Chapter 80. Summer Festival 5: The Effective Use of Junk Magic Stones and Everyone’s Wishes

We headed toward our tentative meeting spot.

In front of the Magic Guild, not far from the plaza, it was already pretty crowded.

Strictly speaking, scheduling meetings is not permitted at this festival.

After all, everyone’s supposed to be masked, so no one should know who anyone is. Pretending not to know each other is part of the rule.

That means you’re not supposed to call names or introduce yourself either. If people just happen to hit it off in the same place—well, that can’t be helped.

The city was packed with people in all kinds of masks.

In addition to that, some wore veils, others buried their faces in big scarf-like wraps.

Some wore oversized hats pulled low over their eyes, and others wrapped their faces in bandage-like cloth. There were even some people who had their faces completely smeared with color.

Honestly, even if a real ghost were here, no one would notice.

Perhaps it’s because many people wear masks that impair their field of vision.

To compensate, floating lights had been lit throughout the city, so walking around wasn’t a problem.

Floating, glowing stones were tied up all around with thin strings.

There was a man in a robe, wearing a wizard-like pointy hat pulled low over their eyes, selling the glowing stones to anyone who wanted them. A child clutching onto a few coins tightly approached—so it must’ve been cheap. The provisional wizard, already slightly huntched over, bent even more to accommodate them.

“Actually, those are made with those so-called junk magic stones.”

　”It’s a secret because it will affect sales,” Matilda-san whispers, holding a finger up to her glossy lips.

I see. So, they’re using G magic stones and other small magic stones with limited use at the festival.

Apparently, those stones lose their glow and floating ability by the next day, due to having very little internal mana.

Since the string is also made with magic, all that’s left behind afterward is a tiny stone. So there’s hardly any cleanup needed.

It’s like the magical version of balloon lights at a festival.

“Well then, I’ll leave you here.”

And so we said goodbye.

Now that I think about it, I feel like Matilda-san’s sash was tied on the right side. So… she has someone special, huh?

Kirara’s eyes sparkled as she looked at the “wizard,” so I bought two floating lights.

“Please hold on tight so it doesn’t float away.”

The voice that said this sounded oddly familiar.

“That’s a lovely shawl. It’s dyed so beautifully.”

The person spoke dreamily while staring at my Yogimogi-Sashimo dyed shawl.

They looked very much like someone who loves Yogimogi-Sashimo…

But wait—why would someone who’s s a big shot in the Alchemy Guild be doing such a menial job like this? Maybe both magic and alchemy are involved in creating the glowing stones?

“THaNk YoU vErY mUcH.”

Let’s just go with a neutral, safe response and move on for now.

Other people had lined up behind us anyway, so we stepped aside.

I handed the glowing stones to Mimi and Kirara and had them tie the strings around their wrists so they wouldn’t float away.

“So bright,”

Mimi’s eyes, lit by the glowing light, sparkled like amethysts.

“It’s like it’s alive,”

Kirara said, tugging on the string and poking at the stone.

It made me instinctively think, You shouldn’t touch it too much; it might be dirty, but maybe that’s just my own impurity doctrine?

While this was happening, an angel appeared.

She wore a crown of white flowers on her head, with a white veil cascading from it to cover her face. But there was no mistaking it—that was Luna.

She was wearing a very cute dress made of thin, fluffy, fluttering fabric that spread out like white wings.

So cute!

And the person leading her was…

Ah. Yep.

That was one way to hide his face. Though it’s less like “hiding” and more like “revealing his true form.”

The man’s face was completely cat-like. He wore what looked like a British gentleman’s outfit, complete with a cane.

He was really cool and wonderful. Dashing. Refined. But also super familiar. That cane—

it also feels like I’ve seen it somewhere before. Is there something hidden in it?

Luna’s face lights up as she spots me, and she tries to call out—but then she seemed to realize the rules, clapped a hand over her mouth, and smiled only with her eyes.

Oh, it seems Luna still recognized me right away even though I was disguised and wearing a mask.

Maybe, but in Luna’s case, she doesn’t really care about gender-based clothing norms.

As for Jude-san… well, his lovely feline face made it hard to read his expressions. But he didn’t look surprised—just his usual calm self.

I couldn’t help but laugh a little.

Apparently, my crossdressing wasn’t much of a surprise to anyone.

Everyone’s intuition is annoyingly sharp.

Mimi was technically seeing me like this for the first time, but I could introduce myself properly later.

“Miss, would you care to join us?”

I hit on Luna—casually.

