After the representative delegations’ entrance, the school anthems, and the torch relay.The presidents of the Four Great Academies and I, the General Student Council President, exchanged brief greetings with the students from the command platform."Hello, everyone~""Whoaaa!"When Elena stepped up onto the platform, bathed in bright sunlight, a fervent cheer erupted.It was like an idol had appeared on a military base—feverish reactions everywhere.In the Saintea section, Elena’s followers shouted some specific chant and made a ruckus.I’m too embarrassed to repeat it; I won’t detail what it was.The reactions for Kiriel and Beatrice were similar."Hey! You there—don’t laugh!"Every time Kiriel stumbled over a word in her speech, laughter broke out from the Voltimir section.Clap clap clap-.When Beatrice appeared, thunderous applause roared from Eredor’s section as if we were at a magic society gathering.Each had a slightly different flavor, but overall they were clearly popular with the students.By contrast—Step-.When I went up last, the reaction was lukewarm."Ooh… uuh…"Neither cheers nor boos—something ambiguous. Maybe simple indifference.A mood like no one was expecting much.More like: “Since we’re already seated, let’s hear what nonsense he’ll spout this time.”I didn’t care in the slightest and took the mic.Standing before a crowd this size could be nerve-wracking, but maybe thanks to the body’s native personality and traits, I wasn’t particularly nervous.Tap tap-."Nice to meet you. I’m Loen de Valis. I currently serve as the Union’s General Student Council President.""……"The crowd murmured a bit.—Boo!—Get off the stage!Some parts were overtly hostile—the direction of Jerome Academy, who’d suffered heavy damage because of me.I looked that way and quietly put a finger to my lips."Quiet. The more you yap, the longer my speech gets. Can you handle that?""……"At my words, other students shot daggers of a glare toward Jerome’s side.No one here wanted a longer speech.Feeling the unspoken pressure, they hastily stopped the jeers and howling.Only after they fully shut their mouths did I speak again."Good. Honestly, none of you want to hear one of my long speeches. I don’t have anything special to say, either. Just… since everyone worked hard to prepare this Sports Festival, I hope you enjoy the next three days comfortably and have fun. Compete in skill fairly, do your best, and don’t get hurt."I added one more line."For reference, besides top placements, there are special awards prepared by the General Student Council. It might be worth aiming for those benefits. For academies far from tram stops, this is a good chance."A small stir spread through the stands.Half of Union’s students belong to the large academies.Which means the other half are from small and mid-sized academies and don’t fully enjoy Union’s excellent infrastructure.For them, this was great news. And since it wasn’t about top placements but special awards, it was actually within reach.With the small and mid-sized academy students especially abuzz, I continued."Also, the pamphlet lists plenty of good restaurants to visit, and a variety of clubs have booths in the booth area. There are lots of new products, so drop by."Right now, Trishi and her club members had opened the Alchemy Club’s shop in the booth area.Most of the beverage stock was reserved for competing athletes, but I’d permitted a portion for sale.'Originally, I planned only to sponsor, but I accepted Trishi’s suggestion and opened a booth, too.'The sponsored drink for representative athletes is a blue tropical fruit flavor. The sales version is a yellow lemonade flavor—subtly different. The carbonation level and ingredients differ significantly, too, so the product lineup should hold its own.I wrapped up my greeting with a short speech."The rest of the Sports Festival schedule will proceed as written in the pamphlet you received. That’s all."***As I came down from the platform, Yulina—seated near the VIP section—spoke to me."What kind of speech was that? Aren’t you supposed to be raising your approval rating?""I conveyed only what was necessary. When the tongue runs long, everyone hates it."Anyone who ever stood under a blazing sun and listened to the principal’s address back in school would agree.Sometimes ornate rhetoric that tugs the heart can be effective, but right now, that wasn’t needed.And—"Approval isn’t raised by a glib tongue. If you show sincere actions, it follows on its own."When I dropped that neat, righteous line, Yulina snorted."Ugh, you talk a good game."Of course, there are ways to raise approval without backing it up with actions.But those tricks are good only for maintaining support in the short term; the truth comes out in the end.For me, building bonds with “Named NPCs” is far more important than some fleeting approval figure.If only your mouth moves… you capture no one’s heart.Gathering my thoughts, I asked Yulina,"Are you participating in any events?""I’m terrible at athletics. His Highness is, too."Yulina shrugged and flicked her eyes toward Beatrice seated beside her.Beatrice looked exhausted for some reason.Bound by her standing as imperial royalty and student council president, she was forcing herself to sit up straight, but since the speeches, she seemed like her soul had fled.She looked like she’d rather go lie down than care about some festival.Anyway, for mages like us, events like this put us at a disadvantage.Ishtal—the human weapon nursery—goes without saying.Even Saintea has a hefty edge since half their student body is trained as paladins, and the elves and beastkin of Voltimir have superior physical abilities not on the same track as ordinary humans.Students from Eredor, who sit at desks honing magic, will have a hard time matching them."What about you? Are you