254 Floats (1/2)
As I hid my identity and wandered amongst the crowds of people, I could see everyone around us celebrating joyously and consuming alcohol. I felt myself being affected by this festive atmosphere, and this imperceptibly raised my spirits.
I had already sent Aivla off. It was rare for me to be in such a great mood, and I definitely did not intend to waste my time with someone like her, someone who I barely knew. Angels were all of the ridiculously stubborn-type, anyways, and it was impossible for me to teach her anything at the moment. So I sent her away to learn Nanxiang Law for a few months.
I soon arrived at the Wood District, the most flourishing business district in Diffindor. Right now, various stalls decorated the roadside, selling snacks, accessories and even war memorabilia.
Yet just as I entered this business district, a cute, blonde-haired little girl appeared beside me. She maniacally charged towards the stalls, in search of new snacks to taste.
Her long, blonde hair almost brushed the ground. Harloys, who had gotten hungrier and hungrier, had some barbequed meat in one hand and smoked fish in the other, along with a chicken leg hanging from her mouth. The cute and respectable princess had now become a greasy little rag, her red little face soiled with stains.
Ever since Harloys had reobtained her ability to eat and her sensation of taste, she seemed to have evolved into a mega-foodie. Luckily, most of the time she was only tasting the flavor of the snacks. Although she didn't stop her mouth at all, she didn't eat much of anything; it was fortunate that the silly cat that always claimed my head as her perch wasn't getting fatter.
”Humph! No matter how much I eat, I won't get fat. After all, I can just give the fat to my Greed bodies; they'll just become fat in my place. I'm always going to be a magical beauty whose age is in the single digits… Ah! Roland! Look over there! What is that?!”
As Harloys said something that would make just about any woman feel jealous, she hopped up and down and pointed down the street. The slowly progressing float parade [1] 1seemed to be finishing its first cycle around the city.
Float parades were a tradition in all human countries. The rich countries of the central plains would decorate their floats with fresh flowers, gold, beautiful women and artwork. But the floats of the Northlands didn't have flowers or anything like that.
We were, however, the lands with the highest level of ice sculpting techniques. Legends, epics, heroes, and even real-life people could transform into miraculous works of ice and snow. With the addition of some colored lights, the colorless sculptures of ice would metamorphose into vivid works of art thanks to the refraction of light. The characters would appear to come alive.
Of course, this alone would seem too simple. Each float would have their own unique specialties and functions.
For example, the largest bakery chain in the city, The Asa Bakery, sculpted various desserts, which seemed exceedingly tantalizing to the viewers. They were even people throwing around discount vouchers as a way of advertising their bakery to the masses.
”Sweets! Confectioneries! Banana boats! Strawberry sundaes! Orange custard! Sugar bread rolls…”
Alright, I could only smile wryly as I watched the Banshee Queen steal as many vouchers as she could. It seemed that my home would soon be littered with innumerable dessert crumbs.
The Phillip Carriage Company's float was a pumpkin carriage that appeared to come straight out of a fairy tale, and it was pulled by a majestic stallion, decorated as a rat. Yet the outer shell of the carved pumpkin along with its decorations were far more exquisite than a real carriage. As it crawled forward steadily, the gigantic pumpkin carriage didn't shake even a bit, a testament to the astonishing craftsmanship it was made with.
The Golden Peak Tailor Shop's float had become a platform for models to show off the newest line of clothing. However, I felt only pity for those poor girls; they had to freeze in this manner, their faces pale in this cold, wintry weather. They were working hard at showing how little they were wearing.
Even if it was the new year, this place would remain cold and silent in the past. But with the revival of the East Mist, more and more people chose to return to the city, and many major merchants had invested in this place. The three examples I had just given were all merchants that weren't originally from the East Mist; they were using this celebration as an opportunity to advertise their businesses.
Even the recently formed Town Security didn't let go of the excellent opportunity. On their float, Momo showed off their new uniform as she cracked her whip loudly in the air. The snow sculpture that represented a criminal was whipped; snow and ice shards flew everywhere. It did appear rater painful… but what was with those strange people following that float around?
With such a large number of floats, there would, of course, be some that were incredibly strange. For example, the ones from a certain Gentlemen Alliance with too much energy, or from the goblin engineers who similarly had too much energy to spare…
”One, two, three! If you want to learn bulldozing, come to West Town Mechanical Engineering School!”
On top of a large goblin mechanical reaper, they were showing off their newest product—the ”Safety-brand” bulldozer.
*Boom!*
Alright, it was probably more of a ”Safety-brand” explosive. Both the audience and the goblins themselves were used to their contraptions exploding. The goblins simply got back up and sent the unlucky goblin who had gotten burnt to find a priest. Meanwhile, the other goblins began rummaging for parts that could still be salvaged, showing off their excellent technical skills right on the spot.
It was then that from amongst the rubble of oil and scrap parts, a cool-looking motorcycle appeared on the goblin's float. That bulldozer mechanic from earlier was now seated atop the motorcycle, showing off different tricks, his driving skills, and the excellent horsepower of the motorcycle… was it really true that one could drive anything after learning how to drive a bulldozer?
”One, two, three! If you want to learn motorcycling techniques, come to West Town Mechanical Engineering School!”
Alright, that was even met with some scattered applause from the audience. To them, this was much more enjoyable to watch than the other performances.
From a certain standpoint, if the goblins didn't have personalities that viewed explosions as daily occurrences and, more importantly, the survivability of a cockroach, they wouldn't have been able to reach such heights in the realm of goblin engineering. In that case, for their persistence and shamelessness, I should give them thirty-two likes… I might as well notify Town Security later than I normally did for their usage of the ”Safety brand.” At the very least, their spirit of ”never giving up” was something worthy of appreciation.
”You're so reckless; watching them from so close! Didn't you hear? At first, they had been giving a performance regarding a mecha made from the combination of five smaller mechas, taller than even the city walls. By now, so many explosions have occurred that they only have a bulldozer remaining, which was actually the previous mecha's right hand. You still dare to watch them from such a close range?”
*Boom!*
The explosion and the following fire behind me constituted the best evidence of that kind-hearted person's words. Everyone instantly backed up, leaving a wide swath of space around the goblins' float.
Yet the same miraculous performance occurred again. Despite the fact that the majority of the parts had been rendered into useless pieces of scrap metal, the goblin engineers didn't give up. They worked with their tools and grease, and a goblin mechanical saw was soon put together in front of us.
The goblin mechanic got back on his feet and immediately used the loud saw to chop off a piece of wood. And, once again, I heard that familiar goblin advertisement.
”Three, two, one! Learn wood-cutting! Come to West Town Mechanical Engineering School!”
”…From a huge combination mecha to a bulldozer, then to a motorcycle and finally a saw. It's like a dissection; from a person, to becoming a right hand, and then the index finger, and finally a fingernail… Let that poor saw be! It's the only remaining survivor in its entire family; so pitiful!”
Alright, for the sake of that pitiful survivor, I immediately requested assistance.
”Hey—hey—hey! Elisa, help me contact Town Security! Tell them that the 'Safety brand' is doing a float…”
There was no need for me to say anything else. Two dark elf knights appeared in no time, leading a Town Security team. The goblins, upon noticing this, didn't say another word and picked up their spare parts before fleeing the scene.
That was how the first empty float appeared. The strange part, however, was that many people began tossing snow-white stones onto the goblin's float.