And so we solved the case of the vanishing restaurant-goers.
What do we do now?
We’re without a goal again.
We should… probably go report to The King.
He must still be worried.
Aah, of course!
Let’s go back to the palace now, then.
We’ll be walking more… is that okay with you, Nageki?
Yes.
I like walking with you.
He’s so quiet that I hadn’t realized! I’m glad he’s enjoying himself, anyway.
Come to think of it, being able to go on a journey and walk around like this must be like a dream come true for him.
(It is a dream, after all!)
Hmm… wouldn’t it be nice if this dream lasted forever, Nageki?
We will wake up when morning comes.
It has to end eventually.
I know, I know…
But until then, I want to keep walking around with you, Miss Tosaka.
Me too! For now we can walk back to The King’s palace.
???
The King said, that will not be necessary.
It’s the forward king!
You appear out of nowhere just like your citizens, Mister King!
Your majesty. We defeated the owner of the restaurant. The restaurant is closed now, so there’s nothing more to worry about.
The King is very grateful.
Thank you, guests from away.
Thank you.
You’re welcome!
The King would like to reward you.
Please accept The King’s gift.
Waaah, what a pretty gem!
What kind is it?
A garnet.
The name comes from the french word for “pomegranate.”
It… looks a little bit like a pomegranate, I guess?
But, The King is still troubled.
The King asked, will you listen to The King’s next request?
You must be having an awful lot of trouble, for how peaceful this planet seems.
Umm… what do you think, Nageki?
We don’t have anything else to do, do we?
I’ll let you decide.
Well… heroes are supposed to complete the quests set before them, right?
What is your next request, Mister King?
The flowers in the garden are going to be blown away.
Blown away?
Is there a typhoon coming?
The garden is going to explode.
What kind of garden is this?!
The King is very scared. The King is crying.
Even I would be a little unsettled if the garden was going to explode.
Let’s help him, Miss Tosaka.
Leave it to us, Mister King!
We’re back in the city, but…
Where do you think this explosive garden is, exactly?
Who knows?
I don’t see anything likely here. Maybe it’s on the outskirts of the town?
And this time we might not know it even if we see it… we should have gotten The King to show us the way.
The flowers blew up!
The garden exploded!
Nageki, look!
A crowd of panicking citizens trying to run away from something, like rats from a burning sewer pipe!
That analogy is a little bit mean, Miss Tosaka.
…we’ll probably find the garden if we go towards whatever they’re running from.
What is this lunacy!?
Do you mean to tell me that blowing up gardens is common practice on this barbaric star?!
Sakuya!
Huh?
Didn’t something like this happen a few weeks ago?
It’s a nice garden… aside from the holes.
And poor Sakuya! He gets to be the bombing victim even in dreamland…
It is dreadful!
And I have an important tea party scheduled for local celebrities today.
This disgrace will besmirch the Le Bel family name!
Oh, so he’s hosting a tea party here?
Geez, he should have invited me, too!
(Though I’m not a celebrity.)
Do you know who did this?
I haven’t the slightest.
There has been no suspicious activity.
The garden blew up by itself.
So… timebombs, set before everyone get here?
That’s some awfully meticulous terrorism for a fairy-tale world!
Have you already made enemies who would want to ruin your name on this planet, Sakuya?
Do you mock me?!
Perhaps you have not noticed, but this is a dream. And it only just started!I have barely been here for a few hours.
How could I possibly have made enemies?!
I think Sakuya’s snobby, aristocratic attitude could make him all kinds of enemies in a single conversation, but then again… none of the people here seem particularly short-tempered.
If it’s not someone settling a grudge, then who? And why?
Hmm. Maybe they just have some other, far deeper motive that we’re just–
The screen flashes and shakes. The music stops.
Wah! What! What?!
Confound it! More explosions!?
Miss Tosaka, get down!
Kaboom!
…
Wow! More holes!
Grrrr…. show yourselves, terrorists!
Cowards!
That’s right!
Come out and fight us like men!
…wait.
Someone’s coming through.
-cough-… -cough-… aah, looks like I’ve arrived at last.
Y-Y-Y-Y-Y-Yuuya?!
Salut, mon amie! So you’re here, too?
This is no time for ‘salut’! You! You insufferable mongrel! What have you done to my beautiful garden?!
Oh…
Looks like I blew most of it up.
Sorry, Sakuya!
“Looks like”? What do you mean, “looks like”?!
Take responsibility for your actions, you filthy mongrel! Cur!
Look at what you’ve done!
My garden is nothing but holes!
Sorry, sorry.
I had a little trouble finding the entrance, you see.
There’s a gate right over there.
