The Flower Picnic Deception
A few days had passed since the flower viewing. The season had now slipped into the final stretch of spring. A single breeze was enough to send petals drifting down like snow. During that time, Cecily had steadily refined her plan, making it more concrete with each passing day. It was only possible because of the support from Yuria and Kirke. And the most surprising part was who had thrown themselves into the project with the greatest enthusiasm.
“Haa……” The person sighing at the potion shop counter right now was Irene. She had come all the way to the shop wearing her guild receptionist uniform. Anyone who saw her would assume she was on official business. In reality, she had come to play. She had shown up for no reason at all, simply wanting to chat with me. She had been doing this often lately. Ever since she learned I was stationed at the potion shop, she had been dropping by almost every single day.
Despite her usual behavior, she was apparently the most proactive participant in Cecily’s plan. It was quite different from the lazy act she was putting on in front of me now.
“…What exactly are you doing here?”
“Hmm? There aren’t any customers anyway. Keep me company for a bit.”
“Well… that’s true, but.”
“Besides, Yuria isn’t here. It’s fine to slack off a little, isn’t it?”
“You think so?”
Coming from a professional slacker like her, the argument was surprisingly convincing. If Irene said it was safe to slack, Yuria probably wouldn’t catch on.
“I’ve been so busy lately. I don’t even get a moment to rest like this.”
“It does look that way.”
“That Cecily… preparing all these strange things and making everything so annoying…”
“For someone complaining about it, you were working pretty hard, weren’t you?”
Irene made an embarrassed face and quickly changed the subject.
“Now that I think about it, spring is almost over, huh?”
“Huh? Yeah, I guess it is.”
“This is exactly the time for flower viewing. Did you know? There are tons of flowers blooming on the hill behind Cecily’s church.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. From what I saw, they’ll probably all be gone by the end of this week…”
It felt like a waste. I wanted to see it too—the sight of those trees on the back hill covered in full bloom. It must have been beautiful.
Irene glanced at me. Then, with a look that clearly meant she was up to something, she asked casually.
“…Don’t you want to see them?”
“I do. I want to see them, but…”
There was no one to go with. Both Cecily and Yuria were busy. Kirke was out of the question. But the thought of going alone with Irene didn’t appeal to me. I didn’t want to be just the two of us.
“…I have a good idea.”
“A good idea?”
Irene looked around the shop. After confirming no one else was inside, she lowered her voice.
“Yeah. A good way. A way for all of us to go flower viewing together.”
“…Tell me the details. I’ll at least hear you out.”
Irene and I stood side by side in front of the guild’s main entrance. I steadied my pounding heart and glanced at her. She wore an expression of extreme tension.
“…Irene, are you ready?”
Irene swallowed once before answering.
“Of course. I’m ready.”
First, I double-checked the information with her.
“They’re both inside, right? Yuria and Cecily.”
“Yeah. That part is certain.”
Then it was worth trying. We put the plan into motion immediately. I opened the door, took one step inside the guild, and scanned the area. There—farther back—I could see Cecily and Yuria. Without hesitation, I walked straight toward them.
I arranged my expression. I put on a look of urgency and began the act. From the corner of my eye, I glanced at Irene. She was also performing an expression of panic. A sense of camaraderie suddenly bloomed between us. For this moment, we were comrades on the same battlefield.
We hurried over to Cecily and Yuria with quick, urgent steps. Yuria noticed our sudden appearance and asked, startled.
“Noel? What brings you here…”
I cut off Yuria’s words and spoke loudly.
“It’s an emergency!”
“Huh?! What?”
“There’s a fire! On the hill behind the church!”
“……Pardon?”
“Wh-what?! A fire?! On the hill behind our place, why?”
The two of them were clearly shocked by the sudden news. So far, the plan was working. Irene added from the side.
“We can still put it out. If we go right now!”
Irene was acting remarkably convincingly. I almost believed her myself. We moved on to the next phase.
I quickly grabbed Yuria’s hand. Irene took Cecily’s.
“Let’s go! To put out the fire!”
“Y-yes. To put out the fire.”
If we didn’t give them time to think and simply dragged them straight to the hill, the operation would be a success. That was how it should have gone.
But there was one thing we had overlooked. This was the guild. And if it was the guild, that person would naturally be there. The guild was her territory.
“……Ha.”
Kirke, who had been sitting at her desk with her arms crossed, let out a scoff. She rose from her seat and gave me and Irene a long look.
“…A fire, you say?”
My whole body froze. It felt like I was standing before a natural predator. Kirke placed both hands on our shoulders and pressed down hard. The strength overwhelmed us. My shoulders felt like they were about to shatter.
“I’ll come too. Guide me immediately.”
“Uh… um… I don’t think you need to come, Kirke?”
“What a cold thing to say.”
Kirke looked down at me and flashed an extremely artificial smile. I creakily turned my head to look at Irene. She was sweating bullets. A terrible premonition washed over me. The situation had gone completely off the rails. There was no fixing it now.
“Guide me right now, Irene.”
