Chapter IX: First Christmas
“Wheee!”
“Woooooow...”
Myu let out a squeal of childlike glee from her spot atop Hajime’s shoulders while Shea stared up in amazement. Yue, Tio, Kaori, Shizuku, Remia, Aiko, and Liliana’s eyes were all sparkling with excitement as well, even though they didn’t say anything. Though Liliana’s eyes, in particular, were glimmering with more than just excitement.
Normally, Yue and the others were the center of attention no matter how many presence-dampening Artifacts Hajime gave them, but here people just smiled at them as they walked past. That was because right now Hajime and the crew had come to a rather famous theme park. A place of dreams and wonder, a land of whimsy and fantasy.
Plenty of people were wearing animal ear headbands or had put on face paint or plastered their faces with stickers. Quite a few people were in costumes as well, and of course, there were employees dressed up as park mascots everywhere. As a result, Yue and the others’ beauty was just one of many things vying for everyone’s attention.
Music blared from speakers set up at regular intervals, and shrieks of excitement and joy could be heard all over. There were rides everywhere you looked, and naturally, everyone was here with friends, family, or a significant other, so they were too busy to be gawking at other groups, especially since today was Christmas. Everyone was here to have fun and make the most of their time here.
“He he, even you’re looking around like a little kid, Yue.”
“Shut up, idiot Kaori.”
Yue blushed a little as she said that, since she was aware that she was, in fact, staring in wonder at everything.
As he smiled at the two of them, Hajime reached out toward Shea’s face.
“Shea.”
“Yeah? W-Wait, what are you doing?!”
Shea quickly covered her head with her hands as Hajime took off the earcuffs that hid her bunny ears.
“You don’t need to hide your ears here. If anything, this is the one place you can show them off,” Hajime said, patting her very fluffy bunny ears. She stared at him blankly for a second, but then her expression lit up and she let her bunny ears stand straight up.
“Hmm, this place does have a rather fantastical air to it. Remia, you don’t need to hide your ears either.”
“I suppose we did just pass by a mermaid-themed attraction.”
Tio removed Remia’s earrings, while Shizuku smiled at Myu and pointed at her ears as well.
Remia shivered a little as Tio took her earrings off, while Myu happily took out her own. Their hair color changed from emerald-blonde to emerald-green and their finned ears reappeared, making them look very much like mermaids.
In Myu’s case, she looked like a mermaid Santa, since she was wearing a fur-lined red hat and coat, as well as warm white stockings and fur-lined boots. She truly looked adorable. Hajime picked her up off his shoulders and put her on the ground. As she looked confusedly up at him, he pulled out his phone and started taking a ton of pictures. He then put his phone away at lightning speed and placed Myu back on his shoulders as if nothing had happened. Even when he drew Donner and Schlag, his hands didn’t move that fast.
“Master, does that mean I can let my wings out here as—”
“They’ll get in the way, so don’t.”
“You’re so cruel! But thank you!”
Tio started panting as Hajime shot her down immediately. Kaori’s shoulders slumped as she heard that. She’d been looking forward to going apostle mode and turning into an angel for tonight. Yue grinned and poked Kaori in the side.
Incidentally, it wasn’t because the wings were big that Hajime thought they’d get in the way. He mostly meant that they would ruin the fashionable coat Tio was wearing.
“Oh, would you like to wear these instead?” Aiko asked, pulling a headband out of her bag. Judging by the feelers on it, it was supposed to resemble a butterfly.
“I have others, so you can pick whichever one you like.”
“When did you get these, Aiko?”
“They were selling them by the entrance, so I bought a few!”
Aiko pulled out another headband with bear ears on it, put it on, and struck a pose. It seemed she’d been looking forward to this trip more than anyone.
A few passing kids laughed cheerfully at her impression of a bear and Hajime and the others smiled as well. Blushing in embarrassment, Aiko hurriedly removed the headband.
“Sorry, I got carried away. The last time I was at a theme park was during my school field trip. Things were awkward between me and some of my classmates back then, so I didn’t get to enjoy it as much as I wanted. Plus, our school doesn’t even do field trips to amusement parks, so I can’t volunteer to be a chaperone or anything...”
“It’s okay, you can have as much fun as you want. That’s what we’re here for, after all,” Hajime said.
“He he he...”
Aiko was secretly a huge fan of theme parks. She put the bear-ear headband back on and smiled childishly at everyone. Hajime and the others smiled back at her.
“So, what do you guys want to do first?” Hajime asked. Yue and the others spread open the map of the park and started pointing to what they were most interested in. It seemed they’d all done their research. Though one person, in particular, seemed to have something other than fun in mind with her choice.
“I want to go to the gift shop first!” Liliana shouted, her eyes strangely bloodshot.
“Normally, you save that for the end, don’t you?” Hajime asked.
“It’s okay, I don’t want to buy anything!”
“Then what do you want to go there for?!”
“Isn’t it obvious?! Market research!”
