29 – Was There a Festival?
Inside the dimly lit cave, a woman flips through documents beyond the swaying torchlight.
Palak―Palak―
Languid gaze. A seemingly annoyed gesture. Even the tapping of her foot feels nonchalant.
To an observer unaware of the situation, it might seem like a stunning beauty engrossed in her work.
“Sigh… what a disappointment. All of you. Is this it? Not a single piece of useful information.”
Yes, she is indeed engrossed in her work. A stunning beauty, too. But beyond that, if one were to witness the hellish tableau spread out behind her.
If one were to see the scattered corpses behind the woman, the immediate thought would be to abandon such assumptions.
“This is fake. That’s fake too. This one seems somewhat real, but in reality, it holds little valuable information.”
Having examined everything on paper, Eloise, having gathered information from the Imperial Special Forces, lets out a long sigh.
She has been relentlessly on the move for days based on the information obtained from the Imperial Special Forces.
As a result, she discovered several hideouts of the Rouge’s individuals related to the recent Imperial terror.
Now that she found them, there’s only one thing left to do. Operation ‘Annihilation,’ as befitting the unit’s name.
But even if they handle them well, they were merely at an intermediate stage. There was no one that could be called the mastermind. No clue that could be identified as the headquarters.
It felt like pulling weeds but not getting rid of the roots, if you will.
Sighing once again, Eloise rises from her seat.
Her bare feet gleam conspicuously white. She was barefoot.
Originally, she wore sandals, but they got detached during the resistance process.
That was the end of it. The casualties suffered while raiding the seven bases were all there was to it.
Moving slowly, she, with her white toes, stabs one of the corpses.
“Well, I expected as much. The captured individuals were nothing more than lower-tier members. Finding the exact leaders of the organization is rather tricky. They won’t treat such important figures as disposable pawns, after all.”
Yet, Eloise had a simple reason for personally taking the field.
Because orders came from above. It’s a bother, and she might die of annoyance, but what can she do? If they say scratch, you scratch.
“Hurry up, find a man, get pregnant, and retire for childcare, that would be the best, right?”
And since she’s at it, might as well. Rather than an elf with a narrow mind and full of pride, a human man seems much better.
While absentmindedly scratching her flawless belly, Eloise got lost in her thoughts.
“In the end, we couldn’t catch a single leader, but… it’s not like there was no harvest at all.”
Despite thorough searching, not a single head of the supposed mastermind came out.
They were all intermediate-level individuals, moving under orders from above.
In the elven territory, despite having searched every possible place for the remnants of the Rosenz Syndicate, they were nowhere to be found!
Not to boast, but the reconnaissance abilities of the Annihilation Unit, to which he belonged, were exceptionally outstanding.
Yet, here he was, along with his unit, thoroughly scouring the area, and still no sign of them?
The only conclusion to be drawn was this.
“Are your heads… not very common in our lands?”
A seductive smile blossomed on Eloise’s lips.
It seemed like another visit to the Empire was in order.
*
“A festival?”
What in the world was that sound of knocking on the door while he was half-asleep?
“Hey. Kal. Didn’t you know?”
“Hey, Shulipen. You’re stating the obvious again. Kal obviously wouldn’t know. After all, Kal hasn’t been at the academy all this time. Are you really suffering from youthful dementia, Kal?”
“Oh, right. My bad, Kal. You’ve never seen the academy festival in autumn.”
“….”
Damn bastards… Don’t hit me with facts like that….
Making fun of him for joining the military a month after entering the academy, now?
“There’s a festival held at the academy every autumn.”
“From first years to fourth years. It’s a day enjoyed by all academy professors and officials.”
“The duration is short, maybe 2 nights and 3 days if it’s brief, and up to 4 nights and 5 days if it’s longer.”
“For the past few years, we couldn’t make it as grand as before because of the Rosenz War. Even if it was long, it was only two days. There’s a war going on in the south, so it couldn’t be too carefree.”
“…But now that the war is over, this festival is going to be huge again, right?”
To my question, the four nodded vigorously.
A festival. The academy’s autumn festival. Nice. It’s a good thing.
Even recalling my past life, festivals bring back relatively pleasant memories, don’t they?
Since the academy functions as a university here, it would be odd if there were none.
However, there’s one problem here.
“Hey. You guys.”
“Hmm?”
“Why, Kal?”
“I’m a first-year, so it’s fine for me to enjoy the festival. But you guys, in the graduating class, shouldn’t you be working on graduation assignments even during the festival? Surely you’re not thinking of just having fun because of the festival, right?”
“They say your graduation might be postponed. But isn’t it too nonchalant?
If it were me, I’d be clenching my teeth, saying, ‘Absolutely no postponement!’
…Ah, damn. Suddenly, I’m reminded of a nightmare from the military training camp.
During the shooting practice, I couldn’t hit a single shot, and the instructor was really furious.
“You fools are just scattering valuable gunpowder and bullets into thin air.”
I get it. I really get it. The cost of gunpowder is no joke; I knew that too.
But damn it! What do I do if it doesn’t hit? I’m sure I aimed properly, right?
Instructor! I really did it properly, and the target sheet was clean, I almost went crazy!
