Yeni Kasabada Şenlik Havası

Houghtow Şehri—Flio’nun Evi

Sabahın ilk ışıkları süzülürken Blossom’ın uyanma vakti çoktan gelmişti. Gökyüzündeki karanlık yavaş yavaş çekiliyordu fakat güneşin ufukta boy göstermesine daha epey zaman vardı.

"Fwaaah!"

Blossom yatağında doğrulup kollarını iki yana açarak esnedi, derin uykunun mahmurluğunu üzerinden atmaya çalıştı. Flio’nun evindeki diğer odalar gibi Blossom’ın odası da biri uyumak, diğeri de özel oturma alanı olarak kullanılmak üzere iki bölmeye ayrılmıştı. Yatakta yalnız uyuduğu zamanlar çırılçıplak yatmayı alışkanlık edinen Blossom, bugün de doğduğu günkü gibi çırılçıplak uyanmıştı.

"Haydi bakalım! Tarlada yine sıkı çalışma vakti... Hm?"

Yataktan kalkacağı sırada kalçasının üzerinde garip bir ağırlık hissetti. Başını eğip vücuduna baktı. Tarladaki o ağır işler sayesinde bir erkeğinkiyle yarışacak kadar güçlü bir fiziğe kavuşmuş, karın kasları baklava baklava dizilmişti. Ancak tam şu anda o kaslı beline incecik iki kol sarılmıştı. Küçük bir kız çocuğu, Blossom’ın gövdesine sarılmış mışıl mışıl uyuyordu. Blossom doğrulup kalkmasına rağmen küçük kız hiç uyanmamış, ona sımsıkı tutunmaya devam etmişti.

"Doğru ya..." dedi Blossom. "Kora dün gece benimle yatmıştı değil mi?"

Gözlerini kararlılıkla uyumaya devam eden Kora’ya dikip dünün hatırasıyla içtenlikle gülümsedi.

Bana bayağı bağlandı sanki... diye düşündü Blossom, Kora’nın başını şefkatle okşayarak. Neyse, Kora halinden memnunsa benim için de hava hoş...

Tam o sırada odanın kapısı pat diye açıldı.

"Günaydın, Bayan Blossom!" dedi Ura. "Kora’yı almaya geldim!"

Blossom’ın yatak odası ile dış kapı arasında bir paravan vardı. Ura’nın kızıyla Blossom’a ulaşması için önce oturma odasından geçmesi gerekiyordu.

"O-Oh!" dedi Blossom, gülümserek kafasını yatak odasının kapısından dışarı uzattı. "Şey, günaydın Ura! Yani şey..."

Çıplak olduğunu birden hatırlayınca hemen kapıya atılıp sertçe kapattı.

"B-Biraz yavaş ol yahu! B-Bana birkaç saniye ver!"

"H-Hm?" dedi Ura. "Bir sorun mu var, Bayan Blossom?"

"Yok!" diye bağırdı Blossom. "Y-Yani biraz karışık bir durum var! Şimdi açıklamak uzun sürer, sen sadece biraz bekle, tamam mı?"

"Ne olduğunu söylemeyecek misiniz?" diye sordu Ura kapının arkasından. "Yardım lazımsa seve seve yardım ederim!"

"Y-Yok! Y-Yardım edebileceğin bir şey değil..."

"Valla hiç çekinmeyin, yardım ederim!" diyen Ura kapıya yüklendi. "Geliyorum içeri."

"Sana hayır diyorum! Durum daha da kötüleşecek!"

Biri kapıyı açmaya çalışıyor, diğeri ise amansız bir halat çekme yarışındaymışçasına kapı koluna asılıyordu. Bu amansız çekişmeye ve sarsıntılara rağmen Kora, omuzlarına doladığı battaniyesiyle Blossom’ın karın kaslarına tutunmuş, hiçbir şeyden habersiz huzurla uyumaya devam ediyordu.

◇Günün İlerleyen Saatleri—İblis Dağı Zirvesi◇

Blossom uyandıktan bir süre sonra Flio, çiftliğin dışındaki dağın eteğinde duruyordu. Burası, tepesinde iblis köyünün bulunduğu dağdı.

"Bu köy bayağı büyüdü, değil mi?" dedi yukarı doğru bakarken.

Flio, dağı ve üzerindeki köyü ilk buraya taşıdığında yerleşim alanı sadece zirve ve etrafındaki küçük bir bölgeyle sınırlıydı. Şimdiyse dağın eteklerine kadar inen pek çok ev türemişti. Orada burada tarlalar, meyve bahçeleri göze çarpıyor; hepsi de arı gibi çalışan iblislerle kaynıyordu.

"Çaresiz kalan o iblisleri sırf iyilik olsun diye bağrına basan yüce kocamın bir başka büyük başarısı işte," diye böbürlendi Rys, dağa doğru bakarken. Kurt iblisi kuyruğu tamamen ortaya çıkmış, neşeyle sallanıyordu. Heh heh heh! diye geçirdi içinden. Savaş gücümüz artmaya devam ediyor!

