Magi: The Adventure to the Southeast [REMASTERED]

✩14. Understanding One's Feelings

It had been an hour and half since the dance ended. The festival was still going on, but Ja'far had decided to sneak out and take a stroll around the village, leaving the drunk Sinbad and Ardhi alone. But once he had left the festival site, he immediately realized he had no idea where to go. Because now that he thought about it again, sight-seeing around the villagers' houses just by himself would be very rude.

Ja'far hold the Lunar Charm as he walked. He decided to just let his feet lead him while admiring the charm. It had a red round crystal embedded in its surface. He flipped it over and was surprised to find a neat engraving of his name on its back. "Huh? How come I didn't notice this before?"

Ja'far stared at that engraving for a moment. Gently, he brushed it against his thumb as his gaze softened.

"That amulet was prepared by the village magicians!"

"A magic tool made by the magicians, he said..." Ja'far softly quoted Ardhi's words. "Doesn't that include Shafa as well? I wonder if she's the one carving this..."

Ja'far put the charm back in his pocket and looked up at the shining moon. "Now that I think about it, I don't see Shafa after the dance."

When Ja'far looked around him again, he wondered for a moment why he only saw date trees on both his right and left side. It seemed he had entered the plantation while aimlessly walking. Furrowing his eyebrows and sighing, the man thought out loud to himself, "Good grief, I've walked quite far... I should head back before they realized I'm gone."

However, just when Ja'far was about to walk away, he could hear a soft humming echoing from behind him. He stared at the direction where it was coming from, and unknowingly followed after it.

As he neared the other side of the plantation, the sound of the hum was getting clearer and closer. Finally he went out of the plantation and arrived at where the legendary Tree of Tranquility stood. He could see a figure was sitting beside the big tree trunk. He walked there, and noticed the all-too familiar purple head there.

"Shafa?" Ja'far called her name as he stood right behind the humming figure.

The figure, Shafa, stopped humming immediately and turned her head to see him. "Ja'far-san? What are you doing here?"

"I could ask the same to you," he replied with a smile. "...may I sit with you?"

Shafa nodded, allowing Ja'far to take a seat next to her. Both of them sat in silence as the moon kept shining brightly above their heads. "Umm, so... How do you like the dance?"

"It was mystical," Ja'far earnestly praised in response to her. "And the dance was really beautiful. The way you dodged Asad's attack and deflected the thrown seeds were truly mesmerizing... Not to mention when you used your magic to grow them into small tress."

"It's not that big of a deal," Shafa sheepishly chuckled. "Besides, growing trees with magic has its disadvantages. The trees are more quickly to wilt as they are encouraged to mature faster, hence why we always replace the old trees with new ones every time the festival is being hold. I often question myself whether it is right to force short lifespan to those living beings..."

Ja'far could sense deep concern in her voice as she muttered those words. She seemed to be very much deep in thought regarding the topic.

"...you are an interesting person, aren't you," he blurted out of the blue, catching the girl's attention. "You breathed life into things, yet you still wonder if what you're doing is right. I just... found that really intriguing."

"No, it isn't like I gave them life. Life essence belongs to the Great White Flow alone, where the rukh resides. I merely guide it to its suitable vessels for a certain amount of time," Shafa explained with a chuckle. "Once their time has run out, they'll return to the flow and then be passed on to the next vessels. That's why 'life' is a continuous never-ending journey."