Episode 286: Happy Halloween
Volume 2 Release Celebration & Trick-or-Treat!
“Halloween, or Hallowe’en, is a nocturnal festival held every year on October 31st. Customs include decorating jack-o’-lanterns made by carving pumpkins or turnips, and children dressing up as witches and ghosts to go around to neighbors’ houses for candy.”
“…Heeh. A festival, huh? Come to think of it, I think there were some games that had events like that, or maybe not…?”
Unfortunately, the VRMMO ＜World of Space＞ that she originally played had a hardcore specification, and in a world where she didn’t even know how long it had been since she left Earth, all history had been lost (or so the setting went). Therefore, there was absolutely no connection to festival events originating from Earth.
Of course, she knew about such events in the real world, so she knew when they were.
“By the way, is that October 31st thing important?”
However, when you think on a cosmic scale, events linked to calendar dates don’t really make sense. After all, there’s no guarantee that a year is 365 days.
In that sense, one year on this planet is 380 days and 7 hours and 12 minutes, and one day is 26 hours 3 minutes and 12 seconds when measured by Earth standards. How does the date of October 31st even apply?
“According to the literature, the origin is a festival that begins at sunset on the day before November 1st, which is considered the beginning of winter. In other words, since ＜The Tree＞ is located in the Northern Hemisphere, it is believed that it should start at sunset on October 32nd, the day before November 1st.”
“I see.”
Winter, winter, huh? Eve muttered, taking a sip of the cider in front of her.
The ice rattled, and the condensation on the glass dripped onto the table.
Today is October 32nd.
The weather is clear.
The outside temperature is 31°C. Humidity 72%.
The word “winter” doesn’t suit the subtropical climate of ＜The Tree＞.
“It was believed that the boundary between worlds became blurred on this night. A gate appears between this world and the afterlife, and the spirits of loved ones, evil spirits, and fairies can all come and go freely. Therefore, the living disguise themselves as demons, evil spirits, and fairies to hide from being taken away by bad things. On the other hand, relatives and friends’ spirits also return, so they are welcomed grandly in the house.”
“Heeh~. I never bothered to look up the origin, so I didn’t know. Akane-san really knows a lot.”
Akane, praised by Eve, puffed out her chest proudly.
And then, Eve had an idea.
Since Akane-san had gone to the trouble of looking it up, maybe they should do Halloween.
However, it was an event that Eve had never been involved in.
She didn’t know what to do.
Well, if she didn’t know, she could just look it up, or even just make it up.
After all, the custom of Halloween doesn’t exist in this world.
“Okay. ＜Ringo＞, let’s do Halloween.”
“…Yes, Ma’am.”
◇◇◇◇
Decorate jack-o’-lanterns, and prepare some similar dolls and stuffed animals.
If you use candles and lanterns for the lights, it will look quite like it.
In addition, ghosts, bats, spiders and spider webs. Skulls aren’t bad either.
However, things that are too grotesque are just plain scary, so comical ones are preferred.
The coloring should be around black, purple, and orange.
This is all up to you.
And the most important thing is the costumes of the participants.
Halloween is all about costumes.
“Ghost costumes are… boring. Anything but that.”
“Yes, Ma’am.”
Witch.
Zombie.
Devil.
Bat.
Skeleton.
Black cat.
These are the typical costumes, right?
“Hmm… I’d rather have something cute. There’s no fun in being scary, like zombies or Frankenstein’s monster… Aren’t they just supporting characters? In this case?”
That’s debatable, so it’s hard to say for sure.
“Let’s make a rough design and have everyone choose?”
So, Eve immediately gathered her sisters and announced the Halloween celebration.
“Akane-san told me about this festival called Halloween, so let’s do it!”
“Oh, Halloween, is it?”
Asahi, who seemed to know a lot about these kinds of events, was the first to react.
“That’s right. We can’t collect candy like in the original festival, but well, I think it’s fine to just dress up and have a party!”
“Will Onee-sama also dress up?”
“Of course!”
In that case, it was obvious that the sisters would participate.
It was clear that everyone except Asahi would match Onee-sama, so after each of them picked out the costumes they were interested in, they decided to draw lots.
“Then! Number 1, Asahi, will draw!”
Asahi, who raised her hand first, happily reached into the lottery box held by ＜Ringo＞, rustled it around, and pulled out a lottery ticket.
In order to prevent predictive selection, ＜Ringo＞, who was holding the box, was subtly manipulating both hands to force a random selection. This was the true value of a super-performance AI.
“Hoh… A Little Devil, is it?”
Asahi is a Little Devil.
Akane is a Witch.
Ichigo is a Black Cat.
Utsugi is a Devil.
Erica is a Bat.
Olive is a Little Devil Maid.
＜Ringo＞ is a Fallen Angel.
“Black Cat… Maid?”
And Eve ended up being a Meow-Meow Maid.
Now that she had drawn it, there was no choice.
She needed to get into character (not really).
“A maid! Should I make tea or something!”
“…I will provide support.”
Of course, there was no way Eve, who had never done such housework, could do anything.
The eight people, who were chattering and changing into their respective costumes, ended up decorating the party venue together.
The decorations were output by a general-purpose machine tool (printer), and the dishes were created by an automatic cooker.
While they were preparing, the sun went down, and it was just the right time.
““““““““Happy Halloween!!””””””””
At the same time as everyone shouted in unison, the lights in the observation room slowly dimmed.
The sun, which had sunk below the horizon, dyed the world a dark orange color.
＜Ringo＞ lit the candle in her hand with a snap.
“Please.”
“Oh, I’ve never used a candle before.”
Eve cautiously brought her own candle closer to the offered candle. The flame barely transferred to the trembling candle, and the light increased with a poof.
“…Hoeh~”
Eve, who had never seen a light using fire, seemed to be fascinated by the small flame. In the meantime, the other sisters also received fire from ＜Ringo＞. Asahi happily received the fire for her own candle and went straight to the jack-o’-lanterns piled up in the room. It seemed she wanted to light them herself.
By the time all the candles and lanterns placed throughout the room were lit, Eve finally came to her senses.
“Oh… Well, the atmosphere has changed quite a bit…”
“Onee-sama, it’s beautiful…”
““Ooh~~””
“…………”
The interior, illuminated by the orange light, showed a different scene from the artificial lighting. The sisters seemed to be getting more and more excited by the unusual sight.
“Well… shall we start?”
The projection display drew large letters in the air.
““““““““Trick or Treat!!””””””””
In response to everyone’s voices, a glittering effect danced in the air along with the sound of crackers.
“Ah… Oh no, is this what a party is…”
““Kyaa!””
“Ooh!”
In such a glittering space, Utsugi, Erica, and Asahi, who were completely hyped up, started running around, and Eve nodded with a somewhat emotional look. It seemed to have touched a chord in her heart.
In this way, the eight girls had a very enjoyable time, striking cute poses (becoming a black cat) and meowing.
I just thought of it, so I wrote it.
The home base is so peaceful, but on the front lines… Well, let’s enjoy the fun times.
★Volume 2 is now on sale!
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