Ch.148Festival (5)

[Play Time: 9,999 hours]

In Nettel, or rather in the Dark Realm…

They celebrate birthdays in a somewhat military fashion.

How should I put it? Like they have to do it all at once each month?

Perhaps it’s because people die so frequently in this world, but birthday celebrations follow that pattern.

It’s quite humanitarian in the sense that they don’t bash your head in with a “who has time for birthdays when we’re struggling to survive,” but even that was something only done in the imperial center.

I was secretly feeling burdened by the fact that this grand festival and banquet was solely for me, so I felt relieved.

“But since it’s just our Sejin and a few others, I think everyone will gather to celebrate Sejin’s birthday.”

My sister patted my bottom reassuringly as she spoke.

“…My stomach hurts.”

“Oh my, does the food not agree with you? Are you okay? Should I prick your finger?”

“No, it’s just… I feel sick from the pressure.”

My sister, who had been frantically searching for a needle, laughed at my words and gently caressed my cheek.

“I suppose our Sejin never did like being the center of attention.”

“No, I actually like attention. This is just a bit… how should I say it? Excessive, maybe.”

“Excessive? Among the people here… there’s no one who hasn’t received help from you.”

Though my sister insisted this celebration was well-deserved, I still felt uneasy. How should I put it? I don’t feel like I belong in a place like this.

In fact, this was why I initially refused when Lorian first advised me to form a faction.

I’m not suited for leadership roles.

It was for the same reason that I later declared I would be a figurehead leader in name only. I have an incurable condition where I become uncomfortable when too much attention is focused on me.

If it were enemies glaring at me, that would be fine, but when it’s benevolent gazes like these…

“But who have I actually helped? I could understand if it were Uncle.”

“Hmm?”

My sister opened her eyes wide in surprise, then smiled.

It was as if she hadn’t expected me not to know. She tilted her head briefly, then smiled.

“Didn’t I tell you?”

“No, you didn’t.”

“I must have forgotten again. I’m sorry.”

“No, why apologize… anyone can forget things.”

I don’t like it when my sister apologizes. It brings back unpleasant memories, times when I was a burden to her.

Knowing this well, my sister covered her mouth with an “oops” and deliberately changed the subject.

Or rather, she made a 180-degree turn back to the original topic.

“Anyway! Everyone here has received help from you.”

“Really…?”

Honestly, it doesn’t feel real at all. With Uncle, I could say he received psychological salvation from my suggestions.

As for the rest, I barely remember their faces. Their names too.

Something uncomfortable stirred inside me, but I desperately ignored it.

“The Inquisitors were the people most deeply connected to the darkness of the Empire. They were all… nakedly exposed to Nettel’s influence.”

“Ah.”

I suppose, considering their work, they would have touched the truth early on.

Wait, but Melody never mentioned anything like that?

My sister answered my unspoken question:

“Melody is vulnerable to surprise attacks. We deliberately excluded her. With the more threatening me in the imperial palace, they wouldn’t act rashly.”

Something seemed to contradict what she had said before. When I furrowed my brow, my sister read my thoughts.

“Before… I wasn’t certain that Sejin was really Sejin.”

“Ah.”

My sister… telling a lie?

Haha, a lie.

I lightly brushed aside the truth from moments ago. Sometimes humans choose to forget in order to preserve their sanity.

“Everyone was just looking for a way out. That’s why the escape happened so quickly. I was also waiting for an opportunity.”

“So…”

“Yes. When I thought I had my chance, I escaped. The Inquisitors were able to bring their families out, I was able to gather everything I needed… and Melody, who could be in danger if ambushed, was sent ahead.”

Ah, so my sister had a plan all along.

Of course she did.

She is my sister, after all.

The blood that connects us has given us insight and intellect that ordinary people couldn’t imagine, along with opposing traits of conscience and humility.

I simply accepted this and welcomed my sister’s touch.

“So I think Sejin is the protagonist of this banquet. Shall we stop dawdling and go out?”

My sister smiled as she adjusted my clothes and checked my hair.

I sighed, as if I had no choice but to yield to her insistence.

“I suppose magic doesn’t last forever either. And we can’t keep people waiting.”

The magic Melody cast does last long and works well, but…

The people waiting outside aren’t under a spell. I cleared my throat and stepped forward.

