CHAPTER 8.5: COSPLAY

***The Holy Palatial Gardens***

As an otaku himself, Kuro had seen and went to his share of cosplay events that became a fad in his country when he was in university. While not a cosplayer himself, he did enjoy going since it was an opportunity for him to meet with his fellow otaku friends, some of whom were cosplayers. But then, as he grew older, he realized he didn’t enjoy cosplay events anymore, mainly because whenever he goes to one, he ends up being the ‘guard of the bags’ for his cosplayer friends, simply for the reason he just wanted to draw and not go around the event area.

When Kuro became a teacher, his love for manga and anime diminished, since he got so busy adjusting to a life of a ‘working adult’. However, his passion for drawing manga was never lost; he even created a club for his students (though it never lasted a year, because of laziness on his part, and its members as well).

Things began to turn around when the Science department was tasked with creating a program for their students in celebration of Science Month. The teachers wanted to do a ‘cosplay event’, using recycled stuff as materials for the participants’ dresses. As someone they knew who was so invested in manga and anime, Kuro helped them organize the said event. And he did his best to bring out the best—albeit relatively small—cosplay event in his school, by inviting his cosplayer friends as judges, shelling out his own money for their fees.

He isn’t one to ask people to do something for him for free, even if they refuse.

“…”

And so, with this knowledge and experience, he was given the responsibility to organize Chersea’s first-ever cosplay event.

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Kuro’s purpose for the cosplay was simple. First, he wanted to gauge the people’s—especially the elves—view on the Lady Hinwe, the results of which would answer the question, ‘is she ready to take back her throne?’ Second, was to boost the popularity of the Elf Saint by bringing her ‘close’ to the people, potentially restoring their faith to her, even if it’s just for a bit. Third, and unrelated to the first two reasons, Kuro wanted to introduce manga and anime culture to the masses.

He wants to see the stories that will be created by writers from Chersea, Cherwind and the Demon Republic.

Still, the success of the cosplay event depended on the number of participants. The number of participants depended on the popularity of mangas produced in Chersea, Cherwind, and the Republic. And, given the current situation and attitudes of the people about it, Kuro could tell that the masses were not yet ready for cosplay…

Well, mangas are getting popular, but it is still a long way before it establishes itself as a literary form in this world…

“…”

While cosplaying ‘popular’ characters from his world was out of the question, Kuro decided to use another source for cosplaying, which was the classic literature of the humans, beastmen, and demons. So, in the days and weeks that led to the event, the duke of Maverny and his fellow organizers advertised cosplaying as something anyone could enjoy and ‘get into’, provided they get ‘into character’ and the ‘accuracy’ and ‘quality’ of the costumes made. They also asked the participants to register, as Kuro was aware of the risks of cosplaying. Private rooms would be provided, complete with food, drinks and security. A stage was also made, meant to showcase the cosplayers in their full glory and attire.

As for the pictures? There was no ‘working’ camera in Chersea, save for a few prototypes on the adjacent exhibit grounds. Even then, those early Chersean cameras were impractical for commercial use. So, while Kuro allowed the inventors to test their devices in the event, he also hired artists whose hands could draw in under two minutes.

Drawn images on paper will be their makeshift camera for now…

The Duke of Maverny also didn’t forget the illustrators. He assigned a certain area for them to do their business and trade artworks. Add in food stalls, manga shops and other merchants, and the first-ever Chersean Cosplay Festival was set.

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***The Saint’s Palace, the Holy Palatial Gardens…***

With the details about the venue and the event itself ironed out, Kuro went to see the ‘first’ cosplayers themselves. See, while he had already set the guidelines on how to do it, he believed it would be better if someone ‘showed’ the ropes to the newbies. So, the duke of Maverny asked the help of his friends to cosplay some popular Chersean literary characters for him.

“Ooh! I like how you cosplayed my ancestor, Simon!” Maddie commented. “You’re very similar to the paintings of the man himself!”

“Really?” in his happiness, the king of Nerfes briefly broke character. He was donned in a flashy knight’s armor that was made in the likeness of the romantic depictions of the Jimmy Nee Rubinforth, and similarly armed with dummy swords too. “Now then,” King Simon declared, assuming the character of JimmyN Rubinforth once again. “We shall slay our foes with impunity! By the power of god, and the strength of our hero, advance to glory men!”

