Chapter 78
Chapter 78
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 78
Chapter Title: The Flame That Runs Through the Wasteland☆ (1)
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After finishing dinner, we gathered on the benches in the open space in front of the dormitory. Everyone had changed into comfortable clothes, so our outfits were all different.
Three benches were arranged in a U-shape next to the dormitory building.
It was the perfect spot for a light chat.
“I like the middle! Hahaha!”
Eir, dressed in a red tracksuit, plopped down on the center bench. She sat like a king on a throne, her widely spread legs exuding the air of a great general.
I watched her with disapproval.
“…”
A pose that stretched the crotch of her tracksuit pants taut, like a deep thigh stretch.
The infamous leg-spread.
The kind of person you least want to encounter on the subway or bus.
Back when I was an office worker, I’d see middle-aged men sitting like that and wish someone would just tell them to close their legs...
As expected of the free-spirited ruler of the northern slums, Eir had that very same unsightly habit.
“…”
“What is it, [Spiral]? Why are you staring?”
In my past life, all I could do was pray.
This time, I have to take action.
Swoosh!
I grabbed Eir’s disgracefully spread knees and pushed them together. But she just giggled and spread them wide again.
Shwick!
“…!”
I'd correct her again,
and she'd defiantly spread them once more.
Swoosh!
Shwick!
‘Hah… honestly.’
With the patience of a mother teaching her problem child, I pushed her knees together again. But our little problem child just spread them apart once more, giggling incessantly.
“What is this, some kind of training? Hehehe!”
“…!”
Swoosh!
Shwick!
Swoosh!
Shwick!
Swoosh!
Shwick!
“Senior…”
“What… are you doing?”
“Starting with the weird behavior again?”
My juniors were looking at us with bewildered expressions. Their eyes, watching our repetitive actions, were filled with resignation.
‘Weird behavior? This is a lesson in etiquette!’
Their words spurred me on, and I once again folded Eir’s knees into a more modest position. But Eir, realizing what this was about, decided to play a prank.
“Hup!”
An acrobatic pose, an evolution of the leg-spread.
Like a gymnast, Eir spread her legs wide and rested them on top of the bench. It was an incredibly flexible and beautiful pose… but to me, she just looked like a super-deluxe problem child.
You.
Why can't you understand your mother's feelings?
“…”
“Kekeke…”
This prestige edition problem child had no intention of listening. She started rolling her shoulders and pretending to stretch, just to tease me.
‘I'm getting tired of this…’
Maybe because she wasn't my actual child, any further education felt impossible. So I gave her a light scolding and plopped down beside her.
“Eir, you get three demerit points…☆”
“Keke…! Oh, is that you giving up? And what are these demerit points?”
“It's a secret♪ I'm not telling~☆”
“The ramblings of a loser!”
“Am not☆”
“Are too!”
“Am not☆ Your mother didn't raise you like that!”
“Wait, are you dissing my mom right now...?!”
Alvitt interjected, her thick eyebrows raised in bewilderment.
“Seniors, what in the world are you doing?”
“A contest. And I won. Hehehe!”
“Ugh… The red problem child won't listen to me…☆”
“Trying to control a flame as you please! You fool! Hahahaha!”
Eir laughed heartily for a while.
She grinned so wide her characteristic shark-like teeth were on full display. Then she let out a series of appreciative sighs as she took in the surrounding scenery.
At some point, she had properly closed her once-wide legs.
‘Did she do all that just because she didn't want to lose to me...?’
Eir lifted her sharp nose, took a deep breath, and spoke in a satisfied tone.
“Oh, the air is nice in this neighborhood, isn't it? Hehe... The northern wasteland is always full of dusty winds, so it's hard to feel a breeze this clean!”
“Of course, it's a great place to live~☆ Since we're on a hill, you get a good view of the Academy City♪”
Alvitt added with a wry smile.
“The location ‘only’ is good. We've fixed up the school building quite a bit... but the fact that it's still so old is a drawback.”
