I was Caught up in a Hero Summoning, but that World is at Peace (WN)-Chapter 2244: Miyama Kaito’s Birthday Celebration Party ㊺

The thought of party favors under the name of "commemorative gifts" gave me a slight stomachache, but I’d heard that the commemorative coins issued in limited quantities for the Hero Festival bore the face of the first Hero…… so compared to having my face plastered there like in Neun-san's case, I decided to tell myself that this was better.

Apparently, though I hadn't known this, it seems commemorative coins are made fairly often in the Human Realm.

[Ein-san, does the Human Realm really make commemorative coins that frequently?]

[They’re a staple for any kind of celebration. Like Shalltear mentioned earlier, most of them are of copper coins. They’re not usually handed out for free, you typically have to buy them. They’re often sold at face value or slightly higher, so I’d say they’re more for collecting than practical use.]

[Do fakes ever circulate?]

[I wouldn’t say never, but most of them are made with elaborate designs and a strong emphasis on aesthetics…… Honestly, if someone’s going to put that much effort into faking commemorative coins, it’d be quicker to just make counterfeit copper coins instead.]

Now that she mentioned it, that made perfect sense. If you had the skills to forge commemorative coins, you’d be better off using them to forge standard currency.

In the case of the commemorative coins for this birthday celebration, they were gold coins being handed out for free as keepsakes. So essentially, it was like the three countries of the Human Realm were giving each attendee a gift worth about a million yen. When I thought of it that way, it seemed like quite a generous gesture…… But considering most of the people at this party held high status in the world, like Counts, members of the Six Kings' factions, or High and Supreme Gods, it might be politically smarter to prepare something memorable, even if it meant stretching the budget a bit.

Well, not that I know anything about political maneuvering…… That’s just my own imagination talking.

As I was thinking about all that, I turned the garapon……

<KUROMUEINA>

It landed on Kuro. And before Ein-san could even go call her, as if on cue, Kuro suddenly appeared right in front of me.

[Oh, it’s my turn huh?]

[That was fast!?]

[I just happened to be watching just now. Anyway, once again, happy birthday, Kaito-kun!]

[Ahh, thanks.]

Kuro beamed brightly as she offered her birthday wishes, and I smiled back as I thanked her.

[Now then, about your present this time…… Can you guess what it is?]

[Hmmm…… Something like the latest magic tool?]

[I thought about that too. But I figured you’d probably get all sorts of gifts, plenty of high-end and unique ones, so I thought something for everyday use might be better.]

[Yeah, that sounds like the right call…… It’s easier for me to accept something like that too.]

Kuro might be the richest person in the world, but that didn’t mean I’d have any use for super luxurious gifts. Like the magic ship she gave me during the Six Kings Festival, until I hosted a party on it, it had just been sitting untouched in my magic box. So in that sense, something practical for daily use was definitely welcome.

It's just, hmmm…… She’s being oddly vague for once, kind of building up to it. I’m guessing that means this is something she’s really confident in and put a lot of thought into.

[Fufufu. I already knew what I wanted to give you, and since it’s a special occasion, I decided to make it myself…… But it turned out to be harder than I thought. Even after I finished it, I kept thinking "Maybe this would be better" or "That might work more nicely", and I ended up remaking it over and over again.]

[S- Seriously? Sounds like you really poured yourself into this……]

……Yeah, this is probably something baby castella-related. I could sense a proud tone in her voice, and I can feel her obsession with the item she made in every word.

[I got Shalltear to help me out too…… but it wasn’t until I heard her say "Can we please stop at this already?" four times that I finally got it to a level I was satisfied with!]

Poor Alice…… There’s almost no doubt it’s something related to baby castellas, and whenever baby castellas are involved, Kuro’s level of obsession is absolutely off the charts. I’m sure she remade it so many times it got exhausting…… but Alice is kind-hearted in the end, so once she agreed to help, she probably stuck with it all the way to the end without walking away.

[And so! The birthday present I prepared for Kaito-kun is…… this baby castella-shaped cushion!!!]

[……Ah, the size is actually kind of nice, and it looks really good too.]

What Kuro pulled out was a baby castella-shaped cushion about a meter in diameter. Visually, it was just plain cute, and the size and shape made it look like something that’d be easy to use.

[Right?! I was super picky about the texture too, I wanted it to feel just like real baby castella! Recreating the surface texture especially was so difficult……]

[……A- Ahh, hey, Kuro? I can tell you really poured your heart into it and that’s awesome but…… we’re on a schedule, so maybe save the deep dive into the details for another time?]

[……Yeah, you’re right. If I go into all the specifics, it’ll take us all night. I’ll tell you the rest later.]

There it was: a confirmed future event that was basically a punishment game, an all-nighter listening to Kuro explain every detail about her baby castella cushion…… But faced with her dazzlingly bright smile, I couldn’t bring myself to say no, so I decided not to think about it.

Anyway, the cushion’s texture and softness were genuinely impressive, so I decided I’d use it in my room.

<Afterword>

Serious-senpai : [So the main heroine went all-in on that side huh…… Well, they did flirt pretty suddenly during the game tournament, so I guess that tracks.]

? ? ? : [Arehh? You're up already?]

Serious-senpai : [No point in staying asleep after all!!!]