kscans

Chapter 7 - Interlude: A Day in the Life of the Drago Family ~Part One~

"Daddy, let's go!"

After eating their midday staff meal, the twins ran to the back exit of the kitchen. Today, the family was going on an outing to Kilfan. Drago, who had the afternoon off, was scheduled to return home with the twins, pick up Sakura, and then head to Kilfan by carriage.

When Drago, changed out of his work clothes, headed to the exit, he found the twins and two bees plastered to the floor. Tilting his head, Drago watched them.

"There… That's it! Thank you, Pochiko-san!"

A single steel bar was fitted into the gap between the wall and the stairs. After a big commotion where the Little One had gotten stuck inside, steel bars had been installed in the gaps beside all the castle stairs to prevent children from entering.

But Pochiko-san was the size of a newborn.

Apparently, the space was just big enough for her to squeeze through, and she was dragging various things out from inside.

Beside the twins were baskets and dishes. Some shriveled something, blankets, and sheets. Gathering them all together, Chihiro, still flat on the floor, stretched out her hand and took something from Pochiko-san.

"Ah, this is it. I found it."

Narrowing her eyes, Chihiro clutched something in her hand.

"What's that?"

At the sound of Drago's voice suddenly addressing them, the twins literally jumped into the air. With a faint, awkward smile, Chihiro tucked the object from her hand into her usual shoulder bag.

"It's nothing. See, the stuff I brought in was just left there, so I was curious! Help me carry it, Daddy!"

At her words, Drago also realized.

"You brought all this in? It's like a mouse's move-in."

"How mean! I'll go throw out the trash."

"Then I'll go put away the dishes."

Lifting what appeared to be the remains of food, the Little One ran off as if escaping.

Watching her go, Drago carried the blankets and sheets to the laundry area.

"Oh my, what's all this, you three?"

Seeing the three of them covered in dust, Sakura's eyes widened. Chihiro and Drago explained the story of the secret base. Hearing this, Chihaya puffed out his cheeks in a huff.

"Hiiro, you were doing something like that without telling me. You left me out."

Drago and the Little One exchanged glances.

They couldn't very well explain that it was from her past life, so the two of them just smiled wryly. Perhaps sensing the situation, Sakura patted Chihaya's shoulder and threw them a lifeline.

"Then, Chihaya, you should make your own secret base. It's called a secret base because it's a secret from everyone, you know?"

As Sakura smiled sweetly, her brother nodded in understanding.

I'm sorry, brother. Please stay just as you are, so honest and pure.

Feeling a twinge of anxiety for her brother's future as he was so easily placated, the Little One put her hands together in her heart.

"Oh, that suits you well."

With Sakura's help, the three of them changed into yukata.

Drago wore a deep navy blue kasuri yukata with a white and yellow woven pattern. His large frame made the simple robe look quite stylish. The twins wore matching tsumugi yukata in different colors. The pattern was dragonflies and pampas grass. Chihiro's was on a red background, Chihaya's on blue. Sakura wore a crimson yukata. It was a slightly dark vermilion with a fine, cut-out cherry blossom pattern.

"Well then. Shall we go?"

The Drago family cheerfully climbed into their carriage, while Naya and Sasha boarded another. The bees were left to watch the house, as the entire family went out. Dorfen rode alongside the briskly moving carriage on horseback.

Today was the Kilfan festival.

The children were chattering excitedly, looking forward to their annual fun. Watching them, Drago and his wife also looked happy.

"To think that mysterious dance was a Kilfan dance."

"Well, they seem to be from the same homeland. It's not surprising she would know it."

The men of Frontier had finally solved a long-standing mystery during yesterday's carriage commotion.

The mysterious Little One dance she sometimes performed.

Drago and the others were shocked to learn that this dance, which was becoming known as the "Little One Dance," was actually a popular dance in Kilfan.

In contrast to the men who had been smiling wryly about the carriage incident, Sakura had been clapping along to the dancing Little One. When a puzzled Drago asked her how she knew it, even though it should have been the first time she'd heard the song or seen the dance, Sakura answered nonchalantly.

"What? It's the Kawachi Otokobushi, isn't it? It's a standard Bon Odori."

"Right?" the mother and child said, smiling at each other.

It was then that Drago and the others first learned of a dance called Bon Odori. They heard it was also danced at recent festivals in Kilfan. Until now, while Kilfan was being established, they hadn't had the luxury of holding large festivals, only small internal ones, so the Frontier side knew nothing about it. However, now that the capital was established and they had more leeway, they had heard a slightly larger festival was planned, and wanting to participate, it had led to this outing.

