City ​​of Witches 437

Chapter 437 – #91_Merry Christmas(9)

#436

1.
Even a boring experience can become an unforgettable, special memory depending on who you share it with.
The play, which was more boring than expected, was also a unique experience when watched with Sharon.

The two left Lenomond Town and entered the square of Tarot Town.
The peak of the harvest festival is from sunset onwards.

As the long twilight completely hid beneath the spire, a large bonfire was lit in the middle of the square, accompanied by loud singing.

Musicians playing various instruments such as oboes, lutes, and bagpipes hopped around like rabbits, playing lively tunes, followed by men with mugs of alcohol, laughing heartily.

Older women lined up under tents with food prepared at home, while pretty young women, with barley ears tucked behind their ears, coolly brushed off the advances of young men.

Amidst the festive atmosphere, street vendors, aiming for loosening wallets, raised their voices, holding boards full of flowers and ornaments.
Couples, arm in arm, danced in circles around the flames that reached the sky.

The festival, enjoyed by everyone without a single frown, pulled down the stars from the night sky to shine instead.

“Ttan ttarara ttanttan.”

Sharon looked incredibly excited.
She couldn’t contain her overflowing excitement, walking with her heels bouncing.
She sang along to the catchy music and even spun around with Siwoo, arm in arm.

“You’re having a lot of fun, aren’t you?”
“Yeah! It’s the harvest festival after 10 years!”

Having been born and raised in Gehenna, Sharon had only good memories of the harvest festival.
She had been too busy struggling with massive debt to pay attention to the festival, but now she was incredibly happy to enjoy the festival with a relaxed heart, especially with her boyfriend, Siwoo.

“Siwoo, shall we try that?”
“What?”
“Bang Mariani.”

Moreover, there was one thing that made the festival even more exciting…

It was Gehenna’s Red Bull, called Bang Mariani.
The recipe was very simple.
Just add coca leaves to well-aged wine and lightly brew it.

Unlike cocaine, which extracts only the narcotic components from coca leaves, brewing it raw like this almost eliminates the addictive properties and provides a great stimulant with energizing effects and a slight sense of euphoria.
In fact, it was sold at Tarot Town’s pubs on holidays.

“Huh? I want to try it!”

Even so, it was still coca leaves…
But if Sharon wanted it that much, there was no need to refuse.

In the first place, with self-defense, the spirit body itself was practically immune to drug addiction, and Gehenna’s Bang Mariani wasn’t very addictive either.
Let’s think of it as a small deviation for a special experience.

“Cheers!”

After buying a bottle each with a few silver coins, they did a love shot.
The sweet grape scent and the wine went down smoothly.

The effect?
Honestly, there was almost none.
It just made them a little tipsy and slightly energized.
Well, the Gehenna City Hall, which was very strict about drugs, wouldn’t let dangerous substances circulate.

“It’s nothing special, is it?”
“I guess not.”

The two, smiling foolishly at each other, naturally blended into the festival afterward.
They looked at bronze ornaments and glass crafts on the stalls, and shared spicy ginger cookies sold on the street.
The festive atmosphere, enjoyed by many, was converted into vitality, flowing through their veins.

As they moved from stall to stall in the crowded streets, a girl who didn’t seem to be even 12 years old called out to Siwoo.

“Gentleman! Handsome gentleman!”

It was so noisy and such an unfamiliar title that at first, they didn’t even realize she was calling them.
It was only when the girl tugged at their sleeves that the two realized the word ‘gentleman’ was directed at Siwoo.
Sharon, whose face had turned slightly red from the alcohol, giggled at the minor incident.

“Siwoo, when did you become a gentleman?”
“Don’t tease me, what’s the matter?”

Siwoo asked, forcing a wry smile and meeting the child’s gaze.
The girl, with a bold look on her freckled cheeks, proudly showed the flower in her hand and said.

Looking at Sharon, she would have recognized her as a witch at a glance, but she wasn’t intimidated at all.
She was no ordinary child.

“Look here, we have beautiful flowers that suit a witch! They say that winning a beauty’s heart is a hero’s task! Present it to her right now!”
“Really? Should I buy one?”
“Wow! Pretty! Ahem, go pick a pretty flower. Dol-soi.”

The girl, perhaps caught up in the friendly atmosphere, advertised even more enthusiastically.

I should buy one.
Everyone seems to be wearing flowers or barley ears behind their heads or ears, so it would suit Sharon too.

“Okay, how much is a rose?”

Siwoo smiled and rummaged through his wallet.
Although support from the Jemernai family had been cut off, he still had some money left from his host bar job.

“You know, a gift is more about the heart behind it than the gift itself.”
“Huh?”
“This flower is ordinary, but it’s important that it’s presented to a beautiful witch on a special day like today.”

Is she going to talk for a while?
Sharon, who had been smiling, showing her white teeth, watched the negotiation between the girl and Siwoo with great interest.
Well, it was more like getting ripped off than a negotiation.

“In your opinion, how much value does this flower have when it adorns the witch’s hair?”

In short, she was asking him to pay as much as he wanted to give, as much as the meaning behind it.
When Siwoo just blinked, the girl sighed as if frustrated and said.

