novelraw Chapter 608: Episode 608
Chapter 608: Episode 608
The Dark Festival.
It was one of Kizen’s largest events, held only once every five years. It was essentially a public sports festival, during which the entire Roc Island was opened to civilians and the students’ achievements were showcased to the continent.
The event’s history was as long as Kizen’s own. It originated during the transitional period when the age of knights was giving way to the age of necromancers. Back then, the act of ’opening one’s core’ was often depicted as selling one’s soul to a demon, and necromancers were widely perceived as a cursed clan who had dabbled in forbidden magic.
Parents were deeply concerned for the children they had enrolled in Kizen.
In response, Nephthys decided to broadcast a sports festival, showing her students competing, to the entire continent. The sight was a profound shock to the public. The festival, filled with the students’ sweat and passion, helped instill the idea that necromancers weren’t dangerous monsters, but people just like everyone else. Contrary to rumors that opening a core shortened one’s life, the students were healthier and more vibrant than ever.
Above all, the image of students becoming overwhelmingly powerful after just a few years of necromancer training was deeply imprinted in the minds of the people. Only then did the proud nobles begin, one by one, to send their children to study at Kizen.
The Dark Festival’s propaganda effect was remarkable, and Kizen had held the event every five years since. It was originally scheduled to take place last year, but...
"As you all know, the whole ’Saintess incident’ happened last year, right?" Dick explained from the front of the room, shrugging. "The school switched to a quasi-wartime curriculum, and all events were either canceled or postponed."
Kamibarez’s eyes sparkled. "So you’re saying the postponed festival is happening this year!"
Simon touched his fingertips to his forehead. "And of all times, it had to be while we’re the Student Council..."
"This is actually a good thing!" Meirin shot up from her seat and rolled up her sleeves. "This is our chance to show the entire continent what the 330th Student Council is made of! If we pull this off, we’ll not only gain honor, but we might even solidify our positions for when Aizel returns!"
Dick let out a snide laugh. "Isn’t that a bit of a pipe dream, Vice President?"
"And I suppose you haven’t considered how much nerve ’you’ve’ got, running your mouth like that?"
As Meirin cracked her knuckles, Dick quickly turned his head and pretended to whistle.
"Alright." Simon clasped his hands together. "It’s a bit daunting, but it’s an honor. Since we’ve been entrusted with such a heavy responsibility, let’s do our best."
Everyone nodded vigorously. Dick sat down, and Meirin strode to the front, her light-blue hair fluttering.
"I’ve already studied up on the Dark Festival. I’ll just briefly go over the major points." She pinned a series of photos to the chalkboard, all taken by the Newspaper Club at the last festival.
’This looks like fun!’
Having never attended any school besides Kizen, the concept of a sports festival was entirely new to Simon. In the photos, students were rolling in the mud and falling into the water, but they all had their arms slung around each other’s shoulders, their faces split by wide, bright smiles.
They all looked promising. Kamibarez, seated beside him, seemed to share his thoughts, her small bat wings fluttering behind her.
"The Dark Festival lasts for four nights and five days," Meirin began cheerfully. "Roc Island will be opened to the public, and the students will compete in a school-wide athletic competition across the entire island. There will be a total of fifteen venues and over fifty events! Spectators can check the pamphlets and await the events at the venue of their choice. Of course, it wouldn’t be Kizen without some competition, would it?"
She slapped a paper bearing the department emblems onto the center of the chalkboard.
"The Dark Festival is an inter-departmental competition."
"Oh..."
The seven departments would compete fiercely, with the second and third years forming a single team. The department with the highest total score would be named ’Outstanding Department of the Year’ and receive a massive grant. This money could be used to fix any departmental inconveniences or add new facilities. And naturally, the quality of the after-party on the last day would be in another league entirely. There was a reason the departments that consistently won the Dark Festival became so wealthy.
"Hehehe, and we can’t forget about grades, can we?" Dick chimed in. "Actually, each event in the Dark Festival comes with performance evaluation points! It’s directly tied to your individual grades."
He thrust a finger toward Simon.
"I gave up on my grades a long time ago, but Simon, if you’re aiming to be the top student in your second year just like you were in your first, you’d better be prepared to fight for every point in this Dark Festival."
"R-Really?" A wave of pressure suddenly washed over him.
"Of course! In our first year, they ranked everyone and weeded out the stragglers through all sorts of group competitions like the Island Survival Evaluation and the BMAT, right?"
"Right."
"In the second year, we focus more on our studies, so there are fewer school-wide group competitions. That’s why the Dark Festival is weighted so heavily."
In other words, if his overall rank plummeted during the Dark Festival, it would be incredibly difficult to recover later.
"Ugh, you idiots! Is that what’s important right now?" Meirin slapped the chalkboard, making Simon and Dick flinch and look her way. "We’re here as members of the student council! Worry about your grades later. For now, we need to figure out how to host this event properly!"
"Sorry, you’re right," Dick conceded.
Meirin continued her explanation. Since the Dark Festival was such a large-scale event, it wouldn’t be left entirely to the four-person student council. Kizen itself had launched a ’Dark Festival Committee’—composed of headquarters staff, professors, elders, and experts from various fields—to plan and organize the event.
"For your information, the committee chairperson is Professor Jane. She said to let her know if we have any suggestions."
Kamibarez clapped her hands together. "If Professor Jane is helping, then we have nothing to worry about!"
"Aww, what? I was nervous for nothing," Dick joked. "Kizen headquarters is involved, and there’s a Dark Festival Committee, too. There won’t be much for us to do, right? We can just kick back and relax..."
A sharp rap came from the door. Meirin answered with a cheerful, "Yes!" and skipped over.
