Festival Booth Situation?
…
…
The elves stood tensely at their positions, waiting for something.
It was an odd sight for them to be so focused and standing at attention, but it carried an ominous feeling.
Perhaps they were preparing for the festival again, foolishly trying to confront the Empire with weapons once more―
“Is this the best choice? Are you sure?”
Elroyze crossed her arms and faced the elf students standing before her.
“Hmm.”
Swish. Swish―
Elroyze, who had been examining the ‘items to put on the festival booths’ displayed at each table, frowned.
On the table where her hand had stopped, various tea leaves and cups were laid out.
“I told you. Let's stop with the tea. You elves are boasting about how you live in our forests like neighbors. I told you, right? Humans already know all about our southern forests. I get that you love your grass-eaters, but do you really think ‘tea’ will attract students' interest?”
At the word “grass-eaters” from Elroyze's mouth, the other elves' faces cracked.
But there was no foolish one who would oppose it. Fortunately, they had all been persuaded by Elroyze's “fist” friend.
“This is a complete loss. Really pathetic, pathetic.”
“H, but! This tea was something that even high nobles of the Empire were desperate to obtain until recently―”
“So. You idiot. The important part is ‘until recently.’ Paksy.”
By the elves' standards, “until recently” means at least twenty years ago. And Elroyze knew all too well that in that time, trends could fade away at any moment.
Moreover, this wasn't a place where old folks who were crazy about tea existed. They were very young friends.
At first, if it was southern specialty tea leaves, they might approach saying “Oh~” as if something was there, but they would soon lose interest.
Some are bitter, some are stuffy. Above all, there are far more stimulating foods, so would anyone really sit around drinking tea at the festival?
“Originally, when did the tea trend even end? Do you still think it's the era where the Empire's eyes roll back if we offer southern tea leaves because we haven't traded with the elves?”
The Luzens were now almost perfectly exterminated. The Heigens were developing a more solid relationship with the Empire.
Naturally, trade flourished, and among them, various tea leaves and fruits made only by the elves spread throughout the Empire.
In other words, even if tea isn't completely without commercial value at the festival, it is too heavily outcompeted in terms of competitiveness.
Even if you die and come back to life, you couldn't receive flashy attention at the festival with this.
Without a shred of mercy, after rejecting the tea, Elroyze turned to the next table.
“What is this?”
“Th. At the last festival, there was a booth where you hit targets with a gun that excludes lethality!”
“So?”
“For us elves, it's the bow! So, shall we try it with the bow― Kya!”
Elroyze slapped the head of the elf student without listening further.
“W-why?!”
“With a gun, you just pull the trigger and it's over. It works for anyone, young or old. But what about the bow? Can you do that?”
It was a part where people often misunderstood. Elves who handle bows are agile, so what is needed to handle the bow is agility, precision, and good eyesight.
“What a stupid thing to say. What is needed to pull the bowstring is strength. Strength.”
Those who have pulled the bowstring all know. Beginners will have their fingers torn after just a few tries.
No, even pulling once is a big deal. Female students who haven't received any special strength training won't be able to pull even half of it and will just put down the bow.
“Even so. Are you really going to use a real bow? Do you want to see the sight of your hand flying off while pulling the string?”
“But! We can't put out toy bows! We elves have our pride, right, that's―”
“Saying that you'll be buried alive while keeping your pride is quite the long speech.”
None of them were to her liking. Elroyze covered her face and sighed.
“What are you going to do during the festival period? Do you have to answer?”
From the start, Lavrenti warned everyone. It seemed that Selena was the only one she could compromise with.
She thoroughly controlled the information. Thanks to her, even Elroyze couldn't figure out exactly what kind of booth they were trying to set up.
“As expected, the Empire's sharp shooter…”
In contrast to her, Lepia answered every question.
“Me? I… I want to focus on things that can only be obtained in Lasquer!”
The Lasquer booth led by a former Lasquer princess. Just hearing the name sparks curiosity.
