The Treacherous Festival (1)
[Yes! Everyone, the fun and exciting festival period is approaching!]
One morning, the students all tilted their heads at Istal's announcement from the podium. What did I just hear?
"Did my ears deceive me? I could've sworn I heard the word 'festival.'"
"You too? I thought the same. Should we head to the infirmary together?"
"Damn it, have I been pulling too many all-nighters? I'm hearing things…"
A festival. They called it a festival. The kind where you eat, drink, and make merry! More than half a year had passed since the academy opened. No student here was naive enough to take the word "festival" at face value—especially not when it came from Professor Istal. Anyone that gullible had already died. From the entrance ceremony's death matches between students to neck-snapping for a single slip of the tongue in class, to being tossed into the forest for "assignments," who in their right mind would believe a sudden "Everyone! Feel free to enjoy yourselves!"?
Whether Istal noticed the students' lukewarm stares or not, he continued.
[This festival is being held both to commemorate the upcoming founding anniversary of the Barhart Empire and to reward you students for diligently following your lessons these past six months. The festival will run for four days, from next Thursday to Sunday, and various events are planned. Please enjoy yourselves! You can find the detailed schedule on the printed materials being handed out now.]
Academy staff moved through the crowd distributing papers. As the students read the contents, confusion began to fill their eyes.
"The Ortrut Troupe is coming to perform?"
"There's also a martial arts tournament hosted by Duke Mars."
"Even the main branch of the Star God Church is sending people?"
"Overnight stays are allowed during the festival?"
The students looked at one another.
"You don't think this is real, do you?"
"Come on, even this insane place wouldn't stoop to outright fraud like this. Just look at the paper—there are way too many big names tied to this festival."
"Maybe they'll run the events normally, then spring some other assignment or exam on us while we're distracted and having fun?"
"With this many eyes watching, would they really go that far?"
"When have the professors here ever cared about that?"
"……I can't really argue with that."
At this point, a spark of anticipation began to light up in the students' eyes as well. Whatever ulterior motives might exist, they figured the academy wouldn't go to such lengths only to say "Actually, there is no festival." Even if they got stabbed in the back later, the prevailing mood was to enjoy themselves first.
Even Istal, who would normally shut down the commotion with a bloodthirsty remark, simply dismissed everyone this time. As the students filed out of the auditorium, they gathered in small groups, chattering excitedly about the topic.
"Come to think of it, between last break and this one, classes have been getting pretty lax lately, haven't they?"
"Right? Back at the start, it felt impossible to keep up."
"Professor Istal did say it was a reward for doing well so far. Proof we've endured this long."
Hearing the passing students chatter so cheerfully, I could only manage a wry smile inwardly. Classes getting lax, huh. Not entirely wrong. I'd intervened a few times to increase the number of days off, but even without that, this festival had been scheduled from the beginning.
That made me wonder. Once they learned the festival's true meaning, how many of them would still be able to enjoy it like this?
That might make it sound like the festival itself was some kind of landmine, but it wasn't. Compared to the other large-scale events this academy held, this was one of the rare occasions where you could enjoy yourself without feeling threatened. The real problem came after the festival ended… Was comparing it to a condemned prisoner's last meal going too far?
"Something wrong? You've had that grim look on your face for a while now."
At Ligret's words, the others around me chimed in one after another.
"Huh, that's what grim looks like? I thought he was cooking up some shady scheme again."
"Agreed. I was sure he was planning to stir up trouble during the festival."
"Isn't that just his normal expression?"
"Hey, even so, that's a bit rude. I agree his face is intimidating, but still."
"Now that you mention it, the festival overlaps with the Midas Cube sales period. What are we going to do about that?"
I won't bother specifying who said what. These bastards, seriously. When I glared at them with all my might, the cheerful idiots quickly scattered. Left behind were Ligret, Fiore, and—
"Loto, aren't you leaving?"
"I-I need my work schedule first before I can go! Besides, I wasn't even goofing off!"
