86. Top Secret and Thousand Blade Festival [3]

The day after I heard the story of the 100 Million Years Button from Leia-sensei.

We were sitting through the last homeroom in Year 1 Class A.

「Everyone, good work today too! Judging from your appearances, all of you seem fatigued, but… Overcome it with enthusiasm and youth!」

Leia-sensei set up her favourite saying and hit the blackboard with her palm.

It is an encouragement method from sensei who still loves reading Weekly Shonen Yaiba.

(Speaking of… Everyone seems tired these days.)

The classes were as usual, but there was a hint of fatigue on the faces of my classmates.

Of course, Ria and Rose are no exception.

The other day I asked Tessa why and he said soul dress class has become particularly more intense.

Until now, all they had to do was to talk to the spirit core and negotiate so that they could share its power.

However, recently, when they request more than a certain amount of power, the spirit core seems to show fierce resistance.

So every time there is a soul dress class, they have to fight the spirit core in the world of the soul. As a result, their mental fatigue has accumulated.

(Well, in that regard, perhaps I’m『lucky』?)

In the first place, that guy doesn’t lend me even the slightest bit of power from the very beginning.

(『Negotiate and Dialogue』- On the day I show that kind of attitude, a straight right flies at me, and by the time I realise, I’m already back in the real world.)

We’ve been at each other’s throat since day one, thus I alone was full of energy even though everyone else was exhausted.

I’m already used to that kind of mental fatigue.

(Everyone is doing their best. I, too, have to push myself to the limit more!)

Recently, my motivation for training has been rising.

And the time spent fighting that guy in the world of the soul has also greatly increased.

Now that I’ve mastered『darkness』, I can actually defend against that guy’s attacks.

This is tremendous growth.

(This darkness is a really useful power.)

The jet-black darkness acts perfectly as both offense and defence in unity.

When I wear it, it becomes a strong armor which protects me.

When I concentrate it on my sword, it becomes a『pseudo-black sword』that boasts fearsome sharpness.

When I concentrate it on my wounds, most of them are healed in no time.

(Haa… I truly wonder what kind of ability my soul dress will have?)

An unknown power that is still far in the distance – soul dress.

Just thinking about it makes my heart beat faster and a smile naturally spread on my face.

(Fufu, I’m looking forward to tomorrow’s class again.)

When I was thinking about that,

「Well, it’s about time to disperse, but… I have one big announcement today!」

Sensei said and coughed once.

「It is finally the time for the annual『Thousand Blade Festival』! I know there are a lot of you who have already heard from your seniors in clubs, but I will explain it briefly just in case!」

Then she spoke roughly about the Thousand Blade Festival.

「Thousand Blade Festival is an academy festival held here at Thousand Blade Academy once a year! Since we are one of the『Five Academy』, the festival’s liveliness is quite remarkable! Every year, many public visitors from outside the academy participate – including young swordsmen who will knock on the gates of Thousand Blade Academy in the future! I want you to enjoy it with the awareness and pride of being a student of Thousand Blade Academy!」

We’ve already heard most of this from the president and others..

「There’s only two weeks until the Thousand Blade Festival. From now on, I will ask you to decide what activity Year 1 Class A will carry out. Those who have come up with a good idea, please do not hesitate to raise your hand! I don’t mind what the activity is, as long as you have a lot of fun!」

After that, everyone came up with ideas as they pleased – which was eventually narrowed down to five.

Cosplay Cafe.

Filmmaking in class.

Mini-game tournament.

Handmade Ramzak store.

Blue Sky Practice-Swing Party.

All of them were attractive and it was difficult to say which one of them was better.

The Practice-Swing Party under the blue sky was especially attractive.

「Fumu, there’s a strange one mixed in there, but… Well, that’s fine I guess.」

As Leia-sensei said that, she handed out ballots to everyone and set up a ballot box on top of the teacher’s table.

「-Those who have decided on your vote, insert it in this box!」

After that, we voted one by one.

「…Yoshi, everyone has voted. Let’s tally the votes!」

Sensei then opened the ballot box and began to tally it.

And the results were –

Cosplay Cafe – sixteen votes.

Filmmaking in class – six votes.

Mini-game tournament – four votes.

Handmade Ramzak store – three votes.

Blue Sky Practice-Swing Party – one vote.

Year 1 Group A activity was decided to be a Cosplay Cafe which gained the support of the majority.

「What…!?」

It was decided by everyone’s majority vote, thus I had no complaints about the result.

However, there was only one thing that was frustrating…

That is – I had only one vote in my proposal, the『Blue Sky Practice-Swing Party』.

Needless to say, this one vote was cast by me.

In other words,『zero votes』.

(I thought it would definitely be fun. To swing together with swordsmen from outside the academy…)

Apparently, my poor explanation didn’t properly convey the joy of the Blue Sky Practice-Swing Party to everyone.

(I’m going to try again next year.)

Thousand Blade Festival is not something that is only held particularly this year alone.

It’s just a matter of trying again next year and making the evolved Blue Sky Practice-Swing Party come true.

