Once our ritual ended, the venue, which had been destroyed by the spirit’s excitement, was being fixed up. All the while, everyone else was drinking and making merry.
“You were all amazing!” Noa squealed excitedly. She had Lily in tow as she entered our tent.
“Heh heh heh. Did we earn your admiration?” Emilia chuckled.
“You did!” Noa beamed.
“Then fear not, for we’re sure your own womanly charms will come in due time. Hmm, we suspect you’ll attain quite the allure within a few short years, Noa. Though there is a chance that your maturity may come to a screeching halt as it’s done for Mary.”
“O-Okay...”
I thought that Noa would be delighted to hear that she could undergo a transformation, but her enthusiasm had faded fast. I had a hunch it was because she had no clue how to respond to Emilia casually insulting me.
“Emilia!” I snapped. “What do you—”
“I-In any case!” Emilia interrupted, cutting me off before I could fire back. “Performances like these can heighten morale and the overall mood of people. We’d like to add something like this to our royal capital as well.”
I can’t believe Emilia, of all people, just got one over on me! Fine. “Will you be performing alone?” I asked.
“What nonsense are you saying?” Emilia replied. “We’ll call for you and your friends, of course.”
“Why must we help support another nation’s morale? I’d just perform back at Aldia, then.” I was joking, of course.
“That’s a good idea,” the prince suggested, to my horror. “Maybe for the next Academy Festival, we can—”
“Why don’t we discuss stuff like this another day?” Magiluka replied, eager to steer this conversation away as she realized that she’d get involved too. “Today, we should celebrate what we’ve done.”
“I-Indeed! We should celebrate! Yes!” Safina agreed.
“Ah, an excellent proposal,” Orthoaguina added. “Maybe Sita can perform in Kairomea—”
“Wh-Wh-What are you saying, Lord Orthoaguina?!” Sita yelped. “No! I can’t! No no no no!”
“A-A-All right! Okay! Okay! Just stop shaking the book around so wildly! You’re blurring my vision, and I don’t feel so—”
We all laughed as we watched the family quarrel. Noa was smiling again too.
“What’s wrong, big sister?” Noa asked. She tilted her head to one side as she noticed me staring at her.
“Oh, um, are you having fun right now, Noa?” I asked. I wasn’t worried about the conversation.
Noa blinked back blankly for a few moments. “Yup. I’m having fun,” she said with a bright, childlike smile.
I couldn’t suppress the corners of my mouth tugging upward as I petted her head.
Thinking back, I was the one who woke her up. At first, I wasn’t sure if I’d made the right call awakening her from her slumber, and when she’d tagged along with our journey to regain her memories, I didn’t know if that was the best for her. But before I knew it, none of that mattered anymore, and I just wanted her to genuinely have fun and enjoy life. What is this feeling? I think it’s sort of similar to how I feel toward Magiluka and my other friends, but it’s not exactly the same either.
I’d never had any siblings. I’d only referred to Noa as my younger sister throughout this trip on a whim...but I’d since felt something fundamental change within my heart.
“I’m glad to hear it,” I said. “Let’s have tons of other fun experiences from here on out, okay?”
As I poured my heart out to Noa, the look on her face seemed tinged with joy and sorrow—I couldn’t quite fully comprehend her feelings. But before I could ask, a certain mermaid interrupted our merry mood.
“All right, ladies!” Frederika said. “I’m sorry to make you all work when you’re so tired, but I do have one more request for you.”
I had a bad feeling about this. “What? Do you want us to sing again?” I asked.
“No, no. But the maidens must meet and greet all the guests who attended your ritual today.”
“Excuse me? I didn’t hear anything about this.”
“Yeah, because I never mentioned it. But I am now.”
We all fell silent.
“Argh, can you blame me?!” Frederika wailed. “It was your first performance, so I didn’t think you’d have a ton of fans, but you guys are more popular than I thought you’d be. The guests are pushing each other and yelling over who gets to see you first. Just think of it as tradition! Could you help a fellow girl out here?”
It was unusual to see the mermaid put her hands together, begging for help, and it must’ve implied how rowdy it was outside. I don’t see Sacher or Rachel anywhere, so I bet they’re busy managing the crowd.
Wow, guess I’ll be doing my first so-called meet and greet. But hey, credit where credit’s due—the audience pumped us all up despite the less-than-ideal situation, so I guess they can get some freebies from us.