Rys... diye düşündü Flio. Düşüncelerin dışarıya biraz fazla yüksek sesle ulaşıyor da... İstemeden kulak misafiri olduğu karısının bu düşüncelerine karşı yüzünde eğreti bir tebessüm belirdi. Yine de savaş gücü falan bir yana, tüm bu iblislerin tutunacak bir dal bulmasına vesile olduğum için mutluyum...

Ura, zamanında işsizlikten çeteleşip haydutluğa vurmuş bir grup iblisle karşılaştığında bu köyü kurmuştu. Onları kanatlarının altına almış, kendi alın teriyle bakmaya çalışmıştı. Ancak tek bir kişinin bu kadar iblisin karnını doyurması imkânsızdı; Ura tek başına para yetiştireceğim diye çabalamaktan artık tükenme noktasına gelmişti.

Flio’nun o büyük yücelik gösterip köyü dağıyla birlikte buraya taşımasından sonra, diğer iblisler de Blossom Çiftliği’nde veya Flio & Rys Tuhafiyecisi’nde düzgün işler bulabilmişlerdi. Köylülerin hayatlarını güvenle sürdürebilecek kadar kaynağa kavuşmasıyla birlikte köyün namı kulaktan kulağa yayılmış, dört bir yandan iblisler buraya yerleşmek için akın etmişti.

Flio düşünceli gözlerle dağa bakarken, arkasından gür bir ses yükseldi.

"Ooo! Kim var orada diyordum. Flio Beyefendi’ymiş!"

Flio arkasını döndüğünde Ura’nın neşeyle sırıatarak kendisine doğru geldiğini gördü. Yanındaki Blossom, Kora’nın elini sımsıkı tutuyordu.

"Günaydın Ura," dedi Flio. "Sana da günaydın Blossom, küçük Kora."

"Günaydın Flio Bey!" dedi Blossom. "Hadi Kora, sen de günaydın de bakayım."

"Tamam..." dedi Kora, hafifçe başını eğerek. "Günaydın..."

Bugün ekstra utangaç günündeydi herhalde; cılız bir sesle bu kelimeleri söyler söylemez Blossom’ın bacağının arkasına saklanıp kafasını öne eğdi.

Blossom gülümseyerek Kora’nın saçlarını sevecenlikle okşadı. "Aha ha! Selam vermeyi her geçen gün daha iyi öğreniyorsun Kora! Aferin sana bıdık."

Flio her zamanki mütevazı gülümsemesini takındı. "Görünen o ki köyün işleri gayet iyi gidiyor."

"Hem de nasıl!" Ura’nın yüzü neşeyle parıldadı. "Bu herkesin ortak başarısı. Eskiden sadece ben ve birkaç köylü, çarkı döndürebilmek için paralı askerlik yapıyorduk ama hep kıt kanaat geçiniyorduk. Fakat siz köyü dağla taşla buraya taşıdıktan sonra, hepimiz tarlalarda ya da Flio & Rys Tuhafiyecisi’nde sağladığınız işlerde çalışmaya başladık. Artık köyün bakım masraflarını karşılamayı bırakın, işsiz kalan daha fazla iblisi arramıza alacak kadar kaynağımız var! Gah ha ha!"

Sözlerini pekiştirmek istercesine elini Flio’nun omzuna dostça ve sertçe indirdi.

"Bana da acayip yardımları dokunuyor, yalan yok," dedi Blossom, en az Ura kadar mutlu bir ifadeyle. "İblis köyündeki herkes yardıma koşunca tarlaları göz açıp kapayıncaya kadar genişletecek insan gücüne kavuştuk. Hatta dağın yamaçlarını meyve bahçelerine falan çevirdik!"

O da Ura’nın Flio’ya yaptığı gibi elini dev iblisin omzuna geçirdi. Blossom bir kadına göre uzun boylu ve hayli kaslıydı ancak Ura insan formundayken bile bir iblise yaraşır heybete sahipti. Doğal olarak Blossom’dan katbekat iriydi. Sıradan bir kadın aralarındaki bu cüsse farkından çekinebilirdi ama Blossom bunu hiç takmıyor, kendisinden kat kat büyük bu devle neşeyle şakalaşıyordu.

"Aha, az kalsın unutuyordum!" dedi Ura aniden. "Flio Beyefendi, işe koyulmadan önce sizinle konuşmak istediğim bir husus vardı."

"Konuşmak istediğin bir şey mi?" Flio başını hafifçe yana eğdi.

"Evet. Aslında biz köycek bir şenlik düzenlemeyi düşünüyorduk," dedi Ura. "Böyle bir etkinlik için müsaadeniz var mıdır?"

"Şenlik mi?"

