Summer’s almost half way over now.

It’s crazy to think just how fast everything has moved during this break. Maybe it’s because I’ve been spending all my time hanging out with Xara, but I still find it hard to believe how quickly things have gone by.

Still, this break isn’t over yet, which is why I’m looking forward to seeing what sorts of stuff goes down in the near future. At least, that was the case. Then an expected visitor arrived at my doorstep.

“Dianne?”

To my surprise, a woman with short blonde hair that just passed her neck stood before me wearing a frilly pink dress. I had never seen Dianne outside uniform before in anything but the game CGs. So seeing it in real life was quite the dazzling sight.

“Uh. What’s up? Why the sudden visit?”

Sirin had informed me of her arrival beforehand, but I still couldn't grasp what Dianne was doing here.

Bowing her head to me, Dianne rested her hand on her chest.

“Hello there Axel Savoncho. Might I ask for a bit of your time?”

What was with this fancy talk?

“Uh…I mean, I do have some time to spare. So if it’s something short, I’d be fine with it.”

Last night Xara and I stayed up playing a board game she’d brought from home so she was currently catching up on some sleep.

I’d have talked about it to Dianne if I could. However, thing’s in it were a bit too…mature for someone like her.

“It says we did it ten times in a row. Wow. What a beast you are Axel!” shouted Xara the night before.

When I thought back to it, Xara seemed a little too ecstatic when she said that. Geez. Why do I feel like that’s a game only succubi could enjoy?

Well anyway, the fact of the matter was Xara was busy getting some sleep so I still had some time before she’d get up for the day.

“So what did you need?”

“Well you see, I was asked to pick up a delivery in the capital of the Matsuri Empire. But since it’s so far away, I was wondering if I could borrow that teleportation spell of yours to help make the trip easier.

Hm. That should be simple enough. I’ve been to the Matsuri Empire once before, so getting there should be a piece of cake.

“Alright. I’m in. Let’s get moving.”

Dianne clapped her hands together.

“Wonderful! Let’s go!”

Wow. She looked pretty excited when I agreed to go. Weird. I’d expect that reaction if she had asked the MC and he agreed, but I didn’t think she’d react that way to me. Then again, she’s probably just excited to go to the Matsuri Empire. Why is that? Well, it’s because the Matsuri Empire is a land of festivities.

Thanks to the empire's founders coming across fields of rich soil, they were able to sell their foods for loads of profit. And since the leader of it all was a party maniac who liked the idea of a nonstop party, the whole empire ended up turning into this massive land of games and entertainment. It’s basically like a casino but as an empire. In other words, it’s basically a medieval Los Vegas.

I only visited once before during my adventuring days for a job and ended up only staying for about a week before leaving. Though thinking back on it, I kinda wish I never went back because those places get way to crowded for my liking.

But anyway, I was surprised Dianne’s parents would let her receive a package from such a place considering she’s a princess and not a delivery person. Then again, I guess she hasn’t revealed she’s a princess to me yet so she probably assumes I don’t know about her true status and wants to use this as a chance to explore the world. That’s just a theory though.

Well leaving things at that for now, I decided to help out Dianne.

“Alright. I have a carriage waiting to take us there so once we arrive, please use your teleportation spell to make this trip quick.”

“Hm? If we want to make it quick then why don’t I just teleport us there right now?”

When I asked that, Dianne stiffened for some reason.

“W-While I think that’d be convenient, I’d much rather ride there. You never know what you might miss if you just skipped the journey.”

“Uh…But I thought this would be something short. I’ve got other things to do today so I can’t just waste it all in a carriage.”

“B-But it’s just…I just don’t want to travel using that teleportation spell. Yeah. That’s it.”

“Then why did you ask me about using it earlier?”

“Well I…I…I…”

Dianne looked a bit embarrassed when I made that point. Like she’d screwed up.

“L-Look! Let’s just go by carriage. Alright? Please. We can use teleportation on the way back!”

I scratched the back of my head awkwardly. This all seemed a bit too forced for my liking. As if there was a reason Dianne wanted me to ride by carriage. That pushiness put me off a little bit.

