15 Harvest Festival 3 (1/2)

Seran had a look of shameful awkwardness as he walked over to his father, who was already smiling. ”You did something amazing again, didn't you, Seran?”

Khloe and Seran were both blushing, with the latter nodding as he said, ”Yes...”

Etienne shook his head with a grin, ”Well, I'm glad nonetheless. Lady Khloe never had the opportunity to join in our festivals, so I'd be thrilled to have you join us.”

Khloe agreed quickly, ”I'd always wanted to be a part of the festival... all I've been able to do is watch from the spring... Now I can join in.”

The chief turned to the very inquisitive and confused villagers to speak, ”Everyone, I have great news. Thanks to Seran, our guardian spirit can finally join in our festival!” A chorus of happy and curious sounds came from the crowd, which was then cut off by Etienne as he walked over to kindly place a hand on Khloe's shoulder, ”This is Lady Khloe, our guardian spirit. She's one of us, as she always has been.”

Before anyone could say anything, Fenmore and the other kids tore over to gather around her, nonstop talking about how pretty she was, how cool she is, and asking questions about what it's like to be a spirit. Khloe was overwhelmed at first but quickly calmed down. Being lonely for so long, it was understandable for her to enjoy true company for once. This made the villagers all smile before giving her their best wishes and heading back to their work, knowing the children would be too distracted to help.

Seran could only smile and follow after his father, who was also heading back to the festival field to finish up the major preparations. With the help of the crows, along with several Golems, most of the heavy work had already been completed, leaving only decorations left undone. ”This is going to be one awesome party,” said the boy as he began helping hang up lanterns.

--

”Seran, you'd better get that last field done! There's only an hour until the festival starts!”

”Ah, shit! I forgot! I'm on it, dad!” The white-haired lad bolted off toward the last unharvested field, using his skills at parkour to shorten the distance faster than he could on the ground. After the wildly fun day of preparation yesterday, almost the entire village was completely ready for the festival. Only, Seran had fallen asleep before finishing the last field, which Etienne had just kicked his behind for.

As he hurried to the field, he spotted Fenmore playing with the other kids, with Khloe still surrounded by happy kids. Storm had shrunk down to perch on Fenmore's head, as protective of the odd-eyed boy as ever. Seran could only smile at the scene before hurrying onward.

Fifteen minutes later, as Seran was cutting down the last stalks of wheat to bundle, he heard Fenmore charge over with huge eyes and an excited look on his face, ”Big brother, the elves are here!”

”Already? Shoot, I'll be right there. Go on ahead, Fen, big brother will catch up!” He began to bundle up the last stalks himself, as two large Golden Crows took the previously finished bundles to the storage house. As Fenmore hurried back to look at the elves, Seran put the Golems on standby outside the village before using his parkour skills to speed to the storage house as well. He could already hear the festival getting ready to begin, and he spotted several pointy-eared beings entering from the north.

Little did he know that, while he was making his way to the storage house, a male elf with dark grey hair and blue eyes spotted the white-haired lad's abilities with interest. Watching Seran's nimble movements, along with sensing his enormous power, surprised him. He'd come the previous year, and this boy had certainly not been here then. Of course, that wasn't all he noticed. Several powerful Earth Golems and pureblood Golden Crows were undoubtedly what he saw first.

Whilst the elf was contemplating the connections between Seran and the village's changes, the boy in question had just put up the last bundle of wheat and was heading to the festival. Seeing all of the villagers in their best outfits, as cheap as they were in such a poor village, along with the huge smiles of joy on everyone's faces, only made him happier knowing he'd helped to make such an event possible. When he reached the festival field, everyone was already having fun, with several people already drinking while some were cooking over the firepits.

Etienne was talking to a blonde-haired female elf when he saw Seran running on the rooftops to the field. ”Oi, Seran, come here for a minute!” As the boy expertly jumped a good 24ft (7.3m), with a front-flip, and landed beside his father, the chief said, ”Seran, I want you to meet Lady Layla. She's the leader of the visiting elves, and she often spends time chatting with Nan.”