"Aynen öyle!" diye ilan etti Ura. "Biz her yıl köyde şenlik yapardık. Tezgahlar açar, dans eder, birlikte kafaları çekerdik... Yukarıda herkes toplanınca bayağı curcunalı geçerdi! Fakat son zamanlara kadar yaşadığımız para sıkıntısı yüzünden ağız tadıyla bir şenlik yapmayalı epey zaman oldu, söylemeye utanıyorum..."

"Şimdi yüce kocamın cömertliği sayesinde eliniz bolluğa kavuşunca, o şenliği yeniden mi düzenlemek istiyorsunuz?" diye sordu Rys, Ura’nın anlattıklarını başıyla onaylayarak.

"Evet, Bayan Rys, aynen öyle!" dedi Ura.

"Bana kalırsa hiçbir sakıncası yok," dedi Rys. "Bir şenlik, herkesin savaş ruhunu ateşlemek için mükemmel bir fırsattır!"

Kuyruğu yine ortaya çıkmış, gülümseyip başını sallarken deliler gibi sallanmaya başlamıştı.

Rys... diye düşündü Flio, kendi kendine eğreti bir şekilde gülümseyerek. Savaş ruhu olsun olmasın, zaten şenlik yapmalarına engel olacak değildim.

Her zamanki rahat gülümsemesiyle Ura’da döndü. "Şöyle bir fikre ne dersin; şenlik davetini Houghtow Şehri’ndeki herkese uzatsanız nasıl olur? Özel bir durum sonuçta, değil mi? İşleri biraz daha renklendirmiş olursunuz."

"Görkemli bir fikir!" dedi Ura, sıkı bir çalışmaya hazırlanır gibi kollarını sıvayarak kahkahayı bastı. "Şenliğimizi renklendirecek misafirlerin gelmesi bulunmaz bir nimet olur!"

"Bayağı hırslandın bakıyorum, ha Ura?" dedi Blossom.

"Elbette!" diye cevap verdi Ura. "Şenlikler bir iblisin en sevdiği eğlencedir! Eminim siz de bayılacaksınız, Bayan Blossom!"

"Madem öyle diyorsun, bana da dört gözle beklemek düşer!" dedi Blossom. "Hazırlıklara yardım etmekten de gurur duyarım tabii ki!"

"Yardımların için şimdiden minnettarız!"

Ura ve Blossom neşeyle sohbet ederken, Kora minik bacaklarıyla koşarak aralarına girdi. "Baba... Ben de yardım edeceğim!" dedi.

"Elbette edeceksin!" dedi Ura. "Sana güveniyoruz Kora!"

"Anlaşılan Kora ile ben bacanak gibi omuz omuza vereceğiz!" dedi Blossom. Bir taraftan kendisi, diğer taraftan Ura, küçük kızın başını okşadı.

Kora ise aynı anda hem Ura hem de Blossom tarafından başı okşandığı için mutluluktan ışıl ışıl gülümsüyordu.

◇Houghtow Şehri—Flio’nun Evi◇

O gün de her günkü gibi, Flio’nun evinde yaşayan herkes kahvaltı etmek üzere oturma odasında toplanmıştı.

[GENERATION FAILED - RAW TEXT]

“A festival, you say?” Elinàsze asked, looking over towards Blossom as she ate a spoonful of her soup.

“That’s right!” said Blossom, who had begun delivering an impassioned monologue on the subject to all in attendance the moment she had finished her food. “It’s a commemoration of the day old man Ura put the village up there on the right track! We’d like all of you to take part and help out with things if you can!”

“I see, I see!” Calsi’im said, nodding in approval as he sipped his after-meal tea. “How splendid! It’ll be good for the villagers to have a bit of fun!”

Calsi’im’s daughter Rabbitz, incidentally, was currently perched on top of his shoulders, snoring away with her arms wrapped around his head. The young girl was still quite sleepy on account of having eaten until her stomach just about burst at dinner last night.

“Why don’t we have meowr store set up a stall?” Uliminas suggested. “It would be a waste not to!”

“A festival?” Uliminas and Ghozal’s daughter Folmina sat up tall in her chair, beaming and waving her arms. “That sounds fun! I wanna go!”

“If big sis Folmina’s going, then me too...” said Balirossa and Ghozal’s son Ghoro, finishing off his drink and looking up at his big sister in the chair next to him.

“I’d be glad to help with something like that!” Rislei offered with a smile, already in the middle of helping clean up after dinner.

“Gah ha ha!” Sleip laughed, grabbing Rislei from behind and hoisting her up into the air. “I’ll give it all I got for my little Rislei too!”

“H-Hey!” Rislei exclaimed, her face turning bright red at having suddenly been lifted off the ground. “Papa! W-Would you stop doing things like this?! You’re embarrassing me!”

In spite of Rislei’s protests, however, Sleip began waving her from side to side in the air without a care in the world.

