The God of the World, Shallow Vernal, is coming for the Founding Festival. When Lilia heard these words from Laguna, she almost lost consciousness for a moment.
Lilia had said earlier that she had a bad feeling about the current situation and wanted to leave immediately, but now that she had heard Shallow Vernal’s name from Laguna, she no longer had the option of leaving. If she were to leave now upon hearing Shallow Vernal’s name, it could be seen as an act of fleeing in fear, and such an act of disrespect wouldn’t be overlooked even for Lilia, who was held in high esteem in the God Realm.
Therefore, her option of returning home disappeared. Feeling a knot in her stomach over this, Lilia turned to Laguna and asked.
[S- Shallow Vernal-sama? S- She will be attending?]
[No, she’s apparently not coming to attend…… It’s more like she’s going to look around the Founding Festival.][……That definitely sounds like she’s not going around on her own.]
[Yeah, she’s obviously going around with Kaito.]
[…………As I thought.]
In the first place, Shallow Vernal originally never visits the Human Realm outside of the Festival of Heroes. Therefore, it goes without saying that she has never attended any of the past Founding Festivals.
Thus, Lilia could tell that behind the situation of Shallow Vernal coming to the Founding Festival is undoubtedly the World’s Singularity Kaito, and an indescribable expression appeared on her face.
[Last night, Goddess of Time-sama suddenly appeared, looking apologetic, and conveyed this to me. After that, things had been quite hectic. In fact, most of the Higher and Lower-ranked Gods have already come, most of them having disguised themselves. The power of Goddess of Fate-sama has made it impossible for us to know who is where though.]
[I now understand why Her Majesty Laguna looked so tired.]What came to Lilia’s mind was the scene of the date Shallow Vernal and Kaito had in the past. She distinctly remembers that during that time, the frenzied Gods had come in full force to Symphonia Kingdom’s Royal Capital, establishing an iron wall formation.
Anyhow, the Gods adhere to Shallow Vernal’s absolute authority and do not tolerate any disrespect towards her. To ensure readiness for anything, they swiftly deployed defenses across the Founding Festival venue overnight, with the three Supreme Gods taking command.
[No, I really empathize with the pain you’re feeling down in your stomach, young Lilia. After all, we can hardly take any action regarding this matter. If we act recklessly and end up disrupting Kaito’s date, there’s a possibility that it could bring about Shallow Vernal-sama’s displeasure.]
[Indeed. Moreover, it’s really hard to read Shallow Vernal-sama’s behavior when she’s with Kaito-san…… Ahh, seriously, why is this happening……]
[Even so, judging by your reaction, it seems like you are also unaware, young Lilia…… I thought it really was quite abrupt, but given Kaito’s personality, I assumed he had informed young Lilia beforehand…… No, I certainly was the one who invited Kaito. I asked him to come and invite someone to go with him. I did tell him that…… but I never thought he’d actually bring Shallow Vernal-sama……]
Although she felt a sharp pain in her stomach, Lilia couldn’t complain as she looked at Laguna, who was now holding her head, tracing the situation back to the fact that it was her who had initially urged Kaito to come to the Founding Festival. At that moment, a question suddenly popped into Lilia’s mind.
Lilia had heard in advance from Kaito that he would be going around the Founding Festival with someone. However, she had somehow forgotten who he was going with.
(……I have heard about him going around with Shallow Vernal-sama but forgot about it? No, as expected, that’s just…… Wait, was I so shocked that, in order to protect myself from the stomachache, it completely slipped off my memories?)
Lilia distinctly remembers that she had talked to Kaito about this beforehand. She also recalls being satisfied with the explanation he gave during that conversation, so she can’t complain to Kaito.
Unaware that they were both in another dimension, both Lilia and Laguna gently put their hands on their stomachs.
While Lilia and Laguna were associating with each other through their stomach aches, the person in question, Kaito, was……
[……Errr, Shiro-san?]
[What is it?]
[Why are we starting our date from the Sanctuary?]
[Because today is “Pattern B”.]
[……Hmm?]
For some reason, before heading out to the Founding Festival, he was having breakfast with Shallow Vernal in the Sanctuary.
<Afterword>
Serious-senpai : [Even in another dimension, Stomachache Warriors are Stomachache Warriors. Moreover, Lilia distinctly retains the memory of having heard Kaito’s explanation beforehand and being satisfied with it, so it’s difficult for her to voice any complaints…… Well, in the first place, once the Founding Festival ends, things would return back to how it was in the legitimate dimension, with both of them not actually having had any stomachaches, so I guess it should be okay……]
