I continued to work the garapon lottery machine to receive my gifts, but while the band was on stage, my attention was mostly focused on the music.
Each group performed roughly one song. Currently, Dragon Soul was ripping through a cool rock track. Since the timing was perfect for a meal, I thought about asking Ein-san to bring me something... only to realize it was already sitting right in front of me. I shouldn't have expected anything less from her. I ate while impressed as always by her foresight.
The food was spectacular, which was to be expected given how many master chefs were in attendance. Alice had mentioned Kuro being pushy about baby castellas, but I hadn't run into any dishes like that so far.
"Is it about the right time?" Alice's voice drifted in.
"Hmm? Time for what?" I replied.
"Well, everyone's been eating while they watch the tournament and the concert. I figured it might be time to bring out the birthday cake."
"Ah, the light eaters have probably finished their meals by now, so the timing's perfect. I'm a small-fry in that department myself, and I'm already done," Fate-san chimed in.
"...Wait, have you even eaten anything?"
"Eating is such a hassle, you know. I'm glad my body doesn't actually need food or drink. I only eat when the mood strikes me."
Despite some improvements, Fate-san’s laziness was still very much a part of her character. She fundamentally viewed eating as a chore. That said, she’d still snack on sweets if she felt like it, and she often ate and drank when we were together.
Fate-san herself had no real interest in food, but when I was eating something, she seemed to want to share the same experience and flavors.
In any case, the birthday cake... Now that she mentioned it, it hadn't made its appearance yet. Since this was a buffet-style party, they had likely saved the cake—the dessert—for later.
"All right then. I'll bring the cake out in five minutes. Everyone in the gaming tournament, take a break and focus on this!" Alice announced.
"Come to think of it, who ended up making Kai-chan's birthday cake? There was quite a lot of squabbling during the planning phase, wasn't there?" Fate-san asked.
"There were plenty of volunteers. Shallow Vernal-sama and Machina were a given, of course, and even skilled chefs like Ein-san wanted to take a crack at it. But if I’d let everyone have a hand in it, it would’ve turned into a disaster. Deciding who got the job was a real headache," Alice explained.
"Didn't Kuro-rin argue pretty hard for a baby castella cake?"
"That's a symptom of her obsession, so I rejected it immediately."
Apparently, there had been quite a fight over the cake. I could easily picture the scene—Shiro-san and Machina-san glaring each other down.
And as for Kuro, Alice really had come through for me. I mean, I love baby castellas, but I wasn't exactly craving a baby castella cake... Though if it wasn't a cake, I was sure Kuro had managed to force her favorite snack into the party somewhere else.
"...By the way, this has nothing to do with the cake, but Kuro-rin was working so hard on those baby castella cushions she insisted were essential. What happened to them?" Fate-san asked.
"Ah, the ones Kuro-san pushed for. I’ve put a few in the rest areas, but I’ll tell you more about their main purpose later."
She actually made something that weird?! Baby castella-shaped cushions? Well, they’re round, so I guess they’d work as mini-cushions in terms of shape.
"Sorry, we got sidetracked," Fate-san said. "So, who actually made the cake?"
"I did. If I let anyone else touch it, there’s no telling what they’d produce. I was the only safe choice."
"I still do not agree that your actions in that matter were anything less than tyrannical," Shiro-san’s voice echoed.
"I wanted to make a birthday cake for my beloved child too..." Machina added.
"Quiet, both of you. You two have done whatever you wanted in every other area. I wasn't about to let you create some object that defies all human logic and call it a 'cake.'"
So, Alice was the one who made it. Honestly, that was the best-case scenario. The sense of security her involvement provided was immense. At the very least, I didn't have to worry about the cake being bizarre, made of ingredients that shouldn't exist, or emitting a mysterious, ominous glow.
"All right, five minutes are up! Bring out the cake!"
...It was absolutely... massive!
The name of Bipolar God Tiana was adopted because she uses a different name from the widely known Diana, which is also said to be another name for the moon goddess Artemis.
Serious-senpai: "Is the size surprising? Well, if you consider that it has to be sliced for every single participant here, I guess it naturally has to be a dreadnought-class cake..."