Victor Wang opened his eyes.
The first thing he saw was the ceiling of the inn, followed by the faint light outside the window.
Dawn was breaking, yet all of Sumeru City remained quiet. It was as if every early-morning task had evaporated—everyone had, without prior agreement, slept in after an especially exhausting night.
When he opened the door, Lumine and Paimon stepped out from the room opposite. Festive decorations were set up here and there on the street—only now was the Sabzeruz Festival truly began.
"So empty… totally different from how it usually feels when we head out. Looks like we're not dreaming this time, right?"
Lumine shook her head with certainty.
"Then… most people forget their dreams after waking. Such a wonderful Sabzeruz Festival, suddenly turning into the real-world version of… this…"
"There's still time to set up the festival, but everyone just woke up—headaches are bound to last a while. I don't know how much of the dream-version festival we can recreate."
Paimon and Lumine were sighing with emotion, completely unaware of the "big green fruit" wobbling toward them from the side. Victor Wang, always keeping an eye out, had no intention of allowing Arama to walk straight into Lumine. He quietly blew a gust of wind, sweeping Arama behind one of the nearby buildings.
Arama was so startled he shouted.
"Nara Victor—"
"Whooo—!"
"What a huge gust of wind!"
Victor Wang's cloak fluttered wildly. Paimon quickly held down her floating ring, and Lumine's clothes billowed gently, but with her pumpkin shorts underneath, she remained totally unbothered.
When the wind died down, Lumine immediately fixed her gaze on Victor Wang. "I think I heard someone shouting in the wind just now…"
"It was an illusion."
"Mm…? Forget it. Let's go find Dunyarzad—if it's the Sabzeruz Festival, we need real memories to take with us."
"Sure! I left something in my room. You two go on ahead—I'll catch up right away!"
"..."
Under their very suspicious stares, Victor Wang retreated back into the inn. In his room was Arama, just recently blown in through the window.
"Nara Victor, the violet Nara saw me!"
Mentioning it made Arama tremble in fear.
"I was really scared… but I didn't run. Because I promised to help you, I hid outside her window and waited until the violet Nara fell asleep… and then something bad really did come to steal her dream. Every time the bad thing tried to steal it, I stopped it. I kept stopping it until the sun came out. I wanted to wait until the violet Nara felt weak enough, but she woke up on her own… she shut down the Akasha device herself…"
Victor Wang patted the small yellow flower on Arama's head, comforting and praising him. "I saw what you did in the dream already. Arama, you completed the mission perfectly."
"Completed the mission perfectly!"
"And remember what I said before? Don't tell anyone else about this. It's our secret… But things changed. Nara Faruna's little sister already knows Dunyarzad saw you. If she sees you with me again, with her sharp mind, she'll definitely figure something out."
Having somehow instructed Arama at exactly the right time to protect Dunyarzad—it wouldn't make sense unless their stories matched.
"So, what should I do?"
"If someone asks, say you went out wandering on your own, noticed Dunyarzad wasn't doing well, and decided to protect her."
"But I don't know how to lie…"
"This is a kind lie. Think about it—it doesn't hurt anyone. It only protects my personal privacy."
"O-Okay…"
"Be confident. You're one of the few Aranara who's actually been to Sumeru City. I'm going to the Sabzeruz Festival now—want to come with me?"
"I'll wait here a little longer…"
"Then see you later."
All the people connected to the Akasha woke simultaneously from the dream. The streets now held several dizzy, groggy individuals clutching their heads. Shops and stalls opened slowly as everyone stumbled about in confusion. Most remembered nothing of what had happened—only cursing their alarms for malfunctioning.
Dunyarzad was better off. She had kept dreaming but had not been harvested, so though she was exhausted, she hadn't suffered heavy damage. Thanks to Arama's protection, she even remembered the events within the dream.
"The flower carriage parade, the Dance of Sabzeruz, and the Lesser Lord Kusanali… so it was all a dream."
Victor Wang arrived just in time to hear her sigh. As he walked closer, he said, "Even if it was a dream, dreams are still real in their own way. If the Akademiya hadn't made everyone oversleep, we'd be able to see the 'Haft-Mewa Feast,' the 'Alchemical Divination,' eat all kinds of special foods, try all the games, wander around until the parade reached us, and then receive candies and flowers from the Knight of Flowers. Oh, and this time—don't forget to bring your Kamera."
"Well said!" Paimon clapped enthusiastically.
"Victor… don't worry. I won't forget this time."
Dunyarzad smiled, turning around to fetch her Kamera. Lumine added, "You've got something else to give us too. What you're going back for isn't just the Kamera."
Dunyarzad froze for a moment, then returned with the Kamera—and a notebook. When she took the notebook out, she suddenly looked embarrassed.
"I guess… I must've given you this book in the dream already. I originally wrote it to help Victor gather material, but when I met Lumine, I thought it could help you two search for the Lesser Lord Kusanali as well…
"This record compiles all the legends about the Lesser Lord Kusanali I gathered while preparing for the Sabzeruz Festival. I interviewed many, many people, but as expected, very few actually know anything about her.
"Now I know the Lesser Lord Kusanali has always been silently watching over us, helping when danger arises, though her existence was completely covered by the Akademiya.
"And I learned what she truly looks like. So, legends like 'the Lesser Lord Kusanali is extremely tall and massively built'… please ignore those. They're far too different from reality.
"Honestly, after seeing the real Lesser Lord Kusanali, this record has lost all its value."
Lumine shook her head slowly. "You wrote this while suffering from Eleazar, and it took nearly twenty days. Its value isn't just what's written on the pages."
"…Then I'll entrust this sentiment to you. But I only wrote one copy, so you'll have to share. Also… don't laugh while reading it, okay?"
Victor Wang and Lumine accepted her heartfelt gift.
"Alright, let's go enjoy the real Sabzeruz Festival!"
…
"The merchants have already opened their stalls!"
…
"The flower carriages only have time for one parade this year—that just means more time for kids to dress up as the Dendro Archon and take photos!"
…
"Nilou remembers the dream too. Too bad there's no extinct Padisarahs this time, and no gorgeous dream effects… but what matters is you. Your dance—the Dendro Archon said it was beautiful!"
"T-The… the Dendro Archon? You mean the Lesser Lord Kusanali has seen it?!"
"Uhh…" Paimon covered her mouth, though her voice still leaked out. "Oops… slipped up. Why don't you want the Lesser Lord Kusanali to watch your dance anyway?"
"How could I not want that?! Of course I want her to see! But I'm scared—scared I'll get too nervous… and if I perform poorly… that would be awful."
Paimon snuck a glance at Katheryne, who had joined them mid-way, then encouraged Nilou: "Don't worry! The Lesser Lord Kusanali isn't here right now, the Akademiya isn't interfering either—just dance your heart out!"
"Whew… alright. The Sabzeruz Festival is almost over anyway. Let me bring today to a close with this final Dance of Sabzeruz."
===BREAK===
Like the story and want more chapters?
Join and support me by joining my Patreon!
[email protected]/SiRoasa