Chapter 124: There is no previous example proving that anything good will happen from leaving a girl alone in a festival .

After the foxes show ended awkwardly, Yato and Karen left the shrine and went back home . Obviously, there is no need to talk about how Karen was satisfied in her way back while Yato was totally exhausted . The little foxes said that playing with her was fun, but that only made Ouka's feelings even more complex .

"Ouka-sama, what are you doing?"

"Nayame..."

Later that night, one of the little foxes walked towards Ouka who was standing alone outside the shrine . It was Nayame, the fox who was saved by Yato and brought him to meet Ouka . Ouka looked in the direction from where Nayame's voice was coming, though she quickly turned her gaze to the night sky .

"I was praying..."

"Praying...?"

Nayame tilted his head when he heard that unexpected answer . He never saw Ouka praying until this day . Or at least, he never saw her standing alone outside the shrine like this . Nayame couldn't hide his bewilderment .

"It is finally tomorrow, after all . "

Ouka uttered while still fixing her gaze at the starry sky . The shining light of the full moon serenely illuminated the shrine from the darkness of the night . Although this place was in a different dimension, the moon was still visible from within it . It was indispensable for this quite and mysterious place that lacked light .

"You will be okay, Ouka-sama!!"

"Fufufu, that is right . Thank you . "

After receiving Nayame's cheers, Ouka revealed a gentle smile back and pulled herself together . At that time, she dropped her sight to look at the thing she held in her hand . It was a handkerchief with 'a tiny robot' drawn on its edges . It looked quite old, but it wasn't sullied at all . Apparently, Ouka was previously taking care of it .

It should be alright, I am sure .

She said to herself while holding the handkerchief with a little force . Ouka knows well that not all humans are evil . The reason for her belief was because she was once saved by one . Ouka was earnestly worried about whether she will succeed in fortifying the seal or not, but once Yato and his little sister showed up, her worries got considerably allayed .

I am going to receive help from humans again, but I hope we will succeed .

"It will get cold tonight, let's go back . "

"Okay~"

Ouka and Nayame turned around and walked back towards the shrine . The place they left behind got overwhelmed with stillness, but the full moon continued to illuminate it .

—————————————————–

So it's finally that say, huh .

I casually thought about it while eating breakfast . The evil apparition may resurrect at this very time, but strangely, my daily life didn't show any sign of changing . The whole family was enjoying the breakfast of my grandmother as usual .

Well, that's only natural . They don't know anything about the situation, after all . Karen, too, didn't seem nervous or excited . That is the way she reacts to almost everything, so it can't be helped . As I continued to eat my breakfast, my mom seemed to have recalled something and announced .

"Come to think of it, there's a festival today . "

I almost forgot about the festival . Although this place is located at the heart of the countryside, it still has festivals . They're not as large as the ones held in the city, but that gives them their own charm and ambiance . They also have fireworks which make the event one of the largests in this area . I remember when I attended it two years ago .

"That's right . "

"Why don't you attend it together?"

My mom suggested and I revealed a troubled expression in return . That's because the time of fortifying the seal of Souki will most likely coincide with the second half of the festival . Too bad, I'm going to have to pass it .

"I'm actually busy this—"

"I'm going . "

Before I was able to refuse, Karen interrupted me saying that she will go . I looked at her with a startled face and she looked back at me with a nonchalant expression on her face .

"Then it's decided . "

"Let me get you a yukata . "

Everything was decided in the blink of an eye, and both my mom and grandmother started having a pleasant conversation about what should they make Karen wear .

Aaah, this is no good . I have no means to stop them at this point .

They reacted exactly the same way they did two years ago when Karen told them that she wanted to attend the festival . I guess their love for cute things didn't change despite all this time flowing by .

Just why did she say that knowing that we need to fortify the seal today?

I was assaulted by the urge to ask her for an answer, but of course, I couldn't do that on the table and instead finished eating my breakfast without speaking a word .

—————————————————–

While I was waiting for a rational explanation, she answered me without hesitation .

"It's less suspicious that way . "

To my surprise, her answer was quite simple but was lacking a lot of explanation .

"What do you mean?"

