In the span of a week, it may seem long or short, but Tiran, who still harbored a certain freshness for street patrols or idly passing time, felt that time passed rather quickly. With the first ray of morning sunlight shimmering on the distant horizon, the bronze bells of the Seabreath Clock Tower rang out. Even this seemingly heavy and solemn giant seemed to gain a bit more vitality against the vibrant backdrop of dawn.
"Hurry, hurry, hurry! Double-check everything and report to your post immediately. There's a full day of festival activities today, and absolutely no room for any issues!"
The courtyard where the temporary guards were stationed echoed with the gruff roar of Uncle Shanyan. These days, Shanyan was practically working himself bald trying to manage these temporary workers, not because he didn't want to supervise the regular guards, but because the performance of the temporary guards was seriously lacking. In terms of combat power, the temporarily selected guards were definitely stronger, but when it came to maintaining order and carrying out the daily guard duties in the absence of any bandit attacks, they were completely incompetent.
To put it bluntly, they were good for nothing except causing trouble. If next year they recruited temporary guards based on combat power again, I'll smash someone's head… that was the only thought in Uncle Shanyan's mind at the moment. If there was anything else, it was probably the urgency to get through this cursed festival day and get rid of these guys tomorrow.
Almost driven out of the courtyard like ducks by Shanyan, Tiran and Shuoye were not at all dissatisfied, but rather excited. The annual festival had plenty of entertainment to offer. Though both festivals, Seabreath's Sea God Festival and the Martial Arts Festival Tiran had experienced before, shared some similarities, the former exuded a more festive and celebratory atmosphere. Apart from various games and stalls, the two main attractions – the procession of the sea god statue and the evening ritual dance – drew large crowds of tourists, making the small town crowded with people.
"Wow… it's even more extravagant than a few days ago." As they approached the center of the town, the number of people around visibly increased. Tiran and Shuoye initially tried to push through to their duty stations, but eventually gave up. It wasn't until they reached the intersection of a street corner and a narrow alley that the two managed to squeeze their way out and catch their breath.
"Really, there weren't this many people last year. Seabreath's reputation seems to have been growing these past few years," Shuoye remarked, wiping the sweat from his forehead and straightening his slightly disheveled outfit.
"I don't feel like going on duty. How about we sneak away instead? With this many people around, Shanyan won't be able to check if we're there anyway," Tiran boldly suggested.
"Hmm, not a bad idea. Let's sneak away. By the way, I heard that the sea god statue procession is preparing to pass through the town. Interested in checking it out?"
"The procession of the statue? Not my cup of tea. I'm not interested in religious beliefs," Shuoye replied.
"But there will be a performance by the sea priestesses in the procession, different from the dances the town girls perform, a bit more… revealing," Tiran hinted.
"Alright then, lead the way."
With a gradually sinister smile, the princess readily agreed, and the two, in agreement, headed towards the other end of the town, running through the alleyways. But as they ran, Tiran couldn't help but slow down. There was something off about the atmosphere around them.
The current time is shortly after sunrise in the morning, and the alley is narrow with dim light, making it normal for her senses to be a bit fuzzy for a few seconds now. When she came to her senses, Souya, who should have been running ahead, was nowhere to be seen.
"Souya?" Tiran tried calling out Souya's name and walked a bit further, still seeing only the walls on both sides, the dim light, and the entrances to the alley ahead and behind. Beyond the exit, she could faintly see the bright sunlight and bustling crowds, but they looked distant, like watching the shore from underwater, shimmering slightly with a hint of distortion.
Something was definitely wrong. Given her pace, she should have already exited the alley moments ago. Since arriving in the city, Tiran had been idle, but she had been persistently trying to use Chi, despite still being unable to. However, she had roughly understood the principles.
She was inside some kind of "formation." Not the same as the magic circle Heinrich used during the coup in the royal capital to suppress her, but rather the "Realm" or "aura" of someone incredibly powerful. This aura completely suppressed her Chi within her body, allowing her to sense its existence even though she couldn't use it.
And the current situation, was it caused by that person? Tiran's right hand rested on the scabbard at her waist, and she felt her erratic breathing calm down. Despite the sword being an ordinary weapon and even difficult to draw in the narrow alley, she felt somewhat reassured holding onto it.
"What kind of monster is this..." Tiran muttered, noticing the light around her darkening further, plunging her into pitch darkness where only a faint gleam remained ahead.
No, not a faint gleam, but an image—as if watching a nighttime scene from a movie in a pitch-black theater. It was a static panoramic view, seemingly taken from a movie overlooking Seabreath and the surrounding bay from a mountaintop or similar location.
But what was the significance of this?
"Wait, that's...?!" Apart from the light source, the most conspicuous thing in the dark night was a white object, and in the corner of the image, a small figure with familiar white fur caught Tiran's attention.
"Aya?!" Almost instinctively, Tiran rushed forward a step and reached out to grab the image, but at that moment, the surroundings suddenly brightened, as if the movie had ended, and the eerie aura vanished without a trace.
When she came to her senses, Tiran found herself on the street outside the alley, the sun high above, shining brightly, with a bustling crowd around her, and Souya looking at her somewhat worriedly.
"Are you okay? You suddenly stopped moving as if you were dead when we left the alley."
"I'm fine, don't worry, let's keep walking." Tiran shook her head, her mind going over the seemingly momentary events that just occurred.
"That's good. I almost had to give you artificial respiration back there." Souya patted her chest with relief.
"Heh, artificial respiration from a pretty girl? Not bad." Tiran replied casually, but her mind pondered over the strangeness of Morninglight itself, the peculiar "split," and most importantly, whether the Aya in the image was a real existence.
Having lived at Morninglight for a week, although everything seems no different from the normal world, there is always an indescribable sense of discord. Tiran had a feeling that something might happen after the festival ends.
