Chapter 325:
A Brightly Colored Village
“Ciel, Sora, you’ll both have to get back into the bag now.”
Since we were getting close to Hatahi Village, it was time to return everyone to their bag. Seven days had passed since we found all that fruit. Since then, we’d mined some magic stones from a cave, foraged some more fruit and nuts, and even happened upon an illegal dump. That was where Sol really got a chance to show off. The symbols that appeared on Sol’s body when it floated had turned into a muted silver that looked really cool. But Sol was perpetually round now, and we were a little worried that it wasn’t returning to its former shape.
“Ivy, do you sense any human auras around?” Druid asked, casting glances at our immediate surroundings.
“Lemme check… Nope.”
I did feel a human aura in the distance, but there weren’t any monster auras nearby. That was probably because Ciel had been out of the bag earlier.
“Then let’s head on to the village road.”
“Yes, let’s.”
We walked in the direction Ciel had told us to go until the village road came into view. That’s our Ciel!
“We’re almost there,” Druid remarked.
“Yeah.”
“Since we’ll be arriving about fifteen days ahead of schedule, we’ll have our choice of an inn.”
“Do they really fill up that quickly?”
“Yeah, the village gets crowded the day of, so we’ll have to be careful not to lose each other.”
“Got it.” I wonder just how many people will be there. I’m excited about the festival, but I get a little nervous when I think about being around all those people. Hmm… Will I be able to enjoy myself?
“Don’t worry, everyone’s just there to enjoy the festival.” Sensing my anxieties, Druid gave my head a reassuring pat. “Just relax and enjoy yourself.”
“I will.” As long as Druid is with me, I should be okay. “Whoa! Is that the village gate?”
I was startled by the sight of a gate that could only be described as flashy. It was covered top to bottom in splashes of color.
“Well, flashy is the name of the game in this village. Just wait until you see what’s inside.”
It’s flashy inside, too? Is it really okay for them to have such a showy front gate? I stopped in my tracks and stared up at it. It was made of wood; that much was no different from the other towns and villages. But the wood was painted in bright colors. From reds to blues to greens, it was covered in a kaleidoscope of hues.
“That painting…what’s it supposed to be?”
It looked like the scribbled art of a toddler. In places, it even seemed like the colors had been smashed onto the door with some kind of tool.
“It probably started out as a painting of something, but it’s taken on more and more splashes of color with each festival.”
“It gets painted during the festivals?”
“That’s right. Some people throw their cakes of powdered paint at the gate.”
So that’s why the picture is abstract. But cakes aside, is it really all right to throw things at the gate? What a strange village.
“And on the day of the festival, everyone wears all-white clothes.”
“White clothes? But I don’t have any white clothes.”
“Don’t worry, they sell clothes specifically for the festival. You wear them for two days straight.”
“Why for two days?”
“I’ll explain later; let’s go inside first. The gatekeeper’s been giving us funny looks.”
The gatekeeper was staring at us, probably because we’d spent so much time talking and looking at the gate. When we got closer, we received a wary glare. Now I felt bad.
“Hello, we’d like to enter the village.”
“You would? Well, please give me either a guild card or some other form of identification.”
The gatekeeper sounded quite guarded. Were we really acting that suspiciously? Druid pulled out his guild card, so I took out mine in turn. After confirming our identities, the gatekeeper sighed loudly.
“Oh, what a relief. You’re a bit early for the festival, and you kept staring at me, so I was worried you were up to something.”
“So sorry about that,” I apologized. “This is our first time here, so I was asking him why the gate was so flashy.”
“Aha, you’ve never been here before?”
“That’s right.”
“Well, the festival sure does get flashier and flashier every year.” The gatekeeper looked up at the gate. “Do you have any plans for your stay in Hatahi?”
“Yes, we’re here for the festival.”
“What?! But that’s not for another month.” The gatekeeper was startled.
I guess we really did get here too early. “Ahh, well, we were worried we wouldn’t be able to get a room at an inn, so we came early,” I explained.
“Oh, now I see. Yes, we do get more and more visitors every year, and the inns sure do fill up.”
“Ah, that reminds me, do you know of any good inns?”
“Let me see… Oh, could you write your reason for coming to town on this form here?”
“Sure.” Druid took the paper from the gatekeeper.