As I was secretly burning with eagerness,

「Well then, everyone, immediately begin the preparations!」

「「「Ou!」」」

And the preparations for the opening of the Cosplay Cafe began.

■

After that, the entire class started setting up the Cosplay Café after the last homeroom for the next two weeks.

First of all, we started with the cosplay costumes.

A female student, who does cosplay as a hobby, brought in a catalogue. And all the other female students gathered around her merrily.

「Nee Nee! I think this would suit Ria-san very well!」

「B-But… Doesn’t the skirt seems a little too short?」

「It’s okay, it’s okay! No problem if you wear spats inside!」

「I-I don’t want to be seen in spats either!」

Talks which shouldn’t be heard by men had developed around Ria. On the other hand,

「What do you think, Rose-san? Do you have any costumes you would like to wear?」

「Fumu… I’m kinda interested in this.」

「T-This?! R-Rose-san is surprisingly daring.」

「Is that right? I think it’s quite normal though.」

Rose chose her favorite costume in a matter-of-fact manner.

(Is it really alright, Rose?)

I was a little worried about what kind of costume she chose because I know of her revealing casual clothes.

While the girls were excitedly deciding on the cosplay costumes, the boys were mass-producing origami rings single-mindedly for the purpose of decoration.

At first, the boys were like,『I’m looking forward to seeing their cosplays!』, and so on, but soon…

Cut it with scissors, roll up the origami, and paste it.

Cut it with scissors, roll up the origami, and paste it.

Cut it with scissors, roll up the origami, and paste it.

Their mouths stopped talking as they repeated the same work single-mindedly. The same movement was repeated silently like machines for three whole hours.

And then,

「Nee Nee, Allen-kun! Can you come over here?」

I was called by a voice from the group of excited girls.

「Err… What’s going on?」

When I reluctantly got up and headed over there,

「Nn- What would Allen-kun like to wear?」

「Oh, I have to wear it, too?」

「Of course! Allen-kun must wear a cool costume and bring in female customers!」

Saying that, they suggested a variety of costumes in high spirits.

(…To be honest, I don’t have interest in this.)

But, since the girls are going out of their way to pick a costume…

I don’t want to discourage them.

After the cosplay costume was decided, we moved on to the menu decision.

A cafe, of course, requires drinks and simple snacks.

「First of all, coffee, latte, cafe au lait, cappuccino, and… I also want macchiato!」

「Oi Oi, don’t forget the soft drinks.」

「Ah, that’s right! So what about the snacks?」

「Toast, meat spa, omelette, and hashed beef rice. At minimum those.」

「I like it! Then, dessert will be pancakes and coffee jelly, and such!」

「Oh, I like the sound of that!」

When the boys and girls were happily exchanging their opinions,

「W-What?! I dare you to say it again!」

「As I said… 『That menu』is impossible for a cafe!」

Tessa and the girls began arguing for some reason.

(What the hell happened?)

I strained my ears, trying to hear the conversation.

「White rice, hijiki, dried sardines, vegetables and pickled daikon radish! A café needs to cook such dietary dishes of the Iron Cutting Style, right!?」

「Such dishes are not necessary! This is a Cosplay Cafe!」

「Kuh… you blockhead! Naa, Oi, Allen! What do you think?!」

Tessa suddenly turned the story towards me.

「N-No… I think Tessa is in the wrong this time.」

Dietary dishes in a Cosplay Cafe… I have to say it’s a mismatch.

When I said that,

「Nu, Gugugu… If Allen says so, then it can’t be helped.」

Tessa reluctantly withdrew his claim, gritting his teeth.

When the costume and the menu was decided, we started to practice cooking the dishes on the menu.

「Kuh… setting the omelette’s appearance is very difficult.」

「Gah! Why won’t the eggs roll up beautifully?! There is something wrong with this frying pan!」

「A-Ahaha… I don’t usually cook, so this is a little embarrassing.」

The girls were attempting『half-boiled fluffy eggs』, led by Rose, to make omelettes, but…

Unfortunately, it didn’t go very well.

It seems that the girls in our class are a little weak at cooking.

They probably spent almost all their time on swordsmanship since they were kids.

It’s no wonder.

(If that’s the case, I should help out too.)

I gave them a little advice on making omelette.

「Actually, there is a secret technique to roll the egg beautifully. After you first put the eggs in, you scramble them firmly on the frying pan. And then you can easily peel off the eggs from the frying pan.」

And then,

「This is…! W-Wow, Allen! I didn’t think you were proficient in cooking too!」

「Oh! It is so easy now! As expected of Allen-kun!」

「Wow, it’s true! Thank you, Allen-kun! But it’s amazing that you even know how to cook.」

The girls, who succeeded in “half-boiled fluffy egg” one after another, turned their envious eyes towards me.

「Ahaha, I used to cook a long time ago.」

Life in Goza village is completely like self-help.

Harvesting vegetables, caring for livestock, and cooking rice. All these basic things must be done by yourself.

That’s why I was a little better at cooking than most people.

Then, the two weeks of flurry and fun passed quickly. Today, it was finally the day of the Thousand Blade Festival.

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