Chapter 28 – The Sudden Green Festival

The Emerald Festival celebration was truly bustling, primarily held at Konola City’s central Plaza. Every main thoroughfare along the way was packed with people. Even though Nobles drove carriages and ordered servants to loudly scold commoners to reach the front of the Plaza, they couldn’t dampen the crowd’s enthusiasm. People dressed in green outfits resembled piles of vegetables jostling through the streets, creating a rather amusing sight.

Punk realized it was impossible to see the Plaza’s performances from the back. Even magically amplified music was drowned out by the roaring crowd. In his cheerful mood, Punk decided to move forward for a better view.

Though everyone was excited, they hadn’t lost their senses completely. When they saw a mysterious and powerful-looking mage heading toward the Plaza, people nervously made space, keeping their distance from Punk. Thanks to this, Punk easily reached the Plaza without experiencing the terrifying crowding reminiscent of Earth’s discount shopping frenzies.

On the Plaza, a large horn inscribed with magic circles played light, rhythmic music. Eight or nine slender, beautiful girls in revealing emerald-green dresses danced joyfully to the beat. Whenever the girls jumped, their short green skirts—barely covering half their thighs—lifted slightly, revealing their fair legs. The men below the stage responded with wild howls! People farther away, though unsure why others were excitedly “howling,” joined in due to herd mentality, creating the grand spectacle of the entire city cheering.

Since Nobles and professionals were relatively scarce, even though they gathered at the stage front, they remained inconspicuous among the packed masses of ordinary people!

However, Punk, with his sharp second-level ranger eyesight, immediately spotted Kane in the crowd, howling along with the commoners. Watching him whistle and gesture at the girls on stage, Punk felt that greeting him would be embarrassing, so he simply pretended not to see him.

“But this guy has actually reached Apprentice-Level too. It seems he hasn’t been slacking off during this time!” Punk keenly noticed that Kane’s strength was no less than his own, making him increasingly suspect that Kane wasn’t as “decadent” as he appeared on the surface.

The performances continued. Though not as varied as Earth’s dances, they possessed a unique, natural grace. Even a calm mage like Punk, who had experienced countless celebrities on Earth, had to admit that the girls’ nimble figures and joyful laughter on stage were quite beautiful. Watching their elegant, lively dancing, Punk felt the tension that had gripped him since arriving in the Faerûn Plane ease considerably.

The reason unexpected incidents are called unexpected is that they always arrive so suddenly—Just as the celebration reached its climax, a figure clad entirely in deep ink-green robes stepped out from a suddenly appearing portal of light, materializing on the high city wall. Though the figure stood tall and distant, seemingly inconspicuous in every way, no one in the entire plaza could ignore him. When that terrifying pressure descended, the very air in the plaza seemed to freeze solid. All sounds, all voices—whether singing or clamor—ceased abruptly, leaving only the oversized speakers, as tall as a person, still blaring music that no one paid attention to anymore. Those farther away who hadn’t felt the pressure soon sensed something amiss and gradually quieted their noise and conversations. In less than a minute, the once bustling celebration had transformed into an eerie and silent “solo speaker concert.””

Punk felt the chilling, immense pressure and stared with a mix of confusion and wariness at the green-robed powerhouse on the wall—a formal mage. Experiencing for the first time the soul-crushing suppression from a formal mage’s overwhelming spiritual level, Punk had no time to ponder or marvel at how unfathomable a formal mage’s strength truly was. He was more puzzled by why a formal mage would appear here, deliberately releasing his terrifying pressure to interrupt the joyous celebration at its peak. Punk didn’t believe this was some carefully orchestrated surprise performance. Konola City had only one formal mage: the Mage Guild branch Chairman, whom the Old Mage respectfully referred to as “Lord” Mainaixi! For him to appear so conspicuously in a prominent place surely meant something major had happened!

“The celebration is terminated. This year’s Emerald Festival ends now. All city guards on leave are to cancel their holidays and report back to the military immediately!” Mainaixi announced the staggering news in an unyielding tone, then opened another portal of light, stepped inside, and vanished.

With the formal mage’s departure, the dreadful pressure dissipated. After a brief moment of stunned silence, the crowd began to react, and scattered murmurs emerged from among the people. As time passed, these localized whispers quickly escalated into widespread clamor and uproar. The people’s joy rapidly faded, replaced by a panicked atmosphere that spread swiftly. Ordinary folks might lack insight, but they were certainly not fools—Mainaixi’s command undoubtedly signaled that something bad was unfolding!

“Everyone disperse immediately! I repeat, disperse at once, or you will be dealt with as troublemakers!” Soon, soldiers began loudly driving away the commoners. Out of fear of the soldiers, people quickly scattered—those returning to shops locked their doors securely, and those heading home barred their gates. In no time, under the soldiers’ loud reprimands and opportunistic extortion, the streets that had been lively and noisy for the Emerald Festival became filled with a “calm before the storm” silence. Only the discarded grass wreaths left behind by the panicked crowd on the streets served as proof that, just minutes before, this had been a scene of joyous celebration.Punk also returned to the laboratory, but for an apprentice mage, gathering information didn’t necessarily require leaving home. An Apprentice-Level divination spell—Mage Eye—could allow one to obtain much external intelligence without stepping outside.

A tiny, invisible energy eyeball emitting minimal magical fluctuations materialized from Punk’s fingertip. Suddenly, Punk felt as if he had gained an additional field of vision—the new perspective provided by the magical eye. He could control this magical eyeball, which could persist for half an hour, allowing it to roam freely and clearly observe things no different from what his naked eyes would see. Of course, he had to be careful not to let this fragile eyeball bump into anything, as this detection spell possessed no defensive capabilities whatsoever!

Manipulating the magical eyeball, Punk guided it to ascend at a relatively slow speed. The divination spell indicated something was happening at the city gates, so the magical eye first headed in that direction…

Through the aerial perspective of the eyeball, Punk saw columns of soldiers entering through the city gates. Not a single commoner could be seen in the surroundings. In the Faerûn Plane, for most commoners, the military represented cruelty, greed, and lawlessness—a cold, sharp blade used by the Nobles to oppress the people, a terrifying existence to be avoided at all costs. However, for these soldiers entering the city, the absence of onlookers was actually a good thing. They all wore dust-covered, dull armor, with several wounded among them whose bandages were stained red with seeping blood. Each appeared more listless than the last, and though they struggled to maintain a valiant posture, Punk could sense an unmistakable, deeply concealed exhaustion emanating from them!

This was an army in retreat! Punk concluded with certainty!

(End of Chapter)