Chapter 61: What Festival is This for?

Due to hubris and overconfidence, Benjamin was almost bedridden. He had used [Teleportation] in hopes to show off his new powers to Sakura, something that had taken a surprising amount of energy at once.

His magic was still immense, but losing so much at once would deter an amateur like him. The surge had drained him dry; making his muscles heavy, and his vision spinning, with a dull ache throbbing behind his eyes like someone had pounded spikes into his skull.

He had collapsed the moment they arrived, his knees buckling on the stone plaza, and his world sloping sideways until Sakura caught him and half-carried him into a nearby pavilion.

Healing spells washed over him in the next instant, with potions forced down his throat tasting of bitter herbs and honey.

But slowly the fog began to lift, and strength crept back into his limbs until he could stand again without the ground swaying beneath him.

So he now looked around the place to find it vibrant.

The pavilion was open on three sides, with silk curtains fluttering in the evening breeze, and lanterns hanging from the rafters glowing soft orange.

Outside it, the capital thrummed with laughter, music, the clink of cups, including the scent of grilled fish and sweet rice cakes drifting on the wind.

Beastkin moved in colorful robes, their tails swishing, their ears perked, and children shouting and playing around the area.

“Huh? What festival is this for?” Benjamin asked, moving from the pavilion he was in, going outside.

“It’s a festival, period!” Aoi snapped, grabbing his arm. “And if you’re okay now, let’s have fun around.”

“Hey, don’t pull my arm like that!” Benjamin whined as Aoi took him away into the festive place.

They went downwards a slope, past trees and greenery, and arrived at an entertainment place near a lake:

The slope was gentle, lined with beautiful trees still flourishing late into the night, their petals drifting like jade snow. Lanterns hung from branches, their light reflecting on the lake’s surface in rippling gold.

And the entertainment area opened up before them; a wide grassy bank sloping to the water’s edge, ringed with low wooden platforms and cushions for spectators.

Beastkin filled every spot: some perched on thick branches overhead, their tails dangling; some sprawled on blankets in the grass; and others stood in loose clusters, their beast ears forward, and their eyes bright with anticipation.

Benjamin’s eyes lit up too, as he watched the phenomenon unfold.

“Amazing, isn’t it?” Aoi smirked, bumping into Benjamin.

“It is.” he smiled back, as they both sat on the grass and watched on. “Actually, there’s rarely ever anything not beautiful in Shishi-no-su,”

Now, what they were viewing were about ten beastkin well organized and using fluid movement to do a sort of dance.

The dance made the lake behind them glow a bright blue, then lines of water began to flow off the lake like liquid cursive, arcing and slithering through the air like serpents, all while glowing up the area in a cinematic view.

The dancers wore flowing robes of white and pale blue, their sleeves wide and trailing, moving in perfect harmony. Their steps were unmistakably liquid; with slow glides, sudden spins, and their arms curving like waves.

And as they danced, the lake responded to their movements: a deep blue light bloomed from the center, spreading outward in shifting rings.

Then water rose; not in sprays, but in smooth, dynamic ribbons that twisted into elegant characters, looping and spiraling above the dancers’ heads.

The ribbons glowed brighter with every motion, shifting from sapphire to turquoise to electric cyan, illuminating the entire clearing in ever-changing, dreamlike colors.

It was entirely unearthly; beautiful beastkin dancing alongside the waters, a part of nature, while a soft soothing flute was blowing in the background.

The flute’s melody floated over everything, using low yet evocative notes that rose and fell like a lungful of air, weaving through the water strings and the dancers’ movements.

The performance was calm, healing, and made you want to cry from simply how marvelous it was. Benjamin felt it in his chest: the soft ache, like the beauty was too much for his heart to hold.

“This is a really difficult art,” Aoi explained, resting her head on Benjamin’s shoulder. “It is done by the best of the best water users in Shishi-no-su… You know, I trained them myself.”

“Eh?! You did?” Benjamin snapped his head to her. “So you probably can do this better than even them?”

“Fufufu…” Aoi purred arrogantly and stood up.

Then she walked to the dancers and calmly joined the fluid movements, twisting her back and stretching her arms, bending her knees and sometimes rolling on the ground, in perfect unison with the other dancers.

And they were not deterred by Aoi. If anything, it appeared as if they were pleased she joined in, making them less tense and more flexible, like they themselves were moving waters.

Aoi’s blue hair caught the glow as she flowed into the formation, with her body arching in perfect waves.

When she had joined the group, the water responded differently; single strokes became almost living serpents, with thicker ribbons rising even higher, twisting into complex patterns that shifted in diverse colors: blue like her fur, green like the area, purple like twilight, white like moonlight.

The liquid serpents danced with her, mirroring her every bend, every spin, and her every graceful roll across the grass.

The other dancers smiled, as their tension melted from their shoulders, and their movements grew even smoother and more effortless, as if Aoi’s presence had unlocked something deeper in the performance.

Aoi glanced at Benjamin and saw that he was lightly clapping like an excited child, and she went red in the face.

“Geez… It’s not so good that you’d look at me that way,” she whispered from her performance, still dancing with the grace of a watery serpent.

As the flute ended with a soft, calming melody, all the water strings lined up with the dancers, then they flowed back into the lake with almost no ripple.

The ribbons hovered for a final heartbeat, still glowing brightly, then they descended smoothly, merging with the surface without a splash, then the blue light faded into gentle ripples that lapped at the shore.

The crowd immediately applauded the dancers as they bowed and began to leave.

Aoi skipped to Benjamin. “It seems you liked the performance.”

“No.”

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