"Hmm, hmm." Humming to myself, I stared out of the window, looking out of the Anabald mansion onto the white city. The whole capital was glazed in snow, rooftops powdered like sugared cakes, and streets layered in a thin frost that cracked under carriage wheels and children's wooden shoes. The air shimmered with the faint glint of ice, sunlight catching each drifting flake as if trying to apologize for my mistake. A view beautiful enough to make me forget for a heartbeat that it was my fault.
It's been a few days since the devil attack, and its aftermath was not what I was expecting. Firstly, my spell went crazy, and I lost control of it. However, I wasn't truly surprised by that. It was my first time using those elements together—and that much mana in one burst. Honestly, it was bound to backfire somehow.
The second thing to note is that it's currently snowing, despite it being the middle of summer. That's all thanks to my spell going wild. Every time I exhaled at the window, the cold air stung my nose and painted the glass with a brief fog. However, the children below appeared unfazed by the cold air. They were laughing, tossing snowballs, and chasing each other like the season had simply shifted out of kindness rather than chaos.
And thirdly… they decided to move the day of the festival.
Knock, knock.
"It's open," I said, hearing someone knock on the door.
The door creaked, and Kayda stepped in. Kayda paused momentarily, blinking at me as if she hadn't anticipated my completion of the dressing process. "Oh, you're ready?" she said, a bit surprised.
"As embarrassing as it might sound, this isn't my first time wearing a yukata, rawr," I said, looking down at my pink and red flower-themed yukata. The fabric was soft and silky against my skin, with stitched patterns catching light like tiny sparks. For shoes, I was wearing ordinary flip-flops with socks, and while it wasn't the traditional choice, at least my feet weren't freezing on these icy floors.
"You wore one like that?" Kayda asked, baffled. I knew what she meant: my old body, my old life.
"Yeah, it was when I was touring around Japan," I said with a shrug, like it was nothing.
"Um, can men also wear yukatas?" Kayda asked hesitantly, like she was trying to picture me in one and failing.
"Yes, of course, but they won't wear such a colorful one. They normally—" I turned around mid-explanation, only to choke on my words.
Kayda tilted her head, frowning. "Hmm? What is wrong? Did I wear it wrong?" she asked, her hand brushing over her side as if she might've tied the sash incorrectly.
"No, no, you look breathtaking. I… I don't know what to say." I stuttered while my hands flailed before me, as if I were trying to shield myself from her radiance. I knew white looked wonderful on her, but a white yukata? That was unfair. It hugged her in just the right way, light pink and lavender flowers drifting across the fabric like they'd bloomed for her alone. Her dark hair framed the picture perfectly, tied back with a ribbon that gave her this almost regal aura.
Her lips curved upward smugly. "Oh, so you like what you see."
"Uh, I can't deny it after saying all that. Rawr," I muttered, cheeks heating as I looked away.
"So, are you ready to go to the festival?" Kayda asked smoothly, pretending to move on.
"Of course. A bet is a bet after all." I turned back toward the window, letting the cold city distract me. "I'm still surprised they moved it up after the attack."
"Well, the attack was stopped, and it's snowing right now. So, it's like a double celebration this year." Kayda's eyes flicked sideways at me, full of mischief. "Let me remind you—it doesn't snow in the middle of summer."
"I could guess that was one of the reasons. But how was it set up so fast?" My gaze lingered on the streets where merchants were already stringing lanterns and banners between rooftops.
"Oh well, they were already busy getting everything ready. All they needed to do was make space."
A horrible thought struck me. "Don't tell me they are, rawr."
Kayda's lips twitched into a smirk. "You know that giant area you just evaporated—or more like cleaned up—with your magic? Yes. We are using that."
"Fuck, rawr."
"Jip. That flower will be on display," Kayda said, clearly enjoying my expression.
"I hoped they wouldn't… especially with it being in the middle of the slums," I groaned.
"Well, that sort of spell aftereffect isn't very common. It's actually super rare."
"Umm, I told you I didn't know that would happen!" I said, frustrated.
Images of that moment burned through my mind again. After I'd used my lightning bow to fire a fox ice arrow imbued with foxfire, a massive rose had bloomed out of the magic in the middle of the summoning circle. That had been the plan—disrupt the summoning, leave a symbol. But when I snapped my fingers to make it burst, the ice had caught fire instead of shattering. Not ordinary fire either—my foxfire. The blue-white flames completely devoured the ice, leaving only a flaming rose at the center. Even now, two days later, it still burned in the square, flickering in silence as if mocking me.
At least no one had been hurt. The fight itself had gone well—better than it should have. My conductor exploding should've killed people, but somehow it hadn't. Just a rain of injuries, bruises, cracked bones, and singed skin. The only real deaths were the thralls that slipped through at the end. But that wasn't on me. That was on the guild masters.
