Arc 3 - Chapter 33: Spring Carnival (3/3)

"...and the demon queen,

She turned to the noble and handsome knight.

She said I'd offer you everything;

Just marry me.

Thrown of the entire underworld,

The red crown of hell,

Armies of the wasteland,

I'll give it all to you if you marry me.

That's all I ask of you, noble knight,

I'll give you everything you want in return.

I will lay the world at your feet,

I'll put the crown you want on your head.

The noble knight looked at the demon queen,

She had white hair like old women.

Her skin was wrinkled, dead.

The smell was unbearable for a human being.

The knight said my answer is my sword.

I can't be fooled by your promises,

I'll send you away with the blow of the morning,

To the bottom of hell.

And the knight raised his sword,

He brought it down on the queen's chest.

The knight's coup,

He cleansed the world of evil."

There was something frightening about a song about demons and the horrible concept of killing someone, sung in a cheerful tone, that he couldn't understand.

But unlike Yu, the group of children, including Yurine, watched the puppet show with bated breath as they sang this epic song. Even though they missed the beginning of the song, Yu said they hadn't lost anything because he didn't like the song.

"Yu, let's watch one more."

"You like it?"

For Yu, who can watch any video he wants on his phone screen, the puppet show in a wooden box behind a thin curtain was no fun.

But Yurine followed the show with excitement. She couldn't sit still watching the simple movements of the puppets, but at the same time she couldn't take her eyes off them.

"Hmm-hmm. Let's watch another one."

The people who had just performed were taking a break. Yu started to watch the areas where the children gathered to find the puppet shows.

But there were no other puppeteers.

"I think we should move on, young lady. We'll meet other puppeteers."

"Didn't I tell you not to approach Yu?"

"You did, but as your bodyguard, we have to approach you."

Ana smiled at Yurine and Yurine could not refuse her logic. With a sigh and a gesture to the back, Ana went to her friends in the back.

She hadn't gone very far, in fact, only three steps separated them.

Kigaro walked ahead and cleared the way while the other roarons stood like walls around Yurine. They attracted too much attention, but they had no choice as people jumped in front of Yurine and begged for help.

They could find work for a few people, feed them and advertise it, but soon others would be lining up and there would be an endless line of beggars.

That's why they kept the people away from Yurine and didn't allow a beggar to appear before her. They had no intention of ending the night listening to someone's troubles.

The whole square was lined with rows and rows of stalls, and the stalls extended into the alleyways.

In some places there were tents for special guests. The last time Yu went into a tent in Rolderhelm, Lucie made him to pay. He had learned his lesson and didn't go near the tents.

Yu occasionally glanced behind him to make sure the girls were following them. Separating their group could cause problems.

"It's a good thing Luna stayed behind. If she was with me, I would have had to deal with her."

Luna caught Yu when he turned around to check on them and smiled. Yu smiled again, unperturbed, and Sivina, who had grabbed the two of them, looked at Yu as if he was some kind of lowlife asshole.

"My heart, it hurts..."

"Yu, they sell food."

"We can't eat, you could get poisoned."

They could not buy food from outside. Yu carefully watched the preparation of the food they ate. He didn't let anything unfamiliar go down their throats for fear of poisoning. The food they ate was specially prepared.

"Yu, there are clothes. Look, they look like mine."

"You are the ruler here, you cannot dress where ordinary people dress."

There was a vendor selling different colored versions of the yukata Yurine wore.

"Again, someone from the world has come and produced here."

Yu had designed and sewn Yurine's outfit himself and did not expect to see such clothes in the Mora, which culturally resembles medieval Europe.

"Yu, that man over there is practicing magic."

"You don't even have to look at what he's doing, it's dangerous."

If he was practicing magic, he could have thrown a fireball or an ice knife at Yurine before they knew what was happening. There was no need to take any risks.

Yurine's morale was plummeting as her every request was denied.

"How about looking at the toys?" Yu asked.

"Do you think I'm a child who plays with toys?"

Yu shook his head. "Every night you sleep with the bear I gave you."

"It's not the same thing!"

"Suit yourself."

Apart from watching harmless performances, listening to songs and buying souvenirs, there was little else for them to do. Wanting to avoid the slightest risk of action, Yu led the group through places with the least danger and the least excitement.

