In Another World With My Smartphone: Volume 13 Page 3

  I handed out a few discount coupons to Lana and her kids. They could be exchanged at the festival stalls for 50% off select purchases. Then, I waved goodbye before warping off to the schoolhouse.

  “Whoa! What the heck?!” I stared in disbelief at the crowd of cats gathered in the schoolyard. There were tri-color cats, spotted cats, black cats, white cats, tiger-striped cats... Cats as far as the eye could see. And they were all staring at Mr. Mittens... He stood atop a mandarin box, holding his sword skyward.

  “My dear furry friends! Today is a day for meow and you! The very peace of the town rests in our paws! Begin the paw patrol, my feline eyes and ears!”

  “Meow! Meow!”

  “If you see something suspicious, then keep tabby-tabs on them, got it?! If anything happens, run to the nearest guard and bring them to the incident! Then, get meowwta there!”

  “Meow! Meow! Meow!”

  “The cats that fight for the sake of mankind! Mankind that gives its lifeblood to the cats! The heavens cry! The earth cries! The cats cry! They shall bear witness to our kitty-cat chivalry! Glory awaits those that work hard today! One dried tuna for all, I say! One for all!”

  “Meooow!”

  The cats all scattered in various directions, dispersing into the town. His leadership was certainly... incredible. It was almost too good to be wasted on cats, honestly. Then again, the dried tuna probably had something to do with that.

  “Ah, meow liege. Here to purruse the area?”

  “Well, I guess. But it looks like you’ve got everything taken care of here.”

  “But of course! I am the purrfect guardian for both this town and milady’s mother! For I am Mr. Mitt— Uh... D’artagnan!” Wow... He actually got his own name wrong. That’s kinda funny... Oh right, I gotta warn him.

  “The overlord of Xenoahs might want to visit Fiana while he’s here...”

  “I already got the litter scoop from the princess! Should he behave insolently in front of Lady Fiana, I have permission to slay him where he stands!”

  “Isn’t that a little much?!”

  That’d cause an international incident, Sakura... Forgive the old guy already. I’m seriously starting to feel sorry for this guy. He just wants his daughter’s love... Sheesh.

  I kindly asked Mr. Mittens not to murder the overlord, lest political destabilization emerge as a result.

  I sighed quietly and checked my smartphone. Doctor Babylon had sent me a mail, so I decided to return to the castle. Things seemed to be progressing smoothly enough.

  Once I made it back to the castle, I found Kohaku, Kougyoku, Sango, Kokuyou, and Luli waiting to greet me.

  “My liege, we’re sending out our own subordinate animals to keep an eye on the streets as well.”

  “Gotcha. Lemme know if anything weird happens.”

  Kohaku sent out dogs and mice, Kougyoku dispatched several tiny birds, while Sango and Kokuyou dispersed many tiny snakes into the urban sprawl. They’d be extra security for us. Obviously, we couldn’t make much use of Luli’s subordinates, since she governed dragons. Luli herself would take to the skies, allowing a bird’s-eye view of any incidents in town.

  I passed through the castle gate and noticed a group of people from Ramissh heading down the road into town. Her Holiness the Pope was among them. I guess some of the foreign envoys are already checking the castle town out...

  The pope noticed me and began to approach, there was a priest walking with her. Oh! I know you... It’s Phyllis!

  After everything that went down in Ramissh, Phyllis became a cardinal. She was also the only person aside from me and the Pope herself who had met God Almighty.

  The two of them had their star-shaped badges on. I was pleased to see that both badges were green.

  “G-Grand Duke... Do you know when He will be arriving...?”

  He...? Ah, that can only mean one person... God Almighty! I’d informed her a little while ago that he was going to descend for the festival, and she ended up getting a little panicked about it. Thankfully, she’d calmed down a bit since then... But not completely, it seemed. There was nothing I could do about that.

  “I don’t think he’ll be coming down today. He contacted me recently, so I think he’ll be here from tomorrow on. Don’t worry so much, I’ll let you know when he’s here.”