“About 2.5 pennies per flower would express at least half of that burning affection, wouldn’t it?”

The prices in Gehenna were quite difficult to understand, but a rose costing about 10,000 won was a rip-off.
Still, she was cute, and it was a festival, so he decided to buy all the remaining roses from the girl.

If he bought all the remaining roses, this little one could go play somewhere, right?

“Then, give them all to me. Keep the change.”
“Yes! Wonderful gentleman! I’ll trim the stems for you right now! I’m the best at trimming flowers in our village!”

In the end, Siwoo bought four roses at an exorbitant price.
The girl, excited, went on and on about how she always picked the biggest and most beautiful flowers, and how everyone in the village wanted to buy flowers from her, telling him all sorts of trivial stories he didn’t ask for.

“Thank you so much! Have a beautiful love!”

As soon as the girl left, Sharon burst into laughter.

Siwoo knew that he had let the little girl’s sales tactics get to him because she was cute, but his bewildered expression at the beginning was too memorable.

“Haa… haa…. What do I do…. I’m laughing so hard I’m crying… what do I do….”

Sharon even used Siwoo as a support, hooking her arm around his and shaking with laughter.

“It’s been a while since I felt this cool sensation…. Tarot Town was like this….”
“Still, you did well. Sharing is good, and that little one is very sharp. Good job, our handsome gentleman, Shin Siwoo.”

From Siwoo’s perspective, it wasn’t a lot of money, but that little one would be able to enjoy a more delicious meal with her family.

2.
As the night deepened and approached midnight, the festival became even more lively.

There was an incident where two men were taken away after a fight over a village girl, but people accepted even that as part of the festival.

The finale of the harvest festival was the large-scale fireworks display at midnight.
The combination of magic and gunpowder created a dreamlike display of fireworks that could not be seen anywhere else in the world. Even Siwoo, during his slave days, would stare at them blankly.

The square was packed with people, with no room to step.
There were even people who had climbed onto the roofs to avoid the crowds, and citizens sitting on terraces overlooking the square.

The bonfire, which had been licking its flames, was now covered with sand, and the lights that had illuminated the stalls and streets were covered.
Looking up at the night sky, which had regained its stars, people murmured in hushed tones.

“It’s like a theater before a movie starts.”

Sharon’s expression was spot on.
At that moment, when everyone was looking at the sky.

-Pheeing!

With a sharp sound, a spark, like a shooting star, cut across the night sky.
The fireworks, spreading left and right like a curtain, announced the highlight of the festival.

“Wow…. It’s still spectacular.”

It was different from ordinary fireworks.
Instead of just blooming and disappearing, the fireworks were precisely controlled by magic to create various shapes.

-Bang! Bang! Bang!

Snowflakes, a large whale wishing for abundance, barley ears, and sometimes a blue field.
In the world that had become as bright as day, couples who had found each other began to look at each other as if by promise.

“You know what?”

When he came to his senses, Sharon was also looking at Siwoo.

“They say that couples who kiss under the harvest festival fireworks can be together forever.”

Amidst the colorful lights that scattered like stars, Sharon hugged Siwoo’s neck.

A kiss.
An act of pressing their lips together, mixing saliva, and confirming that they were the most precious beings to each other.

Was it because the surrounding scenery was so beautiful?
His heart was pounding as if he was having his first kiss.
Sharon seemed to feel the same way, holding Siwoo’s sleeve tightly and her long eyelashes fluttering.

Sweet breath.
The sound of scattered sparks fading away.
A good scent of skin.
A very slight scent of wine.

In a moment that seemed both eternal and fleeting, Siwoo and Sharon carefully parted their lips.
As if their true feelings were leaking out through a hole in their heart, they murmured without realizing it.

“Sharon, I love you.”

Hearing those words, Sharon smiled again.

“You’re being unfair, I was going to say it first.”

The two held hands and looked up at the sky again.

A time when they wondered if they could be this happy.
Crossing the brilliant flowers of fire that they would never forget, even at the moment of their death.

Rain.
It’s raining.

At first, it was just a few drops, but it spread to cover the thousands of people and the entire Tarot Town.

The fireworks were reaching their end, and the sounds of people becoming restless could be heard.
However, there was no sign of displeasure at the sudden rain.
They were so immersed in the festival that they could overlook the minor commotion as a memory.

But Siwoo felt an ominous feeling that made his heart sink.
It was an inexplicable anxiety that felt like it was constricting his chest.

It was still early.
With this amount of rain, it should have turned into snow and scattered immediately.
No, at the very least, it should have taken the form of sleet.
But this rain was….

“Huh?”

A subtle wave of magical power seeped through the magic formula that controlled the fireworks.
Sharon also noticed the strangeness of this anomaly, which was not usually seen at festivals.

“Siwoo….”

In Siwoo’s eyes, who had taken off his eyepatch and looked up at the sky, a distinct form of magic was visible.
And that magic was very familiar to Siwoo.

Because….

“Amelia….”

The pattern and the pattern of magical resonance were Amelia’s magnetic magic.

The moment Siwoo spoke her name.
Tarot Town was swept away by particles flowing like falling stars.