Han Seo-Jin also ordered to publicly accompany us.
“It’s an infinite honor to be entrusted with guiding the cherry blossom festival, even as a mere commoner.”
*Thud.*
She salutes like a soldier.
Han Seo-Jin’s gray eyes sparkle with respect.
She surely is capable, like a National Intelligence Service agent, but sometimes her zeal resembles a cult fanatic, which can be overwhelming.
I wonder why she has such high expectations of me.
“Is there anyone who arrived before me?”
“Yes, there is…”
“It’s me!”
Cutting off Han Seo-Jin’s words, the door of the medium-sized bus opens, and Olivia hops out.
Her bright platinum hair shines brilliantly in the morning sunlight.
“I was the first to arrive!”
Olivia places her hand sweetly on her chest.
“She arrived even before the bus driven by Ms. Han Seo-Jin came,” Bella, Olivia’s devoted maid, says in a calm voice as she exits afterward.
“Bella! D-Don’t say unnecessary things! Really!”
Olivia, without fail, chimes in.
This scene has become familiar by now.
Olivia, born as the French princess, has a backstory of never having truly gone out since childhood.
Thus, in the original story, she eagerly anticipated the cherry blossom festival.
So much she couldn’t sleep over it.
“Thanks for coming early.”
I offer a formal expression of gratitude.
“Hmph. You don’t need to thank me! You’re the one who’s late! Honestly…”
“She’s been waiting for Master’s master until now,” Bella interjects.
“I told you not to say unnecessary things earlier!”
This level of banter is fine now.
They’re not saying anything to me; it’s just a friendly squabble with her maid.
Humans are creatures of adaptation.
I wait for the remaining group while hearing their familiar high-pitched voices.
“Mr. Kim Deok-Sung, here’s a cola. I prepared it in advance in case you were thirsty.”
Han Seo-Jin politely hands me a can of cola.
“Thanks.”
I pop open the cola she offered.
*Hiss.*
The sound of carbonation erupting along with the refreshing taste of cola going down my throat.
When on earth are the others coming?
“Kim! I’m here!”
In the distance, I see my buddy waving.
Next to him is that bronzed, blonde wannabe, Ishihara, who tagged along.
Looks like he kept his promise to bring Ishihara after getting up this morning.
“Uh, I’m honored to be invited to the festival…”
Ishihara speaks in a typical wannabe tone, awkwardly using formal language.
It’s been like this ever since that day.
Even a wannabe keeps his promises, just like in a light novel world.
Both of them are wearing backpacks.
They must’ve packed lunch.
“Alright. Come on in.”
I usher the two guys into the car.
Now all that’s left is Shinozaki Rin.
Just as the cola in the can is running low, a navy blue ponytail appears in the distance.
As the cola inside starts running low, a dark blue ponytail appears in the distance.
It’s Shinozaki Rin.
“Wow, she’s here. I hope she’s not late.”
Holding a cloth bag, she asks with a trembling voice.
“Tarara.”
“Got it.”
Without any further nonsense, Shinozaki Rin hops on.
Now, all the official members are gathered.
All that’s left is to confirm the intruder.
Pretending to board the bus, I glance back.
In the distance, I see a girl with orange twin tails, dressed in a overcoat and a fedora, wearing sunglasses and a white mask, cautiously starting her scooter.
A stereotypical sneaky outfit straight out of a Japanese anime.
It’s Nishizawa Eri.
‘Does she really think she won’t get caught wearing that?’
I can’t understand it.
No matter how I look at it, it’s the most suspicious outfit.
I shake my head and board the bus.
Since all the members are here, it’s time to depart.
*
Tokyo Kichijoji.
Inokashira Park.
Being Japan’s first suburban park with over 100 years of history and a renowned cherry blossom festival, the scenery within the park was quite breathtaking.
The cherry blossoms blooming chaotically and the lush green grass, along with a stream flowing through the park, created a picturesque scene.
‘It looks just like what I saw in the anime.’
Though I’ve never cared for it, I suddenly understand why people go on pilgrimages to places like this.
The issue, however, is that it’s as crowded with tourists as a popular attraction should be.
Click, click.
Every time I walk, I hear camera shutters clicking.
