A sudden change in scenery, an adorable girl, and guards wielding spears─they were shocked to say the least.
“I see… Well, that explains it, I guess…”
After hearing Mitsuha’s explanation, the workshop chief was nodding in satisfaction. They hadn’t even left the car yet.
I knew he’d get it! What Japanese person isn’t familiar with a good isekai story or two?
The younger employee was also nodding.
I didn’t think they would adapt this quickly, though!
“So in a sense, this is Barsoom…” the workshop chief muttered.
“Huh? Bathroom?” Mitsuha was puzzled.
“I said Barsoom! You’ve never heard of it? Sheesh, kids these days…”
Is that supposed to be common knowledge?
“Anyway, if I have this right,” the workshop chief changed the subject, “this is another world and we’re currently at a royal palace. We’ll be launching our show from here, and folks all over the city─who’ve never seen fireworks before─will be watching?”
Large scale fireworks were being made for entertainment purposes as far back as the Edo period in Japan, but that culture doesn’t exist here. That makes sense, given that gunpowder hasn’t become common yet. Even when they do start manufacturing gunpowder, it’ll be a while before it’s affordable enough for anyone outside of the military. It’s possible the military will use it to dabble in pyrotechnics instead of devoting it all to guns and cannons, but they’ll probably start making signal flares before fireworks.
“Heheh…”
“Heehee…”
“Hehehehe…”
“Heehee heehee…”
Um? What’s with the ominous chuckle, you guys?
‘BWAH-HAHAHAHA!”
Now they’re full-on hysterical.
“I─Zenjiro Nakabayashi, owner of Nakabayashi Fireworks─am going to put my absolute all into this job!”
“Damn right!” chimed in his employee.
Uh, they seem to be in a world of their own.
I’m not sure how to bring them back…
“Hmm… There are no issues with space or topography. Weather permitting, this site is suitable for launching. There’s only one problem,” the workshop chief said.
Yeah, I have a hunch…
“What to do about the explosive permit application and the report to the fire station. This is a real pickle.”
I was afraid of that.
Getting permission in this world would be easy. All Mitsuha had to do was ask the king. The problem was that the fireworks company was going to expend a lot of gunpowder, which meant they had to file a report stating that they were used for fireworks. They also needed proof of authorization from the local fire station and property owner. Even Mitsuha knew they’d end up in big trouble if they failed to do so.
“Gah, I guess we’ll figure something out,” the workshop chief shrugged.
“How?!”
Why is he so confident?!
“The client doesn’t necessarily have to be you. We could claim that our client was a foreign cruise ship, and we launched from a barge or fishing boat at sea. That’d give us a reasonable excuse to not have any witnesses.”
“Boss, you sure that’ll get approved?” his employee asked.
“No clue. I could also say we used the fireworks for a festival in a small village in the mountains. Or that we were testing out some new fireworks; we wouldn’t need a client for that. Worst case, ‘We were taken to a different location at the last minute and our client was just a middleman,’ leaving us in the dark about the real event organizer. That’d make us victims.
“Miss, it wouldn’t be a problem if people in Japan think you’re a criminal, would it? The Japanese police may be smart, but they can’t come looking for you in another world. We don’t know your full name or have a picture of you─we have no idea who you are! If they ask us to help create a facial composite, we’ll make sure it looks nothing like you.”
Um, huge problem!
He’s probably joking… Maybe he thinks it won’t actually come to that. Still, that’s kind of concerning.
“Either way, hopefully I’ll figure something out─no, I’m sure I will! Don’t worry about it, miss!” the workshop chief grinned.
“O-Okay…”
I don’t really get it, but he’s the expert. If he’s not worried, I’m not worried!
Moving on!
The workshop chief and his employee continued their site inspection. Mitsuha, Sabine, and the guards followed close behind.
The guards can’t let two strangers wander the palace grounds alone even if I’m with them. That goes double considering there’s a princess with us.
After the men finished their inspection, the chief made an odd request:
“Hey, miss. Do you think you could manage another 2 million yen?”
