It was the morning after the party for Halkara.
As I was making breakfast for the family, Beelzebub returned after having been outside for some reason.
"Where did you go?"
"I meandered around the area a bit. The air in the highlands really is nice and brisk. Especially since I drank yesterday, it'll help me make a fresh start."
A morning walk sounded alarmingly wholesome and un-demonic.
"Back when we were at war with this country, people often said that demons appeared at night, but nocturnal lifestyles aren't good for you. Among the demons, I advocate rising and turning in early."
"I'd really hate to live in a world where you had to be prepared for demons first thing in the morning. Let's keep it peaceful, okay?"
"There are no plans whatsoever for going to war, so don't you worry. Just as your country has no intention of occupying the demon lands, we don't think we could control all the territory on this continent. It's far too inconveniently vast. In terms of serving the administration's citizens, too, what we have now is perfect."
Even from just this conversation, it seemed safe to assume a demon invasion was next to impossible.
"Ah, right. They've settled on a date for conferring the Demon Medal. Do come and accept it."
"Oh! You mean the thing about the peace division, right?"
I'd stopped a conflict between dragon tribes once, and for some reason, the demons had been impressed. As a result, they were granting me this award.
Apparently, it was prestigious, but without any connection to the demon world, I didn't know the details.
"In that case, I'll accept it gladly. Just let me know the date and time."
I wasn't an office worker, and this wouldn't conflict with my job; on that point, I was really blessed in my current lifestyle. When I had been a corporate wage slave, work had actually come in abruptly on the day of a concert once, and I ended up having to eat the cost of my ticket.
The date Beelzebub told me was three weeks away. That was pretty close.
"All right. I'll tell Halkara to take that day off from the factory."
"Yes, I'll have all sorts of food ready and waiting for you."
At the word food, I got a bad feeling.
"Um… Don't tell me that every last thing demons eat is hot."
Yesterday, Halkara had choked and said, "My lips are swelling up… I'd like you to put some honey in this, please," as she ate the hot pot. If everything was spicy, we'd be in trouble.
"Relax—not all our food is spicy. If you prefer sweet things, I'll make sure to keep the focus on those."
"Thank you. Cuisine does differ considerably from region to region, after all."
If they went to the trouble of making food for us and we ended up not being able to eat it, we'd feel bad, too.
***
And so it was officially decided that we'd attend the Demon Medal award ceremony.
I'd never been to the demon lands, so I was rather curious. Long ago, I probably would have been nervous, but from the way Beelzebub looked, we weren't likely to have any problems.
However, Halkara was anxious.
"I have nothing but misgivings about this. Is it all right if I just so happen to get a stomachache that day?"
"You're so scared that you'd fake an illness?"
"They'll probably serve peculiar food, won't they…? She said they wouldn't give us anything spicy, but I wonder if she didn't just mean 'it'll be less spicy than that other thing'…"
The awful experience had made her suspicious.
"Huh? Big Sister Halkara, you're faking sick?"
Apparently, Falfa's ears had caught the word.
"Falfa, that was only a figure of speech. I just think my stomach may start to hurt that day, coincidentally."
Halkara's trying to play this off…
"It's okay!"
Falfa thumped her chest with a hand.
"Falfa can keep secrets! I swear I won't tell the demon-people that you're not really sick! Trust me! I'll tell everybody you're not faking!"
"Don't! If you go out of your way to say it isn't a feigned illness, it will look suspicious!"
"Falfa knows just how you feel, Halkara, so you don't need to worry! The food Beelzebub made hurt, didn't it? You didn't like it very much, and that's why you're not going this time, right?"
"W-well… If you put it that way, you're technically correct…"
"I'll tell Beelzebub for you, but I'll be casual about it!"
Cold sweat began to trickle down Halkara's forehead.
I patted her on the shoulder.
"Halkara, I'd give up if I were you. If things go on this way, Falfa may really tell people you faked sick and stayed home. There's no guarantee that the demons won't hold it against you."
"You think so, too? I really don't like the way this is going. This is one of those cases where she says she'll never ever tell and then goes and tells, isn't it…?"
I think there was a joke routine like that in Japan, too. Maybe it's universal?
"All right. I'll properly attend, with the mindset of someone leaping from the spire of Carrard."
Citing an idiom that apparently was a more vivid version of "taking the plunge," Halkara decided to go along.
Since our entire family was now attending for sure, I'd consider it a good thing.
"We can probably just use the dresses we had tailored for the dragons' wedding, so there's no problem there."
But my family had grown since then.
"I'm sorry, Big Sis." Rosalie floated over to me. "I don't have a dress."
"Oh yes, I see. In that case, we'll go to the village or the town again and buy— Hang on."
How did one buy clothes for a ghost? Could she even put them on?
"Come to think of it, you always wear those town-girl clothes. Can you change them?"
"I've been in this outfit ever since I became a ghost. I'm not even sure how I'd change into something else."
Yikes! That's not a problem I expected to run into!
I didn't know what to do, so I asked Laika and Shalsha.
The two of them seemed as though they'd be knowledgeable about these things.
"Do you think there are shops that sell clothes for ghosts?"
"I really haven't the foggiest idea."
"I've never even seen something like that in a story."
So it was a no-go, hmm? Still, it would be mean to make her the only one in the group to attend in her everyday clothes…
I tried asking at the clothing shops in town as well.
"Clothes for ghosts…? Ghosts can't pay, so it wouldn't be much of a business."
That's what they told me. I see. That's reasonable.
Even if they made clothes for ghosts, it wouldn't last as a business, so it was likely that nobody did it.
