Chapter 21
I had heard that the best time to enjoy the festival was at night. That seemed to be the popular opinion considering the streets were crowded with people. The busy streets were decorated with fancy lanterns and lined with stalls for food, games, toys and other things. I saw a lot of festivals like this before coming to this world, so I was quick to walk past most of the tables, disinterested.
“Hey. Are you sure you came to enjoy the festival?”
Reynold asked. He must have found it weird for Penelope to ignore the street shops like that.
“I am enjoying it.”
I glanced at him and answered half-heartedly.
“But you’re not even asking us to buy anything for you. Usually you go crazy for accessories.”
He commented while pointing towards a stand selling accessories for girls.
Did he actually think I came out here just to have fun at the festival with him?
I stared at him a moment before turning away without saying a word. Honestly speaking, I was at a loss for what to do at the festival. I was conflicted and I didn’t know where to begin looking for Eclipse.
“Hey! Come here for a minute.”
“Huh, Ah!”
Reynold caught me by my hand and dragged me towards a stand. Derrick silently followed behind the two of us.
“Look. They sell some fine things here.”
Reynold had taken me to a stand that sold jewels.
“My, my, welcome! Take a look dear customers! Many new things have arrived for today from the East.”
I stared at the shopkeep blankly, confused about what I was even doing right then. Reynold noticed me staring at the man.
“Ahh! He told you to take a look! So look around already!”
Reynold shouted in frustration. So I did as he said. I looked at the jewels. There were some unique gems that certainly seemed like the sort you would only find during the time of a festival like that. Even so I didn’t feel the urge to buy anything. Penelope’s jewelry box was already overflowing with accessories. I lost interest in them quickly. But then…
“This looks fine.”
Derrick reached out from behind me, picking up a bracelet of platinum string with little dangling plum purple jewels.
“Goodness! I could tell by looking you would have great taste, Mister. To tell you a bit about this bracelet, it took three months of labor, working both night and day, to create. Those gems you see are a rare stone found only in a few mines in the East.”
The merchant was literally spitting as he spat out those words. I felt a bit uncomfortable looking at the bracelet Derrick held; the jewels’ color was similar to my hair.
Hey… no way. There’s no way he’d give that to me.
I looked up at the [ Favorability 10%] and thought.
“Then this one for me.”
Reynold seemed anxious to pay for something, so I quickly picked up a thing that interested me. The merchant who once babbled on and on about the bracelet had nothing to say about my selection.
“…Are you serious?”
Reynold looked down at what I was holding with a deep frown. It was the same for Derrick.
“Yes. This mask is what I want.”
I had chosen a white mask that was placed in the far corner of the table. The eyes and mouth were the only openings; both were curved upwards into a smiling face. It reminded me of a traditional Korean hahoe mask.
When I thought about it, there was no way they would let a young lady, practically a little girl, into a slave market, even with a robe for a disguise. Wearing a mask was a clever solution; it was a reasonable decision to buy one.
“I’ll buy this.”
I said.
“Hey. So I wanted to ask you this for a while now…”
Reynold had a serious look on his face while he observed me. He continued after a brief pause,
“Are you sick or something? Do you suddenly feel dizzy, or do you black out and find yourself in a different place without remembering how you got there or anything like that?”
“If you don’t want to buy it, just say so.”
He was clearly mocking me.
“No, it’s not that I don’t… You’re saying you really want this thing?”
He asked with a tone full of incredulity.
“Yes!”
I ended up shouting at Reynold, his repeated questioning was irritating. He just looked at me in disbelief, but he did end up buying me the mask. No sooner than he finished the transaction a loud noise came from the distance.
Bzzzzz!
I turned to see a group of people in elaborate costumes coming down the street. Fireworks exploded with loud bangs, drawing an even crazier crowd out to the street. It was the start of the parade and people came out from everywhere to watch it. As the street grew more and more crowded people began bumping into me, pushing in their rush to get by.
“Hold on.”
Derrick looked down at me with an emotionless face, extending his arm in his fancy poet shirt.
“…Thank you.”
I quickly grabbed onto his sleeve.
The growing crowd was so dense I really thought I would be swept away at any moment. However I must have grabbed onto the wrong part of his sleeve; whatever I had grabbed a hold of rattled and came loose.
Buzzzz!
The sound of the parade had reached its peak. They were passing by at that very moment. Though I clung to Derrick’s sleeve as tightly as possible, something snapped and I began to get swept away with the crowd.
“Uh- Uhh…!”
I reached out towards Derrick.
“Penelope!”
He shouted with a panicked face that only got farther away from me with each passing moment.
“N-No…”
I found myself carried away in the moving crowd. I struggled and was just barely able to get away from them some time later. Once I regained my composure I realized I was in the corner of a creepy and dark alley with only the golden button that snapped off of Derrick’s sleeve and the mask Reynold bought for me.
“…Where am I?”
I asked no one in particular as I furrowed my brows looking around. At that moment a white box appeared in front of me.
≪ The episode {The Unlucky Slave From Defeated Country, Eclipse} has begun. ≫
≪ Would you like to go to the ‘Slave Market’? ≫
[Yes / No]
“What’s this?”
My jaw dropped.
How convenient!
Thanks to this I would actually get to start Eclipse’s route in spite of the fact those two bastards followed me.
Please let me know if there’s anything inconsistent or that needs further editing/corrections!!
-emrld
Scarlett Shoujo 