Who Needs Magic in a Fantasy World Anyway?

Chapter 89: Festival

"Oh! Christina! You look great!" Koko exclaimed as soon as she saw her friend. After all, while the hero was already a natural beauty, she looked even better in the white summer dress that she was wearing that perfectly complemented her bright blonde hair and golden eyes. Though the effect was lessened seeing as the girl still had a sword strapped to her hip.

"You look great too, Koko." Christina replied. "Honestly, I didn't even know that you owned a dress."

"I'm a girl, so of course I own a dress!" Koko defended herself, though she didn't mention that the one that she was currently wearing had been sent to her from Jazzy last week. And thankfully the maid had guessed her new sizes correctly as Koko's light-blue dress was a perfect fit for her. The shoes that had come with it were the right size as well, and while they were fashionable, Koko didn't know if she appreciated the raised heels or not seeing as was used to her normal boots as footwear.

"Though I thought that you would have let your hair down seeing as you've been growing it out." Christina almost sounded disappointed as she pointed out Koko's hairstyle. "It's a shame because you would look even better if you did."

"I'll let it down for the dance tonight, but right now it'd only get in the way." Koko waved Christina's comment away. "Besides, ponytails are perfectly fashionable."

"Whatever you say." Christina sighed as she gave up, and despite her friend's sudden interest in her hair, Koko's mood remained cheerful as both of them left their dorm room and exited the building so that they could meet with Mark and Richard. Though that proved to be difficult as the space between the dorms seemed to be where most of the students in the academy were gathering so that they could head to Goldgate in their select groups. However, rather than waiting for a carriage to pick them up, the girls had expected to walk to their destination anyway and they soon walked to the other side of the road from the academy where they expected to meet up with the others of their group. And sure enough, Mark and Richard soon joined them, though they had to laugh at the expressions they were getting.

"I'll take it as a compliment, but I'd like for you to stop staring." Christina asked politely as Mark seemed to force his eyes away from her.

"That goes for you too, Buster." Koko smirked at Richard.

"S-sorry... I think we both just expected you to be in your normal outfits, is all..." Mark apologized bashfully while scratching his chin.

"It's okay, but let's hurry up and go! The festival awaits!" Koko enthused, running a small distance in front of everyone before turning around to see that they were all still standing where they had been while looking at her. "What are you all waiting for? If we don't go now then we might get blocked out of the city by the crowds wanting to enter!"

"We're coming!" Richard yelled, jogging a short ways to join her while Christina and Mark simply started walking behind them. Though soon it became obvious that they were too late seeing as the front gates of the city was already crowded by visitors from the nearby villages and countryside. And while Koko had been worried that they wouldn't get into the city in time to enjoy the festivities, she was thankful that the event's organizers seemed to have thought ahead as more than ten times the normal amount of guards were at the front gates processing people so that the line could move fast.

"Alright, so where to first?!" Koko asked the others as soon as they entered the city to see that the streets were packed full of people. And while she'd already seen several food stands and gaming booths that she wanted to try, Koko knew that her friends had formed a 'plan' for the day's activities.

"Any food stands that looks amazing." Richard answered with a thumbs-up. And seeing as she was given temporary freedom, Koko immediately led the way, visiting several stands on her way through the streets as the group chose their lunches. And after almost ten minutes of walking, Koko ended up with several pork kebabs that were covered in a sweet sauce, Richard had a large bowl of spiced chicken and rice, Mark had thin and semi-hard slices of beef that could be dunked in a creamy cheese dip and Christina, surprisingly, had a bag full of hard candy and what looked like a huge and sour candied noodle that had been wrapped around a stick in the shape of a ball.

"It's not healthy to just eat candy, you know." Koko said with her mouth full as she munched on her own food.

"I don't get to eat sweets that often, so I'm going to take advantage of it now." Christina explained.

"You're going to get a stomach ache..." Koko warned.

"I'm willing to pay the price!" Christina declared with enthusiasm before tearing off a peice of her noodle ball and making an expression of bliss. And after nearly an hour of conversation and good food, the group finished their meals and began to travel down street, now following Richard's lead as they visited many of the game booths in their path. And while the whole experience amazed Koko seeing as she'd never participated in an event like this before, she wasn't the only one to be impressed as everyone else seemed to be amazed as well. From the archery booth to a game where one infused their MP into a disk and attempted to make it float to a landing area, the games were so diverse in both variety and magic use that time seemed to fly by. Or at least it did until Koko had to stop seeing as she'd used half of her MP and wanted to save the rest for later if she needed it. And seeing as it was already past noon and she was done playing games, she figured that now would be the best time to get ready.

"Alright guys, I'm going to go back to the academy and get ready for the talent competition!" Koko announced after they had finished their game. "I'll see you all there!"

"Do you need any help preparing?" Christina asked.

"No, I should be good. Thanks!" Koko waved to them all before she began to make her way through the crowds and towards the city's main gates. Though while entering the city may have taken some time, Koko found that no one bothered to stop on the way out as made her way to Goldgate's outskirts and finally back to the academy where she gathered both her violin as well as the four Acoustic Substitutes that she'd been able to buy along with the one that she'd had previously. And after putting everything that she needed into a small suitcase that also held the dress she would wear during the dance after the talent festival, Koko headed back to Goldgate with a determined stride as she hoped that everyone would enjoy her song.