“Yes!”

She gave a bright, enthusiastic reply.

Jude-san dotes on Luna, so if she agrees, he’s automatically in. We’d already sort of planned to go around together anyway.

I carefully place the cut cornflowers I brought with me into the gaps in Luna’s wreath, the vivid blue of the cornflower reminded me of her eyes.

May happiness find its way to Luna.

I entrusted that wish to the language of flowers. It’s festival night—surely even I can work a little magic. 

The blue really popped beautifully against Luna’s all-white outfit.

The five of us browsed the food stalls and made our way toward the central plaza.

Everything seemed new and exciting to Luna—her big eyes looked ready to spill over as she gazed around and laughed with pure delight.

Just watching her reactions was fun—and adorable.

Even though they were watching them together, Mimi, in contrast, had more subdued reactions while Kirara seemed to be trying to act a little more like an older sister, holding back from being too loud or excited.

I think Luna is probably mentally older than Kirara. And her nervousness was obvious when they first met.

The cheerful music got louder as we approached the center of the plaza, and the sound of people clapping along to the music echoed around us.

In the middle stood a tall pillar, decorated so heavily with flowers it was practically overflowing.

A fire was burning to illuminate the pillar, and everyone was dancing in a circle around the pillar and the fire.

They spun around and danced, stepping in and out at appropriate times, and new dancers joined the circle in turn.

Everyone danced along in this flowing, unstructured rhythm.

The dance itself was simple enough—just some basic steps and hand movements. You could pick it up by watching.

It’s so cute to see the kids copying the adults, even if their clapping was a little out of sync with the rhythm.

Only real thing to watch out for was the timing when you’re stepping back in—you might bump into someone otherwise.

Some of the dancers were amazing, despite how simple the steps were. Maybe they had crazy strong cores, because their upper bodies didn’t wobble at all. Their movements extended right to the tips of their fingers—elegant and fluid. It was mesmerizing. The  people behind them also had super sharp movements, which is great.

Wait a second—isn’t that Matilda-san? And the person behind her… judging by the height and build… could that be Byrne-san?

Not totally sure. But as I watched, unsure of what was going on, the two finished their dance, slipped out of the circle, and disappeared into the crowd.

It was about time for us to join too, so we waited until the right moment to join the circle.

We couldn’t all enter at once, so Jude and Luna went in as a pair. The rest of us went separately, each finding someone who looked good to follow.

Watch the person in front and mimic their moves.

It was fun when I got the timing to the clapping just right.

We managed to make it through one full round of the dance then got out. I’m a little out of breath, but wow—it was so much fun.

Compared to the traditional something- dance or something- folk song I learned long ago and danced at festivals back home, this was way simpler.

Not sure if anyone even remembers those anymore. I can barely remember them myself.

“That was fun!”

Kirara still looked like she wanted to keep dancing.

“That was hard…”

Seems dancing might not be Mimi’s strong suit?

Luna said,

“I bumped into someone partway through…” she said while reflecting on her actions.

Looks like she bumped into Jude-san, who gently caught her. so there was no problem.

“You must be tired from walking,”

Jude said, gently scooping Luna up in one arm.

　

An angel being held by a cat-faced beastman—it’s too good.

Where’s a camera when you need one?

Even if I could buy a disposable camera with 1,000 yen repeat, it would be impossible to develop the photos here. I think I once made a pinhole camera from a magazine insert? But that needed photographic paper, though. I don’t remember ever buying an instant camera. What a shame.

And my smartphone is already out of battery.

The music picked up speed— and I laugh as I see the dancers getting thrown off as it got harder. Apparently, those who challenge their limits and dance to the end are given a nice prize. It was hard for the dancers—but it was also hard for the musicians.

A fire is lit in a location separate from the center of the dance, and festival-goers were lighting ropes with it and taking them home.

They’d swing the rope to keep the flame from going out as they walked home. Some would use the fire for their home hearths or a magical stove, this varies from household to household, but those that use a hearth will transfer the embers to the hearth.

Even in homes with magic stoves, they keep this fire burning overnight by transferring it to lamps or candles.

The light of the discarded magic stones lit by magic, and the trail of fire caused by the people spinning the ropes in their hands. A blaze of flames.

　A fantastic landscape of lights emerges as darkness falls.

　

Ah, how beautiful.

Even in this otherworld, festivals are truly beautiful.

May evil spirits be driven away, and may everyone enjoy healthy, energetic, and fruitful days.

Tonight, everyone wished for just that.

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