Chapter 56

The morning of Victory Day.

Back gate of Yggdrasil Academy.

Neigh!

The princess and her three bodyguards gathered in front of the carriage.

Before climbing aboard, Luga bowed politely to the princess.

“To think that Your Highness would even see off a lowly subject like me, I am at a loss.”

“If someone saw us, they might think we have such a stiff relationship.”

“Was I like that?”

When the princess chuckled, Luga lifted his head and smiled.

Just then.

Bang! Bang!

In broad daylight, large fireworks shot into the sky.

“The festival has begun.”

“A festival in Yggdrasil, huh……”

At the princess’s words, Luga stroked his chin as he replied.

“I wanted to enjoy it too, but it’s a bit unfortunate.”

Luga had spent his childhood and teenage years as a human weapon.

It was here in Yggdrasil that he first experienced what a school was.

It was quite a joyful and fascinating place.

In particular, the academy festival was something that caught Luga’s great interest……

But unfortunately, a summons had come from the Empire.

“Verdi, Curio.”

With a smile on his lips, Luga spoke to his subordinates.

“Even if I am not here, I entrust His Highness to you.”

“Yes.”

When Verdi and Curio responded, Luga smiled faintly.

“It’s because it’s you two and no one else that I can trustingly leave her in your hands.”

He patted their shoulders.

They were the elite agents who had earned Luga’s recognition.

With the two of them, he could rest assured of the princess’s safety.

“It is time. I shall take my leave.”

After one last farewell, Luga boarded the carriage.

Clop, clop……

The carriage gradually disappeared into the horizon in the distance.

“Now then, let us go as well.”

Arlhardt walked away with a light expression.

But there was something faintly lonely about her appearance.

“Your Highness, I shall summon a carriage.”

When Curio spoke, Arlhardt shook her head.

“I want to walk myself for once.”

Though the inside of Yggdrasil was quite vast, the distance from the back gate to the main building was not too far.

“The truth is, there’s somewhere I really wanted to go.”

Arlhardt pointed toward a small flower garden.

It was filled with a purple hue as if it had been embroidered.

“Such beautiful flowers.”

Today was the Astrid Empire’s Victory Day.

And at the same time.

“My sister really loved them.”

It was the death anniversary of the former First Princess.

Princess Arlhardt drew closer to the lavender.

When she brought the petals close to her nose, a soft yet refreshing scent wafted up.

As she inhaled the fragrance, memories of playing princess with her sister in the lavender fields came back to her.

“……Whenever this flower is in bloom, I find myself missing my sister.”

Her memories of her deceased sister were deeply precious.

……If only she could exclude the memory of her sister’s death.

“She too would surely be missing Your Highness.”

When Verdi replied quietly, Arlhardt gave a faint smile.

“……Would she not?”

Arlhardt closed her eyes for a moment and prayed.

She wished to meet her sister once again.

If that day were to come, she wanted to clear up all misunderstandings.

To erase all faults, and return to being the happy and close sisters they once were……

That was Arlhardt’s prayer.

I set down the box and wiped my sweat with my sleeve.

I had started working from dawn, and now the dazzling sun was rising.

‘There was more work than I thought.’

It was only natural, since there was twice as much to do compared to other booths.

I lifted my head to look.

In front of me were two street booths.

They were banner booths assembled with poles as pillars.

The sign on the left booth read “V’s Equipment Shop.”

The one on the right read “V’s Cafeteria.”

“This is the last one! It’s the blueberry box, where should I put it?”

“Villed, it’s heavy……”

Karin and Lapin were sweating profusely as they carried the box.

Gesturing toward the right booth, I replied.

“Put it next to the lemon box in the booth, I’ll handle the rest of the organizing.”

“Got it…… heave-ho.”

Karin and Lapin set the box down and caught their breath.

“But…… isn’t this place a bit lacking?”

After looking around, Karin spoke cautiously.

I shrugged my shoulders.

“Does it look that way to you?”

“Well…… since it’s far from the main building, wouldn’t it be?”

This place was a park about five kilometers away from the academy’s main building.

With a tone that said she didn’t understand, Karin continued.

“Even if it’s a park……. Normally, people don’t really come here, right?”

It wasn’t a place where much foot traffic flowed, nor did it have many sights to see.

The best it had was an abandoned performance hall nearby.

Though filled with benches and tables, hardly anyone came here to rest since there was nothing much to look at.

It was not a suitable location for attracting many customers.

“You’re not wrong.”

I replied while looking around.

Karin then seemed to realize something and answered.

“Ah, so there must’ve been no spots left.”

“No. Thanks to registering early, there were spots.”

“Huh, then why?”

Karin blinked.

With a short smile, I replied.

“Well. I just liked this place, somehow.”

“Liked it……? You’ve got strange taste……”

Karin let out a hollow laugh.

She might think my choice was wrong, but there was no need for me to explain the reason at length.

Time would explain everything.

‘Yeah, since I’m the one who decided it all.’

The location for booths was determined first-come, first-served by applicants.

The place I chose was the farthest location permitted by the student council.

‘From Karin’s perspective, it must seem incomprehensible.’

The most favored spots were near the main building, followed by the alleys connecting it to the surrounding buildings.

‘The plaza is where the most people gather, so of course it’s the most popular.’

The way the booths clustered around the main building like barnacles proved its popularity.

In contrast, my booth was about five kilometers away from them.

The farther it was from the main building, the lower the preference for setting up a booth.

For reference, the spot I chose was the least favored location.

‘From the present view, it might look like a mistake.’

But since I knew how this festival would unfold, I only had to look ahead to the future.

