113. Hunt Festival
113. Hunt Festival
The moment I left the classroom with Lucia, I spotted Casey standing blankly in the hallway without Hal.
People passing by were also looking around, checking out how the other classes had decorated.
"Shorty, you free?"
"Who's calling who a shorty."
He got angry when I called him shorty.
Even though I was the shorter one now, Casey still occasionally called me shorty.
"You looked like you had nothing to do. Want to check out the festival with us?"
"Me?"
"Atlas?? With us??"
Lucia was startled when I invited Casey to join us.
Naturally, since their first impression of each other was bad, they still weren't on good terms.
"...Seems like the person next to Mister doesn't like me, though..?"
"Lucia, it's fine, right?"
"I..."
Lucia seemed reluctant, but I grabbed her hand tightly and pleaded.
"Please, Lucia, the kid still has a lot to learn and needs my supervision."
"Ugh... fine...."
I knew Lucia had reluctantly agreed, but I couldn't leave Casey behind.
"See, it's fine."
"Who's a half-wit!!"
Casey snapped angrily.
It wasn't that he disliked the idea of going together, but it seemed like the 'has a lot to learn' part rubbed him the wrong way.
"Mister, keep that up and you'll get stabbed again."
Casey glanced once at the reluctant Lucia and said.
Me, getting stabbed—who could he be talking about.
"There's no way anyone else would stab me except you."
"Are you really going to play dumb?"
"So, are you coming or not?"
"... Fine, I'll go."
"Ughhhh...."
When Casey finally agreed, Lucia subtly glared at him.
Casey glared back at her briefly.
Looking back now, I should have just made separate time for each of them.
I couldn't stand seeing either of them moping pathetically in front of me, so I just...
"Alright then... should we start with Class 3 first?"
"Not going to 1 or 2...?"
"I went by earlier before we started. They weren't doing anything special."
Since Edgar and Sieg, who were the central figures, were presumably absorbed in practicing for the Hunting Festival, they hadn't done much preparation.
In contrast to Class 5, which had transformed its space into a bright, sunlit café, Class 3 was decorated darkly, completely blocking out all sunlight.
"Welcome! Wow, it's Atlas!!"
The moment we stood in front of the door, Nina, in her uniform, waved and greeted us.
There was another student with her—one of the female students who had been next to Perda before.
"I'll go tell Lord Perda."
"Got it."
As soon as she saw me, the female student went inside the lecture hall, leaving only Nina behind.
"You changed clothes?"
"Yeah, I was off-duty earlier!"
When she came to Class 5 before, she was definitely wearing her usual shirt and blouse, but now she was wearing a neat suit that made her look like a hotel staff member.
Even in such refined clothes, it seemed to make little difference to Nina, who couldn't stay still for a moment and kept moving.
"You said you weren't coming, but you came after all! See, I told you there's nowhere like this. Have fun."
As if sensing my presence, the door opened and Nivas Perda, wearing a splendid gold suit, walked out with his arms wide open.
It must have been symbolic, but I was more fascinated by where he'd even gotten something like that.
"What's with your outfit?"
"Heh heh, things that stand out are the best. We're all commoners anyway, right?"
I told him his outfit was weird, and he hit back pretty hard.
I was gradually getting used to it and forgetting, but I also looked pretty ridiculous.
"Welcome. This is a pleasant place where you choose a room from the list, enjoy beverages, and have a good time. You know that, right?"
"I'm surprised the Student Council allowed something like this."
"Anything crafty in there is completely prohibited, and only conversation is allowed. The Student Council President just passed by, so how could they refuse? Well then, I have business to attend to, so I'll be going."
With that, Perda went back inside the lecture hall.
It seemed they had erected temporary walls inside the lecture hall to create several small rooms.
I had a pretty good idea what this place was, but I had to experience it firsthand.
"We're leaving quickly, so please get someone who doesn't talk much."
I was about to browse the available options, but Lucia quickly made a decision without even looking.
"Then I'll do it!"
"I said someone who doesn't talk much."
It was a stretch to call Nina someone who didn't talk much.
"I don't talk much! Lane tells me every day to choose my words properly!"
"That's not talking little, that's having a poor vocabulary."
"It's different?"
"Fine, we'll go with you, so please guide us."
Nina led us inside the lecture hall.
For something hastily constructed, the temporary walls were quite well-made.
As we made our way down the dark hallway, lit only by candlelight, a room with an oval table in the center appeared.
"Weird place, right? I'll go grab a menu for a sec!"
After guiding us to the room, Nina quickly dashed out.
"Atlas... let's get out of here fast... no matter how I look at it, this is one of those places."
As soon as Nina left, Lucia spoke her true feelings.
She clearly didn't like the atmosphere, which felt like an adult entertainment venue.
In fact, I also found it absurd that this had been approved.
"Still, we came in because we were curious, so it's polite to buy at least one bottle."
"... Have you been to places like this often..?"
"No, I had a colleague who visited places like this more than his own home."
"You mean Mister Parekt?"
"Right, that guy."
Casey chimed in from the side.
There was a guy who used to blow about half of his salary from the Knight Order on places like this.
"That Mister got married last year, so he doesn't go anymore."
"Even when he was dating, he got caught a few times and they broke up, and he still got married??"
"Heard they're having a kid."
While I was listening to stories about my Knight Order comrades I hadn't seen in a while, Nina came back in.
"You waited long, right! Ta-da~"
Nina was wearing a very thin, short, dark green dress.
In a way, it resembled the leaf-made garments elves often wear in the forest, but it was different.