“Like, Lord Sleip?” Byleri said. “Rislei’s, like, just a bit shy, y’know? You should probably, like, save that kinda stuff for times when the others aren’t around?” She sounded rather easygoing about the whole thing.

“M-Mama!” Rislei objected, turning to look Byleri’s direction. “I-It’s not because I’m shy! I don’t want to be picked up like this!”

The rest of the household who were still at the table watched the Sleip family antics with knowing smiles.Same as ever, I see...was the thought shared universally between them.

The lively conversation continued in the living room for a while. After some time, Blossom stood up and turned to Kora in the seat beside her. “All right, Kora,” she said. “Wanna come get in the bath with me?”

Kora nodded happily and jumped down from the chair, following close behind Blossom with a great big smile on her face.

“Ah ha ha!” Blossom laughed, patting the girl fondly on the head. “You really like your baths, huh, Kora!”

“Uh-huh...” Kora said, smiling. “I like baths... This house has a really big bath... It’s nice...”

Just as Kora said, the bath in Flio’s house was abnormally large. It was split into men’s and women’s sections, each boasting as much space as the entire living room. The baths themselves were kept supplied with plenty of clean, hot water to bathe in thanks to one of Flio’s permanent enchantments, with a mechanism designed to automatically replenish the water in the tubs whenever it started running low.

The water, it bears mentioning, was transported directly from the Yanagi bath in the Kinosaki Hot Springs at the strong insistence of Rys and a few of the other women in the house. They had, of course, explained the situation to the Kinosaki Hot Springs Village Association and received formal permission—for the price of a regular fee for the usage of the spring’s water. There was even an official certification posted on the wall by the entrance to the baths proudly stating: “Water sourced from Kinosaki Hot Springs.”

“In our house, we have to wash with a pail of cold water...” said Kora.

“C’mon!” Blossom beckoned her over. “And remember, you gotta keep your whole body up to your neck underwater for a count to one hundred!”

“Okay!” said Kora, holding hands with Blossom as they left the living room headed for the bath.

Flio watched the pair leave, peering intently after them.

◇The Next Day—Oni Village Mountain Foot◇

The next morning, Flio paid another visit to the foot of the mountain where the oni village was situated, where he was met by Ura.

“Mister Ura,” Flio said. “I’m sorry for calling you out here when you were in the middle of getting ready for the day’s work.”

“Not at all, not at all!” Ura laughed boisterously. “For a summons from the one and only Lord Flio, I’d drop whatever I was doing and come running, no matter what it was! Although, having someone speaking directly in my head like that was quite an experience...”

Flio had telepathically contacted Ura earlier that morning, saying, “Pardon me for the interruption, but I’d like to have a short talk before work today, if you don’t mind.”

“Sorry about that,” Flio said, lowering his head apologetically. “I guess I’ve just gotten in the habit lately...”

“Ha ha ha!” Ura laughed. “And that’s exactly why I’d drop what I was doing and come running at one of your summons! Although, and I beg your pardon, if Kora needed me for something, I might have to prioritize her...”

“Of course,” Flio said, smiling his usual easygoing smile. “I’d expect nothing else when it comes to your child.”

The two shared a moment of good cheer before Ura broached the main topic. “Now then, Lord Flio, what is it you need?”

“Well, the truth is, I was hoping you could tell me more about the state of affairs in your village,” answered Flio. “Do the people there have access to baths?”

“Baths, is it? Well, mostly we just use things like this,” Ura said, holding out the twisted hand towel he had been wearing draped around his neck.

“Um...” Flio frowned. “What is that...?”

“Well, you see,” Ura began, “you dunk a towel in well water, twist it up tight, and scrub every nook and cranny! That’s what we do for bathing. In the summer months, we’ll dig a hole and fill it with water to swim in and clean our bodies too. Oh, and we occasionally used to go on trips to use the public bath in the nearby town, but it was run by humans, so the only people who could come were the ones who could disguise themselves as humans...”

Flio listened to Ura’s explanation with a complicated expression on his face.Back in my old world Palma, demihumans faced horrible discrimination. They wouldn’t even build waterways in the demihuman quarters within the capital, to say nothing of bathing facilities. I set up the baths in our house here myself, but unfortunately, it looks like things ended up that way in other parts of this world...

“Lord Flio?” Ura said.

“Y-Yes?” Flio answered.

“What’s the matter, Lord Flio?” Ura asked, looking in confusion at the expression on Flio’s face. “You went quiet all of a sudden!”

“Oh!” said Flio, wincing. “I’m sorry! We were in the middle of a conversation, weren’t we? Um, Mister Ura...would you prefer it if there were something like a public bath in the village for everyone to use?”

“A public bath for everyone to use?!” Ura’s eyes shot open wide at the offer. “I’d be delighted to have something like that—everyone in the village would be overjoyed, I’m sure!”

