Ice crystal lamps hung beneath the eaves of the houses lining both sides of the street. Every few buildings, a furnace stood; the residents had relit these old iron stoves, and flames leaped from their openings. The orange-red firelight burned against the snowy backdrop, dispelling the chill in the air.
Loud drumming and cheering filled the air.
The parade rounded the corner from the small plaza.
Leading the procession were a dozen or so shirtless, muscular men wearing beast-skin skirts. Every four men carried a massive frost-steel frame on their shoulders.
Drums were secured to the frames, and the dwarves standing atop them held drumsticks, rhythmically beating the drumheads with immense force. Every strike sent a tremor deep into the onlookers' chests.
Following the drums was a group of women dressed in white robes, holding ice crystal lamps as they walked, singing a Wigtan folk song.
Flora could not understand the Wigtan dialect, but the melody conveyed a vibrant sense of life.
“The wind will blow winter away, and the fire will remain in our hearts...” Loviki stood beside her, softly translating the ballad.
Some residents in the crowd began to sing along.
At some point, the elderly dwarf woman had also come to stand by the inn's doorway. Her lips moved slightly as she hummed along with the melody, a touch of emotion in her eyes.
Dwarves lived much longer than humans; she had lived through that era, through Wigtan's long, bitter winter.
Noxie shook Griff's sleeve excitedly. “Captain! I want to learn this one!”
“Do you know how to repair that lute you broke while fighting monsters?”
“No, I don't.”
“Then you can't learn it!”
Bagins poured another cup of wine and handed it over, though this time it was for Noxie.
Noxie took it dejectedly and gulped down a huge mouthful, only to stick her tongue out from the fiery burn.
Once the parade passed, the crowd did not disperse. This was when the Ice and Fire Festival truly began.
The stalls lining both sides of the street officially opened for business.
The streets filled with the bustling atmosphere of daily life: the smoke of grilled meats, pots simmering with honeyed drinks, carts selling ice crystal lamps, and handicrafts laid out across the ground. The entire Old District had transformed into a massive bazaar.
“Let's go,” Chen Mian said, leading the way into the crowd.
Flora followed closely behind, her scarf covering the lower half of her face. Her eyes crinkled with amusement as the frost-pistil honey candy in her mouth slowly dissolved, its sweetness spreading from the tip of her tongue all the way down her throat.
“Let it melt slowly,” Loviki chimed in from beside her, a small bulge in her cheek as well. “The landlady said the longer you let it melt, the sweeter the coming year will be.”
“How long have you been sucking on yours?”
“Ever since they were handed out,” Loviki replied with a straight face. “I asked for three. Triple the sweetness.”
“You're just greedy,” Chen Mian said without looking back.
Loviki pretended not to hear, rolling the candy from the left side of her mouth to the right.
Because the crowd was so dense, the three of them walked closely together to avoid getting separated, practically shoulder to shoulder.
Stalls lined the street one after another, each surrounded by crowds. There were ring toss games, riddles, pitch-pot, and people trying to catch fish from large water tubs to put into miniature fishbowls.
A group of adventurers squatted by the edge of a tub, their faces flushed with frustration, looking as if they were about to just grab the fish with their hands. Meanwhile, the local Wigtan children beside them caught fish with every attempt, grinning from ear to ear.
“I want to play that,” Loviki said, her eyes shining as she pointed at the ice-fishing stall.
With that, she squeezed through to the edge of the tub, took a tiny fishing rod from the stall owner, and squatted down.
Loviki held her breath as the baited hook slowly sank into the water.
A fish darted past the hook. With a flick of her wrist, she tried to snag it... but missed.
Another one.
Still missed.
Standing to the side, Chen Mian and Flora watched Loviki seamlessly transition from confidence to intensity, and then to utter bewilderment.
Beside her, a seven or eight-year-old Wigtan boy had already caught three fish, tossing them into his bucket one by one.
The little boy glanced at her and asked in a childish voice, “Big sister, are you just feeding the fish?”
Loviki's ears flushed red instantly.
Flora squatted beside her and whispered, holding back her laughter, “You have to wait for the fish to bite before pulling the hook up. Don't chase after them.”
Loviki took a deep breath, and the hook sank into the water once more.
This time she didn't rush. She waited for a small silver fish to slowly swim over, and the moment its mouth touched the hook, she gave her wrist a gentle flick.
A small, silvery-white fish leaped from the water, tracing a glittering arc through the air.
“I caught one!” Loviki exclaimed, her face lit up with surprise.
Flora smiled beside her, her eyes curving into crescents.
Chen Mian walked over from behind and handed a few copper coins to the stall owner, receiving three grilled silver fish wrapped in greaseproof paper. Even if one couldn't catch any, they could be bought directly, and the price wasn't much different.
He handed one to Flora and another to Loviki.
Loviki took a bite of the grilled fish. The meat was tender, with a subtle sweetness and almost no bones.
“When did you buy these?” she asked, her mouth full.
“Right when you caught your first one,” Chen Mian said, taking a bite of his own. “Now you've experienced the fishing part.”
Loviki looked down at the grilled fish in the paper, her lips curving slightly upward. But then she seemed to recall something. “Wait, didn't you say you don't like fish?”
“Did I?”
“You absolutely did!”
...
The three of them strolled through almost the entire Old District.
They bought skewers, honeyed drinks, candy, jam, and a small frost-steel bell.
Loviki had bought the frost-steel bell, saying she would hang it at the apartment entrance when they returned, as a souvenir of their journey to Wigtan.
As they reached the end of the street, they came across a modestly sized stall ahead that was far livelier than any of the others.
It was surrounded by adventurers, all of whom seemed to be tinkering with something with incredibly serious expressions.
The three of them walked up to the stall. The owner was a white-haired elderly man.
“Sir, what is this?” Flora asked as she approached.
“Ice crystal blessing boats—an old Wigtan tradition,” the old man explained unhurriedly. He picked up a palm-sized, ice-blue boat and turned it over to show the bottom. “Write the name of someone you cherish on the bottom. After the Winter Farewell Ceremony, release it into the canal to let it drift out to sea. This will keep the person you cherish safe and sound. The further it drifts, the more effective the blessing.”
He paused, then added with a warm smile, “You can write the name of anyone—family, friends, companions, or lovers.”
Flora picked up a small boat, turning to look at Chen Mian and Loviki behind her. “Do you want to write on one?”
“Yes!” Loviki nodded.
In the end, all three of them held a small boat with a name written on it.
“When does the Winter Farewell Ceremony start?” Flora asked, looking at the boat in her hand.
“At nightfall,” Chen Mian said. “There are still about four hours left. Let's find somewhere to eat first, then head to the canal to grab a spot.”
Loviki tucked the frost-steel bell into her bag and brushed the dust off her hands. “Let's go then. I want to stand right at the front.”
By the time they finished eating, darkness had already fallen.
The ice crystal lamps hanging on both sides of the street cast a faint blue glow, giving the night-shrouded streets a dreamlike quality.
They followed the dense flow of people to the confluence of the canal and the sea.
The area was already packed with residents, adventurers, travelers...
And right in the very center stood a massive furnace, over ten meters tall.
Rate on N.U.
