The Festival Pt.1

As we walk into the tavern again, I see the group of elves gathered at the counter, talking to the delighted Tiasha and awing at the gold coin in her hands.

One of them, the elf who previously called me a monster, sees me from the corner of his eyes. He turns and walks toward me while his friends watch from the counter, his beaming face bright red from the alcohol.

Like all the other elves, he is very slim, but beneath his clothes, I can see traces of lean muscles, and his skin is browned with suntan. The elf takes my hand and bends his head down to kiss it.

"Your Excellency," he says.

Wow, just a bishop gets treated like this? I didn't receive such reverence back on Earth, and I had the power to eliminate religions if I wanted to.

"Good evening," I say.

He lets go of my hand and looks at me sternly. "Your Excellency, my name is Ceador. I am the chief farmer of this village, and I just want to apologize for the things we said about you earlier."

"Yeah? And what are they?" I ask.

Ceador's eyebrows furrow and says, "Your Excellency, I do not dare to repeat."

I look over to Tiasha, who is watching with a smile.

"Tiasha, why weren't you treating me like this before?" I ask.

That sounded rhetorical as it came out of my mouth.

"It's an honest question, by the way," I add.

"Let me answer that, Your Excellency, the sweet Tiasha has done nothing wrong," Ceador says, "Occasionally, soldiers from the Holy Capital come through our village, and bishops are sometimes among them. However, unlike Your Excellency, they are all vicious monsters who prey on our services and girls, taking whatever they want because they have an army with them. So we decided to not abide by the etiquette as a form of rebellion."

"Is that so?"

"Yes," Ceador continues, "but that was before we met Your Excellency, who has the generosity of the Sovereign Pontiff, Her Matriarch and Holiness, Pope St. Katherine herself."

That's a long title, but compared to Cisca, it's still falling a bit short.

A matriarch, huh? I should remind myself to tell Cisca about this when she comes back.

"Of course, I am much better than the other guys," I say.

Ceador chuckles. "Indeed, Your Excellency is much better. May I ask for Your Excellency to join our jolly occasion tonight?"

"Sure, that's where we were going anyway."

His eyes light up, and he turns to the other guys. "Let's raise the festivities by also celebrating His Excellency's grand contribution!" Ceador shouts.

"Aye!" The other elves shout back in unison and raise their mugs.

Ceador looks back at me and says, "May I humbly ask for Your Excellency's name?"

"Kris, Kris Kaplan."

"Very well, Your Excellency. We shall go join the Inferno Dragon Festival right this moment!"

His voice is too loud, his face is too close, and his breath reeks of alcohol.

This is tiring. I never liked festivals and games as they are so pointless and just an utter waste of time. I only wanted to go to this one because Lohikaarmi is the focus, and I thought I could gather some more information about the relationship between the dragons and the other inhabitants of Eden.

"Listen," I say, "I appreciate your hospitality, but I think we will just enjoy this by ourselves."

Ceador doesn't show any disappointment, as I thought he would. His smile stays.

"Ah, of course! I apologize for my intrusion. I should have known that Your Excellency already has plans with his… beautiful companions," he says.

What was that pause about? Oh, he doesn't still think….

I gesture toward Astra and say, "This is Astra, she is my little sister."

Ceador pauses and thinks about it for a second. "Right!" He comes to a sudden realization. "That makes so much more sense."

What happened to blond hair supposedly being rare, Faye? If there are two of us, wouldn't it make more sense that we are related rather than me capturing her from somewhere?

"Yes, and um, we will head out now," I say.

"Yeah! Of course! Don't let us slow Your Excellency down. Please enjoy what our little village has to offer!"

"Thank you," I say and turn around to Tiasha and the other elves at the counter. I give them a wave and walk toward the tavern door.

"What a merry guy," Astra says as we are leaving.

"Yeah, sure," I say.

I push open the wooden door. It swings out with a loud creak, and I step out into the evening.

A cool breeze brushes over me as my loose clothes flap against my skin.

The crisp air fills my nose. Mixed in there, I pick up a few fragrant scents. The strongest of them is the smell of barbecue, which hangs in the thin mist so distinctively, I can almost taste it on my tongue.

The loud crackling and sizzling of fire and grills resound throughout the town square alongside the excited singing and chattering of the crowds of villagers.

A huge, bright flame in the center of the square reaches into the sea of shining stars hanging from the clear night sky. Red banners and flags of glamorous drawings of a dragon flutter in the wind above the roads. My vision is a crimson blur.

A couple of booths with elves standing beside them are scattered around the vicinity, each one cooking up unique aromatic foods. Lanterns attach to their sides, casting a red glow to everything that's not already engulfed in the light of the five-meter-tall campfire.

A circle of elves sing and dance around it, while others roam about the square, chatting amongst each other with beverages and snacks in their hands or mouths.

Floating above the bonfire and supported by sticks untouched by the flames is the carved wooden sculpture of the same dragon depicted on the banners. Its pose looks like it's about to take flight, leaving a mountain of inferno below it. The glow of the blaze flickers under its menacing eyes.

It's very similar to a dragon I have seen, just a tenth of the actual size. The details are impressive, if not masterful.

"Sick!" Astra exclaims and runs off to one of the food stalls, her arms extending out to her sides as if she is pretending to be an airplane.

I turn around to Lohikaarmi, who is still taking everything in with wide eyes.

"Look, it's you," I say while pointing at the sculpture.

"It is…Master…it is," Lohikaarmi mumbles without removing her intense purple gaze.

I can see the fire reflected in her eyes.

"Who knew the pesky people you didn't care about admired you so much?" I ask.

"Indeed… I… suppose they are not as… pesky as I believed."