“I see,” said Flio. “Well, in that case...” Holding his arms outstretched, he turned to face the forest that stood beside the mountain—the original terrain of the land from before Flio had transplanted Ura’s village.

“Lord Flio? What are you doing?!” Ura asked, looking between Flio and the forest with a dumbfounded expression even though he really should have been able to guess what Flio had in mind.

Flio cast a spell and, like always, a magic circle appeared before him. It appeared first in front of his hands before quickly flying forward, growing bigger and bigger as it approached the forest ahead. Soon there was an enormous magic circle in the sky above the trees, rotating slowly as Flio continued casting his spell.

“Wh-What in the world...?” Ura said, nervously swallowing at the sight.

Next, Flio began moving his fingers this way and that. The trees of the forest were ripped from the ground and flew into the sky in response to his movements. These were sizable trees, big enough that even with a demon’s preternatural strength, it would still take a considerable amount of labor to pull one from the ground. Then Flio gestured with his fingers once more, and all the floating trees suddenly split apart. Bark, roots, and foliage all sloughed off the woody bodies of the trees in blocks, leaving clean rectangular logs. The logs began emitting steam, apparently being dried out in midair.

“N-No way...” Ura stared agape, his wide eyes fixed on the unfolding scene. “You’re doing construction work in midair with those massive logs!”

He watched as the logs came flying together, assembling themselves into a building. Once Flio had reached a certain stage in the construction, he pointed his hand straight down. Immediately, the land before him was cleared with astonishing force, the ground becoming level as countless rocks and boulders came flying from the forest. Flio laid the rocks down neatly in the freshly cleared plot, the bumps and roughness polished away as they flew through the air. Magic circles appeared around them, cutting the rocks into shape and sending shards of stone flying everywhere. The shards were sucked into the magic circle and vanished so as not to dirty the area, while the cut stones flew in to join with the wooden materials harvested from the trees atop the cleared land to form a completed building.

The whole thing happened lightning fast, all at once.

“I-Incredible...” Ura muttered. It was all he could do to watch as the fantastically high speed construction unfolded before his eyes.

[GENERATION FAILED - RAW TEXT]

“I divided the bathhouse into men’s and women’s sections,” Flio said. “Would you like me to build you an outdoors bath as well?” He had lots of other ideas for revisions too, discussing each idea with Ura before quickly going to implement it. “Why don’t I expand the reception area so you can use it for taking meals?” he proposed before adding, “Maybe we should set up a lodging house too, just in case...”

All Ura could say in response, however, was, “Sure, sounds good...” over and over again like a parrot. “Sure, sounds good... Sure, sounds good...”

Flio kept working, magically implementing one idea after another and making the building grander and grander.

◇ ◇ ◇

After half an hour of work, Flio finally lowered his hands. “All right,” he said, nodding and smiling his usual easygoing smile. “That should do it.”

Before him stood a two-story building, with one large room on each floor. Visitors would enter through a curtain hanging over the main door, the word “Bath” written on the fabric.

“W-Wait...” said Ura, raising his voice a little more than he had intended. “Thisis the bathhouse?!”

“That’s right,” said Flio. “I thought it would be good for the people of the village to have a bath they could use. I hope this will be of service? If there’s anything about it that doesn’t fit the village’s needs, don’t hesitate to let me know. I’ll have it changed in no time.”

“Never mind that!” Ura laughed. “It wouldn’t bother us in the slightest if there’s something a little different from how we do it. I’m sure everyone will be overjoyed just to have a public bath we can use! Ha ha ha ha!”

The other villagers began coming down from the mountain to see what had their chief in such high spirits. Soon they were gathering around, chattering as they inspected the building that had appeared next to their mountain.

“Wh-What’s this building doing here...?”

“It wasn’t here when I woke up, that’s for sure!”

“Huh? Look what it says on the curtain on the entryway! Is this a bath?!”

When they realized that the mysterious building was a public bath intended for their use, the villagers let out a great cheer.

“Wait...” said Ura, the smile suddenly vanishing from his face. “Excuse me... Lord Flio, pardon me for asking, but how much are you gonna charge?”

“How much...?” Flio echoed, confused.

“Well, you know...” Ura said, awkwardly choking out the uncomfortable words. “How much are you gonna charge us for using the bath? Public baths have to collect fees to stay in business...”

“Oh!” said Flio, smiling like always. “There’s no need for that!”

“Wh-Whaaat?!” Not just Ura, but the villagers assembled behind him cried out in astonishment.

“L-Lord Flio...” said Ura, bringing his own face up close to Flio’s. “M-Maybe I’m misunderstanding you, but are you saying we won’t have to pay a fee to use the bath?”

Flio surveyed Ura and the crowd of other villagers staring at him with the selfsame bewildered faces. “That’s right,” he said, his usual smile still on his face as he nodded in confirmation. “I have no intention of collecting bathing fees from the village. Although I was hoping I could ask you to help manage the bathhouse.”