“…Yes, ma’am.”
Irene obediently followed the coercive order. And so the five of us left the guild together. There was one more person than we had planned for.
We headed from the guild toward the hill behind the church. The church’s back hill, where we had essentially been dragged. Five people walked along the narrow path up the slope. Irene and I led the way, followed by Kirke, Yuria, and Cecily.
In this situation, there was no chance of running away. I whispered to Irene so the others wouldn’t hear.
“Irene, what do we do now?”
“…I don’t know?”
“Why didn’t you tell me Kirke was here if you knew?”
“She definitely wasn’t there when I checked earlier…”
There was no way to salvage this. We were in serious trouble. The original plan had been to secretly prepare the flower viewing spot and then lure Yuria and Cecily there. But everyone’s expressions were downright murderous. If we tried to reveal that this was a surprise event we had prepared in secret, we would be executed on the spot.
With trembling steps, we finally reached our destination. It was a clearing among the trees halfway up the hill—a perfect spot for a picnic. Irene and I had already laid out a mat and arranged plenty of fruit and snacks. This was the surprise picnic site we had prepared.
The three people following us arrived at the picnic spot and said nothing. Yuria and Kirke simply stared at Irene and me in silence. An awkward atmosphere settled over everything. At this rate, this place would become my grave.
To lighten the mood, I spoke in a bright voice.
“…Ta-da! Surprised, right?”
All eyes turned to me. I smiled awkwardly and continued.
“You all looked so busy lately. So Irene and I prepared this.”
Irene jumped in. It was a desperate struggle for survival.
“You’ve all been so busy, right? I thought it would be good to rest sometimes. And it’s spring, after all.”
Yuria let out a small laugh. Then she slowly approached me. Once she was close, she grabbed my earlobe and yanked it hard.
“Ow ow ow! That hurts! It hurts!”
“Are you joking right now?!!”
Yuria’s scolding echoed through the quiet forest.
A breeze blew through. It carried the falling petals along with it. Drifting petals, a gentle wind, sunlight filtering through the tree canopy. It was the perfect spring day for a picnic. Even I had to agree.
But it wasn’t the kind of day that justified making a false report just to go on one.
I looked down at the two people kneeling in front of me with their hands raised. One was Irene, the receptionist at the guild where I served as master. The other was Noel, the former hero who now worked as a young girl at the potion shop. I could understand Irene acting this way. She had always been like this. But a former hero behaving like this deserved a proper scolding.
“Noel. Do you understand what you did wrong?”
“…Not really.”
Noel answered with a sullen expression. There wasn’t the slightest hint of remorse.
“I meant well, you know? I just wanted everyone to go flower viewing together.”
This kid’s attitude was completely different when being scolded by Yuria versus by me. She was far more rebellious toward me. She had been so obedient with Yuria.
My head throbbed. I didn’t think the headache was from the pollen. It was because of Noel. She hadn’t been like this during her hero days. I clutched my aching head and spoke.
“How could you make a false report…”
“It wasn’t a report. Reports are what subordinates do, and I’m not your subordinate.”
Noel kept nitpicking every little thing. Looking at her now, one would truly think she was just a young girl. But she had been the hero. Even if she wasn’t anymore, she should act in a way befitting that title.
“Please stop acting like a child.”
“Hmph.”
She turned her head away sharply, refusing to meet my eyes. I glanced behind me. There, Cecily and Yuria were sitting comfortably on the mat, relaxing. It seemed they had decided to enjoy the flower viewing since they were already here.
My eyes met Yuria’s. She looked at me and Noel, seemed to assess the situation for a moment, then walked briskly over. She gave Noel a light smack on the head. Tears welled up in Noel’s eyes.
“Aren’t you going to reflect on your actions?”
“I am… reflecting.”
“How could you lie about a fire? I was so startled.”
“I was wrong.”
“You’ll reflect properly, right?”
“Yeah…”
Yuria helped Noel to her feet and said,
“Then shall we have our flower viewing? We already prepared everything. It would be a shame to waste it.”
Noel nodded vigorously. Irene, reading the room, quietly stood up and added,
“…The weather’s nice, isn’t it? It’d be a waste to just work on a day like this.”
To be honest, it was ridiculous. The whole atmosphere was ridiculous. These two really needed more punishment. We shouldn’t let them off so easily. But…
“Miss Kirke, you should stop now and join us. I’ve cut some fruit for everyone.”
Being the only one staying serious in this ridiculous atmosphere made me feel a little left out.
“……Is it really okay for me to join?”
“What do you mean?”
“The flower viewing. Can I participate too?”
Noel stared at me blankly. Her eyes looked like she was gazing at a strange creature. After a moment of silent staring, she broke into a bright smile.
“Of course you can. Did you think we’d chase you away?”
A shaded clearing on the mountainside. Spring wind blowing in from afar. The sight of a girl who had once been a hero smiling brightly. For some reason, the scene made me feel good.
So I decided to simply go along with this ridiculous atmosphere.
“Then I’ll be in your care.”