Strongest Noble's Daughter Uses Water Magic

Summer Festival Memories

More time had passed since the one month anniversary of friendship with Mindy. Since then, the two of us had been closer than ever, quite like sisters, rather than friends. Not only that, but as I had hoped, with the new sleeves on Mindy, no longer did a good majority of the people look at her in fear or suspicion, as they became more focused on her sleeves, finding the new style to be quite interesting. I was relieved to see Mindy finally fitting in after all this time, finally feeling comfortable being around other people. It was not like before when she pretended it was no big deal; her smiles in public these days are genuine.

Today was another special day. No, it was not another private special day, but a public event sort. For one thing, today was the day Flammel Kingdom had been founded. As such, the whole kingdom was feeling festive on this day. While the nobles were all gathering at the castle to celebrate this joyous occasion, with the exception of those who had yet to make their public debut of course, the commoners remained around the perimeter, setting up stands with the help of the guards, they who were to either be on standby at the castle or patrol around various areas of the kingdom, all while enjoying themselves to whatever goods were available, be it at the castle or the festival.

Mindy and I had just arrived at one of the many said festivals at our local area. The harpy looked around the area quite joyfully, especially as this was her first festival here. 

"Oh wow! Everything here looks so different! All this because today was the day this kingdom was formed?" she asked me.

"One of the reasons, yes," I confirmed. "Everyone is quite grateful for the first king in finding this kingdom, their home. Not only that, but it has also been protected by his family and the Anberibca Household for many generations. You could say this festival is the people's way of thanking them, and hoping that they continue look after them."

"Sounds like the king and the Anberibcas are well loved here."

I stopped in my tracks when she said that, looking down at the floor. "... Yeah... They are..." I weakly confirmed.

Mindy turned back to me in confusion at my tone, before finally realizing something. "O-Oh! I'm sorry. I-I didn't mean to bring up any bad memories..." she apologized.

I quickly masked the saddened expression on my face, not wanting to make mindy worry any more than she already was. "It's fine, really. Like you said, you didn't mean to," I assured. "Now come on. It's supposed to be a happy, fun day. So, let's go have fun." Without waiting for a response, I dragged the harpy to the many stalls around us.

There were all kinds of stalls here in the market street. Not only were there one with freshly cooked food to eat as we walk, but also stalls with games and prizes, as well as some other fun attractions. Looking at the scene around me, it quite reminded me of the festivals back in my previous life, before I got reincarnated. On one hand, it made me feel homey here, more than I had been for the past seven plus years. On the other, it also made me feel homesick.

The festival made me think back to the family and friends I had left behind back in that world. While I had been living on my own for some time before my death, I still get in contact with my parents every once in a while. It was just some small talk; nothing more. Though my dad in my previous life kept asking if I was seeing anyone and had been pestering me to introduce that person to them, not that there was there was any guy to begin with. As for my friends, though I rarely hang out with them due to work, on times when we do get together, it was always a blast, and a great stress relief from our many struggles with work and life itself. Often times, we even spoke of what happened at our respective work places, both the good points and the bad points.

 I especially remembered the last time I spoke to any of them. I was selected by the head chef of the restaurant I was working in at the time to be one of the waitresses working on the cruise ship. Apparently, he was friends with the host of the party and was invited to it as a guest. With the host's permission, he was also allowed to select some workers to work on the cruise ship, specifically those who wanted the extra experience in running their own restaurant. Likewise, the host hoped he would hire some employees from the head chef's restaurant, specifically those who would better serve the people attending the party. 

I was one of those people for the latter group, handpicked by the head chef himself. Though I had rarely worked in the kitchen, usually only filling in for when one of the chefs was absent, I knew how to handle customers, at the very least. I was so excited about working on the cruise ship, I told my friends about it, all whom were just as happy. There were a few who were frightened for my sake, as it would also mean braving through the storm that was said to come. Of course, no one dared to believe them, especially when I had assured that there would not be any sort of rain coming up for that day. But of course, not only was there rain that day, it was a storm. ... One that took my life.

Upon realizing that I had been walking down the sad memory lane, I quickly shook my head and brought myself back to the present, back to having fun with Mindy. Thankfully, it seemed the harpy did not notice my off mood, as she had indulged herself to some chocolate bananas.

"Mmm~ The food here is really good~!" she said. 

I held back a chuckle at those words. "Keep saying that, and maybe we will have nothing but takeout for the rest of our lives, wouldn't you say?"

That made Mindy panic a bit, as she gulped down the banana. "I-I-I didn't mean anything by that, honest!"

As usual, her reaction amused me so much so, I could not hold back my laughter that time, in which she noticed.

"Hey... Are you teasing me again?!"

"It's your own fault. You're making it too easy to mess with you."

At that, Mindy turned away with a pout. Before I could say anything to comfort her, we heard a call from a distance.

"Ah! Mindy! Levi! Over here!" We both turned to the source and were quite surprised to see Celina there.

"Ms. Viper? What are you doing here?" Mindy asked.

"Aside from enjoying myself to the festival like everyone else, I was searching for you two."

Her response made us tilt our heads in confusion. 

"You were looking for us? For what?" I questioned.

"I have a little something to ask of you both. Don't worry, you two will be compensated accordingly. Just follow me to my shop." Without waiting for a response from either of us, the woman left, heading straight for her clothing store.

Mindy and I looked at each other, confusion still plastered on our faces. Despite that, we decided to follow the woman anyway.