With the appearance of Yellow Pipe and Scarlet Blue happening in quick succession, one would have thought that Black Muscat would appear next, but that wasn’t the case at all, as the qualifying races went on until the 10th race was completed.
In the 10th race, Black Muscat came out and was in 1st place without a hitch, and with the mysterious atmosphere of everyone wearing black robes to hide their faces, I felt that he was the most formidable foe.
[Black Muscat seemed like a normal veteran.]
[They were calmly watching the movements around them and accelerating to make the right move at the right moment. I think they have good judgment.]
[……Ummm, Senpais…… Those guys coming over there, aren’t they the Black Muscat?]While we were talking about our impressions about the race, Hina-chan noticed something, and when we turned towards that direction, just as Hina-chan said, walking in our direction a trio wearing black robes…… the Black Muscat.
The Black Muscat stopped in front of us and calmly announced.
[……We’ve seen your race. We appreciate your superior magic power and analytical skills.]
[T- Thank you……]
[As you may have realized, we’ve come here to declare war. We would have come earlier…… but it would have been foolish to declare such without assurance that we would make it through the finals. Thus, we’ve waited until this moment has come.]
They looked really suspicious, but what they said actually makes sense. It’s rather strange that Yellow Pipe and Scarlet Blue declared war before they could make it through the qualifiers. Putting aside Scarlet Blue, Yellow Pipe has been eliminated……
[……Fuuu, we’ve also brought a souvenir for this declaration of war. I hope it will suit your taste.]This is…… a development I sometimes see in a battle manga. Even though they said it’s a souvenir, what they brought is actually a former enemy in tatters…… No, I don’t have any former enemies. It’s my first time here in this tournament……
In that case, what could this souvenir be…… While I was wondering about that, the person who seemed to be the leader of the Black Muscat took out what looked like a box of cake from inside his robe.
[I’m afraid we just bought it nearby but……]
[Ahh, that’s very kind of you.]
[Also, we apologize for the late acknowledgment. Due to the influence of the character we’re playing, our language has been a bit crude, so it would be great if you could forgive us.]
They’re extremely polite!? Also, this souvenir they brought, it’s literally a souvenir!? Even though they’re all suspicious-looking people wearing all black, their politeness is amazing…… Moreover, they’re really playing out a character?
[I- Is that so…… Eh? You’re playing out a character?]
[Yes. Embarrassing it may be, but we didn’t mean it for things to turn out this way. But perhaps, because of our appearance, there are many fans who think we are fearless and ominous veterans, and since we can’t let them down, we try to act that way whenever we can.]
[H- Huh…… Errr, in the first place, why are you all wearing black robes?]
[Our species have sensitive skin and get burned easily by the sun. It’s not so much that it hurts, but the sunlight still makes us feel tingles, so we dress like this to hide our skin.]
[Ahh, I see.]
I wonder why? I feel like they could have dressed a little better…… but if that’s the case, I guess it can’t be helped. However, there are many among the Flying Board veterans who look and feel different from what they appear to be.
I guess it was just the Yellow Pipe who was as much a musclehead as they portrayed……
[Since this is your first time participating in the race, you probably feel quite anxious about the final race, but there’s something shining through the eyes of those of us who have seen many competitors. If you keep your composure, we’re sure you will do well……]
[Thank you.]
[Of course, the results of the race are important, but since you participated today, we would be most happy if you could come to like the Flying Board sport, so please enjoy the race.]
[Ahh, yes.]
……Somehow, they feel like very nice guys who just look weird…… Even with my Sympathy Magic, I can clearly tell that they’re being sincere, so there’s no doubt that they’re just normally good people.
After the Black Muscat gave us words of support, they gave us a thumbs-up with their hands covered in black gloves before leaving.
[Erhem…… See you in finals, future stalwart warriors.]
[…..Let’s do our best in the race.]
When I bid them goodbye with these words, the members of the Black Muscat gave another thumbs up and left. Unnn, they really are just normally good people.
[……Kaito-senpai. It’s that, isn’t it? You shouldn’t judge a book by its cover and all that.]
[Unnn. I’m also feeling quite aware of that.]
[Even though they said they were here to declare war, it felt more like they actually came to see if we were nervous as we were first-time participants.]
Just like Hina-chan said, I feel sorry that I really thought they looked suspicious. Well, in a way, I guess you could say they also had quite the deep character.
<Afterword>
Serious-senpai : [Scarlet Blue looks like a group of noble ladies, but they’re actually unrefined commoners. Black Muscat is a group of people with dubious appearances, but in reality, they were polite and nice people, but Yellow Pipe is the only group who is just as muscleheaded as they looked…… Isn’t Yellow Pipe the only group getting a rough treatment here!?]