  “D-Do you think he remembers me...?” Phyllis turned to me and sighed slightly. She looked concerned.

  “He will, you know? He isn’t senile just yet, you know?”

  “Wh-Whoa! Don’t just appear out of nowhere like that, Karen!” I jumped as my annoying sister appeared from nowhere to answer Phyllis. You need to stop doing that! I’m gonna have a heart attack, you scared the pope and Phyllis, too!

  “I’ll be opening up a consultation office in the church today, you know? I can’t wait to solve people’s problems! I’m gonna show them my skills!”

  Hmm... That sounds great and all, but the way she’s putting it is making me uneasy... I quietly hoped she wouldn’t cause any issues.

  “Well, let’s head off! The lost lambs need us, you know?”

  “A-Ah, wait, Lady Karen!”

  “A-Ah, s-sorry, Grand Duke! W-We’ll see you later!”

  Karen grabbed Phyllis and the pope and started dragging them toward the town. Their guards started to hurry after the three, clearly confused. I wonder if it’s alright to treat a foreign representative like that... Damn it, Karen. You’re technically royalty here, act a little more like it!

  I didn’t worry too much, though. They were incredibly safe so long as they were around her. That girl was scary when she wanted to be.

  A few more groups headed into the castle town, and it was finally time to begin.

  The clocktower in the middle of town struck eight, and Babylon launched several fireworks into the airspace above.

  Sousuke, who was positioned in the clocktower, began to play his violin, sending out a tune across the entire town. He was playing the Pomp and Circumstance Marches by Edward Elgar.

  I’d heard that the song was known as The Land of Hope and Glory in the United Kingdom, and was beloved there to the point where many regarded it as their second national anthem. It was somewhat funny to me that such a song was now being played in another world.

  Personally, I wished for Brunhild to become a “Land of Hope and Glory” of its own... I smiled quietly, then approached a microphone connected to the clocktower speakers. It was time for the festivities to officially begin.

  ◇　◇　◇

  The first day was well underway.

  Business was booming, the mock battle between the Frame Gears went swimmingly, and the streets of the castle town were now bustling with life.

  There were all kinds of stalls lining the streets, and wonderful smells were mingling in the air. I wanted to try some festival food...

  We had guards from the knight order patrolling and watching out for crime, and a few Belfastian and Regulusian guards were here to enjoy the festivities too. On top of that, we had Mr. Mitten’s cats, and the subordinate animals of my Heavenly Beasts scattered around. Security was all but guaranteed.

  I didn’t really have any need to do any patrolling myself, so...

  “Guess I’ll enjoy myself a bit!”

  “That sounds good to me. The world leaders have their badges and guards, so we can take it easy...” Leen was walking by my side, wearing her usual gothic lolita outfit and wielding a black parasol.

  The others had gone to join their own families... Sakura was a little bit irritated when the overlord tried to talk to her, though. She was probably trying to keep him from visiting Fiana. That guy was really hopeless.

  Leen had offered to spend some time with the beastking of Mismede, but he wanted to walk around on his own for a bit, so she decided to accompany me instead. Leen was fairly well-regarded in Mismede, so she’d invited some friends over to the festival, but they hadn’t arrived yet.

  Paula was toddling along behind us as well, but she occ
asionally got held up by excited children who wanted to poke and prod at her.

  “Hm...?” I glanced over to the stage by the clocktower and saw a swarm of attractive young women fawning over Sousuke.

  ...Are you doing an impromptu piano concert or something?

  “He’s certainly amazing... I’ve never heard a melody so beautiful in my life.”

  Even Leen seemed enraptured by the music. I wondered if the bewitching nature of his music was his own brand of divinity... He was wearing pretty gaudy clothing, almost like a court musician... Actually, he basically was our court musician, when I really thought about it...

  He was playing a French tune on his piano, a fairly simple melody.

  Though, as plain as it was, it went without saying that Sousuke’s skill surpassed mine by leaps and bounds. It certainly came naturally to him, but that wasn’t too surprising... He’s a god... If he wasn’t a god, I’d totally be better, I swear!

