Episode 218. Seven Stars Cultural Festival (4)

Spent a blissful afternoon sandwiched between two maids(?) for several hours.

Before I knew it, it was already 4 PM. After saying goodbye to Iris and Yurina, I headed off to meet Professor Elisha.

Professor Elisha was scanning the increasingly bustling Central Plaza with sharp eyes, comparing it to the morning.

“Ah, there you are.”

“Oh, Candidate Dale, you’re here.”

Professor Elisha turned her head towards me.

“Hehe. Did you enjoy the festival?”

“Well… I enjoyed it in my own way.”

Though, it felt like I enjoyed something else more than the festival itself.

Anyway.

“Professor Elisha, have you been here since morning, keeping watch?”

“Well, yes. It’s part of a professor’s duty to ensure the candidates can enjoy the festival safely, right?”

She shrugged her shoulders as she said this.

“Have you eaten?”

“That… I haven’t yet.”

Tsk.

I knew this would happen.

“I brought some food.”

“Is this… an omelet rice?”

“Yes. No matter how important surveillance is, you should still eat.”

“Hmm. To think I’d be scolded by Candidate Dale, who often skips meals for training.”

“Ugh. That’s…”

“Hehe. Just kidding.”

Professor Elisha smiled faintly and started eating the omelet rice I brought.

“Any suspicious characters?”

“Fortunately, not yet.”

Munch munch.

Professor Elisha seemed quite hungry as she enjoyed the omelet rice.

I chuckled and handed her the green tea I brought along.

“Hmm.”

After gulping down the green tea, Professor Elisha narrowed her eyes and stared at me.

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing. It’s just that I think Candidate Dale is quite skilled at handling women.”

“…Is bringing a lunchbox and some green tea enough to warrant such a comment?”

“Hehe. Women are more complex yet simpler than you think.”

“That’s a lukewarm noodle kind of statement.”

Suppressing a laugh, I sat down next to Professor Elisha.

“By the way, since I can’t really enjoy a date with Candidate Dale today, was it necessary to come all this way? You could have spent more time with your other lovers…”

“Professor Elisha, you’re also my lover.”

“……”

Startled.

Professor Elisha’s shoulders trembled, and she quickly turned her head away.

“W-when did I become Candidate Dale’s lover?”

“Huh? Weren’t we lovers already?”

After all, we even went to the hot springs together.

“Well… I remember saying that we didn’t need to become lovers immediately.”

“Ah.”

Now that I think about it, she did say that.

Knowing my complicated situation, she said there was no need to officially become lovers.

“Well, then let’s just say we’re lovers from today.”

There was a time when I agonized over such an abnormal relationship.

But after resolving to make everyone happy without leaving anyone out, I decided not to worry about it anymore.

“Candidate Dale, you…”

Perhaps she didn’t expect me to declare us lovers so casually.

Professor Elisha looked at me with wide eyes, then quickly turned her head away.

“Why are you turning your head away suddenly?”

“I-I’m looking for any suspicious characters.”

“Your ears are red.”

“Shut up!”

Professor Elisha’s face turned bright red as she pinched my cheek.

As expected.

She’s surprisingly shy.

I chuckled inwardly and looked at Professor Elisha’s flushed face.

“Phew. Let’s get up. Let’s take a walk together.”

Professor Elisha stood up, fanning herself.

“Huh? Is it okay to leave the surveillance?”

“It’s a patrol.”

Professor Elisha shrugged and walked ahead.

I wanted to hold hands like other couples, but since we were technically on ‘guard duty,’ that wasn’t possible.

Instead of holding hands, I walked close enough for our shoulders to touch as we strolled through the school.

“It’s a strange feeling.”

“What is?”

“Walking around the festival with my student… no, my lover.”

Professor Elisha glanced at me with a faint smile.

“Back then, I didn’t care whether such festivals happened or not.”

“I feel the same.”

No matter how much I searched my past life’s memories, I couldn’t recall anything special about the Seven Stars Cultural Festival.

“Back then, I wondered why everyone made such a fuss over a mere festival… but now I think I understand that feeling a bit.”

Professor Elisha chuckled as she watched the candidates noisily enjoying the festival in Central Plaza.

“By the way, there sure are a lot of couples, probably because it’s a festival.”

“Aren’t we a couple too?”

“Ahem. W-well, that’s true.”

As we chatted and enjoyed our patrol-disguised date.

“S-Sophia senior! Where are you trying to go?!”

“Stop being noisy and follow me quickly.”

