After getting through the greeting with Alice's follow-up, Kuro took the
microphone again and announced in a cheerful voice.
"Well then, here comes the special birthday cake!"
[…Special? ——-Whoa, that's big!?]
A cake that kinda looks like a wedding cake… no, a cake the size of a
little house came out! No, no, isn't that too big… no, I guess not huh?
With people like Megiddo-san and Acht, I guess cakes like this are
normal.
I mean, I really don't know how they can prepare this much in such a
short time. Once again, I realized how high the specs of the people
around me are.
"Next, an explanation for the cake… Ein, explanation please!"
"Understood. This birthday cake has "186 layers", and not only can you
obviously enjoy different flavors depending on which part you ate, the
flavors also change depending on how much you eat. And to make sure
that everything tastes great, we have adjusted everything down to the
smallest grain of sugar."
"I see. That sounds delicious."
"It's my honor to receive this compliment. This cake is created by me
and Sha… No Face. I can confidently declare that this cake and the other
food present today tastes the best. Kaito-sama, please enjoy them to
your heart's content."
I don't really know what's so great about them… but they really do look
delicious.
Incidentally, there is no culture in this world where birthday cakes are
made with candles amounting to one's age. I guess that should be
obvious because with people that had lived for thousands and tens of
thousands years old, if you put that many candles on the cake, it might
cause a huge fire.
Just like that, the cake was quickly cut into pieces and a piece was
brought to me. Looking at the cross-section though, this looked like a
mille crepe cake or something like that.
Urged by Kuro and the others to take the first bite, I already knew that
this was going to be the case but… It's extremely delicious. Moreover, it
really does taste different when you change the amount of cake you put
in your mouth at once… Ein and Alice really are great.
"Now then, I'd like to invite everyone to join for the cake and food… but
of course, there will be some events! Let's have some fun!"
Events huh… Come to think of it, when I attended Amalie-san's birthday
party with Lilia-san, I remembered there was dancing and a
performance by an orchestra. I wonder if it will be something like that
this time too?
There are many royalty and nobles here after all, so it might be
something high-class and elegant…
"Well then, let's start with the first event! "Tag-team Karaoke Battle"
starts!"
Something low-class suddenly came ooooooooooout!? N- No, calling
karaoke as low-class might be rude… It's more like a standard, iron-clad
event.
However… There are kings and an emperor, and there are even Gods
here, you know? Karaoke… There's no way it's going to be okay, right!?
With that in mind, I looked at everyone from the stage… arehh? None of
them looked too anxious? Rather, it feels like there are lots of people
here who seem like they're wondering about something.
"This Karaoke, you see, it's one of the games in Kaito-kun's world,
where one sings they're favorite song. I'm sure everyone knows several
songs, so it will be a competition using those songs!"
A- Ahhh, I see… There were many of the people here who didn't know
what karaoke was huh. I mean, there were surprisingly a lot of people
who looked like they liked it.
I guess they would really be intrigued by the games of another world.
"Now, the first Tag-team Karaoke Battle has commenced. From here on,
the one with the role of MC and providing the Live Commentary, will be
me, Alice-chan! And of course, handling the Analysis will be…!"
"…Hey, why me again? Not only God of Time and Space is here, but
there's Shallow Vernal-sama here too, so I won't be able to slack off if I
take this role…"
"I can't fool around too much either since Kuro-san is here… so we're on
the same boat here. Yes, and with that, our Analyst will be the God of
Fate, Fate-san! Everyone in this venue are people who know her name
anyway, so there's no problem saying it here."
"…That's not the problem here… Unnn, well, I guess I'll work a bit."
As I was thinking about such things, I heard familiar voices… I mean,
those familiar voices seem to be handling the live commentary and
analysis.
A familiar combination of a live commentary and analysis, MCing as if it
was the most obvious thing in the world…
"Now then, here are the rules! First, please divide into pairs! All you
loners out there might feel like this is actually the first test, but it isn't,
okay!? Eh, doing a lottery for you lot is troublesome, so please just
make a team with your fellow brethren."
Stop that, oi! It'll bring back the trauma of my school days, so stop
focusing on the loners…
"And as for the rules, it would be something simple, sing your favorite
song! Incidentally, the accompanying music will be handled by the
wonderful Alice-chan Orchestra. Don't worry, they're a great band who
can play any genre and any instrument."
"…Shall-tan is very versatile, isn't she?"
"Fufufu, you can praise me more."
When I heard Alice's words, I moved my gaze and appeared in the
corner of the venue before I knew it was a mysterious group clad in
stuffed costumes… It's a gathering of idiotic clones.
A cat, dog, monkey, cow, horse, bear, lion, tiger, and a frog… there were
various clones clad in such stuffed costumes carrying different
instruments… Why is there only one amphibian in their group? No,
well, forget about that…
However, I see… It's like karaoke with live music huh…
"And just as the battle in the name implies, this is a competition. A duo
versus duo match… Incidentally, the decision of who wins will be made
by Kaito-san."
[Eh? Me!?]
"Yes. Kaito-san will be given a red and a blue flag. Please listen to the
two sets of songs and raise the flag of the one you think is better. The
important thing here is that this competition isn't about who sung
better! It's about who Kaito-san thinks is better! Please note that
judging is completely up to Kaito-san, so please take note that being
good at singing doesn't mean your victory."
Fumu… That explanation helps me a bit. I'm a complete amateur, so it
would be difficult for me to make subtle judgments about what's good
and what's bad. I'm grateful for the fact that I can decide based on just
my feelings.
"I see. I guess that means it's important to find out what kind of songs
Kai-chan likes and what songs draw his attention."
"Yes, there are some otherworld songs that have been passed down to
this world, so singing such songs might be a good plan. Welly well then!
Have you made your teams yet!? If you haven't made one yet, please go
to a corner and talk it out with your fellow loners and decide on a team
already."
Stop it!? Why do you have to be so cruel to the loners!? Don't think that
everyone can just make teams in these kinds of situations!!! Loners are
sensitive beings… What would you do if you break their hearts!?
Dear Mom, Dad——- Looking at the venue, I thought it was going to be
a gorgeous party that had a gorgeous event, but surprisingly——— I
never expected that a karaoke battle had begun.