The Academy’s Ankle Reaper – Chapter 111

I sat alone on the dormitory bed, looking out the window.

Damn, the sun was shining brightly, starting to illuminate my room without me even bothering to draw the curtains.

The time had finally come.

The Hunting Festival had begun.

“I did my best.”

Two weeks… it was a period that could be long or short.

I had done what I could until the Hunting Festival started.

From now on, I’d just have to watch things unfold as usual and react accordingly.

“I thought the Hunting Festival was supposed to be just a chance to mess around, so why is it turning into this…?”

This was all the damn Buckingham and that cursed sword’s fault.

I’d make Buckingham work until he begged to be let go.

That sword vibrating in the corner like it’s buzzing non-stop should be passed on to the Necromancer soon.

I just hope no major incidents happen… and if they do, I wish I could clean it up quickly as I always have.

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The Hunting Festival spans two days.

On the first day, each class presents what they’ve prepared, and the actual festival kicks off on the second day.

In other words, today it was Woodville and the fifth-class students’ turn to showcase all that practice they put into baking.

As per Woodville’s suggestion, those who didn’t make bread and pastries wore uniforms they somehow scrounged up, making it easier to distinguish them when serving and managing the crowd.

The boys wore tuxedos, while the girls donned dresses reminiscent of maid outfits, in black and white.

They were all comfortable enough to move in since they didn’t have any wires inside, so no one really complained.

Woodville stood confidently in front of the fifth-class students who had come out early in their uniforms to open the tea house.

Behind her, Dorothy Woodville and the students who helped bake looked tired, but what was to be done if they looked like that on just the first day?

This side was wearing strange clothes, after all.

I should probably slip them some recovery potions and make them work a bit more.

“It was tough, but thanks to everyone’s hard work, we managed to finish on time.”

“Oh, that sounds convincing.”

Behind the students, there was a pile of stock ready for the first sales—breads and pastries galore.

Previously, they had only been charred lumps, but now they looked appetizing and brown.

“Hehe… it’s not just eye candy, you know. Now, now.”

Woodville began distributing small pieces of bread and pastries to the students on plates.

“Here… what do you think!! The quantity is limited, so we can’t give you much, but there’s enough for a little taste.”

I popped one into my mouth, and it was actually quite decent.

Honestly, considering how they might have burned the dough or undercooked it, it would be strange for it to taste bad at this point.

“It’s good, but I’ve never been to Ben’s bakery, so I have no clue what it tastes like.”

However, I doubted this could compete with the flavors from Ben’s bakery.

“That doesn’t matter! The public is just a bunch of hungry beasts after all..!

Whether our goods taste the same as those from Ben’s bakery is not really important!

What matters is that this bread was made using dough supplied by Ben’s bakery!”

What a savagely sharp statement she made without batting an eye.

“Besides, not many people in this academy have actually been to Ben’s bakery. Anyone who went there wouldn’t be here to begin with!

So, class five is starting sales now!!”

The students began to hurriedly carry the products.

———————————

Class five’s tea house was filled with scents that stimulated appetites throughout the hallway.

Pamphlets scattered everywhere, a large sign looming as soon as you entered the floor, and the aroma of butter wafting down the hallway naturally drew people in.

The classroom, once filled with desks and chairs, had transformed into an interior reminiscent of the cafe on the academy’s first floor.

Before the seated students, tea, pastries, and breads began to arrive one after the other.

“Looks pretty good, doesn’t it?”

“We just had the golems decorate, and the props were brought by Woodville.”

Amy and River, who decided to enjoy the festival worry-free, were also there in the classroom.

Since we were in the same class, we could just walk in without waiting in line.

But we weren’t allowed to sit down.

“Atlast!! Over here, over here!!!”

The short-eared Half Elf Nina was waving her hands wildly.

Thankfully, Perda had come alone, possibly stuck at Class Three.

It seemed like she wanted someone to take her order at her table.

“Hey, just grab something to eat. I’m not serving, so don’t get your hopes up.”

“Not serving while wearing an outfit like that? That’s just neglect. I came alone; at least chat with me.”

“The main branch doesn’t provide that sort of service.”

Woodville insisted on that uniform to maintain a consistent atmosphere, and even though I had to wear it because I couldn’t throw it away, I didn’t really like this outfit.

Even being my height, wearing something that looked like a suit just felt awkward, which I didn’t like at all.

When you’re short, no matter how good your proportions are, clothes like this make you shy away.

The bigger the size, the more flattering the outfit.

“Tuxedo….”

