Re:Zero: Starting the Sabzeruz Festival from Zero

"Traveler, today is the Sabzeruz Festival, let's hurry and find Dunyarzad to meet up!"

Inside the Sumeru guest room, Paimon slowly flew up and spoke to Ying, who was stretching lazily.

"Let's go, let's have a good time at the Sabzeruz Festival."

Ying Meimei stretched and straightened her clothes. "Let's go! It's a rare celebration, let's take a good look around and have some fun."

Xingsu stood alone on the street, gazing thoughtfully at the bustling crowd, seemingly pondering something; beside her, Dunyarzad stood there, looking around curiously, her eyes filled with anticipation for the grand event.

"Xingsu! Dunyarzad! We're here!" Paimon waved eagerly and ran forward with Ying.

Hearing the familiar voices, Xingsu looked up and greeted them with a smile, "Hey, Traveler, Paimon, you've finally arrived! We've been waiting for you for quite a while."

Good morning! Sorry to keep you waiting, we overslept... hehe.

"I didn't have to wait long. I chatted with Dunyarzad for a while. Dunyarzad has been waiting for this day for ages," Xingsu said with a smile.

Upon hearing this, Dunyarzad's ears turned slightly red, and she lowered her eyes shyly, waving her hand gently. "Mr. Xingsu, please don't tease me. Let's not delay any longer and enjoy the Sabzeruz Festival with the Traveler!"

"Yes, yes!" Paimon nodded repeatedly. "Dunyarzad has put so much effort into this celebration. Today, let's forget all our worries and enjoy the festivities to the fullest!"

Xingsu nodded and smiled, then took the lead and stepped forward. "Let's go, I've never properly participated in the Sabzeruz Festival before, so I'll just follow you and broaden my horizons. Let's go browse the stalls on the street first."

The four walked side by side, weaving through the bustling crowd, chatting and laughing all the way. Vendors on both sides of the street displayed all kinds of festival-specific goods, with a dazzling array of snacks and handicrafts. Many stalls had signs advertising festival discounts, attracting countless tourists.

"Hey? There's food for sale over there, let's go check it out."

"Hey buddy, how's business?" Xingsu asked with concern.

The stall owner deftly arranged the ingredients on his stall, a simple and honest smile on his face.

"Thanks to the Sabzeruz Festival, there are a lot of tourists today, and business is booming! We small vendors can also share in the joy and have a good time! Please take a look, these are all our special delicacies for the Sumeru Festival!"

"This is... a stall selling offerings for the ' Seven Sages' Table '!" Dunyarzad recognized it by looking at the neatly arranged vegetarian ingredients on the stall.

"Wow, this young lady recognized it at a glance!" The stall owner smiled in surprise. "Most young people nowadays don't know about these old customs anymore. I didn't expect someone would still remember the significance of the Seven Sages' Table!"

Paimon stared at the stall filled with only fruits and vegetables, puffing out his cheeks as he asked in bewilderment, "Mushrooms, fruits... are they all vegetarian? Don't the Seven Immortals have any meat? And what exactly is this ' Seven Sages' Table ' for?"

"It's also a custom on the day of the Sabzeruz Festival," Dunyarzad explained slowly. "In the past, every household would set out seven dishes on the table. Generally, the most common ones were Greater Lord Rukkhadevata's Sacred Body Mushrooms, Moon Lotus, Rose, Sunsettia, Calamity Lotus, Harra Fruit, and Zaytun Peach, etc. These seven dishes correspond to the seven virtues of the deity."

Xingsu glanced at the fresh fruits and vegetables displayed beside the stall and casually asked, "Hey buddy, how much are these melons per pound?"

"Oh, it's rare to meet guests who understand customs. Today is a joyous and festive day, so I'll just offer you these fruits to try; you don't need to pay!"

"Okay, thanks." Xingsu shook her head, feeling like something was off, but she shook her head to put it aside. "Let's go, let's look around somewhere else."

The group continued walking and soon stopped in front of a simple little handicraft stall.

"Hello, what do you sell here? Handicrafts?" Paimon asked.

Behind the stall sat a young boy who seemed unaccustomed to such situations. He appeared slightly flustered in front of the visitors, his fingertips gently clenching the hem of his shirt as he murmured softly, "Y-yes... these are all handmade crafts I made myself."

"Oh! It's made to resemble the crocodile from Sumeru! It looks very exquisite." Paimon picked up a small toy and started playing with it. "The crocodile's teeth can even be pressed down, it's really well made... Ouch!"

Before he could finish speaking, the toy crocodile's mouth suddenly snapped shut, accurately biting Paimon's little hand.

"Ugh! The crocodile bit me! How come this toy is aggressive?!" Paimon was startled and shouted in a panic.

The boy panicked instantly, his eyes reddening instantly. He bent over helplessly, his voice trembling with tears, "I'm... I'm so sorry! I... I didn't have time to explain beforehand, I'm so sorry..."

Seeing the boy's expression, Paimon felt embarrassed and quickly waved his hand to comfort him, "It's alright, it's alright! We just didn't understand how to play, it's not your fault! Please don't cry!"

"Paimon, that's not how you play it," Xingsu stepped in to help, explaining with a smile, "This crocodile toy has a randomly selected bad tooth. If you press on it, the crocodile will bite it off and eat your hand!"

"Hmph, stop trying to scare us," Paimon said, turning to look at Ying behind him. "Traveler, this is interesting! Let's buy it!"

"I'll do it." Xingsu took out Mora, looked at the boy behind the stall, and blinked rhythmically.

Have you noticed anything unusual?

The boy in front of her wrapped up a toy and winked at Xingsu.

Sorry, I didn't find it.

Xingsu nodded, then looked at Paimon: "Consider this a gift from me. Happy Sabzeruz Festival, have fun!"

"Hehe, Xingsu, you're such a nice person." Paimon stomped his little foot in mid-air.

"Alchemy and divination! Want to give it a try?" The shouts of vendors in the distance drew the attention of the group.

"Alchemy divination? That sounds like a strange combination." Paimon looked at the stall curiously. "How exactly does it work?"

"It's very simple. The customer just needs to bring two items that can be used as alchemy materials, and then I will perform an alchemy and divine their fortune based on the result."

"Traveler, let's give it a try!"

Paimon excitedly took out the festive snacks he had just bought and casually placed them on the divination table.

"Let me see, the result is... the moon!"

"Um... it looks like the pancake I just gave you has been bitten off?"

"How could that be? It was clearly broken."

Is that the main point?

"Don't worry about those details." The "moon" usually means... means... wait a minute! The man took the "moon" he had divined and turned to flip through his book.

"Hey, Traveler... is he flipping through a book? He doesn't seem very reliable to me."

"Since we're already here, let's wait and see," Ying said helplessly.

"Ah, I found it! Oh no, I remember now! The moon symbolizes 'illusion' and 'lies.'"

"Um... that doesn't sound like a good outcome."

"But I heard in a book that as long as you trust your intuition and overcome your fears, the sun will surely rise!"

"... You've made no attempt to hide the fact that you're flipping through books."

"I understand, thank you for the divination," Dunyarzad said.

"Let's go, let's go to the next stop... Xingsu! What are you daydreaming about?"

"Okay, coming right away."

"Huh? What's going on up ahead? Why are so many people gathered together?" Paimon asked, looking at the densely packed crowd in front of him.

"Let's go take a look."