<master, let's="" start="" our="" preparations.=""></master,>
"You look pretty, Majou-sama!"
"Err... You don't need to be that excited for all this."
After the victory of the Griffon, the participant(?) from the mythical beasts' side in this tournament, the arena — which was built on an elevated platform — was then cleaned out to prepare for the dance, and as the night approached, the bonfires were being lit in many places.
When the evening glow slowly but surely covered the sky, Baretta and other maids took me to bathe and cleanse my body. Then they applied light make-up on my face and helped me change into my ceremonial dress.
"Sure enough, I really feel like I'll die of embarrassment from dancing in front of the masses like this."
I pulled the hood of my dress, a loose dancing robe fashioned after a monk's robe, over my eyes and held my fluttering sleeves. The hem of my robe slid down to my ankles when I walked, making me worry about accidentally stepping on it during the dance and tripping myself.
"You look so pretty and cute-nanodesu, Majou-sama! Teto is holding herself back from hugging Majou-sama or else Majou-sama's dress will get wrinkly-nanodesu!"
"Teto, thank you."
<master. it's="" about="" time.="" shall="" we="" go?=""></master.>
I passed through the under the guidance of Baretta and Teto and moved to the dance hall.
"Majou-sama is here, she looks so pretty."
"She looks so lovely, truly like a saintess."
"Haa, I'm blessed to see Majou-sama's sublime appearance......"
The path to the main venue was well-prepared, and along the way, Shael was waiting for us to pass the that had been placed in the church managed by her to me.
"Thank you, Shael."
"I'm looking forward to Majou-sama's dance. Rock them to the core!"
Shael spoke with a mischievous grin. I, too, replied with a smile, received the staff, and walked on with soft movements to prevent the staff from making a jingling sound. However, my soft and quiet pace served to further fuel the excitement of everyone else, making them show their anticipatory looks for the exorcism dance.
As the large bonfires lit the surroundings of the dance hall, I began my dance at the center of it. With gentle wrist movements, I made the metal rings on the staff jingle. I channeled my mana into the staff, spreading waves of purification.
The white ceremonial dress elegantly traced my movements in sync with the slow-paced dance that I had practiced over and over. The waves of purification traveled far and wide into the , and from amidst the night-veiled region, souls began to appear like unhurried raindrops. I wonder how much mana I would need to purify the faintly blinking souls drifting amidst the darkness.
The had the property of amplifying the effects of light magic by 15 times, so just a strand of mana was enough to send forth a wave of purification. But while the waves of purification matched the rhythm of the clinking sounds, the souls didn't directly disappear just by being covered with light magic.
The souls that emerged from the darkness swayed in harmony with my movements, and mana flaked off them like the fine particles of snow that vanished as they fell into the air or land, as if melting into them.
"Ah, it's like the miracle from 12 years ago......"
My ears captured someone's mumbling. Perhaps, this had evoked the memory of the time I exercised that giant aggregation of the skeletons during the stampede.
But I had no time to think about such things. I concentrated deeply on the dance, repeatedly moving while spreading the magic of purification. As night fell, these souls, most active at this time, returned from the void and participated in the festival, swaying along with me. Maybe the souls were becoming part of the festivities like this. Then, the souls that felt content began to leave, ascending one by one into the sky.
May you reach the Underworld Goddess Loriel, and live in happiness in your next life.
I prayed so while I continued to dance and dance until the last drop of my mana ran out.
I couldn’t tell how much time had passed, but it shouldn't have been less than a few hours. My mana had dried up and my dancing ceased, yet there remained innumerable souls swaying in the air.
"*Huff* *Huff* I couldn't make it until the end, huh?"
I murmured as I looked up at the souls and stepped down from the dancing stage where Teto and Baretta received me. My whisper fell into their ears as they replied.
"You worked hard, Majou-sama. Teto thinks you need not be concerned about them! They will return by themselves!"
Memories, knowledge, and personality are governed by the brain. However, it has been said that a part of the memories of a heart donor were transferred to the heart transplant patient in my previous world.
In this world of magic and spirits, the lingering thoughts of the deceased often came forth and spoke to the living. So, the memories might really be housed in the mana of the souls, and not just in the brain.
We passed the remainder of the festival by watching the spectacle of the flickering souls overhead ascending towards the sky after discarding the mana surrounding them.
The next winter solstice festival, an event to guide the spirits to the underworld, would be taken over by the residents in the future.
In the years to come, the festival involving looking after the spirits that gathered during the moment of the exorcism dance — to guide them like a lighthouse does to lost boats — as they ascended to the sky through the sacred artifact, the , was later changed to be called the <star-gazing festival=""> due to the spectacle of the deceased twinkling like stars with the night sky as the backdrop scenery. It was a tradition that continued for several hundred centuries.</star-gazing>
