Chapter 146
It didn’t take long before we perfectly finished tidying up the booth.
Rupina took out the ingredients from the box and spoke to me.
“Young master, go to the opening ceremony with your friends. I’ll stay here and rest while keeping watch over the shop.”
It seemed she was being considerate so we, as students, could enjoy the festival even just for a moment.
Since the festival was scheduled to last three days, this was the only time we could afford to catch our breath.
……And so.
I participated in the opening ceremony held at the Main Building.
The surroundings bustled with elaborately decorated booths, excited students, and Academy staff members.
On the altar, receiving the attention of the entire crowd, stood Princess Arlhardt and Chancellor Tot.
“……Dear friends of the Academy, honored guests. Today, I declare the splendid opening of ‘The Final Feast of Snow White’.”
Bang-! Bang-!
Along with the Princess’s congratulatory address, blue mana burst into the sky like fireworks.
As the students’ cheers overlapped with the orchestra’s performance, the festival began.
After the opening ceremony ended, the first booth we visited was the Cooking Experiment Club’s <The Sage’s Table>.
At first glance, it looked ordinary—just a simple tent booth.
“Welcome! You’re our very first customers!”
The voice greeting us was overflowing with energy.
It seemed they hadn’t received much attention yet.
We each walked out with a fruit crepe. Lapin took the first bite.
“……Hup.”
I heard something popping lightly inside her mouth.
When I took a bite, the tiny pearls inside the cream burst together with the fruit, creating an odd sensation.
‘Did they add something like popping candy?’
Unfamiliar, but not bad. It was actually fun to eat.
……Next, we visited the Marine Research Society’s <Feast of the Blue Sea>.
Their signature item was miniature seafood barbecue skewers.
Shrimp, squid, clams—grilled street-food style.
Warm, simple, and decently tasty.
And then next…… the Delicia Department’s <Delicia>. They used their department name as the booth name itself, brimming with pride.
‘……As expected of a strong contender for first place. It’s dazzling.’
My gaze naturally drifted all around.
From the booth’s interior alone, it was on a whole different level.
Polished wooden tables and chairs were arranged neatly. Softly glowing candles and decorative crystals were placed here and there.
At the center stood a counter reminiscent of a miniature restaurant. Behind it, student chefs were visible, cooking on display.
The festival had barely started, yet a long line had already formed outside the booth.
‘Since the booth is already famous, it’s only natural it’d be popular from the beginning.’
Karin and Lapin sat at a nearby table, eating cake and constantly gasping in admiration.
“……It’s good, right, Lapin!”
“Yeah. So fluffy.”
“Right? It tastes like happiness… As expected of the Delicia seniors.”
I took a bite of the fresh-cream cake as well.
“……It definitely tastes different. Maybe because they’re properly trained in cooking.”
At my words, Karin immediately countered.
“Yeah. It’s delicious, but…… the food you make tastes better.”
“Thanks, even if you’re just saying that.”
“Hey, what do you mean ‘just saying that’! I’m being serious.”
“…….”
I silently curled my lips up a little and put down my fork.
Karin’s gaze naturally shifted there. Next to my fork sat a small gift box.
Karin immediately realized what it was.
“Ah, that’s for Rupina, right? You bought one for her too?”
“Yeah. It’ll be good for her to try food from competing booths. It’ll be a good experience.”
“Right. I felt that too. We’ve got to put in even more effort…!”
“Mm……!”
Determination lit up in the eyes of both Lapin and Karin.
……After that, we looked around the booths near the Main Building and returned to <Little Friends Café>.
“Ah, young master. You’re back?”
Rupina was still sorting ingredients.
I handed her the food we bought from the Cooking Experiment Club, Marine Research Society, and Delicia Department.
“You’re giving these to me?”
“Yeah. They’re from booths that might be competitors.”
Rupina tried the food I gave her.
“……It’s good.”
“How does it compare to the food you make?”
“Mm.”
Rupina let out a thoughtful hum.