“Well, I guess we can give them a little something...” I conceded. “What do you guys think?”
“As long as it’s not too dangerous...” Magiluka replied as she glanced outside the tent.
I followed suit and took a peek. People were lined up in clean lines thanks to the efforts of Sacher and the other guards, but the guests were all flaring their nostrils with excitement. Their attitude was a bit...terrifying.
“Miss Frederika... We won’t be in any danger, will we?” I asked.
“Who knooows? ♪” Frederika replied.
“Please don’t try to sing the question away.”
“Oh, you ladies will be just fine! You’re all maiiiidens! ♪”
So what? I had no idea what she was getting at, nor did I have any faith in her words. But I feared that if I made the audience wait any longer, their excitement would reach a breaking point and all hell would break loose, just as the spirit had done.
“Okay, let’s just get it over with!” I said.
I took the lead, knowing that I was an invincible lady no matter what, and as everyone watched, a member from the audience frantically rushed up to me, guided by one of the staff.
“Thanks for coming to our concert to...day?” I started off strong, but trailed off, befuddled.
Make no mistake—this was my first time ever doing anything like this. I was nervous and my mind was a mess, but I assumed that I’d give each guest a handshake before they were off on their way; I stuck out my hand, but the audience refused to take it. I tilted my head to one side as the audience member knelt. They placed their hands together as though they were praying.
“Ah! Honorable shrine maiden!” they shouted. “Thank you so much for a wonderful ritual!”
“Um, I... Uh?” I stammered.
I froze, my arm still extended, as the audience member prayed to me. Unsure of what to do as I struggled to process this situation, I turned toward my friends with confusion. I could practically hear my neck creak like a stiff machine.
“Well, you ladies are shrine maidens,” Frederika said. “You completed a sacred ritual! Is there a problem if the audience shows their respect toward you maidens? Okay, okay, ladies! Line up! ♪”
She was the only one who looked so excited. The ritual itself had felt like an idol concert, and the audience so closely resembled fans that I had completely forgotten what this entire ceremony was about—that is, a sacred ritual to appease the spirit. We were the shrine maidens to carry out these sacred duties, and it wasn’t odd for the more pious audience members to pray toward us and show us their respect. I see. Guess it’s all good then. Or...is it? As an audience member prayed toward me, everyone else lined up with a strained smile.
“All right! Your time’s up!” Frederika sang. “Next! ♪”
“No, please!” the audience member begged. “Please, just one more minute!”
“Nopity nope! ♪ Someone, take this person awaaay!”
“But I haven’t said any of my thoughts about the ritual and—nooooo!”
A crew member dragged the praying audience member away, making room for the next in line, who made a beeline for us. Each person used the time they were allotted to the max, praying their hearts out to us. Uh, this really isn’t the meet and greet that I envisioned... And so, my friends and I stood there, receiving everyone’s vehement prayers.
An hour passed.
“What an experience...” I muttered as I returned to our tent. We changed from our outfits and into our usual clothes, then I plopped down on a chair from exhaustion.
“Indeed... I didn’t think people would pray to us,” Magiluka agreed.
“Hmph, we didn’t mind it at all,” Emilia said.
“Wow, you really are a princess!” Sita remarked. “So benevolent and strong-minded!”
“Sita, don’t you wield a fair bit of power in Kairomea, second only to Orthoaguina? It’d do you good to get used to all this praying and revering.”
“No, I don’t think I can.”
As I listened to their conversation, my eyes wandered over to Safina, who lay on the table lifelessly. “Safina, you seemed more nervous than anybody,” I said. “Are you okay?”
“Y-Yesh...” she murmured as she looked more tired than ever.
Now that our ritual was finally over, we all celebrated our success. As the hours ticked by and the sun was beginning to set, the crowd also died down. We were all still relaxing and taking a break when the queen herself arrived.
“You all did splendidly today!” she said.
I immediately sat straight up. “Th-Thank you, Queen Belletochka. But we really didn’t do much.”
“I know you’re all tired, but I’m here to report that the spirit has emerged again. He wants to meet you all.”
At once, us girls all nervously looked at each other. We all took a few moments before we silently nodded. With the queen as our guide, we walked out of the tent toward the spirit, and it took only a bit of walking before a water giant appeared from the sea, albeit this time in the shape of a more proper human, unlike the vaguely humanoid form he’d been taking on before.
“I thank you for coming, visitors,” the spirit said, sounding calm and mature.