Another what?
“These folks have never seen fireworks before, so I wanna blow their minds with the best of the best. With another 2 million yen, I’ll be able to…
“I’d be fine with losing money on this job if I’m the only employee in my company. But unfortunately, I’m a business owner, and I’ve gotta take care of my staff and their families. I know I said I’m gonna put my all into this job, but I can’t do that at their expense. Which is why I’m asking another 2 million yen! With that much, I’ll be able to put on a show these folks’ll never forget!”
Ah… Yeah, I get it. I get you, chief!
Now that he knows the whole story and that the expense is coming from someone’s budgeted funds instead of a kid’s savings, his ambitions are bigger. This isn’t about the money; it’s about his passion as a pyrotechnician.
But 2 million yen…? Exchanging from yen to dollars, dollars to gold… That’s about eighty gold coins.
“I-I’ll think about it…”
“Hey, Captain! Can you lend me an LAV and two trucks with their tops removed? I’ll need them in about three weeks, only for three days. Oh, and if you could also let me borrow three drivers for about an hour, that’d be great.”
“Slow down, li’l lady,” the Wolf Fang captain said. “D’ya always gotta be so sudden with these requests of yers─actually, don’t answer that. I should know better by now than to expect any different from you.”
That’s not my fault. I only turn to Wolf Fang when I’m out of other options…
“This job won’t require any fighting or guarding, so it won’t be dangerous. It’s just for a party. I’ll pay for the truck rental and the drivers, and I’ll give you money for the decorations for the cars too. Please help me out!”
No one in the other world could help with decorative lights, and Wolf Fang had perfectly usable vehicles. Going to them was the best option. The mercenaries already knew about the other world too, and could be trusted to maintain confidentiality. She asked for a three-day rental because she needed time to decorate the trucks.
Oh, I almost forgot!
“I’d also like to ask some of your guys to wear mascot cos─you know what, never mind.”
It might be better to hire novice mercenaries from the other world to wear the costumes. Locals from my county might be up for it too. It’s part of my duty as a county lord to provide jobs to those who are struggling to make a living. The Wolf Fang guys are too big and bulky to fit into mascot costumes anyway. The mercenaries in the other world come in all varieties of size, gender, and age─some of whom would be considered underage in Japan─so finding people petite enough to wear the costumes will be easy.
Maybe I should hire the orphans… Actually, no. They’d be too small.
“What’d ya say? ‘Mascot costumes’? Fine, fine… Some o’ the guys are into that kinda thing, so I’ll ask around for ya.”
“Yes, please!”
Sweet, that takes care of everything that needs prepping time. I’ll go to a mascot rental company later and pick out a few costumes. I’m sure the rest will work out.
I have to figure out the food and stalls too… Oh, that reminds me! I need to hire Kunz the carpenter! He’ll reach out to others in his trade who can help.
I’m sure I can pull this off!
Mitsuha spent the next few weeks working on this and that for her county, and before she knew it, the day of Beatrice’s party came. The Bozeses had worked on booking a date that didn’t clash with the royal palace functions and other families’ parties, and finally decided on the day of Beatrice’s debutante ball: three days after her birthday.
Today was the big day.
“I’m scared, Mitsuha…” Beatrice whimpered. The star of the party was far from her usual lively self; she was pale.
We can’t have that. She must be nervous because she’s never had such a big event in her life. Beatrice spent most of her life surrounded by family, free to be herself. She’s probably not used to this kind of thing.
“Don’t worry,” Mitsuha reassured her friend. “We practiced a lot, and the food and alcohol are perfect! You just have to do exactly what you did at the rehearsals!”
Yeah, I’m sure it’ll work out! Probably! Maybe!
Hopefully…
God, I sure hope it works out…
No! Bad thoughts, Mitsuha! Get a hold of yourself! If I look worried, that’ll only freak out Beatrice even more!
“Just trust me!” she said firmly, but Beatrice was still blue. She couldn’t be blamed for that. Her future was at stake.