The trucks Mitsuha rented were smaller vehicles meant for military use but they narrowly fit through the warehouse entrance that was wide enough for carriages. She’d jumped the decorated trucks into the warehouse the day before and spent the afternoon directing the mercenaries’ dress rehearsal.
Once the flashy vehicles pulled into the warehouse, Mitsuha checked her watch.
“And now, if I may have your attention,” she announced, “I ask that you please return to the courtyard and resume the party!” She wanted the guests to watch the next attraction over food and drinks.
The locals who gathered for the parade began to disperse. They weren’t heading home, however. They were on their way to secure good viewing spots. Mitsuha had been advertising what was to come because she didn’t want to send the capital into an unprecedented panic. Posters were put up everywhere─guild headquarters, the bulletin board in front of the royal palace, the city’s major parks. Novice mercenaries from every guild were hired to spread the word. It was important to make sure as many people as possible knew about it beforehand.
Okay, it’s almost time.
Mitsuha pressed the transmission button on her mini transceiver.
“Unlimited Fireworks, this is the viscountess. Five minutes before showtime!”
The workshop chief’s voice buzzed through the speaker, “Great! Ready when you are! This’ll be underwhelming compared to the big shows in Japan, but we’ve prepared enough to present to this world what Nakabayashi Fireworks─no, what Japanese fireworks are all about. Behold the might of a pyrotechnician!”
No one can match a craftsman’s passion, no matter what world you’re in…
The guests had returned to the courtyard, and were relishing the electrical parade over drinks.
Mitsuha checked her watch. The mercenaries in the parade were probably done changing out of their costumes and had found a good viewing spot by now.
I would’ve felt bad if they missed the show because of a gig that I gave them. Colette, Noelle, Lia, and the rest of the Munchkin Maids are part of the team too. They’re commoners, so I can’t let them into the ball, but they could at least watch with the female mercenaries. I’ll invite them to the after-party later so they can have their fill of leftovers.
It’s been five minutes!
Mitsuha picked up her transceiver.
“Unlimited Fireworks, this is the viscountess. It’s time! Feuer!”
“You got it! Watch and be amazed, miss!”
The rest was in the hands of the professionals.
…Huh? Are you wondering why I said “fire” in German?
Mwahaha, that wasn’t German! It was the language of the Galactic Empire!
Quit worrying about the little things!
Bang!
Whoosh…
KABOOM!
““““““WO-O-O-O-O-OW!””””””
The show kicked off with a giant boom. It looked like a No. 20, which cost 700,000 yen and had a radius of over 1500 feet in full bloom.
Ouch… 700,000 yen burst into flames in five seconds… And that’s not including labor fees! How did I let the workshop chief talk me into this. Is he a Ferengi in disguise?
It was the first fireworks show ever to be held in this world. The chief didn’t want to start off with a tepid introduction. Launching multiple fireworks at a time was a crowd-pleaser but it wasn’t an option this time because of the limited budget and because Mitsuha asked him to give the audience enough time to admire each one. A rapid succession of fireworks meant blowing through a lot of shells in a very short span.
Given the advancements in pyrotechnics, it was unlikely the team was lighting each fuse manually. They had a pre-programmed system that ignited the electric fuses remotely. Safety came first, after all.
That’s it for the No. 20 shells, I think. They were probably going to stick to No. 10s (a 70,000-yen shell with a diameter of a thousand feet) and No. 7s (about 30,000 yen per shell) for the rest of the show. Smaller fireworks like No. 3s (around 5,000 yen) might be too underwhelming, though a skilled pyrotechnician could find fun ways to incorporate them.
After the initial No. 20, the fireworks team launched one shell at a time while occasionally throwing in a few multi-bursts for a change of pace. They were making clever use of what their tight budget allowed. The workshop chief had heard from Mitsuha that the party was being hosted by a count for his daughter’s birthday, and not by the royal palace, so he couldn’t ask for too much money.
That said, the fact that he’d been offered the royal palace’s expansive grounds to use as the launching site─while under the strict surveillance of guards, of course─might’ve been enough for him to realize that the birthday girl was no ordinary count’s daughter.
Or maybe craftsmen are unconcerned about things like that…
Regardless, it’s surely occurred to him that if this job goes well, he might be hired again for the birthday party of a marquis’s daughter or a princess. When that time comes, I’ll make sure to squeeze a large enough budget out of the host for the chief’s company to make a healthy profit. I doubt the money will ever matter to him as much as the desire to impress first-timers, though. He and his employees are all total dorks when it comes to their job. (I mean that as a compliment.)
Earlier that day, the workshop chief and his employees had been world-jumped to the royal palace grounds to set up their equipment. Mitsuha explained nothing to the workers and swore them all to secrecy. Only the employee who drove with the workshop chief for the initial inspection knew where they were and what the show was for. The rest were simply there to follow the chief’s orders and carry out the fireworks show.
They obviously figured out that this was another world, but that didn’t matter. Who was going to believe a far-fetched tale like We went to another world and launched fireworks? If one of them did talk, they’d be dismissed as a liar when the chief and the other employees denied their claim with a chuckle. They’d also have no proof that they went to another world, as the guards had been ordered not to let them take anything─not even a blade of grass or a single leaf.
The royal palace ended up being a really convenient launching spot. It confines the fireworks crew to the palace grounds, and it’s a good excuse to keep them under the guards’ surveillance and restrict their actions. I guess it doesn’t really matter in the end, though, given I can just leave any unnecessary items behind when I jump everyone back to Earth. I’m just being strict to emphasize the confidentiality.
The fireworks show was proceeding according to plan. It didn’t come close to the first-rate shows in Japan, but the team did their best with the assigned budget and short notice to put together a great performance using a wide variety of shells.