“Manage the bathhouse, you say?” Ura asked. “Well, what exactly do you mean by that?”

“Well,” Flio explained, “we’ll need someone to clean the bathhouse and its surroundings. And I was thinking we might charge a fee if anyone from outside the village wants to use the facilities. We’ll need someone to collect that as well. Would your people be able to do that?”

“W-Well, yes, that would be no problem...” Ura said. “But is that really all you want from us in exchange for such an amazing bath?”

“On the contrary,” said Flio, “I would very much appreciate the help.”Maintaining the spell that cleans and cycles the water is essentially free,he thought,and I can easily handle any repairs and maintenance the buildings need with magic. But if I let people outside the village use the baths for free, we’d be flooded with requests for me to build more bathhouses all over the land. I’ll have to take care with how I manage things...

Around him, Ura and the other villagers were cheering for joy. The building that Flio had set up in a scant few minutes was named “Flio’s Bathhouse.”

The ever modest Flio, of course, found himself wishing they had called it something else.

◇One Night—Oni Village Mountain Peak◇

It was a few days after Flio set up the bath outside the oni village, and the sun was setting beyond the horizon, casting the land around Flio’s estate in deepening twilight. The road that stretched from Flio’s house to the oni village was usually a dark and treacherous path this time of night, hard for a traveler to follow without any light of their own. Tonight, however, the way was brightly lit. A great variety of stalls and carts were set up along the road, creating a string of lights that stretched all the way to the village.

“It looks like they’ve already gotten started,” Flio said as he arrived at the village entrance at the mountain peak, smiling his usual easygoing smile as he looked out at the ongoing festivities.

“This way, my lord husband!” said Rys, waving her hand in his direction with a delighted smile on her face.

“Rys!” said Flio, waving back and running up to his wife. “Sorry I’m late!” As he approached, he noticed that Rys wasn’t wearing her usual dress but a light robe that seemed to float around her body. “What’s that you’re wearing, Rys?”

“Oh, this?” said Rys, doing a quick twirl to show off the outfit. “It’s an arrangement I put together from some of the clothes we bought on our trip to the Land of the Rising Sun! This is called a yukata. I’ve heard it’s what they wear in summer festivals in Hi Izuru.”

“I see!” said Flio.

“What do you think?” Rys asked. “It doesn’t look strange, does it?”

“Not at all!” Flio reassured her. “It looks great on you. I can hardly bring myself to look away!”

“M-My lord husband!” Rys exclaimed, hiding her blushing face behind her hands.

Rys really is adorable...Flio thought, watching as Rys wiggled happily at the praise.Not that that’s anything new.

“Oh! Papa!” Just then, Elinàsze came running up, wearing a yukata of her own that Rys had made for her. Compared to her mother’s, her yukata had a design that gave a neat, refined impression. “Look! Mama made this outfit for me. Do I look cute?” she asked, tilting her head ever so slightly as she looked up at Flio.

“You do!” said Flio with his usual easygoing smile. “You look adorable, Elinàsze!”

“I do?” a big smile spread over Elinàsze’s face. “I’m so happy you think so, papa!”

“Hey! Big sis!” Garyl cried, getting Elinàsze’s attention.

“Oh?” said Elinàsze, turning around to face him. “Garyl? Is there something you need?”

“Well,” Garyl began, “me and the other students from the Houghtow College of Magic were going to look around the festival together. Do you wanna come along?” Garyl, like his sister, was wearing a yukata that had been made for him by Rys. With him was Rislei, a fellow member of Flio’s household, as well as Salina, Irystiel, Snow Little, Sadjitta, and Reptor.

“I’m fine looking around with papa,” said Elinàsze, sparing the group a single glance before moving to Flio’s side, opposite Rys.

“Wouldn’t you rather explore the festival with your friends, Elinàsze?” Flio asked.

“Of course not!” Elinàsze chirped, shaking her head with a smile on her face. “I would rather be with you, papa!”

Elinàsze’s obsession with her father, as always, was completely unwavering.

◇ ◇ ◇

The members of Flio’s household split up into separate groups to wander around the festival. As the night wore on, more and more people arrived at the village until the festival had grown lively indeed. Everywhere, vendors were noisily hawking their wares.

“Get your magic beast skewers! You’ll love ’em!”

“Grilled egg batter cakes! Try a free sample!”

“How about a roast apool!”

There was no stop to the customers either.

“All right! I’ll take one!”

“Gimme one of these and one of those!”

“My lord husband, let’s try that one!”

As the sun set completely out of view, the festival only seemed to grow in energy. The residents of the oni village were there, of course, but so were a throng of humans and demihumans from Houghtow City who had come here on a special Enchanted Frigate flight for the festivities. People of all sorts were celebrating in good harmonious spirits—humans and demons, who had been at war until very recently, were all chatting with smiles on their faces as they enjoyed the festival to its fullest.

