Some of the guests cheered while others watched in stunned silence. A smattering of them even cried, hailing the fireworks as a miracle of the Goddess.
They weren’t the only ones watching, of course. Citizens across the capital roared with delight as blazing arrows shot from the royal palace and burst into colossal fiery flowers against the blackened sky.
The cheers were loud enough for the workshop chief and his crew to hear from the royal palace. The pyrotechnicians had performed many fireworks shows of much larger scales, but this had to be one of the most rewarding and exciting productions of their careers.
I hope they’re happy…
The show came to a furious finale as fireworks rocketed in rapid succession and finished off with an impressively large one, a shakudama.
Now all Mitsuha had to do was jump the pyrotechnics team back to Earth. She figured they’d be done packing up by the time the after-party for the servants and mercenaries was over.
Food and drinks were brought to them beforehand, so they’d be able to eat once they finished dismantling the equipment. None of the drinks were alcoholic, of course. It was late enough at night that jumping the company’s truck right next to their workshop wasn’t an issue, but the employees still needed to drive their own cars home afterward. I don’t want any accidents on my conscience.
It took some time for the dazzled guests to come to their senses after the show. Once they did, some began praising the Goddess for delivering a miracle in celebration of a young lady’s coming of age. Others were rambling so excitedly that spittle was flying from their mouths. They were lucky it was night and no one could see.
Not everyone thought the fireworks were the work of the Goddess, of course. Those who witnessed the whole operation at the royal palace knew better. As did Count Bozes, who footed the bill.
There was one more person who knew the truth, and she was charging this way…
“Mitsuha!”
Huh? Why is Sabine angry? She looks pissed, in fact. Shouldn’t she be praising me for how amazing the fireworks were?
“Why…” Sabine was seething.
Mitsuha’s confusion grew.
“Why did you use those now?! What are you going to do for my debutante ball?! Everyone will accuse me of rehashing Beatrice’s party if you show that at mine! You’d better have something even more mind-blowing for my ball!”
“Uh…”
That only made Sabine angrier.
“Is that all you have to say?! Have you actually not thought about this? Please don’t tell me you’ve exhausted all your best party entertainment ideas. You must have more, right? Right?! …Right?”
Well, crap… Craptacular.
What should I do─oh, perfect timing!
“Prince Leuhen!” Mitsuha called out. “Are you enjoying the party? How did you like the fireworks?”
“Hey, don’t run from me!” yelled Sabine.
I’m not passing up an escape opportunity like this! Prince Leuhen is like a bulletproof vest against Sabine’s attacks. She adores him so much that she wouldn’t dare interrupt our conversation or raise her voice around him. Mwahaha.
“Mitsuha…” Leuhen gazed up at her, “You’ll plan something even more amazing for my coming-of-age party, right?”
“NOT YOU TOO!”
The rest of the party went smoothly without much need for direction from Mitsuha. Once the guests left, she joined the after-party with Count Bozes’s servants, the Ryner family’s team, and the cast of the electrical parade. They celebrated around the leftover food and alcohol.
The Bozeses, Sabine, and Adelaide were there too. Adelaide wasn’t the kind of girl who’d ditch her servants at the party and leave. It was getting late but she’d be going home with them, so that wasn’t a problem. Her parents left a while ago out of consideration for the staff, of course.
…Hold on. Why are the first princess, the king, and the chancellor here? Even Princess Chii…
Read the room, guys! This is a staff party!
Now that I think of it, thank goodness the first and second princesses are already adults, and that Beatrice doesn’t have any little sisters. Seriously… Thank goodness.
Mitsuha headed for the royal palace once the after-party was wrapped up. There was nothing at the Bozeses’ mansion that she needed to retrieve immediately. Any remaining food and alcohol belonged to them. She’d grabbed the laptop and projector as soon as the play was over and jumped them to her house in Japan.
The curtains and lighting equipment were to remain up until tomorrow. No one would be dumb enough to risk robbing Count Bozes, and an inebriated servant removing the lights in the dark was a recipe for an accident.
Why do today what you can put off until tomorrow? Hasta mañana, amigos!
The fireworks team comes first, anyway.
“Great job, guys!” Mitsuha hollered at the pyrotechnics crew at the launching site.
The firing equipment had already been packed up and loaded onto the truck. The chief and his employees were enjoying their meal on the lawn.
They’re drinking tea. Juice wouldn’t pair well with the food. Like I said earlier, no alcohol. I wouldn’t be able to sleep at night if there were any accidents later.
“Hey, miss! Great timing! Come and sit down with us!” The workshop chief beckoned.
“Yeah, sit down!” the other employees echoed.
Wait. They’re not drinking alcohol…right? she sweated as she took a seat.
“In my fifty years of being a pyrotechnician, I’ve never once felt this happy!”
…Who are you, Mr. Machida from The Gutsy Frog?
“I can’t imagine a greater honor as a pyrotechnician than putting on the very first fireworks show for an entire country’s people. We had a great responsibility to show them the wonder of Japanese fireworks, and I think we did a bang-up job, if I do say so myself.”
Oh no, I feel a monologue coming…
“There’s nothing quite like spending hours and hours working on something to absolute perfection, and then watching it explode and fade away. Those precious, fleeting moments… Now that’s what I dedicate my heart and soul to.”
I’m finding it harder and harder to believe he’s not drunk…
Uh, the rest of the employees are getting emotional too.
I mean, I understand how they feel. The cheering throughout the capital tonight was deafening. This night will become a legend to be remembered in this world forever. You’d have to be a robot to not shed tears of joy after an achievement like that.
Oh well, I don’t want any food to go to waste. I’ll stay with them until they’re done eating.
Afterward, Mitsuha world-jumped the pyrotechnicians back to Japan and saw them off. She planned on paying the second half of the bill plus the extra 2 million yen─and a little tip─by tomorrow.
Should I do a domestic wire transfer─no, I shouldn’t use my Japanese bank account. There’s a chance the transaction could be traced back to me.