When I did, Juna, who was also listening, said, “A festival of songs, is it? That sounds like an opportunity to put our talents to work,” and was uncharacteristically proactive about it.
Then Pamille and Nanna, as well as other loreleis, and the general who had become a singer, Margarita, had gotten highly enthusiastic about the idea, and after some point it had gone so far that I couldn’t say, “Nope, we’re not doing it after all!” anymore.
Between loreleis from the singing cafe Lorelei, which had at some point turned into something like a production company, and participants from the Nodo Jiman amateur singing contest program we ran in Van gathering, it had turned into a fairly large-scale event. That was when the sudden rush to get things ready had begun.
Well, having everyone work together to create something was fun in a culture festival sort of way, but it meant my workload had gone up just that much more…
The hard part was going to be the “White” part of Kouhaku’s red and white.
The Red Team (female singers), led by Juna, had variety and flair, but the male singers just didn’t leave as much of an impact. The vast majority had come up through Nodo Jiman, and they all sung this world’s folk songs. If there were no male idols participating in Kouhaku, and it were all enka singers, that wouldn’t be very stylish, now would it?
Because of that, I had decided on a big experimental deployment of my male idol response to the female loreleis — the singing knights, orpheuses — which I had been developing for some time.
“Now, my orpheuses, gather!” I called.
“““Yes, sir!”””
When I called out to them, three young men who were discussing something off in the corner came over to me. One of them, the tall, silver-haired, twenty-something man, saluted me and said, “The orpheus unit Yaiba is ready and awaiting your commands.”
He was a human from Van and the leader of Yaiba, Axe Steiner. He was an attractive man with striking, cool eyes, but his overly formal speech that was characteristic of young men from Amidonia gave him a strait-laced image.
When he saw the way Axe was acting, the comparatively easygoing young man with tiger-stripped hair laughed wryly. “Sheesh, our leader’s such a stiff. Am I right, Kukri?”
“I think you’re a little too laid back, Kotetsu,” Kukri agreed.
The frivolous and superficial looking young tiger beastman was Kotetsu Burai. He was a fiery man with distinctive yellow and black stripes; athletic; and his sharp dance moves made him stand out even in this group.
The one he had turned to for agreement was a middle school aged pretty boy (?), Kukri Carol. I think you’ll have realized this from his surname, but Kukri was a kobito and Pamille Carol’s big twin brother. He was clearly filling out the shota position in the unit, but he was still the eldest of the three.
…Man, the kobito race were scary.
Well, anyway, these were the three members of Friedonia’s first idol unit, Yaiba. The name had come from the fact that all three of them had names that sounded kind of like bladed weapons. I hadn’t had much time to come up with a name, after all.
Incidentally, I’d considered including Hal, who also had a weapon-like name, in their members, but he had firmly refused. According to Kaede, “Hal can control his pitch, but he’s tone deaf, you know.”
That wasn’t important now, though. I clapped my hands. “I want the members of Yaiba to start rehearsing as soon as the set is ready.”
“Yes, sir!” Steiner announced. “Are you certain you want us to go first, sir?”
“I want to test that the stage is strong enough,” I said. “You’re the only act during the song battle that will have multiple members singing and dancing. If you guys are fine, it should be safe for everyone else, too.”
“Yes, sir! Understood!”
When Axe, who was as stiff and formal as ever, headed toward the finished stage, the remaining two smiled wryly and followed after him.
“Good grief,” Kotetsu said. “Why’s our leader gotta be such a square?”
“It’s because he’s nervous, isn’t it?” said Kukri. “Though I’m sure his personality has something to do with it, too.”
“Hey, you two! Look alive!” someone yelled as they were dragging their feet toward the stage.
““Eek!”” they shouted, jumping a little.
When the two hesitantly turned around, they found a frowning Margarita standing there in a deep red dress. It was a showy color, but that only made her three times more intense.
Margarita looked the two of them up and down then raised her voice. “You are the face of Friedonia! Stand up straight and get your acts together!”
““Y-Yes’m!””
“If you get it, then get going! On the double!”
““R-Roger!””
Margarita had risen to become a general in Amidonia’s patriarchal society. When she tore into them, those two responded with the same stiff formality as Axe and ran off toward the stage. They were like new recruits being chewed out by a drill instructor.
Then Margarita noticed me and hurriedly bowed her head. “Wh-Why, Your Majesty, I’ve let you see something most embarrassing there.”
“Oh, I don’t mind,” I said. “They’re a bunch of strong personalities, so having you take charge helps. Still… that outfit really is something.”
“This is, well… I snuck out during the costume fitting…”
“You snuck out?” I repeated.
“Oh, there ya are. Runnin’ out durin’ a fittin’? That’s just not right, Margie.”
“P-Princess?!” Margarita yelped.
“‘Margie’?” I repeated.
I turned to look because Margarita had let out a scream, and there was Roroa rushing over to us.
She reached us and smoothly wrapped herself around my arm. “Darlin’, I’ve been workin’ hard, too. Praise me, praise me.” She rubbed her face up against my shoulder.
Her adorable little animal-like gestures felt somewhat calculated, but… still, she sure was cute. The fact of the matter was, without Roroa’s financial cooperation, this plan wouldn’t have been possible.
I petted her on the head. “You’ve been a big help. Thanks, Roroa.”
“Mwuhuhuh!” she giggled.
“Come on, Roroa,” said Liscia sternly. “You’ve gotten your praise, and you’re satisfied, right? We’re working here, so it’s time for you to let go.”
Liscia grabbed Roroa up by the scruff of the neck like she might do to a cat and pulled her off me. Roroa got into it and even threw in a playful meow.
“Wait, I didn’t have time to be doin’ this,” Roroa added, interrupting herself. “I’m gonna take Margie back with me. We’re still in the middle of her costume fittin’, after all.”
“Costume? You mean this red dress?” I asked.
Roroa gave me a bold laugh. “Look forward to it. It’s gonna knock your socks off durin’ the main event.”
“I don’t like it, princess!” Margarita protested. “Not that. Spare me that, at least!”
“I already put in the order, so give up and just accept it,” Roroa smirked.
“Nooo! Not eighteen meters!”
Margarita was dragged off by Roroa, looking more frantic than I’d ever seen her before. Margarita could scare your average man senseless, but she couldn’t stand up to Roroa, the former princess of Amidonia. I didn’t really get the balance of power between the former Amidonians.
“And, wait, what did she mean by ‘eighteen meters,’ anyway?” I added.
“The length of her dress, apparently,” said Juna.
The lorelei had come over here because she was the next one going on for rehearsal after Yaiba. She wasn’t wearing her usual easy-to-dance-in outfit. Instead, she wore a shining blue dress and looked very pretty in it.