Chapter 70: The Dungeon Festival—Opening

As ten o’clock rolled around, a celebratory signal fire streaked into the sky, marking the start of the festivities.

Almost immediately, a section of Shinjuku—the festival’s primary venue—was flooded by a literal avalanche of people. Naturally, a good portion of that crowd descended upon our food stall.

"Well... the initial rush is about what I expected," I muttered.

Shiki, Ayane, and I were all relatively famous in the adventuring world, which certainly helped our numbers. It also didn't hurt that the shop was technically being run by Ayane, an S-Rank Adventurer, and she had spent the previous day aggressively promoting it on her stream.

"......Whoa."

I knew we’d be busy. I got that much.

I also knew that since we were using Baal’s magically enhanced crops, the quality of the food would be top-tier and it would sell like crazy. I understood all of that, and yet... this was a bit much.

"Hey, Reima. I can't keep up with the shaving," Ayane said, her voice trailing off as she stared at the scene before us.

An abnormal, seemingly endless line of people stretched out into the distance. It wasn't just two rows; four distinct lines had formed in front of our yakisoba and shaved ice stalls. Thanks to Baal’s "acceleration," the yakisoba production was actually keeping pace, but the shaved ice side was clearly falling behind.

"......[Summon] Merli."

"Muu... what is it, Reima? Did you miss me so much that—Wait, what's with this crowd?"

I’d prepared four ice-shaving machines beforehand, knowing we’d be busy. They were high-end commercial models, and I’d honestly thought they would be enough. But looking at this mob—and knowing the afternoon would only get more crowded—it was painfully obvious we were under-equipped.

"Merli, can you make more ice-shaving machines?"

"...Ah, I see. Fine, I'll do it. But you owe me a reward later, okay?"

"Fine. Just get it done."

"Leave it to me! First, [Analysis]... Hmm, so that’s how they’re built."

After analyzing one of the existing machines, she used alchemy—or whatever passed for magic in her repertoire—to manifest six more. Being the overachiever she is, she then summoned a group of familiars that looked like tiny snow fairies to man the stations.

"If we’re serving cold treats, we might as well do it Yukinko-style! Aren't they adorable?"

Visually, it was a scene of several Yukinko diligently cranking handles to shave ice. It was, for lack of a better term, violently cute. In fact, it was so cute that Ayane—who had a well-known weakness for anything adorable and snow-related—actually stopped working for a moment to stare.

"Can I take a video of that?! Also, one strawberry shaved ice, please!"

"Sure thing," I replied to the high-school girl. "Just don't try to take the Yukinko home with you, alright?"

She looked so smitten with the summons that I felt the need to give her a firm warning before she tried to kidnap our staff.

"Thank you so much!"

"That’ll be three hundred yen. Feel free to spread the word about us."

With Shiki and Baal handling the grill, Ayane and Asahi working alongside the Yukinko, and Luna and Behemoth out front acting as barkers, the roles were set. That left me to handle the accounting. I spent the next two hours in a state of semi-conscious mechanical labor until we finally hit a break.

"I’m realizing this a bit late, but this is way beyond the scale of a school festival," I sighed.

"Tell me about it. That promotional push was terrifyingly effective," Shiki replied.

It was noon, and we were both thoroughly exhausted. The yakisoba had sold out for the moment, giving us a chance to breathe and chat.

"Well, we’re officially on break. What do you say, best friend? Want to go check out the other stalls?"

"Sounds like a plan. The Yukinko have things covered here, so let's grab Ayane, too."

"Oh, good call, Reima."

We invited Ayane along, leaving the stall in the hands of my Summoned Beasts. The three of us set off to explore the various food and game stalls, just like a normal group of friends at a festival.

There were rows upon rows of food and attractions. We spent about thirty minutes walking around and buying snacks, but then...

"Yeah, I saw this coming... I’m lost."

True to form, I had somehow managed to get separated from the other two in the sprawling Shinjuku venue. I stood alone in a quiet corner away from the main flow of traffic, hanging my head in resignation.

"Seriously, I'm screwed. There’s no way I’m meeting up with them via phone in this crowd. The sheer volume of people is insane."

I figured my best bet was to drift with the crowd back toward the shaved ice stall. I sent a quick text explaining the situation and prepared to move out, when...

"Ugh... I'm so lost..."

I glanced over and saw a familiar figure slumped over nearby, looking just as dejected as I felt. She wasn't wearing her usual professional suit, but I recognized her immediately.

She looked like she was at the end of her rope, so I decided to call out.

"Um, Saaya-san? Are you okay?"

It was Saaya Kusanagi, Yamato’s granddaughter and my designated handler at the guild. The moment she saw me, her despondent expression vanished, and her eyes began to sparkle with hope. She looked ready to lung at me.

"Reima-kun! Save me!"

She wailed, tears actually welling up in her eyes.