Chapter 53

The Takanos were in an uproar from morning. The girls' voices echoed with laughter and excitement, and many people bustled about busily.

Compared to a noble's mansion, it was a small house, but for a commoner's home, it was a grand residence. After all, it was big enough to host a home party, and even a barbecue in the garden. There was no pool, but it had many rooms, making it a grand residence. For those who thought 50 tsubo was a bit too small to call a grand residence, I would respond that it was a good war. After all, it was a house that my father worked hard to build, so it was a grand residence.

In this grand residence, the maids were running around busily. Of course, we didn't actually have maids. Well, we weren't that rich, but we could certainly say we were in the wealthy category.

So, if you asked who these maids were, they were the maids from the Teisei family.

After some charity event, the Teisei family started sending maids and increasing the number of guards. It seemed I had done something wrong. Oh, the parents had refused the maids. These people were here to help today.

If this were a template, I should have smiled with a "I did something, didn't I?" but seeing the increased number of guards, I couldn't take that attitude. Even my parents had guards.

Both my father and mother were at a loss. Well, the guards were of the same sex, so there was no suspicion of infidelity. In fact, there were three guards each for my parents. For my parents? Before, they only needed to exchange contact information, so it was clear that the situation was bad.

By the way, I had six C-rank adventurers and six women-only parties, making a total of twelve people. The women-only party was B-rank. Personally, I felt more at ease with the men's party as guards.

These women were not the template's beautiful party members but rather experienced mercenaries, or rather, ladies in their 30s. So, I wasn't nervous. They were always giving me candy, and they were good people. They were said to specialize in guarding.

It was clear that something was wrong, but what was frustrating was not knowing the reason. Even my parents were puzzled. Yeah, I was acting normally, so what was going on? Not knowing the reason was really bothering me.

My father had asked Teisei Oga, but he was thinking and asked us to wait a bit.

It was so suspicious that even when I asked Yami and the others, they were puzzled and said there was nothing strange. Hmm, this mystery needed to be solved quickly.

But I knew it wouldn't be solved today.

After all, today was the day before the end of March, the day of the royal family's children's party.

Right now, I was preparing to go to the party with my friends.

"Yami, you look so beautiful! It's like the night sky is on your dress! It suits you so well!"

I clapped in the living room, exclaiming in admiration. In front of me, Yami was in a dress.

"Thank you, Mi-sama."

Yami, a third-grader who would be in fourth grade in three days, smiled with a charm that was inappropriate for a child, placing her hand on her cheek. Yami was wearing a chic, thin black dress. It was a frilly one. What kind of dress? ...I'm not really knowledgeable about clothes and hairstyles. Making oneself look neat and making oneself look beautifully neat are slightly different.

It was a seductively black dress, adorned with jewels like the stars in the night sky, and she was wearing black lace gloves and high heels. Her black hair was tied in a ponytail, and she had recently developed a beautiful face. The high heels were new, so they were treated as indoor shoes.

She was wearing a necklace with a large, white, shining diamond at the center, surrounded by small, flawless diamonds. She had a silver tiara on her head, looking like a princess from somewhere.

"Tamamo, you look beautiful too! Your costume is amazing! It suits you so well!"

Next to her, Tamamo, with her golden hair tied in side pigtails, was wagging her tails like a mischievous fox, grinning. She was wearing a cute, stylized fox-patterned kimono and twirled, making the hem flutter happily.

"You both look beautiful! So pretty!"

It was clear that Miu's vocabulary for compliments was limited.

But both of them looked happy. They smiled and blushed, complimenting me.

"Mi-sama, it suits you too. It matches your cuteness."

"En-chan, you're so cute! So cute~"

"Thank you~"

Miu blushed and twirled, her silver-gray hair flowing, showing a cute smile and spreading her skirt like a flower as she spun.

My dress was chosen by my mother. It was a red dress with a flower pattern. We went to a department store and tried on many dresses before choosing this one. I really liked it.

"The Teisei family could have prepared it for you..."

"This one is perfect!"

I smiled and answered the butler.

The butler from the Teisei family looked troubled, but it was the best dress. After all, it was a dress my parents and I bought together!

This was definitely a rarer item than a samurai's armor. I decided to reinforce it later. I would use magic stones to make it +10.

Now, with Yami and the others here, there were many maids. They were helping with the dressing. They took out accessories from a jewelry box and tried to decorate me, but I declined. The leaf-shaped hair accessory we bought at the department store was fine. My parents had complimented it, saying it was cute!

