Yarra's Adventure Notes-Chapter 118 - 40 Night of Harvest_1

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Angus Village.

Lina, dressed in a solemn ceremonial robe and holding a ceremonial staff, stood outside the back door of the temple, looking somewhat anxious as she waited.

"That guy, he promised to try to get back before the festival started." Lina looked up at the gradually darkening sky, somewhat unhappy: "One by one they are like this, Vivian and Catherine don’t come, even Pannis doesn’t come back. If no one comes to watch, what’s the point of presiding over the ceremony?"

"Oh, my Catheria, don’t fuss, I’m very professional, if I promise something, I’ll definitely complete the task." Lina shook her head, talking to herself: "That’s why I won’t just run away because it’s pointless."

Lina circled around the back door of the temple over and over again. As the sky grew darker, her heart became more disappointed. Eventually, she could only sigh and shake her head, slowly turning back towards the temple. She hadn’t walked far when she heard the mechanical roar from behind. Hearing the sound, Lina didn’t look back, continued to walk into the temple, and muttered: "At this time, someone is still riding a motorbike outside, obviously coming specifically for the ceremony."

"Young lady." Pannis’s voice accompanied the roar from behind: "Can you tell us if we’re on the right track to attend the closing ceremony of the Harvest Festival?"

"Ha, Pannis you finally came back." Lina quickly turned around, and then, as expected, screamed and pounced at them: "Wow, Vivian, and Catherine, I’ve missed you guys."

"Stupid Lina, keep your distance from me." Vivian awkwardly held out her hand to block Lina’s mouth that was coming over to kiss her own face, pushing Lina away hard while shouting, "You didn’t invite me to play, hmph, I won’t let you kiss me."

"Don’t be like that, I even prepared a gift for you." Lina said with a grin: "It’s a pyramid-like object from the Goblin Era."

"Really?" Vivian’s eyes lit up, and she could not pretend to be angry anymore. She said loudly: "Where is it, show me."

"The backpack is in the room, come on, I’ll take you to see it." Lina took Vivian’s hand: "Big sister, Pannis, let’s go in and rest a bit first. The ceremony won’t start for another one and a half hours, and after it ends, we can have a good time all night."

With a smile on her face, Catherine watched Lina pull Vivian along ahead of them. She turned to Pannis and said softly: "You’ve worked hard, Pannis."

"Huh?" Pannis scratched his head: "I just picked you guys up, it wasn’t hard at all."

Catherine gave a faint smile and shook her head: "Those two idiots ahead don’t think deeply. I guess you probably didn’t sleep all night last night just like Lina. Today you drove more than three hundred kilometers round trip between two cities, and tonight you still have to send Vivian back. Tomorrow morning, you’ll have to accompany Vivian to class. Aren’t you tired after three days and nights straight? Regardless, you’ve worked hard, thank you." freeweɓnøvel.com

Pannis shrugged his shoulders and said casually: "As professionals, this little thing won’t tire us out. Also, you guys did so much for me, and I never said thank you."

Catherine tilted her head and blinked in a girlish way, thought for a moment, then nodded: "Okay, let’s keep our gratitude in our hearts. There will be plenty of time to express it in the future."

"Yes, we still have lots of time." Pannis looked up at Lina and Vivian, who were frolicking ahead, and felt a sense of warmth that he had never felt before.

"Look at Lina’s crazy antics." Catherine said softly: "In the past few days, has she told you about her past?"

"She told me, then her true nature was revealed." Pannis replied with a wry smile: "It’s hard to believe, she usually has such a noble and holy aura, but in private she is so... umm, lively."

"What do you think a person who has locked themselves in a dark library for ten years would be like?" Catherine sighed: "Actually, she has never grown up, deep down she is still a child. In fact, even Vivian often acts more mature than her."

"What’s up with Vivian?" Pannis asked: "I only know that she is likely..."

"I won’t tell you, when the time comes, Vivian will tell you herself." Catherine gave a cunning smile, quickened her pace, and stepped in between Lina and Vivian, held their arms and shouted: "Let’s go, return to your room to get dolled up, then we’ll go to the bonfire party later."

"Sly as always." Pannis muttered as he failed to keep up with the three girls. Instead, he turned and started pushing the magic-powered motorbike towards the stables. Once the bike was properly parked, Pannis patted the horse he had ridden on and then tapped the motorbike. "You’re a stallion, don’t have any inappropriate thoughts about this metallic beauty, okay? If you do, hmm, today will be your last day as a stallion."

"God, Pannis. How bored are you now?" The air behind him rippled and a pair of twins in black and white dresses appeared, pressing their hands to their foreheads with the same expression of frustration. "Did I just hear you talking to a horse? If Sister Nellie was still alive, she’d definitely be crying."

