kscans

Chapter 504 - After the Spirit Festival

"I can't believe such an interesting thing happened while I was away. I'm so frustrated..."

"You find that interesting, Wilnel-chan?"

"Yes. I saw the video, but I wanted to watch it in real time. I wouldn't want to miss seeing just how much of a monster you are, Parfait-san."

"Please don't call me a monster."

In Parfait's room, located in her home slash Crown Cafe, Parfait and Wilnel sat on cushions on the carpet, surrounding a small table. They talked about the recently concluded Spirit Festival event while enjoying chocolate parfaits and sweet coffee.

Today, Ronios, the head of the Gemini Foundation, had come to the cafe for the first time in a while. She herself called it a "momentous day." She had been making arrangements for a long time, and the groundwork was finally complete.

A foundation head visiting a Colony wouldn't be such a big deal, but it was a different story when executives from several foundations gathered. Gemini, Libra, Pisces, and the overall Foundation Coordinator were all involved in AFO's management, so they wouldn't attract much attention. But this time was different.

Executives from Virgo, who could be considered Pisces's rivals, also came to Colony Frontier. Because of that, they had attracted unwanted attention from other foundations.

Visiting as a Virgo executive was Blake, the leader of Fight☆Club. Blake himself had been keeping his distance from the Virgo Foundation, but this time, Lunaria had summoned him by name.

When Blake's father, the head of Virgo, also told him to go, he had no choice. The fact that he could run a hobbyist video streaming company without doing any foundation work was thanks to his father's indulgence, so he had to accept.

Blake himself said it was a "pain in the butt," but since his video streaming company was entering into a business partnership with AFO, he couldn't very well not attend the gathering, so he had reluctantly made the trip.

Besides that, Blake had another reason he had to participate.

"By the way, I heard Kazatoki-san is joining the Coordinator's... Lunaria-sama's direct escort team."

"That's right. It seems Xenobia-san recommended, or rather, scouted her. For now, she's just doing part-time work, like chores, but she said her earnings have improved and she's happy she can eat meat. Also, her family's dojo has made a comeback thanks to that connection and the video."

"It was your overwhelming victory in the end, Parfait-san, but Kazatoki-san's movements were also monstrous. If she can do that in the real world, I think she could become a first-class bodyguard. Though it seems like she'd be more of the type to chase down and defeat opponents than to guard someone."

"Well, that's true, but calling her a monster... Aren't the real monsters Xenobia-san and Cecil-san?"

That was a rude thing to say too, but from Parfait's perspective, it was questionable whether a human could fight like Xenobia and Cecil. It was beyond the level of something you could achieve through practice.

"Those two are on a level where calling them monsters would be rude to actual monsters."

"So harsh..."

The video of Xenobia and Cecil's fight had surpassed a hundred million views in just one week. The comments were flooded with things like, "Those aren't human movements," "Even an AI couldn't do that," and "Bring me the source code for 'humanity'."

However, there was also the video of Parfait and Kazatoki's fight, which led to a discussion about whether that might be the final form of movement achievable by humans. The debate had started to split between the human faction and the AI faction.

Be that as it may, Xenobia wanted to train Kazatoki further, which led to her recruitment. However, Kazatoki belonged to the company funded by Blake. Kazatoki was already working with Xenobia, but arrangements needed to be made, which was why Blake had been called to this gathering.

Of course, Blake didn't come just for Kazatoki's sake. There was another person to deal with.

"I heard Lion-san was scouted as well?"

"Scouted, or rather, it's still an offer. Apparently, her unabashed on-stage performance was well-received, and there's talk of her joining Dragon Soul after she graduates."

"Dragon Soul, you mean Abel-san's agency?"

"That's right. It's both a talent agency and a film distribution company. Of course, it seems they're interested in her as an actress."

According to Abel, his mother Cecil had shown the video of her fight with Xenobia to the family, but it was Lion's song, dance, and archangel-like performance that followed which impressed Veru, Ash, Ren, and Abel himself.

"There's also talk of them supporting her tuition if she takes acting lessons about once a week. She seems to be considering her options."

"I don't think there's much to consider."

"Well, she's also been invited by Alvie-san from Kiss of Death for her singing, and for some reason, the clan Worldwide Magical Girl Society scouted her, saying she has a talent for group performances. Also, the Whale That Drinks the Moon-san is trying to recruit her as a member..."

"The Whale That Drinks the Moon... so Noat-sama and Parsha-sama are scouting her directly...!? That's surprising, but Lion-san is certainly popular with the big names."

"She is. Lion-chan didn't know the details since the main part of the video stream was her match with Kazatoki-chan, but her singing, dancing, and acting are amazing. It's more like she becomes a different person."

"I've heard that when people go through difficult times, they create another personality to protect their psyche."

"That's scary! Lion-chan is just good at acting!"

