Our days of practice for the spirit kicked off. We stood in the middle of the stage and sang and danced our hearts out—it became our daily routine.
“No! No, no, no! You’ve got it all wrong, Safina!” Emilia shouted. “You must throw away your sense of shame and move your hips like this! And swing your arms around like this!”
“Y-Yes, ma’am!” Safina replied.
The two girls were practicing their dance moves in front of me. Owing to her shyness, Safina was struggling with some of the routine. Emilia, who had no sense of shame at all, thus took it upon herself to teach Safina in the hope that she could break out of her shell. While I’d be happy if Safina became a bit more assertive, I don’t want her to become completely shameless... I better watch over them closely.
“Your Highness!” a crew member shouted. “What shall I do about these supplies?!”
“We’re busy!” Emilia roared back. “We’ve asked Reifus to take care of stuff like that, so go ask him!”
“Your wish is my command!” With that, the crew member energetically went back to their post.
Seriously, Relirex? Are you guys all right with receiving orders from another nation’s prince? The prince’s popularity was skyrocketing (or at least his manpower was), as many crew members went to him for further orders and instruction. I went to check up on them, worried about the possibility of there being an international incident, but the crew members were actually overjoyed and impressed, happy that they were getting more precise orders than they did from their own princess. Seriously, Relirex? To be fair, Queen Belletochka could also give out orders, but she was too busy with the ritual.
“Ah, Little Magiluka!” the queen said. “I don’t have to adjust too much for you, and it really saves me the trouble!”
Her Majesty patted Magiluka’s shoulders as the two of them walked out of the tent. You wouldn’t think this generous lady was the queen of a nation the way she had her hands full adjusting garments—she more so resembled a mother who worked late into the night on housework.
“Little Sita! I must take your measurements,” the queen called. “Could you be a doll and head over to the tent?”
“Okay!” she replied.
She energetically trotted over to the tent like a daughter who’d been summoned by her mother. If we only take into account their formal titles, this is a pretty intense situation.
“What’s wrong, Lady Mary?” Sacher asked as he approached me.
I heaved a sigh as I wandered around the area, processing this crazy situation that I found myself in.
“What are you and Rachel doing?” I asked.
“Huh? We’re fishing with everyone else,” he replied.
When I looked around him, I spotted a few crew members casting their fishing lines by the sea. “Sounds like fun,” I said.
“Well, it is when you get something on your line, but the waiting is excruciating,” Sacher replied.
“Tee-hee. You can never sit still, Sacher,” Rachel teased.
“I mean, it sucks sitting still, just carrying my fishing pole,” Sacher groaned as he scratched his head.
God these two are just so...dazzling! Th-They’re like a rejuvenating breath of fresh air!
“Rachel!” a crew member shouted, breaking the two’s little world. “You’ve got a bite!”
“Huh?! What?! I-I... Whoa!” Rachel cried as she turned back to her pole.
I could certainly see something tugging on the other end. She hastily clutched her pole, but in her panic, she lost her balance and lurched forward. Just when we all feared that she’d fall into the ocean, Sacher wrapped his arm around her, pulling her back to safety.
“You all right? You’re panicking a bit too much,” Sacher said.
“Oh, um...thank you,” Rachel replied.
His arm drew her close as she froze in place, her hands still tightly gripping her fishing rod. There was still something on the other end of her line, and this surreal scene looked a bit unusual to me, but I pretended not to notice.
“Don’t worry. I’ll protect you,” Sacher said.
“I, um...” Rachel started.
“Try to stay focused. Man, you must really be craving a fish dinner the way you panicked there.”
The sweet tension between the two was immediately ruined by Sacher’s callous remark, and Rachel quickly turned stone-faced. It was rough to watch.
Once Sacher released Rachel from his grasp, I decided to speak on behalf of everyone else. “You dense protagonist!” I roared, delivering a kick to his back.
“Whoa!” Sacher cried before he fell into the ocean.
“Mary!” Emilia bellowed as I was trying to bring Sacher back onto land. “Your break’s long been over! Join our practice and match our pace!”
It seemed the princess had gone out of her way to search for me. I reluctantly decided to go along with Emilia, but when I glanced around, I realized that our mermaid teacher was nowhere to be seen.
“Speaking of practice, where’s Frederika?” I asked.
“She said she’s got some business to tend to and is swimming around,” Rachel replied with a confused tilt of her head.
“Business? Like what?”
“Um, she said that she was going off to promote the event.”
“Promote? Oh, I don’t like the sound of that...”
I’d assumed that we’d have a small audience, maybe just with folks that we were familiar with, and I hadn’t expected it to be advertised. But as the days went by, my fears were soon proven true.
“Look, more guests,” I muttered.
“And they clearly aren’t crew members,” Magiluka added.
The two of us looked over the stage, where demons who resembled sea creatures emerged before us. They clearly weren’t related to the crew members, and various mermaids were also among the audience. Frederika was apparently an expert when it came to promoting events, and thankfully, these guests weren’t just attending—they’d brought various supplies with them.
I was particularly interested in an area where stalls were being set up and it felt like a festival was underway. When I tuned in, I could hear various people chattering away.
“How many years has it been since the ritual?”
“It’s been a while, I think. Those suits of armor destroyed this place way back when.”
“I heard the Argent Holy Woman annihilated the armor, allowing the ritual to be held once more.”
“Huh... I heard whispers about it, but I guess the Argent Holy Woman actually exists. I’m so grateful.”
“What’s more, she’ll be dancing for us in this ritual.”
“Really?! That’s so exciting!”
“Excuse me, ladies, I’ve gotta go and correct that Argent Holy Woman bit,” I said. There were a few remarks that I couldn’t let slide.
“Lady Mary, how exactly can you correct the truth?” Magiluka asked cruelly from behind me.
“Ngh...” She had a point.
“All righty, girls!” Queen Belletochka called. She had some bags under her eyes, but she flashed a dazzling smile as though she’d completed her masterpieces. “Since I’ve finished adjusting the outfits, please change into them so I can do my final checks!”
I was pretty worried about how revealing our outfits would turn out, yet I couldn’t suppress the dream I had of wearing an idol outfit. I eagerly headed into the tent to get changed. Needless to say, I had Tutte help me change—I would’ve felt awful if I tore the outfit somehow. If I couldn’t control my power here and just ripped my outfit to shreds, I feel like Queen Belletochka would faint on the spot.
I spotted my maid helping everyone else, not just me, when she had the time. Once again, I was hit with the realization of just how amazing she was.
“It’s a bit embarrassing,” Safina admitted. It was, of course, also her first time wearing such attire. “My stomach’s all exposed.” She hid her midriff sheepishly.
“Ah, but young warriors truly are impressive!” I said, sounding like an old man as I covered my own stomach. “You’ve got well-toned abs, and that makes me jealous.”
“Hmm, we don’t really mind it at all,” Emilia said, standing tall and proud. “Take a look at our beautiful body!”
“You really do take after your father,” I said as I sized her up. She was just like the Dark Lord, who proudly displayed his muscles for the world to see.
“We shouldn’t really pry too deeply into the outfits,” Sita said. Like Safina, she was embarrassed about showing off her stomach. In fact, she seemed uncomfortable changing with everyone, and she leaned forward slightly as she tried to sneak away from the crowd as though to hide herself away.