Thanks to this, Elroyze's sense of crisis rose even higher. If this continued, the academy students might not even be able to use their interest in Karl!
“…Wait a minute.”
With a restless heart, after passing the tables, Elroyze hurriedly turned back.
“This. What is it?”
A red something in a bottle. The moment she saw it and smelled it, something felt familiar.
“This is jam made with the southern Great Forest specialty fruits sent by my family this time.”
“Jam?”
“Yes. Actually, I made it to be eaten for a long time by pickling in sugar, but somehow it became jam. And since it's also good paired with the Empire's staple bread―”
This was it. Elroyze clapped her hands and smiled brightly.
It was something of the elves, but it was not a thing that displayed the elves' greatness. At least, it could lower the burden on the students and Karl to a significant extent.
Moreover, jam could go well with Karl's winter snacks. It was a way to naturally create one more point of contact with Karl!
“Decision. We will do this. My guys.”
Was there any elf who was dissatisfied? None of the elves dared to raise their hand to Elroyze's question.
If they did, they would see special unit elves (actually execution unit) elves coming to their bedside at night.
*
Time passed, and it was the festival day again.
“You really put your head to it, Elroyze.”
Lavrenti, looking at the rival booth that appeared with the flashy “Southern Great Forest Specialty Jam” booth, bit her lip slightly.
According to pre-investigation, the elf students had never set up booths at the academy festival. And there was almost no record of the students enjoying the festival greatly.
That meant that even if they participated in the festival this time, they probably wouldn't be a big threat.
“No way. I thought they would boast about their tea or bow as usual.”
The elves Lavrenti knew had no choice but to live as a superior race.
The Luzens side was particularly so, but the Heigens, being elves, couldn't avoid having those racial characteristics.
And among the things the elves thought superior to the Empire were tea and bows. So, they expected to see them flaunting at the festival with those.
She hadn't imagined they would make the Great Forest fruits into jam to show a pro-Empire appearance from the start.
Confectionery Booth
This time, Lavrenti's booth led by other students was none other than the confectionery one.
It could be said that choosing this booth was quite veteran-like. Among the Empire's military combat rations, there was a hard, crumbly biscuit with almost all moisture removed.
At first, when eating it, there were many complaints about how to eat this. Even gulping down one made the body feel like all moisture was sucked out.
But after being deployed to the actual battlefield, they realized it was impossible to even have a quick meal, let alone regular meals. And at that moment, the crumbly biscuits became the best gift.
Many veterans recalled how they didn't know how delicious a bite of biscuit could be while chewing with relief.
And Lavrenti was no different. After retirement, she had even wished to eat as many of those biscuits as she wanted.
“Confectionery. Not bad, Lavrenti. But do you have to make it like this?”
“Huh. If I make it like this, it'll be too crumbly? And it won't have any taste.”
“If I add ingredients like this and bake it like this, it might be better―”
Let the others persuade Lavrenti who wanted to make it only military style.
If she had followed her claim, it would have been the ‘Combat Ration Experience Booth’ instead of ‘Confectionery Booth’.
Anyway, Lavrenti's confectionery booth was going smoothly. At first, at least.
“Hey. The biscuits bought from the confectionery booth paired with the jam sold by the elves over there is really delicious!”
“Really? Me too, just once. …Oh? Really?”
“It was delicious even if I just ate it, but it was a bit lacking, but now I can fill it like this.”
For Lavrenti, it was an unexpected situation. And not exactly a pleasant one.
While clearly competing, the students were rather pushing them to collaborate.
This wasn't it. This wasn't what she was aiming for. Around this time, both Lavrenti and Elroyze were struggling with this strange situation.
“Eh?”
Selena, who had just finished her work and entered the festival, heard an odd news from Lepia.
“What did you just say, Lepia-senpai?”
“Th. That. I don't know if it's true or not… but Karl-senpai was saying he was going to try using magic….”
Immediately, what is this now. Selena, in surprise, quickly went to find the source of the rumor.