‘At least the moving of the boxes is all finished.’

The equipment shop booth had already been set up and displayed.

As for the cafeteria, I planned to tidy it up later once Rupina arrived.

Thanks to the help of the two, I was able to prepare the booths faster than expected.

“This is my first time doing something like this, will I be able to do it well?”

Karin muttered as if speaking to herself.

I nodded my head.

“Just doing as you practiced will be more than enough.”

In the cafeteria, Rupina would handle the baking and drink preparation.

Serving and calculating were assigned to Karin.

‘Was it because of that branch?’

Though Karin had a hard time dealing with others.

At some point, she had gathered courage and tried to change herself.

That must be why she decided to help with the work.

“Villed, I’ll work hard too.”

Lapin said gently.

Then she beckoned to the sea otter.

The sea otter squeaked and climbed up, snuggling into Lapin’s arms.

Lapin and the sea otter were tasked with attracting customers for the equipment shop.

“Villed said I just had to play with this little one. That’s not hard.”

The sea otter was a rare wild animal.

Moreover, its level of taming difficulty was enough to trouble even experts.

It would surely become a major topic of conversation for people.

‘I’m also paying them after all.’

I promised to give Karin and Lapin 10% each of the cafeteria’s sales as payment for helping.

It might look like quite a generous reward.

‘But since most of the ingredients were self-supplied, the investment in the cafeteria was small.’

From the start, my real goal was the sales of the equipment shop.

While opening a cafeteria box, I answered.

“You two should go back to the dormitory and rest for a bit.”

“Huh? Why?”

Karin blinked.

“The festival is about to start…… shouldn’t we be getting the booth ready right now?”

“No, our booth opens at 1 p.m.”

“Eh. Isn’t that way too late……?”

Just as Karin said, it was quite a late opening time.

The festival started at 8 a.m. and ended at 8 p.m.

That meant there would be a five-hour gap out of the twelve hours when booth operations were possible.

“Don’t worry and just go get some rest.”

I waved them off, urging them to hurry.

“Mm…… alright. Let’s go, Lapin.”

“See you in a bit.”

Karin and Lapin waved to me as they headed toward the dormitory.

And after some time passed.

“Good day!”

It was Rupina, dressed in a black chef’s uniform she had brought from somewhere.

Judging by how thoroughly prepared she was, it seemed she was serious about the cafeteria.

That was why I had hired her even at a high cost.

“These boxes…… you prepared way too many, didn’t you?”

Rupina was surprised at the mountain of boxes piled up at the booth.

With certainty, I answered as if it was natural.

“I invested after seeing your talent.”

“Eh?”

In truth, the only things I had bought with money were flour, sugar, and salt.

The oven and utensils were rented, while fruits, milk, cheese, and such were harvested through the ✿Animal✿Farm✿ ability.

“W-was what I made really so delicious? Enough to use all these ingredients?”

“It was heavenly. You can take pride in it.”

When I flattered her, Rupina lifted her nose proudly.

“W-well, it certainly was heavenly! Even Lady Elined and Sir Keirin reacted positively, right? I’ll work hard to live up to your expectations!”

Rupina rolled up her sleeves and began taking out ingredients from the boxes.

Her enthusiasm was burning brightly.

And there was a reasonable cause.

‘Since I also told her she’d get 10% of the sales.’

If she used up all these ingredients, that 10% would reach a staggering level.

Rupina had likely already calculated that.

“Then I’ll leave the booth in your hands.”

I spoke as I stepped outside the booth.

“Where are you going, Young Master Villed?”

“I have somewhere to stop by near the main building.”

“You hired me because you’d be absent, right? Have a safe trip!”

I nodded and left her with a piece of advice.

“When the time comes, it’ll get really busy, so be prepared.”

“Yes!”

With a business smile, Rupina only nodded her head.

“Alright then!”

From far away, the voice on a microphone echoed.

“From this moment on, we begin the Astrid Empire’s Victory Festival!”

Bang! Bang!

“Waaah-!”

The festival of Yggdrasil was open not only to students but also to many ordinary people.

The heat of the festival was intense…… but that was only on the side of the main building.

“Haaaah……”

Karin let out a sigh.

Even after a long while, not a single customer came.

‘I opened the booth early because I was curious about the response.’

Though Villed had said to open at 1 p.m., Karin, thinking it wasteful, had opened the booth from 11 a.m.

Two hours of waiting had led to this result.

Resting her chin on her hand at the table, Karin watched the festival from afar.

Rupina also quietly watched before speaking.

“Doesn’t seem like any customers will come, does it?”

“Seems that way……”

Karin sighed heavily.

At first, she had worried about how to treat customers.

But there was an even greater problem.

There seemed to be no chance of the crowd flowing all the way here.

Well…… it was five kilometers away.

‘Will customers even come like this?’

They would, probably.

……At most, just one or two?

No, hopefully at least one person would come early so that word of mouth could spread.

She had confidence in the taste, after all.

‘Will things change as time passes?’

Though Villed had told her not to worry.

In this situation, how could she not worry?

“Ugh, business can’t possibly go well here……”

For now, they were in a state of chasing flies.

‘Not even customers, at least a passerby should appear…… hm?’

Karin perked up her ears.

……She thought she could faintly hear the sound of people.

Karin stood up from her seat.

She climbed the stage of the nearby abandoned performance hall and looked in the direction of the main building.

Just an hour ago, the road had been completely empty, but now she could just barely make out a group of people.

‘……Could it be, they’re coming this way?’

The people they had been waiting for all this time.

A considerable number of them were heading toward this place.

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