***The Holy Patial Gardens***

  As an otaku himself, Kuro had seen and went to his share of cospy events that became a fad in his country when he was in university. While not a cospyer himself, he did enjoy going since it was an opportunity for him to meet with his fellow otaku friends, some of whom were cospyers. But then, as he grew older, he realized he didn’t enjoy cospy events anymore, mainly because whenever he goes to one, he ends up being the ‘guard of the bags’ for his cospyer 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 the 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 sted a year because of his own ziness and that of its members).

  Things began to turn around when the Science department was tasked with creating a program for their students to celebrate Science Month. The teachers wanted to do a ‘cospy 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 event. And he did his best to bring out the best—albeit retively small—cospy event in his school, by inviting his cospyer 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 responsible for organizing Chersea’s first-ever cospy event.

  ----------

  Kuro’s purpose for the cospy 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?’ The second was to boost the popurity of the Elf Saint by bringing her ‘close’ to the people, potentially restoring their faith in her, even if it’s just for a bit. Third, and unreted to the first two reasons, Kuro wanted to introduce manga and anime culture to the masses.

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

  Still, the success of the cospy event depended on the number of participants. The number of participants depended on the popurity 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 cospy…

  Well, mangas are getting popur, but it will still be a long time before that type of literature establishes itself as a literary form in this world…

  “…”

  While cospying ‘popur’ characters from his world was out of the question, Kuro decided to use another source for cospying: the cssic 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 cospying 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 cospying. Private rooms would be provided, complete with food, drinks, and security. A stage was also made to showcase the cospyers 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 Cospy Festival was set.

  ----------

  ***The Saint’s Pace, the Holy Patial Gardens…***

  With the details about the venue and the event itself ironed out, Kuro went to see the ‘first’ cospyers themselves. 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 cospy some popur Chersean literary characters for him.

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

  “Really?” in his happiness, the king of Nerfes briefly broke character. He was donned in a fshy knight’s armor that was made in the likeness of the romantic depictions of the Jimmy Nee Rubinforth and simirly armed with dummy swords too. “Now then,” King Simon decred, assuming the character of JimmyN Rubinforth once again. “We shall sy 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 vainly to keep herself from ughing. “I’m really amused watching you Cherseans look at that bloke, JimmyN. In the old days, he always hid 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 gnced 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 dy’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 ugh. Alexa hated books, especially Math and Science subjects when she was his student.

  “Hey, Sir G! That’s not fair,” Natasha protested. “You’re my teacher; why are you ughing 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 cospy feels familiar…I just can’t recall where I saw it.”

  “Heh,” she fshed a triumphant grin on her face. “You’re really getting old now, huh, Sir G?” Natasha hovered and pinched her teacher’s nose. “Have you forgotten? During our school's English Month celebrations, you and I modeled characters from that popur vampire novel!”

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

  “And you got so carried away from your role that you actually choke-smmed 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 Madeine. 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 w.”

  “…” 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 pce a little.”

  “Go girl!” he pushed her a bit.

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

  Realizing what was happening, Natasha 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 ter, 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 pce was a cute girl with long, pink hair and a ft 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 cospyed by the Human Saint shouted…

  “Y-You s-s-stupid d-dog!” (1)

  Hans.Trondheim