Diablo in A world of infinite possibilities

Answers and more questions

The sun was shining, there wasn't a cloud in the sky, and a pleasant wind caressed my cheeks. I couldn't ask for a better day for this. Me and B3 decided to focus on why we'd come here in the first place: gathering information for the purpose of finding Mr. Shijima in real life. We approached Farica with the intention of asking some questions about him, but...

"I'm sorry," she said.

"I have to mend these clothes before noon."

Apparently, she had a Needleworker work order with today as the deadline. She had been planning to finish it yesterday, but Louie's disappearance had caused her to fall behind. We couldn't really bother her if that was the case.

"I should be done by midday," she said.

"Is it fine if we talk then?"

"Oh, yeah," I nodded.

"We don't mind waiting."

Noon was only three or four Dendro hours away. Considering our quest was a search for a real person and how little time that was in real life, there was no reason we couldn't wait.

"Please enjoy the festival until then," she added.

"The main event is the fireworks show which happens after dark, but the stalls and plays should already be up and running."

We made our way towards the stall-packed main street. The idea of festival stalls made me remember the ones I'd seen in events held by local shrines or the ones set up near cherry blossom viewing spots. 

The ones here in Torne weren't all that different from those. However, there were about 400 of them, which seemed a bit much for a village with only about 2,000 people. As I bought a crepe, I asked the shopkeeper why there were so many stalls, and he said that many of their owners were merchants from Altea who'd come here just for the festival. 

Well, this did seem like a good time to make a killing, but I couldn't help but respect the mercantile spirit of the people willing to venture the roads stalked by monsters just for this. Mind you, from what I'd heard, a lot of those shopkeepers grouped up, pooled their money to buy some skilled escorts, and arrived here first thing in the morning of the festival day. 

Also, the village surroundings were inhabited by monsters only a little bit stronger than those you'd find in beginner areas. Sometimes you'd get herds like the one encountered by Louie and his mother, but they were a once-every-few-years event, if not rarer.

Because of that, the journey wasn't a big deal for the escorts, either. The trip was also only about half a day long, so even Masters could take the job. And with them at the ready, not even a herd would be a problem. Tourists were also requesting escorts here, so it finally made sense why I'd seen so many quests like that back at the capital's adventurers' guild.

Looking around, I saw many Masters who'd come here as escorts and were now partaking in the festivities. Also, countless Masters and tians were holding one of those five- bladed pinwheels they called "windstars." 

We'd seen many of them decorating the fences next to the road to Torne. The passersby who weren't holding one often had them fixed onto their clothing. I had the windstar I'd gotten from Louie placed in one hand with a crepe in the other.

"Umm... there should be an ice cream shop there and a waffle shop over there," said Louie as he guided us.

"And if you go there, there's a small stage where they do a play about the story of the festival over and over."

"Really?" I asked.

"I'm interested."

"Okay, I'll show you. Ah..."