The day after the attack by the Gluttonous Beast. I was supposed to be working as a bodyguard at the venue again today.
"I'm so sorry, I never imagined something like this would happen..."
"No, no, it's not the Holy Celestial's fault at all," Yukina said, waving her hands in a panic at the apologetic Holy Celestial.
We were currently at the Holy Celestial's house.
I say "house," but maybe I should use a more formal word? Something more dignified.
"Is it alright for us to be so relaxed...?"
"Yes. Please don't worry about it so much."
Our pay was still being accrued even as we drank tea like this. The earnest Kokkoro was starting to feel guilty about it.
There was a good reason why we had so much free time today.
Simply put, the party had been canceled.
After such a blatant attack, people weren't so naive as to just continue with the party.
Most countries canceled their networking events, leading to the party itself being called off. The conferences were still being held, but security had been tightened to an extreme level, with all party bodyguards reassigned to the conferences.
Even the conferences were divided up by topic. There was simply too much to discuss otherwise.
Kikunojo-san was probably dealing with the political relations of this island? Well, I don't really understand the difficult parts.
Apparently, Captain Yagami was attending an even higher-level, top-secret political conference. If they were going to discuss matters related to the Sisters, that made sense.
So, the Holy Celestial, who wasn't attending the conferences, and we, who were hired as bodyguards specifically for the party, were left with nothing to do.
A large part of our summer schedule had been wiped out. For now, we were just waiting to see if the party might be rescheduled.
"..." Everyone sipped their tea in unison.
"Ah, enough already!"
"This is so frustrating!"
"Seriously, this is such a drag!"
The Holy Celestial's personal bodyguards. A trio I felt like I had seen somewhere before.
The door flew open, and the three of them burst out together.
"Whoa. Don't scare us like that. I thought you were the enemy."
"If you have nothing to do..."
"You should go out and have some fun in the city!"
"Seriously, this is such a drag!"
"Huh?" The four of us said in unison.
---------
"It's so hot..."
And with that, we headed out into the city.
I thought, "The party was canceled because it's too dangerous. There's no way they'd let us go out." But then, one of them said:
"Come on, think of it as a little R&R for the Holy Celestial. She's been working non-stop and hasn't had a proper chance to go to school. A little summer memory won't hurt, right?"
"But, I absolutely will not tolerate anything happening, okay? Well, you did a good job during that last assassination incident, so I'm sure you'll be fine... But if anything happens..."
"Seriously, this is such a drag."
That's how they pressured us into it.
I mean, there's no official travel ban, so we shouldn't get into trouble... right?
The Holy Celestial was scheduled to be in her room all day today. The three bodyguards at the door were just going to keep quiet about our absence. In other words, they wanted us to have fun for a day without any harm coming to her.
They didn't actually give us permission.
Before I knew it, the Holy Celestial was changed into a white dress and we were sent off to the city.
Well, there was nothing we could do about it now. I just had to brace myself and do it.
But...
"Why do I feel like the number of people I'm guarding has increased?"
"Yes, it seems so..."
"Why is this happening...?"
The usually serious Yukina and Kokkoro already sounded tired. I felt the same way.
Several very conspicuous escort cars were parked near the food stalls. Just their presence was causing a bit of a stir. A super-long limousine. That's what we had ridden in.
Limousines are spacious. Even with me, the Holy Celestial, Yukina, and Kokkoro, there was still plenty of room. We weren't so important that we each had our own car.
"Whoa! I can smell delicious things everywhere! This is amazing!"
"This is the time of year when student food stalls and company sample tents are set up all over the place. This area is mainly for food."
Unlike their party dresses, the two princesses were now in comfortable, casual clothes.
They were La Folia and Eustiana.
La Folia was in an outfit that was pretty much her uniform in the anime, the one she spends most of her time in.
Pecorine, on the other hand, was in the casual clothes she wears in the original game's "Dream-like World" bond story.
Both of them looked completely different, but they still drew a lot of attention. I don't know if it's because people recognize who they are, or just because they're beautiful girls.
