Lilia-san slammed her forehead against the table with a resounding thud, then slowly raised her face to stare at me with a gaze of pure, unadulterated terror.
To be fair, I wasn’t intentionally trying to hide anything this time. I had only met Amel-san yesterday, and I hadn’t seen Lilia-san from the moment I returned from the tea party until this morning's breakfast. Besides, the conversation at the table had revolved almost entirely around Mitsunaga-kun’s wedding, so there simply hadn't been an opening to mention the events of yesterday’s party.
"Why is this man always like this?" Lilia-san muttered, her voice trembling. "He treats interacting with the reclusive Winged Race like it’s the most natural thing in the world... and he went straight for their leader? I can’t take this anymore. Kaito-san, you’re terrifying."
"I cannot suppress my own astonishment either," Luna-san added, looking equally dazed. "However, Miyama-sama, simply being acquaintances will not suffice in this instance. While the leader of the Winged Race is certainly the best possible connection we could hope for, the real question is whether you have established enough goodwill for them to actually entertain a negotiation..."
"Actually, she calls me her Sworn Friend."
"That was a foolish question," Luna-san replied, her shoulders slumping in defeat. "I clearly asked the wrong person. Even if such a feat is impossible for ordinary people, common sense has never applied to Miyama-sama. My meager intellect cannot begin to fathom the process by which one becomes Sworn Friends with the leader of the Winged Race after a single tea party, but..."
Honestly, I wasn't entirely sure why she had taken such a liking to me myself, but I felt our relationship was friendly enough that an introduction would be no trouble at all. If anything, she had sent me a barrage of Hummingbird messages immediately after the party, rambling about the "miracle of encountering a Sworn Friend" and how "we are two stars shining in the night sky." The sheer volume of messages made it abundantly clear that she was quite attached to me—or at the very least, her enthusiasm was impossible to miss.
"Well, I think we’ve become fairly close, so I’ll try checking with her via Hummingbird after we finish eating. I’m sure an introduction will be fine. I’m just not sure how the actual trade deal will go..."
"N-now then, Milady," Luna-san said, trying to regain her composure. "It was a shock, certainly, but we should count our blessings. If the other party is their leader, securing a trade agreement for their specialties should be much easier."
"My stomach hurts..."
Lilia-san’s condition looked dire, but since this was ultimately to her benefit, I hoped she could forgive me. We decided to wrap up the conversation for now, with the plan for me to reach out as soon as we were done.
After breakfast, I returned to my room and sent a Hummingbird to Amel-san. I kept it simple: "I have something I’d like to consult you about. Do you have some time right now?"
I felt confident that we were on good terms, but whether she would be willing to sign a trade agreement with Lilia-san was another matter entirely. My first step would be to introduce them... but that presented a unique challenge. Amel-san’s way of speaking was, to put it mildly, distinct.
Unless you had suffered from the same "illness" in the past, her words were incredibly difficult to parse. Personally, I had a feeling Luna-san might be able to understand her, while everyone else would be lost... No, even Luna-san might struggle. She hadn't actually had the "Chunibyo" illness and recovered; she just naturally made those kinds of remarks in the past.
That meant I would probably have to act as a translator, but even I didn't understand her perfectly. I could grasp the general idea through nuance and the emotions transmitted via Sympathy Magic, but complicated subjects like commercial trade deals would be a challenge. Could I really translate something that complex accurately?
While I was worrying over this, Amel-san’s reply arrived. It was incredibly fast.
'My Sworn Friend, you require my assistance! Rest easy, for you and I are bound by an immortal friendship that transcends even our previous lives. If you seek my aid, I shall plunge into any Purgatory without a second thought. My Sworn Friend, have no fear; I shall become the Black Gale and fly to your side! ...I believe I will arrive in about five minutes. Wait for me!'
Wait, what? That couldn't be right. What kind of reply was this?
Arriving in five minutes? Flying to my side as the Black Gale? I had to be misreading this. Surely she couldn't mean she was flying here all the way from her residence in the Arclesia Empire right this second... Haha, that would be crazy. Except... she was exactly the type of person who would do it.
This was bad. If she was already moving at high speed, she might not even notice another Hummingbird message. Knowing her personality, she was likely pushing herself to the limit to get here as fast as possible, which meant there was a very high chance I couldn't stop her.
...Well, I gave up. I'd just have to tell Illness-san that we were expecting a guest and ask her to prepare some tea.
Serious-senpai: "She’s really flying here just because he said he needed her!? (Shudder). And Kaito's already adapting to the absurdity..."
???: "Well, Kaito-san is quite used to being swept along by now."