I saw Berald being dragged along by Sophia.

‘So they were enjoying the festival in their own way.’

Sophia was pulling Berald’s clothes, heading towards the center of the plaza.

“Hoh. Since when have Candidate Berald and Candidate Sophia been dating?”

“Well… they’re probably not officially dating yet.”

Even if Sophia has feelings for Berald, that guy has his own issues.

“Hehe. But seeing them together like that, it seems like it’ll happen soon.”

“Maybe…”

Well, people’s preferences… don’t change that easily.

I swallowed my words and watched Berald and Sophia senior’s retreating figures.

“They seem to be heading towards the center of the plaza… Shall we go see?”

“Let’s.”

Professor Elisha and I followed them towards the center of the plaza.

The number of couples increased rapidly as we approached the center.

The candidate couples weren’t just wandering around enjoying the festival; they seemed to be waiting for something, sitting on benches or spread-out mats, eating snacks bought from nearby stalls.

“It feels like there are more and more couples.”

“Well, they’re probably all couples waiting for the ‘heart-shaped fireworks.'”

“Heart-shaped fireworks? What’s that?”

“Huh? You didn’t know?”

Perhaps because of the recent festival preparations and Beast Mask Group searches, I hadn’t heard about the heart-shaped fireworks.

“You know, there’s a rumor. During the festival fireworks, a heart-shaped firework will go off once, and if lovers kiss at that moment, they’ll stay together forever.”

“Hmm…”

Professor Elisha crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes.

“That’s nonsense.”

“Haha. I think so too. Well, such superstitions are common at festivals…”

“No, that’s not what I mean.”

“Huh?”

“There are no heart-shaped fireworks.”

“…There aren’t?”

But the rumor has already spread among the candidates.

To say now that there are no heart-shaped fireworks, what kind of nonsense is that?

“In the documents related to this festival’s fireworks, there’s no mention of a heart-shaped firework.”

“…Maybe it’s a surprise event?”

“Hmm. Wait a moment. The person in charge of the fireworks was… Professor Bianca, right?”

Professor Elisha took out her Hero Watch and contacted someone.

A familiar woman’s voice came through the hologram.

[I was just troubled by that rumor. Should we make one now? There’s not enough time…]

A definitive denial from the person in charge of the fireworks.

“So, that rumor was completely false?”

“Well… you could say that.”

“Huh.”

No wonder I didn’t recall such a rumor in my past life. It was all nonsense.

“…Something’s strange.”

Professor Elisha narrowed her eyes and stroked her chin.

“Candidate Dale. You said you heard that rumor from Candidate Berald, right?”

“Ah, yes.”

“Do you think Candidate Berald is the type to be interested in such rumors?”

“No, not at all.”

He’d be more interested in today’s recommended menu at the candidate cafeteria than such pink rumors.

“Even Candidate Berald heard the rumor, meaning it spread quite widely.”

Professor Elisha’s eyes sharpened.

“Something’s suspicious.”

“Are you saying someone spread the rumor intentionally?”

“I can’t be sure, but it’s a strong possibility.”

“……”

Come to think of it, Berald did say the rumor suddenly spread in the past few days.

‘The question is who and why they spread such a rumor.’

Was it just to mess with couples waiting for the heart-shaped fireworks?

Well, that’s a plausible explanation, but…

-Did you know? The heart shape is derived from the human heart.

“……!”

Then, a voice echoed in my head.

I quickly turned my head to look around, but couldn’t find the source of the voice.

“What’s wrong, Candidate Dale?”

“…Someone spoke to me.”

“Spoke to you?”

Ignoring Professor Elisha’s furrowed brow.

-Then…

The mysterious voice echoed in my head again.

-If a human heart goes *boom*! Wouldn’t that be the real ‘heart-shaped firework’?

Who is it.

Where are you speaking from?

-Hahaha! Why are you looking around like that?

Focus.

No matter how secretive the communication magic is, if it’s directly projecting a voice into someone’s mind, there should be traces of magic power.

-Trying to trace the magic power? Not so easy. This magical tool is based on the ‘Three Trials of the Grand Sage,’ you know.

Hoh.

Is that so?

-Even if the Grand Sage himself came back to life, he wouldn’t easily find…

I turned my head and looked at the top of the school annex.

Hundreds of meters away, on the rooftop of the annex building.

A boy wearing a monkey mask covering half his face was sitting on the roof, swinging his legs.

“Huh?”

The boy’s mouth twisted into a smirk under the mask.

“Found you, huh?”