“Knife trainee!! Are you kidding me right now?! Why are there more bullet holes in the target sheet next to yours?”
“I’m sorryyyyy!”
“Is it reasonable not to hit a single shot?! You won’t complete basic training until you pass the shooting practice! Be prepared for a postponement!!”
Even now, I don’t really know how I got through the shooting practice.
Was it me who shot? Or was it a fellow trainee from the adjacent lane who helped?
…Come to think of it, the guys on both sides, it seems like they missed a few shots more than usual?
“Hey. Karl. How do you see us? We’re doing well on our graduation projects, and our exam scores aren’t bad.”
“That’s right. We’re all in the top tier, Karl.”
“But even if there’s a possibility of a graduation postponement. What’s up with that?”
“It’s just because our lecture scores are lacking.”
“In other words, even if we study during the festival period, it won’t make much of a difference.”
I’ve never been too concerned about others because my life is too hectic and challenging.
‘Instead of worrying about others, worry about yourself.’ That was the motif of my past life.
But right at this moment, I’m worried about the future of the two principalities and the Empire.
That guy, too, isn’t exactly normal, but… at least I’m not crazy like he is, right?
On the contrary, those guys are all heirs. Heirs of the family. Future heads of the family!
And those guys are in that state. Princes… Imperial Princes…! What is going on!!
“So, you know, Karl. We actually have plans for this time.”
“Don’t. Please. Just don’t do anything and quietly stick to the library. That’s the graduation vibe.”
“Hahaha! It’s already too late! We’ve even applied for the area, and the tents are all set!”
Why are they only good at executing plans? Don’t they ever think before doing things…!
“Hehehe… So, what is it that you want to do?”
“It’s nothing. What we’re thinking of is this!”
What they handed me was nothing other than a few cooking books.
“Well, are you trying to set up a cooking booth?”
“That’s right. A heartfelt meal prepared by seniors for their juniors as a last gift! How about it, Karl? Doesn’t just hearing the name make your heart warm?”
My head was spinning, and the moment I ate it, a fatal disease, ‘graduation delay,’ seemed imminent.
Smirking, Joahim took the cookbook they offered. Then he roughly glanced at the contents.
“Wait a minute. Can you guys… really make all of this?”
“We’ve practiced a few times already. Don’t worry.”
“No, damn it. It’s not about practice. Can you make it at a level that people can actually eat?”
The cookbook they handed me wasn’t just a collection of snack recipes. It was practically a full-course meal. Something you’d only get at a luxurious restaurant.
I tried to understand at first. Yeah, they were always the ones eating delicious things. Not nobles or recognized aristocrats from the empire, but the prestigious Marquis family, the imperial white nobility.
But doing such nonsense in a spirited place like a festival was really unnecessary. It was absurd.
“…Dammit! You crazy bastards! Do you even have a brain!? Renting a tent to do temporary business, and what? Are you going to make luxury dishes?”
“Ugh! Why, why! Karl! We need to do this much…”
“If we do that much, can you guys handle it?! You’ve only practiced cooking a few times, and when the hell are you going to make what’s in that cookbook?”
Were these guys really the ones who experienced the academy’s autumn festival three years before me? Is there some rule about running such booths at the academy festival that I don’t know about?
Unable to endure any longer, I went straight to meet Senior Marcus.
He was making strange excuses about being busy with assistant duties and the graduate students being too sad. Although he was a senior who made strange remarks, he soon sighed in response to my question and held his forehead.
“Karl.”
“Yes, Senior.”
“Go and talk some sense into those guys.”
“I was planning to do that anyway. If it doesn’t work, I’ll knock them all out and hang them on the laundry line on the festival day to dry them thoroughly.”
“Don’t go that far.”
The next day, I grabbed the four guys and entered into urgent discussions.
“…Got it? Cancel the luxury dishes. The turnover rate is ridiculous, and the ingredients, preparation time, and labor costs… this is too much, anyway.”
“Karl. It’s not necessarily about making money; do we really need to be so strict about it?”
“It’s not because of money, Alexander.”
It’s for you, my juniors, and for the sake of my reputation.
I don’t want to hear rumors that my juniors look fine on the outside but are messed up inside.
And then, I might end up with such evaluations too!
“Anyway, you’ve decided on the items to sell during the festival.”
“We’re selling something?”
He hands them a hastily scribbled guidebook he worked on for about an hour.
The four of them, engrossed in flipping through it, soon exchange amused glances.
“What is this, Karl? It’s a fish, but why use flour?”
“And what’s this round thing? Is it filled with… sugar? Is that all we need?”
“Does it have to start only after dinner? Oh, does it mean to enjoy the festival until then, Karl?”
Some grumbling about why it starts in the evening, whether it will attract attention, and so on.
‘Honestly, I don’t know. I’m not interested. Whether your food booth succeeds or not, it’s just something I’m doing to satisfy my own desires.’
From Noble mtl dot com
During my military service, I remember how cold it was in winter. I thought I was going to die.
Every time, the memories of fish-shaped buns and hotteok from a past life became so vivid that I thought I was dying.
‘So, you guys make it. I’ll eat.’
Recently, because of those things, I’ve suffered a lot, so it should be okay to indulge legally! Damn it!