Chapter 140
“Alright, let’s start preparing for the academic festival.”
In the clubroom, all the members except the Hailers siblings had gathered. The two of them had stepped out briefly after being summoned by the Royal Family.
“All clubs have to do something during the festival—you all know that. Last year we didn’t do well, so we barely even got anything that could be called a prize. But this year will be different!”
Xenon slammed his hand on the desk, his eyes blazing.
“This time, we’re taking sole first place among all clubs!”
“Aja, aja!” Xenon shouted encouragement, while Mie asked from behind him,
“Do they rank everyone?”
“Y-yeah. Popularity, sales, votes—everything gets totaled up, a-and each club gets scored.”
“And if you take first place here, there’s an incredible reward waiting.”
“What is it?” Becky asked.
Xenon let out a sinister chuckle and looked down at the clueless first-years.
“A one-year increase to the club budget! And… an overnight stay permit!”
“O-overnight…!”
“Holy crap, that’s insane. An overnight stay?”
“And not just that—it’s a one-night, two-day permit you can even use on weekdays!”
Everyone’s eyes widened as excited shouts erupted. Only now did they understand why Xenon had been so fired up.
“An overnight stay! A sweet day where you can officially skip classes!”
“We’re absolutely holding onto first place!”
Everyone straightened up, their previously sluggish bodies now brimming with enthusiasm.
“Alright, then let’s talk about what we’ll do for the festival.”
“Senior, you said we didn’t do well last year—what did you do back then?”
Only Asta and Xenon had been members last year. The two exchanged glances, then spoke awkwardly.
“An astrology research group.”
“…Huh?”
A strange sound escaped Mie’s mouth.
“At the time we only had four members, and we couldn’t come up with any good ideas, so we held an astrology research session based on Asta’s suggestion, but…”
“In two whole days, we only had e-eight visitors…”
Asta covered her reddened face with both hands in embarrassment.
Considering that hundreds—no, thousands—of visitors would normally come, only eight in two days was…
“That’s impressive in a different way,” Becky muttered.
Selina silently agreed.
“Ahem. Anyway, that’s why we have to make up for last year. You all know our club is considered a top contender this time, right?”
“That’s probably thanks to the Witch’s House.”
“Exactly! This week’s reservations are already fully booked. I’m sure crowds will flock in during the festival too.”
“Still, since it’s a festival that only happens once a year, how about doing something a little different?”
Everyone began exchanging ideas.
Some suggested decorating it properly like a real astrology house. Others raised the reasonable concern that it would be difficult for ordinary people to climb up to the attic.
As opinions flew back and forth, Selina cautiously raised her hand.
“Um… wouldn’t that mean I’d have way more work to do?”
The room fell silent in an instant. If fortune-telling remained the main attraction, Selina would have no choice but to deal with customers all day long.
Others could rotate shifts, but Selina had no replacement.
“…It’d be bad if you collapsed again like last time.”
“And Selina wouldn’t get to enjoy the festival.”
Faced with this unexpected problem, everyone groaned. As sighs rose from all around, Selina let out a small laugh.
“I want to enjoy the festival too, so I think it’d be good to have scheduled breaks. And we should clearly set opening and closing times.”
“Of course—your opinion comes first.”
“But if there’s no one doing fortune-telling while I’m resting, people won’t gather… so how about Asta-senpai handling fortune-telling during those times?”
“M-me?” Asta exclaimed, pointing at herself.
“Yes. You’ve already learned all the basics. If you polish your skills just a bit more, you’ll be able to handle customers. I can guarantee that.”
As praise poured in, Asta’s cheeks flushed. But soon she grew uneasy, fidgeting with her fingers.
“B-but… can I really deal with customers? I-I still stutter like this… and what if they complain because they don’t like it?”
“I’m not asking you to do deep readings like mine. I was thinking of something simple, like a five-minute fortune.”
“A fortune…?”
“Yes. Things like this month’s luck—you can do that, right?”
“Y-yeah, that much I c-can do.”
“While I’m resting, you’ll sit in my place and do simple readings. Kind of like a casual activity. Of course, we’ll charge less than my readings. If we announce it clearly on flyers, people won’t get confused. What do you think?”
“Oh? That’s not bad.”
“People who might feel intimidated could approach more easily. It actually sounds like a good idea.”
Positive reactions burst out. Asta seemed happy to be entrusted with an important role, yet at the same time, the attention made her visibly nervous.
“Senpai, one real experience is worth more than studying ten times. I’m sure this opportunity will help you take another step forward in astrology. I’ll teach you diligently during the remaining time.”
When Selina grasped her hand and spoke seriously, Asta’s wavering gaze steadied. She pressed her lips together, then nodded.
“Okay! Leave it to me!”
“Huh? Senpai, you didn’t stutter just now.”