As I pulled back the curtain and stepped forward, what I saw was…

“…Wow.”

Even I was surprised by the sight.

The Temple of All Gods could never be described as clean, even as a polite lie.

Not only is it enormous, but it had been ravaged by beasts like Brock over time, leaving it in shambles.

Yet now it looked like a neat banquet hall.

Of course, the floor was still stone, and if you turned your head slightly, you could see trees, grass, and the stone path stretching down to the foot of the mountain.

Even so, this tranquility and harmony was astonishing.

A hanging red curtain served as the backdrop for the banquet, and crimson lanterns hung throughout illuminated the space.

People cheered for me, leaving the food on wooden tables lined with candelabras.

The resounding cheers, the dense human presence.

All these people gathered together were celebrating me.

They congratulated me on my birthday, and some had already started singing songs of their own accord.

It was an unfamiliar song. At least, not a birthday song I recognized.

But as I listened, I found myself having to close my lips. My mouth corners turned up while a part of my chest felt heavy.

I must have indigestion after all.

I should have asked her to prick my finger.

My sister slipped to my side, wrapped her arm around my waist, and gently stroked it.

“Don’t cry.”

“…I’m not crying. Who’s crying?”

“Hehe, right. Because Sejin is a man?”

With those words whispered in my ear, my sister released me, and I headed toward the seat of honor at the banquet.

As expected, there was one empty seat, with familiar and unfamiliar faces on either side.

Well, not completely unfamiliar. I had passed by and greeted them before.

“Ruvellin! I saved you a seat.”

But one face I definitely knew. I cleared my throat as I approached.

“Melody.”

“Sit down. Sit. Everyone’s waiting.”

Melody chuckled and patted the seat beside her. I nodded and sat down.

Everyone immediately looked at me.

A silence fell. A silence that seemed to be waiting for me to say something.

I glanced around for a moment, then looked at Melody and the Inquisitor’s wife sitting next to her, whom I’d met in passing.

They smiled at me as if yielding to me, and I briefly surveyed the gazes fixed on me.

Ah, in this situation…

After some hesitation, I picked up the cup in front of me.

The cup already contained something. Not alcohol.

Rather, it was something very familiar. Something close to the fruit-steeped tea that Isla often carried around.

But it felt like something had been added to make it more like a beverage. I smiled and raised my cup.

“Cheers!”

People laughed. They apparently didn’t expect me to make a toast so abruptly.

Well, I’ve never been to a drinking party or festival before, so what could I do?

As I smiled awkwardly, people chuckled softly before raising their cups as well.

Cheers!

The shout echoed like a chorus.

It was a diverse array of voices.

Mostly beastkin and humans, but also a minority of elves, shapeshifters, blood kin, and even necromancers.

Listening to these voices of all genders and ages, I felt a lump in my throat.

If I had known it would be like this, I should have had a birthday party with just my sister.

I thought this as I sat down, and the banquet began.

The sound of chatter pleasantly filled the Temple of All Gods. Sounds of laughter, drinking, and conversation.

As they ate the magically prepared food, people were either hoping for the future or reminiscing about the past.

Sometimes they focused on the present, praising the taste of the food, and at other times they raised their glasses to wish luck to the three birthday celebrants.

Later on, everyone was standing rather than sitting.

Some people created dazzling spectacles with magic, perhaps to show off their talents, while others pulled out instruments and gave surprising performances.

At this impromptu concert, I could see an elderly couple dancing, and Hui receiving pieces of meat cut by Uncle Mourner.

I smiled and stood up from my seat.

Mingling wasn’t difficult.

I may not be what you’d call an “insider,” but I know how to get along with people, and they didn’t expect much from me either.

I met people, drank with them, laughed at their jokes…

I even held back during an inexplicable arm-wrestling match and went along with it, passing the time this way.

By the time I felt I had circulated through the entire banquet hall, I noticed two small figures chatting at the outer edge of the venue and approached them.

“Mom, what are you doing here?”

“Huh? Me? Mom?”

“Since I am the creator of the homunculus, I am the mother. Don’t mind it. It’s just a joke between me and that child.”

Melody and Ortemilia. The two most skilled magic users in my group were standing side by side.

“What? Am I just a joke to my mom? That hurts.”