If they were going to talk about that, Wilnel had also been subjected to something akin to brainwashing, which in retrospect, could be considered another personality. But to Parfait, the current Wilnel seemed like a normal girl her age. Though as the next head of her family, she did seem a little out of touch.

In any case, wherever Lion decided to go, she would be leaving Blake's company. Of course, staying with Blake's company was also an option, but either way, arrangements needed to be made, and that was what was being discussed at the cafe.

Blake had said he would leave it up to her. He didn't mind if she used his company as a stepping stone. As long as she remembered she was once part of his company, that was enough for him.

"His lack of attachment is his attachment, I suppose. Still, Blake-sama's company will probably grow from here. It's been revealed that Lunaria-sama attended the event in person, and she commented, 'It was super fun,' so it's getting a lot of attention. Though she was apparently dissatisfied that she couldn't participate in a match."

"I would have liked a more elaborate comment. Speaking of which, Benny-shishou said Lunaria-san called her and they fought in the real world."

"Personally, I would have liked to see that too. By the way, who won?"

"A draw, I guess. Or rather, it wasn't really a match, just some fun. Lunaria-san saw Xenobia-san's fight and got antsy, so she just wanted someone to move around with."

Even though they called it fun, Simon, who went with Benitsuru, had said with exasperation that she could "barely follow their movements with her eyes," so Parfait suspected it had been quite a battle.

"Right, speaking of Lunaria-san, I just remembered. On a separate note, Cynthia-chan was really happy that she'll be learning from the people at Black Rose."

"Black Rose, Lunaria-sama's direct company, you mean. I've heard they're skilled not only in real-world clothing but also in digital design, and with the implementation of the new costume system, they've been inundated with even more work."

"Yeah. Cynthia-chan said she wants to focus more on that side of things than on real-world clothes."

She had also mentioned wanting to create fantasy-style clothes that are difficult to realize or wear in the real world, and had declared with a beaming smile that bore no trace of her introverted self, "This humble servant will work so hard her nose will bleed!"

As a result, Ginny's plan to "have Cynthia make cosplay outfits" had been slightly derailed, and she was quite crestfallen.

Though Cynthia had said, "For my best friend Ginny-shi's request, I will undertake any task!" and the two of them had hugged tightly, so it didn't seem to be a problem.

That was about all that had happened at the event, Parfait thought, when Wilnel's face lit up as if she had remembered something.

"By the way, I heard something major happened at the World Tree on the last day of the event?"

"Oh, that. A bunch of couples gathered at the World Tree to summon the Illusion Dragon Suien Mikazuki."

"I believe the appearance condition was having a certain number of couples present."

"Yeah, a few couples in the middle area of the World Tree would have been fine, but there were just too many of them..."

"Was there a problem with having too many?"

"Well, something called a True Illusion Dragon appeared. It didn't do any pre-battle mental attacks and just went on a rampage before leaving. Apparently, it was quite a horror show when the Illusion Dragon climbed the World Tree and attacked the couples there... Everyone said they had touched the Illusion Dragon's nerve."

"The person inside is Suien-sama, right?"

"It's Suien-san. I heard that after it was over, the three of them, including Instructor Ren and Randa-san, went out for drinks. And later, they called Pat-san and made him pay..."

"Speaking of Pat-sama, you mean the gunman who looks like he's out of a western. That was unfortunate for Pat-sama."

"Well, according to Instructor Ren and Randa-san, Suien-san and Pat-san have always been like that. The usual pattern is for a fuming and depressed Suien-san and Pat-san to go drinking together."

And Ren and Randa always say, "Just get together already." But both Suien and Pat reply with something along the lines of, "We're too old for that now," and there's no progress.

"I see. But if Ren-sama and Randa-sama are the ones trying to get them together, it lacks a certain persuasiveness."

"Neither of them has anyone special, you see. Suien-san retorts with, 'Are you in any position to worry about others?' so they can't say much."

"Everyone has their own circumstances. But that's how the last day of the event went. I wish I could have participated..."

"The arrangements took too long..."

"There's no use crying over the past, so I'll join you as much as possible for the next event. Oh, and please tell Hayato-sama that it would be helpful if he could specify the date and time in the future."

"...I'm sorry about that. Ronios-san is the head of a foundation, and my dad just casually invited her."

"No, no, that's not a problem. In fact, I'm rather grateful. But this whole incident made me understand why Aunt Ronios is disliked by those around her. Aunt Ronios pushes people around too much. Just as the schedule was about to be finalized, she somehow got wind of it and suggested involving the Virgo Foundation. She's usually so fast and competent at her job, why does she have to do unnecessary things...?"

"Maybe because it's not her job..."

From there, Wilnel began to express her respect for Ronios, but also some of her complaints. Parfait found it hard to agree, and listened with a forced smile.