Next, I used Shalsha's connections to visit an academic authority who seemed informed about ghosts.
This was what the white-whiskered scholar told me:
"It's said that ghosts are souls that have remained in this world, and that they look very nearly as they did in life. For that reason, although they may appear to be wearing clothes, what you are seeing is part of the soul. Not being able to change a soul is perfectly natural. As a consequence, there is no decent way to make them change their clothes."
When I heard that, it made sense to me.
What looked like clothes were actually Rosalie's memories from when she was alive.
If Rosalie had worn an elegant gown, and those memories grew stronger, maybe she would be able to "wear" it, but it was almost impossible. At any rate, gowns were formal clothes, so it would be hard for them to win out over memories of everyday outfits.
Even if it was only for a few days, I'd searched quite seriously, and it was Rosalie herself who stopped me.
"Big Sis, that's enough. If it can't be done, it can't."
"Rosalie, you're thinking you'll just have to grin and bear it, aren't you? You haven't done anything wrong, though. It's not right for an innocent person to suffer."
When I had been a cog in the corporate machine, I'd put up with far too much, and that was the same as giving up on thinking. If people just put up with everything, civilization would be eternally stuck in the Stone Age.
"Besides, if you could, you'd rather get all dressed up like everybody else, wouldn't you, Rosalie?"
When I asked her, Rosalie hesitated for a little, but she eventually nodded.
"If I had the chance to, then yeah, I would, but—"
"I knew it! Then let's keep looking for a way! We shouldn't give up so quickly!"
"But…how are we going to find one? It's not like there are any spells that weird."
"That's it!" I shouted.
"We'll just use a spell!"
"I doubt there is one, though…"
"As a great man once said, if the lesser cuckoo won't sing, I'll make it sing."
"What's a lesser cuckoo? Is it like a cockatrice? Those can petrify stuff…"
"Oops…just forget about that. That was my past life talking."
Right away, I decided to create a spell that would change ghosts' clothes. If it didn't exist, I could just make it myself. I'd put my overpowered witch abilities to work.
However, when I started checking into it, I immediately realized that this was going to be brutally hard.
A spell that affected ghosts was pretty unique to begin with. Using one to change clothes was even more exceptional. There were absolutely no similar spells.
Besides, since the spell would directly interfere with the ghost, if things went horribly wrong, I ran a risk of actually hurting Rosalie.
Even with my overpowered status, this might prove to be a tall order…
Time passed in the blink of an eye, and the day of our departure was approaching.
At this point, we'd be leaving the house in two days.
However, I'd made progress with the spell, too.
I'd found a clue, and I supposed if I did it this particular way, it would probably work.
Now all I had to do was implement the idea.
I handed Rosalie a dress.
It was white, and the design was as simple as possible.
"Here you go, Rosalie."
"Um, Big Sis? What should I do with this? You can show it to me all you want, but I can't put it on…"
"Examine that dress thoroughly and get its image fixed solidly in your mind. Next, imagine yourself wearing it. Make sure the image is vivid, as if you're really wearing it and walking around a party venue. Think of it as visualization training."
Rosalie didn't seem to have caught my meaning yet.
"Big Sis, have you finally resorted to spiritualism? 'Those who believe shall be saved' and such?"
A ghost thought I was being occult. That didn't sit right with me somehow.
"I came to the conclusion that we can probably use a spell to reinforce what you imagine. Then, if we can switch your current outfit for an image of you wearing a gown for about two days, your appearance should change, too."
My serious expression seemed to have motivated Rosalie.
"All right, Big Sis. I'll make sure your enthusiasm pays off."
"That's the spirit. After all, those who believe really will be saved!"
And so Rosalie began to study the dress and conduct some rigorous visualization training around the clock. I had her gaze at the dress from every angle, then stroll through the house, pretending she was at a party.
"There's a buffet party going on here, a buffet," Rosalie muttered. She made Laika jump, but in a way, it was normal for ghosts to startle people. That was probably all right.
Then, finally, it was time to cast the spell.
I drew a rather strangely shaped magic circle in the garden.
It was in the shape of an oval. Ordinarily, the closer these were to true circles, the better.
Apparently, this type was better at affecting ghosts. It had taken some serious research to figure that out.
Rosalie stood just outside the edge of that magic circle.
We'd set the dress on the ground right in front of her. That way, she could keep visualizing it until the very last minute.
"Here I go."
"All right. Go ahead, Big Sis."
I cast an original spell.
"Illuminate the darkness that yawns between this world and the next. Let the outstretched hand catch the other side…"
The chant ended without incident.
Now, the question was whether it would work or not. It was the first time I'd used this spell, so I really had no idea.
"Work properly, spell! Change, Rosalie!"
It had no direct bearing on the spell, but I shut my eyes and shouted loudly!
Then, timidly, I opened my eyes, and—
There was Rosalie, wearing the dress.
Actually, it was more magnificent than the dress I'd given her, with splendid lace trimmings.
"Oh, ohh… Big Sis… It worked! Now I'll be set even if there's a ball!"
Rosalie was almost in tears.
They were contagious: I was crying, too.
"I'm so glad! Now you'll be able to wear a fine dress to the demon lands! Except for the way you talk, you're a regular princess!"
"Thank you very much!"
We hugged each other tightly. Rosalie was a ghost, so my arms slipped right through her, but I wasn't going to care about little things like that. This was how we hugged, period. It was an air hug.
"Big Sis, can we fine-tune this a little?"
"Hmm? Did you want to add something to the dress?"
"I was thinking I'd like to put words on the back, like 'Rosalie In the House'…"
Oh, I'm definitely vetoing that suggestion.