◇009 Store Summon 2
The day after meeting the royal family for the first time, when I woke up, I noticed that the emblem on my right hand had changed.
"Le-level up...?"
A new pattern had appeared on the outside of the round emblem, similar to the numbers on a clock's face. I remember that every time the level increased, this pattern would grow, eventually surrounding the emblem and making it larger.
This was definitely a level-up, no doubt about it. But why?
"Could it be that I leveled up because my favorability went up...?"
In games, favorability would increase by either surpassing a certain threshold or by completing various events, leading to a level-up.
Could it be that my encounter with Elliot yesterday raised his favorability...!?
...No, even in the game, even with the protagonist Estelle, just meeting someone wouldn't raise favorability this much.
Elliot's reaction didn't seem like that, and I certainly didn’t think I was so captivating that I would make anyone fall head over heels for me.
There must be some other reason behind this.
If it's not favorability... then perhaps it was my encounter with Estelle? After all, the meeting between the protagonist Estelle and the villainous noblewoman is one of the key events with a special still image, but...
Or maybe it was just a coincidence, and I leveled up simply because I kept summoning things continuously?
Hmm... I don't know. Well, at least I’ll just be happy that I leveled up.
Now, what new abilities do I have?
I should be able to summon a new shop, right...? It’s not just a new snack, is it?
Just as I was heading to the garden to try summoning, my father stopped me. Why?
"We're still setting up a barrier similar to the one in the 'Trial Room' at the church, to prevent any unintended consequences from your new shop summons. It will be done in about three days, so could you wait until then?"
He explained that if the summon exceeded the barrier's limits, it would automatically cancel the summoning.
Though the duke's garden is quite large, if I summoned a large store by mistake, it could damage the beautifully cultivated garden that my mother had worked so hard on.
I restrained my excitement and decided to wait until the barrier was finished.
I wonder what kind of shop will appear next… Oh, I hope it's a convenience store! I haven’t had onigiri in a while! They have bento, too! Oden and nikuman... Oh, but those are only available in winter, so if the summoning happens at the wrong time, I might not get them...
But in summer, they might have frappes or chilled ramen!
My excitement grew as I thought about it, but the next day, a letter arrived from Estelle.
She thanked me for taking care of the Euphonium family's mansion in the royal capital (though it was my mother who had done that) and included her thoughts on the snacks I gave her, listing each one.
It seemed Estelle particularly liked the last piece of ramune candy I gave her. Ah, I only gave her one, after all...
I decided to write a reply to Estelle and send her a bag filled with all kinds of ramune candies.
"Young lady, it's time for your lesson."
"Yes..."
As I finished writing the letter and took a breather, my maid, Alisa, came to call me.
Alisa is nineteen years old. She has a slightly reddish bob cut and is my personal maid. Apparently, she was sent from the prestigious Maid Guild, an organization that trains top-class maids.
Among them, Alisa is considered an elite. Normally, maids like her are sent to serve royal families, but since we are technically part of the royal family as well, she was assigned here.
Though I haven't seen it firsthand, I hear she's also highly skilled in combat. Alisa and Tanya, a knight, are generally assigned as my personal guards.
It may seem exaggerated, but as someone who has been kidnapped once, I can't really argue. Although, I don’t remember a thing about it...
In general, I am allowed quite a bit of freedom. However, now that I’m a noble, there are certain things I can't escape, and dancing is one of them.
As a noble young lady, I must attend various social gatherings. If a daughter cannot dance at least one dance, it would bring shame to her parents, my father and mother.
Honestly, it’s a hassle, but I try to stick to the lessons. I can’t let them be embarrassed.
Fortunately, or rather, since I have the mindset of an adult (despite being a child), I’m quick to pick things up, and Alisa has been praising me for it.
I tend to get carried away when praised, so I continued to take the lessons seriously, and now I’ve gotten fairly good at it.
I've even been given the seal of approval, meaning I can attend any party without a problem. Though, it would likely be a children’s party...
I may feel like I was being flattered a bit, but I’ll accept it.
I heard that in about a month, there will be Elliot's birthday party. That will be my debut as a duke’s daughter in front of the public. I can’t afford to make a fool of myself. I need to put in the effort.
However, since it’s Elliot’s birthday party, many noble children from the capital will likely be attending.
Which means, the chances of meeting the main characters of Starlight Symphony have increased dramatically...
The first person that comes to mind is Jene Ludra Staccato, who is also one of the romance targets, just like Elliot.
He’s the son of the Commander of the Symphonia Empire’s Knights and is also a Count’s heir. Since Elliot and Jene have a guard-and-ward relationship, there’s no doubt that Jene will be invited to the party as well.
