Episode 223. Interlude – Fireworks (2)

The night sky lit up with colorful fireworks.

As the festival came to a close, everyone was filled with happiness.

However, on the rooftop of the Party House, a cold atmosphere lingered, out of place with the warm word “festival.”

“I think this way.”

Iris was the first to speak.

With a smile full of mercy and benevolence, befitting her title of Saint, she continued.

“Just as the seven gods were created over seven nights, everything in the world has its order.”

“What are you trying to say?”

“I’ll be the one to kiss him, so the rest of you should just stay quiet.”

“……”

Her gentle voice contrasted sharply with her bold declaration of monopoly, causing Lanes, Yurina, and Professor Elisha’s eyes to turn cold.

“Heh. If that’s the case, since the first god created was the sun, shouldn’t I be the one to do it?”

“Yurina, you don’t have the Holy Mark of the Sun.”

“I can just wear a pendant.”

“…Are you saying you’ll kiss Dale in his male form?”

“Dale would understand.”

What.

“…He doesn’t look like he’d understand at all.”

“Anyway! It’s unfair for Iris to kiss Dale alone!”

Yurina shook her head firmly, as if to say absolutely not.

“Y-Yeah. Both Iris and Yurina… it’s unfair.”

*Click.*

Lanes nervously bit her nails.

With hollow eyes devoid of light, she stared at Iris and Yurina, muttering curses under her breath.

“Iris and Yurina have already done X with Dale. And now they want to kiss him too? Unfair, unfair, unfair, unfair. Both of them are tall, pretty, and have friends. I have nothing without Dale. I want to be with Dale too, and I can do better. Why not me, not me, not me, not me.”

“I don’t quite understand what Candidate Lanes is saying, but she does have a point.”

Professor Elisha, sitting cross-legged with her arms folded, spoke leisurely.

“Candidates Iris and Yurina have already been with Candidate Dale, haven’t they? It seems a bit excessive to want to kiss him here as well.”

“T-That’s unrelated to this!”

“Exactly! This is a once-a-year opportunity!”

As the argument grew more heated.

The gazes of the four women intersected.

‘Why is the atmosphere like this all of a sudden?’

It was all warm and friendly just a moment ago.

‘We’re comrades! We’re supposed to live together later…!’

Unable to voice the words rising to her throat, she swallowed dryly, caught between the four women.

And one more thing.

There was a bigger problem than who would kiss whom.

‘Heart-shaped fireworks don’t even exist.’

That’s right.

The rumor about heart-shaped fireworks was just a false rumor spread by Seto to gather couples in the Central Plaza.

“By the way, there’s an old saying in the Republic: ‘Respect the elders.'”

“…What does that mean?”

“It means the young shouldn’t dare to covet what belongs to their elders.”

Wait.

But Professor Elisha, you know heart-shaped fireworks don’t exist.

Why are you pushing so hard for this?

“Don’t you agree, Candidate Dale?”

Seeing Professor Elisha’s smirk, a sudden memory of what she said at the hot springs flashed through his mind.

– I’ll definitely remember this humiliation!

“……”

Could it be… she’s trying to get revenge for teasing her at the hot springs?

“Fufu. Why aren’t you answering?”

Damn it.

That expression definitely means she’s teasing.

“Hmph! Anyway, I can’t back down on this!”

“M-Me too! I… I understand Professor Elisha and Lanes’ feelings, but… I don’t want to miss this opportunity either!”

Others might think it’s just a small matter, but in the world, there are things you can’t compromise on precisely because they’re small.

Especially for someone who has never experienced sweet romantic events like “kissing when heart-shaped fireworks go off means you’ll be together forever.”

“W-Well then… we’ll just have to… split it.”

As the fierce battle for control was about to lead to a physical division (?).

“Everyone, calm down.”

Unable to stand by, I let out a low sigh and spoke.

“So… we just need to kiss while the heart-shaped fireworks go off, right?”

Taking a deep breath.

I summoned the power of the Primordial Flame.

‘Ugh.’

Perhaps because the magic power consumed in the battle with the Grand Archbishop of Madness hadn’t fully recovered, an overwhelming fatigue hit me as soon as I tried to summon the Primordial Flame.

It felt like squeezing water out of a dry towel.

‘But still.’

Gritting my teeth, I pulled up the power.

Whoosh!

The Ash Fire lit up the darkness, shooting high into the sky.

And then.

Boom!

A heart-shaped Ash Fire burned brilliantly.

The massive flame lit up the sky, making the fireworks in the distant Central Plaza look pitiful.

“This is…”

“Wow.”

The lovers exclaimed in admiration as they looked up at the heart-shaped Ash Fire burning in the sky.

While they were exclaiming, I quickly approached Professor Elisha.

“Professor Elisha. Please contact Professor Bianca. Tell her we secretly prepared heart-shaped fireworks as a surprise event.”

