Festival (6)
Festival (6)
"Huhk...?!"
Jane Moore gasped and bolted upright.
"Jane, Jane? Calm down."
"......?"
She turned her head slowly toward the voice of the Head Professor beside her.
"Wh-where...?"
"You're in a hotel room."
"Hotel......"
Jane Moore lifted her head and looked around.
Elegant furniture and wallpaper.
A plush bed and a dazzling chandelier on the ceiling.
Throb.
"Ugh......"
"What's wrong? Headache? Wait here, I'll fetch a priest."
The Head Professor hurried out of her bedroom.
Left alone, Jane Moore scrunched up her face and sifted through her memories.
-Sanctuary of Light.
She had seized the stage the moment the match began.
-Allez.
Her body transformed into light, she crossed space and stabbed at her opponent's shoulder.
No—she tried to stab.
It would have taken a fraction of a heartbeat for her rapier to pierce the uniform and drive through the target's shoulder. A split second too brief to even blink.
Ssshhhk.
But in that split second, her opponent opened their eyes.
"Ah......"
Jane Moore's lips parted unconsciously.
Her hands trembled just from recalling those slowly unveiled, blue-glowing eyes.
"...I l-lost."
Defeat.
For Jane Moore, who had known nothing but victory, the word was utterly foreign.
"How... how is that even possible......?"
The trembling in her hands had already stopped.
Her dazed eyes began to glitter.
"What kind of training did they do? How? How could they move faster than me, transformed into light? An ability? No, it wasn't an ability......"
As if her earlier frown had never existed, she began to mutter with a face full of curiosity.
And the moment she reached a conclusion.
"Jane, I've brought the priest."
The Head Professor who had left the bedroom returned, accompanied by a priestess.
"Priestess, welco─"
"Sam!!"
"Uh, uh?"
The Head Professor, Sam Willis, felt a tremendous wave of unease the instant he met Jane Moore's sparkling eyes.
Whenever her eyes shone like that, a commotion—big or small—was bound to follow.
"What is the schedule for the Losers' Revival Match?"
"Why do you ask......?"
"To apologize to Ms. Baek, of course!!"
Sam Willis asked, clinging to a sliver of hope.
"If it's a personal meeting, I can arrange it for you."
"No."
What on earth did she mean "no".......
Before Sam Willis could ask, Jane Moore continued rapidly.
"I humiliated Ms. Baek in public. So I must apologize in public as well. That is only right."
"...Maybe the other party doesn't want that?"
"Certainly. Ms. Baek said I didn't need to apologize."
"Ohh...!!"
Sam Willis's face lit up momentarily.
"But Ye-sol told me. Korean people consider refusing once a vir, vir...?"
"...A virtue."
"Ah! Yes. A virtue!! Anyway, she said that even if they want something, they'll refuse at least once. So I absolutely must ask twice, three times."
"Jane, that's─"
"Aah! Never mind. I'll find out the schedule myself!!"
"No, I......"
Sam Willis couldn't finish his sentence.
Jane Moore had vanished from the bed in an instant.
"Um... if there is no patient, I shall take my leave."
"No, no."
"......?"
The priestess, who had been about to turn away, tilted her head at Sam Willis's answer.
Sam Willis rubbed his face and answered the puzzled priestess.
"...Could you treat my headache?"
"Unfortunately, I cannot cure symptoms caused by matters of the heart."
The priestess left the bedroom without a backward glance.
"......Maybe I should just retire."
Today, more than ever, Sam Willis found himself missing his hometown.
**
Late evening.
"Phew~ I'm so full I could burst!!"
Na Yeon-ju rubbed her slightly plump belly as she took off her coat.
"Ha-na, you're staying over tonight, right?"
"Yeah. I told them in advance."
Maria and Baek Ha-na changed their shoes and stepped inside.
"You heading up?"
"Ha-na's here. Where else would I go."
Idni and Nam Seo-hee followed behind.
"D-don't fight......."
-Peep.
Lee Na-young, holding the cutely burping Fairy in her hands, closed the door and was the last to enter the guest room.
"Yeon-ju, can you fill the bathtub?"
-Will do!!
Na Yeon-ju, having changed clothes with remarkable speed, disappeared into the master bathroom.
"Ah... I didn't bring pajamas."
"Wanna borrow mine?"
At Baek Ha-na's mutter, Idni, who had casually tossed her clothes aside and sprawled on the sofa, lifted her head to ask.
"That'd be great if you're lending."
"What's to thank for just pajamas."
Idni got up from the sofa and headed for the dressing room.
"Not sure if the size will fit, though."
Idni stared intently at the magnificent midsection of Baek Ha-na, who had followed her, and tilted her head.
"Should be fine, right?"
Baek Ha-na also looked pointedly at Idni's chest as she replied.
"Well, it's not like it'll kill you if it's small."
"Thanks. I'll wash them and return them later."
"Wash them? Just toss them anywhere. If you leave them here, they'll sort everything out. Why bother with the hassle."
Idni handed the pajamas to Baek Ha-na and tried to push her out by the back.
"Lend me some too."
"Huh?"
Idni frowned at Nam Seo-hee, who had suddenly appeared beside them.
"Did you keep any here?"
"Let's say I did."
"...Look at you, so shameless."
Idni swept her eyes up and down Nam Seo-hee's body with a thoroughly displeased look.
"What're you staring at."
"Heh, such refined vocabulary you have. Try doing even half of what you do to Baek Ha-na."
"Maybe if you were even half like Ha-na."
"Do you actually want to borrow my pajamas or not......?"
"For now."
Judging that further talk would only wear out her mouth, Idni sighed and shook her head.