"If we left telling them that we aren't going to the festival they will definitely start wondering about where we are going . "

"Well, yeah . "

"Then we just have to tell them that we're leaving for the festival . "

I couldn't help but make a troubled expression . I don't think there was a need for her to go this far . According to Ouka, fortifying the seal shouldn't take too much of our time, the only problem is the risk of something happening in the middle of the process . If we were to stay there until the middle of night, it will surely make our family worried . Well, I guess it can't be helped . I let out a long sigh and replied to Karen .

"Alright, fine . "

Nothing will change from complaining, anyway . Mom and grandmother should be in the middle of choosing what to make Karen wear for the festival now . It can't be helped, I will have to go now that things are decided . And besides...

"That's better than me leaving you all alone in the night, I guess . "

"Why?"

As Karen was unable to understand what I meant, she tilted her head and asked .

"Well, it's too worrying to leave you alone in a festival at night, you know . "

Even though we're in the middle of the countryside, I'm not that stupid that I'd leave a girl alone in a festival . Besides, Karen is my cute little sister, I can't allow anyone to come hit on her like that time . For some reason, Karen who guessed my intention revealed a shocked face .

(ED: Did someone hit on her? When? Where? O . O)

"If you only went in that direction..."

"What direction?"

When I asked her back, she turned away and refused to speak while seeming upset . I wonder what she meant by that . Did she probably mean that I should never leave her alone or something like that? That would be a hard task, honestly .

"Anyway, don't do anything strange to the little foxes next time we go . "

"What do you mean?"

"Don't train them to perform any weird moves, that's what I mean . "

"Eee!?"

Karen replied with an utterly displeased voice . I won't let her refuse; not after the moment I saw Ouka's bitter smile .

"If you don't agree, I won't take with me . "

"... Okay . "

She finally agreed to my proposition with a reluctant face . That's just great . Well, I wasn't intending to leave her anyway, but at least I managed to make her promise that she won't make more soldiers out the little foxes .

"Then can I teach them to dance?"

"No, don't teach them any skill . "

"But dancing is not a skill . "

"Just stop your words play . "

Rejecting her suggestion to teach the foxes how to dance, Karen made a displeased face . It looks like she is not intending to give up .

—————————————————–

Finally, the night arrived, Karen and I were in the middle of preparation to go out for the festival . Well, the one who was preparing is Karen and not me . She is now getting dressed by mom and grandmother in the room . As I was waiting for her to finish at the entrance door, the door of the room finally opened up .

"I'm here . "

When I turned towards the direction of the voice, I saw a lovely princess dressed up in a gorgeous outfit . The yukata she was wearing had a beautiful red pattern and her hair was properly done . It even looked like she had put up some makeup . My mom and grandmother were making a satisfied expression behind her .

"How wonderful . "

"You've been dressed well . "

Even my dad and grandfather had their attention snatched away by her, and they revealed a warm smile while complimenting her . I was the only one there who couldn't say a word because I was overwhelmed by how good she looked in that dress . I felt as if the dress was much better than the one she wore two years ago .

"Alright, let's go . "

As I kept gazing at her without letting a single word out, she spoke to me . It looks like my silent reaction was enough to satisfy her . She wore her wooden clogs with her usual expressionless face and opened the door .

"Alright then, we're going now . "

"Have a nice time . "

"Be careful . "

After bidding farewell to my mom and grandmother, I followed Karen and we left the house . We then walked to the place where the festival is being held . There is still a little time before the fortifying the seal so we decided to go the festival first before teleporting to the shrine .

"Your dress is pretty amazing this year . "

"Grandma told me that she worked on it for 2 years because we didn't come last year . "

So, that's the reason for her dress to be this amazing . Come to think of it, our grandmother was the most excited to dress Karen this morning . No wonder the dress looked wonderful . This is the first time I find myself unable to express how amazing a dress is made . I kept staring at Karen on our way for a while until she noticed my gaze .

"... What?"

"Nothing, I just thought that the dress was beautiful . "

"Is that so . "

She replied to me with a cold attitude . Even that, I know very well that she is actually happy on the inside that I complimented her dress . Her lips are faintly twitching on the sides, after all . I couldn't help but smile from watching her trying her best to hide her emotions .

Let's get done with that seal as fast as possible .

I said to myself while looking at Karen all happy wearing her new dress . It would be kind of sad if she couldn't enjoy the festival in this opportunity and besides, I'd like to walk around with her in this rare event . That's why I should get done with sealing Souki as fast as possible .

—————————————————