radicalducati Page 308
Page 308
"Of course! Even I received one! I must say, Lady Oriana is truly kind to us ordinary mages!"
"Indeed, Lundia is a place that makes you feel at home!"
"Yeah yeah……"
Two mages who were talking loudly passed by Latis. He scratched his head, glanced at their backs, and sighed.
"Belonging, what a mysterious word... I spent ten years in a rented room in my past life and never found this feeling. Only in front of my cabinet full of Holy Grails can I find some solace... Damn! I hope the autopsy team doesn't rummage through my belongings!!"
Latis couldn't help but frown, and awkwardly paced around for a while before finally walking out of the inner city of Lundia through the gate of the spire wall.
"Hey, have you heard? The follow-up to that mission."
"Oh... I just got the news from a friend, but there's still time. We can go eat now and make it in time."
"Wow... I can't believe Londia has such a grand event! I can't wait any longer, tonight's dinner is already losing its flavor!"
"Haha, look at you, don't be impatient. This excitement won't disappear. As long as you're willing, there will definitely be other opportunities in the future..."
Two more mages, engaged in lively discussions, brushed past Latis. He frowned, a puzzled look on his face, and scratched his head vigorously.
"How strange! Is there some kind of gathering in Lundia tonight? How come I didn't know about it? Did Boqi lose his mind?"
He silently complained to himself, looked around at the few mages passing by, and considered asking them a question, but hesitated. In the end, he decided to give up.
"Never mind... all the excitement is theirs. On a day like this, I just want to stay with my family and have time to reminisce about the past that we didn't cherish enough... I'll have the chance to see these gatherings again in the future."
Latis shook his head, sighed, and walked towards the mage's quarters with slightly heavy steps.
It wasn't that he disliked crowds, but if he went to attend some kind of magic gathering on what should have been New Year's Eve, he felt a severe sense of disconnect in his heart. So after hesitating for a while, he decided to give it up.
……
"I'm back!"
Latis walked into the courtyard of the mage's territory and shouted loudly, only to find to his surprise that the mage tower was completely dark. Not only were the lights off in the item shop, but the kitchen was also completely silent.
"That's strange... Arte! Little bird! Yashutia? Silly dragon!! Fou!... No, where are they?"
He walked around the courtyard in utter confusion, and when he confirmed that there was really no one in the mage tower, he was stunned.
"What?! Where are my girls? They went to the rally too? Wait, where's my food? They didn't even leave me a meal?"
Latis's eyes widened in shock. He couldn't help but raise his hand shakily, tilt his head back, and pinch his philtrum for a few seconds before swaying as he sat down on the bench under the flower stand.
The chill of late winter blew across his face, sending a shiver down his spine.
"Okay, okay, nobody's here..."
Latis finally came to his senses, sighed deeply, and murmured:
"Busy, everyone's busy... It's good to be busy..."
After reluctantly accepting this reality, he took a deep breath, stood up, and decided to go back to his room to sleep. Without the girls around, there was no point in keeping watch alone, so he might as well sleep until dawn.
However, just as he was about to passively sleep through his first New Year in this other world, the petite Ate stone sculpture in his bag suddenly emitted specks of blue light, and then, the half-elf's gentle voice, tinged with amusement, emanated from it:
"Brother, hurry up to the top of the tower."
"Arte? Where did you all go?" Hearing this voice, Radist felt a warmth in his heart and couldn't help but start nagging:
"You bunch of bastards, you went out without telling me! I should have ordered takeout to stay up all night. It's so boring being home alone... When are you guys coming back? Should I come over to find you now?"
"Big brother!"
Artemis couldn't keep her composure and let her laughter slip. She quickly stopped and tried to speak in a serious voice:
"Come on, big brother, let's hurry up to the top of the tower. It's getting dark, and it's almost time..."
"What time is it? Hey? Arte?"
Before Latis could finish his question, the half-elf hung up on him. He couldn't help but scratch his head, and rubbed the chest and abdomen of the petite Arte in annoyance before sullenly flying to the top of the tower.
"You wretched little sprites, don't let me find out what you're up to..."
He plopped down on top of the tower, looked around, frowned, and muttered to himself:
"What on earth is..."
Before he could finish speaking, the true name in his mind suddenly shone brightly. Latis was startled and quickly looked in the direction of their mental connection, only to find Atelius in a dress flapping her phantom wings and landing beside him.
A blush of coquettishness lingered on the half-elf's face, which had just been kneaded by the stone sculpture. She pinched Latis's cheek in annoyance, then twirled around, lifting her skirt, and with a soft hum, blinked her lake-blue eyes, asking:
"Does it look good?"
"Yes, it looks good..."
Latis's breath hitched, and he nodded subconsciously.
For some reason, Artemis wore a semi-transparent gauze dress tonight. The layers of thin gauze concealed her body in the shadows of the night, only outlining her hazy lines, making her indistinct.
Her long, slender hands hung shyly over her chest. Looking down, one could see her delicate, bare feet, white as jade. She tiptoed, her clean feet taut as if trying to convey her beauty to the man before her, full of vitality.
"Ate, you..."
The half-elf's long silver hair fluttered and brushed against Latis's cheek, making him feel a slight tingling sensation where they touched. He subconsciously raised his hand to scratch his face, about to say something, but the half-elf's soft fingers pressed against his lips.
"I'm not the main character tonight."
Artemis smiled gently, took Latis's hand, and sat down at the top of the tower. She tucked her legs in, pinched Latis's chin with her fingers, and let him rest his head on her lap.
