Another world, Celeste

Chapter Four

The founding festival commences by Lord Sol's decree.

Every elf gathers in the public square and dressed in pastel-toned ornamental long-sleeved tunics; female elves' tunic reaching to their ankles like a long dress while male elves pair the garment with loose pants. I'm standing beside Maya amongst the masses, wearing the same attire in ivory with a braided low bun hairstyle. Lorelai and Maya had the tunic made for me since they already consider me part of the family. My eyes tear up when I receive their thoughtful gift and I return the gratitude by giving both of them a tight hug. Bane is staying back at the house to avoid alarming the visitors and raising an unnecessary flag.

Lord Sol made a short but memorable speech in elvish about gratitude to their ancestors.

"To an everlasting peace and friendship."

He closes the speech by placing his right hand to his left chest and slightly bows down his head to the people in a dignified action.

Every elf reciprocates after the head elf in the same manner. Dwarves and guests who are present bows their head down in respect.

When the horns are blown, flower petals scatter in the air and entrance to Kirashira Village is open. Visitors endlessly flock past the gate where stalls maintain by not only elves, human merchants and dwarves selling their merchandise are lining up along the public square towards the marketplace. I watch the visitors in awe of the spectacle, the children especially. They probably have never seen an elf before. Their first impressions are better than mine.

Lorelai mentions that before the festival that there is a restriction to the number of people permitted to enter per day. They all come from the mining town established by the humans located outside the boundary of Kana Forest. It is constantly bustling with mercenaries, adventurers and travellers looking for excellent quality armours, weapons, wares and the likes because dwarves directly sell their goods there. Moreover this time, there are also visitors coming from distant land especially to visit Kirashira Village because it is accessible for outsiders once every five years. It is to ensure the preservation of friendly relation with each other; by not closing themselves tightly in the forest, the elves are not hiding nor distancing their presence from others.

I explore the stalls in excitement; seeing unfamiliar goods, tasting various delicacies that are not usually available in the village and buying a few trinkets that catch my attention. The festival act as a cultural exchange between three races. Elves are selling natural produce with plants, fruits and flowers that are exclusively growing in the forest while merchants are displaying products they acquired from other lands for elves who rarely goes out of the village. Maya and I are taking a look at a stall selling assorted ground powder. The air is mixed with blended spices and herbs. I appraise each sack curiously. The coloured powders are grounded flower petals that are mainly used for cosmetics. However, the villagers are full of beautiful beings and they mostly care for hair ornaments instead of painting their lips and cheeks red. Maybe there is something here that I can use for a hair dye.

Maya has given me a hair dye recipe but when I put it on my hair, the colour fades in less than a day. When I try the dye on Maya's hair to check if it's because of my lacking skill by tricking her that there are a few strands of white on her head from sleepless nights of research, the hair dye stays for a few months until the effect wears off. Auntie El speculates it could be because of the mana emitting from me. I consider the idea of mixing powders from grounded flowers containing magical qualities. Lord Sol scold me when he sees Auntie El growing one instantly when I ask her about it.