“Daaarling!” she cooed. “Everyone! You’re oooookaaaay!”
“Yeah, more or less,” Shido said. “We heard there was a mermaid in this castle, so we came—”
“Ah! What are these amaaaazing dresses you’re all wearing?! And darling, you’re in Shiori moooooode?! What?! What?! I want to hear all the detaaaaaails! Is there any video?!” Like a literal fish dropped into water (although, well, she’d been in water from the start), Miku perked up, her eyes growing bright, and she splashed the water surface with her tail.
Shido was happy she was feeling better at least, but if she kept squealing, he’d never be able to talk with her. He held out placating hands.
“C-calm down. You have to tell us how you ended up like this, Miku,” he said, sweat beading on his forehead.
“Riiight…” Miku waggled her open hands above her chest as though pushing back her excitement. “I woke up and I had a tail! And I was in the ocean. And when I went to look for you all, this evil witch showed up and said she’d trade me for my voice if I wanted to become huuuuuman!”
“Ohhh. I get it.” Shido nodded his understanding. This did indeed happen in the fairy tale “The Little Mermaid.” Although he was pretty sure that the little mermaid first fell in love with a prince on land and went to the witch herself to ask her how to become human. “Wait. But you’re still a mermaid?”
“Yes! I can’t believe she would try to taaaake my voice! When I said no and left, she kept coming after me. The nerve!” Miku said with a grin. “So I gave her a slaaaap with my tail and swam away!”
Shido gave a pained laugh. While the witch may not have known it, she had gotten more than she’d bargained for. Miku was an idol and a singer. Her voice was her life. She would never have made a deal like that.
“But, weelllll,” Miku sighed. “I still didn’t have any legs, and when I went looking for you again, I was caught by a fisherman on the shore.”
Shido nodded again. Looking the way she did, she would indeed stand out, and on land, it would have been hard for her to run away.
While they were having this conversation, the chamberlain interjected, with a dubious look, “…Pardon the intrusion, but what are you to this mermaid?”
“Oh. Right. She’s actually a friend of ours. I guess you can’t just let her go, huh?” Shido asked plainly, and the chamberlain furrowed her brow, her expression growing more severe.
“Friend… You’re friends with a mermaid? This is quite difficult to believe. And even if this were the case, she belongs to the king. I cannot grant your request. Please leave.”
“Th-that’s tyranny,” Shido protested. “What about what Miku wants?”
“Her wishes are of no import,” the chamberlain said curtly. “As I said, she belongs to the king. A belonging has no need for desires.”
The Spirits on standby behind Shido narrowed their eyes sharply.
“Mmph. You don’t have to say it like that.”
“Th-that’s. Right…! Miku is not an object…!”
“Oh, but the whole ‘you’re mine, you don’t get to say no’ thing is seriously shoujo manga. Kinda thrilling, y’know? I think the issue is who’s speaking here. Boy, you try saying it.”
“…You’re just making things worse,” Natsumi said, rolling her eyes. “Maybe just shut up, Nia?”
“…”
The chamberlain scowled at the rebellious Spirits and clapped her hands loudly.
Clap, clap!
“Attendants! The young ladies are departing. Please see them off politely!”
A group of armored soldiers marched into the hall and surrounded Shido and the Spirits. The ball guests immediately began to whisper and chatter.
“Wha—?!” Shido gasped.
“Oh-ho? So it is war you would have?”
“Counterattack. Now that it’s come to this, we must break through with force.”
The Yamai sisters narrowed their eyes and leaned forward slightly to take on aggressive stances. Put on the defensive by this movement, the soldiers also dropped down, ready to leap.
“Kah-kah! Is this not a proud posture?! Very well, then. Those who fear not for their lives would do well to come forward. While we may not have use of our Angels, the Yamais would not fall to the likes of you.”
“Appeal. Yuzuru and Kaguya will create a way forward. Shido, everyone, please rescue Miku.”
“Ngh…” Shido scowled. He didn’t want to get violent, but given the situation, he didn’t have much choice. “Well, I guess that’s where we’re at. Gang!”
“Yeah!”
“Woh-kay!”
Tohka drew her sword and Nia her pistols…although thanks to Kotori’s illusion match, these looked like bouquets of beautiful flowers. At any rate, the Spirits and the soldiers both readied themselves for battle. The ballroom was suddenly a tinderbox on the verge of war. One wrong move, and the place would explode.
“What exactly is all this fuss about?” A clear voice rang out from the spiral staircase leading to the floor above the ballroom.
“…!”
The chamberlain looked up in a panic, her eyes wide, and the rest of the guests followed the direction of her gaze.
“O-oi…”
“That can’t actually be…”
“Impossible. I never dreamed I would lay eyes on…!”
The ball guests let out cries of surprise, while the chamberlain dipped her head respectfully in the direction of the staircase.
“I apologize for the commotion, Your Majesty. A group of vagrants have come forward to try and take the mermaid from your possession, and thus, we were in the process of removing them. We will take care of the situation im—”
“The king?!” Shido threw his head back, stunned.
And that was only right. This was a real windfall. The king was the master of these guards, and while Shido hated to say it, in this world, he was Miku’s owner. If they could get the king’s agreement, they could settle the situation once and for all.
“Uh. Um! We’re friends of this mermaid! So—” he started to plead, and then stopped. Because he had seen the face of this “king” before. “O-Origami?!”
Yes. Standing there draped in a luxurious red cloak with a crown on her head was none other than the Spirit Origami.
“Shido,” she said in a quiet voice, and looked out over the ballroom. Finally, she nodded as though she understood everything and tossed her cloak back.
Shido and the Spirits gasped and gaped. Miku alone let out a cry of excitement. “Goooodnesssss!”
But they couldn’t have reacted any other way. Whatever else, Origami was not wearing a stitch of clothing beneath the red cloak.
Origami herself showed no sign of any kind of embarrassment. In fact, she looked somewhat smug as she slowly descended the stairs.
“I-is that the…?”
“Yes… Wh-what a magnificent garment!”
“I-it really is! So ephemeral, like a mist or a fog…!”
The assembled guests began to clamor once again. But for some reason, their words sounded forced this time.
Paying no mind to them, Origami strode forward. Once she reached the stage, she flipped the cloak dramatically again, and declared, “These are my personal guests. Don’t you dare lay a hand on them. Return to your posts.”
“B-but—”
“Do you intend to make me repeat myself?” Origami flapped her cloak and posed, turning at the waist, as she fixed her eyes on the chamberlain.
“Eeep…! M-my sincerest apologies!” The chamberlain bowed deeply once again before leaving with the guards.
After watching them go, Origami turned back to Shido and the Spirits. “Shido, girls. I’m glad you’re okay.”
“Y-yeah… Same here…,” Shido said, not exactly certain where to rest his eyes. “I mean…you are okay…right?”
Origami cocked her head to one side curiously. “I don’t understand what you mean.”
“Uh… It’s just, were you, um…mugged or something?” Shido chose his words carefully, not sure how to state the obvious in a tactful manner.
“O-Origami!” Tohka snapped a finger out at her. “What are you even doing? You’re naked!”
Instantly, the hall erupted in noise.
“How dare she?!”
“Daring to take issue with what the king wears! Execute her!”
Outraged cries could be heard from all over, and Shido wondered what kind of an iron fist Origami ruled with to make her this feared. Although, well, Origami had only been incorporated into the story at some point. He couldn’t exactly lay the blame for any tyranny at her feet.
✦ ✦ ✦
