Here we are at Emas! Well, technically at the gate entrance of Emas, where the lines are long. The weather is rainy and gloomy, as if it doesn't welcome me to this country! I sing rain rain go away to pass the boredom of waiting in line, and I am joined by the next diva of my age, my best friend Neloufa. Since it's a duet, we both sing our hearts out. The usually shy Neloufa doesn't realize that the other visitors are watching us. As we sing and make elegant hand movements, controlling the rain with our magic, the crowd gathers around us, and realizing this, she hides behind me, but Miss Vita, seeing how talented Neloufa is, urges her to sing more.
"If you can't perform here, what will you do during our performance?" [Vita].
"But I didn't know most of them..." [Neloufa]
"That's okay. They don't mean any harm. Look, they're praising you!" [Diana]
"Diana is right. They're not your enemies, they're actually your allies" [Vita].
At the theater near her house, it's always someone she knows. At school, it's always me and her friends from the cultural club. At the opera house, we are always together with Miss Vita, so when she suddenly gets a new audience out of nowhere, she gets a little panicky, but she plucks up all her courage and continues to sing. It's a simple children's song, and when she makes a hand movement, I notice that she's shaking and her mana control over the rain is faltering, so I support her as usual. I make a fish out of water as it dances along, and when Neloufa says go away, I make it swim up into the sky and disappear, just as the last drop of rain ended.
"Thank you for watching us. Come see us perform at the theater soon" [Vita].
"This is Miss Vita!"
"Oh, Goddess! The infamous Vita!"
"I'm so glad I bought the ticket!"
"The two little girls next to her are also talented!"
And since it's our turn at last, I excitedly show my pass to the guard at the entrance. Realizing that we are from the infamous Opera House, she doesn't question us further, but greets us with a warm smile, welcoming us to the land of the ancient hero. As Master Merlin told me the other day, Aru, the heroine of the past, my ancestor, did indeed defeat the Devil King somewhere here before heading off to the land that would later be known as the Empire.
I studied geography of this land before our trip. I even asked the head librarian about Emas. It's notorious for its abundance of minerals. You name it, from simple copper to gold, diamonds and even the legendary metal, this land is rich in it, hence the term Emas, literally translated as gold. Of course, a land this rich is bound to be invaded and true enough, there are multiple invasions by multiple countries in the past. The last was the Empire, but was successfully repelled by none other than Amleth with my two brothers.
As I wanted to appreciate the surroundings
[DANGER]
[DANGER] [DANGER]
My blessing is going haywire. I couldn't see anything dangerous? All I see is a sea of people and golems transporting minerals. I've tried many times to make out what's going on, whether someone is after Miss Vita or just a thief, but I can't. I desperately look left and right, up and down, so much so that Kat has to calm me down. I tell her and the others about my uneasiness, and they believe in me, but even they can't see anything wrong.
"How about you and the others go to the inn first. As for the adventurer, I'll go with you to file a report at the nearest adventure guild" [Manager].
"I wanted to see the place where we perform right away, but this cute girl comes first, so I'll go to the inn as well" [Vita].
"Nar and Sas will kill me if I leave you now, and frankly, I'm worried about you too. Can you go first? I'll go to the guild later" [Kat].
And we split up right away. At first we wanted to book the hotel where Kara, Mara and the others are staying, but for security reasons and because that place is fully booked, the Opera House simply books an inn. It's big, with a wooden sign that says welcome. At the entrance, a girl about my age greets us with a smile.
"Welcome to Siti Inn! It's an inn that has been handed down from generation to generation! My name, the same as our inn name, is Siti, also the same as our princess!" [Siti]
"Hello Siti! I'm Diana!" [Diana]
"Diana, so you must be from the Opera House! And this must be Miss Vita! Welcome! Welcome! We have already prepared a room for you all!" [Siti]
It's an inn run by a family of six. Apparently Siti is the youngest child, with another older brother who seems overprotective. They remind me of Nar and Sas, if I'm honest. Whenever Siti greets a man, they'll stare at the man until the man gets scared.
"Hahaha, you have a great older brother Siti" [Vita].
"I do! In fact, they tell me that they changed the name of the inn just for me!" [Siti]
"Well, Siti is the youngest of us. We have no parents and Siti is literally our treasure, so if anyone dares to touch her, we will kill them!"
"Oooh! You really are like Nar and Sas! I feel at home already!" [Diana]
"Kahkahkah! That's better! Play with Siti a lot!"
"I will!" [Diana]