Chapter 152: For My Seventh Birthday

“Then, to celebrate Sakuraile’s seventh birthday! Cheers (Prost)!”

“Cheers (Prost)!”

Led by Father’s toast, the cherry blossom viewing party masquerading as a birthday celebration began.

Because I insisted that in the other world it is customary to eat cake on birthdays, we prepared a mountain of cakes from La Vie en Rose.

Of course, that wasn’t all. I had summoned food trucks and the onigiri specialty store around the viewing area.

An impossibly large amount of food and drinks were lined up on the blue tarps, and everyone was happily smacking their lips.

“Delicious! As expected, the food from Sakuraile’s stores is the best! I can’t get enough of this curry, it’s been half a year!”

Sitting on the blue tarp, Tifa mumbled this while stuffing her cheeks full of curry rice. Calm down a little, will you.

Beside her, Tifa’s older sister Nero-san was also engrossed in her curry rice. Birds of a feather, these sisters.

“Half a year…? Didn’t you buy a ton of retort pouch curry at the convenience store last time?”

“I did, but when I treated Mother to some, she took it all!”

“Exactly! There were even flavors I hadn’t eaten yet!”

Tifa and Nero-san devoured their curry while complaining angrily.

Tifa and Nero-san’s mother… Her Majesty the Queen of Minuet, seemed to have taken quite a liking to curry. The spicy kind, no less.

I heard she handed them a considerable sum of money this time, ordering them to buy a lot more.

At this rate, they might be better off buying curry powder and curry roux in addition to the retort pouches next time.

The Minuet Queendom has plenty of spices, so if they analyze the curry powder, I think they could create a flavor tailored to the Minuet people’s tastes.

And once they perfect it, I’d appreciate it if they distributed it to our Empire as well.

Over there, Elliott and Risha were happily chatting with onigiri in one hand. Risha’s older sister, Leticia-san, was looking at them warmly… Wait, no? She was fussing over Risha and talking to her as if trying to compete with Elliott. She loves her sister way too much…

Well, Risha looks happy too, so I guess it’s fine.

I also picked up an onigiri from a plate on the blue tarp.

Hanami really calls for onigiri, doesn’t it. Hmm, is this a kelp (kombu) onigiri? The slightly sweet and salty kelp pairs perfectly with the rice.

Suddenly, I noticed Leon was exclusively eating pickled plum (umeboshi) onigiri.

“Leon, you’re only eating pickled plum onigiri… Wait, why are you only taking out the pickled plums?”

This guy… He’s planning to use the pickled plums as an alchemy catalyst again, isn’t he? We regularly sell them to the Traumerei Viscount House, don’t we? So you won’t miss even the slightest opportunity, huh?

Or rather, his father, Viscount Traumerei, was similarly extracting only the pickled plums from the pickled plum onigiri. This parent and child are hopeless. I need to do something about them soon…

It seems that one corner over there has turned completely into a banquet hall for the heavy drinkers. Even Father and His Majesty the Emperor are drinking together. This is supposedly my birthday party, but… well, it’s fine.

Thanks to Ritsu’s wind magic, the smell of alcohol is completely shut out from coming our way, and it seems to be blocking some of the noise, too.

They’ve completely split into the drinking and non-drinking groups.

However, there was one person chugging a drink on this side too. It wasn’t alcohol, but Prince Alfort, Luca’s older brother, who had been guzzling cola for a while now.

“Wow, to think there were so many varieties of cola! Every single one has its own distinct characteristics and is delicious! Lady Sakuraile, can I purchase these too? I would love to take some home as souvenirs.”

“Y-Yes. I’ll arrange for you to buy them later.”

Eh…? Why is this guy so obsessed with cola…? He never had this kind of preference in the game…

Starting from different brands of cola, to extra carbonated cola, diet cola, and even lemon-flavored cola, he was drinking every type of cola imaginable.

Is this kid going to be okay…? He’s definitely going to get fat, you know? He has such a good face, but he’s still a disaster prone to running wild…

Well, even if he gets chubby, he’ll probably still be reasonably handsome, though.

Is this really okay? I glanced over at Luca, only for her to heave a sigh that practically said, It’s hopeless. His own sister threw in the towel…

Attempting to make him stop drinking for a moment, I offered Prince Alfort a cola-flavored candy.

With this, he should at least stop drinking while he’s sucking on the candy…

“Mhm! Drinking cola while sucking on this candy makes it feel even more delicious!”

No! That’s not how it works! You utter disaster!

Is the Prelude Kingdom really going to be okay with this guy as their next king…?

But even though he was a disaster in the game, he was also quite exceptional…

His grades, physical abilities, and attentiveness were all outstanding, and on top of that, he’s beautiful, so at first glance, he looks like the perfect prince.

His only flaw is his tendency to randomly run wild… He’s definitely in a ‘running wild’ state right now…

Whatever, I’ll just leave the cola idiot be. I casually shoved Prince Alfort off onto Elliott’s boys’ group… I mean, introduced him to them, and returned to Luca and the others.