“I really just wanna get this done though.”

“I-I understand that. However, please bear with me for the time being. Alright?”

Geez. She was really gonna keep pushing on this, huh? Well then, I guess I’ll just have to keep my guard up on the journey and hope there’s no deeper meaning behind all this.

Getting into the carriage, I sat down on the opposite side of Dianne and watched as the coachman closed the door after making sure we were safe inside.

After that, he started moving the carriage and before long, we were flying through the air toward the Matsuri Empire.

As we flew through the clouds, I simply stared out the window with indifference.

It’s not that I wanted to look like I didn’t care about the scenery. It’s just that I actually didn’t.

I’d flown through this sky plenty of times on my own so it was nothing new. Making any form of whimsical sensation that could’ve happened vanish from my view.

Unlike me, however, Dianne seemed to enjoy the sight as she looked out the window with an expression of awe on her face.

Well, I guess I’ll leave it to her then. Meanwhile, I’m gonna try and think of what to do to make it up to Xara.

I had thought this wouldn’t take long. But with the two-hour trip to the Matsuri Empire, even if I teleported back after that, Xara would be wide awake by then and annoyed I didn’t bring her with me.

With that in mind, I had to consider what sort of souvenir I should bring back as compensation.

Maybe some sort of toy? No. She told me she had her mother's taste of toys and they weren’t exactly the kind I’d be comfortable buying.

What about a snack? Nah. She’s not really a foodie. I mean, she does work in a snack club, but just buying her food wouldn’t please her at all. In that case, there’s only one other thing I could think of. I’d have to see if they have it there though.

Thinking over how I was gonna get such an item in such a large empire of festivities, I found myself getting lost in my own thoughts.

Axel was busy staring up at the ceiling.

Meanwhile, I was trying to enjoy the scenery around me.

Actually, I had hoped to spend some time getting to know him better. I couldn’t explain why I felt this way, but there was something inside me that wanted to spend more time with him. I had considered a few reasons as to why. But the one that seemed to stick in my head the most caused my face to go beat red.

That’s why I wanted to clear up my feelings here and now by going on a small trip with him.

I had already asked my parents to make plans to give us some time together, but I was surprised just how supportive they were of the idea of me bringing a boy to the empire of festivities.

Well, it doesn’t matter. What’s important is we get to spend our time there today. That’s why I’m going to once and for all, find out my true feelings toward Axel and whether they’re just fleeting like with Riko, or truly genuine. That’s what this plan has been created for.

Even so, Axel seemed pretty indifferent to the idea of spending time with me. Did that mean he just wasn’t interested, or was there something else that kept him from accepting my invitation wholeheartedly?

I wanted to believe it was just that Axel felt unsure being around another girl when he had Xara, but since she should be at her home right now, there’s no cause for concern there. That’s why I was confident in executing this plan.

Still, couldn’t Axel look a bit more interested in talking with me? He just seems to be lost and thought and I get the feeling he has no plans of talking. Geez. And it took all that effort to convince him to join me in the carriage.

Letting out a sigh, I rubbed my eyes and returned to looking at the scenery.

All the while the awkward atmosphere lingered on with no sign of coming to an end.

About an hour's passed since we flew off in the carriage.

We haven’t said a word to each other at all, but that didn’t really bother me.

Dianne, however, seemed to be on edge for some reason.

It was like she wanted to say something but didn’t know how to put it.

Letting out a yawn, I crossed my arms and closed my eyes. I wasn’t sure what was bothering her so much, but since I still didn’t fully understand this whole situation, I was too on guard to provide any leisurely conversation.

Even so, I didn’t exactly want to make things awkward either. So with a sigh, I opened my mouth to start a conversation.

“So-

“Hey-”

Just as I did so, Dianne opened hers. Causing us both to stop instantly.

“Y-You go first,” offered Dianne.

“No. It’s fine. Go ahead. I didn’t really have anything to say anyway.”

“O-Okay. If I may, how have things been with you?”

That’s what she wanted to ask?

