Oliver and the sage were still trading information.
The sage was asking with a mix of nerves and curiosity, and Oliver was answering while trying to keep his temper in check, then asking back to squeeze every bit of knowledge out of the sage.
In the end, each of them had extracted everything the other knew.
Oliver asked while staring straight at the sage,
"Are you telling me there's going to be a festival here?"
The sage nodded as he clasped his hands behind his back and paced in front of him.
"Yes. From what I gathered from the villagers, there's an upcoming festival that looks exactly like the autumn festival we used to hold."
"They're copying everything literally. Even the festival."
"I know. At first I thought they were just clowns imitating things without understanding, or maybe a bunch of monsters like the ones we faced in the forest. But after what you told me, it all makes sense."
"And what exactly makes sense about them copying a festival?"
