These goblins looked different from the creatures Yuto usually imagined.
He had always thought goblins were ugly, shriveled things.
But the ones here, aside from their skin color and ears, looked almost human.
There were even quite a few handsome men and beautiful women among them.
"Hey! Boss! Ainz! Tohru! I'm here!!!" Rimuru's voice called out from a distance.
He was riding on top of a wolf, looking coll and all.
But then Yuto reconsidered—he had ridden a dragon today.
He won!
"Lord Rimuru, are these the adventure companions you mentioned?" a strong-looking goblin asked.
Yuto guessed that was probably Rigurd, the village chief Rimuru often trusted with tasks.
Hearing the phrase "adventure companions," Yuto understood.
Rimuru and Ainz were using the exact same excuse.
After a bit more talking, Rimuru disappeared under the goblins' respectful gazes.
To them, Rimuru was off to find new chances for their future.
...
The four of them appeared back in the restaurant.
At this point, Yuto couldn't even be bothered to complain about Ainz and Rimuru.
Instead, he asked the important question. "So... what are your disguises supposed to be?"
That made both Ainz and Rimuru excited.
"Hmph. Today, I am a dark greatswordsman!" Ainz flashed with light and turned into a tall warrior wearing full black armor.
Yuto looked him over.
Yeah. That worked.
"And Rimuru?"
"Today I'm going as a monster!" Rimuru's body spread out for a second, then changed shape into a monster about the size of a normal person.
It looked like a dinosaur.
Yuto had heard Rimuru say he could imitate living things.
This monster form wouldn't stand out at a convention anyway, there were always weird creatures at places like that.
He reached out and touched Rimuru's monster form.
The texture felt real.
"I guess that works too." He accepted it.
Anyone who didn't know the truth would probably just think Rimuru was wearing a high-end costume.
"All right. You still remember what I told you before, right?" Yuto reminded them, and both nodded.
Then Yuto looked at Tohru.
After thinking about it, he decided she should stay by his side the whole time.
Her way of thinking was too different from a normal human's, so he had better keep an eye on her himself.
Once that was settled, the four left the restaurant.
Yuto locked the door behind them, and they walked out of the alley.
While they were still on Ichinosuke Street, few people reacted.
But the moment they stepped out onto the main road, they became the most eye-catching people around!
"Mom, look! A monster!"
"That's not a monster, that's a person."
"Whoa! That cosplay is amazing!!!"
"Wow, is that a monster maid costume? That tail and those wings look so good!!!"
"That swordsman looks awesome! My middle-school fantasy side is waking up!!!"
"Huh? Why isn't that guy wearing a costume?"
"Damn it, why is he so handsome?!"
People gasped and shouted in surprise.
In this country, cosplay culture was popular, so no one suspected anything strange.
Yuto was used to people looking at him, but he still felt embarrassed.
Maybe it was because he looked the most normal out of all of them, surrounded by a bunch of "cosplayers."
Ainz and Rimuru, on the other hand, acted natural.
Every time they heard someone praising them, they struck poses, which only made more people react.
Their desire to perform was out of control!
As for Tohru, she had whispered into Yuto's ear several times.
"Boss, can I kill the one taking pictures of me?"
"Boss, can I breathe fire and burn all these people?"
"Boss, can I curse them to death?"
Today, the dragon girl was feeling violent!
...
The four arrived at the station under all kinds of strange looks.
In front of the station, a girl in a sunhat was waiting for them.
In the bright sunlight, she looked like a rose that had just begun to bloom: beautiful, sharp, and a little untouchable.
The moment Utaha saw the four of them, a smile appeared on her face.
That half-bloomed rose seemed to open all the way.
The people around the station who had been watching her all changed expression. Some looked disappointed, some upset, some bitter.
But no matter how their expressions changed, it meant nothing to Yuto and Utaha.
"Making a girl wait for you... don't you feel ashamed, Kamisaka-kun?" Utaha leaned forward slightly.
Her eyes were as beautiful as calm autumn water.
Yuto smiled a little.
Whenever she challenged him like this, he answered by teasing her.
Messing with her once in a while felt like teasing a cat.
"Oh? And why exactly should I feel ashamed? Since you were the one who invited us, waiting a little should be normal, shouldn't it?"
Utaha's smile dropped for a second, then it returned.
She didn't want to keep arguing with him.
That first line had been more like a special kind of greeting. For her and Yuto, teasing each other when they met had become normal.
"You two can save the flirting for when you're alone. Right now I just want to get to the convention already." Ainz was getting impatient.
He was so excited that what he said came out a little too direct.
Yuto stayed calm, but Utaha's cheeks turned a little red.
"So... that's Ainz-san?" Utaha steadied herself and looked at him.
Yuto then introduced Ainz and Rimuru again.
Utaha felt surprised and curious, but once she remembered they could use magic, it didn't seem strange anymore.
Since Ainz had made it clear that he wanted to get to the convention as soon as possible, Utaha didn't say anything else.
