| Author: SS Samurai | Original Source: Syosetu |
| Translator: rm31439 | English Source: Re:Library |
Good morning! At this point, I’d love to say that I’m feeling great, but…
…It’s awful, I can’t feel my arms.
One of them was like that because Mika had been clinging to it constantly. This would’ve been fine, since it happened before.
But on the other side… to make it short, it was Karua. I’d never expected her to sleep the same way as Mika. My arm was numb, and I couldn’t move it.
What should I do? I’d feel guilty for waking them, just because I’m the first one up. There’s no other way, I guess I’ll nap for a bit more.
“Mh… phew.”
As I thought that, Mika woke up.
At the same moment, she released my arm.
That’s terrible, I can feel the blood flowing into it. Just how strongly had she clung onto it?
Right after Mika woke up, Karua also stirred without making any sound. She was still clinging to my arm.
“Good morning, Karua.”
“I wish you a good morning, Alim… Oh!”
She let go of me in a hurry. I felt the blood flowing into that arm, too.
“I-I am so sorry!”
“Don’t worry about it, Karua,” Mika calmed her down. “It’s not like Alim hates it.”
On top of clutching my arm again, which had almost stopped being numb, Mika also started to poke my cheeks. Enticed by that, Karua clung to my arm fairly excitedly and not timidly at all, and also started to prod my cheeks the same way.
“They’re as supple as always, aren’t they~?” Mika commented.
“They truly are,” Karua agreed.
They went on like that for around two minutes, but when a maid arrived, who planned to wake us, I was released.
We went to the dining hall just as we were and ate breakfast prepared by the head chef. Maybe because today would be the parade, the spread was quite lavish, even this early in the morning.
“About today’s parade… when will the festival begin again?” I asked the Minister, who happened to be close by.
“Oh, it will start three hours from now, at 10 o’clock in the morning. However… please try to look outside for a moment.”
Mika, Karua and I did as he said and looked at the royal capital through the dining hall’s windows. It truly looked like a festival. There were tons of stores and stalls that had been decorated, and the atmosphere felt completely different from how it normally did.
Moreover, while there were usually many people in the royal capital, today their numbers were on a different level.
I have no idea what to call this… such a huge crowd. At any rate… They look happy.
“Wow~… This is amazing!” Karua exclaimed.
“It really is… I wonder, when did they prepare all those decorations?”
“Those? It looks like everyone started preparing, immediately after the victory proclamation ended,” the minister replied to Mika’s question. “They apparently mainly used magic items for the decorations.”
I see, did they make use of magic items, so they could finish the decorations quickly?
After we finished eating breakfast and changed into clothes, that had been prepared, the three of us went to play until 10 am.
While we were at it, since I thought it couldn’t hurt, I asked Karua whether we could try going around town together, and she immediately said yes. According to her, she had asked the king in advance, who’d told her, that it should be fine if she went around town with Mika and me once the parade was over, and that he wouldn’t mind if we used magic and magic items to disguise ourselves as different people.
That’s great.
It turned 10 am in a flash.
The citizens had gathered in the same place as during the victory and hero proclamations. There, the king held a speech, same as yesterday.
“…and that’s it! Enjoy the festivities today!”
When the king finished his speech, he gave someone a signal. Then, the cheerful sound of trumpets echoed. And at the same time, a large number of soldiers paraded out from the castle, with musical instruments in their hands.
Parades in this world are probably no different from those on Earth.
“Now, let’s go, Karua, Alim, Mika. Follow behind me.”
We did as the king had said and walked behind him. He marched out of the castle, too, where we were joined by Karuna, who’d linked up with us unnoticed, and behind us followed the soldiers carrying instruments.
“Kya~~! Alim and Mika are so cute!”
“Oh… thank you… esteemed holy maiden1…”
“The esteemed shrine maiden of fortune, Princess Karua, and Queen Karuna are also there…”
I heard these voices from the onlookers.
Incidentally, “Shrine Maiden of Fortune2” was a nickname for Mika. She guessed, that the name was because she had made the rain fall and destroyed the magic beasts, which had consequently bestowed profits onto the country. I thought it was fitting.
Furthermore, she had also obtained the “Goddess of Charm” title.
The parade marched into the city. We single-mindedly followed behind the king. Nevertheless, there were way too many people who called out to me.
If it’s like this, I’ll no longer be able to properly leave the house without a disguise.
At any rate, it was quite enjoyable. The lively music resounded cheerfully, and several performances took place. It was even better since I participated together with my friends and we had fun together.
After we had walked around town in a circle for 3 hours, the parade ended. Once we had returned to the castle, the king entrusted us with Karua and we rushed towards the city…
TL notes:
It’s interesting to see how Alim’s (and now also Mika’s) popularity completely spirals out of control. One thing I like about this story is how it doesn’t follow the usual beginner-adventurer tropes and instead takes a very different approach with the protagonists becoming something similar to idols. That the darker parts of this popularity aren’t ignored is a good thing, in my opinion.