"Thinking about the guild master… what did he say?" I asked, remembering the aftermath meeting I'd skipped.
"Hmm, I guess the usual. Complaining about you putting people in danger and so on," Kayda said, not sounding particularly invested.
"So complete crap? Rawr."
"Basically." She shrugged.
"Sigh… he's going to be annoying in the future," I muttered in disdain.
"Probably. But enough about someone else. Let's go—An and her daughter should be ready."
"Is that so, roar?" I said, sneaking another look at Kayda before snapping my gaze away again, embarrassed.
She smirked knowingly. "It really seems you can't handle it, can you? Well, if it helps—your little roars are starting to get at me. In a cute way, of course." Her voice was light, teasing, and dangerous.
"..."
"Hehe. It's rare to see you so speechless." Kayda slipped closer, wrapping her arms around my neck, her breath ghosting over my ear. A shiver ran down my spine.
"Kayda," I warned, turning just enough for her to see the glare in my one visible eye.
"Oh no," she mumbled, realizing too late my tails had wrapped around her.
Bam!
"I've told you many times before—I'll get a heart attack if you do things like that," I said, annoyed, looking down at her sprawled on the floor.
"You know I won't stop, right?" Kayda said, smoothing her yukata as she stood.
"..."
"Well, whatever. Let's go join the other two." She strutted out of the room.
'I hope I can make it through the night,' I thought grimly, dragging myself after her.
"Oh right," I said suddenly, glancing at the snowy city one last time before leaving. "Are you sure An will be fine? I mean, she was tortured for who knows how long, and her body was so weak when I found it the other day."
"You shouldn't really say or worry about that," Kayda said, although she slowed her pace. "But… you're right. There's no way someone recovers so fast. We'll see when we meet."
"Hmm. Okay," I murmured, ignoring the jab and following.
[2 min later]
"So, you are going like that?" I asked, looking down at An in her wheelchair. Somehow she'd found one—sleek, wooden, wheels polished smooth. She wore a black yukata with gold flowers curling across the fabric, understated to the point of dullness. Her daughter stood behind her, ready to push, wearing the same style as her mother, as if the two had dressed as a matched set.
"Yes. Is there something wrong with it?"
"Yeah, it's really boring," I said bluntly.
Her daughter's face scrunched. "What? My mother looks wonderful in her yukata."
"Yes, yes. It fits her, but it's boring." I shrugged.
"Well, we don't have time to change," An said sharply.
"True. Now let's go to the festival—it'll start in an hour." Kayda shooed us toward the main entrance.
"Are we walking?" I asked.
"Yes. Is there a problem with that?" I asked curiously.
"No. Just wondering."
"Oh, Katie, dear, can you put the money in the vault for us?" An asked.
"Yes, Mother," Katie said, running off.
'Oh, so her name is Katie,' I thought, watching her ponytail bounce.
"Now, while we wait, start pushing me out, Kitsuna."
"No." Kayda cut in instantly, shaking her head.
"What? Why not?" An blinked.
"Because it'll start with just pushing your wheelchair. Then food. Then—before long—it'll just be you and Kitsu," Kayda said, arms crossed.
Too late. I ignored her and began pushing An out of the mansion.
"Hey! Hey!! "Don't just leave me," Kayda yelled.
"And listen to your delusions? No thanks, roar," I called back.
"You say that, but you're blushing," An whispered teasingly.
"I wouldn't talk if I were you, An," I growled, glaring at her.
"Tch. I was only teasing."
"What were you teasing about?" Kayda asked, catching up.
"Oh, just—"
"Nothing. Don't worry about it, rawr." I cut in and shot another glare. She chuckled under her breath.
"O-okay," Kayda muttered, letting it drop.
"Now, for something useful. What is this festival even about?" I asked, still pushing the chair.
"...Kayda, didn't you tell her?"
"Didn't think it was needed. Guess I was wrong," Kayda said, giving me dead eyes.
"Hmm. Is the reason important or something?" I asked nervously.
"It's the anniversary of the end of the war, Kitsuna," An said, staring at me like I'd just confessed I couldn't read.
"You guys celebrate that?"
"Of course! We remember the sacrifices made in the war."
"Sacrifices? If I remember right, only 137 people died on our side. On the federation side, it was over 10,000."
"Ah, at least you know some things," An said, dripping sarcasm.
"Oh right—it was also the most deaths in the last five wars," Kayda added flatly.
"Yeah, by one, roar," I said.
"It's still more," she shot back.
"Now, something I'm curious about—how was the death count so low?" I asked.
"Because we don't raise cannon fodder," An said simply, as if that explained everything.