Since the fireworks weren’t part of the plan, there was a chance they might be mistaken for an outsider’s terrorist act.

“Hmm. I didn’t expect you to get out of it this way…”

Professor Elisha chuckled regretfully, then shrugged and sent a message to Professor Bianca via the Hero Watch.

“Now, then…”

I slowly walked toward the lovers gazing at the Ash Fire fireworks.

Since it wasn’t real fireworks but Ash Fire, it wouldn’t disappear in an instant.

“Iris.”

“Yes? …Mmm.”

One by one, as long as they wanted, they could enjoy the “event.”

Starting with Iris, I slowly kissed each one.

After kissing all four lovers under the beautifully lit sky of the Primordial Flame.

Whoosh.

The Ash Fire illuminating the night sky faded.

“Phew. That should do it.”

Relieved to have overcome the crisis, I looked back at the lovers.

Well, everyone got the kiss they wanted, so now they should all be satisfied…

“Dale…”

“…It’s not enough.”

“Y-Yeah. It’s not enough. That was… way too short!”

The lovers, breathing heavily, looked at me like hungry beasts.

“Huh?”

There were a few things I overlooked.

One. Even though there was no time limit, kissing all four meant the time each got wasn’t very long.

Two. Filling your stomach poorly makes you hungrier than not eating at all.

Three. They all seemed fine on the outside, but they had already had some alcohol before the fireworks started.

And finally.

“Please… a little more…”

“Dale. C-Come here.”

“L-Let’s tie his legs first so he can’t run.”

“I’ll handle the tying.”

When you’re with others, you can do things you wouldn’t do alone, thinking, “Everyone else is doing it, so why not?”

“W-Wait! Everyone, calm down… Eek!”

Sssss.

Professor Elisha’s spider webs bound my body.

Normally, I could easily break free, but now, after the battle with the Grand Archbishop of Madness, I had almost no magic power left.

Even worse, I had overexerted myself by using the Primordial Flame to create the Ash Fire, leaving my body completely drained.

In other words.

“Hehe. Dale~.”

“I-I want to go first this time!”

“Haa, haa. Dale…”

“Hmm. This situation has gotten quite interesting, hasn’t it?”

Like predators closing in on their prey, the lovers approached with gleaming eyes, leaving me with no way to resist.

“Everyone, calm down… Mmm… Mmmph!”

And so.

The Seven Stars Cultural Festival came to a close.

* * *

“He fell asleep right away.”

“Come to think of it, Dale… he seemed a bit tired earlier. Did something happen?”

“Hmm.”

Professor Elisha looked at the unconscious Dale with an awkward expression.

A belated regret, “Did I go too far?” flashed across her face.

“Professor Elisha, do you know something?”

“Well… you should hear it from Dale himself later.”

It was better for Dale to explain about the Grand Archbishop of Madness himself.

“By the way… Professor Elisha.”

“Yes? What is it, Candidate Yurina?”

“I… um, should I call you… unnie?”

“……”

Unnie.

A title she never imagined, causing a faint smile to escape Professor Elisha’s lips.

“For now, while you’re still in school, that might be difficult.”

“Ah… right, of course.”

“Fufu. If we end up living together later… well, you can call me that then.”

Professor Elisha felt a ticklish sense of happiness and shrugged her shoulders.

‘Unnie.’

Even though they all loved the same man, she had never thought of Iris, Yurina, or Lanes as younger sisters.

‘…It’s not a bad feeling.’

For someone who had lost her family at a young age and lived alone, the sensation of having a “younger sister” was uniquely special.

“Come to think of it, none of us have a proper family.”

“That’s true.”

Iris was an orphan, Yurina was effectively estranged from her mother, and Lanes had nearly been killed by her own mother when she went berserk.

“The fact that we, who had no connection, have come together like this… it’s all thanks to Dale.”

Iris gently stroked Dale’s sleeping head, a faint smile on her face.

“Does Dale know… how much of a savior he is to us?”

“Who knows, Dale probably doesn’t care about that kind of thing.”

“I agree.”

The four women fell into thought as they looked down at the sleeping Dale.

“By the way… later… we’re all going to live together, right?”

Breaking the silence, Lanes cautiously spoke up.

“Well, that’s likely, isn’t it? As Professor Elisha said.”

“T-Then… when that happens… besides kissing… can we… do other things… together?”

“Huh?”

Iris’s eyes widened at Lanes’s unexpected bombshell.

“N-No. That might be a bit…”

“Hehe. It’s okay!”

Lanes clenched her fist with a bright smile.

“I’ve thought of a good way!”

“……?”

Feeling that digging deeper might be dangerous, Iris quickly changed the subject.

“W-Well, since Dale’s asleep, should we have another drink among ourselves?”

“Good idea.”

“I’ll have one too!”

“…Yurina, no.”

“Ehh! W-Why not me?!”

The Party House rooftop, shrouded in darkness.

Their own festival was beginning anew.