On July 1, Rebirth Day, the residents of the Grand Natural Sciences Academy gathered early in the square before the High Tower, waiting excitedly. Some little girls even played with bouquets in their hands.
Crack! Crack! Crack! Crack...
Fireworks burst into bloom, dazzling and brilliant, adding to the festive atmosphere.
It wasn't just the residents of the Grand Natural Sciences Academy. Merchants, travelers, and envoys from other nearby academies had also heard early on that the Grand Natural Sciences Academy would designate July 1 as Rebirth Day. Sensing an opportunity, they had gathered with intense curiosity.
A public holiday for everyone was an extravagant luxury in this post-apocalyptic Radiation Wasteland.
Only the powerful Grand Natural Sciences Academy could afford such a thing.
"Mom, look! Fireworks!"
A little boy held his mother's hand, hopping up and down as he excitedly pointed at the fireworks blooming high above the Wind Eye.
Born in a tiny Wind Eye only a dozen or so kilometers across, the boy had no idea what the vast sky adults described was really like. Still, he knew that "like a frog at the bottom of a well" described the plight of the Grand Natural Sciences Academy's residents.
Beyond the Wind Barrier lay the ceaseless Death Storm.
All people could see when they looked up was a dozen or so kilometers of sky. It was oppressively bleak and enough to make anyone despair.
For a little while, the blooming fireworks let the boy forget that despair and gloom as he hopped about happily.
"Ice cream! Strawberry ice cream, mango ice cream..."
People jostled shoulder to shoulder, and the place was bustling with noise.
An ice-cream vendor passed by the little boy and approached a woman applying lipstick. She shrieked as the vendor bumped into her, smearing lipstick across her