Kuoh.
Evening.
- "To be honest, I didn't expect you to make time for me, Master," Da Vinci-chan said cheerfully as we walked down a street lined with food stalls and various entertainment stands, typical of a typical anime.
- "Now, now. Considering your preferences, you should get out and have some fun from time to time," I smiled and pointed to the side. "Look, like them."
Where I pointed, Enkidu, dressed in a women's yukata with gold chain patterns, was pulling Gil by the hand toward another stand where you had to catch fish with a paper net.
- "Look, Gil!" Enkidu said excitedly. "Let's catch one!"
- "Hmph! This game is not worth my attention..." Gil snorted, but then stopped, because Enkidu began to imitate a Spanish cat from the cartoon of the same name, directing his wide, pleading eyes at the golden boy. "All right. Only because you asked me to."
And after the owner said what a cute couple Gil and Enkidu were, which of course made me laugh, they got down to business. As for the results? Well, there were more attempts than the golden boy had planned.
- "Why?!" Gil got angry. "How am I supposed to catch a fish in the water with this piece of paper? It tears instantly!"
- "Oh, Gil, can't the king win this simple game?" Enkidu giggled, watching Gil clench his teeth.
- "Slander!" Gil growled, throwing away another plastic scoop with torn, wet paper and grabbing the owner by the collar. "You, you dog, dare to deceive the king?!"
- "No, no, dear visitor, what made you think that?" The owner trembled and raised his hands above his head. "I am an honest man and would never dare to cheat my customers! If you want, I can show you how it's done."
- "Do it! Or your miserable life will end right here!" Gil declared, and with an EXTREMELY serious look, watched as the owner caught a fish on his first try.
- "There, you see? It's easy!" the owner said nervously, but with a hint of pride.
- "Enkidu!"
- "Yes, Gil?"
- "We're not leaving here until I catch a fish! This is a challenge to the king that I cannot ignore!" Gil declared passionately and, reaching into his pocket, threw a wad of cash at the owner's face. "I'm buying this place, you scum! No one will stop me from achieving success!"
- "Y-yes!" The owner nodded excitedly, looking at what was probably an office worker's annual salary. "As you wish!"
- "Let's get started!"
- "Go on, Gil!" Enkidu supported Gil, clenching his fists.
- "Well, or like them," I said, passing the two and pointing a little further ahead.
There, in front of me, Lancelot was kneeling in front of a woman in a yukata, who was pressing his head to the ground with an extremely malicious expression on her face.
- "Why should I agree to that, huh?" she asked the Knight of the Lake. "You think that just because you're so tall, muscular, and handsome, I'll just fall to my knees in front of you, you damn womanizer?!"
- "No..." Lancelot's muffled voice came from under the woman's foot. "I was looking exclusively for you, because I really like you, Lady Kana. If you don't believe me, please give me a chance to prove the sincerity of my intentions in action."
- "Y-you..." The woman froze for a moment and blushed deeply, then came to her senses and began to stomp on Lancelot's head with all her might. "Who do you think you are?! Your sweet words won't fool me!"
A little further away from them was Runeas, dressed in a scarlet yukata with her own fur cloak thrown over it. She was also attending the festival and was pestering her department head in his work suit, who was trying to pull her away from him.
- "Yukio-kun, you're all alone," said Runeas. "Don't you want to spend the festival with a young and beautiful girl like me?"
- "No," he said categorically. "And how do you know my address, Runeas-san? If it weren't for your threats to slander my name to my neighbors, I would have spent the weekend at home, as befits a model employee."
- "Really? But the old lady who lives next door to you was very happy to hear that you have a girlfriend, wasn't she, Yukio-kun?" Runeas began sarcastically. "She was so nice and even said we were a good couple, didn't she?"
- "That's only because Shirogane-san doesn't know your true nature, Runeas-san," he replied, adjusting his glasses. "And you really think I can't see your true intentions behind that sweet smile? You're terrible at hiding your evil plans."