“Please gaze upon them, my love…”
An unidentified tree fruit was held in the half-elf's fingers and brought to Latis's lips. He opened his mouth wide and swallowed it in one gulp, then licked the half-elf's fingertips with lingering satisfaction. Looking at the dark night sky, he asked:
"Arte, what exactly is going on?"
Ateliers remained silent, simply placing the next fruit near Latis's mouth. Seeing him readily bite his finger, she angrily flicked Latis's forehead and said:
"Don't speak, it's about to begin!"
"Start what..."
boom!
Before Latis could finish speaking, a sharp sound pierced the air, followed by a giant rose, as red as iron, exploding in mid-air and scattering countless sparks.
"cigarette……"
His gaze froze instantly. Amidst the not-so-loud, yet still deafeningly loud, explosion, he vaguely heard Atherifa's smiling commentary:
"This is the 'Iron Fireworks' that Teacher Yin attempted to recreate after consulting ancient books and various cultural relics. It was once a symbol of friendship between the elves and dwarves. In her hands, those long-forgotten histories were brought back to life for the world in the form of a fleeting firework..."
The half-elf's words gradually echoed in the sky, but Latis just stared blankly with wide eyes. The fleeting fireworks seemed to slow down countless times in his eyes. He watched the rose-shaped iron fire ignite inch by inch, and then turn into gray embers inch by inch.
He couldn't quite tell whether this scene was in a dream or in reality. It seemed that even before, he had never watched a firework bloom and fade so intently.
boom!
The girls didn't give him time to dwell on his past regrets; the next vibrant firework was already on the horizon.
“That was Lady Frico’s ‘Starry Sea Fireworks.’ She studied many visual techniques with sound, light, and color characteristics, but ultimately chose this recreation of the starry sea. Perhaps this is her personal understanding of fireworks. To her, the starry sea that consumed her youth and buried her mentor was noisy, dazzling, distant, and profound…”
boom!Boom!
"These adorable 'Thousand Bird Fireworks' were naturally invented by the little bird. She used magical artifacts to stably scatter materials, creating these colorful birds. Listen carefully, brother; the chirping of each bird firework is slightly different!"
boom! boom!
"...These are Kurosawa's 'Black Smoke' and Serfa's 'Dragon's Breath Fireworks.' It must have been difficult for Lady Oriana, having to maintain the Lundia shield the entire night..."
"……no."
Latis finally snapped out of his daze. Looking at the blinding mushroom cloud in the night sky and the billowing smoke resembling a volcanic eruption, he couldn't help but glance at the helpless-looking Ateliers and loudly complain:
"What kind of fireworks are those?! This is way too exaggerated! Give me some proper fundamentalist fireworks, you know!"
"Perhaps for them, this is the most spectacular fireworks display ever."
Seeing the barely suppressed smile on Latis's face, the half-elf couldn't help but laugh as well. He reached out and massaged Latis's temples, saying:
"Brother, I don't know what fireworks are, but perhaps this is their meaning?"
"The...meaning of fireworks?"
Lattis fell into deep thought.
boom!
The fireworks in the sky gave him no time to think. His lover's gentle voice kept explaining the origin of the fireworks. Perhaps the cold weather was warmed a little by the firelight. The wind at the end of winter blew on Latis's face again, but it was no longer as cold as before.
"This is a firework jointly developed by Jennifer and a succubus named Sasha. They used the collision between the spiritual power of the evil spirit realm and the divine power of the God of Light to create the flowing light and color effects of the fireworks... Are they really geniuses? Anyway, they used their strongest divine magic to sculpt your face..."
"?"
Latis looked at the grinning soybean in the sky and felt a bead of sweat appear on his forehead.
"When did Sasha sneak off? Never mind her... Just tell them, 'You sculpted it very well, don't do it again next time...'"
Whizzing!
Artemis couldn't hold back her laughter any longer as she swayed amidst the fireworks. She reached out and hugged Latis, continuing lovingly:
"Those are Princess Slinger's Morning Light Fireworks and Miss Mitu's Rabbit Fireworks. Their fireworks are quieter, but as I said, perhaps this is what 'fireworks' should look like in everyone's heart."
"What fireworks should look like..."
A surge of indescribable emotion welled up in Latis's heart, flowing through his body as if to wash away all the weariness of his past and present lives, gently gurgling in his ear.
What should fireworks be like? Perhaps they don't have a fixed form. True fireworks should be the noise in your ears, the people around you, the light and warmth of New Year's Eve, the wind on your face...
A mixture of confusion and relief welled up in his eyes, but all of this was once again interrupted by the fireworks in the sky.
"Next up is my fireworks."
Ateliers gently helped Latis up, then stood up, smiling as she raised her hands and said:
"Please look at me, my love..."
boom!
"This, this is..."
Latis's eyes widened instantly, an indescribable shock filling his heart. He instinctively fell backward to the ground, for in the sky, there were dazzling fireworks he had never seen before—
It was a huge mage tower, standing at an angle. A lush flower trellis was built on the side of the tower, and two people sat lazily on the pointed top of the tower. They were playing around and looking at each other. Their eyes were enough to convey their love without needing to be written.
That was the phantom of the mage tower summoned by the half-elf using the spell "Orianna's Mobile Turret." Countless real roses fell from around the phantom of the mage tower, cascading down like a waterfall and scattering across the streets and alleys of Lundia.