  I wanted to keep on listening to his song, but we just walked past him and headed to one of the stadiums.

  There were four matches to be played today, two in each stadium. Two in the morning, and two in the afternoon.

  The matchups were like this:

  Stadium One

  Morning: Brunhild vs Lestia

  Afternoon: Mismede vs Refreese

  Stadium Two

  Morning: Belfast vs Roadmare

  Afternoon: Regulus vs Lihnea

  Seemed simple enough to me.

  After the mock battle earlier, we’d hosted the lottery that determined who would be playing against who.

  We were up against the Knight Kingdom of Lestia... Their team was offensive-focused, but that didn’t necessarily mean they had a lot of heavy hitters. They were the kind that slowly ramped up points to maintain an advantage.

  Logan said he was confident that Brunhild’s batters were more well-rounded and capable than Lestia’s.

  The first match was already underway when I got there. The score was still evenly matched at 0-0. They were up to the second inning, and Lestia had just finished pitching.

  I looked into the stands and saw the beastking with Mismede’s team, and the emperor of Refreese with his team as well. They were keenly watching the proceedings.

  Mismede would be going up against Refreese after this, and the winner would go up against whoever won here. It made sense they’d survey the game.

  I looked down into the stands and saw the knight king of Lestia sitting a little bit away from third base. Hilde was sitting to his right, and their grandfather was sitting to his left.

  On Brunhild’s side of the stands was old man Naito. He and his men were enjoying some beers and laughing to themselves.

  People who worked in the knight order and the castle were given one day during the festival off in order to enjoy themselves. I wanted them to take it easy for a while, after all. There weren’t a lot of opportunities for them to have fun like this on vacation days, so I let them seize it when they could. But obviously, not everyone could take the same day off, so they had a rota that meant some staff was off during day one, some during day two, and so on.

  The only events on the first day were the baseball matches, so the people who got that day off probably drew the short straw... Still, I was glad to see that they were enjoying themselves.

  “Ah, milord. Patrolling?”

  “Just looking around for now. Everyone enjoying themselves?”

  “Aye! This is a festival in a town that we ourselves built, you know? Of course we’re having fun!”

  Usually, the old guy didn’t do much to stand out, but he seemed to be in unusually high spirits. We probably had the booze to thank for that. Naito was in charge of construction and agricultural developments, so he was probably really proud of what Brunhild had become.

  I built the foundation of this place, but they were responsible for building on that and modeling it. The town wouldn’t have made it nearly as far as it had without them. No, the entire country needed them.

  I aimed a grin at them, ordered myself and Leen some popcorn and drinks, and we spent some time enjoying the match together with Naito and the workers.

  ◇　◇　◇

  “What a shame...”

  “Yeah... If only we’d gotten that last point...”

  Lestia had won against Brunhild with a final score of three to two. It wasn’t like Brunhild was a worse team or anything, it was just the way the match had gone... Sometimes victory was just circumstantial.

  The players had tried their best, so I decided to bring them some snacks and drinks afterward.

  The match between Belfast and Roadmare at the other stadium had ended in a win for Belfast. Apparently, their tactical play was superior across the board.

  Mismede vs Refreese and Regulus vs Lihnea would be later on in the day. Then, the final matches between the winning teams would come the day afterward.

  As we walked through the town, we saw the Palouf entourage eating in a corner café. The young king was there, as was his sister, Duke Rembrandt, and his daughter Rachael. They looked to be enjoying their lunch.

  I unfastened my badge for a moment and looked over at them. Their disguises made them look just like a regular old family. I was glad to see the illusions were functioning properly. Leen was also wearing a badge, but we had no need for the disguise functions, so ours were inactive.

  “Yo, you guys eating?”

  “Ah, Grand Duke! Yeah, we’ve walked around a lot, so we were taking a break...”

  I greeted them, and the young king offered us some nearby seats. Rachael was sitting opposite the young king. She held the Snorra pup in her hands and looked just about everywhere except for me. She definitely hated my guts...