“Fine. I’m just relaxing on my island and enjoying my vacation. How about you?”

“Well I can’t deny it, my schedule has been quite the hectic one. So getting a break like this feels nice.”

“A break? Isn’t this a package delivery?”

“Ah-! Um…yes. You’re right. I guess it just feels like a break since we’re heading to the empire of festivities.”

I see. So that’s what she meant by a break…like hell I’d believe that. Even if she wanted to treat it like a break, this is still official business. And considering she was a princess, I highly doubt she’d say such a thing like that without reason.

Even so, I couldn’t really point it out since this could just be me jumping to conclusions and it might've really been a slip of the tongue.

That’s why, while I still wasn’t sure what to think about this whole thing, I remained silent and let things play out.

“W-Well moving on from that for now, what are your thoughts on the scenery? It’s not every day we get the chance to see the clouds from so high up,” said Dianne.

“Hm? You really think so?”

As I said before, I’ve been this high in the sky plenty of times so I didn’t really bother looking at the scenery. And even looking out now, I still couldn’t see any appeal.

“Yeah. I still remember when I rode in a flying carriage for the first time when I was a little girl. It was the most magical experience I had ever had.”

“Is that so? That sounds nice.”

Dianne nodded her head.

“It’s actually thanks to those rides that I found myself growing a love for the concept of flight. Even if I can’t fly myself, getting to see things from this high up is still a worthwhile experience.”

“I see.”

Since I could fly, I wasn’t able to have the same whimsical fascination that she does. It made me think about how different people can see the world depending on their own experiences.

“Say, could I ask you something?” asked Dianne. Suddenly getting serious.

“Sure. What is it?”

“Do you…have a dream?”

“Hm?”

I opened my eyes and looked at Dianne who was staring right at me.

“I always dreamed about being able to fly and be free. But I’m curious about what you’re dream is. Do you have some goal you want to achieve?”

I thought it over for a second.

“I guess I did have one at one point.”

Stolen story; please report.

“At one point?”

Dianne tilted her head in confusion as she repeated the final words I said.

“It was a stupid dream created by a stupid person. Someone I’ve long since abandoned. Even so, that stupid person made me who I am today, so I can’t exactly hate them.”

“I see. So what was that stupid person’s dream?”

“I’d…rather not say.”

“...I understand. Sorry if I’m being a bother.”

“You’re not. It’s just not something I wanna talk about.

“...Okay. Then I won’t intrude on the matter further.”

“Thanks. I appreciate it.”

After that, an awkward silence fell between us. All the way to the Matsuri empire.

Finally arriving at our destination, Dianne and I stepped out of the carriage and were immediately met with an array of lights.

The sounds of people cheering rang in my ears followed by metal clanging and boards shuffling.

Once my eyes adjusted, I saw exactly why this place was called the Empire of Festivities.

Covering everywhere were all types of games and challenges that were being played by practically everyone. Not only that, but everyone was wearing all forms of fancy clothing signifying just how nice this place was. It was truly a crazy sight to behold.

“It really is just like Vegas,” I muttered.”

“What was that!?” Dianne shouted. Unable to hear my voice through the crowds of chatter.

“It’s nothing! Let’s get to that delivery spot! So where is it exactly!?” I shouted. Trying to make my voice heard.

After I asked, the coachmen handed Dianne a paper and she scanned through it.

“According to what it says here, we need to head toward the higher levels of the capital!”

“Huh!? But I thought that’s where we landed! Why are we lower down!?”

“Because the coachmen can’t land the carriage that high!”

What!? Aw, come on! This is starting to become a pain.

“Well come on! Let’s get moving! We can even explore the different games while we walk!”

And now Dianne wanted to play games while we moved along. Just how carefree was this girl?

With a sigh, I followed her through the streets. All while ignoring this feeling I had that this was gonna take a lot longer than I initially thought.

“Oh! Let’s play this one!” shouted Dianne pointing at a giant crane game that somehow was controlled entirely by a single small switch on the bottom of the machine.

“I guess bigger is better for some people,” I muttered as Dianne slipped a newly acquired coin into the slot machine.