Just as the clamor of the festival reached its peak, Ura raised his arm and let out a cry. “All right!” he roared. “Come on, everyone—let’s show ’em what we got!”

“Yeah!” cheered the demons living in the village, raising their arms in response.

Ura ascended the platform the villagers had set up in the middle of the town square, where a traditional oni instrument known as a taiko drum, passed down through oni lines from the distant past, was set up and waiting for a drummer. “So-re!” Ura cried, striking the taiko with a wooden stick.

◇ ◇ ◇

Don! Doko doko doko, don! Doko doko doko...As the rhythm of the taiko drum echoed throughout the village, Kora came running up beside her father holding a wooden flute. She brought the mouthpiece to her lips and closed her eyes as she began to play a slow, lingering melody. The tones of her delicate flute mingled with the powerful beat of Ura’s drum in a perfect harmony that could be heard all throughout the mountain.

“All of you! Dance! Dance!” Ura urged, and the demons of the village obliged, dancing around the platform. They raised their arms in time with the taiko while their legs followed the flute in well-practiced steps. Each demon was dancing in their own individual style, but judging by the flawless ring the dancers formed around the central platform, there must have been some sort of order guiding their movements all the same.

[GENERATION FAILED - RAW TEXT]

“What a beautiful dance!” Rys gushed, holding Flio’s arm in hers and leaning her head against his shoulder as she watched the villagers dance. “It looks rather fun...”

“I’ve never seen a dance like it before,” Flio said with his usual easygoing smile as he watched the dance as well. “Itdoeslook kinda fun, doesn’t it?”

Soon, the visitors from Houghtow City and other towns who had arrived via Enchanted Frigate for the festival had all gathered round the ring of dancers. And in their midst was Wyne, halfway through devouring a whole watermelon.

“That looks fun-fun!” she said, jumping with delight as she ran to join the ring. “Let me dance-dance too!”

“That’s the spirit!” Ura cried out cheerfully between beats of the drum. “Dance! Dance! You don’t want to just watch, do you?! You’ve come all this way, so join in! Don’t worry about how to do it! Just follow the crowd!”

“A-hip! And a-hop!” Wyne sang, grinning from ear to ear as she danced around to her own rhythm entirely. At some point her wings materialized on her back and she took to the air, dancing in the sky above the ring of villagers. Her yukata, which she had been wearing loose to begin with, started to come undone from her frenetic dancing, very nearly exposing the onlookers to a rather scandalous sight.

“How many times have I told you?!” cried Tanya, flying in quickly on her own angel wings to protect Wyne’s modesty from the crowd of onlookers. “A young lady mustn’t act so shamelessly!” She hurried to where Wyne was dancing in midair, swiftly fixing her yukata.

“Hmph!” Wyne pouted irritably. “But it’s harder to dance-dance this way!”

“Your yukata was coming undone because of your reckless dancing, Young Mistress Wyne,” Tanya said. “I will provide an example for you, if you will forgive my presumption, so please copy my motions.” She held out her arms in a neat pose in midair and let out a breath, closing her eyes and focusing on the sound of the drums and flute.

“Behold!” she cried, her eyes snapping open as she began to dance in time with the music. It was a precise, skillful dance without a single wasted movement, well suited to Tanya’s character. Wyne couldn’t have asked for a better demonstration. Tanya looked for all the world like an illustration in a textbook.

“Whoa!” Wyne exclaimed as she watched Tanya dance from behind. “Tan-Tan, you’re good-good at dancing!”

“A-Ahem!” Tanya coughed, seemingly embarrassed by the praise. “I studied the festivals of the lower worlds during my time in the Celestial Plane, after all. But come, Young Mistress Wyne—dance with me!”

“Okay-kay!” said Wyne, resuming her dance once more. It didn’t look much at all like she was even trying to copy Tanya’s movements, but at least she was closer than last time to matching the rhythm.

A group of children looked up at Wyne, dancing with a great big grin on her face. “Look at that girl go!” one of them said. “She looks like she’s having lots of fun!”

“Yeah!” another agreed. “That looks like so much fun!”

The children joined the ring of dancers, cavorting around in imitation of Wyne.

“And after I provided them with a proper example and everything...” Tanya grumbled, glancing down at the crowd below. When she saw Wyne’s joyful face, however, she decided to let her dissatisfaction go. “Well, itisa festival, after all. As long as they’re enjoying themselves, that’s what matters.” She resolved to simply focus on her own dance.

“Oh?” said Ghozal, looking up at Tanya dancing in the sky above the crowd as he took a bite of his candied apool. “Tanya’s dancing, is she?”

“She’s so serious most of the time,” said Balirossa, following Ghozal’s gaze up as she walked beside him. “I would have expected her to refuse to take part in anything so frivolous as afestival...but the way she keeps her back so straight as she dances is truly beautiful, isn’t it?” In fact, she seemed thoroughly charmed by Tanya’s movements, unable to take her eyes off the dancing angel.