It strongly gave off the feeling of a replica deliberately made to be more provocative, imitating that style.
".... What's with that outfit..?"
"It's a uniform for serving guests. Fluttery and pretty, right?"
"...It is pretty... but isn't it too thin?"
Since the fabric was incredibly thin, the curves of her body were clearly visible, and because it was short, parts that should be covered seemed to peek out whenever she moved.
"It's comfortable and easy to move in, so why not? Alright, then what would you like to drink?"
Nina unfolded the menu she was holding in one hand and showed it to me.
The first and second pages had a list of people who would serve as conversation partners, and after that, the beverages that could be ordered were listed.
The interesting thing was that below the list of conversation partners, stars were drawn, ranging from one up to five.
I wondered what the stars meant, but after seeing the names of the people with many stars, I understood immediately.
The better the family, the more stars they had.
"Um.... Nina, I have a question."
"What is it? I don't know much though, is that okay?"
"Perda said he'd provide the service. I also saw Perda's face on the menu just now."
"Yeah, that's right."
"So does Perda serve guests directly too?"
Nina smiled brightly and affirmed.
"Of course! Nivas is amazing. Several professors just came as guests a moment ago."
'So that's what it meant when they said the Student Council President also came.'
When Nina confirmed it, I let out a hollow laugh.
The successor of the Five Pillars... and the right to a private audience with Perda, who excels in strategy, no less. Just how much were they paying per second?
It seemed Dorothy had misstepped.
No matter what, it looked like Class 3 was the one to be most wary of during this Hunting Festival.
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On the morning of the first day of the Hunting Festival, Lucia was preparing to go out.
Inside her room, as a reaction to having been suppressed by her family until now, all sorts of cute items were piled everywhere.
From fluffy animal dolls that made her happy when she hugged them, to brightly colored dresses, to dresses with frills galore—she had bought everything she wanted and displayed them in the most visible spots.
Directly opposite were sharp swords and sturdy armor, calm, colorless, neatly arranged clothes, and other items she had brought from her family, making it a place of stark contrast in many ways.
Although it was just sorted by purpose and wasn't intentional.
In such a place, Lucia basked in happiness as she looked at the two golden-furred teddy bears perched on top of a huge pile of dolls.
One was bought last week when she went out to the downtown district with Atlas, and the other was something Atlas bought separately this week.
The teddy bear bought last week was stained with dark red bloodstains.
Not long after she'd bought it, Atlas suffered a penetrating wound to his abdomen, and the blood splattered, staining the bear.
With a clean new teddy bear of the same design next to it, the original bloodstained one stood out even more.
It wasn't just blood; dust had also gotten on it, making it grimy, but she didn't want to throw it away carelessly.
Because it held the memory of choosing and buying it together with Atlas.
"Next time... we said we'd go again...."
Atlas had said it was a return gift for the teddy bear and gave her a single artifact in the form of an ornament.
It had a string that could be tied, so it was an ornament that could be attached to her scabbard or her collar.
From what she could see, it seemed to automatically activate a defensive magic.
The fact that it wasn't just pretty but also functional was just like Atlas.
When she attached it to the top she always wore, it suited her quite well.
She resolved to wear it on her clothes from now on.
"Ah..! Right, I have to get ready quickly..."
If she won the Hunting Festival, she would tell him they should go out together this week.
Not knowing that the hunting didn't start until tomorrow, Lucia began packing her armor and weapons.
.
.
.
.
.
.
Lucia fiddled with the string of the ornament hanging below her sturdy collar.
The ornament Atlas had given her had a defensive function, so since she thought today was the actual Hunting Festival day, she had packed it as practical equipment.
The decorative string hanging down at a suitable length was nice to fidget with.
Under the dim lighting of the bar-like atmosphere, Atlas sat comfortably on a sofa with Casey and Lucia on either side of him.
When Nina naturally tried to sit next to Atlas, they had unconsciously moved to stop her.
Strangely enough, it was a moment when Casey and Lucia's thoughts aligned.
If she sat next to him wearing such thin clothes, wasn't it practically the same as her bare skin touching him?
"...Atlas, we've seen everything Class 3 does, so let's get up and go now."
Lucia wasn't very pleased about having to be with Casey.
Although Atlas said it was fine, Casey had ambushed him, and because of that, Lucia's weekend had been ruined.
But since Atlas, the person involved, said it was fine and actually comforted Lucia, she couldn't just be perpetually hostile toward Casey.
However, right now, Class 3 was even more displeasing.
Lucia, who had only lived inside the mansion, had never experienced this type of establishment before, but she had read enough in books to know that it was not wholesome.
She couldn't understand how the Student Council had allowed this.
Because of Nina's enthusiastic PR, Atlas had chosen her, and while they all waited in the room together, Lucia hadn't liked Nina coming in wearing such thin clothes either.
She wanted to leave immediately, but she couldn't understand why Atlas insisted they had to buy at least one bottle now that they were already inside.
Casey hadn't said anything either, but he didn't seem to like Class 3's concept.
When they kept showing their discomfort from both sides, Atlas finally admitted defeat.
"Fine, fine... I think I'll get up now. See you next time, Nina."
"What I ordered is coming soon, have at least one glass!"
"I don't think I have enough time right now."
"In that case.... It's normally not allowed, but since you're special, Atlas, I'll keep this one bottle on hold for you. Come back and get it later."
Pulled out by both arms, Atlas waved his hand toward Nina.
"Mister, don't tell me you're going to go drink that alone because it's a waste? That's what Mister Parekt used to do all the time."
Atlas just smiled without saying anything.