“You’re getting quite bold because it’s your birthday. Next you’ll be hitting your mother again.”

“What…?”

“It’s a joke.”

“Ah, that kind of joke… You scared me.”

Melody clutched her chest in relief, and Ortemilia, watching her, chuckled and elegantly drained her cup.

I smiled at the two small figures, and Ortemilia, seeing me smile, tapped Melody’s shoulder for some reason.

“Come visit me occasionally. I enjoy conversing with you because it doesn’t give me a headache.”

“Oh, I will.”

“Son, don’t drink too much. Enjoy today. All the headache-inducing conversations can be postponed.”

With those words, Ortemilia waved and walked away.

I don’t even drink alcohol, so what’s this about drinking too much?

I smiled briefly, and Ortemilia went off to engage Isla in conversation in the distance.

So Melody and I were left alone. Melody scanned the banquet hall with her eyes and then smiled.

“Shall we take a walk?”

“Sure.”

Melody walked ahead, and I followed her.

It was a familiar path. The path leading to the flower garden where I had taken a nap yesterday.

Is this some famous spot that only I don’t know about? Well, there are so many flowers. I continued walking, and Melody reached out to link her arm with mine.

“Have you been here before?”

“Yes, I even took a nap there yesterday.”

“Aha, I thought something looked pressed down…”

Melody walked along, chuckling.

She was wearing a black dress, not her usual clothes.

It seemed to have a structure with separate inner and outer layers. I’m not knowledgeable about clothes, so I couldn’t tell exactly.

“It suits you well. You look cute.”

“…Thank you. I wore it because I wanted to look pretty.”

It was definitely a beautiful dress that suited Melody well.

How should I put it? It contrasted with her bright upper half.

Melody, pleased with my compliment, hummed a tune as she walked, and I continued toward the flower garden with my arm linked with hers.

Ah, they really are pressed down.

I frowned slightly at the sight of flowers crushed where I had slept.

It’s like that thing from police dramas where they outline dead bodies.

I don’t know what it’s called though.

Melody observed my face and chuckled.

“Don’t worry. I’ll fix it for you.”

Then she whistled. A long, sustained whistle, her eyelashes lowering as she closed her eyes. As I stared blankly at Melody’s face, the flowers that had been crushed where I lay slowly raised their heads.

But that wasn’t all.

The whistling continued. The thin, melodious whistling reached a certain scale, and the moment it transformed into a pleasant, enjoyable sound…

I saw the flowers simultaneously emit a pure white radiance.

Petals took flight. Through the fluttering petals, the night sky beyond the ridge glowed blue.

At least, that’s how it appeared to me.

While I was entranced by the garden’s radiance, Melody stepped in front of me with light footsteps.

A beautiful girl standing amidst the glowing flower garden and floating radiance.

Melody smiled.

“Is it pretty?”

Which one? Suppressing the question that almost escaped, I took Melody’s gently extended hand.

Her desire was obvious.

“I can’t dance. Is that okay?”

“I’ll teach you. Just follow my lead.”

Melody gently guided my hand. She smiled brightly.

“It would be a shame not to dance on your birthday, wouldn’t it?”

As a Korean, this sentiment is unfamiliar to me, but when in Rome, do as the Romans do.

I surrendered to Melody’s lead and danced.

Carefully avoiding stepping on the glowing flowers, faithfully following Melody’s guidance.

As we danced, I became convinced:

Damn, I’m doing really well.

Even Melody smiled. Though the movements were basic rather than flashy or showy…

Melody and I harmonized beautifully, using the flower garden as our dance floor.

By the time the dance ended, I felt a bit disappointed.

There are many joys in the world. Perhaps it’s due to having a good teacher.

I met Melody’s eyes and smiled, and she gently pulled on my hand.

“Ruvellin, you know… I’ve been thinking…”

As she pulled my hand closer to her, and that hand wrapped around Melody’s waist…

Melody looked up at me with a slightly flushed face and spoke.

Or rather, she tried to speak.

Before she could, her face froze. Her complexion turned pale, the redness that had colored her face drained away.

Her pupils dilated, and being so close, I could see something reflected in her eyes.

There was a crack in the sky.

And neither of us was naive enough not to recognize what it was.

It was the aftermath of spatial movement.

[Play Time: 10,000 hours]