As the afterparty was drawing to a close, the food was visibly running low and the number of people eating was dwindling. The overall atmosphere was one of calmness, or perhaps, there was this sense that the end was approaching.
At that moment, I happened to run into the leader of the Black Muscat, and we had a quick chat.
[Your control on the last curve was brilliant. Of course, such a maneuver required a bit of luck, but it was wonderful that you could control your Flying Board so precisely even when this is your first race.]
[Thank you. The same goes for Black Muscat, as you were also very good at maneuvering the course, and when we were flying behind you, we struggled because we couldn’t find the chance for us to overtake……. Ah, come to think of it, I haven’t introduced myself yet. My name is Miyama Kaito.]
[Ohh, now that you mentioned it, you’re right. My name is Rimegithe Lenoria Githurd Armetes Anne.][……Rime…… Eh?]
[Fufufu, excuse me. My species’ name is unique and difficult to pronounce. You can just call me Anne.]
I was thinking she hadn’t introduced herself, so I asked, but I was dumbfounded when I heard it actually was her unique name. However, seemingly used to reactions like mine, she told me I could just call her Anne.
[Then, Anne-san…… You can also call me by my name Kaito too.]
[I understand. Well then, I will call you Kaito-san.]
[Anne-san’s species is called Kruel, right?]
[Yes, that’s right. Us Kruels have a special custom for naming ourselves. First, two syllables are taken from each of my grandfather’s and grandmother’s names. In my case, Rimegithe is the name I received from my parental grandparents and Lenoria from my maternal grandparents. Then we get four syllables from each of our parents’ names, Githurd (Gisurudo) from my father and Armetes (Ametesu) from my mother, and then you add two syllables to the end to make your name.](T/N: アン / Anne. I know it’s one syllable in english, but japanese has a separate character for the “n” sound.)
[I see, so that makes your names have a total of 18 syllables.]
Now that she mentioned it, it certainly isn’t surprising for tribes to have their own distinctive way of naming themselves. It just so happens that no one I have ever met has such a name.
However, if they had such a custom, all members of the same species, including her family members, would have 18-syllable names…… I think it’s hard to remember.
[Is the Miyama part in Kaito-san’s name your surname?]
[That’s right.]
[For your surname to go first and first name to be after it, that’s quite unusual. No, our first name is also in the last part of our full name, but it’s not like our surname goes first……]
[Ahh, I’m an otherworlder, so from the point of view of people from this world, the formatting of our name is the unusual one.]
There are many people in this world who don’t have a surname. Rather, people of this world basically have no surnames other than the nobles. It probably turned out this way because this world has polygamy…… Thinking about it again, the formatting of my name certainly might be unusual for people in this world.
[Otherworlder…… This is the first time I’ve met a real one. I’ve seen them from a distance, but they just feel no different from normal humans.]
[There actually is almost no difference between us and the humans after all. Are the Kruels considered Human?]
[Yes, we’re classified as Human. There are species that look similar to us in the Demon Realm, but they are a different race called Shadow Earth. Well, even if we stand next to each other, we can’t really tell them apart from our own species, and since Shadow Earth had larger numbers, it’s said that Kruels are descendants of the Shadow Earths, which drifted from the Demon Realm to the Human Realm. In that sense, the possibility of us being Demons can’t really be ruled out.]
[Heehhh…… So there’s such a thing huh.]
That’s a bit interesting. The opposite could also be possible, so Kruels may have wandered into the Demon Realm long ago and developed there. In a world like this where there are multiple realms and species, that kind of thing is possible.
[Oya, it seems like the representatives of the top 3 teams have gathered together. May I join you?]
[Scarlet Blue’s…… Errr……]
[Excuse me. My name is Greene. Pleased to make your acquaintance.]
[Ah, I’m Miyama Kaito. Pleased to meet you.]
……When I heard Greene, my mind immediately thought her name was the color green.
[Oya, when did Greene-san change into that dress?]
[I was just not wearing this before since I didn’t want to get it dirty. Besides, you’re the one who had immediately taken off your robe before the afterparty, weren’t you, Anne……]
[I’m a character actor after all. My robed tone gets brought up when I wear my robe.]
Anne-san and Greene-san seemed to be acquaintances, as they exchanged chuckles with each other. Where did the dangerous atmosphere they had before the start of the race go? It felt like they were on good terms with each other.
It was an unexpected situation where one person from each of the teams ranking 1st through 3rd had gathered together, but the two of them were both nice people, so it seemed like we’d be able to enjoy talking with each other.
And my hunch turned out not to be wrong, as the three of us enjoyed our small talk in peace.
<Afterword>
Serious-senpai : [Hou…… They don’t feel like they’d become heroines! Alright! The afterparty seemed like it would end soon, and after that would be the story about visiting Shigenobu, so I won’t have to worry about sweetness for a while!]
? ? ? : [———is what you thought, but after Kaito-san returned home from the Flying Board competition, Pandemonium had……]
Serious-senpai : [Can you not speak those scary things!?]
