A few days have passed since I was summoned to another world, and I’ve gradually gotten used to living in Lilia-san’s mansion. It’s not just me, Kusunoki-san and Yuzuki-san seem to be adjusting as well. I’m starting to see smiles on their faces too.
Of course, there are still many things I don’t understand about this world, but thanks to Lilia-san’s kindness, I’ve had enough time to get my thoughts in order. As for Kuro, who shows up every night, she’s still a mystery to me. However, she doesn’t seem to have any ill intentions. In fact, I can even say that I feel more at ease talking to her than I do with Lilia-san.
Well, it’s common for humans to spend the first three days of the New Year at home, and since I stayed in, there were no incidents, except for this irrational little Demon girl, of course. So, it was a very peaceful time… Although, now that I think about it, there’s a saying in my beloved hometown about “the calm before the storm.”
[…An invitation?]
It was early afternoon on the fourth day we were here, and as we relaxed, chatting over tea and cookies, Lunamaria-san appeared with an elegant envelope in hand. She informed us that it was an invitation to a party happening the following day.
[Yes, it’s for the evening celebration on the fourth day of the New Year at the royal palace. Since this is the year of the Hero Festival, it will be a grand event where they’ll introduce the person chosen to be the Hero. Typically, these invitations would have arrived earlier, but we made arrangements to include everyone’s invitations this time, so it took a bit longer.]
[Eh? Us too?]
Upon hearing Lilia-san’s words, delivered with her usual calm smile, Kusunoki-san was taken aback and responded with surprise. I can understand how she feels. It’s hard not to be surprised when you’re suddenly told about an evening party at the royal palace.
[Yes, since Mitsunaga-sama will be visiting a number of countries after this, I thought she might want Aoi-san and Hina-san in particular.]
[Ah, I see, Seigi plays the role of the Hero after all, so he’ll be introduced to the various cities of each country. I wonder if he’ll be alright?]
According to what they told me, the sophomore Kusunoki-san and the freshmen Yuzuki-san and Mitsunaga-kun are clubmates. Kuh, as I thought, club activities really are the shortcut to being a normie, I should have done club activities in high school instead of just playing internet games. No, I didn’t join any circle in college in the end, so maybe it doesn’t really have any connection whether I played internet games at that time or not.
Well, setting aside the story of my lonely life…This would certainly be a good time to have a leisurely conversation with Mitsunaga-kun, who will be traveling from one place to another. The two of them were worried about him, and the trusty Lilia-san followed up on that as well.
As I was thinking about that, Lilia-san took out a letter from a large envelope that seemed to be of a very good quality and looked it over, she still had a smile on her face, but I could see a vein pop out of her forehead.
[…Luna, are these all the letters from the royal palace?]
[…Y-Yes.]
[…I think my eyes may have gone bad. Would you mind reading it for a bit?]
I wonder if something happened. Lilia-san is smiling, but her eyes aren’t smiling at all. Or rather, she looks terribly scary.
[Well then, please excuse me, I’ll spare everyone the early parts of the letter as it’s just a regular opening sentence. Err…”In addition, we have enclosed invitations to this evening’s party for two guests from the same hometown as the Hero, Mitsunaga Seigi-sama, namely Kusunoki Aoi-sama and Yuzuki Hina-sama.”…Eh?]
[…Hmm?]
Arehh? That’s weird…Because if I heard correctly, I don’t think I heard my name included in the sentence that Lunamaria-san just read out loud…
[…Luna. I’m sure I’ve contacted the royal palace to prepare an invitation for “three people,” haven’t I?]
[Y-Yes, there’s no mistaking it.]
[…What do you think of this?]
[…His Majesty, the King’s bad habit appeared again…]
[…Is it possible to rearrange it now?]
[…I- I think it would be difficult…]
Hearing Lilia-san’s words in an indifferent voice that sounds as if she’s suppressing her emotions, Lunamaria-san replied as cold sweat dripped down behind her back.
If I’m not mistaken, His Majesty, the King is Lilia-san’s older brother and is a person Lunamaria-san said to have a severe case of being a sis-con, I think? That King’s bad habit…Ah, I see.
After some very heavy silence, Lilia-san stands up from her seat and after a few seconds, she comes back “with a sword in one hand” and bows deeply to me.
[I’m sorry, Kaito-san. It seems that due to an error on our part, we weren’t able to prepare an invitation for Kaito-san…]
[Ah, no, that’s totally fine. I’m not really that acquainted with Mitsunaga-kun before, and I don’t have anything in particular to talk about.]
[I’m really sorry. I’ll have to keep you waiting at home here in the mansion, but instead of that, I’ll be back with a stupid “king’s head” as a souvenir.]
