Festival (2)

"Nngh..."

The back of my head was throbbing. I must have pushed myself too hard — my whole body ached.

Liliana was still nestled in my arms. She seemed exhausted too; her breathing was deep and even, the sleep of someone who had finally let go.

I kneaded the soft breast still filling my palm, using the sensation to drag myself back to full consciousness.

"Mmmnh..."

The horns and wings that had sprouted from her were already gone.

"That's pretty amazing."

I ran my fingers over the spot where her horn had been. Completely flat. Not even a scar.

Some kind of awakening...?

I had awakened in the middle of sex myself. Maybe Liliana had awakened while she was waiting for me — touching herself, getting more and more worked up...

No. That was a stretch. Even for a succubus, that would be a little too pathetic, wouldn't it?

I checked my smartwatch. Seven in the evening. I had come back before nine and gone straight to bed, so I had slept about ten hours.

So why wasn't she waking up?

I pinched the nipple of the breast I was holding.

"Aahngh..."

"Wake up. Sleep any longer and you'll be drunk on it."

"Nnh... ahh."

I kept playing with the stiff little peak, rolling it between my fingers, and Liliana squirmed and pressed herself tighter against my chest.

"Liliana. We've got chicken skewers to eat."

"Nnh... chicken skewers."

The words snapped her awake. Her eyes fluttered open.

"Haaah..."

She stretched, and those ample breasts swelled toward me as if demanding to be held, showing off their size without a shred of shame.

"It's already night. The festival's probably started by now."

"Let's go play..."

Liliana looked at me through a yawn, her voice still thick with sleep.

"Obviously. You want to shower first?"

"Yeah..."

I sent her to the bathroom and checked my smartwatch. Messages had piled up like a landslide.

I started with the one Professor Lim Sol had sent around the time the survival exam ended.

And beneath that, the rest of the pile was waiting.

"Haa..."

I told Lucy we should hang out tomorrow. I told Rumi it was fine and that we should hang out tomorrow too. I thanked Su-rin noona and said I'd see her later.

Okay. Done. Time to get ready to go out.

After Liliana finished washing up, I showered as well. It had been a while since I'd gone out properly, so I took a little extra time with my hair. While I was at it, I flicked my smartwatch back on. I wanted to see what Everyday was saying about me.

Sure enough, my name was sitting at the very top of the board again today.

"Hmm. Not bad."

The accusations that it was staged or fake had vanished completely. Turns out if you keep showing your power in front of a crowd, people eventually believe you.

Public opinion was excellent. The only thing that still bothered me was Mun Su-rin.

Aside from the posts about me, most of the other recommended threads were candid daily shots of famous people — and Mun Su-rin's share of those was especially high.

She should be starting to crack around now...

Not that I was hoping for a wrecked, hollowed-out Mun Su-rin. But she ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠was holding herself together so well that I still had no idea how to approach her route.

"Ah, right. The Elf's Essence."

It hit me all at once. I needed to take that.

I dug through the spatial pouch I had tossed in the living room and pulled the Elf's Essence out.

"Did you pick up some weird thing again? A clump of mana stones?"

Liliana, still drying her hair, peered at the Essence with open curiosity.

"No. It's an elixir. I got lucky. I'm going to take it now — keep an eye on me until it's done?"

"Got it."

The odds of anything going wrong were almost nothing, but I asked her just in case.

I tipped the Elf's Essence down my throat.

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

The moment it touched my tongue, a sweetness spread through my mouth — a flavor that simply did not exist in the human world. The scent of a deep forest seemed to seep all the way into the back of my mind.

Once I had swallowed it completely, I checked the mirror on the off chance my face had changed. I couldn't see any difference.

Then something inside me cracked. Then something else popped.

"Ah, fuck— you could've at least warned me this would hu— aagh!"

"A-are you okay? Hey! You can't die! We have to eat chicken skewers!"

My blood vessels, my mana circuits, my organs — all of it was being forcibly rearranged, shoved into the most beautiful and efficient positions and sizes. My face hadn't changed at all, which meant the reconstruction happening inside me was enormous.

"Aagh... that fucking hurts."

"Aigoo. Come here. I'll hold you."

Liliana had no idea what was going on. She just opened her arms and pulled me in. I let her, and from inside that soft, warm hold I quietly observed what was happening to my body.

My head was clear. Energy was flooding through me. My mana circuits had expanded.

"Nice."

Now this was what I called a tonic.

I threw a few punches into the empty air, shadowboxing. The feeling was good. Clean. Fast.

"...You've lost your mind."

Liliana looked at me and clicked her tongue.

The academy was in the thick of its festival. Victoria's Heavenly Festival had been burning hot from the very first day.