"Mine will be a bit big for you, so borrow some from Maria."
"Fine."
"......?"
Idni tilted her head at how readily Nam Seo-hee backed down. And when she stepped out of the dressing room, she understood why.
"Oohoho, our Idni is so lucky to be so well-endowed~"
"Wh-what?"
Maria approached, laughing with a hand covering her mouth.
Idni instinctively retreated a few steps and shouted.
"What's this all of a sudden? I didn't say anything?!"
"Seo-hee told me. That your pajamas are a bit big for her, so she should borrow mine."
"Hey!! That was......"
Skitter-scatter!!
Idni fled into the bedroom.
"Hmm~"
Wearing an eerie smile, Maria quietly followed her in.
"W-will they be okay?"
"Idni's tough."
"Uh... th-that's not what 'okay' meaaans~"
Lee Na-young squirmed and wriggled her hands and feet as Baek Ha-na playfully pulled her cheeks.
"Seo-hee. Don't fight too much with Idni."
"Okay. I'll only fight a little."
The straightforward answer made Baek Ha-na laugh before she knew it.
-Aah!! S-seniors?!
-Move!! Mo......
Sssssssshkk──!!
Hearing the familiar slicing sound, Baek Ha-na stood up and said.
"Let's go wash up."
·
·
·
After their bodies were enveloped in the steamy warmth of the hot water.
"Tch... just you wait...."
"Oh, stop exaggerating."
Maria playfully poked at the sides of Idni, who was wrapping her arms around her chest.
"How could it not hurt when you squeeze a chest like that?! Why don't you try it!!"
"Sorry, sorry~ Besides, my chest isn't as big as yours, Idni, so there's nothing to squeeze~?"
"Grrhhh......"
Gnashing her teeth, Idni let out a long sigh and smoothed her crumpled face.
"More importantly, Baek Ha-na."
"Hm?"
Baek Ha-na, who had been gazing at the faces of Lee Na-young and Fairy, already fast asleep, looked up.
"What are you going to do in the Losers' Revival Match?"
"What do you mean......?"
Couldn't she just go out and beat them all up?
"...Your face is saying exactly that."
"Uh, ehm, n-no it's not......"
Hit right on the mark, Baek Ha-na subtly avoided her gaze.
"Hey. You know you're in the spotlight now, right?"
"Yeah. Maria told me. I even have a fan café now, apparently."
"That's not all? At the academy, they're already bowing and calling you the Queen."
"That feels kind of unpleasant......"
"Right?"
Idni jumped on the opening and kept talking.
"Baek Ha-na. Go wilder in the losers' match. See what happens. People will get even crazier than they are now. They're already calling you Winter Queen, Wolf Queen. What do you think will happen if you get more famous than this?"
"Ugh......"
Baek Ha-na shivered, rubbing her forearms.
Praise felt ticklish and embarrassing, but being put on a pedestal like that just felt viscerally repulsive.
"So here's my point. How about just enduring as long as possible in the losers' match until you get randomly selected?"
"Endur...ing......?"
"En-fucking-during... No, I mean, just hanging in there as much as possible. That way, you fight less, and naturally, you'll get less attention, right?"
"Hmm......"
Baek Ha-na frowned and thought for a moment.
"...No. I have to go out first."
"Ah, why......Mmmpf?!"
"Oohoho, some people are sleeping, so let's be quiet, shall we?"
Maria pointed at Lee Na-young, Na Yeon-ju, and Fairy with a smiling, closed-eyed look.
"...Hey. Baek Ha-na. Think of it as saving a friend and just hang in there, hm?"
Freed from Maria, Idni crept over and sat by Baek Ha-na's pillow.
"Everyone bet on you because you went absolutely insane today......!! But since I can't do the insane thing of intentionally losing, can't we at least manage the order, hm?"
"No."
Baek Ha-na answered with absolute firmness.
Any other time, she would have granted Idni's request, but right now, she couldn't.
"You heartless wench......"
Realizing she couldn't change Baek Ha-na's mind, Idni sniveled back to her spot and pulled the blanket over her head.
"Um......"
Feeling uncomfortable, Baek Ha-na was about to call out to Idni.
"Shh."
Maria smiled and stopped Baek Ha-na.
She brought her mouth close to the blanket covering Idni and whispered softly.
"Idni, I went a little overboard today. So when we get back to Korea, I'll give you half of my allowance."
Fwish!!
The blanket was flung off in an instant.
"I love you!! As I thought, you're the only one for me!!"
"Alright, alright."
Maria stroked Idni's head as she hugged her and buried her face in her chest, then threw a wink toward Baek Ha-na.
"Pfft......"
Watching the two best friends, Ha-na finally burst out laughing.
**
[ Ah!! It's been a long, long wait! ]
[ That's right! The long-awaited day of the Losers' Revival Match is finally here!! ]
[ Of course, I'm by no means saying the excellent matches shown by the earlier students were boring, so please stop posting weird articles or edited clips. ]
[ Haha, you got burned badly by that last year. ]
[ Commentator Belle, if you ever go through that yourself, you definitely won't be laughing. ]
[ Then I suppose I should laugh plenty now, since it hasn't happened yet? ]
[ We'll see about that later...... Ah! The kings and queens who will light up today's stage are now entering!! ]
The screen showing the commentator's face switched to the vast auditorium.
And from the designated entrance, fifteen students appeared all at once.
[ I can't wait to see what kind of action unfolds. ]
[ Indeed. But Commentator Bill, now is not the time to be looking forward to that. ]
[ Huh? Then what should we be looking forward to? ]
[ This. ]
On the screen that had been showing the students, a new model car from Company B suddenly appeared.
It was an advertisement.