Chapter 138: Memorable day
Leon's journey continued in a slow style.
It was Leon's slow life that everyone around him liked, including Else. She didn't miss her home much because Leon and his girls provided enough entertainment and challenges to her.
The little elf felt like she had been improving as well.
"Look! It's the harvest festival!" Else pointed her little finger at the village.
It was evening already, yet the whole village shone in various lights. Leon and others had seen many signs about the festival on the main road leading to that village, and Else now confirmed that something was going on. Of course, Leon had no clue about it, so he reared his ear to listen for more.
Celes twirled her umbrella and asked in a slightly excited tone. "Oh? The harvest festival? And what might it be? I don't think we had any of those in our vampire world."
Hearing her fake tone, Leon quietly chuckled and kept his eyes on the road.
In the meantime, the little elf noticed nothing! "Mom said that every common village has those festivals to celebrate their harvests and enjoy their time off. It's also a great business move because surrounding villagers and merchants also visit villages with their goods, looking forward to a lot of fun!
"Villagers usually thank heavens for protecting them and blessing their farms." Else added. "A very long time ago, villagers thanked the sun, but that changed. Now, they thank heavens or people that helped them, like great heroes from guilds of kingdoms!"
"Sounds so interesting! It's awesome how you know all of this, Else." Louise did her best to bring out her adorable side and showered Else with a lot of praise and sweetness.
But while Celes easily managed to speak in a different tone and showcase different feelings, Louise's cold eyes troubled Else and forced Louise to always close her eyes while smiling.
These two were doing their best to learn more about kids and how to interact with them.
"It's because I'm the best!" Else flaunted her talent after Louise shut her eyelids.
Celes warmly smiled at the little elf while secretly bumping her umbrella into Louise's head, poking her into shame. The adorable fox sent her a glare, then these two exchanged a silent communication with their eyes alone, making Leon grin more and more since they had been like that for a good while now.
Alexandra was also no longer sick.
Her sickness was nothing more than the consequences of her speech with the evil dragon and later their battle.
"It will be my first harvest festival." Leon parked his carriage in an appropriate spot with many other merchants, gathering their attention.
He ignored them and hopped off his driver's seat.
"Same here!" Else lifted her hand, then jumped after him.
"Like I know…" Louise complained — still irked by Else's reaction — and went after them.
"Does it matter? Enjoy it as though it's your first." Celes rolled her eyes and kept playing with her umbrella. Her umbrella seemed special as she floated mid-air before hitting the ground and shaking her thick thighs.
Alexandra silently followed her vampire mistress.
Since it was a festival, Leon wanted to try out a lot of stuff and play some games. He turned around and faced everyone while holding Else's hands.
Both of them looked like a pair of father and daughter, mainly because of their golden eyes.
"Today's day will become memorable for one person. I already saw a few festival games, so let me make it straightforward — the person who wins the most games and items will get something special from me!" Leon laughed as he was in a good and excited mood.
"Leon! I want you to be my teammate!" Else pulled Leon's hand, knowing she could trust him the most.
"Sure, we're a team then." Leon warmly smiled at her.
Louise and Celes exchanged a glance. "Solo."
Alexandra shook her head and whispered. "I'm solo, too, I guess."
And thus, the most eye-catching family approached the first booth. A man behind it rubbed his hands as he smelled money, bringing out the nicest and the best business smile he could. When Leon threw at him one gold coin, his eyes popped off his skull, his lungs and heart fought to leave through his throat, and he nearly sucked his stomach.
"You own this booth, mister!" The man ran away with the treasure.
"Well, that wasn't my intent, but I guess someone else will take over it." Leon rolled his eyes and started the first game, which was ring toss.
Else was the first one to start it.
She grasped a ring with both hands, lifted it above and behind her head, then threw it at a pole! She perfectly hit that one, and her ring landed neatly on the ground. The little elf repeated her feat two times more, then rubbed her nose, flaunting her skill.
"Three-oh!" Else laughed aloud!
Leon and his girls applauded.
It was her teammate's turn next! Leon grabbed one ring and twirled it on his finger, smirking. He then threw the ring and missed a pole, making Else's eyes widen.