I see tourists taking photos along the cherry blossom path.
In that case, it’s no different from the cherry blossom festivals back in Korea besides the scenery.
I had only gone once with my university classmates during midterms to ditch studying; it was a mess there too with vendors and tourists having drinking parties on the grass.
“The cherry blossom festival is noisier than I expected,” Olivia grumbles beside me.
I anticipated this much.
It’s fine.
I feel the same way.
I absolutely despise crowded places.
If it weren’t for that one incident from the original story, I wouldn’t have come at all.
“What did you expect, Bonaparte?”
Shinozaki Rin, standing on the other side, growls with a cold expression.
“What I expect has nothing to do with you. Could you not talk to me? It’s annoying.”
“I wasn’t talking to you. I was just correcting your mistaken assumptions.”
“Eeek!!”
There she goes again.
As Olivia screams, all surrounding eyes focus on them.
They already stand out with their unique looks.
But it’s only natural that they constantly attract attention with their pointless bickering.
My head hurts.
I endure this every time, yet I feel embarrassed each time.
How many times has this turned into chaos?
I should have just not brought one of them.
The protagonist, who should handle Shinozaki Rin, and Ishihara are over by the stream, getting cozy amongst themselves.
“Isn’t the scenery beautiful?”
“I think so too. You’re more communicative than I thought.”
Clicking away with his phone camera at the cherry blossom-filled stream, the protagonist is making a mess.
It’s a total disaster.
I sigh.
Just to be sure, I glance back.
“!!”
Startled, I see a figure hastily hiding behind a cherry tree.
Nishizawa Eri’s orange twin tails flutter behind the trunk.
I might have led her, but it’s too predictable to be amusing.
“Lunch time is coming soon.”
As I was watching Nishizawa Eri, I heard Rin’s voice in my ear.
“How about we start looking for a spot to lay out the picnic mat?”
I pulled out my phone to check the time.
It was noon, according to my phone clock.
Just as Rin said, it was lunchtime.
“For once, I agree with you.”
“I’m not talking to you, Bonaparte.”
“That was my line?!”
Listening to their bickering, I recalled the original story.
In the original volume 1, the incident happens around the afternoon when the protagonist eats lunch on the lawn and goes boating with Olivia on the lake.
A gate erupts from the water, covering the entire lake, and aquatic monsters appear, turning the peaceful park into chaos in an instant.
‘Soon enough.’
After lunch, while enjoying the boat ride with dango in hand, the creature should appear.
This information was confirmed directly with Kasumi just yesterday, so there shouldn’t be any discrepancies.
As soon as the gate appears, I’ll handle Vulture differently than in the original, and everything will be finished.
‘All right.’
Having reviewed the plan again, I pointed to the lawn in the distance.
That was where the protagonist and Olivia had lunch in the anime.
It seemed to be a designated public space, as many tourists were sitting on picnic mats enjoying their lunch.
“Let’s head over there.”
“Sounds good!”
“Got it.”
I heard Rin and Olivia’s voices next to me.
Leading the group, we headed to the lawn.
“I’ll set up the mat.”
Han Seo-Jin quickly set everything up.
Everyone, except the uninvited Nishizawa Eri, sat on the large picnic mat.
Olivia and her personal maid Bella, me, Han Seo-Jin, Ishihara, the protagonist Yuji, and Shinozaki Rin included.
A total of seven people.
The cherry tree shade protected us from the glaring sun.
Blossoms fluttered near the lawn, and tourists gathered around, spreading their mats.
A gentle breeze wrapped around us.
It was a bit noisy, but the atmosphere and scenery were surprisingly pleasant.
Suddenly, memories of a picnic from elementary school flooded in.
Back when my family was happy and no one was sick.
My mom’s gimbap tasted really good. I should’ve treated her better back then.
“K-Kim Deok-Sung.”
I heard Rin’s voice.
Turning my head, I looked at her.
“I-I made a lunchbox for you! With my own hands. How is it?”
Clack clack.
Rin opened two lunch containers with a serious expression.
One container had a mound of white rice topped with red pickled plum.
In the side container, neatly arranged were octopus-shaped Vienna sausages, thick yellow omelet, minced meat cutlet, and shrimp tempura.
