*CLAP*
The sound of that hand motion drew everyone's attention back to Rizette.
"Alright that's the end of the show. Don't you people have things to get done?"
"Oh right...."
"Breaks over I guess"
With that, the onlookers immediately started to disperse, fanning out and resuming the respective tasks they had taken a momentary pause from.The entire group had now convened on the patio of the Silver Wind Café, most of them were now seated with the only exceptions being Aurora, Kanon and Rizette.
Levinia carefully held a glass teacup in both hands almost as if to caress it while she took elegant, inaudible sips of her matcha tea. This was her third cup, and matcha tea was one of the more expensive items on the menu here, seeing this Rizette smiled at the sight, just thinking about how much Levinia had already spent made her feel like she could stand here all day. Arthur sat across from Levinia and held an attentive posture like he was awaiting orders that could come at any moment. Though he was usually quite arrogant, in the presence of Aurora he was little more than a reserved child.
"Now then...what to do next?" Aurora asked no one in particular.
Before she could answer her own question, the sound of Kanon's ragged breathing reached her ears, and she gave him a slightly concerned look before speaking.
"Kanon, I think that's about enough for now."
She made a hand sign with her index and middle fingers, and the scribblings on the paper talisman stuck to his forehead abruptly vanished.Kanon slowly removed the weight off his shoulders and gently lowered it to the ground. Before he could decide what to do with the 300kg pole, Aurora latched it out of his hands and simply rested it across her shoulder like a baseball bat, completely ignoring the effects of its excessive weight.
"ARLRIGHT! it felt like that wasn't going to end." Now stretching his body on the patio, a bit of his youthful radiance had returned.
Seeing him carry on like that, a thin smile appeared across Aurora's lips for just a brief moment.
"Elaine, could you empty the water from these and store them somewhere for me?" Pointing towards the two wooden buckets, Rizette asked the dutiful girl by her side.
"I'm on it manager."
With a beaming smile, she easily hoisted both of them at once and took off towards the back of the café. Since the majority of the stress came from the pole Kanon had to carry, she made the task look laughably easy.
"So you were planning to meet up with me right Arthur?"
Aurora once again resumed their initial premise.
"Yes, that's right. I was hoping to get some more lessons from you, for even just a little bit."
"And you and Levinia set out to do the same.....hmmmm"
She seemed to be in deep thought for a moment, but before she could speak.
"Oh, that's right, on the way here we met Jin Longxin and he wanted you to have this."
Reaching inside his inner pocket, Kanon pulled out the slightly charred scroll that almost took his life. It was only about 12 centimeters long and the outside of it was colored in a light shade of red with golden lines intertwining across it. The texture felt like parchment, and on the inside were rows of dialogue written in a vertical manner on the paper interior that, if not for the slight singe marks near the edges, it would have seemed almost too refined to be something crafted by hand.
Aurora's Silver Irises scanned the entire thing in less than a minute. Closing the scroll, she gently placed it on the table and a defiant smile appeared on her face before she spoke.
"How absurd."
The stares she was getting from this haphazard gathering obviously meant "what did it say?"
"Don't worry, it's nothing that serious just a challenge."
"A challenge, you say?"
Levinia asked, now diverting her full attention to the conversation at hand, white fumes slowly wafted from the glass cup now resting on the table.
"Yea, it seems like the longxin have some pretty lofty goals in mind for this years Solstice Festa. But never mind that for now, its not something we should discuss here so casually."
"So then what do you intend to do Aurora?" Rizette asked, slightly shifting her gaze from the now half full teacup.
"For now, I'll bring them back with me. Levinia, you can fill me in on the way."
"Not a problem."
Her response came almost immediately, like she was already expecting her to say that.
"Kanon, will you be fine on the way back?" Rizette pondered aloud as she glanced at his slightly reinvigorated expression.
"Yea I'll manage."
"Of course he will, who do you think has been teaching him all these years?"
Aurora struck a confident pose, sticking out her moderate chest in a vainglorious display.
"Thanks for your consideration." Kanon sarcastically remarked, apparently, he was still in the mood for banter.
"Sounds like you've recovered plenty in that short time. How about another short stroll around the domain?"
"A-Ah....actually I might not be feeling so gung-ho after all." Without even sparing a thought, she shut him down completely.
"Asterius; are you still able to spar in that condition?" Arthur interjected, still retaining his vigilant posture.
"No way. I won't be good enough for that until I get some proper rest."
"True....you do look like you've been put through a tiresome ordeal. I guess it can't be helped then."
"You can just spar with Levinia then, can't you?" Tilting her head, Aurora met their surprised gazes with an expression that seemed like she was just stating the obvious.
Arthur and Levinia's eyes met in the next instant. The expressions that formed on their faces displayed ferocity and Jubilance, yet they conveyed the exact same meaning.
"I have no objections; in fact it would be a shame if we weren't able to finish that little scuffle from earlier."
"I'd expect no less from you Moon cutter, this should prove to be worth your while."
"I'll take your word for it." Kanon smiled faintly at the sight of her expression, it was another one he'd seen all too often.
While there was no trace of malice or angst in her voice, for a while now she had been emitting a kind of gentle pressure ever since they came across Jin Longxin, and it only intensified after her brief bout with Arthur earlier. That subtle change alone was enough for him to tell how eager she had been for a fight.
"Ohhh its good to see that you're both getting pretty fired up about this. I want to see where each of you are currently at so a sparring match should speed things up quite a bit."
"We won't disappoint you, lady Aurora." Arthur affirmed; his gaze now fixed on his soon to be target.
"We'll see about that."
"Arthur, don't underestimate Levinia, or you'll lose." Kanon proudly announced, it sounded like he'd put all of his confidence behind that one statement.
"Why are you talking like you're not a part of this? Didn't you hear me just now? I want to see what you can do in an actual fight."
"But haven't we been fighting nonstop for the past two weeks?"
"Since you were up against me, we can't even call it a fight. I want to know where you are in relation to your actual peers."
"Well as long as its not you I'm fighting I think I'll manage."
"Of course you will, It's been a while since I've seen what you can do when facing someone on your level. You better not lose."
"I don't intend to."
"Heh, cheeky brat."
"You two really can sync up like that when the situation calls for it." Rizette wore a pleasant expression as she watched them carry on, their antics were nothing new to her at this point.
"We both just hate losing, that's all it is."
"No need to be bashful Aurora, even Kanon thinks so too."
"W-who's being bashful?" Thwipping around immediately, Aurora began walking down the stairs of the patio. Catching a glimpse of her slightly flushed cheeks, Rizette chuckled at the sight.
"Alright, we've got a bit of work to do, so let's get going."
Aurora announced, now back on ground level. Even though she seemed to be even smaller from their current position, her voice still held the same authoritative tone.Arthur was the first to depart, reaching Aurora without giving the building behind him a second glance.Rising from her seat without making a sound, Levinia gave Rizette a small bow.
"The tea was truly wonderful, lady Rizette."
"~Come back anytime you like~"
"I'll be back for some tea next time too Rizette!" Kanon called out to her as he exited the patio.
"Let's go, the sun's going to set soon."
"Oh you're right! It's already 3:50"
Glancing at the watch around his neck, Kanon abruptly announced, as if he'd been disconnected from the flow of time up until now.
"That reminds me, what was this even for?"
"To see how long it would take you to complete that little walk. Since you started at around 4:26 this morning then that means you've been at this for about eleven hours and twenty four minutes.....you've still got a ways to go. That was just your warm-up."
"Give me a break."