“Pfft!” it was Natasha, who tried in vain to keep herself from laughing. “I’m really amused watching you Cherseans look at that bloke, JimmyN. Back in the old days, he always hides beneath my previous self’s skirts, especially when we fight orcs!”

“Orcs have big boobies,” Ruro pointed out. “And that idiot is afraid of big boobies.”

“Yeah, thanks to you he got scared of it,” the Demon Saint countered.

“Eh, Your Holiness,” Lily jokingly pleaded. “Please, let the people dream. It won’t do us good if their revered hero next to you, and the Lord Kuro, is exposed as a ‘boob’ coward.”

“Ahem,” Natasha cleared her throat, as her eyes glanced at JimmyN’s descendant, the current Human Saint. “To be fair, JimmyN’s not a coward, but he’s got this weird aversion to a lady’s big breasts.”

“I guess each of the heroes from the 11th Human-Demon Wars has their secrets,” Maddie defended her ancestor. “Even the Lady Cassandra David is said to have an ‘allergy’ for books.”

“Pfft!” Now it was Kuro’s turn to laugh. Alexa did hate books, especially Math and Science subjects, back when she was his student.

“Hey, Sir G! That’s not fair,” Natasha protested. “You’re my teacher; why are you laughing at your own idiotic student?”

“Kek, shut up! It’ll reflect on me if you keep calling yourself an ‘idiot’!”

However, Natasha never heeded his warning, and instead, stuck her tongue out to him, much to the amusement of everyone in the room.

“By the way,” Kuro asked the Demon Saint. “Your cosplay feels familiar…I just can’t recall where I saw it.”

“Heh,” she flashed a triumphant grin on her face. “You’re really getting old now, huh, Sir G?” Natasha then hovered and pinched her teacher’s nose a little. “Have you forgotten? Back during the English Month celebrations in our school, you and I modeled characters from that popular vampire novel!”

“Oh, right! Yes, I remember now!” the duke clapped his hands. “The female main character from Twice Light! And I know I got the role of the villain!”

“And you got so carried away from your role you actually choke-slammed Aldrin! The crowd went wild with the ‘realistic acting’, right?”

“Haha! Yes, and he was mad at me the whole day because of that. Good thing he didn’t tell his parents.”

“Well, they saw everything. They were watching the program, see? But, Aldrin’s parents know your kindness, sir. They themselves told us it’s an accident.”

“Oh…”

Natasha was all-smiles as Kuro recalled their moments together. Meanwhile, not too far from them were Simon and Madelaine. The King of Nerfes, seeing that his childhood friend was getting a bit jealous, whispered, “At this rate, the teacher will be whisked away by the student.”

“I don’t mind,” the Human Saint answered. “The Demon Saint is a demon, so their rules and traditions apply to them. I’m human, so I’m under human law.”

“…” Simon, watching Maddie, gave the Human Saint the ‘oh, really?’ stare.

So, she added, “And this is the human realm, so I need to assert my place a little.”

“Go girl!” he pushed her a bit.

Summoning her courage, Maddie interrupted Kuro and Natasha’s conversation. “K-Kuro,” she said, while uncomfortably glancing at the Demon Saint. “Uhm…y-y-you know, I-I also prepared a cosplay for you…”

Natasha, realizing what’s going on, had a smug smirk on her face. Then, she stepped aside as the Human Saint took the ‘center stage’.

Maddie took a deep breath and uttered a spell. Slowly, her body glowed as it was wrapped with mana. A few moments later, a blinding light filled the room, though it dissipated as quickly as it came.

“…”

The next thing Kuro knew, Maddie had completely ‘disappeared’, and in her place was a cute girl with a long, pink hair and a flat chest, a cheeky expression on her face, and wearing that attire of a dark ‘magician’s’ mantle and school uniform that seemed to come from a magic school familiar to him, stored somewhere in his memories. He was speechless, as the character being cosplayed by the Human Saint shouted…

“Y-You s-s-stupid d-dog!” (1)

Author's Note:  1)  To those who are not aware, it's Louise from Zero no Tsukaima/Familiar of Zero.