Published: February 1, 2026
The second day of the Founding Festival. The kingdom was even more lively than on the first.
Participants from other countries would probably keep increasing by the day. The main avenue was packed with people, overflowing with color partly thanks to all the costumes.
Using that main avenue only as much as absolutely necessary, Lizel slipped along the backstreets with ease.
Wrapped in the outfit Eleven had prepared the other day, he didn’t look like an ordinary participant at all. Rather, he looked like some noble sneaking down into the castle town in disguise like the first king himself, but everyone was too busy enjoying themselves with all their might to notice.
The few who did notice reflexively did a double take, but immediately lost him in the crowd. They ended up tilting their heads, wondering if they’d just imagined it.
In this way he arrived at the familiar shop.
The same small sign that read “Appraisals are my specialty” in an oddly unconfident hand was swaying as always.
The shop that was almost always open when he came now had a note stuck on the door reading “This morning only,” with a “CLOSE” placard hanging there. It was just after noon now; imagining the young shopkeeper carefully putting it out right at noon, Lizel smiled and knocked on the door.
A few seconds later, he heard footsteps approach and the door slowly opened.
“I came to pick you up. Am I a little early?”
“N-no, thank you so much…! W-whoa, you’re in costume.”
Judge’s face lit up the instant he saw Lizel’s costume, his smile going soft with genuine delight.
Lizel had recently realized that Judge was surprisingly willing to get into the spirit of things, but he probably hadn’t expected Lizel to go so far as to have a costume made just to participate. It seemed his expectations had been upended in a good way.
Had Lizel just come in casual clothes, Judge would almost certainly have half-cryingly prepared a new outfit for him like a yearly tradition. But the outfit Eleven had chosen with all his might was, in line with its price, well-cut, carefully made, and above all suited Lizel’s image. Seeing Judge smiling so brightly, he must have cleared the bar in Judge’s mind.
“You’re in costume too, Judge-kun. It suits you.”
“Th-thank you… It’s my grandpa’s old one.”
In truth, Eleven’s notice had been so sudden Judge hadn’t had time to get a new costume.
The outfit Judge wore as he blushed from the compliment could only be described as a vivid antique. Its festival-bright colors gleamed dully like colored glasswork, enhancing the atmosphere around him.
Given his height, flashy clothes would look great on him, Lizel thought, but if he considered that the original owner was Insai, this was more than enough. Frankly, he wouldn’t be surprised to see Insai himself in something even more gaudy for his age.
And as expected, a degree of exposure seemed standard: Judge’s arms, usually hidden, were bare, and Lizel watched them as he mulled that over.
“Maybe I should have had them make mine with my stomach showing at least.”
“Eh!?”
“No, that’s a bit of a high hurdle after all.”
Judge, frozen in shock for a moment, could only sag at Lizel’s self-contained conclusion.
When Lizel then asked if he was ready to go, Judge nodded in a fluster and ran to the back of the shop to get his things.
“Come on, let’s hurry up and go.”
“Stud… you’re more excited than I expected.”
“And if I am?”
The moment they arrived at the adventurers’ guild, Stud was already waiting just inside the door, standing with arms folded like a guardian statue.
Lizel couldn’t help wondering what he would have done if someone other than Lizel had walked in, but since Stud had been standing there with such certainty, he must have known somehow.
For all his complaints that crowds were a nuisance, Stud was clearly in full festival mode, costume and all. The white-based outfit suited him remarkably well, but it was probably not of his own choosing.