Chapter 177

Have you ever killed someone.

Yes, that was the real question I wanted to ask Miyu.

On the surface, she looked like the type who couldn’t even kill a fly and would tremble at the thought of it.

But perhaps in some unknown, unrevealed depth of her story, such a past was lying in wait, silent.

“……”

I calmly waited for Miyu’s answer.

I had thrown out the bait, so the reaction would soon come.

If this “Miyu” girl was truly nothing more than the timid and earnest girl I had thought her to be, then she would give me the answer “I had expected all along.”

Now then, which was it?

Depending on her answer, my strategy from here on would change. If it turned out to be just my imagination, then I would proceed “according to the original story” as I had first planned.

But if not……

“Eh…… A-Aaron…… ssii……? Wh-what do you mean by that…….”

Miyu stammered as if flustered.

It was quite a sudden question. We had been exchanging trivial words for some time, and then suddenly a bomb was dropped.

In truth, the exact wording of the question didn’t matter.

Even if I had rephrased it as “Are you hiding anything from me?” it wouldn’t have been much different. But I wanted to rattle Miyu with something that struck at the very core.

That way, her true feelings would show more clearly.

I remained silent, giving her the space to continue speaking. Meeting her eyes, softly but with pressing weight, I held my gaze on hers.

Then Miyu shook her head, looking somewhat confused. And in a voice as fragile and wavering as a candle before the wind, she spoke.

“I-I don’t know what you mean……”

“……”

Her lips trembled as if burdened.

Her eyes wandered without direction.

Even her voice carried no confidence.

She was the same Miyu as always.

At that, I let out a faint laugh and rose from my seat.

“I spoke nonsense.”

“A-Aaron ssii……?”

“It’s nothing. Forget it.”

I straightened my suit, wrinkled slightly from sitting.

“I’ll be going now.”

“A-already……?”

Miyu reacted with visible disappointment.

At her voice, the other professors also stood up quickly.

“Are you leaving already?”

“Yes. I only came to check on how this girl was doing during the festival. I was worried she might feel isolated among the students since coming to the Academy, but thanks to you professors, I’m glad she seems to be adjusting well.”

“O-oh, no. If anything, it is us who are receiving much help from Miss Miyu. And since we were introduced through Professor Richardson as well.”

“I see. Where is Professor Richardson?”

“H-he went out to look around the festival……”

Instead of the professors, Miyu stuttered out the answer.

I turned to her, placed a hand gently on her head, and softly patted it. Miyu let out a strange sound, “Uehehe……” and twisted her body awkwardly.

It was clear she didn’t dislike it.

Even though I had asked her that strange question earlier, she didn’t seem particularly bothered. In a way, that was fortunate.

“Take care. I’ll come see you again soon.”

Leaving it at that, I departed from the administration office, with Miyu and the professors seeing me off.

I walked out of the [Living Fireworks] exhibition, reactivated my communication device, and made contact with someone.

“It’s me.”

[So. How did it go?]

A husky woman’s voice.

It was Kara.

I hesitated for a moment before speaking with difficulty.

“……The bad outcome.”

“Haa…… this is exhausting……”

The first day of the festival.

Irene had been running ragged all day.

Starting with attending the opening ceremony as student council president, she then spent the entire morning rushing around as the festival operations chair, checking the state of things.

“Merchants really are…….”

Some stalls were selling items different from what they had submitted in their paperwork, while others were ripping off customers with outrageous prices. And then there were even stalls that failed basic hygiene inspections on the very first morning.

They had all gone through a strict selection process before being contracted by the student council, but their true intent—to make a quick profit during the festival—was showing itself shamelessly.

“Good thing I went around myself.”

Since the Academy had many students from corporate backgrounds, in order to maintain neutrality they had contracted mostly small vendors instead of megacorps. Perhaps that had been a mistake.

At least she had cracked down on them from the start. For the rest of the festival, such issues likely wouldn’t crop up again.

Irene wrote down a list of the problematic stalls and created a blacklist to ensure they would never be contracted for future festivals or Academy events.

After cracking down on stalls, came complaint-handling.

With so many guests, all sorts of incidents occurred.

Some guests got injured while using facilities, some children were swept away by crowds and went missing, and there were even attempts by guests to sneak into restricted areas.

Irene commanded the festival operations committee, quickly resolving each issue, doing her best to make sure both guests and Academy students could enjoy the festival in good spirits.

‘If I hadn’t attended that festival over at West Skyline before, I would’ve been in real trouble.’

Before she knew it, it was already 3 p.m.

She hadn’t even had lunch, running around all over, and the hours had flown by.

While wrestling with paperwork inside the student council room—temporarily turned into the operations office—the door burst open, and Reina and a few other student council members returned.

It was time for the shift change.

Vice-president Reina approached first and greeted Irene.

“We’re back! You worked hard, Irene!”

“Oh, Reina. Was the festival fun?”

“Yes!”

Reina’s expression was so bright it looked like she might ascend to the heavens. Clearly, she had had a very satisfying experience.

“As much effort as we put into preparing, it felt like the guests were enjoying themselves too. Ah, and Irene, you probably didn’t notice, but earlier I saw you on the first floor, working hard cracking down on stalls.”

