single explanation ... made him understand that under the banner of other places ... they were taught different things ..
after being around them for so long .. the man and woman grew to like him and even acknowledged him as their little brother and even apologized for their past rudeness ...
what's more was that .. everything in their shop was on discount for him ..
with his other earnings Tanjō made sure to help them increase their wealth as much as they can ...
after a time ... they even told him their names ...
but now .. seeing such a magnificent event under his nose ... Tanjō didn't know what to think of it ..
after a while of waiting .. series of cheerful explosions resounded in the sky as multiple colours ... spread in the starry sky ..
yes it was night ..
the gates of the town opened .. and behind the doors rushed in a dragon that illuminated the town with its bright colours ..
no .. not a dragon but an artificial dragon .. made of fabrics ... beneath it were feet of people who ran in circles ..
the dragon played with glee as the people rushed around the houses and children ..
everyone was excited ...
when suddenly two beings .. with cloaks hiding their faces appeared walking towards them ..
everyone who saw them bowed with respect ... but someone in the crowd didn't ..
this was Tanjō ... Unmei looked at him ... and panicked ...
this was a slap in the face of authority ... and power ... and she knew the consequences of disrespecting the high beings ..
and naturally she wanted him to bow down to erase any misunderstandings ..
strangely though ... the two beings didn't even glance at him ... they just walked towards the other ones .. and waved their hands .. motioning for the townspeople to rise ...
"We're the envoys of the ruling emperor of the Eastern Continent .... today we're celebrating the Dragon Boat Festival ... and under the Emperor's orders .. you all should join and entertain us with your talented geniuses ... " the man on the left said ...
the townspeople beamed with smiles when they heard of this ..
most of them had children .. so if they got approved by one of the two beings ... it was suffice to say ... they were a higher class family ...
one had to know that being accepted even just as a servant of these two .. was a big thing ...
a lower class family can become a middle high class family ... ... which was comparable ... to a kōshaku ...
so to them it was their honour to serve under these two masters ...
the townspeople immediately got busy as they prepared for the festival .... hanging a lot decorative fabrics that could cost them a fortune ...
the town was adjusted in a way it could be considered an inn heaven ...
the young prodigies of this town .. wore masks ... that hid their faces from the peering eyes of poor people ...
by the time everyone was finished .. the two envoys ... walked upon a podium created specially for them ...
over 700 people ... were gathered here .. and looking over them ... the two envoys nodded in approval ...
after all this was the respect they deserved ...
before the emperor they were loyal advisors ... but before the nation .. they were gods .. and no one in their right minds could offend nor could they disrespect them in any way they want ..
and seeing such a grand festival ... prepared just for the both of them ... they approved of them ..
by the time they leave .. even if no prodigy was found .. the townspeople would have a story to tell about the ruler's second in commands ... had nodded towards them ...
this was considered a big thing ...
"We have no words to speak ... so little talents ... show us your potential ... let the real Dragon Boat Festival commence ..." the envoys both said ...
the crowd instantly exploded with cheers ... and joy ..
they then split into two sides ... and made space in the middle as a steel platform appeared from the earth ...
stairs appeared from both sides of the platform that allowed two talents to get onto the stage ...
everyone including the two envoys watched with great interest as the two masked children .. stood with a stance ...
the other child wore a red robe covering the entire body ... and a white dragon mask with slits to see through ...
the other one wore simple clothing with dragon paintings ... and a mask of a man's face ...
the mans eyes were closed as if he was in deep mediation ...
this gave the townspeople the impression that the boy was a calm ocean that could destroy a mountain with its waves ...
and the dragon masked boy was a snake that could destroy the skies with it's tail ....
with that ... the two boys took off and dashed at each other ..
in a swift movement ... the dragon masked boy ... slid to the side and kicked the back of the boy's knee ... causing him to fall ..
he then raised his leg high in the air and with full power he thrust it down ...
but then .. the 'calm' ocean ... hurriedly rolled to his right and leapt into the air .. before landing on the edge of the platform ...
'Snake' immediately rushed at him for the second time .. and attacked at a different angle ..
he kicked at his face .. but it was at that moment when 'calm' ocean .. punched the kick and grabbed Snake's collar ...
he then raised him up into the air and smashed him down into the platform ... a rumble instantly echoed in the big street ..
but the strangest thing was that .. the boy's back didn't break ...
the only thing the boy did was groan in pain .. but that was all ...
'calm' ocean repeated this over and over .. until Snake ... couldn't move his body properly ...
the elders and the Lord of the town grimaced at this scene ...
even though it wasn't them up there .. there was a living conscious inside of all of them that made them feel ..
but they couldn't stop at this moment just because of a boy who got overwhelmed by his pride ...
the parents though frowned as their foreheads dropped beads of sweat pearls ...
the match was over between the two kids ...
"Learn better from your mistakes ... you're only 10 years now ... when you get older your mistakes will only lead you to your death ... " one of the envoys spoke ...
Snake bowed with pain before walking down the platform ..
the second match begun .. and the same thing happened ... all over again .. though the matches after the first one were much longer and very exciting ...
the next match was even better than the last one as the celebration continued ...
and so far .. only movement and offensive techniques were being exchanged between each participant ...
their fighting style made Tanjō confused ..
although he already knew that there were different banners .. he couldn't put a finger on how different the two offensive techniques from the Aztecs and the Eastern Land were ...
the techniques he was watching were composed of doing things secretly ..
their movements had no sound .. each step was like a moment of silence ... and the attacks were like the calm before the storm ..
dangerous techniques ... of shadows ...
he remembered the lady from the shop telling him about these kinds of things ...
and from observing with his own two eyes .. he was very astonished ...