Chapter 145
Chapter 145
At the end of the semester, the Winter Festival, ‘Final Feast of Snow White.’
The meaning of hosting this festival at the school was… well, something like a self-celebration.
It was meant to wrap up the year’s classes and encourage the students for all their hard work.
‘And clubs or departments also showed the projects or performances they had prepared throughout the year.’
Things like so-called “exhibitions” or “experience booths.”
‘Well… guilds and companies also visited and scouted third- and fourth-year students.’
It was open not only to students but also to outsiders, serving the purpose of promoting the school and interacting with the local community.
Anyway, the duration was three whole days, spacious and full of things to see.
I had been preparing the booth since early morning.
In the past, during the Victory Festival, I had to personally haul food-supply boxes from the morning, struggling with them…
Ziiing—!
I opened my Subspace wide and pulled out the ingredient boxes.
Very comfortably.
Neatly.
‘Unlike back then, I grew, and the entrance of the Subspace got bigger.’
When I had first opened Subspace, the entrance had been about 30cm in diameter, but now it was nearly twice that size.
Thanks to that, I could pile up boxes inside the booth like a mountain without shedding a single drop of sweat.
Just when I finished organizing the boxes, my group arrived. Karin, Lapin, and even Rupina.
“Master. You already finished? I’m sorry, we should’ve come earlier.”
“Oh my, Villed. You’re really strong. How did you move all this?”
Looking at the boxes I had moved, the scale was indeed a bit excessive.
It was simply not a quantity one person could move.
“…I just couldn’t sleep, so I moved them ahead of time. I took it slow, so it didn’t take much strength.”
I tossed out a suitable excuse.
“Right! I couldn’t sleep either because I was excited… Ah, we’re assembling the booth with this wood, right? Let’s build it together!”
Karin looked at the pile of wooden pieces stacked to one side.
When I handed out the blueprint, they understood immediately.
Truthfully, it was closer to an instruction sheet for a construction toy than an actual blueprint, drawn in a very clear and easy-to-see way.
Since the wood was already cut into large assembly pieces, putting up the booth was very easy. With few people helping, the booth was completed in no time.
“Whew… It’s finished… It looks so nice.”
“Yeah, pretty.”
Karin and Lapin held hands, their eyes sparkling as they looked at the booth.
The solid wood used to build the booth was in a bright tone, and although the saw-cut grains were still visible, the finish was clean enough that it didn’t look rough.
On both sides of the arched hexagonal entrance—made by crossing the wooden beams diagonally—stood two small house-shaped booths.
Both booths were the same size, and wooden boards were lined up like a fence.
The left side was Rupina’s workspace, the right side was where I would cook.
Karin would handle the serving and hand the order slip to each booth, where the food would then be prepared.
To win first place, I believed we needed a point of difference from other booths. So, I even tweaked the interior.
Thanks to the experience of building a house during the Comprehensive Exam, I could make it confidently.
‘Plus, this is a park, so we can legally use the tables.’
Dozens of wooden tables were arranged around our booth.
It was the one advantage of choosing this location. Being a park, there were plenty of places to sit and rest.
I turned my gaze back to the entrance. A hand-written banner was hanging there.
「Little Friends Café」
The scent of wood combined with the winter sunlight created a scene that was pure peace itself.
We still had no customers, and we hadn’t opened yet…
But once time passed, this place would fill with the aroma of café au lait, bringing happiness to many visitors.
“The booths near the Main Building are pretty cool too, but I think this one’s the coolest.”
“I agree, Master. It’s so much more professional than the last booth.”
“Yeah. We need first place. So I put some effort in.”
“Of course, we absolutely must get first place. Hehehe…”
Rupina wiped her drool with a sly grin.
This time too, I had promised Rupina quite a lot of money.
If we achieved first place in this festival, I could give her about half of her annual salary.
That was Rupina’s goal.
‘Half a year’s salary in just 3 days… anyone would lose their mind over that.’
To achieve that, she would obey me and work desperately.
“But hey, Villed. Didn’t you want to put a ‘V’ in the booth name like last time? It got pretty good reception.”
Karin asked me.
Of course I knew. “V’s Store” had been praised by three food critics. It was even mentioned in Yggdrasil’s newspaper.
‘But the food we’re serving at this festival… objectively speaking, is definitely lower in quality compared to then.’
There was a risk that critics might come with expectations and leave harsh reviews, causing people to avoid our booth.
I thought it wasn’t the right time to use that name.
Once I obtained the livestock shed license, I would greatly expand the farmland. Starting next spring, I would farm on a much larger scale and reopen “V’s Store” using the crops harvested there.
‘So until then, I should hold back.’
Thinking that, I spoke.
“Because there’s a saying: ‘New wine into new wineskins.’”
“Eh? There’s a saying like that?”
“In the world I lived in, yeah. It means you have to throw away the old if you want to start something new. And this time, our booth isn’t fully focused on cooking.”
“Oh… New wine into new wineskins. I guess the high-ranking nobles say stuff like that. Maybe because they like wine?”
Still wearing a puzzled expression, Karin continued.
“Right, our booth this time is super unusual.”
“Yeah, unusual.”
“Hey, Villed…”
Karin looked at me with eyes full of expectation.
