I had bumped into Flare and Eingana in a most unexpected place, but this time, the encounter didn't seem likely to cause Lilia-san any stomach pain. In fact, she looked almost delighted.
It made sense; as a massive fan of the Four Great Magic Dragons, she genuinely welcomed their presence.
I decided to leave the formal greetings to Lilia-san and the others for later so I could finish shopping. Eingana, in particular, was practically buzzing with curiosity about Alice’s stall.
"...Magnificent. Shopkeeper, do you have any lutes?"
"Sure do. Here's the pick of the litter-ssu."
"This is... a Jupiter Series... I never dreamed I would see a genuine article with my own eyes. What is the price?"
"That will be four hundred and eighty platinum coins."
That much!? Four point eight billion yen!? I mean, sure, I’d heard of instruments costing hundreds of millions before, but this was on a totally different scale.
Given how knowledgeable Eingana clearly was about music, the fact that she hadn't expected to ever see one in person meant it had to be incredibly rare.
"I'll take it."
She bought it without a second thought! I had a feeling Alice had crafted that lute herself. If so, her profit margins must have been astronomical.
Then again, considering its rarity, she probably couldn't flood the market with them even if she wanted to.
"I will take this violin as well."
"Right, that one's a hundred and twenty platinum coins."
"Very well. Here."
Six hundred platinum coins in total... I had never even come close to spending that much at once, but Eingana was apparently loaded—not surprising for a Six Kings' Executive.
Despite the steep price, she looked utterly satisfied.
"That was a truly wonderful find... However, shopkeeper... just who are you? It is unheard of for an ordinary merchant to possess items of such caliber."
"...Heh. Indeed. I am no mere Transcendent Beautiful Girl Shop Owner clad in an elegant swan kigurumi—"
"Oh, she’s the Phantasm King."
"—Kaito-saaaaan!? Why'd you have to spoil it! I was just getting to the part where I reveal my identity with an ultra-cool speech!!"
"It seemed like it was going to be long and annoying, so I figured I'd save us some time."
"How cold!?"
So that creepy bird suit was supposed to be a swan? I mean, it was white, but honestly, I figured it was a rubber duck or something along those lines.
"I had no idea you were the Phantasm King-sama... Please, forgive my lack of manners."
"My Comrade never ceases to amaze. To see through the Phantasm King so easily, even though her magic power is of a totally different nature..."
"No, it's not a magic thing. It's just that nobody else wears creepy kigurumis like this, so she's pretty easy to spot."
"Kaito-san, Kaito-san, have you ever heard of the term 'creepy-cute'?"
"I'm familiar with the concept, but in my opinion, that thing you're wearing doesn't qualify."
Hearing Flare's praise, I thought for a moment that it should have been obvious to everyone, but I suppose if you didn't know Alice’s penchant for costumes, you wouldn't necessarily make the connection.
Plus, if someone had only ever met Alice when she was acting as the Phantasm King, they might mistakenly believe she was a dignified, charismatic ruler.
"...Even though, in reality, she’s just a smart idiot."
"Excuse me? I feel like I'm being mocked. Actually, I know I'm being mocked—you just called me an idiot!"
I couldn't spend all day bickering with Alice, so I wrapped things up and went back to the group.
"By the way, where are you two off to next, Flare?"
"We were planning to attend Heavenly Flower Princess Erial's performance... but Eingana insisted on seeing the instrument stalls first, so we adjusted our schedule to stop here."
"What a coincidence. We were actually just about to head to Erial-san's performance, too."
It really was a stroke of luck that we were headed to the same place. Chatting as we walked, we made our way back to Lilia-san and the rest of the group.
Serious-senpai: "I guess they're going to join up and go together, then?"