A few days later came the start of the Moon Festival.
For the last few days after the cradling incident, Kaze and Lunaria seemed to have actively avoided talking about it even when it was only the two of them alone. It was like both of them could agree the incident was something that should not be brought up again unless absolutely needed.
Lunaria still wasn't aware why she reacted that way until now. It felt weird, for a dragonkin like her who has already lived a century and over at this point, to still not be able to determine what that feeling was. It was something she chose to ignore, especially with the Moon Festival already here. As one of the fighters who would put on a demonstration in front of the crowd, Lunaria's pride as a dragonkin wouldn't allow her to fail, even if it was just entertainment.
Kaze and the other participants were also feeling the pressure when the day of the Moon Festival came. Even though their performance was on the second day, the first day was already a reminder that their battle was soon. This was going to be the first time they interacted with their seniors in a sword fight, so it was normal to assume there being a lot of pressure.
When morning came, Kaze had just finished his training as usual and most of his housemates were already in the dining room. Today, everyone had woken up earlier than usual since there was a certain event they needed to attend based on the itinerary provided.
Once they were ready, they left to school together.
What was it that required everyone in school to arrive earlier than usual? It was to draw lots for their lucky draw later. As Yuuji expected, the school had set up lucky draw sections for everyone. Since it was going to take a while to distribute the lucky draws even with magic as they needed to ensure that everyone's number was unique and no one had a fraud copy, it was necessary to match their magic signatures with the lucky draw ticket they had.
That wasn't the only reason for going early, but it was one of it.
"What do you think the lucky draw will be about?" Chris asked the group on the way there in their usual uniform attire. "They don't announce the contents of the draw until later tonight."
"Oh, why is that so?" Kaze asked, grasping his sword by his side gently to ensure it didn't move too much from him walking.
"The school decided to do this to increase the students' interest in the lucky draw itself," Lunaria, being a Student Council member herself, was somewhat familiar with the internal affairs regarding the Moon Festival since she was indirectly involved. "While I don't know the specific details, they seem to have a fairly big prize this year, hence all the secrecy."
"Hoh? I wonder if they will actually involve father," Yuuji made a knowing smile at this. "Imagine first place being meeting father or something."
"Isn't that a fairly lame prize though? Imagine getting something but you only get to meet the King," Mitsui sighed. "I would love it if I got money or a saint sword or something."
"I think you're putting your hopes too high, Mitsui," Sera giggled. "There are many other schools within Tristania itself. If they had to spend so much on a single event, then imagine what else they had to do to give the equivalent rewards to the other school to ensure equality."
"But a fairly big prize, huh?" Shoko grinned to herself. "I do hope it is something exciting~"
"For once, I do agree with Mitsui," Kaze chuckled. "I do need some free money."
Lunaria gave him a somewhat perplexed look but said nothing.
Pretty soon, they came to the familiar entrance of their school and headed into the big hall for gathering. Since the event right after was going to take place immediately, they gathered the students at a secluded area to ensure that there wouldn't be any accidental destruction of the booths before the main events yet. Students could already see the school being decorated with some committee members at their booths to make the final preparations.
Most of the teachers were already in the hall to ensure lines were formed based on their respective classes. Kaze would have to separate with the others for the time being, moving on to their own class with Yuuji.
Following that was a bit more waiting before the main event.
"Oh, it's starting," Yuuji smiled, seeing the line starting to move for each class.
What that was going on in front was that each student was meant to walk up front to the table where a teacher was. There was a wooden box with a small slit on the top to allow for the paper slip to exit from. When one student walked up front, they will input a bit of magic into the box and a paper slip would automatically come out from the box to the student. Since each slip was unique and couldn't be replicated, the students had to keep the paper with them all the time just in case it got lost.
It was soon Kaze and Yuuji's turn. Imbuing a bit of magic to it, Kaze got his slip and simply tucked it away to somewhere safe. Why the school didn't decide to use their bracelet to help with the determination of numbers baffled Kaze, but it was probably for safety reasons like preventing students' bracelets from being stolen. Even if their paper was stolen, at least all the information with them wouldn't be gone like with the bracelets.
Once they were done, they were permitted to leave the school hall and start their day with the festival. The first day itself was pretty standard, with a school fair and all. Classes set up their own booths for the enjoyment of the Moon Festival so most of the stuff found from the stalls were related to the Moon Festival itself. Following this till the evening, there was not much else they could do other than wait for the lucky draw in the meantime.
"Kaze!" Rena spotted Kaze and Yuuji coming out from the crowd and waved them over.
