Chương 18: Bonus Story : Victory Day Part 4 : The Magical Attack

The spectators who had dispersed after the parade now seemed to be converging on the same destination, drawn toward the Eiffel Tower, which rose above the rooftops like a giant metal beacon. Families walked along carrying folded blankets under their arms, groups of friends carried drinks, and many children were still waving the small French flags they had picked up earlier in the day.

Aldric followed Emma without difficulty, though he made sure to keep his sword close enough to his back that it wouldn't strike any of the passersby. That precaution occasionally slowed his pace, as he refused to force his way through a crowd celebrating a national victory. At the same time, he carefully observed how the evening had been organized.

Police officers were monitoring key intersections, barriers prevented ordinary vehicles from approaching the river, and several emergency response teams had been stationed near the busiest areas. Everything suggested that an important event was about to begin. Emma checked the time on her phone before looking back up at the Eiffel Tower. The show wouldn't begin for quite a while, but she knew the best viewing spots would fill up quickly. She led Aldric along the riverbank until they found an area with a clear view.

Many people had already settled on the stone steps leading down to the Seine. Others had spread blankets across the grass, sharing food and drinks while waiting for nightfall. Conversations blended with the sound of the water, music drifting from portable speakers, and the cheerful laughter of children running between the groups.

Aldric had attended many celebrations in his former world, but they almost always began with a royal speech, a religious ceremony, or the formal presentation of heroes returning from battle. Here, no one seemed to be waiting for the arrival of a sovereign. People simply chose their own places, chatted, laughed, and enjoyed themselves as though the celebration belonged entirely to them.

"We're going to wait here?" he asked, gesturing toward the already occupied steps.

"Yes. We have a great view of the tower from here, and it should help us avoid part of the crowd when we leave." Aldric watched the steady stream of people continuing to arrive behind them.

"Only part of it?" Emma followed his gaze and grimaced slightly.

"Let's just say getting back will probably be harder than getting here." The knight immediately committed that information to memory. He inspected the nearby streets, identified the stairways leading away from the riverbank, and studied the various bridges spanning the Seine. Eventually, they found a spot beside a low stone wall. Emma sat down first, relieved to finally rest her legs after hours of walking. Aldric sat beside her more carefully.

His armor let out a faint creak as he bent his knees, drawing a few curious glances from nearby spectators before they returned to their conversations. The Eiffel Tower still stood silhouetted against a sky tinged with the last traces of orange. Its dark outline dominated Paris, surrounded by cranes, antennas, and buildings that seemed tiny beside it. Since arriving in this world, Aldric had seen it several times, yet he still didn't fully understand its purpose.

It housed no sovereign, protected no border, and appeared to contain no weapon capable of defending the city. Even so, its people clearly regarded it as one of the kingdom's most important monuments. Tonight, every eye was fixed upon it, and numerous mysterious installations had been arranged around its structure. Aldric could make out cables, platforms, and cylindrical objects whose purpose he couldn't guess. Technicians were still moving around the area, making final checks before gradually leaving the site.

"What is about to happen?" he finally asked. Emma smiled at him.

"A show."

"What kind?"

"A light show."

"A magical ceremony?"

"You could call it that." Since the beginning of the day, Emma's deliberately incomplete answers had led to one misunderstanding after another. She had implied that the national holiday celebrated a military victory, then introduced him to airplanes without warning him that this kingdom possessed hundreds of metal dragons. She had also described the food trucks as nothing more than mobile kitchens, despite the fact that they produced an alchemical sauce capable of dramatically improving potatoes.

Aldric was beginning to grow wary of her smile.

"Is this magic dangerous?"

"Not if everything goes according to plan."

"That is not a reassuring qualification."

"You'll see." If this truly was a magical demonstration, he would have preferred to know where the first spell would come from. In his former world, mages sometimes created colorful explosions during coronations or royal weddings, but those enchantments were relatively weak and produced nothing more than silent lights above the palaces. Nothing on this scale had ever been necessary. The sheer amount of equipment installed before him suggested magic of an entirely different magnitude.

The minutes passed as the sky gradually grew darker. One by one, the streetlights along the riverbank flickered on, casting a gentle glow over the groups gathered beside the Seine. Conversations gradually quieted as the time for the show approached. Thousands of phones appeared in the spectators' hands, ready to record the event. Aldric watched this phenomenon with curiosity. Every citizen seemed determined to preserve their own copy of the ceremony, as though personal memories alone were no longer enough.