It’s kind of amusing how many music-related terms there are in this game... Our family is named "Philharmonie" after all. Well, it’s easy to remember, so I suppose it’s fine.
The title alone, Starlight Symphony, hints at music.
Though the story doesn't emphasize music that much... The background music was nice, though. I suppose they just gave it a name that was easy to understand.
Jene is best described as carefree and naïve, or, depending on your perspective, a bit of a fool. He has a genius sense when it comes to battle. His Gift is the Flame Sword, which allows him to envelop his sword in flames or launch fireballs.
He’s reliable in battle. In battle.
Outside of that, he’s a bit absent-minded, but that’s part of his charm, and he’s quite popular. I, however, find it a bit irritating, but I suppose everyone has their preferences.
The other romance targets should be out of town or overseas until they go to the academy, so I don’t expect to meet them anytime soon.
The real problem lies with the "other villainous noblewomen."
In Starlight Symphony, the main antagonist in the first half of the story, as well as in the Elliot route, is me, Sakurael.
But in routes where the heroine enters any other target’s path besides Elliot, a character who interferes with the heroine’s relationship will appear. These are the villainous noblewomen of the individual routes.
For example, in Jene's case, there’s Bianca Latia Serenade, a girl aiming to become a knight. She is Jene’s childhood friend and has feelings for him, which causes her to become jealous of the heroine as she grows closer to Jene.
Bianca challenges the heroine to various contests. To summarize, after completing events related to the knights, Bianca eventually acknowledges Jene’s relationship with the heroine and withdraws... That’s the true end of Jene’s route.
Though Bianca suffers heartbreak, she ends up having a peaceful ending with her health intact. Compared to me, she doesn't get such a rough treatment as a villainous noblewoman!
Furthermore, in Jene's route, there’s an event where I, Sakuraile, who had been humiliated and lost my position in the academy, loses control and summons wild beasts in a fit of rage, which Jene and the heroine must defeat.
By the way, in that scenario, I get eaten by the beasts. It’s the worst route! I definitely don’t want to be eaten!
...But now my Gift isn’t Beast Summoning, it’s Store Summoning, so I don’t think that “eaten by beasts” route will happen anymore... Still, I can’t shake off the unease.
Honestly, I don’t want to meet Jene or Bianca. Those two are the last people I want to run into.
But well, that’s that.
"A party, huh... Since it's the crown prince's birthday, I guess I should get him something?"
According to my father, Elliot is still obsessed with the six-piece puzzle, and whenever he has free time, he's always twisting and turning it. What? He's still at it? I was surprised.
Not in the sense of why hasn't he solved it yet, but more in the sense of why hasn't he given up yet?
I’m not sure if it’s persistence or stubbornness, but he must really like it. What could I possibly give him that's better than that?
Something similar could be the puzzle rings sold at the candy shop. But there are only six types of them, and they’re not really that difficult. Compared to the six-piece puzzle, they might be too easy.
Maybe I should go with a classic gift for boys, like a plastic model kit? A robot anime model might look like a knight figure if you squint. The assembly instructions are mostly pictures, so it’s probably easy to figure out. The ones sold at the candy shop are even older than the ones I had when I was a kid.
While I was thinking about this, the work on the garden was quickly finished, and I was able to summon a new shop.
Please, Samonia-sama... please let it be a convenience store this time!
"I wonder what kind of store it will be."
"I hope it's a shop that sells alcohol."
Behind me, my father and mother seemed even more excited than I was. I’m sure there’s alcohol in a convenience store, right? If it’s just an alcohol shop, though, I wouldn’t enjoy it as much.
When I turned twenty, I drank a few times and bought alcohol with some older friends, but I’m not really a fan of it.
If it makes my father happy, though, I suppose that's fine.
Alright! Let's summon it!
Activating my Gift, I could clearly sense that something that was definitely not a candy shop was appearing. If I call this here, it should be fine. Alright, here we go.
"[Store Summoning]!"
A brilliant light enveloped the Duke’s expansive garden. It was so bright that I couldn’t keep my eyes open.
Once the light faded and I opened my eyes, I saw a familiar sight before me.
An old-fashioned tiled roof with a blue curtain. A long chimney, something you wouldn't typically find on a normal house. And, most notably, the character "湯" (yū) written in white on the curtain. This... is...
—A public bathhouse. No doubt about it, this is a public bathhouse. In fact, it’s Fuji no Yu, the bathhouse run by Emi-chan's grandmother, who was my classmate when I was in elementary school!
Just like the candy shop, this "Fuji no Yu" closed down when I was in middle school. Wait, does my Gift only summon businesses that have already closed down?
"S-Sakuraile-chan, what is this?"
"Um, it looks like... a bathhouse," I managed to answer my mother as best as I could.
Ah, Fuji no Yu.
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