After I destroyed the suits of armor, I made my way back to the stage full of pride, only to see a water giant waging war on everything in its sight.
“Huh? What’s that giant? Where did it come from?” I asked.
“That’s the spirit,” Emilia replied.
“Hey, Emilia. Wait, are you all right? You’re soaked! What in the world happened?”
I gazed at the stage from above when Emilia staggered in her flight. She looked wretched as she explained the situation to me. She claimed that talks with the spirit had been going well at first, but he threw a tantrum midway and couldn’t be suppressed. When he’d turned to the ship, he became angrier than ever and essentially sent a roaring tsunami in its direction, practically creating a natural disaster.
“Wh-What about everyone else?” I asked.
“Sita and the others who weren’t on the ship quickly took to the air thanks to Orthoaguina’s advice,” Emilia explained. “They took the prince and Sacher along too. Magiluka and Safina were only on the outskirts of the situation at the time, but our mother and we grabbed them and took them to safety. Apparently, Nike appeared in front of Noa.”
“Nike?! How’s Noa?! Is Tutte safe too?!”
“Tutte and Lily are fine. Noa is out cold and is still asleep. If we want her to get some peace and quiet for her rest, we must silence that spirit as soon as we can. While we were trying to come up with a plan, you returned.”
I was worried about Noa, but it seemed that everyone was safe and sound. I breathed a sigh of relief.
“The spirit’s probably angry because of Nike, right?” I asked. “Where is he?”
“He wasn’t around by the time we noticed him,” Emilia replied. “He probably already fled. It’s also probably why we can’t calm the spirit down.”
“But if it gets any more violent, the ship will be in danger. Even if we have to use force, we need to...”
I turned toward the ship and clenched my fist. But where do I punch water to do damage to it anywhere? I wondered. If it’s got a core, I might be able to attack there, but I don’t see anything like that.
“Should I use a high-order spell?” I muttered to myself.
“I’d advise against that,” Snow replied. “You might blow away the nearby ship, and the stage too.”
She was right, so I tried to think of a different solution. “Got anything, Emilia?”
“Got anything, Mary?”
We spoke at the same time—it seemed both of us were trying to rely on the other for some sort of solution.
“Let’s just charge ahead!” I declared. “We’ll just do what we can, and whatever happens, happens! Snow, let’s go!”
“Whatever happens?! I don’t want whatever to happen!” Snow cried.
I decided to just play things by ear and charge at the raging water giant with Snow, growing more nervous as I drew nearer.
Just then, I heard some laid-back singing, and a mermaid appeared between the giant and me.
“La la la! ♪” Frederika sang. “I’ve brought some outfiiits. ♪”
Snow screeched to a halt, and I almost fell off her back.
“Huh? What?” Frederika asked confusedly as the water giant approached. “Is something awful going on? Why’s the spirit here?”
“Watch out, Frederika!” I warned.
“My dear Frederikaaaaa!” the spirit called.
“‘Dear’?” I asked. I’d tried to rush forth and protect her, but the odd nickname caused me to falter for just a moment.
“I don’t really get what’s happening, but spirit!” Frederika called. “Rejoice! ♪ I’ve finally gathered some new dancing queens for you! ♪”
I couldn’t believe that she was swimming so casually within the stormy sea. Could she somehow calm the spirit and help us?
“Look! Over here!” Frederika squealed. “These are the new outfits for our dancing queens! ♪” She confidently raised one of the outfits high in the air to show it off. It was an even flashier version of the shell bikini that she was wearing.
Both Emilia and I froze for a few moments. Judging from the flow of the conversation, we’d been deemed the new dancing queens—in other words, we’d be made to wear one of those embarrassing shell bikinis. Plus, the outfits in question didn’t have any lower garments to cover our...unmentionables. Sure, mermaids may not have needed the lower half of a bikini, but it was a huge issue for us bipedal folk.
“Yeaaaaaaah! Woo-hoooooo!” the spirit squealed excitedly while we froze with shock.
“Wait one week, okay? ♪” Frederika assured him. “I promise to show you the best dance eveeeer! ♪” She excitedly sang the last bit in a higher octave.
I wasn’t sure if that angry spirit would listen to her request, but...
“Yeeeees! Yeeeees!” the spirit screamed.
...unlike how he’d been up to this point, he was howling happily as Frederika waved the bikini top around in the air and expertly guided him away from the stage. Huh?! Is this guy just driven purely by impulse?! In no time at all, the noisy spirit retreated and the stormy seas calmed down. Frederika’s really good at manipulating the spirit...
Once the ordeal died down and the crew began repairing the ship, I went to check on Noa. She was still fast asleep and showed no sign of waking up. Orthoaguina claimed that she was suffering from something similar to mana exhaustion, and if she slept for a while, she’d wake up soon enough. I decided to leave her be.
In contrast to Noa’s peaceful slumber, things were becoming quite hectic for us performers, and it was all due to Frederika’s outfits.
“Frederika, we can’t wear that,” I declared.
“Indeed,” Magiluka agreed. “Even setting aside everything else, these outfits were made for mermaids, so they aren’t suitable for us.”
“Aren’t you guys basically the same as us?” Frederika asked, genuinely puzzled by our question. “What’s the issue?” She tilted her head to one side.
“There’s a huge difference!” I protested. “And this performance is going to be a big deal! So what in the world is this?”
I pointed to the center of the stage, which was presently occupied by a large floating orb of water after Frederika had activated some mechanism.
“What? That’s our stage,” Frederika replied. “You’re going to sing and dance in there.”
“We’d drown!” I said firmly.
“Just use your willpower! ♪”
“No amount of willpower will help us!”
“Let’s solve things one at a time. First, you mentioned the outfits, right? Don’t worry. You’ll look good in them.”
“We’ll look naked without the bottom halves!” I yelled, annoyed I couldn’t get through to her.
“E-Easy there, L-Lady Mary. Calm down,” Magiluka implored me like I was a fussy horse.
I felt like we were going in circles, until...
“Frederika, leave this to me,” Queen Belletochka at last interjected.
Surely she’s not planning to defend these debauched outfits? Uh, I mean except when Frederika wears it. Sorry, Frederika.
“Back when I’d first seen this stage, I’d wondered if I’d ever get the opportunity to perform here, and I secretly made some preparations,” Her Majesty continued. She looked unusually enthusiastic as she clenched her fists.