“I see.”

First-hand accounts were valuable. As the operations chair, Irene had worked tirelessly preparing for the festival and resolving issues, but if the festival itself wasn’t fun, that would be the biggest problem. A “trouble-free festival” and a “fun festival” were, strictly speaking, different things.

Since Reina seemed satisfied, the other guests were probably having similar experiences. That was a relief…… Just as Irene thought that, something odd caught her eye. Behind Reina, something ragged was being dragged along the floor.

“Hmm? Reina, what’s that?”

“Yes? Ah, this? It’s my senior.”

“What?”

“My senior. Senior Silence.”

With that, Reina pulled what she was holding closer to herself. The zombie-like figure that had been dragging at her heels was dragged forward.

“Ah……”

Irene let out a sigh.

She thought it was just some rag, but it really was her senior. The LED mask crackled with static, and the clothes he normally wore were frayed all over, but without a doubt, it was Silence.

Yet, on his ruined body were items that didn’t fit the disheveled look at all.

For example, an alien headband on his head, a flower pinned to his chest…… and looking closer, even face paint drawn across his LED mask.

Why on earth had he let them paint that?

It was then.

“[H-help…….]”

Grab.

Silence, who had regained his senses, tried to escape, but Reina didn’t let go, clutching his waist tight. Hugging him as if he were a teddy bear, she casually continued her conversation with Irene.

“Senior said he wanted to stay with me. He’s not part of the operations committee, but it’s okay if he helps out a little, right?”

“Uh…… y-yeah……”

What else could she say but “okay” here? For a brief moment, Irene thought she saw Silence looking at her with resentful eyes, but she forced herself to look away.

Her heart pounded.

If a few months ago she had accepted Reina’s feelings, perhaps she would be the one in that position now.

Once, she had secretly overheard Aaron muttering “Crazy psycho” about Reina. Only now did she truly understand what he had meant.

As expected, Aaron’s eye for people was sharp.

Reina, a terrifying girl.

“Hehe. Well, since I’ve got the president’s permission, let’s switch shifts! Senior, sit next to me.”

“[Uuuhhh…….]”

“……”

She was sure there had been some old movie with a plot like this. But Irene decided not to think about it further. There was no benefit in recalling such a thing.

“Th-then I’ll be going……”

“Yes, please go enjoy yourself to the fullest~”

Leaving behind the vice-president Reina who waved her off, Irene exited the student council room.

Though Reina had said “enjoy the festival,” Irene had something to do. On their way back from West Skyline University’s festival last time, Aaron had asked her for a favor.

—Could you watch over Miyu during the festival?

He had said that during the festival weekend, starting from the afternoon, he had personal matters to deal with that would force him to be away for a while.

So, he wanted her to stay by Miyu’s side in his place and make sure nothing strange happened around her.

Irene couldn’t fully understand the deeper reason behind such an order, but she decided to follow it.

Aaron’s words had never led her astray before, and in Irene’s eyes too, Miyu was…… how should she put it…… a precarious girl. The kind you just couldn’t leave alone, because your heart kept going out to her.

With that in mind, Irene took the elevator, heading for the [Living Fireworks] exhibition.

She had already said earlier she’d be visiting in the afternoon, so it wouldn’t be an unexpected visit.

Arriving at the main lobby on the first floor, she made her way toward the exhibition hall. Using her status as student council president, she bypassed the long waiting line and moved inside.

At that moment.

“Huh?”

From behind the exhibition annex building.

In a shaded spot where people’s eyes wouldn’t easily reach, she saw someone glancing around nervously before dashing away. Instantly, Irene’s sharp intuition blared like a siren.

‘What’s with that guy. Suspicious.’

Irene tried to follow instead of heading into the fireworks exhibition office, but the man dove into the crowd in an instant and soon slipped out of her pursuit.

“Damn……”

Irene clicked her tongue.

Instead, she contacted Reina, describing the “suspicious man’s” appearance and instructing her to search for him together with the Academy’s security team.

After that.

Irene went to the back of the exhibition annex where she had first seen the man. There, construction supplies left over from setup had not been cleared, making it difficult to move around.

But forcing her way through the clutter, Irene succeeded in slipping inside—and there, she discovered something strange.

‘A zipper bag?’

A wave of unease washed over her, but she mustered her courage and unzipped it. Her plan was to confirm whether it was a bomb or not, then immediately contact the security team.

Ziiip.

Carefully opening the zipper, she saw a strange mechanical device inside, its purpose unknown.

“I-it’s running…… isn’t it?”

Without touching the main body, she observed it. The cylindrical device was emitting odd beeping sounds and lights as it operated.

She couldn’t tell if it was a bomb.

But it was definitely suspicious, so she contacted the security team at once.

“Yes, it’s me. I just found something suspicious inside a bag. Could someone come check…… Sorry, what did you say?”

[It’s not a bomb, don’t worry. We’ll handle it, so just bring it here.]

Surprisingly, the security team seemed to already know what it was. They explained this was already the third report of the same thing.

And then—

Kuuuuung—!

The ground shook violently.

The source of the shock was……

The fireworks exhibition hall.

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