The door opened to reveal Mojo, the leader of the student council’s direct subordinates, followed by other members carrying stacks of documents that reached their heads.
One after another, they dropped the stacks onto the table with a series of heavy ’thuds’. Soon, mountains of paper were piled high before them. The expressions on the faces of Simon, Dick, and Kamibarez froze. Meirin, however, turned to Dick with a sweet smile.
"Care to repeat that, commoner?"
"Sorry... My big mouth gets me in trouble."
Meirin let out a triumphant chuckle and returned to the chalkboard. "The Dark Festival is strictly a ’students’ festival,’ so our student council has a big role to play. Let’s work closely with the committee and proceed step-by-step!"
Just then, Simon raised his hand.
"Yes! Mr. President. Do you have a question?"
"Don’t tell me we have to decide the athletic events, too?"
Meirin shook her head. "That would be a disaster. Kizen headquarters handles the events and rules exclusively. Because while it’s an athletic competition, it’s also an ’exam’ with grades on the line."
Once grades were involved, it became an inviolable domain that students could never touch. Simon agreed it was only right for headquarters to handle it fairly to avoid any complaints.
’That’s a relief. I can just focus on hosting the event,’ he thought.
As Simon breathed a sigh of relief, Kamibarez raised her hand this time.
"Yes! Our secretary!" Meirin pointed to her, her voice full of affection.
"You said the Dark Festival is open to the public!"
"Mhm."
"Wouldn’t that be a serious security problem? What if unsavory people get in and the students are put in danger...?"
Meirin closed one eye as if deep in thought. "You’re right. The purpose of the Dark Festival is to introduce Kizen to as many people as possible, so the identity checks are a bit more lenient than at other events. Of course, headquarters will strengthen their defenses accordingly, so don’t worry too much."
Just as she finished speaking, the minions brought in their meals.
"Food’s here!" Dick cheered.
The members had been planning to go get sandwiches, but Mojo had anticipated this and thoughtfully prepared a meal for them.
"Chicken salad!"
"It looks delicious!" Kamibarez exclaimed.
"Let’s eat first!" Meirin declared.
---
The four of them decided to fill their hungry stomachs first. They paused the meeting and tucked into their lunch with gusto.
"Oh! And about the security issue Kamibarez mentioned earlier," Meirin said while taking a delicious bite of salad. "According to the records, the Dark Festival has been held for three hundred years, and there has never once been a major incident! Doesn’t that just show how well headquarters is doing its job?"
"Either that or—" Dick gripped his fork and waved it around, "—incidents happened, and HQ just covered them up."
"Don’t say such unlucky things! You conspiracy theorist!" Meirin shot back.
Dick shook his head. "It’s not a conspiracy. It just means we can’t be complacent and rely solely on headquarters. The student council needs to establish its own countermeasures."
"What kind of countermeasures?" Simon asked, taking a bite of his baguette.
As if he had been waiting for that very question, Dick sat up straight. "Let’s organize a school patrol!"
They couldn’t just trust Kizen headquarters, he argued. They should create a new organization under the student council’s authority to manage the event and control the civilians and students.
"We can just pull a little from the Dark Festival budget. Of course, there’s no pay. It’ll be part of their volunteer activities."
"Then who’s going to do it, you moron!" Meirin flared up.
"There are ways." Dick pointed to the student council armband on his right arm. "We’ll make special armbands for the school patrol! It’s human psychology. When you give them the power to manage other kids, plus an armband, it makes their shoulders puff out! You’d be surprised how many people want to do this kind of thing! And it gives them something to write on their resume, right? ’Formerly of the Kizen School Patrol."
Meirin looked at him as if to ask why they would go to such lengths, but Simon thought that having even a few more people for security wouldn’t be a bad thing.
"But my real intention starts now!" Dick leaned his head forward and spoke to the members in a secretive voice. "Even after the Dark Festival ends, we’ll quietly maintain the school patrol with the remaining club budget funds. Then, when some issue comes up, we quietly promote it to an official club behind the scenes. Then it becomes a powerful pawn that protects the power of our student council..."
"Let’s prepare to disband it without any lingering attachment after the event," Simon said flatly.
Not a chance. Dick licked his lips with a disappointed expression.
"Any other ideas?" Meirin asked.
"Me! Me!" Dick raised his hand again.
Meirin’s face scrunched up. "Pace your bullshit, will you?"
"Ah, this time it’s a truly perfect idea! Come closer!" Dick waved his arms with an exaggerated gesture, beckoning them closer. Kamibarez approached with a smile, and Simon tilted his head. Meirin, with a displeased look, reluctantly leaned in.
Dick spoke with an extremely serious face. "For the Dark Festival’s celebratory performance, let’s have a duet stage with ’Sayweer’ and ’Cat Mask."
"Die, you crazy bastard!" Meirin’s face turned bright red as her flying side kick connected with Dick’s face.
"I love it!" Kamibarez clapped her hands.
"Not a bad idea," Simon mused, stroking his chin in agreement.
"Why are you guys going along with it?!" Meirin shrieked, her face flushed.
---
The student council meeting didn’t end until late in the evening. There was so much work to do that it was impossible to sort it all out in a single day. It seemed they would have to come in and work at the student council room all weekend for the time being.
Simon dropped off Meirin and Kamibarez, then returned to the Summoning Department dormitory building on his golem board.
When he arrived, however, something was off.
The lobby and lounge were deserted. They were usually bustling with students, but now an unsettling silence had replaced the usual din. Because it was normally such a noisy place, the silence felt all the more eerie.
’Did something happen?’
"Ah, Simon!"
Just then, Toto came scurrying down the stairs.
"S-Something terrible has happened! The third-years...!"