While Lee Ho-yeon had been dead to the world, the first-year cadets had shaken off their fatigue and gone out to enjoy themselves. Street stalls that were only permitted during the festival period lined the walkways, and Lucy was making her way down those streets with her friends.

"This is so good."

"Oh my god, oh my god. I'm so glad we came out!"

They laughed around mouthfuls of monster-meat skewers from one of the stalls. Most of the other first-years were still recovering from the survival exam, but Lucy and her friends had pushed through the tiredness and come outside to enjoy the festival properly.

"What are you doing tomorrow, Lucy?"

"Me? I'll probably hang out with Ho-yeon and Rumi."

"Wow, I'm so jealous. We want to hang out with Ho-yeon too."

"Right? Ho-yeon has such a cold feel to him. Like that aloof city-guy type?"

"...? Ho-yeon?"

Ho-yeon, an aloof city guy? Lucy had never heard anyone describe him that way, and it threw her. The Ho-yeon she knew was earnest and kind, with a streak of playfulness — not some distant, untouchable pretty boy.

"Yeah, he barely talks to anyone except a handful of people. He kind of keeps his distance."

"For real. I've said hi to him a few times and he never greets me first."

"Hmm..."

Come to think of it, she had never seen Ho-yeon getting close with anyone else.

"I think Ho-yeon is interested in you and Rumi."

"W-wait, what?"

Lucy pulled the skewer from her mouth, her eyes going wide.

"No, she's right! He's always hanging out with you twins."

"I know what you mean! He always says hi first."

"Kyaa! I'm so jealous!"

The girls surrounding Lucy clapped their hands together, squealing and oh-my-god-ing.

"...Hmm."

Was that true? If she thought about it that way, it kind of added up...

Just then, new customers stepped up to the skewer stall that Lucy and her friends had just left. While the other girls were still squealing, those customers drifted into Lucy's field of view.

"Ah, so this is what they call a chicken skewer."

"Oh... it's good...!"

Ho-yeon and a woman Lucy had never seen before were standing close together, eating skewers with an easy, familiar warmth. The woman was wearing sunglasses, so Lucy couldn't make out her face, but she was not anyone Lucy knew.

"Say aah. I'll feed you."

"Come on. We're outside."

"Hey now. I paid for this and you're the one eating it. You're not going to eat?"

"Haa... I'll get you back later."

The woman took the bite.

"..."

His girlfriend, right? She's even feeding him.

It's not like he and I are anything. Why should I care if he has a girlfriend.

She knew that. She knew it perfectly well. And still her chest felt tight for no good reason.

Lucy didn't want to watch any more of it. She turned and bolted in the opposite direction.

"Huh? Lucy! Where are you going!"

"Hey, we said we'd stop teasing! Lucy! Wait up!"

Her friends, who had no idea what she had just seen, assumed she was sulking from the teasing and ran after her.

"Hey. I told you to knock it off."

I flicked Liliana on the forehead. She had been trying to feed me chicken skewers the entire time, and one flick was not going to cut it.

Flick. Flick. Flick.

Three, just to be sure.

"I'm sorry. Ow. I said I'm sorry! That hurts! This is misogyny!"

"Where did you pick that up, you crazy succubus."

She wasn't even human to begin with.

Flick.

I popped her on the forehead one more time for the nonsense.

"Aaah! They told me if I just say that, guys will never hit me!"

It was an invincible shield, I'd give them that. Just not against me.

"I'm an equal-opportunity hitter. I hit people regardless of gender. And if you use that word on stream, you're going to get cancelled."

"Huh? Really? Those asshole viewers taught me something weird again!"

Liliana was indignant, convinced she had been tricked once more.

"Haa..."

The way she clutched her forehead, whining, and still kept eating her chicken skewer was cute. She was also exhausting to take anywhere.

I had a light perception-blocking spell on both of us, so to anyone else she would just look like an ordinary woman. People who saw me often would ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠still recognize me, of course — but by some stroke of luck, we hadn't run into anyone we knew. I scanned the crowd. No acquaintances in sight.

Well. Aside from Mun Su-rin, the important heroines were all first-years, and they had lasted until the very end of the exam. They were probably asleep by now.

I stopped worrying and just enjoyed the festival with Liliana.

"Next, that! We have to try the takoyaki! Boss, fifty takoyaki please."

"How are you going to eat fifty of those?!"

Still, the stress I had been carrying from the survival exam was melting away. I couldn't complain.

"Ah. Liliana."

"Hmm?"

Watching her spear another takoyaki with a toothpick, I remembered something I needed to ask. I still didn't know what that magic yesterday had been.

"Come to think of it — that magic yesterday. What was that?"