Green, blue, red, yellow, and many more. No matter where one looks, each scenery was filled with vibrant and lively colors. The noise blanketing the whole carnival was just as lively.
Currently, the five girls, Yuna, Eliza, Elise, Elaine, and Amelia, are traversing a large and lush maze in the carnival. But no matter how large it was, it was nothing compared to the training grounds of the Royal Academy.
The maze's hedges were more than 3 meters tall, preventing even the tallest people from cheating. All one could rely on was their luck, intuition, and memory to clear the maze within the allotted 10 minutes.
What was supposed to be a date for Grey and Yuna had turned into a group outing, with five more people going to the carnival with them. It also just so happened that all of those who joined in were children of nobility, with one of them even being a prince.
Driven by the carnival's events, everyone all decided to play a game where they need to collect the most stamps within two hours in order to win, bringing them to the current situation.
"We're finally out!" ［Elaine］
"That was fun!" ［Eliza］
"Congratulations on completing the maze! Here are your stamps!"
After successfully getting out of the maze, a carnival staff greeted the five girls with a blooming smile on her face and presented each of them with a stamp, proof that they have completed the maze.
Each stamp had a unique design patterned to each of the games and attractions they are awarded to. Only those who complete the list of 27 stamps can win the grand prize. One which many people look forward to every year.
"Yay! We got our 5th one! Only 22 more to go!" ［Eliza］
Upon receiving the stamp the staff handed to her, like a child that she was, Eliza hopped happily with an excited smile plastered on her face. Seeing her act like that, the other four couldn't help but indulge in her cute expressions.
If one were to describe the current scene, the four older girls would look like fathers fawning over their cute daughter, though in the current scenario, rather than fathers, it would be better to say older sisters fawning over their little sister.
While Eliza was only Elise's little sister, Yuna, Elaine, and even Amelia also treated her the same way, and in return, Eliza also treated the three of them the same with her real older sister. It was a mutual relationship.
"Then, Liz, where do you want to go next?" ［Amelia］
"Umm..." ［Eliza］
Upon hearing Amelia's question, Eliza quickly pondered seriously as she looked at a map of the carnival printed over the flyer handed to them by the entrance. She looked very serious as she was doing so.
But rather than getting a serious atmosphere from her, all Yuna was able to feel was a warm and fluffy feeling from watching her. Not only her, but the other three also felt the same way.
It was not the first time Eliza picked the next destination. In fact, all the games they have played were chosen by her. They don't even care about the competition anymore, they just wanted to indulge in her cuteness.
"Let's go here!" ［Eliza］
Eliza excitedly pointed at one of the game attractions in the map. She was enjoying herself to the max. Her bright expression was enough to outshine even the sun itself as she wore a little angel's smile.
"Hm? Isn't that the shooting range?" ［Yuna］
"Have you tried it before, Yuna?" ［Elise］
"Un. I have..." ［Yuna］
Yuna mumbled in a low voice as she once again checked the place Eliza pointed at. It was the same place where she made a precious memory with Grey during their date. The same place where she earned hers and Grey's bracelets.
At that time, Yuna had completely thought that Grey would be disappointed with her present for him, but contrary to her expectations, the latter immediately gave her a tight hug as soon as he received it.
Just remembering about what happened that day was enough to make Yuna's heart flutter. While it was a little embarrassing, it was one of her precious memories she wouldn't trade for anything.
"Yuna, are you alright? You seem a little feverish...?" ［Elaine］
"A-Ah! I'm fine! How about we head there now. Right, Liz?" ［Yuna］
"... Un!" ［Eliza］
Before she noticed it, Yuna's face had turned completely red from remembering the memories of that fay, making everyone else confused and worried for her at the same time.
Thankfully, Yuna was able to dismiss the topic before it even started, because if she wasn't able to, Other than the innocent Eliza, everyone else would have understood why she reacted that way.
With everyone's agreement, all five of them then headed to the shooting range where they waited in line for their turn, and while in line, they eyed the prizes in front of them to kill some time.
"Hm...? Isn't that the same as Yuna's bracelet?" ［Elise］
Elise said nonchalantly as she pointed at one of the prizes displayed near the stall. It was a development that Yuna hoped to evade, yet failed to do so as fate itself decided to go against her.
"Un! It really looks like Elder Sister Yuna's!" ［Eliza］
"Come to think of it, Grey was also wearing the same braceletー" ［Amelia］
"""Ah..."""
Seeming to have understood what the deal with the bracelet was, Amelia, Elise, and Elaine all voiced out a short "ah". Yuna was practically able to see what the three of them were thinking of, behind the back of their minds.
"What? What is it?" ［Eliza］
And like one would expect, only Eliza wasn't able to understand it. Her young mind was still not able to piece things together just from a few fragments of vague information like the others did.
On the other hand, a warm and teasing smile was blooming on the other three's faces. They were smiles which gave Yuna a bad premonition as if something worse than battling an S-rank monster was going to happen.
"So that's how it is～!" ［Elise］
"You don't have to be shy, you know, Yuna～!" ［Elaine］
"That's right! You can tell us anything～!" ［Amelia］
One after the other, the three ladies barraged Yuna with unrelenting teases, and still not able to understand it, Eliza asked what they were meaning with their words every chance she got.
