Luca recalled what Archiond had said.

—On the second day of the festival, a stage opens in the Academy's central park.—There's a talent show there that involves all the students, you know?—If you make a big impression there, I'm sure many friends will support you!

"It was absurd even to call that a plan, but since he said it was sincere, I was left speechless."

"Well... I guess, since you can't participate in the selection games, that's probably the only option..."

The three people's expressions were strange.

They seemed to flinch slightly, facial muscles trembling.

Luca gazed at them quietly and sighed.

"If you want to laugh, just go ahead."

"Puh! Puhaha!"

"Kkhuh!"

Even Isella was turning her head and flinching—it must have been really funny.

"What's so funny about it."

"A-ah... sorry... It's just... I just can't picture you in a talent show, not at all..."

"Kuhek! Wh-what would you even do up there? Sing? Dance?"

Milia teased while even shedding tears.

Luca twisted his lips.

"I'm not going to join. Aren't I here to discuss with you to find another plan besides that?"

"Haha! Ah~ but I am curious. You, singing or dancing. Oh right, haven't you danced before already?"

"Tsk."

At the mention that he'd danced before, Luca clicked his tongue.Milia wore a sly expression.

"Is it true you danced with that eccentric Pasmo Ti-e? Sir Luca Traverse?"

"Since you know already, are you asking because I'm allowed to get angry?"

"Wow, that rumor was real? The one where Luca supposedly swept the party away with a dance with Pasmo Ti-e, then they confidently went out and disappeared together?"

Ottbo asked, looking genuinely surprised, and the fact that it wasn't sarcasm made it more infuriating.

Luca's eyelids twitched.

"It's quite a well-known story, isn't it."

"Since you're so popular, young master, there are so many stories leaking out that it's difficult to keep them in."

Bella shook her head with an expression of exasperation.

Certainly, it seemed many were interested in him.

Luca clicked his tongue.

"That's an excessive amount of attention for someone like me, merely the count's second son. Don't people have anything better to do?"

"Well... you say 'merely the second son', but you're really famous already. Especially with what happened with my younger sister."

"Your younger sister? Ah..."

Luca Traverse had coldly rejected Milia's half-sister, the Fifth Princess, Lverta Hernan.

Even for Luca, it had been an absurd event—there was no imagining how others must have felt about it.

"That's why, for a while, Luca's nickname was 'Little Star'."

"Someone probably still remembers you by that name even now."

"Tsk."

When Luca clicked his tongue in clear annoyance, Milia chuckled softly.

"Well, it'll be about three years before Lverta comes to the Academy, so you probably won't run into her."

"Not interested."

"Oh my, does our Little Star prefer older women?"

"......."

"Hehe, I'm just joking, just a joke."

At Luca's cold gaze, Milia laughed and glanced sneakily at Isella.

For some reason, she was quietly sitting there.

Milia whispered to Isella.

"At this rate, maybe you have a chance too?"

"H-huh, wh-what?"

Isella was startled and surprised.

Milia chuckled quietly.

"It's nothing."

"Let's cut the nonsense there. Give me your thoughts—about how I can become grade representative besides participating in the talent show."

At Luca's words, Milia shrugged.

"Not sure? I don't really care, honestly. Isn't it fine not to be grade representative?"

"My brother did it, so I should too."

"But if you do it, it'll just be a pain. You'll lose training time."

At the word 'training', Luca hesitated.

He made a reluctant face.

"What do you mean? I've heard there's not much for first-year grade representatives to do."

"It's less than for the other grade representatives, but you still have to manage this and that. You won't be able to laze around like now, at least."

"......"

Luca was silent for a moment.

Then he glanced at Bella.

"What's the matter, young master?"

"...... Did my brother not train after entering the Academy?"

"Of course not. I heard Young Lord trained in the spare moments his friends gave by helping out whenever they could."

Luca pressed his lips together.

'Just how tenacious is he? Wylde Traverse.'

Luca started to understand why Luca Traverse had always felt like a wall to overcome.

"... Come to think of it, I do have a competent friend."

"Who? It can't be anyone but me."

Milia responded, as if she found it laughable.

Certainly, aside from Milia, there didn't seem to be anyone else here who could handle tasks so well.

"Just to be clear, I'm busy. Honestly, even investing time in you guys is a painful loss for me."

"Then let's just end our friendship."

Luca shot back at her boastful words with cold finality.

Seeing there wasn't even a trace of a smile, Milia began to sweat nervously.

"A-ah, sorry. That was a slip of the tongue again. So..."

"Enough. Ottbo, should you really keep spending time with someone like her?"

At Luca's cold expression, Ottbo gave an awkward look.

"Well... she does make me waste a lot of time, so I can't really say much."

"... Tsk. Milia. Do your best to get that guy to behave himself sooner."

"I'm trying."

Milia answered with a sigh.

For a week, Ottbo had been studying hard, but hadn't shown much progress.

"Until that fella becomes a man, I suppose I shouldn't sever ties yet."

"Oh my, then those ties will last forever?"

"Haha... You're joking, right...?"

The heavy mood was somewhat relieved thanks to Ottbo's cluelessness.Milia, having relaxed a bit, said:"Anyway, I'm against being grade representative. It's just not worth it, especially for someone like you, Luca, who values personal time so much."

"It's a bit late to suddenly say I won't do it though."

"Isn't it perfect timing? You can't join the selection games because of your injury, and you don't want to do the talent show. Besides that, there's no other way to boost your votes."

Knowing the truth about grade representatives did shake him a little.