These two had apparently been contacted by the Holy Celestial and had arrived here ahead of us.
"Well, it's fine, isn't it? After all, we never got to have our long chat. You'll have to take full responsibility."
"That's right! If we're here, we might as well have fun!"
"Ah! Wait, what...!"
With smiling faces, the two of them grabbed the Holy Celestial and headed toward the food stalls.
"It's not my responsibility, though," I grumbled.
But it was too late to turn back now. And there was one more thing: those weren't all the young ladies we were with.
"I don't usually like crowds, but this much liveliness feels good even to me."
"..."
Reines was standing next to me as if it were the most natural thing in the world. She was the real problem. No one was supposed to have contacted her.
"Reines-san, how did you find out about this?"
"You're as prickly as ever, Himeragi Yukina, but this is a pure coincidence."
Oh really?
"..."
"You look like you want to say something?"
"A coincidence? No way..."
"Don't be so suspicious. When you think too much, does 'coincidentally meeting an acquaintance' feel like a deliberate act by someone else?"
"It does," we both said.
Of course, it does.
"It's an occupational hazard. I'd recommend getting help before you become like my brother... Anyway, you guys don't have to be so on guard today, do you? There are so many people around."
"..."
Yeah, the feeling of being watched from all sides probably isn't just my imagination. It must mean there are other guards watching us from a distance.
"That doesn't mean we're going to let our guard down."
"So serious."
"Something bad could happen. Besides, you're a part of this too, you know."
"...Huh? What did you say?"
I mean...
"Did you forget what you said about being a bodyguard? It means that if something happens, I'll deal with it."
"...It should be 'we' will deal with it, right, Senpai?" Yukina corrected me.
Seeing our exchange, Reines couldn't hold back a laugh.
"Ahahahaha! Oh, yes, you're right. I have high expectations, Yozuki Sho. You are my knight now, after all."
"Of course, we're here too!"
"Yes, you can count on us, Lady Reines."
"Yes. Of course, I'm counting on you. Even if one of you seems to have a different feeling about it."
"Okay, let's get going. We shouldn't get too far away from them."
I looked over and saw the princesses moving forward. They were shining so brightly they stood out even in the crowd, but it still wasn't a good idea to fall behind.
They stopped to buy something.
It was one of the classic food stall items: takoyaki.
"Excuse me! Can we get two packs of takoyaki, please!"
"Coming right up... Huh?" The student working the stall tilted his head.
"Is something wrong?"
"Ma'am... haven't I seen you somewhere before? Like, on TV or something..."
"Oh, no, no! Of course not!"
"Oh, really? But seriously... hmm?"
They were on the verge of being recognized as celebrities.
Even if it wasn't for a bad reason, causing a commotion was the last thing we wanted.
"Please, try to be a little more subtle...!"
"Trying to hide your face would just make it more suspicious."
"This is a dead end...! Maybe going out was a mistake after all!"
We rushed to try and smooth things over.
---------
After things had calmed down, we managed to get inside a restaurant. We hid ourselves in a corner, behind a partition, and finally took a breather.
By the way, since we couldn't bring the food inside, we all had to finish the two packs of takoyaki we bought.
And yes, we all fed each other... Wait, do you want a flashback scene?
---------
"Okay, let's calm down for a minute. We can't do anything like this."
No one objected to my suggestion.
Once we were noticed, it didn't take long for the word to spread that we were an unusual group.
If it were just one of us, we might have been able to pass it off as "someone who looks like them," but when there were several of us, that excuse wasn't going to work.
We had to escape before we got stuck.
"You're right. There are too many people to move around comfortably. And there are some things I want to talk about. I'll make a reservation at a good restaurant."
La Folia was quick to act in situations like this. She pulled out her phone and made a call somewhere.
"Hmm... I think that's a good idea, but what should we do with this takoyaki?"
Eustiana held a bag of takoyaki she had just bought from the stall. They were freshly made, and the bonito flakes on top were dancing.
