Track 7

Good morning—! Good morning Friday—!

The hell is that?

Oh, is this your first time meeting him? This is Tuesday. He’s a genius parrot who’s great at customer service.

Haah? A bird serving customers…?

Welcome!

Fufu. I’m so happy I get to work together with Anisama.

Yeah. I’ll be here with you starting today. You’re the most dazzling thing in the world, but I’ll make bouquets almost as radiant as you.

Anisama…!

Looks like Ryui’s full of motivation too. Let’s make a spiral bouquet today. We’ll use these yellow lilies…

Then, Tuesday, follow me back to the birdhouse, okay?

House!

That bird’s pretty attached to ya, huh?

He’s friendly even when he’s roaming, so the customers love him. And he poops only on my shoulder too.

So you’re basically just a perch for him to take a shit.

Good one.

Well then, let’s begin the spiral bouquet lesson, brought to you by the poop-perch.

First, hold the lily in your non-dominant hand. Lightly hold it about one-third from the bottom of the stem.

Mmh.

Then take a white gerbera in your dominant hand and place it in a spiral around the lily, as if you’re enclosing it...

U-Uh, yeah.

Once you’ve rotated the entire lily, fill in the gaps with ivy.

…Ugh.

You’re holding them too tightly, Ryui. They won’t be able to absorb water if you crush the stems, and we won’t be able to sell them.

Easy for you to say. My fingers are cramping like hell ‘cause it’s not my dominant hand… Agh!

Shit. It fell apart…

Alright then. Let’s start over from the beginning using the same process.

One more time!

…Yeah, yeah.

(Damn it… I thought I did fine the last time I made one.)

(...No, that was different. They went easy on me last time, so I had fewer flowers to handle. The pet robots were helping me out too, so they were basically catering to me.)

Yep, you have really improved, Toi. Not only are you doing it without any problems now, you’re getting faster too.

As expected of Toi. It turned out beautiful, just like the pureness of your heart.

Ehehe. I’ve made a lot of them, so I think I’m getting the hang of it!

At this rate, Toi could definitely handle being the world’s best instructor at the weekend event.

As for Ryui… Yeah, you’re like a newborn fawn.

Um, excuse me—

THE HELL DID YOU SAY, HACHINOYA!? DON’T GET FUCKING COCKY!

Eek…!

Welcome!

Oh, come in.

N-Nagi-kun… Who is this scary guy?

“Scary guy”......

This guy’s fine. Ryui has a bit of a potty mouth, but he’s actually a kind big brother at heart. His face might look a little intimidating too, but he’s basically the same as Toi at the core. That’s really it.

Haah?

Yep, yep! He’s a super kind, totally dreamy, cool big brother, so don’t worry! ♪

Did you come to see Sonia by any chance?

Yeah. I heard she’d be back today…

Actually, she’s not back yet. I’m planning to pick her up this evening.

I’d fly out to get her right now if I could … But I’m following someone’s “divine message” at the moment— ...Well, more like just doing whatever they tell me to…

A divine message? You’re not working Toi to the bone again, are you!?

No, it’s from Astaroth. They gave me a time schedule.

A time schedule?

(That good-for-nothing devil who only causes harm…?)

Aachama’s fortune telling is way more accurate and detailed than mine. I think they really like Nagi-kun…

Even though there was a bomb cyclone today, we’ve had zero trouble for six whole hours. That’s actually the longest incident-free duration ever recorded.

Lucky—!

You’ve got bird shit on your shoulder though.

Tuesday’s droppings are a sign of good luck.

(Nagi-kun and this guy are totally in sync… It’s like they’re doing a manzai routine.)

(But they said they would bestow me with misfortune. I wonder why they had a change of heart?)

(Did they see our financial situation and feel sorry for us? If that’s the case, what a wonderful devil they are…)

…And there! My bouquet’s done! What do you think, Nagi-kun?

Perfect. You’ve mastered it.

Yay! Then I’ll give this one to you, Himari-chan.

It’s so cute…! Thank you, big brother!

You’re welcome!

…..

(Right. I’m the older one here. And yet…)

(We’ve been working together this whole time, but I couldn’t even notice the shop’s financial situation, let alone help Nagi-kun, who’s younger than me…)

(This time, I’ll be like Anisama and protect Nagi-kun and his shop…!)