"At festivals like this, there are fire dancers and stuff, and most people come here to watch such things. Why are we looking at boring places?" Sivina asked. She sped up a little and came up to them.

"To stay out of danger. You say he's a fire dancer, what if he suddenly throws fire at Yurine while we're watching him, and Yurine's pretty face burns? Who would pay for that? There is a possibility of something like that happening and we will do the most logical thing to eliminate that possibility, we will stay away."

"You're boring, Mr. Valarfin."

"You'll understand when you become a mother."

He responded to criticism of his paranoia with a cliché response. Maybe it was boring, but for Yu, boring was acceptable if everyone would sleep safely at the end of the night.

"I, I give up. Let's get the toys."

"Are you a child to play with toys?"

"Let's have it! Come on, come on. Then let's go back and watch the puppeteers again, their break is over."

"Okay."

As they made their way to a stall where toys were lined up, this time it was Luna who came up to him. She gathered her courage and excitedly called out to Yu.

"Mr. Valarfin! They're dancing in the square, shall we go and see them?"

"Where did you hear that?"

"The man who sold me this told me."

Luna showed Yu the cotton candy in her hand.

"Go to back, nush nush..." Yurine didn't let her talk to Yu anymore and gestured for her to go to Sivina and Ana.

Then she dragged Yu in front of a stall. This stall was not the toy stall Yu had planned to come to.

"Yu, I want you to play with this. You pick up the arrow here and throw it at the toys, and whatever you drop is yours."

"I've seen in anime, they do it with a rifle."

He looked forward to such scenes and Sivina taught him how to use the sword as well as the bow and spear. So he thought he could achieve something.

"You were using that rifle thing here? Are you stupid?" Yurine shouted. She thought it was the same rifle with Yu's. "Why are you doing such a dangerous thing?"

"It's not that kind of rifle, anyway..." Yu put a few copper coins on the counter and called out to the middle-aged man at the counter.

Yu's coppers gave him two arrows. The arrow he was going to use was one of the toy arrows, the bow didn't stretch much and the arrow was small. Moreover, he saw that the arrow was curved sideways to make it harder to shoot.

"Well, well, well, asshole..."

The prizes were arranged in a pyramid. The top prize was the most beautiful, an ornate doll, exquisitely designed.

In the middle were stuffed animals and at the bottom were simple wooden toys.

In fact, it would have been easy to hit one of them with an arrow, but there were ten meters between them and there were obstacles hanging in the air to make it difficult.

"If I throw it at the top, can I succeed with this? I have a better chance of hitting the ones in the middle. The toys at the bottom have the best chance of hitting, but they're so crappy, the ones in the middle are the best."

He pulled the bow towards him, putting the load on his back as Sivina had taught him, but since it was already a toy, there was not much difficulty. He held his breath and released the arrow.

"Well done, Yu."

The toy that fell down was a stuffed bear. Disappointed, the shopkeeper picked it up and gave it to Yu. He had lost a toy that could have made him more money for a few coppers.

"Well done, Yu. Keep it up."

She took the toy from Yu and waited for the second shot. Yu stretched the bow again and again aimed at one of the prizes in the center of the pyramid.

This time the shopkeeper hit the floating boxes hard and caused them to sway rapidly. He made it difficult for Yu to hit them again.

"Don't I have to hit this bastard to spite him?"

He drew the bow and released the arrow using the same tactic as before.

Even it was a stuffed bear again, he shot it in the end.

The clerk clicked his tongue and gave the prize to Yu, who gave it to Yurine.

"Thank you Yu!" Yurine hugged Yu as she continued to hold the bears. "Now the puppets!"

"Let's look at the puppeteer first and then go to the square. Hey, let's go."

Sivina, Ana and Luna were busy shopping at the next stall. Sivina left Ana to pay and came over to Yu.

"I was going to try my luck at shooting arrows."

"You're going to sink him with every throw."

Sivina balled her hands into fists under her chin, pursed her lips and opened her sea-green eyes wide.

"W-why are you making such a sweet face now?"

Yurine was too busy hugging Yu to notice the wordless interaction between Sivina and Yu. If she had, Yu would have been pinched again.

"Fine, do it, but don't overdo it. We don't want to take everything for a few coppers."

"Aye!"

Sivina won the most expensive prizes with the few copper coins she had paid and distributed them to everyone, including Yu, and then they continued the feast, first to watch the puppet show and then the performance in the square.