episode_0210

LLII.

Flamenco is an artistic expression, stage, and dance that combines cante, meaning song, baile, meaning dance, and toque, meaning musical technique.

― Excerpt from the festivals of the Sumerian kingdom.

◈

The place we arrived at about four days after leaving the Bruges region is the only place in the Sumerian kingdom that, along with Moderato, has the modifier ‘city’.

Just as the previously mentioned Bruck was referred to as a ‘province’, it is the only place in the Sumerian kingdom that has walls, with no walls or outer walls dividing the regions, and is expressed roughly from this side to that side.

The city of Jerez.

If the Brook region was the land of the water people, then Jerez was the land of the gnomes among the other races.

Gnome.

This alien race, whose name can easily sound strange if mispronounced, is sometimes mistaken for dwarves by some due to the keyword ‘dwarf’.

If you only look at the small stature of a toddler, you might misunderstand it that way.

However, when looking at these two races together, there is a clear difference in their body types.

The difference between ‘muscle’ and ‘beard’ is something that cannot be confused.

Dwarves are blacksmiths and have muscles all over their bodies, in keeping with their nature of preferring to use axes as big as their bodies. Their thick, stiff beards are their proudest feature.

On the other hand, a gnome with the same infant body type is closer to an infant body type.

Their arms have little muscle, and even if they do have it, it is not noticeable. Men also have a bit of facial hair, or often none at all. Women, of course, do not.

If dwarves are macho little men regardless of gender, then this guy has a lively and cute little man’s appearance.

As much as these differences in appearance may be, the relationship between gnomes and dwarves is not as good as that between elves and dwarves.

Dwarves, as befitting their nickname as a craftsman race, are passionate about making things. As long as they have a cold beer and precious materials, they will work for days without being told to, even cutting back on sleep.

On the other hand, they are always happy and enjoy playing. They are an optimistic race that loves festivals the most.

Those two races have completely opposite personalities, like oil and water, so they can’t possibly get along.

The dwarves look at him and say that he is a debauched race, and the dwarves sneer at him and call him a stupid workaholic.

Moreover, unlike the physical dwarves, they are those who become magicians or spirit masters.

The two races, with similar conditions of infantile physique, were diametrically opposed in every way, and so the dwarves hated them just as much as the elves.

Anyway, the reason that such gnomes, rare among the other races, form cities and live there is because of their playful nature, which dwarves detest.

Magic and spirits.

Among them, there is a strange race of gnomes who are fascinated by magic and have created their own unique magic system.

They had many problems to solve in order to play more freely and enjoy festivals all year round, in all seasons.

First, we need food and drinks for the festival.

Hmm? Food? Rice?

His theory is that if you eat a lot of side dishes, you will have a meal.

So he delved into magic. And spirit magic.

What a simple race this is.

Selling magic to play.

The city of Jerez is the result of efforts that do not go along with such a person.

In the city’s underground, there is a magic circle that combines the magic of the gnomes and spirit magic.

For humans, farming is a physically and mentally demanding job that is constantly exposed to the weather and the land, but for them, it is just a natural phenomenon where they sow seeds in the ground in the spring and the fruits grow on their own.

Of course, this is not a natural phenomenon, and all of this is a phenomenon that occurs due to the compatibility of magic and spirit magic.

To put it simply, this city took a whopping three hundred years to be completed?

Even from a human perspective, it would take several generations, but for a species like his, it was a very long time, equivalent to most of the average lifespan.

Anyway, the weather was cool and mild, with a mild breeze that was not suitable for the Sumerian kingdom located in the northern part of the continent.

Just a few hundred meters before entering the city, the road was covered in snow, and when you opened the carriage door, a cold winter wind blew in.

“Wow! It’s warm?”

Catherine, who found it so curious, opened the carriage window, stretched out her hand, and exclaimed in admiration, questioning whether the comforting warmth she felt was real.

“Huh?”

“What a magical carriage!”

As much as we were fascinated by this city, these naturally playful guys were thrilled to see the Dean’s magic wagon and flocked to it.

“Lifeform approaching. Stop for safety.”

No one in the group felt offended by their reckless actions, which were like charging forward without regard for front or back.

“Get hurt! Babies!”

Catherine stuck her head out the window and shouted, looking very worried.

Of course, the gnomes would be upset at the word ‘babies’, but the gnomes gathered around the car turned their gaze to Catherine upon hearing her voice, then moved their gaze to Catherine’s head,

“Huh? It’s Luminare!”

“Huh? Is there Tenevelei too?”

“Wow!!”

“Light and darkness!”

Interest quickly turned to Catherine. An ordinary adult would have been bewildered by this atmosphere, but Catherine simply smiled brightly and waved.

And looking at me who was watching myself,

“Brother. Me.”

He opened his mouth hesitantly.

“Yeah. Luminare. Tenevelai.”

– Did you find it?

– why.

“Keep it safe.”

– Don’t worry. She’s our contractor. Catherine.

– I’ll take care of it, okay! Okay, okay!

After hearing the two spirits’ pledge,

“Punishment. Maya.”

“Huh? Oppa?”

“Yes, Master.”

“Can we go out and play together and then come back to the dorm?”

“Yeah! Yeah! ”

May nodded, ready to get up right away.

“Thank you, Master.”