It wasn't until when the stall manager called them for their turn that they stopped with their attacks, and while they looked somewhat disappointed, satisfied smiles were evident on their faces.
As for the one on the receiving end of their unrelenting attacks, Yuna was, well, she...
"Uuu..." ［Yuna］
"Elder Sister Yuna, are you alright?" ［Eliza］
... was on the verge of crying, with an extremely flustered face. Thankfully, Eliza was there to cheer her up, even though she didn't understand one bit what just happened before her.
Eliza still wore an innocent face as she tried to console Yuna. Meanwhile, the other three didn't even try to do the same, rather, they wanted to tease Yuna more. Friends are like that, after all.
"Yuna, what are you waiting for?" ［Elise］
"Let's play already!" ［Elaine］
As if nothing happened, the three ladies invited Yuna to play the shooting range with them. Even when they were calling her, the satisfied smiles were still evident and shining on their faces.
"Excuse me, can we have one try, please?" ［Amelia］
"That would be 5 kiels per three shots."
"Alright. Here you go." ［Amelia］
After Amelia gave the payment to the stall owner, she then received the three shots that she had asked for, and following her, Elise and Elaine also bought their own set of shots.
"Elder Sister, me too!" ［Eliza］
"That's alright, I'll pay for it." ［Elise］
Seeing the others hand their payment to the stall owner, Eliza tried to pay for her own set of shots. But before she even had the chance to open her wallet, Elise already stopped her.
Eliza wanted to pay her share with the money she earned from her savings, but Elise just couldn't let it pass. As the older sister, she felt responsible to also pay for her little sister's share.
"B-B-Butー" ［Eliza］
"I said it's fine, didn't I? It's only natural for the older sister to treat her cute little sister, isn't it?" ［Elise］
"U-Un... and thank you..." ［Eliza］
"Now that's a good girl... Excuse me, I would like another set please." ［Elise］
Not being able to retaliate from her older sister's words, Elia obediently stayed quiet as her older sister brought her share of shots. It was such a heartwarming scene that even the stall owner was touched.
It wasn't only her responsibility as the older sister which made Elise do what she just did. It was because of the fact that they only meet for a short while every year. That fact alone made her want to spoil her little sister even if it's only a little.
"How about you, Yuna? Won't you also be playing?" ［Elise］
"No, I'm fine. I won't be participating this time around." ［Yuna］
"Are you sure?" ［Elise］
"Un." ［Yuna］
"Well, if you say so..." ［Elise］
Still not believing Yuna's answer, Elise stared at the former for a short while but she soon gave up, heaving a brief sigh at the end for unclear reasons as she positioned herself for the game
Truthfully, Yuna also wanted to participate in the game, but after the girls' teasing attacks, She became really exhausted. In fact, she felt more exhausted than when she and Grey went on quests.
Just like how he did on Yuna and Grey's date, the stall owner explained the rules of the game to the four who were participating and soon after, each of them went ahead and tried the game for themselves.
One after another, the four of them scored perfect points after hitting the farthest target perfectly which was located about a dozen meters from the shooting line, shocking the stall owner and the spectators.
While it may be difficult for normal people to hit the faraway targets, it was just a walk in the park for people who had already received training. Not to mention, all four of them were geniuses at their crafts.
"A-Amazing! All of you got perfect points! Here are your stamps."
The stall owner said in surprise as he placed a stamp on the four's stamp paper. For all the years he had been in business, it was his first time seeing a little girl like Eliza get a perfect score effortlessly. He was in awe.
"Thank you!" ［Eliza］
"Ah, right! You can also choose the prize that you want from here."
When the stall manager said those words, Eliza's eyes shone immediately as she locked on to one item. She had already long chosen one item while she was still waiting in line.
Eliza was about to point at the same kind of bracelet that Grey and Yuna have but before she could, Elise and the others stopped her, whispering something to her ears soon after.
Yuna, who was sitting on a nearby bench could hear it if she wanted to, but since they whispered it to her, she respected their privacy and didn't do so. She only kept her curiosity to herself.
Upon hearing the other's words, Eliza made a disappointed face for a short second but then cheered up suddenly. She then took her time and chose a different item. It was a cute stuffed bear just about the size of her torso.
After Eliza chose her prize, the other girls also chose the items they wanted and walked back to where Yuna was waiting for them. All of them wore happy faces as they were doing so.
"How was it? Did you all have fun?" ［Yuna］
"Un! It was fun!" ［Eliza］
Answering my question, Eliza voiced out her response energetically while the others nodded in agreement to her. The young girl hugged her teddy bear tightly, thinking of it as her older sister's gift.
"By the way, Liz, why didn't you choose the bracelet? You seemed to have taken a liking to it, after all." ［Yuna］
Yuna asked out of curiosity. She didn't want to invade others' privacy, but she wanted to know why Eliza changed her mind. She was a little worried because of the sad face she made for a quick moment.