Emma watched the boats gliding along the Seine, the reflections of the lights shimmering across the water, and the families settling in around them. Having Aldric beside her made the wait feel different from previous years. She already knew the spectacle that was about to unfold, but she had no idea how he would react. That uncertainty amused her just as much as it worried her. Night eventually settled completely over Paris. The Eiffel Tower suddenly blazed with golden light, prompting the first wave of applause.

Aldric straightened slightly as he studied the thousands of lights attached to its structure. The entire tower now appeared to be covered in glowing runes, even though he could sense no flow of mana whatsoever. That absence remained one of the greatest mysteries of this world. Its people could produce effects comparable to magic without using the slightest trace of mystical energy. The lights, the vehicles, the airplanes, and the communication devices all operated according to principles he had yet to understand.

He had begun to accept that reality, yet every new discovery rekindled the same sense of wonder. Music rose above the riverbanks. Conversations faded away. Children returned to their parents, people stopped moving, and every head turned toward the tower. Emma rested her phone on her knees after starting the recording. Aldric, meanwhile, remained perfectly still. He didn't recognize the melody, but its slow, solemn rhythm reminded him of the opening moments of a military ceremony.

Instinctively, he searched for the mages who should have been accompanying the music. None were visible. Even so, the installations surrounding the tower seemed ready to activate. For several seconds, nothing happened. Then the first explosion erupted. The blast tore through the night with such force that the air above the Seine itself seemed to tremble. Aldric didn't take the time to think. His body reacted before his mind, guided by decades spent surviving surprise attacks.

He sprang to his feet in a single motion and drew his sword. The blade left its scabbard with a long metallic hiss, reflecting the city's lights as several people sitting nearby cried out in surprise. A burst of red light exploded above the Eiffel Tower, splitting into hundreds of sparks that rained back toward the ground. Aldric, however, paid no attention to the beauty of the display.

He searched for the source of the attack, judged the trajectory of the projectiles, and tried to understand why no defensive measures were being activated. A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

"Aldric!" Emma cried, scrambling to her feet as well. A second explosion thundered before he could answer. This time, several rockets launched simultaneously from the installations around the tower, streaking into the sky and leaving long trails of light behind them. They burst apart with an even louder detonation, scattering blue and golden circles across the night above the city. Aldric stepped in front of Emma. He raised his sword in both hands as his body settled into a defensive stance.

His feet spread apart for balance, his shoulders turned to shield as much of his torso as possible, and his eyes locked onto the next lights already climbing into the sky. He knew his sword would probably be useless against an attack on such a scale, but he could at least place himself between Emma and the danger. The crowd's reaction unsettled him almost as much as the explosions themselves. No one tried to flee. The spectators applauded, raised their arms, and cheered every time another rocket burst overhead.

Many of them were even recording the projectiles instead of taking cover. A child standing a few yards away pointed at Aldric. His mother, far less reassured by the enormous sword, quickly pulled him close. △ THREAT DETECTED △ Analyzing... For the first time since the beginning of the day, the system confirmed the presence of a potential threat. His vigilance immediately doubled. A third wave of explosions lit up the sky, followed by a shower of silver sparks that seemed to be falling directly toward the crowd.

Aldric raised his sword, ready to activate a defensive skill if the projectiles crossed a certain distance. None of them, however, reached the ground. The lights faded out dozens of meters above the buildings, leaving behind nothing but a thin veil of smoke scattered by the wind.

"Aldric, put your sword away!" Emma shouted, trying to make herself heard over the explosions.

"Several projectiles have just detonated above the capital."

"It's the fireworks! There's no danger!" The term meant nothing useful to him. He knew what fire was, and he knew what artifice meant, but he had never heard the two words combined to describe a ceremony. Another volley launched from the tower, blossoming into an enormous flower of light across the night sky. Aldric tracked every projectile with his eyes. At last, he noticed that their trajectories were perfectly controlled. None of them were heading toward the crowd.

Every explosion occurred at roughly the same altitude, and the colors appeared to be carefully synchronized with the music. Even so, he refused to lower his guard until the system had completed its analysis. Emma looked back and forth between the spectacle overhead and Aldric standing protectively in front of her.

△ THREAT ANALYSIS COMPLETE △ Nature Controlled Pyrotechnic Display Danger Level Minimal ✓ FALSE ALARM A cascade of golden light poured down around the Eiffel Tower as the crowd applauded with even greater enthusiasm. No cries of fear echoed along the riverbanks. No wounded sought help. The police officers calmly remained at their posts. Even Emma showed no sign of concern. The knight lowered his sword. He gave the installations one final inspection, then rotated the blade before sliding it back into its scabbard.