Trying her best to aim for one of the capsules within the machine, Dianne let the claw fall. However, she failed to grasp anything and ended up failing.

Looking a bit disappointed, Dianne turned to me.

“Alright! You’re turn Savoncho!”

“Do I have to?”

“Of course you do!”

With a sigh, I stepped up to the machine.

I wasn’t all that familiar with these things, so I highly doubt I could grab one of the capsules that contained prizes.

Even so, I didn’t want to disappoint Dianne, so I tried my best to aim for one of the capsules and activated the claw. Sadly, the claw failed to grab anything and pulled back without a single prize intact.

“Just how rigged are these things?” I asked myself as I could’ve sworn I heard Nia chuckle from within the grimoire on my belt.

Ignoring her, I tried going a second time only to fail once again. When that happened, I let out an angry huff.

“There’s no way it’s possible to beat these things!”

“Eheheh. Calm down a bit Savoncho. It’s just a game,” said Dianne. Trying to calm me down.

In response, I just let out an annoyed huff before starting to walk off with Dianne close behind.

The next game we tried out was some form of pinball game with an additional seven to eight buttons that were meant to be shared between two people.

Figuring it’d be fun, Dianne set a coin in and we got to playing.

To speed things along, let’s just say that it went pretty terribly. Not only did the ball keep falling out of our grasp, but it seemed like the game wasn’t even working properly since half the buttons didn’t move anything.

Finishing up with that machine, we journeyed through the streets for a bit longer and tried game after game only for each one to end in us getting our butts kicked.

From table hockey, to ping pong and even bowling. All the different games continued to be more and more of a pain.

After about an hour, we finally arrived at an elevator powered by a mix of wind and water magic that shot through the air in a protected box until it stopped on the upper parts of the empire. Meaning we could hopefully reach our destination soon.

All while that was happening, Dianne was having the time of her life. Clearly enjoying every second of it all. At least, for a while. But I noticed her expression change the longer and longer we explored.

That was when we arrived at an odd-looking location.

“What’s this place?” I asked.

“This is the Brain Tank. It’s a special location fitted with devices that send you’re brain into a dream-like world. It’s one of the most popular attractions so they’ve made tons of places supporting the device all around the upper area of the empire,” Dianne explained.

“Interesting.”

Strange how I’ve never heard of it before. I don’t believe it was here the last time I was in the Matsuri Empire.

So either it was added after, or I just happened to miss it during my first visit.

“So you wanna go in?” I asked.

“Yeah. Let’s do it,” replied Dianne.

Thus, the two of us went inside the building.

“Alright, so that’s two uses of the dream diving device. And how long would you like to dive?” said the clerk at the counter in front of the building.

“How about two hours?”

“Understood. That’ll be ten tokens.”

Tens tokens!? Wow. Considering everything up to this point was only a single token, that’s quite an expensive cost for just two hours in this dream world.

Once Dianne gave over the tokens, we followed the clerk toward two small rooms with a device inside.

“Alright. Thank you for using our services and enjoy your time in the dream world.”

Despite saying words that you’d think would spark excitement, the clerk’s monotone and barren voice really ruined the experience.

Even so, I was still kinda curious about this machine.

“Say Dianne, how exactly do these machines work?”

Stopping herself from entering her room, Dianne turned toward me.

“I only understand the basics, but from what I remember, they use a mix of mental alteration magic and sleep-inducing magic to form a sort of dream-like state that sucks people in and lets them exist in a dream world that was created by the founder of this machine.”

“Huh. So it’s kinda like being sucked into a video game world? Pretty ironic,” I muttered.

“What was that?”

“Nothing. So you wanna dive in?”

“Yeah. Let’s do it.”

With that, the two of us went into our rooms and put on the machines.

Once I made sure the device was set on my head, I felt myself starting to fall asleep and a few moments later, I fell completely unconscious.

After a few moments, I opened my eyes only to hear the sound of wind blowing by my ears. It was only after I was able to see clearly that I realized I was falling through the sky.

I wasn’t sure what to do other than slow down my descent. Thus, I attempted to use wind magic. However...

