104. Don't Leave Things Out When You Speak
104. Don't Leave Things Out When You Speak
"Alright then, let's leave the people heading out to the Hunting Festival alone and decide among ourselves what event we'll run. Does anyone have an opinion?"
After the students who would be participating in the Hunting Festival had been roughly separated out, the class gathered those who would not be participating and would instead enjoy the festival.
Most of them were Recommendation Admit Students, but occasionally, Exam Admission Students were mixed in as well.
The one who had gathered the students was Dorothy Woodville, who now stepped forward to collect their opinions.
Dorothy, who originally held the real power in Class 5, took full command of the event the class would run for this Hunting Festival.
As someone taking the merchant's successor course, she was extremely reliable in events like this.
Casey was nowhere to be seen.
She must have decided to participate in the Hunting Festival.
If she wanted to participate, there was no stopping her, but since Casey was far too powerful compared to the other students, I'd have to tell her to exercise some restraint beforehand.
"Lady Dorothy! How about something like a haunted house?"
"A haunted house... an attraction where you wear eerie costumes and charge an entrance fee. Rejected. The customer turnover rate is far too low."
Even though she had told them to speak up, she mercilessly shot down the very first opinion.
The student whose opinion was ignored sat down with a gloomy expression.
Dorothy smiled brightly, crossed her arms, and spoke confidently.
"There's something I didn't mention earlier, but my personal wish for this festival is... to achieve higher revenue than Class 4! Even if it's just an event run by students, business is business! If we're going to do it, we have to give it our all!"
'She had an interesting thought.'
The students stirred at Woodville's blatant declaration.
Class 4 was Shara's class.
Since Shara wouldn't be directly participating in the Hunting Festival either, she would command Class 4's event.
She could leave it to someone else, but that would make her lose face, so she would definitely take command.
So as not to bring shame upon the Phrygia name, that is.
In other words, saying she wanted to achieve higher revenue than Class 4 was effectively declaring war on Phrygia.
"Why do you react that way? You aren't thinking that Phrygia would find a mere student-run event an eyesore and retaliate against Linda, are you? Don't worry about such things happening, and just relax and do your best to aim for first place in the academy."
After saying that, Woodville subtly glanced my way.
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With only two weeks left, they had to decide quickly what to do.
Class 5 decided to run a tea house, a festival staple that allowed for rapid customer turnover.
The suggestion to run a restaurant was rejected.
Even if they ran a restaurant, no one thought that young lords and ladies who had never even properly wet their hands with water could prepare proper meals to keep up with the flood of customers.
Nor could they use their connections or money to bring in skilled chefs.
This was because the festival events had to be thoroughly prepared by the students' own hands.
Therefore, they changed direction toward a tea house, which required much simpler preparation.
After the first meeting ended, I ran into Andy in the hallway, hissing, his face full of immense dissatisfaction.
"So, the meeting's over. A tea house, huh? That's modest..."
"It's better than doing something weird, isn't it?"
"That's true."
Andy looked utterly exhausted.
"Haahhh....Are you really not going out to the Hunting Festival?"
"Did you want me to go?"
"No, you made the right call. The students will all desperately throw themselves at it to win, so if you went out there, it would just look odd."
Apart from just wanting to enjoy the festival himself, Andy clearly understood why I hadn't participated in the Hunting Festival.
Even if I went to the Hunting Festival and won, it would be strange because I'd be stealing the opportunity from students who were desperately aiming for victory. And if I just enjoyed myself to a degree where I didn't win, it would still be a nuisance to my teammates.
If it was going to feel uncomfortable no matter what, not going was the right move.
"What happened during the meeting? Why do you look so unenthusiastic about it?"
"Ugh... It's utter chaos. Put yourself in the shoes of the people preparing it for once. They said they're holding something that big in two weeks, so only the people working on the ground suffer...."
"All the physical labor will be done by golems anyway."
"Managing those is a job for people. There's way too much to worry about... Sure, just like you said, golems handle the simple labor, but there's still a ton to do.
We have to inspect the Black Forest where the Hunting Festival will be held... while also giving lectures, aaahhhh, I really don't want to do this...!"
Andy clutched his head and began lamenting his misfortunes.
While it was true that all the labor for preparing the Hunting Festival was done by golems, everything that couldn't be handled as simple labor fell to the professors.
Andy, as the swordsmanship instructor, had to explore the Black Forest where the Hunting Festival would take place, assess its atmosphere, divide danger zones, and even capture a few magical beasts to leave as samples.
The magical beasts were something Andy could capture, but there would also be professors investigating venomous insects and poisonous plants.
