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Campfire
Once the general shape of the campfire has been set, Andre and the others place bundles of firewood in the middle and fill up the gaps between the firewood with pieces of wood.
As we continue our preparation like that, the sky soon turns dark.
「Yosh, let’s light the fire now!」
Fire has already been lit all around in braziers, and the villagers have been waiting as if to say, ‘Is it time?’.
It's plain to see that everyone wishes for a strong fire.
Preparing a torch, Andre sets fire to the firewood that has been gathered.
A small flame slowly lit up. And then a villager cast Wind magic to create a gentle breeze, and in the blink of an eye, the flame blazes up.
A large flame is lit, and cheers erupt from the villagers.
There is a sound of the firewood cracking and bursting pachipachi.
When the campfire is this big, the impact sure is different.
The flame that flares up against the dark sky is very beautiful, and warmth enveloped our bodies.
It gets somewhat cold as autumn arrived, but it is warm thanks to the large fire.
The villagers are having food they buy from the stalls or make at home, and each of them gathers in their favorite spot and begins eating in the central square.
Some families are treating others to the dishes they are proud of, and many villagers flocked to those places.
「What should we have for dinner?」
「Shall we just find some stalls and buy from there?」
Since we are helping build the campfire, of course, we haven’t prepared any food.
「Kureto-san, Arte-chan, Camila-san, come over here!」
「We have plenty of food here!」
Just as we are discussing things, Stella calls us from the corner of the table.
I found my acquaintances such as Andre, Olga, Mira, Lefyria, Angela, and Griff sitting there, with plenty of food lined up on the table.
「Ooh, such a lot of food ja! Can we also eat with you?」
「Yes, of course」
「Thank you very much」
We sit on empty seats after being invited by Stella and the others.
●
As we are enjoying our dinner with Olga and the others, music starts playing suddenly from somewhere.
When I look over, there's a villager who has started playing a string instrument that looked like a lute.
As if drawn by this, other villagers also brought out other instruments such as drums and a flute.
At some point, the central square is filled with cheerful music and the villagers begin to gather and dance, as though drawn by the music.
One by one, people start dancing, and before we know it, many villagers dance in the area around the campfire.
That said, most of the people dancing are married couples or lovers. As a single man with no partner, I really don’t have the courage to go out there to dance.
This is probably the time when men and women approach each other and strike up a conversation.
I can hear people inviting others to dance here and there.
The way they invite someone else while blushing is very heartwarming. The adults are watching that while grinning and cheering on them, making for a lively scene.
「I see. So the campfire has this kind of meaning too, huh」
「Yes, that’s why people who have yet to marry give it their all today」
Stella nods, as if agreeing to what I say.
Although this is just a village in the countryside with not a lot of people, like in the royal capital, events like this probably serve as matchmaking events.
I have a feeling that the atmosphere is strangely lively as night fell, so this is the reason.
「Ooh! So this is a village’s dance! Nina, let’s also dance!」
「Un!」
Seeing everyone start dancing, Arte invites Nina, and they start dancing.
Not all of them are dancing for the purpose of looking for a partner, some dances with their close friends of the same sex.
Although, as expected, men don’t really dance with each other. Two men deliberately dance as a pair, which resulted in a burst of laughter, but it is completely as a joke.
In the distance, Emilio is being called out by a lot of village girls.
With a refreshing and good look, it's probably no wonder he's popular with girls.
I want to see Emilio’s troubled appearance, but I feel like he will be able to handle everyone without any problem, so I stop watching.
「Is Kureto not going to invite someone for a dance?」
Just as I am absentmindedly watching people dancing while drinking ale, Andre asks while nudging me.
「I’m not. And I can’t dance」
「You don’t need to be able to dance. You can just move your body around, matching the music. It’s a rare opportunity after all, try to invite someone. There must be someone you’re interested in, right?」
「Hーm, there aren’t really any people like that. I’ve been busy setting up a base for my dual-based lifestyle and enjoying life as well」
「What about Lefyria? From an outsider’s perspective, she looks pretty good」
「Umm, I don’t particularly see her that way」
Lefyria is very beautiful with a gentle personality.
She’s an excellent painter, and I respect her for her dedication to her work and the strength of her character. I think she’s a wonderful woman.
But, since our first meeting was because of work, I can't get the image of the business partner out of my head when I think about her.
Well, even if I can get that image out of my head, I don’t think she would pay attention to me.
「No way. You, you’re acting like an old man already」
Andre looked astonished when I told him my thoughts.
I’m aware that I’m somewhat mature for my age, but it can’t be helped.
I’d rather enjoy a relaxing life than romance. That’s all there is to it.