- "Eh?! H-How dare you?!" stammered Runeas. "I just wanted to build a good relationship with my boss!"
- "Oh, I see. That's a worthy goal," he nodded, and Runeas smiled maliciously. "In that case, I'll give you extra hours each week, double your workload, and ask the boss to raise your salary. In my opinion, that's a more effective method than the one you proposed."
- "Y-you... You're a demon! A real demon!" Runeas jumped back like a cat and started pointing at him. "Which clan do you belong to?! Dantalion?! Maybe Sitri or Marbas?! Answer me, Yukio!"
- "I think I'll go to HR and ask them to assign you a psychologist."
- "How dare you?!"
Mo-chan was also present, dressed in her everyday outfit of a red top and denim shorts, sitting at a wooden table near a food stall and devouring everything that some teenagers, apparently customers of the café where she worked, were giving her, judging by what I heard.
- "Mo-chan is so cute!" said the first one.
- "But she's lost some of her charm..." added another.
- "Yeah..." said another with a dreamy expression on his face. "Her evil gaze and snarl, as if she wants to kill me, is so mesmerizing, isn't it, brothers?"
- "Yes!"
- "But we can't deny how cute she is right now, can we?"
- "Right!"
- "Shut up, scum," Mo-chan chimed in after chewing another bite, causing them to howl with... admiration? "I'm not full yet."
- "We'll bring you more!" the teenagers declared in unison and ran off for seconds.
Heracles, dressed in a full pink rabbit costume, entertained the children by acting as a live attraction. He carried them on his muscular arms, tossed them up in the air, and did other things that brought the children incredible joy and laughter. The parents gathered around the scene clapped and smiled, as did Heracles himself, which was visible through the eye slits in his costume.
The Assassins preferred to hide in the shadows, despite my persuasion, but what about Merlin, Artoria, Archer, and Medusa? Well, I had certain plans for them. Heh.
- "They're having fun," Da Vinci-chan giggled, and a comfortable silence hung between us, although I knew for sure that she wanted to tell me something.
- "You can talk, Da Vinci-chan," I rolled my eyes. "I'm not so dumb that I can't see the elephant in the room."
She paused for a moment, then spoke.
- "Master, you..."
- "Do I remember Chaldea?" I interrupted her gently, and she nodded briefly. "No. To be honest, I'm not even sure I'm the Romani you all know. Parallel worlds and all that. By the way, why didn't the others say anything about it? To clarify, so to speak?"
- "I don't think it matters much to them," Da Vinci-chan began. "It's not that they don't care, it's just that if you were fine with it, then they were fine with it too."
- "Well, that's true," I shrugged. "And you wanted to talk about it because...?"
- "I had a pretty interesting relationship with Romani," she said with a smile on her face. "Was there anything going on between us? I don't think so, but did I want there to be? I guess, just a little bit."
- "I see," I muttered thoughtfully. "I'm sorry, but I don't remember anything about that. I know about it, yes, and perhaps even more than I should. But do I remember my personal involvement in it? Definitely not."
- "I understand," Da Vinci-chan said with a calm smile, pausing, and the silence between us hung again, which I honestly found rather... depressing. Then she smiled cheerfully, which was more in keeping with her character. "But never mind. It's time to move on, right, Master?"
- "Indeed. Let's go, genius of unknown gender," I grinned and, taking a couple of steps, held out my hand to her. "Today is not the day to think about such things, as you yourself said. 'Those who are focused on the stars do not look back', right? And in this case, we have a completely different, unexplored starry sky before us."
- "Yeah," Da Vinci-chan nodded. "And by the way, knowing you, you've got something planned, right?"
- "Oh, yes," I grinned and looked at her. "By the way, you can draw, right?"
- "Of course, I'm a universal genius!" Da Vinci-chan replied proudly. "Why? Do you want me to paint a picture?"
- "Well, not a painting, but something similar," I began and paused dramatically. "What do you know about CONTEMPORARY art?"
- "Oh, tell me..."
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