The Founding Day festival that occurs only once a year.
Even though there was still about a week left until the official commencement, the number of regular ships traveling between the academy and the two continents had increased significantly. Massive vessels with billowing sails dotted the horizon, their wooden decks crowded with eager visitors and merchants laden with exotic goods from distant shores.
Hundreds of people began pouring into the academy each day, their excited chatter and hurried footsteps filling the cobblestone streets with a palpable energy. Colorful banners and streamers hung from every building, fluttering in the gentle breeze as artisans and vendors hastily erected their temporary stalls along the thoroughfares. The streets were filled with a festive atmosphere, the air rich with the mingling scents of spiced foods, sweet confections, and perfumed incense.
Hundreds would soon become thousands, and all those crowds meant money.
