I was ordered to hold a party by Marquis Bozes, and I'd been thinking about various things.
"Hmm, I wonder what format I should use..." (Mitsuha)
Ordinary party, dance party, masquerade ball, greatest ball[1]...
"Do you want to dance at the martial arts event, young lady?" (Sabine)
Oops, a thrust from Sabine-chan...
Yes, now it's time to come up with ideas, so we have Sabine-chan, Colette-chan, and Beatrice-chan.
The location was my private room in my mansion.
The purpose of the party, or rather the reason for its holding, was to be a reception party and to promote the products of the Yamano territory and the General Store Mitsuha.
And what I was thinking about now was the format of the party.
"I wonder if it will be a banquet style..."
"Let’s do it, banquet party!"
Is it Ilya-chan[2]? Sabine-chan said it looks good!
No, it's a banquet party, not Berserker![3]
A banquet is a dinner party. It could be argued that it was a kind of party.
...But what the nobles wanted from our party was a dinner...not a proper dinner.
They probably didn't want to sit down and eat a normal full-course meal, but rather something stranger and more unusual.
And they would expect something interesting and fun to do instead of being sedentary.
...In that case, the dinner party was a not an option.
In the first place, if it's a dinner party format, if there were a lot of people, the cooking and servers wouldn't be able to keep up.
Pass the dance party and masquerade ball!
First of all, I couldn't dance, and there's nothing I could do when I was negotiating or making arrangements if I couldn't tell who the other person was because of the mask.
"Then, I guess it’s the tournament ball?" (Colette)
Colette-chan said something like that...
Well, the winner would be Colette-chan, who has super strength!
"Me, me, me!" (Beatrice)
This time, it's from Beatrice-chan.
Well, I would like to say something myself...
"Don't think too deeply about it, I think it's okay to be normal. I'm going to follow what I've done so far and upgrade each one further. Skits, Yamano cuisine, a little fun... It's just a normal party, so there's no need for something expensive and big like a flower parade or an illuminated parade." (Beatrice)
I see…I guess you just don't want to do something better than your debutante ball, Beatrice-chan!
...No, I didn't see the slightest sign of that... It seemed like she's just making a suggestion because she thought it's a good idea.
It's true that if I did something that costs a lot of money at a normal party, I wouldn't be able to keep up with it. Even though Sabine-chan's debutante ball, Luchen-kun's coming-of-age ceremony, and many other things were still to come.
Sorry, I was looking at Beatrice-chan's innocent proposal with colored glasses.
...introspection!
"Don't let out anything that will be more amazing than mine!" (Beatrice)
It's ruined!!
"Well, let's save that for Sabine-chan's debutante ball." (Beatrice)
Yeah...
I thought she was naive, but then she turned out to be selfish... but she's actually a good girl who cared about her friends.
Double trick!!
Well, Beatrice-chan was a good girl after all.
"Actually, I think I'll go with Beatrice-chan's idea.
And, another important thing to consider is…" (Mitsuha)
"Is it the venue?" (Sabine)
As expected from Sabine-chan. Sasu-Sabi!
"Yeah. Usually it’s held at the royal residence of that noble family, in their party room or dance hall, right?
But, the Yamano family's royal capital residence..." (Mitsuha)
"General Store Mitsuha, isn’t it?" (Colette)
Yes. Colette-chan was right. And the General Store Mitsuha didn't have a party room or dance hall.
"How about renting a dance hall from some noble house?" (Mitsuha)
That's what I suggested, but Beatrice-chan insisted.
"No, Mitsuha. If you do that, it's the same as declaring that you need the help of another family to secure the party venue. And people will think that you're working under that noble family.
Yes, Mitsuha is a great hero who saved the country and has a good reputation, but there are people who are jealous of her, who are holding her back, and who have spread bad reputations for themselves and who are trying to be on their side. Don't show any gaps!
Using the Bozes family's royal capital residence, it's not a good idea to make your relationship with us too obvious..." (Beatrice)
...This is it.
Although she looked young with a baby face, Beatrice-chan was the daughter of the Marquis Bozes and Iris-sama. And it is no wonder that he was chosen as a senior instructor (tutor) at Sabine-chan in the past.
"Then, church…" (Mitsuha)
"If you owe money to a place like that, you'll be in trouble. All you have to do is a donation, but they will attack you in various ways, such as asking you to register as a shrine maiden even if you just give your name, or asking you to give instructions at a religious event... Well, they don't have any malicious intent, they're just treating you as a carbuncle to attract people, so it won't cause any harm." (Sabine)
"...Ah, yeah..." (Mitsuha)
With Sabine's advice, the idea of renting a church hall was rejected.
"An outdoor party in the central plaza..." ()
"I’m not going! I can’t keep out the citizens of the royal capital and occupy them, and I can’t have a party in a place where there are a lot of unrelated commoners! Also, people gathered to see ane-sama and Beatrice-chan, and some people started messing with the food and drinks on the table, and... the rest was a hellish picture of screaming!" (Sabine)
...It's no good...
"But, I have some useful information for my anesama!" (Sabine)
"Eh?" (Mitsuha)
"It's a proper building, with good space and facilities. It's a place where aristocrats can hold parties and it's not embarrassing, and it's not tied to strange powers. No one will be criticized for their hierarchical relationships, nor will they be looked at as a weakness. Security is also perfect. I have a feeling for a place like that." (Sabine)
What a great deal from Sabine-chan!
"Where is that?" (Mitsuha)
"...The grand hall of the royal palace and the dance hall." (Sabine)
"Aah... By the way, wouldn't I be criticized behind my back for renting the royal palace's facilities? On the other hand, if a viscount-like person can rent a hall in the royal palace for a private party, then how many connections does he have to the royal family that he can afford to do so...?" (Mitsuha)
Yeah, I guess I'll go with that...
Or rather, that's all there was to it.
Now is the time to collect what I owed the king!
Author's Note
"I Shall Survive Using Potions!" A spin-off comic by Sukima-sensei, the illustrator of "I Shall Survive Using Potions! The Journey of Hanano and Lotte (1)" (Sirius KC) is now on sale! (^^)/
Volume 1 of the main comic "Potion" is now available for free on Yanmaga Web! (^^)/
Episode 2 of the anime will be broadcast on the Asahi network on Saturday the 14th at 2600 (Sunday 2am)!!
Thank you very much for your support!
Translation Note
[1] 天下一舞踏会 (Tenka ichi budō-kai) = "World's Greatest Ball"; probably what Sabine heard was "Tenka ichi butō-kai" (天下一武道会) = "World's Greatest Martial Arts Tournament"
[2] イリヤちゃん, I don't know what it is. (Update 30-Oct-2024: see comment by HalfInsaneCats below)
[3] 晩餐会 (bansankai) = dinner party, banquet; バーサーカー (baasaakaa) = berserker