“The ingredients we’re using for this festival are fairly good, but they’re a bit inferior to the ones we used last festival. Still…”
After taking another bite of the dish made with my recipe, she spoke in a confident tone.
“Even considering that, isn’t our food better?”
Rupina didn’t even blink. Her tone implied it was the most obvious fact in the world.
“You’re full of confidence.”
“Huh? Did that sound like narcissism?”
“No, I feel the same way as you do. We should believe we’re the best.”
“You’re right, young master. We have to win first place, after all. Hehe…….”
Rupina let out a mischievous smile.
I rummaged through a box in the corner of the booth.
“……Then, I’ll go promote.”
I pulled out a signboard.
Originally, I wanted to push all promotional duties onto Lapin…… but I had no choice.
This was something only I could do.
‘Huff……! Why won’t it work? Lapin, you try!’
‘Fwoo.’
‘Ah, it still won’t work…… Villed, you try. Ah! Wow……! It’s so cute! How come it works for you?’
Yesterday, Karin and Lapin had tried blowing into the magic tool that duplicated familiars, but all that came out were soap bubbles. None of them transformed into familiars.
But when I blew into it, Ramji was duplicated just like that.
‘Is it because it only listens to its master? You’re lucky, Villed…….’
They had looked at me with strangely envious eyes.
I didn’t know exactly why Karin and Lapin couldn’t use the device, but……
It seemed that because it was a magic tool belonging to <✿Animal✿Farm✿>, I was the only one who could operate it. In the end, I had to handle the promotion.
‘Well, even if I promote, some people might get scared just looking at my face.’
I knew my reputation wasn’t good. Some customers would likely avoid the booth if they saw me.
’Then I should wear this again this time.‘
I took something soft out of my pocket.
It was the horse-head mask I had used during the previous Victory Festival.
I had clearly felt it at the last festival. When I wore this, the number of people who recognized me dropped drastically.
That way, my presence wouldn’t negatively affect the <Little Friends Café>.
It was a bit suffocating, but it couldn’t be helped.
If I didn’t want my identity revealed, I had no choice but to live uncomfortably for the next three days……
I arrived at the Main Building.
“Hello! Please come watch the play prepared by our Millennium Theater Club!”
“How about a warm café au lait brewed by a Level 1 Barista!”
The surroundings bustled with students promoting their own booths.
‘This should be a good spot.’
I settled myself among them, then took a pink bubble-blowing device from my pocket.
If I blew a bubble at maximum size, it maintained shape for roughly five hours.
‘I wondered if blowing it smaller would shrink the creature, but that wasn’t the case.’
Even if I made the bubble small, the size of the spirit beast didn’t change.
But there was definitely a difference.
‘The duration changed.’
I had tried blowing it as small as possible. Ramji created that way lasted only for a very short time.
‘I hope this is enough to promote the booth.’
I blew into the device and placed a small bubble on my palm.
Soon it transformed into the shape of Ramji……
Ggyuu?
Ramji on my palm yawned at me as if it had just woken up.
“What is that? A squirrel?”
“So cute!”
The area instantly stirred.
Students rushed in.
‘This is why visual effects are better than fancy talking when it comes to promotion.’
And thanks to the horse-head mask, no one knew who I was.
“An animal made with a magic tool?”
“They’re giving one away if you buy food?”
“They’re giving away such an adorable animal! It must be limited edition! I need to go right now!”
The onlookers alternated glances between Ramji and the sign I was holding, then looked at their maps and began walking toward my booth.
‘Even if you call it an adoption…… it’s very different from a normal animal.’
The clone Ramji I created had no ego or consciousness.
It simply ‘imitated’ the behavior pattern and tendencies of the original spirit beast.
Simply put, it was nothing more than a temporary afterimage that mimicked the outer shell.
If it were otherwise—if it had an ego—I would never have used it for something like this.
“……My goodness! How can V’s booth not exist!?”
A shrill voice pierced my ears from somewhere.