I also decided to reinforce this later. I needed to level up my "Engineer" skill quickly. I intended to enchant it with magic. The "Item Reinforcement" and "Magic Enchantment" commands in the game were great. The rough system that allowed me to reinforce items in the item box was a lifesaver.

Well, for non-equipment items, it was more of a psychological boost. The dress would only increase my defense by +10. But it was all about the feeling.

"Mi-chan, you look like a princess today."

"Yes, you look so cute, Mi-chan."

"Yay, thank you, Papa, Mama!"

Mi-chan dove into her parents, showing a radiant, innocent smile.

My parents, with gentle smiles, patted my head, saying I was a cuddly child. I smiled happily, feeling the warmth of a loving family.

"Mi-sama, you always heal me with your presence."

"Let's hug Tamamo too, hug~"

Yami sighed dreamily, and Tamamo opened her arms wide, inviting a hug. I dove in, hugging and laughing together.

"You look good, Yami."

"You look good too, Tamamo."

"Everyone looks so beautiful~"

Yami's mother and Tamamo's parents entered the living room and complimented us. Yami's mother had black hair and eyes, a perfect match for her name, and was wearing an expensive kimono. Tamamo's parents were in travel kimonos. My parents were also in their best clothes. I thought there might be a price difference, but I couldn't tell, and my parents were the best because of their love.

The parents exchanged greetings and talked about the weather and the season.

"Oh, you look good, young lady. Even a horse needs a costume, right?"

The older sister teased me. We were now close enough to joke with each other.

"Hee-hee, I'm so cute, right?"

I mimicked a horse, smiling, and she chuckled in response.

The new guards for Miu appeared. They were wearing "Magic Armor" but had sturdy, protective clothing over it. They were dressed like that.

By the way, the women's "Magic Armor" was like a leotard. In the original story, only young girls and beautiful women wore it, so I hadn't thought about it much. But for older women, it must be tough. I see, that's why they dress like this.

The older sister changed her intimidating face to a smile and showed her watch.

"It's almost time. Security is tight. Let's go."

"Okay! Let's go!"

"Not yet. Fix your hair first."

My mother grabbed me, raised my hand, and fixed my hair. Perfectly equipped! I could even face the final dungeon.

Outside, the guards were standing. The old men's party "Martini" and the women's party "Kongosei" were there.

The name "Martini" came from the wish to be as wealthy as to always be able to drink Martini. "Kongosei" represented an impenetrable fortress. Personally, I liked "Martini" more. I preferred party names with a bit of fun.

The slightly worn-out old men were considering semi-retirement and focusing on guarding.

"Kongosei" was a dedicated guard party. They were said to be very reliable.

The leader's nickname was "Kongo." She didn't reveal her real name. She must have her reasons. She had an intimidating face and a tall, large build, standing at 190 cm. She wore yellow "Magic Armor" with reinforcement marks, indicating she was a tank.

The party also included a spear user, a wind user, a bow user, a spirit user, and a summoner. It was a well-balanced party suitable for guarding. They had introduced their skills, so I had assigned them to jobs in my mind. There were no jobs in reality, but it made it easier to remember.

"Kongosei" was well-thought-out. The bow user had a familiar, and the spirit user and summoner could control spirits and monsters. Even if the enemy came in numbers, they could match them with numbers.

The bow user was receiving a report from a familiar hawk on her arm. The familiar could use "Shared Vision" and "Human Language Comprehension," so it was reporting in human language. I had petted the hawk a few times; it was a cute bird. A talking hawk in a fantasy world was impressive. It could use simple magic and was quite strong.

I also had a similar job, "Hunter," with a familiar slot, but I hadn't summoned one yet. In the game, I used a powerful mammoth as a familiar for battles, but in reality, I was unsure what to use. There was no "Shared Vision" or "Human Language Comprehension" in reality. It was a disadvantage of the game.

A magic armored limousine and a convoy of vehicles were parked in front of the house. The neighbors were peeking, but I waved and said goodbye with a smile, and they smiled back and wished us a good trip. It was important to maintain good relations with the neighbors.

We got into the limousine. Yami and the others followed. My parents, Yami, Yami's mother, and Tamamo got in. Unfortunately, Tamamo's parents were in a different vehicle. By the way, Oga was already at the royal city for work.

"Let's go to the castle!"

"Oo!"

"Oo!"

Miu raised her hand and shouted, and Yami and the others enthusiastically raised their fists. The party was going to be fun. There would surely be lots of delicious food.

"Hmm?"

At that moment, I realized something. Or rather, I remembered.

"Party?"

"What's wrong, Mi-sama?"

"Nothing, it's fine."

Yami looked puzzled and asked, but I shook my head and answered.

...But