"It seems like this old man has finally reached the status of a full-blown
drunk..." Alma shot Dominic an exasperated glare.
The others laughed at the sight. Before he realized it, Rio was laughing
too. He couldn't even remember the last time he had laughed this hard... it
was a happy moment in time.
While they laughed, chatted boisterously, and watched the entertaining
side shows that performed, the majority of the spirit folk in the grounds had
passed out drunk. Latifa, Sara, Orphia, and even the alcohol-tolerant Alma
had fallen asleep next to Rio. Alma had been tipping back the stronger drinks
to hide her embarrassment, resulting in her current predicament.
"Hm. This is quite the spectacle," Ursula said to Rio with an uneasy
smile.
"If that's what you think, then please make an effort to stop them next
time," Rio replied fluently while his face was flushed red.
"Bwahaha! Were you not having fun, Lord Rio? You could have used
spirit arts to sober them up at any time, but no one would do such uncouth
things at festivities like this. Why don't you loosen up a bit more?"
"No, I've had enough fun." Rio shook his head with a slightly strained
smile, then looked over at Latifa, who was sleeping happily.
"I'm thinking of telling Latifa soon."
He didn't specify what. Ursula would understand what Rio needed to tell
Latifa even without him saying it.
"...I do believe it's still a bit early, but that may actually be for the best,"
Ursula said, gazing lovingly at the sleeping Latifa.
◇◇◇
The day after the Grand Spirit Festival...
Rio woke to the morning rays filtering through his window. None of the
other inhabitants of the house were awake yet, so he cooked a thin porridge
for everyone — that was easy on the stomach — and ate alone. After leaving
behind a note, he went outside, and wandered aimlessly around the village. In
the aftermath of the banquet yesterday, there were far fewer people awake
and walking outside than usual.
Rio made his way to the deserted village square, then proceeded to lie
down on the ground, face-up. He closed his eyes and felt the wind against him, and he remained that way for what may have been several hours.
"Onii-chan?"
An anxious voice sounded from above his head. Rio blinked his eyes
open, and Latifa's face looked back down at him.
"How did you know I was here?" Rio asked with a somewhat strained
expression.
"I'm a werefox, remember? I have a good sense of smell, and I'd never
forget Onii-chan's scent."
"Oh, that was right. So what's up? You don't look too good."
"No, I'm okay. Onii-chan wasn't there when I woke up, so I got really
scared for a moment. I thought maybe Onii-chan had left and gone far away."
Latifa smiled with a look of deep relief, shaking her head.
"...Hey, it's been over half a year since we came to this village, right?
Are you having fun living here?" Rio suddenly asked, a contemplative look
on his face.
"Hm? Yup! It's super fun! Sara and the other girls are here, Vera and the
other kids are here, Ursula and the elders are really kind, and most of all —
Onii-chan's here!" Latifa nodded, beaming with a carefree smile. Rio felt a
twinge deep within his chest, but he had to keep going. After several seconds
of hesitation, he spoke.
"...Latifa. I'm thinking of leaving this village after a while."
Unsure of how to break the ice, he ended up phrasing it rather bluntly. He
watched for her reaction.
At some point, while he had been distracted, all traces of emotion had
disappeared from Latifa's face. She was frozen stiff, looking at Rio's face
blankly, even though she had been smiling so cutely mere seconds ago.
"You're... leaving?" Latifa managed to ask in a hoarse voice.
"Yeah, I have to leave. You remember how I was originally heading east,
right?" Rio answered her truthfully with a serious face, purposefully pushing
back his own emotions.
"...No." Latifa mumbled in a quiet voice, but Rio continued to speak
anyway.
"I won't be able to bring you with me, Latifa—"
"N-No! Never!" Latifa yelled loudly, as though to drown out Rio's voice.
"Latifa, please, listen to what I have to say."
"I'm not listening! I don't wanna!" Latifa fretfully backed away. Her
eyes darted about, before she suddenly broke out into a run away from Rio, refusing to listen to him anymore.
"Hey, Latifa?!" Rio called after her fleeing back, but Latifa made no
move to stop. Perhaps she had applied the physical enhancement spirit art
that she learned from her recent progress in training, because her small and
light frame ran like the wind.
Where is she going? Rio wondered, expression darkening.
At the very least, she wasn't heading in the direction of the house. She
was running off in a direction away from the center of the village. Rio's
movements had been numbed by his guilt towards Latifa — even if he chased
after her now, it was obvious any conversation they'd have would only turn
sour.
Standing still and clenching his fist, Rio hesitated, wondering if he
should chase after her anyway.
◇◇◇
Latifa panted harshly as she continued to run aimlessly.
"Hah... hah..."
Her surroundings were changing at a dizzying speed, but she didn't stop
running. Right now, she just wanted as much distance from Rio as possible.
No, no, no, no!
Her heart was entirely focused on getting away from him. In her mind, as
long as she didn't have to listen to him, he wouldn't leave.
This presented a contradiction: even though she didn't want him to leave,
she was trying to leave him. Thankfully, there weren't many people walking
around the village because of the banquet, which had run late into last night.
In this way, she wouldn't run into anyone who would question her behavior
and try to stop her.
Before she knew it, Latifa was outside of the village. She had no idea
how much time had passed; it may have been a minute, ten minutes, or even
an hour.
With all other presences completely gone from her surroundings, Latifa
finally came to a stop.
A tranquil silence had fallen over the forest, with no sounds other than
the chirps of birds and cries of small animals. The village was surrounded by
several layers of strong barriers; while it had its weaknesses, it was generally
protected from outsiders under most circumstances. Even if there was a trespasser, the warriors of the village would come running immediately.