The tense situation between Agni-san and Pandora-san was settled
with the arrival of Ozma-san.
Pandora-san was brought away by Alice's clone, and Agni-san was
persuaded to leave by Ozma-san.
After sending Agni-san home, Ozma-san slightly bowed to me,
scratching his head with a wry smile on his face.
[Well, I'm sorry about that, Miyama-kun. Agni-chan is a good girl, but
she tends to get a little hotheaded… Are you hurt?]
[I'm alright.]
[I'm glad to hear that. Uncle will properly tell off Agni-chan, so I hope
you can continue to be good friends with her.]
[Yes!]
Hmmm, this calm response… Ozma-san really is a cool, mature man.
The atmosphere around him makes me feel at ease, as if he's exuding
the warmth of the neighborhood Uncle, and as a fellow man, I admire
him quite a bit. I wish I could become a calm adult like him.
[Speaking of which, why is Ozma-san here?]
[Ahh, I'm actually waiting for Miyama-kun on the first floor of the
Central Tower… I felt Agni-chan and Pandora-chan's magic power
though, I thought they might be fighting again.]
[You wanted to see me?]
[Unnn, well, to be precise, rather than Miyama-kun, I guess it's better to
say that I'm looking for Phantasmal King-sama?]
[You're looking for Alice?]
Apparently, Ozma-san came to visit Alice for something. If he came all
the way to find me so that he could find Alice herself, did something
troublesome happen?
I met Ozma-san on the first day of the Six Kings Festival, and even
though we hadn't been acquainted with each other that much, he had
given me advice and made a great follow-up at my date with Isis-san, so
I want to help him if it's possible.
[…Actually, one of Uncle's acquaintances wants to participate in the Six
Kings Festival. If possible, I'd like to prepare an invitation for her, but I
would have to add her to the list of invited guests to achieve that, so I
came to ask for permission.]
[Fumu… Is it not possible for Ozma-san to sign this person up as your
companion?]
[Ah~~ Errr, come to think of it, I didn't tell you that. I'm more of an
organizer than a participant, so I don't have an invitation.]
[I see… Alice.]
Ozma-san told me with an apologetic expression, but it didn't seem like
an unreasonable request. No, of course it might be more work for Alice,
who would be managing the participants, but at worst, she could sign
Ozma-san's acquaintance as my companion, so I decided to ask Alice for
help.
When I called out to her, she immediately appeared and took out an
iron-ranked invitation from nowhere.
[Yes, yes, I understand, yes.]
[I'm sorry for the trouble, Phantasmal King-sama. Errr, her name is…]
[You talking about "that dwarf living in the Archlesia Empire, Flameasan". Yes, here's the invitation.]
[…Hahaha, well, as expected of Phantasmal King-sama. Thank you very
much.]
Alice has the invitations ready before Ozma-san can even speak the
name of the person he's talking about. Her information-gathering
ability is as monstrous as always… Seriously, as expected of her.
[If you want to thank me, you should go thank Kaito-san instead. To be
honest, if you hadn't requested that through Kaito-san, I would have
refused because it would be troublesome.]
[I see… Miyama-kun, I'm really grateful. Thanks.]
[N- No.]
[I know it wouldn't be enough to thank you, but won't you have this?]
[…This is?]
After thanking me with a kind expression on his face, Ozma-san took
out a slightly large paper bag from nowhere and held it out to me.
Receiving the paper bag, I tilted my head and looked at Ozma-san who
was lighting the cigarette held in his mouth.
[…That's the coffee Uncle likes. You just add hot water to it and it's
ready to drink. I've prepared a little extra for you, so you can have it
with your friends.]
[Thank you! I'm sorry that you had to go out of your way though.]
[No, no, it was Uncle who suddenly made the request. Really, thank
you… If you're okay with it, let's go out for a drink sometime, Miyamakun. Of course, it would be Uncle's treat.]
[Ahh, yes! I'll take you up on your offer then.]
Hmmm, I think that Ozma-san, who can say thank you without
hesitation, is a really cool adult. Maybe it's because he seems like a
dependable adult, but even the way he invites people looks so cool.
Perhaps, the reason why he didn't take out the coffee first was that he
didn't want it to be something like an exchange condition?
[Later then, Miyama-kun. I'm sure you have lots of things to deal with,
but enjoy the rest of the Six Kings Festival, okay?]
[Yes!]
[Unnn, see you later.]
With a gentle smile on her face, Ozma-san lightly patted my head before
waving one hand as he left. The way he left looked so very picturesque,
and even the way his trench coat fluttered in the wind looked super
cool.
…Should I buy a trench coat for myself?
[…No, I don't think a trench coat would look very good on you, Kaitosan.]
[…I also feel like that was the case.]
Dear Mom, Dad——– I really admire Ozma-san, not simply because of
his good looks, but because of his cool words and gestures. To be
honest, I don't see myself becoming like him at all, but if it were
possible, someday, just like him——— I want to grow to become
someone cool.