"I've been to the Kilfan festival a few times, but we always went home while it was still light. I had no idea they held such a dance at night."

"It starts after the tower and lanterns are lit. The kids were small too, so it couldn't be helped."

This year, they planned to participate in that as well, so the Drago family had taken the next day off too and planned to stay overnight. After taking a couple of breaks along the way, Drago and the others arrived in Kilfan and headed for its capital, Akitsu. A city back to back with Frontier's royal capital. A journey of about three hours by carriage, it was a beautiful place with a lively townscape.

To think it could become like this in just four years. As expected of a country with modern Japanese technology.

Though she had visited the town before, now that her memories of her past life had returned, the Little One felt an even deeper sense of emotion.

There were no modern buildings, but the town, centered around single-story houses with a nostalgic atmosphere, had a charming, horizontally sprawling landscape that was very attractive.


"Ah, it's been a while, Drago-san, Sakura-san."

Katsumi greeted the Drago family as they alighted from their carriage. He was still working diligently as a consultant for Kilfan.

An otherworld transmigrator from Earth.

The now-defunct Kilfan Empire. It was a country built by many Japanese transmigrators. Due to a quarrel among the gods, the gods of Arcadia realized their mistake and, in order to bring a civilization without magic to Arcadia, they borrowed souls from the gods of Earth. When the world's form was set and the gods' quarrel was settled, the borrowed souls were returned to the world of Earth. The souls that had increased here were left behind, and Kilfan, along with its continent, was returned to the gods of Earth. The remaining people then founded the new Kingdom of Kilfan in the wilderness next to Frontier.

Katsumi would probably be the last transmigrator.

"Welcome, Chihiro-chan and Chihaya-kun. This year's festival is a bit different, so I hope you enjoy it."

Katsumi smiled proudly, fufun.

And at the festival venue he led them to, the Drago family was left stunned. Centered on the original plaza, large, festive ball-like decorations hung over the main streets that stretched out in every direction. Each ball decoration was elaborately designed, with long, colorful ribbons extending from them. Chihiro recognized the lively decorations hanging densely from above. Her family on Earth was from Nagoya city. The Little One knew of the famous festival in the nearby textile town of Ichinomiya.

The story of the heavens, related to weaving.

So, today is…

The seventh day of the seventh month.

"A Tanabata festival…"

The little girl's casual murmur.

At that, Katsumi's eyes widened, and he suddenly noticed the monsters on Chihiro's shoulders.

Pochiko-san, Mugi-ta, Mi-chan.

Familiar faces she hadn't brought with her until last year. Katsumi's eyes, already wide, opened even further to their limit, and his trembling lips formed a question.

"Chihiro…? Is that you?"

A low voice, different from before. Guessing its meaning, the Little One broke into a wide grin.


"I'm home, Katsumi."

That smile, etched in the depths of his memory. Katsumi instinctively covered his mouth, standing frozen and speechless. Then, with a face that was half-crying, half-smiling, he gave a weak smile.

"Welcome home."

A miraculous reunion.

In an instant, the time between them rewound four years.

"I've been working hard since then, you know? Me."

"I know."

"It was really tough, you know? You just logged out on me. Do you have any idea how much trouble I went through?"

"I'm sorry."

"Really… You little rascal."

Spitting out resentful words, Katsumi's mouth twisted as he hugged the Little One. Kneeling down, he wrapped his arms around her as if she were something fragile. Chihiro grabbed Katsumi's arms and looked up at the Tanabata decorations.

"This is amazing. Are you from Ichinomiya?"

"No… Gifu Prefecture. It's one train stop away, so I used to go to the Tanabata festival every year."

Wiping away his welling tears, Katsumi looked at Chihiro.

"Enjoy yourselves, okay? This is the first Tanabata festival. We're going to do it every year."

Nodding at that, Chihiro patted Katsumi's head with both hands. Her small palms moved, mosha mosha.


"Thank you, Katsumi. This is amazing, I'm so surprised. You worked so hard."

Overwhelmed by her familiar, gentle smile, tears began to fall from Katsumi's eyes.

"You jerk! I was holding it in! Are you trying to make me cry? You demon! You devil!"

Showering her with baseless accusations, Katsumi shooed Chihiro towards the festival grounds. Obeying, the Drago family also headed towards the center of the plaza. There, a large wooden tower stood in the center, and around the plaza's perimeter, food stalls were packed tightly together. Stalls also lined the main streets extending in four directions from the plaza, and the vivid, colorful banners and curtains fluttered beautifully in the wind. It was just like a nostalgic Japanese festival.

Masks, pinwheels, candy sculptures, karumeyaki, and more. There were many things that had even disappeared from modern Japan, and the Little One's heart danced with excitement.