“Since you’re here for the festival, I assume that means you’ll be staying for about a month?”
“That’s the plan, yes. We thought about camping in the plaza, but we figured we’d better not at this time of year.”
“Yes, don’t stay in the plaza. Just yesterday, some idiots caused another big brawl. Especially with that pretty little daughter of yours, you definitely should avoid camping in the plaza this time of year.”
Is it really that bad? So bad he had to tell us twice not to stay there?
“If you’re looking for an inn that’s not too expensive, go down Main Street, then take the fourth right. After a minute or two, you’ll come across an inn called Kokoron. The innkeeper there is friendly and full of fun.”
“Is there a bath?”
“Oh, every inn in Hatahi comes with a bath. It’s regulation; you can’t build an inn without one.”
Baths are required by law? Wow, what a village.
“That’s news to me,” Druid said.
“The bath at Kokoron is big, too, so it’s famously nice and relaxing.”
“Well, I’m looking forward to seeing it. Thanks.”
“No problem. Have fun at the festival, you two.”
“Thanks. And we appreciate the tip on the inn.”
“Yes, thank you very much,” I added.
“Oh, don’t mention it.”
We stepped through the gate and looked at the streets unfolding before us, which were definitely flashy. In fact, they used so many different colors that there was nothing uniform about them.
“It’s making my eyes tired,” I sighed.
“Ha ha ha! That’s how everyone feels the first time they come here, but you’ll get used to it in a month.”
I guess it will take quite a while before I get used to it, then. But just look at all the colors on the doors, window frames, and walls!
All the houses clashed completely with each other. And they each used primary-adjacent colors, too, so all of Main Street gave off a bright and colorful mood.
“The gatekeeper said to go down Main Street, then take the fourth right… Oh, is that our inn?”
Around the corner and several houses down stood a bright blue building: Kokoron, the inn that the gatekeeper had told us about.
“Wow…it’s so blue.”
“It sure is,” Druid agreed. “Bright-blue walls with a bright-yellow door.”
“But the window frames are black.”
We opened the door and stepped into Kokoron.
“Huh? It’s completely different inside.”
I’d assumed that the inside would be just as flashy as the outside, but Kokoron was decorated with furnishings of incredibly muted colors.
“Come on in! Welcome to Kokoron. I’m Chikar, the innkeeper.”
I looked in the direction of the voice to see a bespectacled man smiling at us. He was about as tall as Druid but much thinner.
“My name is Druid, and this is Ivy. We’d like to stay in Hatahi for a while. Do you have a room available?”
“We sure do. The festival isn’t for another month, so we’ve got plenty of space. Will you be sharing a room?”
“Yes, please.”
“How long will you be staying?”
“We’re going to the festival, so we still haven’t decided when we’ll be leaving.”
“All right. I’ll just calculate your bill for a month for now.”
“Thank you.”
“It’s seven radal per month with breakfast included. Suppers are sold separately.”
This village seemed more expensive than the last one. Maybe that was because the inns got crowded during the festival season.
“Okay. Do we just tell you whenever we want supper?”
“Sure thing. All right, you’ve got a corner room on the third floor. There’s a kitchen on each floor that’s free to use. I’ll just escort you to your room, then.”
We followed Chikar upstairs to the third floor.
“This is the kitchen.”
I looked at the third-floor kitchen. It was filled with pots and pans and looked like it would be easy for me to use.
“And here is your room.” He led us into a large, clean room. “Does everything look okay?”
“Yes, I’m glad to see it’s so cozy and unobtrusive,” I answered.
The common living space may have been furnished in muted tones, but I’d been worried about what the individual rooms were like. If they were splattered with color like the outside, I wouldn’t have been able to relax. But my worries were for nothing: The wood tones in the room made me feel really warm and cozy. I was so relieved.
“Hee hee! Glad you like it. Will you both need supper tonight?”
I guess he knows exactly what I was worried about. That’s a little embarrassing.
“Yes, please, if it’s not too much trouble.”
“Okay, supper for two.”
As soon as Chikar left our room, I flopped onto my bed. “This village sure is fascinating.”
“It really is. Want to take a walk around later? We’ve got information for the adventurer guild anyway.”
“Sure.”
I’m so excited for the festival!
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