As I made my way through the venue, greeting guests as I went, I happened upon a group gathered in an unusual configuration. Ahead of me stood Shigenobu-san, Hanna-san, Rei-san, and Fia-san... That much made sense. I had already heard from Shigenobu-san and Sieg-san that Rei-san and Fia-san were old travel companions, so seeing them together wasn't a problem.
The surprise was seeing Chapel-san, the Manager of the Monster Race Track, standing among them. They seemed to be on quite familiar terms; were they old acquaintances?
"Hello, everyone. Thank you for coming today."
"Ah, Miyama-kun. Thank you for inviting us."
"Yo. Must be exhausting, making the rounds to everyone like this."
When I approached and spoke, Rei-san and Shigenobu-san were the first to respond, and the others followed suit with their own greetings. Chapel-san was, of course, among them.
"Goodness, I was merely involved in the transaction of your Behemoth, yet you’ve honored me with an invitation to such a grand event."
"Since this is the first time I've hosted, I sent invitations to everyone I had a way of reaching... Still, this is an unexpected combination. Chapel-san, do you already know Shigenobu-san and the others?"
"Hahaha, well... you could say we have a bit of a tangled history," Chapel-san replied with a wry smile and a nod.
I had a feeling that might be the case. Most likely, Chapel-san had also been one of Shigenobu-san's travel companions. At a glance, he seemed quite a bit younger than Shigenobu-san, but in this world, appearances were often a poor metric for age.
"Well, as you've probably guessed from the conversation just now, Miyama-kun, Chapel-kun was part of our party, too."
"Among the original group, excluding our children and grandchildren, he might actually be the youngest," Fia-san and Hanna-san added.
Chapel-san looked a bit bashful, his wry smile deepening.
"I'll tell you, I never expected that Vase Maniac to end up as the manager of a Monster Race Track! To think we'd reunite in a place like this!"
"Now see here, Shigenobu-dono... please refrain from such phrasing. You'll give Miyama-dono the wrong impression," Chapel-san protested. "To explain briefly for Miyama-dono’s benefit, I was born into a family of itinerant merchants. When I was small, I saw a beautiful vase at one of our trading destinations and could never forget it. I joined Shigenobu-dono’s group specifically so I could travel and search for it."
"Ah, I see..."
"It took quite a few years, but I eventually obtained the vase I was looking for. At that point, I left the group and returned to my home in the Arclesia Empire. I used various connections I made along the way, which ultimately led to me being entrusted with the management of the track."
It was fascinating how connections could be found in the most unexpected places. Judging by the tone of their conversation, it didn't seem like they had seen much of each other since he left the party.
Just as with Kaori-san, many people didn't own a Hummingbird, which undoubtedly made staying in touch difficult. Regardless of the distance, I was truly glad that this party had provided them with a chance to reunite.