Yeah, Yuuya!
Why did you have to do all this?
Ahaha… I guess that’s what happens when you enjoy your job too much.
Stop laughing, you fiend!
One of the extra shorts coming up is basically about Yuuya being a paranoid over-protective brother, so don’t believe his lies about liking his job. He was off having a panic attack about what happened to Sakuya.
Anyway, I’m so happy to see you!
As a brother, I do worry about how you’re doing, even in dream–
Yuuya
Aaaaadieuuuuuuu….
Wha…?!
H-he disappeared?!
…he just fell. Into the hole.
Y-Yuuya!
Are you all right?!
There’s no reply. It’s just a hole.
What was that all about?
Down a hole he created himself. Serves him right, the licentious cur!
Licentious means exactly what you think it means. I looked it up to make sure.
I wonder where he went…
It looks like a rabbit hole.
So maybe he’s in Wonderland?
Can you hear me, Sakazaki!?
I want you to sit down there in the dark and think about what you’ve done!
It looks like the exploding garden was just Yuuya engaging in a little accidental terrorism while trying to find the entrance.
Do you think that’s all, Nageki?
Probably. We don’t have to stick around any longer, anyway.
Yes! Quest complete!
On to the next one!
And so we solved another one of The King’s problems.
We’ve been here for a while now.
Time always does pass strangely in dreams…
Really?
You can have a dream that seems like it lasts for months in a single ten-minute nap after all, right?
I don’t know.
I don’t usually remember my dreams.
Oh! Do ghosts dream at all?
I can’t speak for other ghosts, but… I sleep, and I dream.
Is that so?
Migrant
Hello again! Is this the right way to the tea party?
Mister Migrant!
I heard there’s a tea party in the garden just outside town.
And there’s supposed to be fine black tea and cake?To tell the truth I prefer rice cookies and coffee, but any food sounds good right now!
Unfortunately, the tea party is cancelled.
Whaaaat?
The garden got targeted by a terrorist attack.
I think it was for celebrities anyway, so a guest as ratty as you would probably have gotten thrown out!
Aaah… is that so…?
This city is a cold, heartless place…
Cheer up, Mister.
Common people like us are indomitable! The cruel upper classes can tread on us and grind us into the dirt, but we’ll always spring back up like weeds!
…
It’s not much, but here.
Oh?
Nageki hands the migrant three sugar cubes.
I picked them up in the Milky Way.
They were mixed in with the stars.
I’ve heard that diamonds and sugar cubes float through the Milky Way along with the stars. These must be some of those.
Are you sure?
Yes.
They’re not much, but maybe they’ll be enough for now?
Thank you!
Now I can continue my journey.
I’ll repay you someday, somehow!
The self-styled migrant jauntily flutters away.
…he’s always just a little bit off.
I bet whenever he goes to the store the thing he’s looking for is sold out!
I can’t realized there were sugar cubes floating in the Milky Way, though!
If I’d known I would have looked for them while we were on the train.
Where to next?
Hmm… we’ve completed our goal again.
The King
That’s The King’s cue. His Royal Highness, The King!
He’s here!
The bird who was blowing up the garden fell down a hole and disappeared.
Though, there are a lot of holes in the garden now…
…
The King is relieved.
People who disturb the peace are scary.
Huh?
What happened to The King’s head?
Did I imagine that?
???
It is time for The King’s reward.
Please accept The King’s jewel.
Aah, it’s so pretty! And blue!
What’s it called?
Lapis lazuli.
He really does know everything.
The King said, please listen to The King’s next request.
Fire away, highness!
Don’t you think you should word yourself more carefully, Miss Tosaka?
Since you’re getting to play the heroine for once.
Should I?
The King is very troubled.
It looks like it might rain, so The King is in a terrible position.
Rain?
Have you considered an umbrella, sir?
It has never rained here since this kingdom was created.
But there are dark clouds gathering at the summit of Mount Pudding.
Mount Pudding…?
I know who we’ll meet there already!
Mount Pudding is a tall, tall mountain.
The clouds at its peak might slip off, and slide down, and come to The King’s palace.
And will it be a problem if the palace gets wet?
It looks sturdy enough.
It would probably be just fine in a storm, let alone a little rain…
The King is troubled.
If The King’s palace gets wet……
…
The King will cry.
H-he had another head again just now, didn’t he?!
But he looks normal now… I think?
It must have been my imagination.
Why would you start crying just because it’s raining?
The heroine in a J-pop song or a shoujo manga might do something like that.
Maybe The King is a delicate maiden at heart?Don’t worry, your highness! I will protect your fragile heart from the cruel weather!
To Mount Pudding!