"I was about to, but when Elder Sister said that it has a special meaning to Elder Sister Yuna and Elder Brother Grey. I thought it would change that special meaning so I chose the stuffed bear insteaー Eh? Elder Sister Yuna...?" ［Eliza］
Eliza didn't even get the chance to finish explaining, she stopped herself midway, the moment she saw Yuna's very flustered face. The latter now regretted asking Eliza the question she did.
Yuna was very embarrassed to the point that her mind was going to explode. Hearing it from the pure and innocent Eliza was more embarrassing than when the other three were teasing her.
While Yuna was happy that Eliza was being considerate, the fact that she now knew the meaning about the bracelet that Grey and Yuna have was very embarrassing. She was red all the way to the tip of her pointy elven ears.
"Yuna? Yuna...." ［Elise］
"Are you alright..." ［Amelia］
Because of how embarrassed she was, before she even noticed, Yuna's mind had already started overheating and the other's words no longer reached her. Her soul had already left her body.
...
Look here, look there, look everywhere. Grey and Julius' head turned around left and right, and up and down as they searched for certain items listed on the piece of paper they were holding.
It has already been more than half an hour since the little completion between the boys and the girls started. Unlike the latter, Grey and Julius have only gotten two stamps in that span of time.
The reason was simple. It was because rather than picking the ones which were easier to complete, they just picked which seemed interesting to them. All of which were the time-consuming ones.
"Hey, Grey, remind me why we're doing this again?" ［Julius］
"I don't know as well. Weren't you the one who said you wanted to try this game with an enthusiastic smile?" ［Grey］
"And you agreed with me without any hesitation. You even said that it would probably be easy." ［Julius］
For God knows how many times already, Julius and Grey once again bantered in the middle of the carnival without regards for the people around. Thankfully, the crowd was also busy and had no time to pay attention to them.
Currently, Julius and Grey were on an item hunt game where they needed to hunt 5 items scattered throughout the whole carnival. The reason why they picked the game, well... neither of them were sure either.
Because of the game they joined, Grey and Julius had been looking around the carnival for the said items. We have searched the trees, the bushes, and the stalls nearby, and they have gotten all items except one.
For the first four items, it was fairly easy with the use of Grey's "Divine Eyes", but it was different for the fifth and last item. He already did all he could but just couldn't find it. There weren't even clues for it.
The item they were searching for was an item called "Purple Rose". It was a little hard to find as there weren't any pictures on the list given. More than 10 minutes had passed since they started to look for it.
"Then, how about we check over there?" ［Julius］
Julius pointed towards his left, to the empty space behind the stalls. When he did so, Grey gave him a peculiar look with his eyes squinting, obviously having an issue with Julius' proposal.
"Hey, Julius, you're just pointing randomly, aren't you." ［Grey］
"Don't give me that look. At least it's better than nothing." ［Julius］
"You're right, butー Haah... Fine, let's just go there." ［Grey］
Grey wanted to retort to Julius' words, but cut off himself midway. He neither had the energy nor enthusiasm to banter with Julius once again. He just wanted to get the game over with.
Following Julius' suggestion, the two of them headed behind the stalls and started searching for the said item. They searched and searched, but it was all in vain. They just couldn't find it no matter what.
"Aghhh! We've already spent more than 20 minutes looking for it! At this rate, we'll surely lose!" ［Julius］
Julius said with a voice full of frustration as he threw the item list into the ground. He was clearly pissed off and wanted to vent out his frustrations. Grey was just as frustrated as he was, too.
"Hey, Grey, I have a suggestion." ［Julius］
"What is it this time?" ［Grey］
"Why don't we just quit this and find another game?" ［Julius］
A short moment of silence swallowed the place as Grey looked towards Julius. It was the first time he wholeheartedly agreed on Julius' words.
"Haah...,let's do that. It's probably much better than searching for something that cannot be found." ［Grey］
"You could say that again!" ［Julius］
Agreeing to quit the game, Grey and Julius then headed to another destination to try out another game, but while we were heading there, Grey noticed something written on a lemonade stand's sign board.
"Hey, Julius..." ［Grey］
"Hm? What is it?" ［Julius］
"Look..." ［Grey］
Slowly, Grey pointed his finger towards the lemonade stand and following his fingers, Julius's eyes shifted into the same direction. Both of their eyes became wide open as shock entered their systems.
While there was nothing really outstanding from the lemonade stand itself, the flavors of the lemonades written on the signboard made both Grey and Julius freeze. The efforts they have made so far have become laughable.
In there, written was a flavor of lemonade named "Purple Rose". It was the last item they were searching for. After remembering their previous efforts, both of them felt like idiots.
It was as if the world suddenly became silent and there was only the rustling of the wind to be heard. If there was a leaf fluttering in the wind, the scene would have been like something straight out of an anime Grey used to watch back on Earth.
"Ah... I really want to punch myself..." ［Grey］
"Same..." ［Julius］
Lifeless eyes, Grey and Julius got a signature from the stall owner for the completion of their list. Neither of them felt happy even when their lists had finally been completed. All that there was was shame.
As they headed towards the next destination like they had planned, Grey and Julius didn't utter a single word to one another. They just wanted to bury themselves in a small hole and hide away. The embarrassment was just too much.
CHAPTER 105 END