“What the-!?”

Despite trying again and again, my magic wouldn’t activate. And when I tried to cast different magic circles, they all vanished before I even had the chance to form them.

It was when I realized I was probably screwed that it dawned on me just how close the ground was.

“CRAAAAP!”

That was all I said before slamming into the pavement.

“...Urgh. Huh? I’m alive?”

That was the first thing I noticed as the crater I had made when I landed started to disappear.

Getting onto my feet, I tried casting magic again only for it to end in failure.

Not sure what to do here, I tried asking if Nia understood what was going on only to find the grimoire I normally kept on my belt was nowhere to be found.

“Well shit,” I muttered before letting out a frustrated sigh.

Starting to move my feet, it was only then that I finally took in my surroundings.

“What…is this place?”

Around me were loads of people all clamoring about. Drinking, laughing, playing games, and it all felt like the same vibe as the real world I was in just a bit ago.

However, there was something off about everything. And by that I mean, everyone looked a bit digital. Like the machine couldn’t fully read their bodies so they had to work with what they could. The whole thing was bizarre, to say the least.

Deciding to look around and figure things out, I slowly moved through the streets.

The hustle and bustle of everything was a bit annoying, but nothing I couldn’t deal with.

Though with so many unfamiliar faces, I couldn’t really find myself feeling comfortable.

Actually, that makes me think. Where was Dianne in all this? I knew she was right behind me when entering this place, so where was she?

While I thought about that, I found myself wandering into what I think was a museum.

I say think since there wasn’t really much being presented. In fact, there seemed to be more gift shops here than actual exhibits which struck me as a bit odd. Especially since this was just a dream-like world where it didn’t matter what you bought since it can’t be brought back to the real world…at least I don’t think so.

Since this was my first time experiencing this sort of device, I had no idea if that was possible or not. Even so, that didn’t matter right now since I was just planning to look around for the time being in order to find Dianne.

Still, while I looked around, I decided to glance at the few exhibits that were on display and my eyes eventually found themselves resting on one in particular that stood out to me. And that was a strange statue in the shape of some kind of all-mighty being wrapped in a single cloth.

Deciding to take a look at the summary of the statue, it was apparently designed after the creator of this dream world. Also known as Vailu Liori. A woman of noble birth who sought to bring a land of dreams to the people and currently worked as something akin to a god for this world. Controlling what happens within and making sure everyone's having a good time.

Reading this summary, I felt like this Vailu lady was probably a bit egotistical.

The reason I think that is because if she wasn’t, she probably wouldn’t have made sure to have such a detailed statue of herself here in this museum. Not only that but compared to the summary of the next exhibit, which is just a simple golden bone that has less than two sentences about it, the summary on her statue is way too long. It was like she was boasting about how powerful she truly was in this world. It honestly put me off a little bit.

Even so, I didn’t wanna ruin my time here, so I just decided to leave for the time being.

Back on the streets, I continued waltzing around in silence.

Without someone to make conversation with, I just found myself pondering if I should leave or not since I really couldn’t care less about playing a bunch of games in a dream-like world that I could do just as easily in real life. Especially since the one I came here with is nowhere in sight.

It was while I pondering the thought of leaving that I didn’t notice someone running at me from a nearby alleyway.

“Ack!”

I collapsed to the ground. Confused as to what the hell just happened.

And when I finally looked at who crashed into me, I saw a small boy with light blue hair covering his right eye. He had a rather fancy dark blue tuxedo and a small white ribbon on the side of his head.

As I looked at him, I could already tell there was something off about this kid. Why? Because he looked a bit frantic.

“Uh…You okay kid?”

As I asked that, I tried to reach out for the boy only for him to look at my eyes.

“Please…protect me…”

That was all he said before his single green eye glowed bright. Blinding me.

“Ack!”

I wanted to close my eyes, but I couldn’t for some reason. And then, by the time my vision finally came back, the boy was gone.

“What the hell was up with th-AHH!”

Out of nowhere, a pain surged through my eyes and images flashed through my mind.

“You are the cure.”

