Lilia's Tale

Chapter 55: Arena

A.N: Happy new years everyone! May this year not be like the last one.
Yes I uploaded this chapter at midnight my time for the sake of it.

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As we were walking back to the inn, I couldn't help but think further about the Day of the Goddess. Two things quickly came to my mind: are we to be expected to participate in it, or be tourists? Would we have been participating in it if Dorya didn't burn down?

"Say... Are you planning on participating?" I asked.

"What do you mean exactly by participating?"

"You know, you mentioned stalls and whatnot."

"Ah, well not really. We technically are still tourists, and even if we find a house by the time it rolls around, considering we won't be merchants or anything of the sort, we won't have any obligation to put up a stall."

"Ah, I'm glad."

"Why so?"

"Well, back where I came from, there was a tradition, on the twenty-fifth of December, to exchange gifts to your loved ones. It's called Christmas. I was never a fan of that day because I've always been bad at finding presents. I was worried such a thing would happen."

"What does that have to do with the Day of the Goddess, besides the days being close to each other?"

"Christmas is one of, if not the biggest merchant event. After all, to be able to buy presents, you need people to sell them."

"Oh. You were worried that the reason why it's such a large event with so many stalls is because people buy gifts for each other?"

"Yeah, kind of. I'm in a particularly big bind as you pretty much can have anything you want, since you're the Great Summoner and all."

"Hahaha, that's true. Don't worry, it's such a large event because of the touristic aspect, at least in the capital. In other towns, or at least in Dorya, it's not nearly as large, and mostly seen as a day for merchants and townsfolk to enjoy the night together."

"The night?"

"Yeah, it's a nightly event."

"Huh. You did say the Goddess was gonna talk to the pope at the end, so I'm guessing Heaven's Rift will be able to be seen the whole time?"

"Yeah, that's one of the things most people look forward to."

Knowing that Heaven's Rift was about to appear bothered me deeply. The only two times I ever saw it, bad things happened. In the first case, I learned of my status as a God, and in the other time, I saw Dorya burning down. I was worried about what misfortune was about to befall me.

"Is something wrong?"

"Ah, I'm sorry, I was thinking about Heaven's Rift."

"Why so? Oh, right, you did say you talked with Brynhildr before. Are you expecting her to talk to you on that night?"

"Well, I'm not expecting anything, I'm simply thinking about it. Both times I saw Heaven's Rift, things went wrong. The first time, I was told I was an anomaly, and the second time, I saw our town burning in the middle of the rain."

"I can't blame you for being wary of it, then," Father commented after a short silence.

"Heh. In the end, I can't do anything about it. If she talks to me, I'll just have to reply to her and give her a piece of my mind."

"That's true, there is no reason to lament about it until it happens. Hopefully everything will go well."

"Hopefully..."