…Come to think of it, asking how to handle the business wasn't exactly teasing. When I waved my hand and said we wouldn't be selling cubes during the event, Loto disappeared with an odd expression mixing disappointment and relief. I understood the relief—he wouldn't have to work while everyone else played—but where did the disappointment come from? Surely it wasn't because he couldn't get paid in cubes.
Fiore asked, "Is this because of the letter that came from the head of the family last time?"
Yeah, my little sister really did have sharp instincts. Just as she said, the biggest reason I'd been on edge lately was that damned family head—Bern Midas's letter. Whether he considered it part of our previous deal or wanted me to make some kind of move, Bern Midas had shared quite detailed information obtained through interrogation. Thanks to that, I was able to decipher the words the assassins had uttered.
That person. Stars. New humanity. Salvation. Apostle.
At this point, it was safe to say it was almost certain. The Star Seekers. That insane cult that wanted to sacrifice the continent's humans to be reborn as a new humanity themselves—they were behind this assassination attempt.
No, why the hell are they showing up here? Thanks to them, my plans had gone completely awry. The main storyline of the Star Seekers that I knew went like this:
1. The ones who invaded dungeons like the Ancient Astronomical Observatory that I'd cleared last time would feed those dungeons to their "living dungeons."
2. The living dungeons that grew fat on the feed would split into seven "seeds," and the cultists would scatter those seeds across the continent.
3. According to the cycle when the power of the seven corresponding Star Gods grew stronger, the seeds would sprout, becoming living dungeons that endlessly devoured the surrounding land and life to grow.
4. The player had to clear those dungeons as quickly as possible before they grew, thwarting their plan. Repeat this seven times to clear.
Since the locations where the seeds were planted were random each time, I'd instead placed surveillance on the Ancient Astronomical Observatory—the feed for the "living dungeon"—and waited for them to appear so I could tail them. But they never showed up even when the time came. Instead of scattering dungeon seeds and committing terrorism as per the original scenario, they suddenly started playing at being the masterminds behind the scenes.
That wasn't their role. Scheming from the shadows was Julius's specialty. Why were the terrorists suddenly changing jobs and causing chaos?
According to the original work, the Star Seekers had never attempted to contact the Midas family to get their hands on them. That made sense—back when I was the original "Greedy Prodigal Son," they wouldn't have had any reason to reach out. Xaviero, Theo, and the rest of the blood relatives worth contacting would all be dead, and Fiore wouldn't even be here. The Midas Merchant Group would have already been destroyed by internal strife, so they wouldn't have been worth coveting in the first place.
In my impatience, I'd tried to squeeze information out of the assassin, but after spitting out a few words, his mind had apparently collapsed. No leads. In the end, all the countermeasures I'd prepared against the Star Seekers had been smashed to pieces, and I'd lost track of the terrorists. The only countermeasure I could still take was to increase security around the Ancient Astronomical Observatory that they would use as nutrients for their "living dungeon."
And with the festival coming up, things were only going to get busier… No helping it. At the very least, I had to squeeze out whatever gains I could right now.
"Ligret, on the first day of the festival. Come with me."
"I don't mind. Why?"
"Hahaha, what, are you saying I only drag you along when I need you? You've been working hard, so I figured we could enjoy ourselves together this time."
"Ah, I see. So what's the real reason?"
Damn it, she wasn't buying it.
"This festival has flashy events and high-quality prizes since so many big shots are attending. It's the perfect chance to rake in anything useful."
"You should've just said that from the start."
Good, that took care of the martial arts events.
"Fiore, would you come with me on the second day?"
"Wow, this is the first time I've received such an unromantic date invitation."
"Don't worry, the reward will be generous. I just need that head of yours!"
"Brother, you're doing this on purpose, aren't you?"
Fiore pouted, but eventually nodded. That left—
"Lady Lyla, please help me plunder the festival with me!"
"…Chrome, there are times when I want to crack open your head and see what's inside."
My head is perfectly ordinary. So, would you accompany me on the third day?