…….

Huh? That’s strange…

(I thought I put the garden ornaments I ordered for the event around here… Where did they go?)

Oi, what’s wrong.

Ah. No, it’s nothing.

(Did I put them somewhere weird again? Well, I’m sure they’ll turn up eventually.)

…Oi, Hachinoya.

What’s that devil been up to lately? If they’ve been acting weird at all—

No, not really? They’ve been pretty friendly. They even helped out with deliveries sometimes.

They taught me small spells and stuff too. They also gave me advice on how to avoid bad luck. I’m more grateful to them than anything.

(Spells…?)

Well, guess it’s fine if they’re behaving…

But it’s still a devil that lives by devouring human souls. Don’t ever let your guard down around it.

—Or you’ll end up ruined.

…You’re pretty hard on Astaroth, huh. Do you hold some kind of grudge against them?

A huge one.

……

Did you bring a book today too?

Yep! I was planning to read it with Sonia, but…

Then I can read it with you today.

You will?

Nice idea. Maybe I’ll join in too.

Really? I’m so happy…! Thanks, you two!

Since we’re here, you should join us too, Ryui…

No, I'm good. Just listening to Toi’s pure voice is enough for me.

“A long long time ago, there lived three brothers in a certain country.”

“The oldest brother was Simon, a soldier. The second brother was Taras, a chubby man.”

“The third brother was Ivan, the fool. Ivan was good-natured and foolish, so whenever someone asked him for a favor, he would do it.”

“Thanks to that, the brothers never once fought. However, a demon leader was watching the three of them…”

“The demon leader loved human hatred. They thought that if they gave the brothers what they desired and let them get used to luxury, they would surely fight.”

“And so, he sent three small demons to the brothers.”

“Simon was tempted by the little demon, and left home to serve the king.”

“Taras was tempted by the little demon, and left home to become a merchant.”

“However, Ivan the fool had no greed. After defeating the little demons, he decided to take care of his brothers who became poor because of the demons.”

“The demon leader’s scheme was foiled by Ivan’s pure-hearted nature…”

We’re home…

Yesh, we’re back!

Sonia!!

Welcome back! Welcome back!

Aww~~, Tuesday–...! Pleashe calm down, it’s already bedtime!

Looks like he’s happy that you’re back from maintenance. Let’s let him fly around for a bit.

I guessh it can’t be helped. …But just a bit, yesh?

Sonia! I wuv you!

…Ah! As I thought… Nagi-shan forgot to sort the mail again.

Geez~ Billsh go in thish drawer. Notishes from the government go in a clear file. And all those flyersh go into the recycling!

I’ve been busy lately and forgot… As I thought, having you here makes things a lot easier.

By the way, your lisp might be fixable, right?

Yesh, it’s posshible! But they shaid that only the owner can be given the eshtimate…

(So this is it…)

(...T-two million… yen…)

…Is it as expenshive as we thought…?

…No, it’s fine. Uh-huh, it’s totally fine.

(I can’t let Sonia see this estimate… I’ll just slip it in here for now.)

….?

Ah, thish one sheems to have less energy now. The Queen of the Night…

Yeah. I’ve been giving it some nutrients and stuff…

I hope it blooms shoon…

Oh, the phone’sh ringing! I’ll go anshwer it!

(Some day, when this Queen of the Night blooms…)

< Thanks for listening to me the other day! >

< The flower you gave me last time really helped me relax. >

< That night, I slept so well for the first time in a long while. >

< [ureC]¹ >

(Thump-thump…)

(...Come to think of it, that flower back then—)

(When I focused my thoughts the way Astaroth said to, it looked like it got a bit of life back.)

…..

I think… it was something like this…

………

(...Do you feel a bit better now?)

…!?

(Huh… I feel dizzy all of a sudden…)

And on top of that, this insane sleepiness is taking over me… N-no, I can’t…

I still… have to make the flowers… for Astaroth… I have to… make it…

I-I can’t… fight it anymore…

…Mmh... Zzzz….

Nagi-shan’s shleeping all shlumped over…

(He musht have been working sho hard, preparing for the weekend event while I washn’t here…)

I’ll get your futon ready right away…

Sho tonight, pleashe get some proper resht.