"As expected of a Sniping Ranger's eyesight," Yuuji smiled at Rena as the two headed over. "Being able to find us through the crowd."
"It wasn't much," Rena accepted the praise from Yuuji. "Lunaria asked us all to gather so we can explore the festival together."
"Do we really have to be here?" Kaze asked them. "We could leave and come back for the lottery."
"If that is because you are stressed for the performance tomorrow, nope," Lunaria shook her head. "Most of us are stressed too, which is why I think today should be a destress day. If you continue to train, I believe your body would become too tired to fight properly the next day instead."
"Lunaria's right. Kaze, you have done enough for now," Sera nodded. "Even if you fail, we won't blame you. You will be up against one of the top 10, so no pressure."
"… Alright, I will accept that," Kaze sighed. "So, what do we do now?"
"Yoohoo~" Mitsui showed up with Albert as soon as Kaze asked that. "Everyone's already here?"
"Supposedly," Irene leaned to her boyfriend's side and snuggled to him. "This is one of those days where couples can walk around school freely."
"Hm, I suppose we have to thank the school rules for being lax on couples then," Yuuji glanced to the side, seeing a few boys and girls already linking hands. "So, what do we do?"
"I think we can stick together and walk around for a bit first before splitting up," Lunaria suggested. "It's going to be a bit of a hassle since we're walking in a large group, but that way we can scope out the entire festival together and decide who we want to go with together."
"Hold up, you should go with Kaze," Yuuji stopped Lunaria and pushed Kaze to her side.
"Why?!" Kaze bellowed, feeling like he was getting singled out by his friend.
When turning to the others for their help, all of them including Lunaria's friends nodded their head intensely. It seemed like they were already in acceptance of Kaze being Lunaria's bodyguard at this point since the two were always seen together at home. Even though they treated the two like that, they were really just teasing Kaze since Lunaria only received their jokes with a kind smile on her face.
"L-Lunaria… are you okay with it?" Kaze asked her nervously.
"… Sure, why not," Lunaria nodded with a relaxed smile. "I do need some help getting rid of trouble if any comes my way while touring the stalls."
At her words, the others all smirked at this and immediately huddled together to prevent Kaze or Lunaria from easily joining them. Even when they were walking right now, it looked as though they truly wanted Lunaria and Kaze to walk together. Only Sera, Rena and Shoko constantly glanced at the two out of concern since they didn't expect the others to take the joke so seriously, even Albert.
On the other hand, Lunaria seemed fine with walking by his side, probably because she was already used to it from all they did in school. It was like she had completely disregarded the incident a few days ago to get along with him, making Kaze feel a little guilty for still being hung up by it until now. If Lunaria was willing to look past the unfortunate event, then there was no reason he shouldn't too.
"Lunaria, is it alright if we talk about… that time for a bit?" Kaze whispered to her while being precarious of their position being overheard. "You know… I want to apologise."
"Apologise for what?" Lunaria asked, a slight blush appearing on her face. "If you are referring to 'that', you didn't do anything wrong; you helped me."
"Yes, but I touched various parts of your body by accident," Kaze tried to reason with her. "And I carried you unnecessarily. I could have waited for you to be okay before walking back with you instead."
"Y-You didn't know if it was because of mana fatigue or some other reason I fell, so you chose the best choice possible," Lunaria refuted his apology politely. "Plus, Frey was there to help us with illusion magic, so we're good."
"… You aren't… angry?" Kaze asked her timidly. "You seemed fine with it…"
"I mean, it was quite the good experience," Lunaria giggled at him. "The way you were so embarrassed while carrying me, it was hilarious."
"Eh?" Kaze's face turned red at her words. "… Lunaria, aren't you being too cruel?"
"I'm not. It is normal to tease you," Lunaria simply replied. "Moreover, let's not talk about that now, we should focus on the festival."
It was as Lunaria had said. The atmosphere of the school completely changed from the normal days. Due to the festival being something important to the people of Tristania, it was normal that they would go all out for a celebration. Not only were the stalls selling moon-related objects, some students were also dressed up as goddesses. They could only imitate the clothing based off the records of the goddesses, so it was hard to determine which outfit was genuine.
Walking up to one stall with Lunaria, the two didn't even realize they had strayed away from their group of friends. They simply kept each other company for the time being. It helped that no one in particular were bothered by the fact Kaze was alone with Lunaria, because everyone was too indulged in the culture of the festival and all the fun.
