Solnus 12. Two Princesses Visit the Expo; Two Musicians, One Novelist, What Could Come Back to Life?

2378 days, or 6 years, 6 months, and about 1 week before The Circumadversum Omatsuri, one morning.

"Look, look, Sacred Princess, these are more photos of me at the Path of White Shells in Wakkanai, photos I didn't post on social media," a girl said enthusiastically to Seira, who was sitting next to her.

Seira smiled and replied curtly, "Nice, Princess Jasmines."

The girl next to Seira showed a video and explained, "This one is of my little cousin with my sister in front of my sister's motorcycle. Look, my cousin is still timid about posing, but that instead makes her even cuter. I can tell she could be the next Anni Annonis, who was so cute when she was six years old."

Seira commented, "Not everyone is comfortable performing in front of the camera. You shouldn't force her. Especially since she's still young."

The girl Seira spoke to was her best friend, whose given name was "Matsuri." Matsuri's given name is written with the kanji 茉莉. Both 茉 and 莉 can mean "jasmine."

Because Seira called Matsuri "princess," Matsuri responded by calling Seira "Sacred Princess." The nickname "Sacred" comes from the kanji 聖 for "sei," which means "holy, sacred, or saint."

If a girl were a real princess, she would probably be chauffeured to her destination in a luxury car. Seira and Matsuri are not real princesses, so they don't use luxury transportation in their daily lives.

Today was just another typical day for Seira and Matsuri. Today, they were traveling without their high school uniforms. It was Sunday, so the two girls had a day off from school. They also had no school club activities scheduled, so they took advantage of the time to stroll around the city.

Seira and Matsuri had boarded the city train that would take them to the station closest to their destination. From there, the two girls would walk to one of the buildings rumored to be hosting an expo.

"Yay! We've finally arrived at this station. Come on, Sacred Princess, let's go to the Expo building. There are discounts for the first wave of visitors. Come on, I want discounts on shrimp, I want discounts on coffee, I want discounts on fish, I want lots of discounts," Matsuri said enthusiastically.

Seira smiled and commented on her friend's behavior, "You're really enthusiastic, Princess Jasmine."

Matsuri responded, “Of course I have to be excited! Because this is—” Matsuri didn’t finish her last sentence, instead asking, “By the way, Sacred Princess, did you follow my advice about skipping breakfast for today?”

Seira replied, “I did.”

Matsuri, “Heeee?! So you weren’t saving your hunger for this expo?”

Seira replied, “It’s no big deal.”

Matsuri protested, “Huh? How can you say it’s no big deal?”

Seira smiled and pinched her friend’s left cheek. “Come on, let’s hurry up. Remember those discounts.”

The two girls, who were in the final stages of their high school years, walked briskly towards a large building that housed the Asia-Pacific Food and Beverage Expo.

(000)

2378 days, or 6 years, 6 months, and about 1 week before The Circumadversum Omatsuri, one morning.

Minato Nakamura checked the waterproof watch he wore on his left wrist. The time indicated it was approximately ten in the morning. This was the time when Minato's fleet, consisting of one fishing boat and one storage vessel, would return to their original port.

After completing their fishing mission, Minato's boat landed at the fish market around seven-thirty in the morning. After completing their trading transaction, they returned to their starting point. "Another successful trip, another satisfying voyage," Minato remarked to himself, summing up his morning's journey.

Once again, Minato remembered Santiago in the world of The Old Man and the Sea. He thought, "After nearly ninety days, Santiago's voyage finally paid off. In his small boat, Santiago, sailing alone, managed to catch a marlin. But Santiago was torn between whether to keep the fish or let it go."

Minato memorized the story by heart: "In the end, he caught the fish, but its blood attracted sharks. Santiago fought the sharks and won, but the sharks ate the marlin bit by bit until only its head, backbone, and tail remained. That was when Santiago felt deep regret."

Minato compared Santiago's fate to his own again, "Well, I hunt fish with a crew of about a dozen. After catching fish, we can also quickly sell our fish."

Minato then put his memories of Santiago in the fictional world to rest, as he had to focus on packing for home. After their ship docked at the harbor, Minato and the crew packed up their equipment and held a brief meeting in the wooden building where they had begun their journey.

After Minato Nakamura completed all the tasks he had to do, he immediately headed to his kei car. However, before his car's remote could reach the car's unlocking range, Minato spotted two gaijin workers getting ready to ride their bicycles. Minato immediately changed direction and called out to the two "foreign Manolins," "Hey-san! Guru-san! There's something I forgot to tell you!"

The X duo, already on their bicycle saddles, stopped their feet as they were about to pedal. Banh Đức Hải asked, "What's wrong, Sacho?"

Minato replied, "I heard from Kei-san that you're actually interested in music. So if you have a guitar or other musical instrument and want to bring it there, feel free to. I won't be bringing that kei car, but my car is bigger, so don't worry about it being cramped."

Guruh Dwi Cahyo responded, "Thank you, Sacho."

(000)

The X duo rode their bicycles to their rented house. They chatted leisurely as they pedaled the two-wheeled vehicle.

Hải said, “If I’m not mistaken, besides the minivan for work, the boss has two other cars, right? He recently bought one.”

Guruh responded, “Yes, I heard that. He said his wife will use the new car more often, saying it will take their daughter to school, which is further away.”

Hải offered an analogy: “Speaking of the distance, we have this bicycle facility because our rented house is quite close to the port. If our rental were further away, maybe we would have car pick-up and drop-off.”

Guruh agreed with his colleague, “I agree. Maybe if that were the case, we would have that facility. The boss is a good person. We are lucky to work for Mr. Minato Nakamura’s company.”

Hải agreed with his colleague, "I agree. A friend from my education batch is currently having problems with his boss, even though my colleague hasn't done anything fatal."

Guruh commented, "Yeah, I also have a compatriot who's been treated like that."

A few seconds later, they drifted off to a different topic. Then, Guruh started the conversation again: "Speaking of which, I never imagined you once formed a band called The Silver Boys with your friends."

Hải laughed, "Hahaha... I never imagined that either."

Guruh commented, "If we bring our instruments to the Path of White Shells, maybe the souls of the Silver Boys will feel like they can come back to life."

Hải responded, "Maybe. That band can indeed come back to life. It's different from humans, who can come back to life."

Guruh joked, "Maybe we can start a band here again if we can recruit people who want to join. A name? It could be The Silver Born Again." Or Gemuruh Drum Beats, which is a combination of my Indonesian name “guruh” and your Vietnamese name “Bành,” which comes from the Chinese characters meaning “drum” and “beats.”