“That's so mean…☆”
When I said that with a hint of dissatisfaction, Alvitt quickly tried to explain.
“Ah, I didn't mean I dislike it!”
“She means it's quaint and has character, does she not?”
“Yeah, and Senior Clara is here too!”
“There's the fun of building everything up from scratch...!”
“Comrade Alvitt, that's a bit of a stretch... Ah, no, that's right. There's also the fun of making things with the tools Senior Maya left behind!”
“Yeah, and Senior Clara is here too!”
“Comrade Lotha, you said the same thing twice.”
“Yeah, and Senior Clara is here too!”
“…”
I glanced to the side and saw Lotha reading the 'First Grimoire' in the sunset glow. It seemed she wasn't listening and was just unconsciously agreeing with us.
‘Has she unconsciously figured out that a little praise is all it takes to appease me...?’
After that, Alvitt and Kara continued to pay me lip service so I wouldn't feel hurt. Seeing this, Eir chuckled and started telling stories about her own juniors.
The trivial conversation continued for a good while.
Breaking the silence that followed, Alvitt spoke up.
“…Come to think of it, summer vacation is about to start.”
Eir and I nodded in response.
“…Yeah☆”
“It is.”
“What's vacation like in ? To be honest, it feels like we already do whatever we want on a normal day... so it doesn't really feel like a big deal.”
“Not much different—☆”
“Not much different.”
“…”
That wasn't the answer Alvitt was expecting, and she pouted like a duck as she looked at us. But Eir just kept staring blankly at the evening scenery, her legs crossed.
“…”
“…”
The longer the silence stretched.
Her pout went beyond a duck's and approached that of a heron. She looked like a heron about to take flight and soar far away.
‘Ah, I thought she'd just let it go... I guess she was really curious. That's the face she makes when she's about to get genuinely sulky.’
I hurriedly explained.
“Right♪ You see☆ The larger schools have lots of classes and a huge student body during the semester—☆ So they need a preparation period, you know~♪ It's more like a recommendation to use that time to try new things and enjoy some freedom—☆”
“…So for a small school like ours, it's not necessary.”
“Yep! That's right♪”
“Heeh... Then what should we do...”
“Hmm… I wonder☆”
My voice trailed off as I reflected on the rather eventful first semester.
The stirrings of .
The attack by Grafvölluðr, the [Priest of Corrosion].
The schemes and battles with Ófnir, the [Priest of Conflict].
and <svart industrial="" high="" school="">.
‘Two of the five most troublesome executives and events that should have stretched into the mid-game all popped up in a short period... Basically, all the various events that were supposed to happen in the first semester got pushed aside...’
Things like petty conflicts with delinquent students. Or the slapstick adventures to solve 's poor financial state.
All those trivial quests for learning basic controls and teamwork.
‘The delinquent students have become such small fry that they're no longer a problem... and with Hilde's support, our finances aren't that dire...’
…
There's really none of the early story left. Our rapid leveling up has completely wiped out most of the events, including the tutorial.
If I had to scrape something together, there's only the scenario where 'Clara' gets kidnapped and taken to the hideout of some delinquents who've set up a nest far away.
‘But that's hardly a situation that would fluster Alvitt and Lotha, who have reached the third phase, [Wave Aether]... Even Kara, who's still at the second phase, [Vibration Aether], could wipe that place out on her own.’
I was once again struck by how absurdly strong my juniors had become compared to the original timeline. Moreover, one of them had already met the conditions to unlock her weapon's true name.
“…”
Twitch—
Lotha's cat ears, still focused on the 'First Grimoire,' twitched in the breeze. Dressed in a comfortable one-piece, she bore a faint resemblance to the [Golden Witch].
“…”
I gazed at the sunset again and muttered.
“…Really, there's nothing left to do now.”
and the Prophet's movements had ceased.
My juniors were finding their own things to do and growing splendidly.
My own body was also slowly recovering over time.
To go search for the items left behind by the [Hero of the Flash] and the [Standard-Bearer of Rebellion], I needed a few events that might... happen in the second semester.