"Do you want to eat?" Kaze offered Lunaria. "This stall looks to be selling some sort of tarts."
"Oh, egg tarts," Lunaria nodded when she saw it. "But the way it is moulded makes it look as though the tart is the moon."
"The outside is yellow, that really shows that it is cooked I suppose," Kaze bought one for himself and took a bite. "Mm! It is quite different."
"If I had to guess based off taste alone, perhaps there is some lemon or orange inside to enhance the flavour," Lunaria licked her lips after a single bite from hers. "Not bad at all."
"Something tells me you would have made it differently?" Kaze asked her. "I can already see from the look in your eyes."
"Hehe, I wouldn't go so far as to reinvent the recipe entirely because egg tarts are egg tarts," Lunaria grinned. "You can't change the basic ingredient of something so simple too much, but yes, there could be some other way to make this better."
They went up to another stall selling yet a different type of food, but also something festival-related. The smell it emitted when they received it was alluring and warm, as though its fragrance were masked within its crispy skin outer layer.
"Moon puffs," Kaze shrugged. "Have you tried this before?"
"Likely. The smell is very familiar, so maybe I have eaten something that looks similar," Lunaria nodded. "Let's give it a taste."
"… Mm?!" Kaze was overtaken by the taste that spilled out from within. "Is this… curry? It is combined with the taste of meat inside…"
"Yes, and potatoes, and a bit of egg," Lunaria let out a satisfied sigh as she took another bite into the tasty moon puff. "You don't get this dish very often, even though it is easy to make…"
"But it is a little unhealthy, considering how much oil is needed to fry them," Kaze chuckled, referring to the oiliness coating the outer layer as well. "It tasted super good though. I never had something like that back in the church or town."
"Oh, wait till you try wolfkin cuisine," Lunaria smirked at him. "It is unbelievably good, and very oily too."
"Wait, isn't that a health concern?" Kaze sweatdropped after hearing what she said. "I mean, maybe it's only suitable for races like dragonkins and wolfkins."
"Oh no. Back in Aravel, we have a shop or two with wolfkin cuisine. It is suitable for humans too because there is a sort of herbs that goes along with your meal," Lunaria explained as they moved on from the stall. "It is like vegetable. When you eat it, it helps to absorb the excess oil that is considered 'too oily' by your standards."
"I see. What sort of dish is it?" Kaze asked curiously.
"It is basically smoked or barbequed meat," Lunaria declared. "Sounds simple and pretty standard, I know, but you have to try it to experience it. I can't explain with words alone by how good it tastes."
"Have Sera and the others tried it before?" Kaze looked around them. "Now that I think about it, since when did we get separated from their group?"
"A while ago, but I figured it would have been fine not telling you," Lunaria giggled at his sudden realization they were isolated from the others. "To answer your question, yes they enjoy wolfkin cuisine too, even though elves don't usually eat meat."
"Hmm, interesting," Kaze mused at her words. "I wonder if they have wolfkin cuisine somewhere in the city?"
"Probably not. Wolfkins are a little hesitant when it comes to opening up places in human land," Lunaria shook her head. "Unfortunately, it has to do with the war as well. The fear culture is rooted too deeply inside them for them to trust most humans again, even if they are okay with living among us."
At her words, Kaze could only nodded sympathetically. Even though wolfkins were more powerful than humans, it was likely that something occurred during the 500-year-old war that caused such a culture to be engrained in most of the species. He couldn't relate to it, especially if Lunaria had previously stated that her parents were part of the war too, knowing that he was born at a time right after the international war.
The two moved on to a few other stalls right after their exchange. Since most of them were pretty crowded, food-related or something they didn't seem interested in just yet, they quickly skimmed past some of them. When they arrived at the courtyard of the school, they found that hey had entered the game section. Stalls here made use of the large space available to hold games related to the Moon Festival theme as well for students and outsiders alike.
"What about that?" Kaze asked Lunaria, pointing at one corner of the courtyard. "That looks pretty interesting."
Walking over to the huge crowd of students, the two caught sight of huge bubbles floating around within a barrier set up in place around them. Inside those bubbles were one student each, all of them laughing and shouting in excitement from floating around in the air. It was like they were encased in a bubble and freely flying within an even bigger bubble, easily attracting the attention of the students.
"Ah, the reason for this must be due to one part of the legend of the Moon Festival," Lunaria smiled. "It was said that Goddess Artemis had the power to create moons that would influence worlds on end as a display of her power."
"Really? I have not heard much about the legends," Kaze reacted to her story. "But isn't it kind of lame if you only can create moons?"
