It’s said that during the adult ceremony, the native people of Leper sprinkle sacred water along the footsteps of the person who has become an adult. They believe it ensures a healthy and prosperous life without illnesses.

If my guess was correct, Sykar seemed to be planning to sprinkle sacred water following my footsteps.

“Sykar, are you trying to perform the adult ceremony on me?”
Pulling out the sacred water from his pocket, Sykar hesitated when I turned around. Perhaps, thinking there was nothing more to hide in the already caught courtyard, he completely took out the sacred water.

“Yeah. In Lecador, everyone undergoes a coming-of-age ceremony when they become adults. Although, according to the kingdom’s standards, you’ve long passed the age of adulthood, it wouldn’t hurt to try it once.”

Seeing Sykar laying out various explanations, probably fearing I might refuse, I couldn’t help but chuckle.

“When did you get that sacred water?”

“I got one from Jeremy.”

It seemed more like he took it.

“Then share some sacred water with me. I’ll do it too.”

“I’ve already done that. Everyone does it when they turn eighteen here.”

“I thought you’d have a personality that wouldn’t get along with people at all, but you still went through the coming-of-age ceremony successfully. Lucky.”

“At that time, I was so busy that I couldn’t attend festivals. Even if I wasn’t busy, I wouldn’t have gone to the festival. Anyway, thanks to Andrea sprinkling the sacred water, I was able to complete the coming-of-age ceremony safely.”

I see. No wonder you didn’t seem like someone who would attend the festival.

Sykar turned me around again.

“Let’s start over from the beginning. Walk forward until you reach the pine tree. Absolutely do not look back. There’s a saying that looking back brings bad luck.”

“Yeah. Got it. I’ll go then.”

I took slow steps forward.

A coming-of-age ceremony… It was the first time doing it, even though the time when I became an adult had long passed.

Here, the coming-of-age ceremony was a significant event symbolizing a promise to live responsibly before the gods and, at the same time, receive divine protection and blessings.

So, each step I took forward carried profound meaning. The day of adulthood might have passed without me realizing it, making the significance even more profound.

As the sound of sacred water being sprinkled from behind and Sykar’s murmuring reached me, I arrived in front of the pine tree.

“Now that you’ve successfully completed the coming-of-age ceremony here, you’ve become a person of this world. Celebrate by dancing or something.”

Sykar extended his hand to me and continued, “I thought I’d never use the dance I practiced, but it seems I can use it here.”

‘Dance?’

As I looked around, Sykar grabbed my face and directed it towards him.

“No need to look around. They’re all too busy with their own festivities, so there won’t be anyone paying attention to us.”

“It’s okay. I really don’t have to dance.”

“As you wish. If you want to see Jeremy and Loen get along well, it might be better for us to go to their side and dance together. Do you still dislike it?”

Looking at the two of them, they were still just having a conversation.
I thought the atmosphere would become more lively if we left the scene, but Jeremy still looked awkward.

“There’s nothing as intimate as physical contact between a man and a woman.”

There was some truth to Sykar’s words.

Sykar took my hand and walked towards Loen again.

“You don’t plan to spend the festival just like this without dancing, right?”

Jeremy, who was already in a bad mood, stared blankly into space with a vacant expression at Sykar’s suggestion.

Loen gestured approval to Sykar and then extended his hand to Jeremy.

“Let’s dance too. A dance of a priest and a magician. Isn’t it unique?”

Loen’s gaze at Jeremy seemed to say, ‘Today, I will definitely devour you,’ and Jeremy’s look at Loen seemed to say, ‘Please don’t devour me.’ Watching the two of them, laughter kept bubbling up, making my shoulders shake.

Jeremy, seeming resigned, awkwardly smiled as she took Loen’s hand.

“Well, sure…”

As soon as Jeremy took Loen’s hand, she was drawn magnetically toward Loen’s nose. Loen laughed broadly, took Jeremy’s hand, and started dancing.

Jeremy looked like a marionette, being pulled in all directions by Loen, but the two of them matched surprisingly well.

“Let’s dance together. But I don’t know the common dances of ordinary people. Is it okay if I follow Loen’s dance?”

“I was just about to suggest following Loen. It will deepen our camaraderie, don’t you think?”

“Not a bad idea.”

I took Sykar’s hand, and we started following the dance of Jeremy and Loen. It wasn’t the dance we had practiced, but Sykar adeptly followed along and escorted me.

The start was not bad. It was a lively dance, somewhat similar to waltz or rumba, where a man and a woman danced together.

If we had continued to dance like this, there wouldn’t have been any problem. The problem arose when Loen started dancing strangely, and Sykar followed suit.

Loen suddenly put a ring on Jeremy’s finger and started dancing, and, surprised and confused by that, I was also startled because Sykar followed suit.

“You don’t have to follow this kind of thing!”

Unperturbed, his indifferent eyes looked down on me.

“If you’re going to follow, it’s better to follow perfectly.”

“I must have misunderstood. I just meant to follow the dance.”

“And what are you misunderstanding? I mean, I plan to follow everything Loen does while dancing. For instance, if Loen, who is blind to kisses, kisses Jeremy, I plan to follow that as well.”