‘Hilde said she'd take care of the school events... So what should I do now?’
As I was lost in thought, Eir suddenly stretched and spoke.
“Hwaaah—!! ...If you've got nothing to do, you could come to our school festival. I should be heading back soon anyway; the kids should be done sorting out their pecking order by now.”
A festival.
It was indeed a regular event that defined summer in . …In game terms, it was an excuse to show off a seasonal event.
‘In the game, it was just a trivial farming story and an event to sell swimsuit skins... But to think I can see the festival of , which was skipped in the original story because it appeared so late.’
The den of warriors, , and the sweet word 'festival' were a very poor match.
That's why we asked in surprise.
“A festival?”
“A festival?”
“You mean a festival?”
“A festival…?”
A school festival?
You guys?
You simple-minded, fight-crazy idiots?
Our gazes held roughly that sentiment.
Eir grinned at our stares and said.
“Kekek…! Our school has been interacting with other schools quite a bit lately, hasn't it? So, according to the kids...”
Her explanation followed.
We were shocked to hear about the absurd type of festival had planned.
The festival they had planned was an open-field, free-for-all PVP zone.
They had created an arena of sweat and friendship where passersby could fight to their hearts' content and foster camaraderie(?).
‘Could a school with such a relatively lax—or more accurately, brutish—atmosphere really ensure the safety of such a rough event?’
And so we arrived at .
The festival-in-name-only free-for-all had already been going on for a long time.
And…
“Da-Damn it!! I'm getting out of here!! This place is insane!!”
“Hyaaaaaah—!!! You coward!! You're not worthy of being a warrior!!”
“What are you talking about?! You red-clothed bitches—!! You're the ones attacking anyone who happens to be holding a weapon!!”
“Hyaaaaaah—!!!”
“Uwaaaaah—!!”
Just as I thought... there were delinquent students who had been unluckily swept up in their festival.
They really were idiots.
*
“I-I told you not to move! Don't you understand what I'm saying?!”
“…?”
“…?”
“…?”
I finished my recollection and looked to the side.
‘Roughly Phase 3... barely able to use [Wave Aether]. For a delinquent, she's worked pretty hard.’
The delinquent student holding a knife to my throat. She was originally the leader of a large group of delinquents who ruled this area.
But while patrolling her territory with her gang, she had the misfortune of being swept up in the warriors' festival. And the hostage she chose to break through this situation... was me.
“…”
“Senior, are you okay?”
Alvitt asked after my well-being with genuine ease.
She had truly grown strong enough to handle a situation like this without any trouble.
“…”
Suddenly…
I had the urge to feign weakness.
The Clara kidnapping event that I had let slip by.
'There's no particular need to reenact it, but it might be nice to have at least one story that follows the original plot.'
I'd been caught up in one unforeseen crisis after another, so I felt a little cheated.
There's no risk, anyway.
And no reason for anyone to worry.
I thought it might be fun to treat it like a game of tag.
With everyone watching.
Since we were visiting another school anyway, I decided to give my juniors a quest.
‘This... is a memory I'm giving to you—☆’
I screamed with all my might and threw myself into the arms of the delinquent leader. Flustered, she took the opportunity while everyone was staring blankly to hoist me onto her back and run.
I shouted while being carried on the delinquent leader's back.
“Kyaaaaah—☆ Help me—☆ At this rate, I'm going to be kidnapped—☆”
“…?”
“…?”
“…?”
＊
“What…? La-Lara's been kidnapped?! I'll check on the situation!!”
“As you wish, President!!”
“Wa-Wait, Boss!! No, Sister Hilde!! If you leave too, there'll be no one left to work!! Please, have mercy on your cute secretary—!!”
Brynhildr kicked open the main door of the temporary office, a giant lance in her hand. Beside her, Sieglinde stood imposingly with a greatsword.
And Vel was sobbing, buried under countless piles of documents.
“Please don't abandon me…!”