"Woooow, which one should I get?"

As the Little One jumped up and down with a cry of delight, Sakura gave a resigned, wry smile.

"Now, now, first we have to write our wishes on tanzaku. It wouldn't be right to the beautiful bamboo trees, would it?"

That's right.

Snapping back to reality, Chihiro looked around at the many bamboo trees lined up along the tower and stalls. A nostalgic sight, with each one laden with decorations and tanzaku.

In a hurry, the twins wrote their wishes on the colorful tanzaku that had been provided.


"I'll take the red one."

"Then I'll take the green one."

They each wrote their wishes on the tanzaku they held with ink, and Sakura skillfully twisted the thin paper that had been provided to make paper strings. This was nostalgic too. When Chihiro was a child, she had often helped her grandmother with her side job, twisting paper around gunpowder to make sparklers. The twins threaded the tightly twisted paper strings through their tanzaku and hung them on a nearby bamboo tree. The tanzaku spun around, swaying in the wind. The bamboo tree, swaying with its many tanzaku, made a cool, rustling sound, sara sara, just like in the song.

"I wonder when my wish will come true."

"Orihime and Hikoboshi only get to meet once a year, so they're bored all year round. I'm sure it will come true right away."

A woman who had been handing out tanzaku nodded with a smile at the cheerfully chattering siblings.

"You're from Frontier, aren't you? You know quite a lot. Your yukata look lovely on you, the weather is nice today, and it's a cute child's wish. I'm sure they will grant it right away."

Following the woman's gaze, the Drago family also looked up at the sky. It was dyed in a faint twilight, and a large, first star was shining brightly.

Even though this is another world. In this season, the first star on Earth would be Jupiter. That great brilliance shone brightly, not losing to the inorganic, artificial lights on the ground. It was probably different from that, but a similar large star was shining in this Arcadia as well.

What was even more different was the number of stars.

As the darkness deepened, countless stars appeared, like ripples on the surface of the sea. The stars scattered across the sky were, to use a cliché, truly like a jewelry box.

Imagining it in her mind, the Little One couldn't help but grin, and she ran off towards the food stalls.

"I'm hungry! I want to eat okonomiyaki!"

"Ah, wait, Hiiro, I want yakisoba!"

Chasing after the children, who preferred food over flowers, Drago and the others also disappeared into the festival crowd.

The twins split an okonomiyaki and yakisoba, then snatched some of Drago's takoyaki, and groaned, holding their heads from the brain freeze of shaved ice. The children rolled around with wry smiles, running about innocently.

"This is… truly happiness."

"It is."

The count and his wife huddled together sentimentally.

They would never let this happiness be destroyed again. Even if it were the will of the gods. From a distance, Katsumi watched the two of them.

His heart was the same.

To never lose the Little One again, Katsumi would do anything. Even if it were an act against humanity.

While the adults were making their deep resolves, the Little One in question was operating as usual.

As the lanterns were lit, and the loud sound of taiko drums and the music and songs of the band filled the air, she ran around looking at everything with curiosity, then took the lead in the dancing. Chihaya was also dancing, imitating what he saw. The Bon Odori is not a particularly difficult dance. The gestures make it look the part, and more than anything, the simple rhythm is fun.

Perhaps because the children dancing so excitedly stood out. In the newly founded Kilfan, there were few children. The people dancing around them were also smiling, careful not to bump into them.

Matching yukata in different colors and beaming smiles.

The adorable children looked like they were about to be swallowed up by the circle of dancers. Before Naya and Sasha, who were watching the twins anxiously, could intervene, the surrounding Kilfan people lifted the two of them up, climbed a ladder, and placed them on top of the tower.

"Our guests of honor. You should dance here."

He must have known at a glance that they were from Frontier. The man, with a grin, descended from the tower.

"Wow, what a great view!"

"This is amazing, I've never seen so many people before."

Around the tower, several hundred people were dancing in a triple circle. The cute twins danced wildly, flying around the taiko drum placed in the center of the tower.

The lively night passed in a flash. When Drago and the others were called up to the tower, what they saw were the two children, fast asleep, having collapsed from dancing so much.

Drago and the others were speechless at the sight of the twins, sleeping soundly with satisfied looks on their faces, spread-eagled.

Lifting them up with exasperated looks and descending from the tower, the Little One, apparently still dancing in her dreams, muttered.

"...sa no yoi yoi."

After a moment's pause, the Drago family and the surrounding adults burst out laughing.

A truly happy family scene.

The Little One was someone who found happiness on her own, easily and as she pleased, regardless of the adults' desires to make her happy♪