I roughly understood.
I took out the ‘core’ of our booth.
I lifted a pink bubble device, blew into it, and with a soft tiooong, a round bubble bloomed.
And before long, it began changing into a certain ‘shape.’
A round, soft, cotton-candy-like fur.
Soon, the bubble became ‘Ramji.’ Not metaphorically—the shape was exactly the same as Ramji.
“Haa, it’s so cute…”
Karin gazed at the Ramji resting on her palm with an enchanted expression.
The spirit creature created with the bubble device didn’t just stay still.
— Kyuu!
It even let out a small cry, its droplet-like eyes sparkling.
“Uwaaah, so cuuute…!”
Karin trembled, her whole body shaking with happiness as she screamed.
“This is unbelievable. A magical device that creates a creature this adorable…!”
Before I knew it, Rupina and Lapin had also become fully focused on this outrageously atrocious cuteness.
‘They’re completely absorbed.’
Their reaction was completely successful.
‘Ramji was always on the cute side, but I didn’t think it would work this well.’
It was only a copy of Ramji made with a device, but its size, color, movements, even its personality were entirely identical to the real Ramji.
The only difference was that, after about five hours, it would completely disappear.
“I want to raise it and keep it forever… It’s going to vanish again in a few hours… I don’t want to say goodbye again… Villed, is there really no way to stop it from disappearing?”
Karin asked me desperately. I let out a small laugh and opened my mouth.
“Partings have to exist for reunions to be sweeter.”
“Yeah, right… I mean, I’m so happy to meet him again right now but…”
Kkyu!
As if happy to see Karin, the copy of Ramji rubbed its face against her thumb. Karin replied, “Yeah! Yeah! Ramji. It’s so good to see you again!” as she gently stroked Ramji’s head.
When her fingertips brushed through its small, soft fur, the duplicate let out a short ‘Kkyu-!’ and leaned in even closer.
Basement Level 1 of the old building.
A place where no sunlight came in, illuminated only by a single small bulb.
There wasn’t even a common table—just stacks of old boxes.
It was the kind of place that made one wonder whether a club could even exist here… yet surprisingly, there were people.
Yes.
The ‘Engineering Department’ was the one occupying it.
If they failed to achieve good results in their club activities, the budget received from the Student Council would be greatly reduced.
Not only that, but they would also be forced to relocate to a tiny underground club room where sunlight couldn’t reach.
Up until about ten years ago, the Engineering Department had at least some standing and was a club with its own traditions.
It wasn’t particularly popular, but there had been eccentric students who preferred machines over magic, so they managed to produce some results.
But each year, the number of club members shrank…
And at some point, talented individuals with remarkable potential stopped joining entirely.
In the end, they produced no results; they were pushed and pushed again, and this year they were finally driven down to the underground room known as the worst clubroom of all.
They were treated with contempt and ignored by everyone, so every member of the Engineering Department was on edge.
…Except for the club president, Esdal, who alone refused to lose hope despite the despair.
They had to produce results.
But to produce results, they needed money.
Yet every year, the Student Council cut their budget further, making proper support impossible.
The vicious cycle continued, and the Engineering Department desperately needed sponsorship funds.
Yes—if a club received little budget, sponsorships were their only ray of light.
Professors, students, employees—anyone could sponsor a club.
The club would then offer gifts or present some outcome in return for that sponsorship.
Surprisingly, even the Engineering Department received a large sponsorship from someone.
…but this one was different from all previous ones.
They didn’t want any item.
They didn’t want any experiment.
They didn’t want results of any kind.
Instead, they demanded something that had absolutely nothing to do with engineering.
“Any means necessary.”
“Near Havertz Park, please obstruct <Little Friends Café>.”
“Make absolutely sure they do not achieve a good result in the sales competition.”
That was what the anonymous sponsor wrote.
It was absurd.
…Why would a sponsor make such a request?
“They’re basically treating us like dogs.”
The students finally spoke up.
The Engineering Department was already ignored and looked down on.
“Well, they’re not wrong.”
A short-haired girl with black hair, sitting on a box—Titania, the vice-president of the Engineering Department.
For a girl, she was quite tall.
“Do any of us have a good reputation? You, me.”
“……”
Everyone fell silent at Titania’s words.
In the end, they became fiends.
If it meant money, they had to do anything.
“Should we tell the president?”
“No.”
Titania shook her head.
“If Esdal finds out, he’ll refuse. That’s why I’ll handle this myself.”
“Are you really going to do it, ma’am?”
“If the Academy finds out, we’ll be facing disciplinary action.”
Interfering with a legally registered booth—obviously there would be consequences.
However—
“What else can we do.”
They were sick of watching President Esdal run around, becoming a laughingstock clown, only to bring in tiny scraps of sponsorship funds.
“I don’t know who sent this, treating us like some cleanup mercenary thugs, but—”
Titania reread the sponsor’s letter.
The receipt enclosed showed a sponsorship of 5,000 gold.
An amount so large, the Engineering Department had never even dreamed of receiving it.
“We’re doing it.”
With this money… they could produce good results next year.
It was not something they could take lightly.
“If they’re giving us money, of course we’ll do it.”
It was simply too large a sum to refuse.