Chapter 306: A Great Bustle

Besides Shannon-san, Ren-san and the others, Velvet-san, Freese-san, and even Harry-kun came to visit as well, but I barely had any chance to talk with them.

Since they had gone through the trouble of coming, I would have liked to speak with them at a more relaxed pace, but with this huge crowd, it could not be helped.

The number of visitors was greater than expected. If we had not had the first group leave using the carriages that brought in the second group, things would have become outrageous.

There were many children who said they wanted to play more, so it was quite painful to make them leave, though.

“Sato-san, thank you for your hard work. Are you taking a break now?”

“Sheila-san, thank you for your hard work too. Yes, I’m on break right now. Joel-kun is selling the pre-made takoyaki for me in my place.”

“I see. Then you have to return soon, don’t you?”

“We’ll be launching the fireworks soon, so once I check on that, I’ll have to go back right away. …Is something wrong?”

Sheila-san was puffing out her cheeks. Was she dissatisfied with something?

“No… I was just thinking that I wanted to walk around together with you, Sato-san. Yesterday’s rehearsal had us on the creator side too, after all.”

“That’s true. This time, we’ve been on the side making things the whole time. I’m sorry for putting a burden on you too, Sheila-san.”

“No, no! It’s fun, so apologizing isn’t right. The only complaint I have is that I wanted to look around together with you, Sato-san.”

Sheila-san said that clearly and firmly.

It was a little embarrassing, but having her tell me so directly made me happy.

“Thank you. If I could, I would have liked to walk around with you too, Sheila-san. It might be too early to say since we’re not done yet, but perhaps next year’s goal should be to give ourselves a bit more leeway?”

“Yes. Let’s come up with a way for us to be able to enjoy it too. I’m looking forward to walking around with you next year, Sato-san.”

“I’m looking forward to it too.”

Since we had not known how many visitors would come, this year’s event was only being held for one day. But next year, it might be good to hold it over several days.

Not only would that make things easier for us, it would also allow the people who came to enjoy themselves more leisurely.

Already thinking about next year, I parted ways with Sheila-san and headed toward the place where the fireworks would be launched.

Far away from the bustle of the festival, I could see people diligently preparing the fireworks.

The central figures here were Rozzo-san and Sid-san.

Both of them were wearing jinbei, giving instructions while holding grilled squid in one hand.

It was the very image of Japanese style, but the jinbei suited them strangely well.

They looked even cooler than they did in their usual clothes.

“Rozzo-san, Sid-san. How are the fireworks?”

“Oh, Sato-san! Everything’s perfect over here! We can launch them anytime!”

“It’s a little scary that we couldn’t do a test launch, but I think it’ll be fine.”

“I’m glad to hear that. I’m sorry I couldn’t let you enjoy the festival.”

“No, no! We had plenty of fun yesterday! The fireworks are interesting, and these clothes are seriously great, so I don’t have a single complaint!”

“We’re excited to see how the fireworks will go up too. You enjoy them from over there, Sato-san.”

“Yes. I’m counting on you.”

Since it was Rozzo-san and Sid-san, I had not been worried at all, but I was still glad to confirm once again that there were no problems.

Staying any longer would only get in the way, so I quickly left and returned to doing what I could.

Which meant hurrying back to the takoyaki stall I had left in Joel-kun’s hands.

I had only been away for about fifteen minutes, but the stacked packs of takoyaki were already nearly gone.

I could see Joel-kun looking around anxiously while selling the takoyaki.

When he spotted me, he broke into a huge smile and waved both hands to call me over.

“Sato-san! I was worried the takoyaki stock was going to run out! I’m glad you came back before it did!”

“I’m sorry for making you anxious. Thank you for watching the stall for me.”

“No, no! But still, the sales are amazing! I’ve only been watching the stall for a little over ten minutes, but I’m already exhausted!”

“It’s tough, but I’m nothing but grateful. I need to sell even more—”

Just as I said that, a firework shot up into the sky with a loud boom.

It was a large, beautiful firework, and the people who had been absorbed in the stalls looked up at the sky and cried out.

It was a real aerial firework, on a completely different level from commercially available fireworks.

Both the sound and the sight were so powerful that even I, who already knew what fireworks were, was struck by them and found myself deeply moved.

“Whoa! Amazing! So that’s fireworks! They’re so powerful and beautiful!”

“Yes, they really are incredible.”

While exchanging impressions with Joel-kun, I enjoyed the fireworks together with the customers.

Fireworks launching into the sky with festival stalls in the background looked exactly like a scene from Japan.

From the bottom of my heart, I felt truly glad that I had held this festival.