Preparations for tomorrow's festival were in full swing. The city's residents were decorating the streets, and local merchants were setting up temporary stalls.
"Come on, come on! The stall must be even more splendid, with more live flowers!" A familiar, ringing voice echoed from the trading tents. Even with her eyes closed, you could always recognize Vina: "Raise the sign higher, and set up a small enclosure in the back. Do you think the girls will change right on the street!?"
Vina was overseeing a group of workers constructing an excessively ostentatious tray for the confectionery. Meanwhile, the girl had changed her hairstyle again, now gathering her hair into an aggressive ponytail.
"Vina, did you hire workers to build the tray?" I called out to the merchant, and she jumped slightly in surprise, "You didn't need to spend money on that; we would have helped."
"Hah," the girl flirtatiously wagged her finger, "I didn't pay them anything. They're doing it out of sheer enthusiasm and the desire to see our girls at the festival. We'll finish the stall soon, and then I'll help you on stage. By the way, Aileen."
Vina measured the guardswoman with her gaze, circled around her, and even poked her a couple of times, checking for muscles.
"Although your body is quite well built in some places, it's still nowhere near as muscular as our sorceresses, but you still retain some feminine charm."
"What-what do you mean by that?" Aileen slowly stepped back.
"Tomorrow, all the girls from our guild will help with my stall."
"Eh? Don't you have enough people?"
"No, but the more attractive girls are involved, the better! We'll open the stall in the morning, but we won't need much help then. After lunch, the mayor will give a speech, and towards the evening, we'll have our performance. That's when I'll need the help of all the girls."
"No, thanks. I'll pass. I've seen how you dress up your employees. I'd rather go backstage and dig around."
"Ho-ho-ho, it's not a request; it's an order! From our GM!" Vina proudly folded her arms over her chest and raised her chin.
"What? How could Katrina agree to something like this?! Isn't she ashamed to work as a waitress herself?!" I helplessly knocked my forehead.
"Katrina, I feel like they easily manipulated her, like a schoolgirl."
"Krito, you know well that you can easily mmmmm... persuade the princess. I told her that working together would be fun, and besides, we can make some good money, and I'll leave the costumes for the girls."
"And she fell for it?"
"Oh, absolutely! Now we'll turn things around. Aileen! You're participating; it's the leader's order, and you wouldn't dare disobey it, right?"
"Fine, since it's an order, I can't do anything about it," the girl hung her head, and the cunning merchant beamed with a wide smile.
"You agreed too easily. Okay, let's go to the stage."
On the stage, the final preparations were underway. First of all, Aileen checked the stage mechanism. On a large stone slab stood a circular stage divided into three equal parts, each with different decorations. With the magic of the earth, Grein easily rotated the disc, changing the scenery in the blink of an eye. We had prepared three parts: the first was a lavishly adorned room from the main baron's house, with a replica of his actual throne where he received guests; the second was the queen's lair, most of which was occupied by a wooden monster, cut and painted with silver paint, and it could be concealed behind a dark cloth in front of the queen; and the third was an empty room where changing the backdrop could create the road to Renerim and the clearing in front of the mine, where we fought with hundreds of creatures, and the corridors deep within the cave.
Katrina's weaving skills were impressive; she managed to create fabrics for all the decorations in such a short time. The owner of the factory even cried during their farewell, knowing that she would never have such a wonderful worker again. Leira and Kurone prepared the costumes, exact replicas of our attire, and the wedding dresses now fit the young actors perfectly.
"Look, look!!" The children rejoiced at their new toys. Wearing gloves with adamantine plates, they struck battle poses, and our sorceresses, playing along, allowed them to use magic.
The wooden models of small monsters were quite detailed, and with great effort, Kurone and Rizel managed to make nearly twenty of them move. They surprisingly coordinated their movements. I tried to do something similar, but I could hardly make one monster move. Perhaps it's something better suited to women.
When the stage was finished, Aileen attached several spools with ropes to the structure and called in the "actors."
"Now, something that will make performing combat scenes easier for you," the girl called in "Krito" and "Algo" and fastened belts around them, connecting almost imperceptible ropes on each side, "Now, try to play the final battle."
