It was finally the day of Archlesia Empire’s Founding Festival, and I came with Amel-san to Archlesia Empire’s Imperial Capital early in the morning to set up our stall.
[My sworn friend, the promised time has finally arrived. Let’s make this day, a day of celebrations, brighten with the radiance of our darkness!]
[It’s almost time, isn’t it? By the way, Amel-san, are you keeping your wings small?]
[Yeah, I am one burdened with destiny. I do not say that attracting attention is a bad thing, but sometimes it can be a cage. If these wings are an obstacle to my freedom, it would be a delight to let them sink into the dreamscape for the moment.]
[I see, it’s certainly conspicuous, and being the Chief of the Wingeds, Amel-san is probably a well-known figure.]Amel-san’s distinctive black wings are now reduced in size and hidden by her jacket, making it difficult to recognize her as a member of the Wingeds at a glance.
When asked why, she replied that her black feathers are so prominent that they are likely to attract attention, and since she’s the Chief of the Wingeds, she doesn’t want to attract such attention, so she hides them.
[As a matter of fact, that isn’t the case. With my black wings concealed, I would become but an enchanting wanderer. Just as the great King of Empty Illusions had become the great King of Empty Illusions, I too can temporarily deceive the world.]
[Isn’t it more because Amel-san’s face isn’t well known?]
[That’s right. Our Winged is a closed-off race. I myself have never been in the spotlight. Therefore, many people are unaware of the sparkle of my true darkness.]
[I see, then I can rest assured that we won’t attract any unwanted attraction.]
To summarize Amel-san’s words, even though Alice, who is the Phantasmal King, acts as the shopkeeper Alice in her miscellaneous goods store, her original identity as the Phantasmal King is unknown to those around her. Similarly, Amel-san also avoids being in the spotlight too much, so it seems that by concealing her black wings, she can go unnoticed.By the way, I might be digressing, but recently, I have become able to understand Amel-san’s words without much difficulty, perhaps thanks to having gotten used to it. In a sense, I guess one can say that this is also personal growth…… Amel-san looks happy when she talks to me, so if she’s delighted, I guess it isn’t all that bad.
In a way though, I somehow feel like the chuuni spirit laying dormant within me was being unsealed, so I’m feeling somewhat uneasy.
Well, anyway, now the number of visitors who would come to see Amel-san, the Chief of the Wingeds, will decrease, and I will be able to relax and enjoy my time here in the stall.
It seems that Amel-san has also chosen a relatively less crowded location for our stall, so it’s unlikely that we’d be too busy.
[Since all we have to do is take them out of the magic box, the opening of the stall itself should be easy, right?]
[Unnn. Just opening up a stall with my sworn friend, ehehe, just having fun without worrying about sales————- Hrnnn! It is important to fulfill my covenant with my sworn friend, and the acquisition of money is not our main purpose. Let’s enjoy this festival that comes only once a year.]
[You’re right. Let’s have fun and don’t worry about the sales. As we discussed, Amel-san will sell the goods purchased from Alice’s shop, while I will sell the ceramics brought from my place.]
[I understand. However, there’s no need to be bound by such rules. Let us adapt to change as needed, flowing gracefully like running water. If my sworn friend requires help, I will always lend out a hand.]
[Thank you. I’ll be counting on you.]
We’ve already decided on our responsibilities to some extent, but as Amel-san said, we’ll be flexible and help each other according to the situation.
Well, since there are a lot of hobby items and the prices of our items are fairly high, our place shouldn’t be that crowded.
While I was thinking about this, I heard what sounded like fanfare.
[What is that sound?]
[It’s the music that signals the beginning of the festival. They infused magic to make it resonate equally throughout the stage. Just as it’s the melody that marks the beginning, it’s also the melody that marks the end……]
[Music that is magically made to be heard throughout the capital to signal the start of the festival huh. And when the festival ends, that music will ring again……]
[As expected of my sworn friend. It seems that our hearts are still firmly connected today.]
[Ahaha. For the time being, it seems that the Founding Festival has officially started, so I will be in your care today.]
[Unnn! Let’s do our best together!]
When I called out to her, Amel-san nodded with a bright smile, accidentally responding without her chuuni acts. As I reflexively chuckled at her antics, I revitalized my motivation in preparation for our first customer.
<Afterword>
Serious-senpai : [……D*mn it, my body won’t return back from being sugar. W- Well, I guess I should be happy that the damage was just this much huh……]
? ? ? : [No, you’re saying that so casually, but seriously, what kind of ecology do you have…… I hope you realize that “returning back from being sugar” is already abnormal.]