[—Huh?]
[My Lady, My Lady…Your eyes are glaring, you know?]
[…That stupid Older Brother really is…trying to reach the end of my patience…]
[My Lady, please calm down! In case you forgot, that is still the king! He may be stupid when it comes to My Lady, but aside from that, he’s one of the competent ones!]
[Let go of me, Luna! As his relative, I’ll be the one who’ll make sure that that idiot’s misbehaviour will be punished accordingly!!!]
[That’s fine, but please put away the sword for now!]
Ahh, I guess that’s what happened. Lilia-san was supposed to have arranged for the three of us to go to the evening party, but the Siscon King, who doesn’t like men approaching Lilia-san in the first place, only prepared invitations for Kusunoki-san and Yuzuki-san, but not for me. In the first place, he probably doesn’t like the fact that I, being a man, am living in Lilia-san’s mansion. That’s probably the part that Lilia-san didn’t let him mess with.
And Lilia-san, who has been bothered by that siscon’s behaviour for a long time now, finally lost it…Yep. She’s super scary. I’ve never seen Lilia-san so angry before, or rather, what the heck have you done in the past, Your Majesty, the King…?
After that, the composition of Lilia-san who was about to pull out her sword and Lunamaria-san who was desperately calming her down continued for a while, and it wasn’t until about half an hour later that Lilia-san calmed down.
I finished bathing and headed to my room. I feel like I’m really tired for the day. As far as I’m concerned, I don’t have any problem with not being able to attend the evening party, rather than that, I’m even glad that I didn’t have to attend such an ostentatious occasion…Lilia-san is trying to treat the three of us equally, but it doesn’t seem like it’s something that would be easily assented. She apologized to me over and over again, and I had a really hard time calming her down.
Maybe it’s because she’s a very serious person to begin with? That part of Lilia-san doesn’t seem very noble-like, but it’s nice to know that she’s thinking about us seriously. I’m really lucky and grateful that the first person I met when I came to the other world was Lilia-san. If possible, I’d like to repay her in some way…
[Ah, welcome back.]
[…]
Opening the door to my room, I found Kuro sprawled out on the couch, eating a baby castella. She finally didn’t just show up out of nowhere, she was waiting for me here ahead of time. I’ll say this again because it’s important, but Kuro is a stranger in this house…I’m not talking about it anymore.
Humans are creatures that adapt. I guess I’ve gotten used to Kuro’s unpredictability to some extent, and after letting out a big sigh, I took the teacup she offered me and brought a baby castella to my mouth.
[Unn? You look like you’re a little tired today, huh?]
[Yeah, well, it’s not really a big deal but…]
Just as perceptive as ever, Kuro pointed it out and I gave her a rundown of what happened today. Occasionally replying with “Unn”, Kuro listened quietly to the end of my story.
[Heehhh…Then, you can’t go to the party because of that king, Kaito-kun?]
[Well, I guess that’s kind of a rough way to put it?]
[Alright! Then, I’m going to the palace now and bring the “half dead King” here and have him write you an invitation.]
[Why!? No no, nothing’s “alright” there, you know!?]
I hurriedly stopped Kuro, who said the same thing like Lilia-san did this morning like it was natural.
Honestly, most of what Lilia-san said was pretty disturbing, but it felt different when it’s Kuro who said that…I felt like she would really do it. I mean, she’s breaking into the Duchess’s house without anyone noticing, and although she doesn’t look like it, she seems to be a very High-ranking Demon…
But seriously, please don’t kidnap or beat down the King until he’s half dead. Doesn’t that make me look like a national rebel!?
[Unn? I thought you wanted to go to the party, Kaito-kun?]
[No, it’s not that I want to go…Instead, I think I’d like to pass on the trouble of attending a stiff event like that. I’m a bit interested in the fancy foods they have, but…]
[Hmmm. I was thinking about joining if you were going to be there, Kaito-kun…but I guess I’ll just skip it. Ah, yeah, I have an idea!]
[…What the heck are you up to now?]
She was murmuring something, but maybe Kuro was invited too? No, well, putting that aside for now…It’s more important to know what kind of outrageous thing she has come up with this time.
[Then, let’s eat barbecue tomorrow!]
[…Huh?]
[Look, you don’t seem to like those stiff events, let’s do it with just us and my friends. There’s a nice scenic spot south of the kingdom, so let’s have barbecue there!]
[…Fumu.]