A typical Japanese-style lunchbox you’d see in anime.
“Did you really make it?”
“Y-Yeah!”
Rin’s eyes quivered.
It was clear she was lying.
This heroine, known for not being able to cook according to her official profile, couldn’t possibly have made this herself.
It was more likely that the family’s private chef had done over 90%, if not 100%, of it.
This was clearly part of some seduction strategy or something.
Cunning like a scheming lord.
“I couldn’t bring the kimchi stew since it’s a hot dish… but this should be enough. Dig in!”
Rin presented the lunch box with a determined look, as if she were about to head into battle.
Someone would think we were going to war.
But what’s with the kimchi stew?
So random.
“You seem to lack an understanding of Korean culture, Shinozaki.”
At that moment, Olivia, who had been giggling with her mouth covered, triumphantly opened the lid of her lunch box.
I open the lunch box lid.
Clank.
“The popular lunch menu in Korea includes gimbap and inari sushi… Even though they are both from the Far East, Korea and Japan are undeniably different countries, Shinozaki.”
As Olivia’s confident voice rings out, the contents of the lunch box come to light.
Just like Rin, there are two lunch boxes.
One is filled with glossy gimbap, while the other has neatly arranged inari sushi.
The gimbap doesn’t have cucumbers.
Is this why she asked if I like cucumber gimbap or not?
“Grgh…”
Rin bites her lip.
I think I told her to stop doing that.
“B-but my lunch box captures the essence of Japanese cuisine. There’s no way it can be compared to the amateur lunch made by the French princess. You think so too, right, Kim Deok-Sung?”
“What a hurtful thing to say. I don’t want to hear the pathetic excuses of a Japanese person who lacks an understanding of Korean culture and didn’t prepare properly. Hey you, surely the lunch made by me, the exclusive maid, is better than that girl’s, right?”
“Lacking an understanding of Korean culture? What kind of outrageous remark is that…!!”
“Oh my, isn’t that true? If pointing out the truth hurt your feelings, I apologize, Shinozaki.”
Let’s just overlook this lunch box battle that seems straight out of a light novel.
If there are two girls who don’t want to lose, that might happen.
This is definitely bearable compared to when they fought in the classroom not long ago.
I expected this, anyway.
But a French person attacking a Japanese with a Korean lunch box?
What am I even seeing and hearing?
At this point, it feels like I’m not just getting dizzy, but heading towards the universe.
“In the end, the decision lies with Kim Deok-Sung… Speak. Whose lunch box is better?”
“While I have no doubt that your choice is naturally mine… Please do tell us clearly. Who is superior?”
Both of their gazes turn toward me.
Who is better?
There’s no need to think.
“Gimbap is better. But…”
Gimbap is indeed appropriate for a picnic.
My mom used to pack gimbap for me.
The absence of cucumber adds bonus points.
Upon hearing my answer, Rin bites her lip, and Olivia lets out a triumphant grin.
“I also prepared a lunch box separately.”
“What?”
“What do you mean?”
Question marks appear on both their faces.
Rather than answering, I give a side glance to Han Seo-Jin, who is kneeling quietly next to me.
“I will open it.”
Clank.
Han Seo-Jin opens the five-tiered lunch box she was holding.
“Since I wasn’t sure what kind of food you would like, I prepared it simply with my humble cooking skills for you, Mr. Kim Deok-Sung.”
Contrary to Han Seo-Jin’s dull words, the lunch box unfolds like a staircase with high-quality Korean cuisine.
Inside the lunch box, dishes glisten as beautifully as those found in a traditional Korean restaurant.
Seeing this, Olivia and Rin’s faces stiffen.
“I lost…”
“T-this makes no sense!”
Rin and Olivia fall silent as they seem shocked by Han Seo-Jin’s skill.
Alright, now it’s finally quiet.
As expected, in a lunch box battle, skill is the answer.
Since this is a light novel world, it’s only right to respond appropriately to light novel clichés.
This is the way of the world.
“I made enough for everyone to share. Then, I hope everyone enjoys their meal.”
Listening to Han Seo-Jin, I unwrap my chopsticks.