The boys stood facing each other, ready for the fight. "Algo" was the first to attack, striking from above. "Krito" blocked the blow and then countered with a strike to the legs. His opponent quickly pushed off and leaped back, managing to jump much farther than during rehearsals and even executing a somersault, though until now, he only managed to land face down.
"Wow! How did that happen?!" The boys were delighted. "Krito" also tried to do a somersault, and he executed it perfectly.
"Hmm, it all works, just try not to rely too much on these devices. There are springs installed that tension the ropes during a fall, so you'll be slightly lighter, and jumping high will be easier for you. But don't forget that the ropes can get tangled, so don't attempt to twist in several directions at once, or you'll end up hanging in the air and won't be able to come down."
"Y-yes, understood."
"Now, everyone participating in combat scenes with complex stunts, practice them again with these devices. It will feel strange at first, but it will be much easier."
"Aileen," I called our special effects master, "can we use your contraption for the scene where they'll be hanging from the ceiling in the cave?"
Aileen assessed the height and strength of the structure.
"I think it will work, we just need to make a couple more pulleys. And I won't be able to lift the staff, it's at the discretion of Riz... Risa," the girl faltered mid-word, remembering that the teacher of these children was not the death mistress Rizel but the modest girl Risa.
"That's good because initially, we wanted to eliminate this scene, but now everything should work out. Kurone, how about you?" I asked.
"I'll check now."
"Can everyone hear me?" the sorceress sent a telepathic message.
"Oh, who was that?"
"Did you hear that too?"
The children visibly became nervous; it seemed like everyone heard the girl's voice.
"Don't worry, it was me," Kurone hurried to reassure them. "This way, I can help you with the lines if you forget something."
"That's awesome! The audience won't notice?"
"No, only you will hear me."
"Now everything is ready, let's rehearse until late!"
"YES!!" the children greeted the idea with joyful cries.
And so, the final day of our work arrived.
Mumbling something incomprehensible, possibly even a "thank you", Brim pushed us out of the forge, paying us the agreed-upon amount. After that, he closed the forge himself and headed to the festival. Aileen decided to leave all her equipment in the basement of the forge, assuming that the blacksmith wouldn't understand how it works anyway.
Leira and Algo had finished their work, but a line of kids was still following them around the square, and the couple wasn't protesting as much against these pursuers anymore.
The factory owner, embracing Kurone and Katrina, handed them packages with dresses they sewed upon Vina's order for tonight's event.
Vina, along with Seleria, Ragni, and Levris, had already opened their booth. With Levris' appearance, the culinary skills of the confectionery team significantly improved, and now people were lining up not only to see the beautiful girls but also to taste the treats.
Soon, I saw the girl who made all this possible.
"Serena," I called out to the girl being pushed on a wheelchair by a butler across the square.
"Oh, Mr. Krito, Aileen, hello."
"I'm glad you could come; after all, this festival is in your honor."
"You say that as if you had nothing to do with it," the girl smirked and pointed towards a group of nobles dressed lavishly, making their way to the town hall. "Don't you think these people stand out in the crowd?"
"Well, probably many guests from other cities arrived for the festival, but these people don't seem to be in a festive mood. I wonder if that's the feudal lord and his entourage."
"Exactly," a joyful smile briefly appeared on the girl's face. "He tried so hard to prevent us from gaining independence, but thanks to you, he failed."
"Hmm, if you know that he hired assassins, why don't you do anything about it?" Aileen glared at the nobles with anger.
"Unfortunately, there's nothing we can do. The assassins won't reveal the client's name, and we can't accuse him solely based on assumptions. Even if we try, the noble court will likely charge us with slander. So we'll just give him the money and never see him again."
"That's what I don't like about Verania," Aileen clenched her fists in frustration. "You all bow down too much to the 'noble people' who only have noble noses up in the air."
"If everything goes smoothly, the mayor will soon announce good news," Serena looked towards the back of the town hall where a large carriage with a sizable chest on it was visible. "In the meantime, let's enjoy the festival."
"Alright. Will you leave her in our care?" I asked the butler.
"Of course, I'll be nearby if help is needed," the man handed me the back of the wheelchair and stepped aside. "Take care of my lady."