Environmental surveying wasn't work that could be finished in a day or two. And on top of finishing that, they had to adjust the dangerous zone known as the Black Forest so students wouldn't suffer serious injuries—all in just two weeks?
And they had to continue lectures on top of that? The few professors shouldering this heavy responsibility must want to die.
Normally, this was work they'd progress bit by bit over months. Why had they decided to cram it all into two weeks?
'Come to think of it, Professor Praha's major was Magizoology, wasn't it..?'
"So are you capturing magical beasts and handing them over to the Magizoology department?"
"Yeah."
Because I hadn't been sure how to bring it up, I hadn't made any progress, but this was a good chance to go and check it out.
"And you... what did you do..?"
"What would I have done?"
"Professor Buckingham's attitude changed a bit. That fellow who was so excited about the Hunting Festival is suddenly acting cautious... what magic did you work?"
To change so noticeably right after having a single conversation—he was truly a person lacking caution.
Just as I thought, he's not someone cut out for big things.
"I wouldn't know?"
Just as I was feigning ignorance about that, I felt a presence from further down the hallway.
"Atlas..."
Lucia, who had gone off saying the Five Pillars had matters to discuss, spotted me and waved as she walked over.
"She's looking for you. Get going."
"Senior Andy, if you find anything strange while inspecting the Black Forest, let me know too."
"If I'm going to do that, why don't you just go yourself?"
"Look at this guy, trying to earn his salary for free."
.
.
.
.
.
.
After Andy left, I continued my conversation with Lucia in the same spot.
"As expected, you have to go."
"Yeah..."
Among the Five Pillars, three were participating in the Hunting Festival.
Phrygia and Perda, who had little connection to fighting, were excluded, and the three houses of Lemnos, Russell, and Albion were participating.
"I... don't like participating in things like the Hunting Festival either.... The forest is damp, smelly, and there are lots of bugs... I don't really like it."
"But not participating is even worse?"
"... Yeah."
I didn't know if it was a pride battle among the Five Pillars, or if their houses had ordered them to, but it seemed a reason had arisen that forced her to participate in the Hunting Festival.
She had to participate, but she was broadcasting how much she hated it with her whole body, fidgeting with her fingers and squirming.
"Then you'll have to form a team first."
"... I hate that too...."
When I said she'd have to form a team, she shook her head.
But entering the Black Forest alone would just mean getting harassed everywhere and struggling to properly earn points.
The Hunting Festival was team-based and fundamentally operated in squads of four people.
The most ideal composition was a 4-person team consisting of 1 warrior to handle close combat, 1 ranger or hunter capable of identifying prey and covering mid-to-close range, 1 mage to use powerful magic from the rear, and 1 priest to provide various buffs.
However, finding a priest among the students attending the academy was like trying to pluck a star from the sky, so the priest role would have to be abandoned.
Instead, the solution was to buy various potions from the general store and make a 'priest-in-my-pocket' set.
The 'priest-in-my-pocket' set had the downside that you had to take the potions yourself, meaning you couldn't do anything in a truly dangerous situation, but it couldn't be helped.
The ranger and hunter roles had to be excluded as well.
In an academy mostly populated by nobles raised preciously, it was unreasonable to find a student equipped with the skills of a ranger constantly rolling through harsh environments or a seasoned hunter.
But among the Exam Admission Students, a few students either had the qualities of a ranger or had been competent hunters before enrollment, and those students joined teams on very favorable terms.
After excluding the two most essential roles for a team, all that was left were warriors and mages.
And most of the teams formed at the academy were made up of a warrior acting as the vanguard and a mage handling everything else.
Still, having at least one mage made for a decent composition.
There were quite a lot of teams composed entirely of four warriors, after all.
Since Lucia was one of the Five Pillars, if she looked for teammates, people would reach out from all directions asking to form a team.
"But doing it alone is tough, isn't it."
".. Then... Atlas, you... do it with me...."
"??"
The moment she said that, Lucia quickly scanned her surroundings.
She checked to see if anyone had heard, but fortunately, no one had.
I understood what she meant by it, but the moment I heard it, my head went blank.
"Me?"
"I like you.. I hate other people...."
She had done the same thing just now, but by omitting the word 'team' in the middle, it sounded incredibly strange.
Even more so because her face was turning red.
"She really knows how to make a heart weak."
Still, there was no way I would be participating in the Hunting Festival.
Absolutely, definitely not.
"If it's not you... I'd rather do it alone..."
".... Still no."
I could tell what she meant from the context, but was she doing that on purpose?