Lilia's Tale

Chapter 78: Day of the Goddess (Part 1)

Thankfully, I caught him before breakfast.

"Good morning Mark!"

"Oh. Good morning Lilia," he yawned.

"I have an important question."

"What is it?"

"Do you think it would be fine if I had my summon with me out in the city?"

"I don't know. I don't think so, but I guess it depends on the summon?"

"Ah, it'll be an elemental moth."

"Oh, right, you've been training for those. Now that I think about it, it's weird that you want to have a summon with you."

"I just feel safer with her around."

He looked a bit confused yet understanding.

"I can come with you if you think you need the additional protection."

"Well, it's really about having a summon with me and less about needing the protection."

"Am I not good enough maybe?"

His tone told me he was sarcastic, but I was starting to get worried for my promise with Alice, and that I was potentially hurting Mark.

"No, no... It's a bit complicated to be honest."

"I can listen. We have time, after all."

"Well... It feels safer to have a summon with me although I'm not really sure why. Maybe it's because I have this creature I can control with me so I feel much safer knowing I won't be putting myself at risk."

"I'm not sure I quite get it..."

"Well, it's fine. Just know that it has nothing to do with you, it's just...something about me."

"Alright. Well, again, I'm not sure if it's okay, so I can't give you the agreement. If you ask me, it won't be considering the big deal that happened last time, but we should ask Rin-san about it. He'd know better."

"Rin-san?"

"The principal of the academy."

"Oh. Tanaka-san."

"Yeah. Though, now, you should call him Tanaka-sensei."

"You're right."

We laughed a bit then went to eat breakfast. I had to think of other ways to make it work and figured that it would be fine if I asked for Alice to show up only during the Light magic lesson.

After that, we waited together at the entrance for him to arrive. He was surprised to see us wait like that.

"Is something the matter?" he asked.

"Yeah. Lilia has a question for you."

"I do. Do you think it would be fine if I had a summon with me at the festival?"

"It won't. Because of the festival, security has been made very tight. Even an obvious summon will be taken badly."

"Ah. That makes sense. Thank you for your answer."

Mark seemed happy I got my answer, although I wasn't. I felt bad for Alice due to my promise. It was difficult explaining to her and she was obviously sad about it, but she also seemed to understand. It relieved me of heavy stress, so I excused myself and put my first step into the festival.

To my surprise, the place was relatively empty. People were still setting up stalls. I figured the night was probably the most bustling moment and enjoyed my time in the festival without anybody else. Unfortunately, as I planned to get some tasty-looking pie, I realised I didn't have any money at all.