The metal glided home until the guard came to rest once more against his shoulder. Emma held out for as long as she could. Then she burst into laughter. She raised a hand to cover her mouth, but the laughter kept escaping anyway. Her shoulders shook, tears welled up in her eyes, and she had to brace herself against the stone wall to keep from losing her balance.

"You..." she began before catching her breath.

"Did you really just draw your sword against a fireworks display?" Aldric watched another explosion light up the sky.

"The initial attack was not announced." That explanation immediately sent her into another fit of laughter.

"It wasn't an attack!" Aldric frowned. He couldn't understand why the system would have identified the spectacle as a threat before correcting its mistake. Emma tried to explain, but her eyes drifted back to his sword, then to the spectators who were still filming them. The image of Aldric leaping in front of her to block a rocket exploding hundreds of meters above their heads was enough to make her burst into laughter all over again. The knight patiently waited for her to calm down.

Meanwhile, the fireworks continued. Red circles blossomed into stars, white trails crossed above the tower, and successive explosions formed enormous patterns visible across the entire city. Aldric gradually returned his attention to the display, this time without searching for an enemy. Freed from the assumption that it was an attack, he finally began to appreciate the precision behind the performance. Every firework seemed perfectly synchronized with the music.

The colors complemented one another, the explosions burst at varying heights, and each moment of silence prepared the audience for an even more spectacular volley than the last.

"So this magic serves no military purpose?" he asked once Emma had finally regained her composure.

"None at all."

"Yet it employs explosions of considerable power."

"Only to create light and sound."

"Why devote so many resources to something with no strategic value?" Emma looked at the families gathered around them. The children watched the sky with eyes full of wonder, the adults smiled, and several couples had moved closer together to enjoy the spectacle.

"Because it's beautiful," she replied simply.

"Not everything has to be useful." This thought had returned to him often since his arrival on Earth. People drank coffee to end their day, sat on café terraces to chat with no particular purpose, and now devoted an astonishing amount of energy to lighting up the sky for a few brief minutes. In his former world, almost everything had to serve a purpose: survival, rebuilding, or preparing for the next war. Resources were far too precious to be spent solely on creating beauty.

Here, however, peace seemed to allow people to create things that protected no one, fed no one, and won no battles, yet still brought happiness to thousands of people. Another wave of rockets soared up around the Eiffel Tower. They exploded in such rapid succession that the entire sky seemed to catch fire. Aldric no longer reached for his sword.

He simply watched the light reflecting off the Seine, the colors gliding across the windows of the surrounding buildings, and the faces of the crowd lighting up with every explosion. Emma stepped a little closer to him so she wouldn't have to raise her voice.

"Well?" she asked.

"Still think it's dangerous?"

"I had never before encountered festive magic."

"You didn't have to fight it."

"That information was unavailable when the event began."

"Now you know." They continued watching the display side by side. At last, the fireworks reached their grand finale. The music swelled, and explosions multiplied all around the Eiffel Tower. Great cascades of golden light seemed to pour down from the very top of the structure while red and blue rockets burst above the river. The entire crowd rose to its feet. Aldric did the same. He watched the sky fill with light until it became almost impossible to distinguish one explosion from the next.

The continuous roar reminded him of a colossal battle, yet the faces around him showed no fear. People applauded, cheered, and smiled. The final rocket soared far higher than all the others. For a brief instant, it was nothing more than a tiny point of light above Paris. Then it burst into an enormous golden sphere that seemed to blanket the entire city. The sparks drifted downward, fading away one by one before they could reach the rooftops.

A brief silence followed the final explosion, as though the entire crowd were still holding its breath. Then the applause began. It spread along the riverbanks, from one side of the Seine to the other, until it became a roar almost as powerful as the spectacle itself. Aldric joined in the applause. The Eiffel Tower gradually returned to its usual illumination. The first spectators bent down to gather their belongings, fold up their blankets, and call their children back.

Conversations resumed, louder than before the show. Some people were already showing the videos they had recorded on their phones, while others discussed which fireworks had been their favorites. Emma stood up and stretched her legs before looking at the crowd that was beginning to make its way toward the exits.

"It's over," she announced. Aldric gave the tower one last look.

"Your kingdom has remarkable traditions."

"Did you enjoy it?"

"Yes."

"Even after thinking we were under attack?"

"That mistake made the experience even more instructive." They joined the flow of spectators. Thousands of people were now leaving the riverbanks at the same time, forming a dense mass around the stairways and the surrounding streets.