Although she usually comes up with wild suggestions, this one doesn’t seem too bad. In fact, it’s more intriguing than the royal palace evening party. The meals served at Lilia-san’s house are always fancy, but I’m craving something simpler, maybe some skewered food or something like that. If I go with Kuro, it’s bound to be exhausting, but I know it will be fun. However, there’s one important issue with that.
[That sounds like fun…But if I don’t explain to Lilia-san about Kuro and I just suddenly say that I’m going out to eat dinner, I don’t think I could get Lilia-san to agree.]
That’s right, I have a feeling Kuro wouldn’t like that. She only shows up when I’m alone, and she’s always sneaked past the Detection Barriers, so I’ve kept her a secret from Lilia-san. But if I were invited to a barbecue, meaning I wouldn’t be going alone, it would be hard to go without explaining it to her.
Lilia-san is already concerned about our situation, and I don’t want to sneak around, feeling guilty for hiding Kuro from her.
[Ah, it will be alright. I’ll go ask an acquaintance to extend a normal dinner invitation to you.]
[Would Lilia-san agree to that?]
[I think it’ll be okay. She’s a child who’s trusted by humans after all.]
[Hmm…Well, as far as I’m concerned, if Lilia-san were to agree to that, I’d like to go…]
[Really!? Hooray! Then, I’ll go tell everyone, okay!?]
[Eh? Ah, wait—!?]
Hearing my response, Kuro had a big smile on her face as she disappeared. Hmmm, I can’t really say no to her when she’s that happy, and I don’t exactly feel bad agreeing with her…but how should I say this? I felt some anxiousness when Kuro mentioned “her friends” and “everyone”…I guess for the time being, I’ll just go with the flow.
And just as we finished breakfast the next day, Lunamaria-san came rushing into the dining hall looking pale.
[M-My—My Lady!?]
[For you to be that flustered, what happened?]
[A-A-An invitation letter from “Seditch Magic Tool Trading Company” arrived, “signed by the Chairman” and addressed to Miyama-sama!]
[…Huh?]
After hearing the words that Lunamaria-san told her, Lilia-san’s eyes opened wide and she stiffened. Saditch Magic Tool Trading Company? What’s that?
[…A- Are you sure…that it’s not some kind of prank?]
[…It’s in an envelope made of Black Magic parchment and sealed with a Platinum Dragon beard.]
[…….]
Ah, Lilia-san completely froze.
[U- Ummm, excuse me. I’m not really following the conversation…but what’s the Seditch Magic Tool Trading Company?]
[…It’s the largest trading company that deals with Magic Tools, and it’s a large trading company with financial resources that far exceed those of the major powers. They’re in a different league compared to the other trading companies. It was even said that half of the Magic Tools in the world are products made by the Seditch Magic Tool Trading Company.]
When I asked that question, Lunamaria-san fearfully replied. Let’s see, in short, they’re a huge company who prides themselves as the one who holds the world’s largest market shares in Magic Tools? Eh? The heck, what does that mean?
Lilia-san glanced at the astonished me, while I made a gesture that told her to go ahead and check it out. Then, LIlia-san took the envelope from Lunamaria-san with her trembling hands, and after a while she put her head in her hands.
[…There’s no mistake, it’s the real deal. Signed by Chairman Sei Riverstar and stamped in gold…]
[…Even just this invitation alone costs more than a house in the best district in the royal capital…]
[…Err, what does it say?]
I knew that I had received something outrageous from some outrageous person, but I had no idea why I was in this situation.
When I asked her a bit flustered, Lilia-san looked down at the invitation again and read it.
[…”Dear Miyama Kaito-sama. I would like to apologize in advance for the unexpected invitation. At the same time, I hope you forgive me for omitting the greeting and for my rudeness in writing down the main topic. Tonight, we are pleased to hold a small dinner party at our company. It is with great pleasure that I am writing to ask Miyama Kaito-sama to join us, if it’s convenient for you. I will have the person who will pick you up this evening to visit Duchess Albert’s residence and I would appreciate it if you would let me know at that time if you will or will not participate. In addition, I have a message for Miyama Kaito-sama from a friend of mine, and I will include it in the letter. “Kaito-kun, I’ll be waiting, okay?” Is what she said. Again, my apologies for the delay in getting in touch with you. I would appreciate your consideration. —Sei Riverstar”…]
[…]
As I thought, it’s that little Demon girl who did this!? What the heck are you doing!? Seriously, what the heck are you doing!? You said that you’re just asking an acquaintance to send an invitation…I got an invitation from an outrageous place though!? Heck, both Lilia-san and Lunamaria-san are frozen in place, staring at me! How the heck should I explain this to them!?
Dear Mother, Father—I was ostracized from the evening party in the royal capital. But instead—I received an invitation from an outrageous place.