"We can't bring it into the restaurant. We can either eat it here or throw it away..."
"Then let's eat it!" Eustiana declared without a moment's hesitation.
"You should all eat it, too! I might not be able to finish it all by myself!"
"No way, Your Highness, you could easily eat a dozen or two takoyaki."
"Huh? I couldn't possibly!"
"Senpai! That's rude!"
I messed up. I was thinking in terms of the game. Over there, she could easily eat that much. But there was no reason for her to be that hungry now. She didn't have that item with her, either.
It was rude to call a woman a big eater, especially a princess.
"I don't mind at all. Here, please have some! Let's eat it while it's still hot!"
"Then I'll gladly accept."
I took a takoyaki and put it in my mouth. Of course, she didn't feed it to me on a stick. She handed me the pack of takoyaki.
And of course, I ate it myself.
Mmm, this was the gooey kind, not the crispy kind. It was more than good enough for a student festival.
"Then we will, too."
"Yes, let's take her up on the offer."
"Mmm. It's hot, so be careful."
Yukina and Kokkoro stepped forward as well. They each took one and put it in their mouths.
"When you think about it, we're being treated by a princess."
"Mmmph, d-don't say such strange things!"
"Haha, it's fine! Don't worry about little things like that today. Let's just have fun!"
"Those are kind words, but I'm very honored."
I didn't care anymore, but Yukina apparently did. Surprisingly, Kokkoro didn't seem to mind as much. Maybe growing up in the forest made her more relaxed.
As we were talking, I noticed Reines hesitating in front of the takoyaki.
"Takoyaki, you say..."
"What's wrong, Reines? Aren't you going to eat? Are you not a fan of octopus?"
Maybe she didn't like unfamiliar foods. Well, it was octopus. A "devil fish," as they called it.
"No, I'll eat it. I will. It's a rare chance. They've been sold in shops in Britain recently, too, thanks to that country of perverts, Japan."
"Don't call my home country a country of perverts!"
"Hmph, says the person from the country that anthropomorphizes horses and warships into girls."
That... was a fair point.
I took the stick from her small hand and put it into a takoyaki.
"Alright..."
She nodded decisively and stuck the skewer in.
She lifted it—
Splat!
After lifting it only about 5 centimeters, the batter broke, and it fell back into the container.
"..."
"Why don't you try again?"
"Hmm..."
She tried again, but—
"...It won't come off," she said.
"Hmmmm..."
At this point, it looked more like monjayaki than takoyaki.
"Well! There are still more left! Come on, let's try one of the others!"
"Is there a trick to it?"
"A trick?"
I didn't know what to say.
"Can't you just stick the octopus inside?"
"I can't use clairvoyance magic."
"Alright, alright, I get it..."
I took the skewer and pierced a takoyaki.
I lifted it, putting my other hand underneath to keep it from falling—
"Senpai?"
"Yes?"
"I'll do it, okay?"
"Oh, okay."
I handed the skewer to Yukina as she asked.
"You're very sensitive, Yukina."
"Haha, I don't know what you're talking about."
We all ate together.
That's how it went.
We all happily ate the hot takoyaki and burned our mouths. Yes, we had a great time together.
"Hehe, that was close, wasn't it?"
"We were about to get stuck."
"If you knew that, you should have been more careful..."
La Folia was reckless even though she knew better, and Eustiana didn't seem to grasp the seriousness of causing a scene.
"Well, it's nice to be able to relax like this now. It's fine, isn't it?"
And Reines just laughed to herself. There must have been a lot of things she found amusing.
"Now then, tell us all about it."
"Tell you what?"
"Didn't I say at the party? The relationship between you and the Holy Celestial."
La Folia smiled like a mischievous child.
"...Our relationship? Right. I want to know too," Yukina said.
I was at a loss for words when they looked at me with such expectant eyes. After all, there was really nothing going on between me and the Holy Celestial...
As I was thinking about what to say, a male student I didn't recognize called out.
"Excuse me!"
"Yes?"
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