The two walked toward the festival grounds, their hands intertwined, and neither spoke as they enjoyed the comforting silence between them.
They took in the beautiful scenery of Itomari as they strolled leisurely toward the festival. Itomari was an incredibly beautiful town, filled with many picturesque natural landscapes.
"Will you go back after dealing with Comet Tiamat...?" Mitsuha broke the silence, a hint of worry and tension in her voice.
"No, I plan to stay here for a few days," Akira replied after a moment of silence. He had originally intended to return after his meeting with Mitsuha, but upon hearing her question, he decided not to mention it.
After his battle with Nobunaga, Akira's power had increased significantly, and even his Traveler skill had evolved into World Map, allowing him to travel through space-time with greater ease and precision. Because of this, Akira didn't need to worry too much even if he returned a little late.
"Um~..." Mitsuha let out a soft sound before falling silent again, clearly deep in thought.
"..." Akira stared at Mitsuha, whose heartbeat was loud and the tips of her ears were red. He had a good idea of what she was thinking, but he didn't say anything.
The two walked in silence and soon arrived at the festival site, where many people had gathered, and the place was bustling with noise.
"Make sure you don't let go of my hand," Akira said as they reached the festival. The place was a bit crowded, and it would be bad if they got separated.
"Of course," Mitsuha smiled happily, tightening her grip on Akira's large hand, which was holding hers.
The two walked while curiously glancing at the surrounding stalls. There were a variety of stalls, such as those with shooting games, ones that made yakisoba, others that sold sweets, and even some with accessories.
"Two, please," Akira said, standing in front of a stall selling apple candy, something he highly desired as he loved sweet things.
"Right away!!" The stall owner smiled and quickly picked up two apple candies, handing them to Akira.
"Thank you," Akira nodded and paid for the candies before offering one to Mitsuha. "Here, this is for you."
"Thank you," Mitsuha took the apple candy with her free hand and quickly took a big bite. She was a fan of sweets and sweet things, just like Akira.
"Delicious..." Akira commented with a smile as he took a bite of the apple candy. Although it was sweet, the sweetness wasn't overwhelming or nauseating. Instead, it was just the right amount of sweetness, with a touch of tartness from the apple, giving it a wonderful and balanced contrast.
"Akira, look! It's a shooting game!" Mitsuha exclaimed excitedly as they passed by a stall filled with prizes and a rifle. The game involved shooting wooden pellets, and the player would win the prize they managed to knock down. "Let's try it!"
"Of course," Akira nodded without hesitation and took out 3,500 yen from his wallet, placing it on the counter. "Old man, I want three rifles and pellets for this amount."
"Right away!!" The man cheered happily, taking the yen and placing three wooden rifles and 20 wooden cones, which served as ammunition, in front of Akira.
"Here, you try first," Akira said, placing a rifle in front of Mitsuha while picking up the other two. He knew these rifles had been modified by the stall owner to have weaker shots, enough to move the prizes but not enough to knock them down.
Although Akira could have used his magical power to increase the rifle's firing strength, he didn't. The problem didn't require that much effort, as using two rifles was more than enough to generate the force needed to knock down the prizes.
"Watch me get the grand prize!!" Mitsuha cheered excitedly, picking up the rifle and aiming at the prizes, which Akira also did.
Pang
Pang
Pang
Three shots were fired at the same moment, and all of them missed their targets without exception.
'It seems the firing power isn't the only thing that's been tampered with...' Akira thought as he saw what happened, along with the stall owner's sly smile. It was clear the man had made other adjustments.
Pang
"Damn!! Hitting the targets is really hard!" Mitsuha exclaimed in frustration as her second attempt failed miserably.
Pang
Pang
After trying the rifles once, Akira mastered them completely, despite their flaws. He had the Weapon Master skill, which allowed him to master any type of weapon after using it just once.
The two wooden pellets shot toward a random prize, a bottle of soap bubbles, and hit it simultaneously, causing the bottle to fall.
"You're amazing, Niichan," the stall owner said with a sour expression. It was clear he was going to lose a lot today. "You mastered the rifles after just one try."
"Thank you," Akira smiled politely at the stall owner before looking at Mitsuha. "Which prize do you want? I'll get it for you."
"No need! I'll get what I want myself!!" Mitsuha exclaimed, her eyes burning with determination. It was clear she hated losing.
"Do as you like," Akira shrugged indifferently and fired again at prize number one, a PSP, knocking it down before placing the rifles on the table. He intended to play on the PSP while Mitsuha finished.
"..." Seeing that Akira was no longer interested in the game and was busy playing on the PSP, the middle-aged stall owner could only sigh in relief. He had been saved from losing all his prizes to Akira.
Although losing the first-place prize was a bit bad, especially since the festival had just started, he wasn't too upset. The second and third-place prizes weren't bad and would definitely attract attention. He might leave the festival with no profit or a small one, but that was better than leaving at a loss.
...
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