Turning my head toward the sound, I saw a blond man and an elderly man in a black suit.
Judging by their appearance, they looked like a noble and his servant.
The blond man’s hair was neatly rolled up at the sides, curled beside his ears.
A hairstyle reminiscent of medieval European nobility.
“V! Is V truly nowhere to be found!?”
“Master, I just inquired with the event committee, but they said V is not on the list.”
“My goodness! Why does the Goddess give me such trials! I have longed every day to meet V again!”
“But Master, this Academy does have the ‘Delicia’, which has produced many Imperial Chefs.”
“No! If it is not V, my tongue cannot be satisfied! I have been cursed since that day!”
The man clutched his head with a despairing expression.
“Even the 7-star Imperial Chef Cherrelang’s cake tastes like cursed sponge to me now! Only V can satisfy me! And yet V dares vanish!?”
It was as if he were performing in a play. Like a protagonist of a tragedy.
It wasn’t hard to recognize who he was.
‘So that’s him……’
One of the Three Great Gourmet Critics, Sermondier Jetetchi.
He was the one who had once lavished praise on my booth.
‘I didn’t expect him to wait for my booth this much.’
Well, nothing I could do.
Right now I lacked the ingredients to make something that would satisfy Jetetchi.
……No, technically I could gather the ingredients and make it.
But I couldn’t serve the same dish I had served Jetetchi to the customers flocking here after reading his review.
In the end, I wouldn’t be able to meet their expectations, and that would worsen the shop’s reputation instead.
‘Right. I’ll hope for next year.’
……Thinking that, I looked at Jetetchi. At some point, Jetetchi was also looking at me.
Ggyu-?
He was clearly staring at Ramji playing on my palm.
When I gently stroked Ramji’s head, Ramji climbed up my arm to my shoulder and rubbed its face against mine.
Seeing that, Jetetchi flinched and approached.
“What is this? What an adorable little creature.”
He leaned in close to Ramji’s face.
In front of the Academy’s Main Building. The outdoor seating of the <Delicia> booth.
Hilda sat there alone.
……Well, that’s how she must have looked to others.
But in Hilda’s eyes, there was one more person sitting with her.
“My lady, isn’t it truly beautiful even when I look at it again?”
A fairy with black butterfly wings sat on Hilda’s shoulder.
It was the size of a fist, with long hair. Its appearance was neutral—its gender impossible to determine.
Its attire resembled that of a priest from myth, but overall dyed in black.
The fairy’s gaze was fixed on something.
Its eyes landed on…… the trophy displayed below the statue of the Great Sage Gilley in front of the Main Building—the first-place prize of the Sales Competition.
More precisely, the ‘jewel’ embedded in the trophy.
“The red jewel my lady donated…… It is one of the most valuable items in this world. After all…… it was a gift from ‘Him’ to you.”
The fairy asked Hilda in a probing tone.
“But…… I’m curious. Why did my lady donate such a precious memory merely as the prize for an Academy competition?”
At the fairy’s question, Hilda took a sip of coffee, then slowly set the cup down.
Then she gently stroked the fairy’s head.
“That’s right, Razli. My child. That jewel was extremely precious to me. It stayed by my side for a very, very long time. I thought I would keep it for life—until the day I died…….”
Hilda stared down at the cup for a moment as if reminiscing.
“But I decided to let it go.”
A faint smile touched her lips, as if recalling a distant memory.
“I wanted to see whom that jewel would choose.”
Affection lingered in her voice, as though she were finally revealing something long kept inside.
“My lady has changed a great deal over the long years, but your essence remains the same. Even after all that despair, you still hope for miracles.”
“Oh my, is that how I look to you, Razli?”
“Yes. Listening to you now, I think I understand your intention, my lady.”
Razli left Hilda’s shoulder, fluttered its wings, and faced her directly.
“Still, Razli sincerely supports you, my lady. I hope everything turns out the way you wish.”
“…….”
Hilda simply looked at Razli and smiled softly without saying a word.