entering anything?""Someone like me? What, so I can collapse mid-run?"Thanks to consistent training, my physical abilities had risen above average—but only just.If I squeezed myself between the monsters representing each academy, I’d get flung out immediately."However, there are a few events I could join."I glanced at the schedule board for the Sports Festival events hanging beside the VIP section.It would be a mistake to think the festival is only a playground for human weapons.There are various contents many students can enjoy.For general students: a treasure hunt, a “most sandwiches eaten” contest, pot smashing, ball carrying, paper flipping, group jump rope—plenty of events where raw bodily talent doesn’t decide everything.Furthermore, these events don’t affect academy ranking, so they can be enjoyed with an easy mind.As Yulina and I chatted, Jeremy finished his speech and walked past me to sit on the far side of the VIP section.Hmm…At a glance, Jeremy didn’t look well.The usual relaxed, gentle face was gone—his expression was openly anxious.He’d taken a heavy hit to his cash stream because of me, so his insides were probably burning.And since my interference led to the Sports Festival being successfully held, that would gall him, too.Of course… even considering that, the fact that Jeremy couldn’t maintain a poker face and was visibly uneasy was a bit odd.Hmph.Jeremy’s state nagged at me, but I quickly switched gears at Yulina’s next question."Are you going to watch the opening ceremony congratulatory performance?""A performance, huh."I watched as cheer squads filed into the Grand Stadium to the cue from the announcer.Students in flashy uniforms and draped flags poured onto the field.During the congratulatory performance, each academy’s cheer squad would battle it out.After that, performances by a symphony orchestra and a circus troupe invited from across the continent were lined up. Everyone would have fun.But I slowly shook my head."No, I’m going straight to the triathlon."The triathlon.A combination of marathon, swimming, and cycling. It’s also called the triathlon—a formal Sports Festival event.Yulina tilted her head."Huh? You said you weren’t entering anything. And with your body, there’s no way you’re doing a triathlon."Her gaze slid up and down my lean frame.I frowned."Rude. And I’m not going to participate.""Then what?""I’ve got someone to cheer for."***While the crowd’s eyes were fixed on the brilliant opening ceremony in the Grand Stadium—Elsewhere in Ishtal, the first official event of this commemorative Sports Festival was beginning.The triathlon.A grueling two-hundred-kilometer route running along the Union’s outer line.Even if the characters of the Mir Elin Saga boast superhuman abilities, nearly eight hours of ordeal is no joke.It begins with a 4.9-kilometer swim, using Europa—the massive river that flows through the Union.Near the starting line by the river.The participants were straightening their attire, dressed in rash guards.I approached the women’s division representatives as they prepared and searched faces here and there.…Where are you?As I loitered near the women’s side, the looks the girls gave me weren’t pleasant.—Who’s that guy?—No unauthorized personnel allowed here.—Shh, it’s Loen. Just let it slide.—Gross."……"Whispered voices buzzed at my ears.Especially with those bad rumors about Loen harassing female students, the reactions were worse."Did you come here for something this low? I thought you’d come to your senses."Yulina, who’d followed me, narrowed her eyes and looked at me with open disdain.Instead of answering, I tossed back a question."…Why did you follow me here?"For some reason she’d skipped the opening performance and came after me.With Beatrice heading back to rest, she said she didn’t really have anything else to do.Anyway.The other girls’ stares stung, but I °• N 𝑜 v 𝑒 l i g h t •° finally found who I was looking for among the athletes.There you are.Among representative uniforms bearing each academy’s symbols, one girl stood out alone in achromatic clothes.Ciel Yuraphia.She had entered the triathlon as an individual participant, not on behalf of any academy.She didn’t seem to be aiming for an individual prize in particular; I didn’t know why she’d choose to suffer, but since she was doing it, I came to cheer her on.As I moved closer, Ciel sensed me and turned her head.She glanced briefly at Yulina by my side, then gave a curt greeting."You’re here."I smiled slightly at her impassive face."Yeah. I’ll be cheering for you. But don’t overdo it. There isn’t some great reward for the individual prize."At best, the individual prize meant a scholarship, a few months’ worth of meal tickets, or gift certificates usable at on-campus shops—no need to push yourself for that.Ciel shook her head."I’m not participating in hopes of getting something. I’m just… testing my own limits.""Limits, huh."Ciel nodded and finished putting on her swimming cap. Then she turned her gaze toward Freya over there.Freya was tying up the snow-white hair trailing down her nape, twisting it up while fitting her cap.On her chest was the emblem of Ishtal—a shield and crossed swords.I looked at her for a moment, surrounded by her aides, then turned away."So Freya is your target.""Something like that. She’s my—no, the goal of most students in this Union."For girls who followed the path of the martial, Freya was like an idol. Making her their goal wasn’t strange at all."Good luck."Ciel nodded, gathered her gear, and headed for the starting line.Then the announcement came on.—We will begin the triathlon shortly. Women’s division athletes, please prepare to start. Once again, we announce…And with that, the first official event of the Sports Festival began.

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