The squid, who didn’t know what to do with cute things, blushed and said thank you.

“And… ….”

“Stop it! You crazy bastard! Are you trying to conquer this city!!”

If the Dean hadn’t yelled at me, I would have honestly sent Shadow Inspiration along among the superhumans.

“Ugh.”

“The reason I decided to rest here in the first place was because this is the festival city of Jerez!”

“Tsk… … . Have fun.”

“Hehe. Yeah! Oppa! Okay.”

Catherine smiled, either glad to be granted permission or glad that I was concerned about her, and hugged me, gave me a soft kiss on the cheek, opened the door, and went out.

After that, May and Jingbal, similarly but more maturely(?), gave each other a kiss on the lips and left.

The clown, who was watching the scene, seemed to be contemplating whether it would be better to go out with Catherine in exchange for a kiss, or to go out with me as I was.

As the level of the Card Master increased, the level of the Arcana also gradually returned to its former level.

Finding their true self meant that their original personality, memories, and character were becoming closer to their original self.

Even when she held the position of Sogeomhu, the clown was a woman who loved and cared for children to the point of taking care of orphans.

That’s why Catherine and May are conflicted about going out and associating with a childish guy.

“Come back.”

“Is that so? Haha. I love you! Honey!”

The clown, who had given a more perfect adult kiss than ever before, opened the door and stood behind Catherine, looking around with a happy expression on his face.

He is not a clown who is always oozing sexiness, smiling with his eyes and the corners of his mouth turned up exaggeratedly.

Just like a mother who is happy to see her children, the corners of her eyes were slightly raised and a kind smile was on her lips.

“Let’s go.”

Only after I got off at the clown’s house did I feel completely at ease and start walking.

“This safety nerd is like that.”

Even after the Dean’s scolding, I just shrugged my shoulders.

“Catherine is the inspirational granddaughter.”

“But this is Jerez.”

What the Dean said is also correct.

This is Jerez.

How was it?

Jerez, the city of the bastards. Jerez, the city of festivals.

As I briefly explained earlier, this is a planned city that they built over a long period of 300 years in order to hold festivals all year round.

What is the most important thing to hold and enjoy a festival all year round?

Food, clothing, and shelter?

Yes. Food, clothing and shelter are also important.

But if the adjective “all year round” is attached, then safety must be guaranteed so that nothing can stop the festival.

I have to play, but if a typhoon comes suddenly, I can’t play.

You have to play, but you can’t play if a monster suddenly attacks.

I have to play, but I can’t play if humans suddenly barge in.

This planned city is prepared for all such eventualities.

Natural disasters are a given. Farming is just sowing seeds. This is a place where even earthquakes are prevented.

Monster?

The Sumerian Kingdom is a place where monsters are hard to find, but even if a monster pretends to be crazy and rushes into this city, the magic cannons hidden in the walls will raise their heads and attack.

In fact, there was a very famous incident where 570 mercenaries from a bad mercenary group hired by the slave trade planned an attack at dawn, but they all died in the barrage of magic cannons before they could even reach the castle walls.

It is even more famous that when this incident occurred, the gnomes were still enjoying the festival.

That’s why Jerez is called ‘the city of festivals’.

I thought Catherine would be able to roam around the city and enjoy the festivities to her heart’s content, which was one of the reasons we chose this as our transit point.

It was a city with perfect public safety. In terms of public safety, it was even better than Evergreen.

“Aren’t you going with me?”

I thought this was the moment, so I asked Lina, who was standing right next to me.

“No. I’ll stay with Gray. This time!”

“Okay. Okay.”

Lina, who had been with them since the beginning of their journey but had been staying home because of the magic spells she had been learning, only began to enjoy her trip in earnest after arriving at the Sumerian Kingdom.

As the car drove away and I felt the voices of the man and Catherine grow distant, I too relaxed my shoulders and relaxed my body for the first time in a long while.

The same was true for the other superhumans. Except for one superhuman.

“Haa… … .”

“Hoho. Brother Juda. Look at this. This week is the Flamenco Festival.”

“Fuck!”

The main character is Pope Judas, who is sighing deeply as if he has bought everything in the world.

“It’ll be easier if you give up, oppa. Hehehe.”

The reason why Canviel is smiling sinisterly and his eyes are shining like a snake stalking its prey towards Pope Judas is because this is Heres.

It’s the same reason why the Pope of Judah is disgusted.

What are you talking about?

Did I mention this is that damn city?

It was also called the city of festivals.

Besides, the city’s festival this week is “flamenco,” Frey said.

Flamenco is a rhythmic dance performed to the accompaniment of a single musical instrument.

Normally, it would have been a time to watch other women and superhumans dance, and to be interested in their outrageous, flashy, and erotic clothes.

But this is his city.

Who would the flamenco costumes that are mostly available in that city be for?

Of course, most of it will be for him.

For the little guy.

And Pope Judas is of infantile build. Just right.

Normally, Pope Judas would not have worn such clothes,

“Fuck. I got caught by Evergreen twice in a row there.”

I was in a situation where I had to wear it because of the conditions set by the Green Marvel when I lost.

That too,

“Wait, bro. We’ll prepare something really cool.”

It is chosen by superhumans who are unpredictable, called ‘Puakan (Frey, Advakiel, Khanviel)’.