Honestly, after hearing Bella, he'd been tempted to do it, but it didn't seem there'd be any particular gain from doing so.

'It's not like there's some special event tied to being class rep.'

The original protagonist had never become grade representative, so there was no telling if there was any opportunity there.

If there had been something significant, it would've at least gotten a mention in the story.

Since it had never once come up, it didn't seem worth worrying about.

"And what's more important for us right now is the bomb terror incident. Let's find the bomb first and then worry about grade representative. If a bomb goes off, there won't be any class rep or anything—the Academy might have to close down temporarily or even shut down for good."

"Hm... true."

With so many incidents already, the Academy's continued existence was uncertain.

If this massive event happened on top of that, the Academy was at real risk of closing.

'Then what happens to the protagonist?'

A trivial question, but it didn't matter now.

The important thing was to protect his school days and future.

"It's almost time for the eve festival to begin. The parade won't start right away, but shouldn't we go?"

"Lead the way."

It was time.

The festival's eve began.

* * *

"Hey! Underclassmen over there! Get in line as soon as you enter!"

"If you push, someone will get hurt~ You can see just fine from the back, so don't force your way to the front~."

"The show's starting! Let's go!"

There was a huge crowd at the Hernan Academy's First Stadium, where the eve festival was taking place.Most were first- and second-years.The upper grades knew it was insanity to come here.

"So dizzy."

In the middle of that, Luca looked absolutely exhausted.Both Luca and Luca Traverse hated crowded places.He didn't like parties, and the population density here for the eve festival was two or three times a party—it was pure hell.

"Wow, didn't expect it to be this bad."

"Careful, miss!"

"H-help! Luca!"

Even Milia looked flustered and Isella was shielding her from the crowd.

Naturally, Ottbo was being swept somewhere by the masses.

Luca clucked his tongue and forced his way through to rescue him.

"Ugh... I thought I was done for..."

"Next time, just ride your armored soldier."

"I'll do that once I repair it."

"I'm kidding. If you rode that armored soldier through this crowd, someone would die."

"I can never tell when you're joking..."

Ottbo's face twisted at Luca's rare attempt at a joke.

Luca felt a slight sadness that his joke didn't land, but struggled to change the subject.

"Anyway, there really are too many people."

"Several clubs put on eve festival performances. Plus, famous international artists were invited by the Academy."

Of course Luca knew.

He'd seen it in the original work.

But the difference between reading in text and experiencing it in reality was night and day.

'Now I see why the protagonist freaked out in the original. This is truly awful.'

There had been descriptions about the crowd, but he'd only thought, 'So it's crowded,' without realizing it'd be like this.

"If it weren't for the protective function of the uniforms, there's a story some people would die every year."

"I can believe that."

After a while, order gradually formed.

At least people weren't shoving anymore.

Before long, the surroundings slowly darkened.

Jiiiiing!

"?!"

"Ugh!"

"My ears..."

At that moment, an ear-splitting noise rang out from the stage.Luca had heard this sound before.

'Guitar?'

Jiiiing!

"Is everyone ready!!!"

A group in school uniforms appeared with the noise.

They had to be upperclassmen.

They had almost all the instruments used for band performances back on Earth.

'I knew that guitars existed, but actually seeing them is remarkable.'

Officially, those instruments weren't called 'guitar' or 'bass.'But just as it had been for the original protagonist, Luca instinctively recognized them as 'guitar' and 'bass'.

"Let's Roooooock!"

With the vocalist's shout, the performance began.

Luca knew little about rock music, but the drum's heart-pounding beat, the ear-splitting guitar, and the vocalist's shrill falsetto—all of it stirred his spirit.

'Nice.'

It was so good, Luca even considered learning music—the singing and performance were both impressive.

"Ugh... My ears hurt..."

"Are you all right, miss!"

"Isella... even your voice hurts my ears..."

Of course, not everyone seemed to enjoy it.

There were other performances besides the band, too.

A mage performing a one-man orchestra with magic alone, conducting countless instruments.

People dancing to fast-tempo songs.

An alchemy show transforming a huge jewel through various shapes live, dazzling the eyes.

Each had its unique charm.

"That's it for tonight's performances! The parade will start soon, so please remain at your seats and wait!"

With the MC's announcement, the area brightened.

The students, still excited, chatted with their friends.

Luca's group was no exception.

"Wow! Luca! Did you see that?"

"I'm not sure what you're referring to, but since I was beside you, I probably saw the same thing."

"Scratch Ear! That was awesome!"

"I don't know exactly who you're talking about, but every performance today was good."

"The first one, that one!"

"Ah. The band. Yes, that was good."

Watching Ottbo get so excited while Luca responded in kind, Milia stuck out her lips.

"Hey. We're not here to play around, you know? The parade's about to start."

"But where does it start from anyway? There's nowhere left for it to enter from here."

In the original, at the eve festival the protagonist attended, there'd been no parade.It'd been canceled for some reason, though the cause was never revealed.

'Hm? Wait. If the protagonist comes next year, doesn't that mean the parade problem is supposed to happen this year?'

Luca noticed something suspicious.

'Is the Academy's shadow watching me now, which is why a bomb-plot might happen? What caused the problem in the original?'

As those doubts surfaced, Milia pointed at the sky.

"Over there."

"?"

Luca looked to where Milia was pointing.

Something was slowly growing bigger—as small as a dot at first, but now he could tell what it was.

"Airships...?"

"They say the Hernan Academy eve festival parade takes place with airships!"

Various shapes of flying ships were descending from the sky.

-------------= Clacky's Corner -------------=【ദ്ദി(⩌ᴗ⩌)】

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