"Well, I think it's more of a way of saying much like the God of the Sun, Goddess Artemis had full control over the night sky," Lunaria walked up to the line waiting for their turn. "Isn't it amazing if you think of the things you can do to influence the very sky itself?"
"All I know is that Goddess Tiel is able to influence the love between all living things to a certain extent," Kaze agreed with Lunaria. "I can see why we worship the gods and goddesses from such tales after all."
After waiting in line for a bit, it eventually came to their turn to sit in the bubble. They paid their fees using their bracelets and stepped onto a slightly elevated platform made of wood. A magic sign below their feet activated once the mages in charge used their magic, a bubble enveloping them. Lunaria and Kaze gasped in surprise, realizing they were starting to float off into the sky right after.
For Lunaria, flying wasn't something special, but it did surprise her that the sort of magic used to create this would be able to be used for entertainment purposes. Kaze was just as excited as the rest of the students, floating around in the air based on his movements that changed the direction of the bubble. Once it collided with the magic barrier around, it gently bounced them back into the space.
"Charge!" Kaze playfully led his bubble to collide with Lunaria's.
"Oh! You!" Lunaria giggled and bounced back at him.
The two soon collided into the other bubbles, causing everyone to start charging at each other. Even though it was possible to glance at the girls' panties for those who wore skirts, no one minded it since it was much more amazing to be able to play like this in the air.
In the face of something new, everyone reverted to their childhood self instead of matured students.
Collision after collision of bubbles happened between one another until their time was up. Lunaria and Kaze soon descended to the ground before the bubble popped as they only had 10 minutes of playing from how long the spell properly function. Both of them enjoyed the experience that they had from the collision of bubbles with each other.
"I'm so going to implement this in Aravel," Lunaria laughed in joy as she left the booth area with Kaze.
"The others have to try this out," Kaze sighed blissfully. "Can you imagine if… Wait, we can recreate this with your help, right?"
"I think so. I just need to do a bit of research and we can have our very own floating bubbles," Lunaria nodded agitatedly. "Come on, we still have a lot of stalls to visit!"
With her pulling him into the crowd, the two raced off to try the other activities available in school. Unknown to them, their friends had been spying on them this whole time. By now, all of them had a stupid grin or smirk on their face as they got sugary feelings from watching Kaze and Lunaria.
"This certainly wasn't intentional, but I don't regret it," Irene murmured. "Aren't those two so cute?"
"Hmm, it is nice to see that Lunaria is taking the lead," Chris nodded, popping his head out behind a wall. "Also, how long do we have to keep hiding from them?"
"I think we can show ourselves already without needing to worry, but I agree with you," Mitsui giggled. "If Kaze was the one leading, I imagine this would be a pretty boring date for them."
"Date? You already consider this dating?" Sera sweatdropped. "I can't wait to face Lunaria's judgement if she found out what we did…"
"It will be worth it," Shoko grinned and nudged her friend lightly. "See what I said? I wouldn't mind if Lunaria started dating Kaze for real."
"… Hahhhh…." Rena sighed, shaking her head. "Did we have to spy on them? I feel a little regretful now…"
Yuuji just smirked at his friend's current situation while Albert simply shook his head at all their immature actions.
With each of them having various reactions, it was clear by now what their expectations from Kaze and Lunaria were, unbeknown to them. They eventually split off to their individual groups to enjoy the festival together, leaving Kaze and Lunaria alone unless they encountered them again.
- - - - -
Ethan resided in his room as usual, sorting through documents.
He was caught up with all of the things that required his signature for the Moon Festival itself. After clearing his schedule and work, he would be able to take a break for once with his family and enjoy the next few days off from work. It was necessary for him, as a King, to have his rest too.
"Enter," Ethan called out upon the hurried knocks on his door.
"Your Majesty!" Someone rushed into the room.
Ethan glanced up from his desk and met eyes with the person. A smile formed on his face when he saw who it was.
"Ah, General. Is there a problem?"
"Your Majesty, sir, the watchtowers, they spotted wyverns afar."
"Wyverns? Just have the usual air defences ready. We should be able to fend them off easily."
"N-No, Your Majesty, it's… those wyverns are in a flock."
"… Hm? A flock? Wyverns don't fly together."
"Yes. Upon closer inspection, its… they bear the flag of Aravel. They are the flight unit of Aravel."
At the report given, Ethan's eyes widened. He immediately stood up and ran out of the room with the general following closely behind.