“I wanna dance too!” said Folmina, running out from between Ghozal and Balirossa to join the ring of dancers.

“If big sis Folmina is dancing, then me too!” said Ghoro, hurrying after his sister. The two did their best to imitate the villagers, cheerfully moving their hands and feet to the rhythm.

“I thought I heard some kind of commotion...” Rislei said as she returned from a tour of the stalls with Garyl and the rest of their classmates. “They’re doing some kind of dance!”

“It looks kinda fun!” said Garyl, running up to take part in the festivities. “I’ll try joining in!”

“I-If Lord Garyl wishes to dance, I shall join as well, naturally!” said Salina, hurrying after Garyl. She had been sticking close to him the whole time they were exploring the stalls as well.

Irystiel followed after them, using her ventriloquism to speak through the black rabbit plush in her arms. “Irystiel says she’ll dance if Lord Garyl is dancing!”

“Hmm...” said Snow Little. “This seems quite a bit different from ballroom dancing, but...very well! I-I’ll do my best!” She nodded emphatically, steeling her nerves as she ran up to join the dance.

“Seems like everyone’s having a blast!” said Rislei, her eyes shining with excitement. “All right! I’ll go too!”

Before she could reach the ring of dancers, however, her father Sleip came up from behind, grinning wide as he took Rislei by the hand. “Ha ha ha!” he laughed, pulling her forward into the ring. “Come on! Let’s dance together, Rislei!”

“Wah!” cried Reptor, going stiff on the spot. “R-Rislei’s papa!” He had just been about to ask Rislei to dance, only to be interrupted by Sleip.

“What’s up?” said Sadjitta, smacking the stupefied Reptor on the shoulder. “Let’s go dance.”

“A-Ah!” Reptor cried. “Th-Thank you!”

Soon, Sadjitta and Reptor too were dancing in a circle around the central stage.

A short distance away from the center of town where the crowd was dancing along to joyful music, Calsi’im and Charun sat on a reed mat. “Oh ho ho!” Calsi’im laughed, his jawbone rattling happily. “These summer festivals have quite a way to them, don’t they? And that’s to say nothing of this delicious tea of yours we have to enjoy as we watch the dance!”

“My!” Charun exclaimed happily, refilling the teacup in Calsi’im’s hands. “If you keep saying such sweet things, what choice do I have but to pour you another cup?”

“Mrrr...” Rabbitz, who had been snoring away on Calsi’im’s back, sat up and rubbed her eyes awake. “Something sounds fun...”

“Oho?” said Calsi’im, looking back over his shoulder. “Rabbitz, you’re awake!”

“Papa!” said Rabbitz, crawling up Calsi’im’s body and seizing hold of his head. “Dance! Let’s dance!”

“I-I’d love to!” said Calsi’im, frantically waving his arms as his daughter fastened herself tight to his head. “But how am I going to dance with you on top of my head?!”

“Go, papa! Go!” said Rabbitz.

“H-Hmm... You want me to dance like this, then, do you?” Calsi’im said, distress evident in his voice. “You’re asking rather a lot of your old man, you know!” In spite of his protests, however, he took to his feet with a grunt and stepped up to join the circle with Rabbitz still atop his head.

“Shall I accompany you, then?” said Charun, neatly folding up the mat and following after Calsi’im. Soon, the family of three had joined the dance as well.

“My lord husband!” said Rys, tugging on Flio’s arm as she watched. “We should dance as well!”

“We should!” agreed Flio. “But first...” He raised his arms towards the sky and cast a spell, a magic circle appearing at his fingertips and flying up and up until it burst in a shower of color, shining against the night sky like a radiant flower in bloom.

“It’s beautiful...” Rys gasped.

The rest of the crowd was of much the same opinion, crying out with delight as they gazed up at Flio’s magic.

“Wow! Incredible!”

“Is that magic?!”

“I’ve never seen a spell like that before!”

“Exalted One,” said Hiya, appearing behind Flio. “Allow your humble servant to offer their meager assistance.” They raised their arms high as well, and an array of smaller magic circles appeared in the sky around Flio’s large one, painting the sky in a panoply of color.

Next, Damalynas appeared, materializing next to Hiya. “Let me help, Your Divinity!” she said, raising her arms skyward.

“Hrm!” grunted Ghozal as he too raised his arms to the night sky. “In that case, I’ll help too!”

“Well, if all of you are joining in, I suppose I should show you a little of what I can do when I’m serious,” said Elinàsze, tearing her eyes away from the dazzling display of Flio’s magic and joining the other spellcasters.

It was a display of artistry from the greatest mages in the whole world of Klyrode. Later on, the performance would come to be known as the Miracle of the Oni Village Festival, but at the time, everyone in attendance simply enjoyed the moment of magic without a care in the world.