He scratched his hair and complained. "Ah, too much force."
"You must try harder, Leon!" Else pulled on his sleeve, looking serious.
Leon nodded and finished two more tosses with the same accuracy as Else.
She felt much better.
But because they were teammates, their score was worse than the duo of the adorable fox and the vampiress. These two scored three rings, too!
"The first game's easy." Louise lovingly smiled at her master.
Celes nodded and asked for more challenge.
She looked behind and saw that Alexandra also did the three tosses perfectly.
The vampiress narrowed her eyes.
"There's much more ahead of us." Leon smirked as he saw another game: throwing a ball against cups.
And so, Leon's party went through many games, scoring points in their little challenge.
When it darkened, the festival still breathed with tons of life, so Leon booked a table in the best local restaurant and waited for some food. Everyone was eager to eat, too. They counted their points from today's fun while waiting.
"So… who won?" Leon genuinely didn't know who the winner was since Celes and Louise had a few arguments.
It all began when these two realized that they would always score the same points. Those games were too easy and not for people like them, after all. Thus, they started disturbing each other. Leon and Else were already on the losing side because Leon failed once, so they didn't even have to push themselves to go against him.
But Alexandra was the winning card that Celes used. Somehow, the vampiress managed to bring her onto her side and used her presence to interrupt Louise in the fishing pool game, making the foxy lose her fish.
As a dragon with water skills, Alexandra had a lot of secret moves to trouble the adorable fox.
"I did." Celes proudly lifted her eyes and smiled at her master.
Else dropped dead onto the table, and Louise gritted her teeth at her.
"I see." Leon laughed as though he didn't know about the secret ploy. "Then, I hope you two will look after Else while we're gone."
"Gone?" Louise wheeled to her master and blinked.
"For the rest of the night." Leon reassured her, but the foxy still felt unpleasant feelings teeming her heart.
At last, their meals came.
They were pretty tasty, and Louise liked the spiciness. "I'll go and threaten- I'll ask the chef for the recipe."
Leon rolled his eyes while the rest laughed.
"Just give her some money…." Leon sighed.
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"How did you get Alexandra on your side?" Leon asked as he climbed the stairs to take the most famous tourist spot in the village.
Celes was on his side, smiling. "Her impression of me became better after the last fight. I'm an alchemist, too, so I asked her for a few things about the water concept. In the end, I also had more time with her than Louise, so it's natural she thinks better of me."
"I see." Leon nodded, understanding her points.
At last, the duo took over the best spot. Everyone who had seen them decided to leave these two alone, for Leon and Celes were too handsome and beauties, so their presence simply shooed every commoner away.
That famous spot was on the hill, with no tree canopy barring the clouds and moon's way. It was also dark, as though everyone agreed that this place didn't need any light. Before the moonlight wrapped them in its embrace, Leon and Celes looked over the village in its festival mood.
It was quite a beautiful sight, but Leon kept his eyes more on Celes' gorgeous face.
She shone at this rare moment with her master. Her red eyes seemed to suck the village's light as those shone so brightly, and her red cheeks stole a little of that light, too, brightening her pretty face. Her lips curved up into a dazzling smile as her lips glittered — Celes changed so much because of the unexpected expectations within her heart.
Leon gawked at this stunning woman while Celes couldn't bring herself to look into his eyes, feeling his gaze.
And then, the moonlight lit up the scene for them.
Awakened from his daze by that foreign light, Leon opened his inventory and took out a red necklace.
"I'm here, Celes." Leon chuckled as his vampiress became quite too awkward and drew her attention with a tinge of tease in his tone. "This is for you. I'm sure it will adorn you well. I spend much time picking up the most beautiful necklace I could find."
After putting this red necklace on her, Leon gave a moment of breath to his vampiress.
She looked down at her chest, desperately wanting to have a mirror. That necklace had already caught her attention as it was a fine piece of art.
But then, Leon caught her hands and tightly held them, his gaze forcing her to absentmindedly look into his eyes. "I love you."
The vampiress' heart shook and rocked like crazy.
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