A storm of confusion had descended upon a grand meeting hall within the royal castle of the Kingdom of Sinfonia. The upcoming Founding Anniversary Festival had been thrown into unprecedented turmoil by the news that all of the Six Kings would be attending in person rather than sending proxies. King Ryze had been forced to abruptly take the reins from Crown Princess Amalie, who had originally been slated to manage the proceedings to gain experience, and was now huddled in an emergency session with his closest aides.
The meeting, however, was going nowhere.
The fundamental issue was a complete lack of context. Or rather, to be precise, they had a suspect in mind. King Ryze and his administrators were well aware of who usually sat at the center of such anomalies, but in this specific instance, they simply couldn't find the link.
"Why?" Ryze groaned. "Why have the Six Kings-sama suddenly decided to attend the ceremony? Orchid, have you heard anything about Miyama-kun participating?"
"No, nothing," the prince replied. "In fact, knowing Kaito’s personality, I can’t imagine him wanting anything to do with formal ceremonies or anniversary parties."
"I agree. That is my understanding as well. Has anyone else gathered any information regarding Miyama-kun? No one? Then what on earth is the goal of the Six Kings-sama?"
They could guess without a second thought that the Six Kings were gathering because of Kaito, yet the actual catalyst for this mass assembly remained a mystery.
In a way, this blind spot was inevitable. While Kaito had indeed decided to run a food stall, he hadn't actually submitted his application yet. He had only mentioned his plans to a few close friends.
Furthermore, even if his application had reached the office, the sheer volume of vendors for the Founding Anniversary Festival was staggering. Unlike the staff at the royal castle, the employees at the General Management Office rarely interacted with the nobility and many had never even heard of Kaito. Information simply wasn't flowing upward. Short of a miracle, it would have been impossible for anyone to stumble across Kaito’s name in that mountain of paperwork.
"For now," Ryze decided, "I shall send him a Hummingbird and ask him directly."
They had finally reached the obvious conclusion, but unfortunately, Ryze fumbled the delivery. Because the Six Kings were technically attending the official ceremony, Ryze sent Kaito a message asking, "Do you have any intention of participating in the ceremony or the party?"
Had he simply asked, "The Six Kings are apparently gathering—do you happen to know why?" he would have received the answer he sought.
However, since the question was specifically about his attendance at the formal events, Kaito’s reply was a prompt "I have no intention of participating." This left Ryze and his advisors clutching their heads in despair, still unable to fathom the cause of the gathering.
It would take several more days before Alice, taking pity on their plight, sent a letter explaining the situation in detail.
So, how exactly had the other Kings found out about Kaito’s stall in the first place, excluding those like Kuromueina and Shallow Vernal? To find that answer, one must look back to the moments immediately following Kaito’s initial meeting with his staff.
The chain reaction began in a metropolis within the Demon Realm, at the office of Agni, the Head of the War King's Subordinates.
"Agni! Long time no see! Are you still getting rejected with your usual vigor today?"
"You're as blunt as ever, Tre-dono," Agni replied with a sigh. "Unfortunately, Ozma-sama did not accept my proposal today either. I shall simply have to try again tomorrow."
"Mm-hmm, that's the spirit! It’s important to give it your best and never give up. I think there was a proverb like that in the otherworld... something about how 'continuity is power'?"
"I suspect that's slightly off, but I understand the sentiment."
Tre and Agni were long-standing friends. Tre’s social nature meant she had friends in almost every faction, and Agni found her bright, positive personality endearing. Furthermore, since Tre possessed almost no combat power, Agni—a confirmed battle maniac—never felt the urge to challenge her to a mock battle. For Agni, Tre was one of the few people she could talk to without thinking of violence.
"Your sudden visits are nothing new, Tre-dono, but what brings you here today?"
"Oh, right! Listen to this! I'm going to be running a stall with Kaito at the upcoming Sinfonia Founding Anniversary Festival!"
"With Miyama-sama? Now that is a surprise."
"So you have to come buy something, Agni! I might even give you a little discount!"
"Hehe, very well. I shall clear my schedule and contribute to your sales."
"Great! Oh, and don't forget to use Recognition Inhibition Magic. We don't want a riot."
"I am aware. I will ensure I do not cause trouble for Miyama-sama."
After Tre finished sharing the news and secured Agni’s promise to visit, the two chatted idly for a while longer.
"Well, I should probably get going. I'll let you know once we've picked a spot for the stall!"
"Understood. I've had some sweets packed for you as a gift. Be sure to collect them from the guard at the entrance on your way out."
"Thanks! See ya later!"
Agni watched with a wry smile as Tre waved energetically and vanished like a whirlwind.
"She’s as chaotic as ever... But Miyama-sama is opening a stall, is he? Hmm, I suppose I should pass this along to Megiddo-sama."
Agni left her office to report the news to her king. The information spread through other channels in a similar fashion: Tre told Eingana; she told Tiltania via her connection to Razulia; and she told Gluttony, whom she often saw because of her friendship with Funf. In short order, the news of Kaito’s stall had reached the ears of every one of the Six Kings.
Serious-senpai: "Ah, I see. From the government's perspective, it’s a total 'Kaito isn't even here, so why are they all coming?!' situation... And even though there’s a decent lead time before the stall opens, for the Kingdom, this is way too sudden. It’s a total bolt from the blue."
???: "And then there’s the other factor. I bet even more people are going to start gathering... like Amel."
Serious-senpai: "Oh, definitely. If she hears about this, she really will fly right over, literally."