She led everyone into the station, bought tickets, and got on the train.
It was just past the morning rush hour.
Since it was Tuesday, there were fewer people than usual.
Even though there were seats available, none of them sat down, instead, they all stood together in a little group.
A lot of people were glancing at Tohru and Utaha, but no one dared come over and talk to them.
The main reason was Ainz.
His black armor and big sword made him look too intimidating!
In a crowded train car, he stood out even more than usual.
And then there was Tohru, with her "friendly" expression.
Because of those two, everyone in the train kept their distance from the group.
"I didn't expect Tohru to be interested in conventions too," Utaha said while talking to Tohru.
Last time, she had only known Ainz and Rimuru wanted to come.
Yuto had never told her Tohru would be coming too; he hadn't thought much about it back then, so he forgot.
"Yeah. The boss said conventions sounded fun, so I wanted to come." Tohru always had that bright, innocent, playful smile on her face.
Utaha smiled too. "You could say a convention is basically like a giant festival. There's no need for me to explain too much now—you'll understand once we get there."
"Mm. I'm going to stay with the boss the whole time. If I don't understand something, I'll just ask him."
"Huh? Stay with Kamisaka-kun?" Utaha froze.
She remembered that she and Yuto had agreed to split off on their own and enjoy the convention together.
But from what Tohru just said... their two-person outing was about to become three people?
She turned to Yuto with a questioning look.
He smiled and nodded. "Well, it's Tohru's first time coming to a big human event like this. I'd feel a little uneasy letting her go around on her own."
That explanation filled Tohru with emotion and happiness, but Utaha's face grew stiff.
They had agreed it would be the two of them!
How had it turned into this?
Still, she couldn't argue with what he said.
Smart enough to hide what she was feeling, her smile didn't change as she simply looked at Yuto and nodded softly.
But under that calm face, her thoughts were a mess.
'Idiot! Idiot! Idiot! Kamisaka Yuto!!!'
One complaint after another kept bursting out inside her head like water bubbling up from a spring.
At the side, Ainz and Rimuru exchanged a look.
'As expected of Kamisaka. He casually pulls off things we could never do.' — Ainz
'Exactly, exactly. He's too strong!' — Rimuru
That was a full conversation done only through eye contact.
...
The convention was being held in Shibuya, not far from the main building of Fujinokawa Bunko.
The venue was a large convention center, and now the five of them were standing outside the entrance.
Around them were all kinds of cosplayers in every shape imaginable.
Among all those cosplayers, Ainz and Rimuru were popular, maybe because their costumes looked too good.
To everyone else, their outfits looked like top-tier professional work, and some people even came over to ask if they were professional cosplayers.
Ainz and Rimuru were happy about that.
Research had shown that when a person could cover their face in public, their shamelessness went up several levels, after all, no one could see their real face.
And in the case of Ainz and Rimuru, they weren't even technically human anymore, so they were even more comfortable.
Every time someone asked to take a picture, the two of them would strike a pose. If someone asked for a group photo, they would agree.
They hadn't even gone inside yet, but Ainz and Rimuru had already turned into stars in that little area.
Yuto felt both helpless and impressed, not having expected those two to adapt to a convention this well.
They looked like fish in water—like they had come home!
Tohru was also drawing a lot of attention beside him.
After all, she was cute, sweet-looking, and had wings and a tail.
To normal people, she looked like the perfect monster-girl cosplay.
The problem was that Tohru's expression looked dangerous, which alone stopped a lot of people from trying to approach her.
"Tohru, relax," Yuto smiled and patted her on the head.
He understood why she was acting like this.
Before, Tohru had always been hostile toward humans.
In the restaurant, she had seemed more normal because there weren't many humans there.
Today was the first time she had come out with him into a huge crowd of humans like this, so of course her instincts were making her tense up.
Yuto had noticed on the way out of the restaurant that she was feeling nervous and guarded.
Now that she was standing in the middle of this crowd, surrounded by humans on all sides, her tension had risen even more.
Tohru turned and looked at him.
In her eyes, Yuto saw the same nervous look she had worn when they first met.
"Tohru, calm down," he gently took his employee's hand.
His face was calm and warm, and his voice was soft as a breeze.
Little by little, the dragon maid relaxed.
"We came out here to have fun. How are you going to enjoy it if you stay this tense?" Yuto let go of her hand.
Tohru nodded seriously. "Okay. I understand, Boss!"
Once he saw that she had calmed down, Yuto nodded too.
At the side, Utaha watched the two of them, and her eyes flickered.
The moment she saw Yuto take Tohru's hand first, she quietly bit down a little harder on her teeth.
"I didn't think there'd be this many people," Yuto looked around.
There were long lines of people everywhere, split into three crowded lines, all waiting for the convention to open.
Even in this heat, there were still so many of them that he couldn't help being amazed.
"This crowd still isn't that bad. Once you see how packed it gets inside, you won't be saying that anymore."