「Yosh, Kureto! Next, you’ll dance with me!」
「Eeh! I’ll pass, I can’t dance」
「Don’t say such a boring thing. Stop making excuses and dance with me!」
「E, ehー, sure, but how is this Camila-san? This kind of thing is not okay, right?」
「……there’s no problem with dancing with Arte-dono」
I try asking nervously, but the answer I receive is positive.
Dancing with Artemisia is a no-go, but dancing with the commoner Arte is probably okay.
I would have preferred her to stop me for formal reasons.
「Don’t get stubborn! Are you going to turn down a woman’s invitation!」
「O, okay!」
As expected, I can't refuse after she says that to me.
I am being forcibly pulled to the central square by Arte.
「H, how should I do?」
「Rest assured. Just leave yourself to me」
Arte takes my hand and starts moving while I'm still confused.
When Arte moves, my body also moves, as though pulled along by her movements.
I'm surprised my body can move naturally, even though I have never danced before.
No, rather than I move my body, it's because Arte is moving me.
As Arte moves her center of gravity, mine is also dragged along with her. Once the flow of movement has formed, all I have to do is relax and let myself follow it, just as Arte has said.
Things work out truly as Arte has said.
「That’s right. It’s going well, isn’t it?」
「This is amazing. It’s almost as if I’ve become able to dance so well. As expected of the princess, so good at dancing
「This kind of skill is completely unnecessary for adventure」
After whispering only the last part, she looks away, perhaps embarrassed.
I don’t think a normal princess would become an adventurer, though.
Immediately coming up with something like that is really typical of Arte.
I continue dancing with the accompaniment of the music while being guided by Arte. After one song ends, Arte and I return to our original place.
「You’ve learned the basic steps toward the end. Your talent in dancing was not too bad, you know?」
「Really? I’m glad to hear that」
I try to imitate Arte’s steps midway repeatedly and create my own rhythm, it seems to be the correct decision.
「I also want to dance with Kuretoー!」
Just as I'm taking a sigh of relief, this time Nina take my hand.
「Eh? With me?」
「Un, let’s dance?」
Nina’s face is full of expectation, but Andre - who is ahead of me - glares at me with an intense expression on his face.
However, such a sharp gaze is forcibly dispersed. Because Stella - who is dancing with him - forcibly moves his head toward her.
I heard a cracking sound there, is his neck alright?
As I continue to observe, Stella smiles at me, as if saying ‘Please dance with her’.
I can’t just dance with Arte but not with Nina.
「Okay then. Shall we dance?」
「Un!」
Nina smile very happily when I answer like that.
There's a large gap in age between Nina and me, so the villagers should probably have no misunderstanding.
「Now, how should we dance?」
Previously, I was being guided by Arte - who’s good at dancing - so I was able to dance somehow, but that won’t be the case this time.
But, I’ve learned several steps by observing and dancing with her, so if I work hard this time somehow――.
「Let’s dance with the flow of the music!」
So I'm thinking, but my considerations are dispelled by Nina.
As the Celtic-like music started playing, Nina takes my hands and begin bouncing along.
The movements are totally improvised. The solid foundation and refined movements in the dance with Arte before are nonexistent here.
But, Nina’s movements match the rhythm, perhaps because she has a good sense of rhythm.
Even as a beginner in dancing - and with a height difference -, it is difficult to keep up.
Perhaps she find it interesting to see me perplexed like that, Nina smiles happily.
Un, it’s impossible to keep up with these irregular movements.
So I can only move randomly and improvise like Nina.
「Ahaha, what strange movements!」
「It was improvised after all!」
Seeing me making the famous choreography and poses from my previous world one after another, Nina laughs out loud.
Besides Nina, Arte, Camila, and even Lefyria are also laughing as if they find it amusing.
It's the choreography that anyone in my previous world was able to copy, but it seems the people in this world found it very unusual.
「Is it like this?」
「Move your upper body more as you kick!」
「Like this!」
「Right right!」
It looks funny when I do it, but when a cute girl like Nina does it, it looks strangely just right.
「I can’t stand it! Let me join in that fun-looking danceー!」
「Let’s dance together Arte-oneechan! Camila-san too!」
「I, I’m also doing it, you say?!」
As the two of us are dancing casually, Arte - who is watching us - seems to be unable to endure it and starts participating.
Camila also joins in, and they dance and try the choreography from my past life, showing off their own movements they liked.
Eventually, the dance area became a chaotic place where a lot of villagers join in, filled with smiles.
It doesn’t matter if you can’t dance. The time spent dancing with everyone is more precious than anything else.
I feel like I learned from Arte and Nina through the Harvest Festival’s campfire.
I’m just grateful those two forcibly dragged me to dance.
The blazing sparks flew about, disappearing into the beautiful star-filled night sky. www.ihavesinnedtranslation.com
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