“Please don’t use such a boring clinical term in this land of dreams and wonder!” Hajime exclaimed. Yue shot Liliana a quizzical look, and she immediately burst into an explanation.
“I honestly can’t believe it! In the few days I’ve been here, my understanding of the universe has been completely transformed! This world is a veritable treasure trove! The economics of the nations here are on a completely different level, and the cultures are so varied as well! Imagine having the funds to build multiple facilities of this scale just to provide entertainment to the masses! Just how many visitors does this place get per day?! What do their profit margins look like?! I can scarcely imagine how much money this would bring to our treasury if I opened even a single one of these parks back in Heiligh! Ha ha ha ha ha ha, you’re done for, Emperor. I know you’ve been running around all over to get as many beneficial contracts as you can during this reconstruction period, but we’ll crush you culturally and economically in no time! And then—”
“Aiko.”
“On it—Soul’s Repose!”
Aiko quickly cast spirit magic on Liliana, who had spread her arms wide and was starting to sound like an evil overlord. As the light of Aiko’s magic washed over her, Hajime surreptitiously looked up at the sun, hoping the bright weather would hide the magical glow. Liliana slowly lowered her arms, but a feral gleam remained in her eyes. Indeed, nearby parents shooed their kids away from Liliana, worried that she might attack them or something.
“Sorry, I got a little carried away.”
“You call that a little? I thought you’d lost your mind,” Hajime muttered.
“Sometimes it’s okay to forget that you’re a princess...” Yue said.
“I-I guess the world of politics is just as fierce as any battlefield, huh?” Shizuku said, and Liliana nodded quietly. Kaori and Remia looked tearfully down at her.
“Lily...I didn’t realize you had it so rough... I’m sorry we left you all alone...”
“Oh my, to think you’ve been forced to deal with such huge issues at such a young age. My condolences...”
“I read on the internet that people call people like Lily-oneechan ‘wage slaves.’”
“Master, I think you should start meeting with her more often...or she’ll be too far gone.”
“I’ve been trying to find a way to convert electricity into mana to make coming and going more efficient... I think I’ll have to speed that research up.”
Hajime had known Liliana was burdened with a lot of responsibilities, but he hadn’t realized she’d been pushing herself this hard. She looked like a worn-down corporate wage slave at the tender age of fifteen. Even now, when everyone was looking worriedly at her, Liliana was just watching the flow of people and mentally calculating how she could recreate this amusement park back in Heiligh.
I really need to do something fast or she’ll be beyond help...
Hajime looked over at Yue and the others. They nodded resolutely back at him.
“All right, where should we go first?” Hajime asked, trying to pretend as if that diversion had never happened. Yue and the others excitedly started pointing out places they were interested in, doing their best to remind Liliana how to have fun, rather than spend all her time thinking about economics.
May this holy day grant us the strength to save this young girl’s soul!
◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇
An hour later, Liliana was sitting slumped on a bench.
“Attractions where you’re at risk of dying shouldn’t exist,” she said, dropping her head onto Hajime’s lap.
Remia also dropped her head onto Hajime’s lap from the other side and muttered, “I’m sorry, Hajime-san...”
While Liliana looked defeated, Remia just seemed embarrassed. It was partly because she was resting her head on Hajime’s lap in public, and partly because he was gently patting her head.
“No, this is my fault. I was so desperate to bring Lily back to her senses that I focused too much on thrill rides.”
“Umm, Hajime-san, I never lost my sanity.”
“Then how do you explain your reaction when we stopped by that food stall?”
“I was just amazed at how much they can afford to upcharge people! Even though everyone pays just to get in here, they still—”
“So I failed, huh...?”
“Now, now, there’s still time,” Remia said with a smile.
Incidentally, Yue had cast healing magic on both of them before leaving so neither of them were feeling sick. However, the marathon of thrill rides had worn both of them out, so they were resting for a bit while Yue and the others took Myu on all the other rides she wanted to go on.
The reason Hajime was giving Liliana a lap pillow was because he’d seen her shooting jealous glances at other couples who were doing the same thing while they’d been walking around. Remia had also seemed quite interested in a lap pillow, so Hajime had offered to give both of them one, which had proven to be the correct decision.
“Man, all I did was make her twenty centimeters taller, but she looks completely different,” Hajime muttered as the spinning teacup ride came to an end and Myu dashed out of the exit and started running toward Hajime. Most of the other people who’d been on the ride looked dizzy, but Myu seemed completely unaffected. Since she was with Yue and the others, it was extremely obvious that she looked much taller than she was supposed to. Thrill rides naturally had height limits, and Myu certainly wasn’t tall enough for most of them. Hajime knew Myu would feel left out if she was the only one unable to ride, so he’d used metamorphosis magic to temporarily make her taller.
While that naturally made Myu look older, the effect was at odds with her still childish smile. But even then, it did feel like he was seeing his daughter grow up—even though she hadn’t actually grown yet.
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