Chapter 811 – #169_Utopia (4)
#805
One.
It is a big festival held once a year in a small town with no entertainment.
Thanks to that, the road from the village to the shrine was crowded with people.
Families, lovers, and friends who came out wearing their own clothes.
As the elongated purple sunset slowly fades away, everyone is excitedly moving towards the shrine.
“…….”
Glance.
Linne looked out of the corner of her eye at Papa, who was walking alongside.
A hakama dressed up for a matsuri.
A long, manly sword-scarp across her face and an eye patch covering her outside.
A handsome beard visible under a slanted hat.
The expression of a wandering nangin who knows taste is a perfect outfit.
In reality, he was also a spearman whose title was not exaggerated.
“Rinne, it is dangerous to look away. You have to walk carefully, watching her step.”
“Yes.”
Shiu presses Rinne’s head for glancing at her like that and reproaches her.
Rinne lowered her head at the affection she felt through her small movements.
Arguably, only Papa would allow Rinne to be treated this way.
Although Rinne relied on him like this now, it was difficult to say that the first meeting between the two was a good relationship, even as a joke.
5 years ago.
After the master inherited the stigma and died at will.
Rinne, who was wandering both physically and mentally, met Shin Si-woo, a wandering nang.
As soon as Linnaeus met him that she had become a witch in the body of a man, she engaged in a lion fight as soon as she died.
It was pretty good at the time.
She could no longer find a reason to stay alive.
If there is a reason left, let’s bury it in the sword she’s been forging her whole life, and bury it in nothingness.
If she kills him, she will be able to advance to a higher level, and if she is killed by a strong person, it’s even better.
With that determination, I just handed over the challenge to the seemingly strong man.
Surprisingly, he defeated Linnaeus by an overwhelming margin.
Even though she was a young witch, she easily subdued Rinne, who was a winner in battle, as if she were dealing with her child, thanks to the harsh training unique to the ‘Sword Witch’.
His spearhead was straight like bamboo, and the tip of his spear showed free change like a willow leaf.
Rinne couldn’t respond to her flimsy move and in less than three minutes of her time, Rinne let go of her sword and plunged her face into the mud.
‘Kill him.’
He was prepared for the price of defeat.
Even as muddy water flowed into her gaping mouth, she felt even the relief that she had been waiting for, let alone resentment and anger.
‘Go back, wipe your feet and sleep. Don’t bother me.’
However, Siu did not take Rinne’s life.
I spat out her words as if tossing them away, and I just walked away with the raindrops on my back.
‘…….’
She was completely denied the one thing she thought she had left, ‘strength’.
The mental shock turned into enough rage to overturn even his suicidal thoughts.
It was indeed a sudden and unexpected vector turn.
Perhaps it is a cognitive schemata that arose because of the need to explode the feelings that were entrenched in the heart.
Rinne chased after him and attacked him.
Day and night, sunny days and cloudy days, trails and village mouths.
Regardless of time and place, they attacked throughout the three weeks, and were knocked to the floor each time without winning a single victory.
Each time, he dealt with Rinne with ease.
The result was always the same.
‘Come after more training.’
It’s been a month since I’ve been chasing after those who indifferently turned around after throwing out the nasty words.
The resentment and sadness of not being able to deal with her properly were changing colors with longing.
‘Aren’t you hungry?’
A rice ball handed to Rinne, who grunted as she clutched at the kicked stomach.
It was the beginning of a long relationship between the two.
Over time, just as an orphaned cat burrows into the wolf’s arms, Linne comes to regard Siu as her father.
And he took care of Linne unconditionally, like her family, like her father.
“What are you thinking?”
“… The day I first met Papa.”
It’s embarrassing, but you can’t hide your true feelings from Papa.
Rinne answered with her uncharacteristic, mum-mum sound, and Siu patted her head again as if she thought she was cute.
The sun has completely set.
The long stairway leading to the torii, the gateway to the shrine, was surrounded by colorful lights and shone.
Siu and Rinne climbed the path holding hands like a loving father and daughter.
Papa is sweet.
Papa is kind
What a terrible time he would be having if he hadn’t had the rice ball he handed him.
Just by being together like this, my heart is filled with joy as much as my heart is about to explode, and my toes float.
Even the curse of the most terrible deficiency disappears.
But at the same time, these feelings make Linnaeus nervous.
“Hey, well decorated.”
As she looks around to the sound of revelry music and laughter, she realizes that she has arrived at the shrine before she knew it.
The villagers gathered in groups of threes and fives to create street vendors, which had a fairly assortment and were directing a small festival.
“Shall we look around first?”
“Yes.”
Even so, it is a small town festival that strangers do not bother to visit.
Even if you look around step by step, you can see everything in about 15 minutes.
Instead of stone lanterns, the car drove around the shrine grounds illuminated by scarlet incandescent lights.
Rinne pondered over a long-held concern.
Siu did a lot for Rinne.
It satisfied her longing for family affection, fatherly or motherly love.
So that’s it.
The only relationship between the two is that they are not related by blood.
“Linne.”
“Yes.”