“How should I put this… Your brother is an eccentric individual, Luca.”

“Everyone, I’m sorry about my brother… He hasn’t been able to drink any cola at all since leaving our country, so I think he’s just bursting with happiness.”

“Bursting… just like the carbonation?”

Everyone shot me a ‘What are you talking about?’ look. Crap, that joke fell flat.

Come to think of it, didn’t old cola use things like coca leaves? …Modern cola has nothing to do with that, right? Could there be a component that only affects people of this world…? No, if that were the case, it would affect everyone else, too.

Ultimately, it’s just a matter of personal preference. He’s totally hooked on it. Tifa’s mother, Her Majesty the Queen of Minuet, seems completely hooked on curry, too.

“Come to think of it, Sakuraile. Could you show us your new stores? I came looking forward to that.”

As Tifa said that, Luca nodded enthusiastically, completely agreeing with the sentiment.

Hmm, but the only ones I’ve become able to summon since the Autumn Cooling Party are the instrument store and the izakaya.

Well whatever, I’ll just summon both. The izakaya is perfect for shoving all those drunks over there into anyway.

I got permission from Father for the time being, and summoned the instrument store ‘Oldies’ and the izakaya ‘Shunkashuutou’.

“As expected, otherworldly stores are quite strange. What is this red lamp? Is it made of paper?”

“Amazing. It’s full of instruments I’ve never seen before.”

Tifa seemed more interested in the izakaya, while Luca was more curious about the instrument store.

The moment I summoned the izakaya, the drunks were sucked right into the store. Honestly…

Well whatever, we’ll head to the instrument store… Ah, right.

“Pamela-sensei, could I request a song?”

I suggested that Pamela-sensei, who was currently smacking her lips over the cake, play something. For Luca and the others who didn’t know what an electric guitar was, it would be easier to understand if they saw it actually being played.

Pamela-sensei readily agreed, but she told me to sing… Ehhh…? Isn’t it normal at birthday parties for the guests to sing for the guest of honor…? I mean, I’ll sing, but still…

The song Pamela-sensei played was “Tentai Kansoku” by BUMP OF CHICKEN, a rock band Japan is proud of.

Since I also love this song that starts with a pleasant, rhythmic guitar intro, I ended up getting really into it.

The foreign invitees were absolutely blown away by the electric guitar sound and vocals they had never heard before.

Even if I sing in Japanese, the people of this world won’t understand the meaning of the words. Even if they couldn’t understand the lyrics, I shouted my heart out, as if trying to deliver that fiery passion regardless.

Jaaang! As the performance ended with a final strum, a huge round of applause erupted from the foreign group.

“That was amazing! It sounded like lightning striking! I didn’t understand the meaning of the lyrics, but your singing was great too, Sakuraile!”

“So that’s the ‘electric guitar’ you wrote about in your letters!? I want one too!”

Tifa and Luca’s excitement was through the roof. However, an electric guitar might be difficult for Luca.

Not in terms of skill or technique, but in terms of the power source. Even if I sold her batteries, they would run out quickly. Well, if she’s just practicing, she doesn’t need to be plugged into an amp 24/7, though.

Apparently, there’s a plan to create a magic tool electric guitar that doesn’t require electricity, but that’s not something that can be made overnight.

Well, Luca said she wants one anyway, so I’ll sell it to her, but who does she intend to have teach her? There’s no one in the Prelude Kingdom who can play an electric guitar, right?

“No, the Kingdom has court musicians as well, and if they actually listen to a song, I can think of a few musicians who seem like they could play it. If you record the songs on Lady Sakuraile’s cassette tapes and have their musicians listen to them, I believe it will be fine.”

Pamela-sensei resolved my doubts. I guess it should be fine then?

We entered the instrument store and I let Luca choose the type and her favorite color from among the kids’ guitars. That being said, there really weren’t that many varieties. She hesitated for a bit, but eventually, Luca chose an ice-blue Stratocaster.

Tifa found it amusing as well, but she seemed to like the harmonica more than the guitar and was blaring it paa-paa. It’s a bit noisy…

Risha, led by Elliott, was also having fun looking at the instruments.

When I recommended an acoustic guitar, saying “This kind of guitar doesn’t need electricity,” surprisingly enough, Leticia-san seemed to take more of a liking to it than Risha did.

After hearing Pamela-sensei play John Denver’s “Take Me Home, Country Roads” on that guitar, she decided to buy it on the spot.

Apparently, there are similar instruments in the Empire too. Something like a lute or a mandolin, maybe?

Prince Alfort took a liking to this as well and purchased a bass guitar. It seems he decided on it after hearing he could play alongside Luca. He was asking Estelle and Leon, who were also learning the bass, for various tips.

The trio of Elliott, Jean, and Leon had started learning the electric guitar, drums, and bass, respectively, starting this year, and it seems they had reached a level where they could play to some extent.

After that, at Pamela-sensei’s suggestion, we enjoyed a light jam session. Matching tones with a different group of members than usual was quite fun in its own right.

And so, I was able to happily spend my seventh birthday, which was also my first birthday in this world.