  “What are you guys gonna do this afternoon?”

  “We were planning on seeing the Lihnea match. We’ve yet to acquaint ourselves properly with baseball, after all...” Princess Lucienne spoke up, smiling softly. They were probably asked to show up by King Cloud. I was glad to hear that things were still going well between them.

  “We had a stroll this morning and certainly found no shortage of distractions... The time had passed by before we even noticed it, actually! This is a wonderful town. There’s much Palouf could learn from it...” Duke Rembrandt looked out into the streets as he spoke. I was extremely happy to hear that he thought so highly of the place.

  “That being said, we found a place that was quite the money sink... It ended up being rather... unfortunate.”

  “Ah...”

  Duke Rembrandt grinned at the young king, who suddenly turned a little red. I wondered what he was talking about.

  “Ernie here got rather addicted to the capsule toy machines in the market district... He turned them many a time. We had a lot of money, but Father still ended up telling him off because other people wanted a chance to use it, too.”

  “I really wanted to get the Shining Count toy, that’s all...”

  Rachael glanced toward something on one of the nearby chairs, and I saw a paper bag full of capsule toys. Seemed like he really did overdo it...

  Wait, she just spoke to me! Did she forgive me already? I turned back to look at her, and she immediately averted her gaze. Geez, come on...

  “Did you manage to collect them all in the end?”

  “Uhm... I didn’t manage to get Grimgerde...”

  “Oh? My Frame Gear?”

  “Huh?”

  The young king looked over at Leen with a puzzled expression on his face. I explained to everyone at the table that Leen was the pilot of Grimgerde, and they all looked on in surprise.

  She might have been six-hundred-and-twelve years old, but she still resembled a young woman. She probably didn’t match up at all to the image in their heads. Grimgerde had unleashed a ton of destruction during the mock battle after the opening ceremony, so they probably thought the pilot was someone a lot scarier.

  People knew that Leen was court magician of Brunhild, and the former clan matri
arch of the fairies, as well as the fact that she was my fiancée... But not many people seemed to know that she was also a Frame Gear pilot.

  “Darling, don’t you have one of those?” Leen quickly prodded her fingers into my side as she asked me that question.

  “Oh, yeah... But, I mean... Ah, whatever...” I kind of wanted people to get the prizes the proper way... but he’d poured a lot of money into it, so I didn’t feel too bad letting him have this one.

  I opened up [Storage] and took out a small black Grimgerde figurine. Leen then took it and handed it over to the young king of Palouf.

  “Here you are. Make sure you treat it well.”

  “Oh, thank you so much! Now I have them all!”

  “Ahaha, not quite. We’ll be adding Lu’s Waltraute and Sakura’s Rossweisse next month, so the set will have new additions...”

  “Ah...”

  The young king frowned a little at my words, which made everyone giggle softly. Probably shouldn’t tell him that Lu’s Waltraute has four variants... There are the attacker, booster, caster, and defender types... It’ll be hard to catch them all...!

  Olba would probably open a branch store in Palouf eventually... If he was patient, I was sure he’d finish the set.

  We weren’t just adding Frame Gear toys to the collection either, there were new Behemoths going into the lineup too. Specifically, the Heavy Kong, Grand Boar, Power Bison, and Needle Rat from Palerius Island.

  Still, I wondered if there’d end up being more of a demand for vinyl Behemoth figures, or scale model plastic Frame Gears... I wasn’t really sure if we had the kind of tech to mass-produce stuff like that... Especially since we’d need glue. This world didn’t really have plastic, so that might be an issue. Then again, magic beast bones were roughly similar in composition.

  Hmm... But if we can do that, maybe we can figure out how to use magic to produce them more easily...

  As I continued to sink into thought, Leen jabbed me in the side. Ack! Fine, I’ll save business thoughts for later.

  After we finished our meal, the Paloufean group decided to head off to watch Lihnea’s match.

  Alright, where should we go next...

  “Ah... Uhm...!”