“Don’t be ignorant, take it.”
Rinne, standing hesitantly, is given an apple stuck on a stick.
It’s not just an apple, it’s a lingo ame coated with melted sugar.
It was an indispensable snack for Matsuri.
“…….”
“It’s been a long time coming, shouldn’t we enjoy it more?”
Papada as always.
However, his behavior, as if he hadn’t noticed the slightest hint of Rinne’s troubles, looked snarky today.
“Oh, this sounds like fun.”
Leading the arm of Rinne, who struggles to bite off Ringo Ame little by little, Siu heads for goldfish fishing.
This game of scooping goldfish out of a shallow water tank with a paper scoop is also an indispensable event at the festival.
“Come on, sweetfish fishing is only 500 yen per time! Take the caught sweetfish to the stall next door and we will cook it for you!”
“Hmm, it’s a bit different from the goldfish fishing I know.”
“…….”
Instead of goldfish, sweetfish are swimming in the tank.
If you look to the side, you can see stalls where sweetfish are placed at an angle and grilled over a charcoal fire.
“Would you like to try Rinne too?”
“How many can I catch?”
“Let’s catch only enough to eat.”
“How many papas would you like to have?”
“Well? How about two to eat with beer?”
Rinne rolled up the sleeves of her yukata and stepped out holding her paper net.
She caught five sweetfish in an instant, like a cormorant catching sweetfish with great skill.
Siwoo, who got the snacks, was very satisfied and praised Rinne fiercely.
It was a set procedure for Linne, who received intense praise, to turn her cheeks red.
2.
As mentioned earlier, the festival in a small town was a small event without a parade, so the only thing to enjoy after fishing was shooting.
Still, the main event is not to be missed.
It is a fireworks display that launches firecrackers into the summer night sky.
Toho Shrine is a great place to watch fireworks from a high altitude.
Therefore, it is obvious that people who have been taking a break or who are not particularly interested in the stalls will flock to it.
Linnaeus had finished her preliminary visit three days ago.
“Where do you keep going?”
“Papa, I can see better this way.”
The place where I made my way between trees and bushes was the end of a gentle cliff overlooking the river.
Considering where is quiet, where you can avoid the attention of others, and still have a great view.
The lights of the shrine went out one by one behind him.
People who laughed and chatted waited for the spectacle to unfold in the future, holding their breath for a while.
My heart beats like it’s out of order.
A concern that Rinne has always had.
It is that Siu only thinks of Rinne as her real daughter.
If a priming water is needed to change the current relationship, it will surely be Rinne’s courage.
It is a grateful thing to care for Rinne, who is not a drop of her blood, like her family.
It is also true that Rinne was saved by Siwoo’s attitude.
But at some point, she was plagued by her desire to take a step further in the relationship.
Such urges were always accompanied by anxiety.
Linne likes Papa who takes care of her.
She always pampers herself to the fullest and likes a papa she can depend on.
If Rinne tried to cross her line alone and the result was an awkward distance, she would be sad.
She has no confidence not to cry if her courageous confession is simply dismissed as an insult from her childhood.
It is terrifying how the greed of wanting to have both Siu and Papa will appear to him.
“Papa.”
Linnaeus opened her mouth, barely controlling her shriveling breath.
“Yes?”
I really promised to tell you today, but I was hesitant to come.
Hesitation again.
You can be happy even if you do nothing.
Rather, wouldn’t it be okay to spend a little more time like this?
“Nothing….”
That moment when Rinne quietly bows her head and promises her next move.
-Pop! Pupperpuppung!
Along with cheers, the lights of the fireworks brighten the dim son-in-law.
A very beautiful flame cuts off the hem of hesitation.
“Oh pretty.”
“Papa.”
Rinne stretched out her arms toward Siu.
Thinking it was her usual posture for a hug, she lowers her knees and spreads her arms. Instead of being held in his arms, she holds both cheeks tightly.
Never to be able to escape.
“I adore you from the bottom of my heart.”
Lips that gently overlap.
Not a family kiss on the cheek or forehead before going to bed, but a lover’s kiss where they put their tongues together and mix each other’s sweet saliva.
The sound of firecrackers ringing in my ears and the colorful fireworks fluttering on the cheeks of the two overlapping each other.
It was a kiss that was as long as an eternity and as short as an instant.
Relief, regret, regret, joy, sweetness, bitterness, excitement, fear.
As if mixing different paints at random, a complex and subtle aftertaste remained on the tip of the tongue.
“You….”
I see Papa with a surprised expression in front of his eyes.
It was also something I shouldn’t have done.
“… I’m sorry….”
I had to be satisfied with what I was given and settle down.
She tries to pretend nothing is wrong, but Rinne, whose legs are weak, is about to sit down with sobs.
“Huh…?!”
This time, a kiss came from Papa.
A kiss that was more intense and full of passion than Rinne had done.
Rinne, whose body was rigid, naturally surrendered to his touch.
In the dark forest where the cries of grass insects are drowned out by firecrackers.
Amidst her father and daughter’s secret play with fire, Linne shed tears of happiness.