“W-what??”

River was staring at me intently.

His gaze was sharp, as if taking in every detail from head to toe.

“Uh… I just thought this is what wearing a tuxedo felt like.”

The mood felt tense.

“Ah… Atlas… looks good on you….”

“Thanks.”

I replied automatically as I heard Lucia’s voice from behind.

“Wow… why are you carrying that around here…!”

But as Lucia’s voice echoed, I heard people murmuring around us.

Curious about what was happening, I turned to see Lucia not wearing some casual outfit but dressed like she was ready to wield a sword at a moment’s notice.

“Are you training or something?”

“… I forgot we’re going hunting tomorrow…”

So that was the reason.

She probably got too tense and forgot.

“Are you going to keep carrying that around? You could just go back to your dorm and change.”

“… I’ll have to carry it around all day tomorrow anyway… I’ll just think of it as training to get used to it….”

As Lucia sulked, the commotion outside began to rise again.

“Whoa, it’s Prigia….”

“Hey, hey, clear the way!!”

Shaara was just walking with her subordinates, but the people waiting in front of her quickly parted to give way.

Her subordinates didn’t threaten the people blocking her path.

They just resembled a gathering of a huge carnivorous beast, and the people moved aside without prompting.

Having cut through the long line, Shaara stood in the middle of the class with her arms crossed.

Seeing this, Dorothy smiled slyly and approached Shaara.

“Welcome to class five, Miss Prigia.”

“…”

Shaara shot me a glance before reverting her attention to Dorothy.

“Are there no seats to guide your guest to?”

“Of course not. I’ll guide you to your seat, just don’t get lost.”

It was absurd, given how wide open the space was, to be concerned about losing the way.

Shaara gracefully sat down in the seat Dorothy guided her to and ordered a few highlighted menu items from the menu.

Those represented the specialties from Ben’s bakery that Dorothy had underlined.

As Shaara waited for her steaming hot tea to be poured into the empty cup, she casually looked up.

“…!”

Then she met my gaze.

Her face flushed red, and she closed her eyes for a moment, seemingly trying to focus on whatever she needed to do next.

—————————————-

As soon as Shaara Prigia finished gathering information on class five, she quickly left.

‘I thought my heart was going to stop.’

Shaara Prigia clutched her pounding heart as she exited class five.

The cause was Atlas, who was wearing a tuxedo.

I’d seen him in a clean jacket a few times at the academy, but it was the first time I had seen him styled so gentlemanly, with his hair neatly set.

Would he even come dressed like that to my party?

‘I must prepare the prettiest dress.’

Shaara hadn’t thought much about her height, but recently, she had come to genuinely like her current height.

She realized that being just a bit shorter than Atlas didn’t touch his strong pride.

Imagining dancing proudly with Atlas in a tuxedo at the party, as soon as she reached class four, her mind abruptly cleared.

‘No, no, I need to focus… this isn’t the time for thoughts like this.’

Now that she had seen something nice, it was time to get to work.

If she could defeat Dorothy Woodville using proper tactics, Atlas would surely praise her.

He wasn’t the type to hold back on compliments.

That was why she needed to check the atmosphere and various factors herself.

Starting from the information she had gathered until now, she began to evaluate the tea house in class five.

‘It wasn’t anything special.’

If it was typical Woodville, it would be a stuffy, showy place with no substance.

The breads and pastries only looked decent in shape and color, but they fell short of Ben’s bakery’s quality.

They may have used good tea leaves, but they had poorly brewed it, making the flavor and aroma fall flat.

If she wanted to criticize sharply, she had plenty to say.

They somehow managed to bake the dough, but it seemed they only knew the basics and didn’t delve into specifics per item.

But that definitely didn’t mean it wouldn’t sell.

This tea house, while looking flashy on the outside, was as hollow as fragile caramel candy, yet it was still bound to do well.

After all, most of the academy’s students had probably never set foot in the capital.

And among them, even fewer would have visited the ever-crowded Ben’s bakery.

Shaara was sure that realization of alienation wouldn’t dawn on them at all.

‘Anyway, when swept up in the festival atmosphere, they’ll probably want to eat anything, and if it’s bakery items that are hard to come by in the capital, their wallets will naturally open.’

Most they’d experience was a slight disappointment at the poor brewing skills with high-quality tea leaves.

If class five put this much effort into selling, they’d undoubtedly attract a massive crowd.

“I’ll win, though.”

Shaara was confident despite the formidable opponent.

No matter how bad it got, she believed she could at least win against Woodville.