“Senpai, we’ll help wholeheartedly too. Let’s work hard together!”
“T-thank you! L-let’s do our best!”
Thanks to Selina’s proposal, the outline of their festival plan finally began to take shape.
The members discussed how to attract visitors and what hours to operate.
Just like at the start of the first semester, when they first created the Witch’s House, everyone was giving it their all.
“We’re here.”
In the middle of the meeting, Silvia and Sylvester entered late. Both looked a bit tired as they took the remaining seats.
“You’re pretty late. Was there a lot to do with the Royal Family?”
“Yeah. Our club ended up in charge of various overall responsibilities, so the meeting ran long.”
Sylvester pulled the snacks in the center closer and replenished his energy.
“What did you talk about while we were gone?”
“We were discussing what to do for the festival. So far, we’ve talked about…”
Xenon neatly summarized and explained everything they had discussed.
“So? Sounds fun, right?”
“It does… but then we’ll need manpower, won’t we?”
“With just our members, it should be enough.”
As Xenon spoke confidently, Silvia and Sylvester exchanged glances.
“Um, senpai…”
“Yeah?”
“I’m sorry, but we won’t be able to help then.”
A brief silence fell. They were already short on people—losing two more was an unexpected blow.
“You know how the Royal Family was assigned overall responsibility for the festival? Since most of the student council executives are Royal Family members, we naturally ended up handling student council duties too…”
“They said every member has to oversee the entire festival. Even if we wanted to skip, they wouldn’t allow it…”
Asta and Xenon recalled last year.
“T-true, the Royal Family always takes on that k-kind of heavy responsibility.”
“Damn it! I completely forgot! How could I forget something this important!”
As they said, every year the Royal Family didn’t participate directly but took charge of the whole festival.
Silvia and Sylvester drooped.
“Sorry we can’t help.”
“I really wanted to do this… but overall responsibility means a ton of work.”
Just thinking about it seemed unpleasant, as Sylvester shuddered and ruffled his hair.
“Not one, but two people gone… we’ll have to redo the plan from scratch.”
“It’s fine. The most important ones are me and Asta-senpai anyway. It won’t be too hard. We just need a bit of help decorating the clubroom…”
“Of course we can help with that!”
“Right, we’ll only be busy on the festival day itself.”
Silvia and Sylvester waved their hands, telling them not to worry.
Then Silvia suddenly looked around the room. She even stood up and peeked into the hallway, making everyone tilt their heads.
“What’s wrong?”
“Well… we’re doing it in this clubroom during the festival too, right?”
“Of course.”
“Hmm…”
After a moment of thought, Silvia finally spoke.
“Isn’t this place a bit hard to access?”
“Access?”
“Yeah. It’s in the West Building, the farthest from the entrance, on the fifth floor—and once you get to the fifth floor, you still have to climb up to the attic.”
Following her finger toward the attic, they understood what she meant.
“Students are always moving around campus, so it’s fine for them, but…”
“Outsiders probably won’t bother coming all the way here.”
“That’s exactly what I mean!”
It was an excellent point. As she said, outsiders already had plenty to enjoy and wouldn’t go out of their way to come here, while students would be busy participating in or enjoying the festival elsewhere.
They nearly ruined the festival without realizing it.
“Then what should we do? Find another classroom?”
“But where? Securing a classroom won’t be easy, and even if we do, moving all our stuff would be tough.”
Just as everyone started agonizing again, Sylvester spoke casually.
“Do we really have to do it in a classroom?”
“Huh?”
“Let’s do it in a tent instead. Most people set up tents along the roads to sell things, right? Why can’t we do that too?”
Everyone stared at Sylvester in silence—then jumped up, shouting in unison.
“That’s it!”
“Sylvester, you jerk! You’re a genius at times like this!”
“With a tent, there’s less to decorate, and we don’t have to move everything!”
“If we decorate it well, it’ll definitely look amazing!”
“Nice one, Sylvester.”
Selina gave a thumbs-up and smiled. Sylvester sniffed proudly, then grinned sheepishly.
“A tent…”
Suddenly, Selina recalled Stella running a stall in a tent before Secret Moonlight began.
A small, round tent with a pointed top.
Ideas came flooding in.
“Alright! Then it’s roughly decided. Let’s rework the plan and set the budget in advance. If we don’t order soon, we’ll fall behind others and the items will arrive late.”
The members regrouped with renewed determination and began full-scale preparations for the academic festival.
As they chatted noisily, every face was bright with excitement.
Luna smiled along with Selina’s wide grin—but soon her expression stiffened, and she turned her head away.
As the festival drew closer, that day was approaching as well.
This time, I have to return everything to how it was.
No one knew of Luna’s resolve.
Not even Nox, who was watching her from right beside her.