“Stop her desires.”

“Run James! Run before she finds you!”

“Catch it! We can't let it escape!”

As these voices and images flashed through my mind, my head was throbbing in pain. Like it couldn’t take the sudden amount of information being dumped inside.

In fact, it was so much information that after only a few seconds, I got knocked out. All while those images and words faded into the deepest parts of my mind.

“...el…Axel!”

Hearing my name, I opened my eyes to find myself lying on a bench with a crowd of people walking around in front of me.

Confused, I looked up at the sky.

I had no idea why I suddenly fell unconscious.

All I remember was entering this dream world, visiting the museum, and then…nothing. Everything after that I drew a complete blank and I had no idea why.

“Axel! Are you okay!?”

Turning to the voice saying my name, I found Dianne looking at me rather concerned.

She looked a bit off. Just like the rest of the people in this dream world.

“Um…Yeah. I’m alright. What are you doing here Dianne?”

“Why wouldn't I be here? We’re in the same dream world after all!”

Oh yeah. I guess that’s true…or was it? I still didn't get all this dream world stuff.

Getting onto my feet, I felt a throbbing pain in my head. Why was that?

“Hey. Are you sure you’re alright? You didn’t look the best when I found you?”

“Found me?”

Dianne nodded.

“You were lying on the ground completely pale-faced. I was really worried.”

“Er…Sorry about that.”

That was all I could say.

Despite clearly not being satisfied with such a simple answer, all Dianne could do was let out a sigh.

“Well then, let me ask you again. Are you sure you’re okay?”

“Of course I am. I just…had a little fall. No big deal.”

Was that really the case? I don’t know. Even so, that’s I could really consider as a possibility right now. So I decided to roll with it.

“Well alright then. In that case, would you be interested in trying out some of the games here?”

“Why would I play a bunch of games I could’ve just played in real life.”

“Because it’s more fun here! Just trust me on this one!” said Dianne. Looking ready to keep going.

“Um…Okay?”

I didn’t wanna just take her word for it, but seeing how much she wanted to go try out some of these games with me, it’d probably be pretty rude for me to just leave her to it.

Thus, the two of us went on to play the same games we did in the real world. And that felt-

“-like I was playing the exact same thing.”

As I muttered that to myself, I watched Dianne have fun with a normal pinball machine that worked properly and just one look made it clear she was really into it.

We ended up sticking around there for a good while before heading off to look at a few more games and before we knew it, two hours flew by and we received a message saying it was time for us to log off and return to the real world.

Dianne looked a bit disappointed, but I just shrugged my shoulders and accepted it for what it was.

Thus, the two of us left the dream-land and went back to the real world.

“You’re saying his life signs vanished into thin air?” asked a woman with a hood lying over her head.

In response, a man dressed in shining armor nodded.

“We were pursuing him as you asked. However, his signature suddenly vanished from our scanners. We think he might’ve implemented himself inside the minds of one of the guests.”

“Is that so? And why do you think that?”

“Because moments before he vanished, his signature stopped running and when we scanned the nearby area, we noticed a few guests had a chance to have a run-in with him.

“Is that so? Do you have any suspects?”

“We have two. Here’s they are.”

The armored knight handed two papers to the woman in the hood and she scanned over them. And as she did so, her eyes twitched over so slightly before reading the names aloud.

“Maiya Melata and Axel Savoncho, huh? Are either of them still in the dream world?”

“Negative. Both have been logged off for the last two hours.”

“I see. In that case, we’ll wait till they log on again.”

“You don’t want to chase them down in the real world?”

“Why do that? It’s not like that boy can do anything in the real world. We’ll just leave them be for the time being and if either come back, we’ll extract the boy then and decide what to do afterwards. Understood?”

“Of course. Lady Liori.”

“Good. You’re excused.”

With a wave of her hand, the woman in the cloak watched the armored knight leave and then leaned back in her chair.

“Haah. What a pain that key is. Still, when I see him again, I'll be sure to put things to an end then and there.

With those words, the woman named Vailu Liori closed her eyes and imagined what the future would hold.