"If Nellie was still here, she’d be happy to see me now." Pannis responded with a shake of his head and a sigh. "Maya, Tiya, thank you so much for looking after things today."

"No problem," said Maya in her white dress. "That junior of yours is quite impressive. I only showed her once, and she figured it out by herself. It frightened me a bit actually. You must have had quite the battle. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have learnt so quickly."

"Well, she had accumulated quite a bit on her own and just needed someone to give her a nudge. Thanks a lot." After mulling it over, Pannis lightly kicked the Big Dog near the girls’ feet. "Big Dog, thanks for being our transportation."

"Get lost." Big Dog spoke in human language, but his voice was old and tired. Upon closer inspection, his fur was starting to gray. Clearly, by his race’s reckoning, he had already stepped into old age. "How many times have I told you, my name is Dillie, I’m a scorpion-tailed lion, not your transportation and definitely not Big Dog. If you keep calling me that, I swear I’ll bite."

Pannis burst into laughter and crouched down to look at the scorpion-tailed lion. "Old friend, it’s been a hundred years and your fur has grayed quite a bit. Let me help you pluck those white hairs, okay?"

"Get lost, are you trying to pluck me bald?" the scorpion tailed-lion bellowed, turning to the twins, "Hey, let’s get out of here, I can’t stand this idiot."

"Hee hee, Pannis just loves to tease Dillie." Tiya giggled as she covered her mouth. "Pannis, we’re off. Don’t forget about our talk."

"Don’t worry, I won’t forget," The smile on Pannis’s face faded. His eyes narrowed into slits. His voice icy cold, "Antuin also brought this up to me, he said Flare passed the message to me. If this is true, heh."

"Guess we’ll see you when we see you, Pannis." The girls waved their hands and took a step forward. With that one step, the two of them and their scorpion-tailed lion disappeared into the twilight.

"Using the Psychic Domain to travel, quite extravagant." Pannis looked up at the three moons just beginning to peek out from the sky. His voice calm yet firm, "If this is true, whoever you are, I’ll make sure you pay."

——————————————————

"Boom." While using resin as fuel, Lina lit the large bonfire that was wide enough for at least ten people to sit around. The bonfire brought light to the Central Square of Angus Village shrouded in darkness. The square was decked out completely different from the day before.

At the centre of the square was the giant bonfire where the ceremony had just taken place. Following tradition, Lina recited prayers for nearly ten minutes and then the villagers offered a bucket of carefully-brewed fine wine and their village-grown produce to the goddess. Upon receiving these gifts on behalf of the goddess and the temple, Lina bestowed a wide-ranging healing and purifying Divine Spell on them and lit the fire representing a bountiful harvest. With that, the three-day Harvest Festival was officially over, and a few hours of revelry were about to begin.

Around the giant bonfire, ten smaller bonfires were arranged in a circle. Despite being called ’small’, they were still big enough for twenty or thirty people to sit around. Here, the villagers brought out their home-cooked dishes, exchanging and sharing with others. Guests from outside the village could join the villagers in revelry and share their evening meal, provided they had food to share as well.

On the eastern side of the bonfire circle, a large stage had been set up for the annual beauty contest. Any young girl, whether being a local villager or tourist, could participate by paying fifty silver coins. After three rounds of judging, a winner would be declared. Last year’s prize, a silver wheat-shaped hairpin made by a skilled artisan, was highly symbolic, if not valuable, and fished out from a nearby lake.

To the west, traders from various places were showcasing their end-of-year madness. Here, all traders who still had inventory were desperately selling at slashed prices. Of course, with poor lighting in the dark, buying counterfeits was a real risk.

In the south, a makeshift amusement park was set up with a variety of entertaining competitions, including arm wrestling, archery, darts, running, jumping, and a strength-testing machinoboxing (not real combat), among other things. However, there was an unwritten rule: professionals were not allowed to participate.

Finnaly, the northern area was cordoned off by a large curtain, where, rumour has it, a group of goblins are hectically preparing for the midnight fireworks show.

Catherine, Vivian, and Pannis were standing not far from the giant bonfire, watching Lina solemnly light it. Once the party was officially started, she quickly removed her ceremonial priestess robe, handed it and her staff to Mikarak with a bitter smile, and then, with a spring in her step, ran happily to join the trio.

She was back in her familiar leather armour, with her familiar smile. Lina’s expression was no longer the solemn one she’d worn during the ceremony but rather one of heartfelt joy.

"Finally, we can celebrate Harvest Festival together. It’s wonderful."

"Happy festival everyone."