There was no notice beforehand of the arrival of Aravel's army. If this was some sort of war declaration without a notice, he would have to take it as top priority as the King of Czech. For them to suddenly come flying to Tristania with their wyvern units, Ethan's mind began to race with thoughts.
"Sir! It's the royal insignia of Aravel!"
"I know, damn it! His Majesty is on his way there!"
With all the commotion happening within the palace as reports of the wyvern unit spreading, Ethan raced to one of the teleportation pedestals and instantly vanished. Reappearing in front of the main gates of Tristania, he realized that the gates were already sealed and all the soldiers had gathered in attention for the arrival.
"Your Majesty!" All the soldiers nearby who realized their King came immediately fell to the floor and bowed on one knee.
"At ease. What is the situation?" Ethan squinted to the sky, seeing a few tiny black dots approaching them steadily.
"Yes. Our scouting unit report the flock of wyverns bringing along two carriages. Based on the carvings of the insignia on the carriages, we determine that it must be some form of royal visit from Aravel. Following that, we identified about 30 dragonkins suited in armour along with 10 dragons," one of the soldiers hurriedly listed their report. "Your Majesty, what do we do?"
"… Wait for them to come. I don't think they mean any harm," Ethan's tensed face relaxed at the report. "Have everyone else remain on guard, but no hostility. Just in case."
The flock of wyverns and dragons gradually got closer to the main gates of Tristania. Once they were close enough, the wyverns descended to the ground upon the command of their riders. The soldiers nearest to the group all gulped in fear when staring right at the adult wyverns. It was suicidal to face them with the power they had, due to wyverns being notoriously annoying to deal with. What's more, they had a lot of dragonkin soldiers with them, meaning that the dragons were also dragonkins morphed to dragons as support units in the air.
From the carriage, out came a dragonkin who looked not an age over 50. He bore great resemblance with Ethan in aura, but his wisdom went even beyond that. Walking up to the front of the entrance casually, all the guards instantly started to tremble at the person who approached them. They knew, with all their life, that this was someone they should not casually address.
Even though Ethan had never formally met with him before, he knew who it was instantly. There was only one person who would show such great strength that even he started to tense up.
"How are you doing, Sir Ethan? Sorry for showing up on such short notice," the dragonkin spoke, arriving in front of Ethan. "I hope you don't mind the sudden visit."
"It's alright, Tristania always welcomes you," Ethan held back his fears and stretched his hand to shake the dragonkin's. "Pleased to meet you for the first time, Emperor Reginsleif."
Indeed, the man before him was the Emperor of the long-established nation of Aravel itself, the war hero from 500 years ago: Emperor Reginsleif Gerald Rentaria.
Following behind him was his wife whom Ethan met before, Empress Laevia Yllisa Rentaria, since she went by her husband's name now.
"I heard that the Moon Festival is for 3 days, so I decided to bring my family and join in the fun," Reginsleif stated. "Also, to watch my daughter in one of the fighting displays."
"Ahaha, that? You must be very free to be able to come all the way here with your entire family," Ethan casually laughed. "Does your nation not need any of the royal family to lead?"
"I trust in my council's management skills. Even with our presence, we don't need much interference unless necessary," Reginsleif confidently declared. "Sir Ethan, thank you for treating my wife and daughter properly last time."
"It's an honour. We rarely get guests like you all the time," Ethan expressed his heartfelt gratitude. "I shall personally escort you to a secure location where you and your family can rest for the next 3 days."
At his words, the guards immediately reacted and opened the door. The wyverns carrying the carriage all flew off into the air, probably to rest nearby for the course of the next 3 days until it was time to work again. Ethan shuddered secretly at the thought of how dragonkins could so freely control the wild beasts known as wyverns, making them a force to reckon even with their small unit alone. It was no wonder that the entire royal family of Aravel could come on a vacation without worrying too much.
What's more, it was smart of them to come unattended. It might have sounded rude and imposing, but it made sense if the entire royal family left their nation. In order to prevent there being a sudden attack in their absence, this was the perfect way for it. Plus, the Emperor himself must have prepared for countermeasures in case their nation was really attacked. This was the so-called invisible might that was being exerted by a war veteran like Reginsleif himself.
As the royal family of Aravel made their way into the city of Tristania, Lunaria suddenly froze up as she was munching on a hotdog. Whipping her head around, she widened her eyes as she sensed the few very familiar magical signatures that just came into range of the city itself. It was easily distinguishable, even among the other tens of thousands of individual signatures in the city.
"… Father?"