Tanya stared down at the letter passed on to her from the Adventurers’ Guild. Laplace looked over her shoulder at the contents, then let out a low whistle.
“Now what’s this about? Some kind of party, hmm?”
“Oh, hi, Laplace. Yeah, it looks like we’ve been invited to the royal soirée at the castle. They’re holding a dance party in recognition of Ode’s most hardworking constituents.”
“Hmmm, I see. So it’s a ‘wine and dine’ sort of party.”
“Right.”
“Not the ‘POW POW’ sort of party.”
“Correct—although it says here they’d like us to provide additional security in addition to attending as guests.”
The royal soirée was one of the most important annual events in all of Pajan—and Lilium was invited.
“Oho, interesting. We’re small-time celebrities now that we’ve won the Sparring Tournament, eh?” Laplace joked. “In that case, just leave it to your trusty Great Sorceress! I’ll whip us up some fabulous evening wear!”
“Yes, please! That would be wonderful! Ooh, I’m kind of nervous about attending...”
“Really? I’m not nervous at all! Oh, but...”
“But what?”
There was a brief pause as Laplace’s expression shifted ever so slightly, taking on the barest hint of melancholy.
“Will that incompetent third-rate Court Grand Mage be there, do you think? Maxwell, or whatever his name is?”
The implication behind this question wasn’t lost on Tanya... which is why she decided to hold back, just a tiny bit.
It would have been so easy to say “What’s wrong?” or “You know you can talk to me about it, right?”
But something made her hesitate.
So instead, she changed the subject.
“...I wonder what color my dress should be.”
After a discussion at the Little Vixen, it was decided that only Tanya and Laplace would attend the soirée.
“Neither of you are going?! Why not?!” Tanya demanded.
Katherine snickered. “Well, the thing about the royal soirée is... the party isn’t limited to just the castle, y’know!”
“What do you mean?”
“Every year, for that night only, they open the castle grounds to the public and hold an outdoor festival. That way all the uninvited, regular folks can still get in on the fun, y’know? It’s a time-honored tradition or whatever!”
“Wow, really? But... I mean, we were invited, so...”
Katherine’s smirk deepened. “Yeah, but the outdoor festival is where they put all the food stands!”
“Food stands...? Wait... You mean...?!”
“Yep! The Little Vixen’s going mobile, baby!”
Nadine nodded. “And I promised Katherine I would help her run the stand.”
“Oh, I had no idea!”
“Yep. We’re gonna sell those chicken bites and potato wedges you two taste-tested. Plus some ice-cold beer!”
“Man, that sounds great!”
“I’ve always wanted to try my hand at cooking, so I’m really looking forward to it!” Nadine beamed.
“Yeah? Well then, I guess we’ll be splitting up. Have lots of fun out there for us!”
“Will do! The plan’s to make a killing in sales, heh heh!” Katherine held up two fingers in a peace sign.
Nadine shyly followed suit. “You can count on me!”
Her smile was as radiant as the sun itself.
✦ ✦ ✦
And so the big day rolled around at last.
Tanya looked around, her eyes sparkling with excitement. This was her first time at Ode Castle, and it was beautiful. No, really—they had chandeliers and everything.
Laplace was in equally high spirits. She had added an extra layer of embroidery to her usual black dress, and she was looking gorgeous.
“Très bon! You look simply ravishing, Tanya!”
“You really think so?”
In place of her usual armor, Tanya was wearing a fanciful evening gown. It was bright red in color, and the skirt was styled to look like a rose in bloom. As for her footwear—
“...Um, Laplace...”
“What is it, Tanya?”
“These shoes really make my feet hurt!”
She was wearing a pair of stiletto heels.
“Do they? My feet never hurt because I float all the time.”
“Rrgh... If only I could use levitation magic...”
“Want me to cast it on you?”
“Oh, um...”
Before she could decide, however, someone called out to them from behind. They turned to find a man wearing a perfectly pressed suit—probably one of the castle attendants. He looked to be the very picture of a butler, although his official title was surely more impressive.
“Terribly sorry to interrupt your conversation,” the butler began, wearing a perfunctory smile, “but we cannot permit any oversized weapons within the castle.”
“Hmm?”
“Oh!”
Indeed, in sharp contrast to her flowery dress, Tanya was wearing the Not-Excalibur on her back, just like always.
“You’re from... Lilium, is it?” the butler asked as he checked their invitation.
“Yes, that’s right. The letter requested our services as a security measure, which is why I brought my sword.”
“Be that as it may... could you be more discreet with it in some fashion? After all, it clashes so terribly with your resplendent gown.”
At this, Tanya glanced around. There were a handful of other guests wearing swords with their fashionable attire, likely for the same reason Tanya had brought hers. But those guests—
“They’re all men!”
In other words: they weren’t wearing gowns. They were wearing clothes and shoes that were made with comfort in mind, and naturally, their swords didn’t clash much at all. After all, their outfits were designed for that purpose.
“So they’re allowed to have their swords out, but I’m not? We were all invited for the same reason!”
“I’m afraid it goes against our dress code to wear a gown and a sword at the same time.”
The butler refused to concede a single inch.
Oh well. I guess I’ll just have to—What am I THINKING?
“I promised myself I’d stop shrugging my shoulders at this stuff,” Tanya muttered as the butler wordlessly walked away. “Hey, Laplace?”
“What is it, Tanya?”
“Can you make these clothes really badass?!”
Laplace put a finger to her cheek in contemplation...