[Translator – Angel Dust]
[Proofreader – Prototype]
Chapter 154
A few days before the Academy’s autumn festival, in a dimly lit lounge…
“…”
“…”
The elves stood nervously, waiting for something.
They were even standing at attention, which was unusual for them, and there was an uneasy atmosphere in the air.
Could it be that, once again, with the festival approaching, some foolish elves were planning to raise arms against the empire…?
“Is this the best you’ve got? Are you sure?”
Eloise crossed her arms and faced the elf exchange students standing before her.
“Hmm.”
Swish. Swish—
Eloise frowned as she checked the ‘items to be displayed at the festival booths’ on each table.
On the table where she stopped, various tea leaves and teacups were placed.
“I told you, let’s stop with the tea. You guys are practically advertising that we live in the forest! Didn’t I say that the humans already know we live in the southern forest? I understand your love for plants, but do you really think you can attract the students’ attention with just ‘tea’?”
As the word ‘plants’ came out of Eloise’s mouth, the other elves visibly winced.
But no one was foolish enough to openly object.
Fortunately, they had all been well-persuaded by Eloise’s friend, her ‘fist.’
“This is a no-go, no need to even look at it. It’s truly pathetic, pathetic.”
“B-But! This tea was something even the high-ranking nobles of the empire were desperate to get their hands on until recently—”
“That’s the point, you idiot. The important thing is ‘until recently.’ Damn it.”
For reference, ‘recently’ for elves meant at least 20 years ago. And Eloise knew very well that trends could easily fade in that time.
Besides, this wasn’t a place with old folks who were crazy about tea. These were very young people.
At first, they might be drawn to the novelty of southern specialty tea leaves, but they’ll lose interest quickly.
Some are bitter, some are bland. And with so many more stimulating snacks available, who would bother drinking tea at a festival?
“Since when was tea even trendy? Do you think the empire still has no contact with us elves, and people go crazy over southern tea leaves?”
Luzernes was almost completely wiped out. Hyzens was developing an even stronger relationship with the empire.
Naturally, trade flourished, and various tea leaves and berries produced only by elves spread throughout the empire.
In other words, tea at the festival wasn’t completely unmarketable, but it was far behind in competitiveness.
With this, they wouldn’t be able to draw a crowd at the festival, no matter how hard they tried.
Eloise, mercilessly rejecting the tea, moved on to the next table.
“What’s this?”
“Well, at the last festival, there was a booth where people shot targets with non-lethal guns!”
“So?”
“Elves are known for bows! So we thought we could do something similar with bows—”
Without needing to hear more, Eloise struck the elf exchange student on the head.
“B-But why?!”
“Guns are easy, you just pull the trigger. Anyone can do it. But bows? Can just anyone do that?”
This is a common misconception.
People think that elves who handle bows are agile, so all you need is agility, precision, and good eyesight.
‘That’s nonsense. What you need to draw a bow is strength. Strength!’
Anyone who’s pulled a bowstring knows this.
Beginners get their fingers torn up after just a few tries.
Or rather, even pulling it once is a big deal.
Female students who haven’t received any proper strength training wouldn’t be able to pull it even halfway and would end up putting the bow down.
“And what’s this? You’re going to use real bows? Do you want to see someone’s hand fly off while pulling the string?”
“But! We can’t offer toy bows! Elves have their pride, that’s—”
“You sure have a long way of saying you want to be buried alive while protecting your pride.”
None of it was satisfactory. Eloise covered her face and sighed.
“What are you going to do during the festival? Do I have to answer that too?”
From the beginning, Lavrenti was wary of everyone.
It seemed like the only person she was willing to compromise with was Selena.
She thoroughly controlled the information. As a result, even Eloise couldn’t figure out exactly what kind of booth they were planning to set up.
‘As expected of the empire’s sharpshooter…!’
In contrast, Lefia answered every question she was asked.
“Me? I’m… well, I’m planning to feature special things you can only find in Lasker!”
A Lasker booth led by a princess from Lasker. The name alone piqued curiosity.
Eloise’s sense of crisis grew even stronger. At this rate, she might not even be able to get Karl’s attention, let alone the Academy students’!
“…Wait a minute.”
Eloise stopped abruptly as she passed by the tables and hurriedly turned back.
“This. What is it?”
Something red in a bottle. The moment she saw it, and the moment she smelled it, she had a feeling.
“It’s a jam made with special fruits from the Great Southern Forest that my family sent me.”
“Jam?”
“Yes. Actually, I was trying to preserve them in sugar for a long time, but somehow it turned into jam. But it seems like it would go well with the bread that’s a staple food for the empire’s people, so—”
This was it.
Eloise clapped her hands and smiled brightly.
It was an elven product, but not one that flaunted their superiority.
It was approachable, which could significantly reduce the pressure on the students and Karl. Plus, if it was jam, it could pair perfectly with Karl’s famous winter treats. It was a natural way to create another link with him!
Eloise thought.
“It’s decided. We’re going with this, everyone.”
Any elves have any objections? At Eloise’s question, no elf dared to raise their hand.
If they did, they might find a ‘special forces’ (more like an assassination squad) elf at their bedside in the middle of the night.
* * *
Time passed, and it was the day of the festival.
“…You’ve put some thought into this, Eloise.”
Lavrenti bit her lip as she looked at her rival, who had appeared with a flashy and attention-grabbing booth named ‘Special Jam from the Great Southern Forest.’
According to her research, the elf exchange students had never set up a booth at the Academy festival before. And there were hardly any instances of them enjoying the festival very much.
This meant that even if they participated in the festival this time, they were unlikely to pose a significant threat.
‘But to think they would do it this way. I thought they would just show off their damn tea or bows.’
The elves Lavrenti knew couldn’t help but carry an air of superiority.
The Luzernes’ elves were extreme in that regard, but Hyphens’ elves were still elves, so it was hard to say that they were completely free from that trait.
And among the things that elves considered superior to the empire were tea and bows. So, she had expected them to flaunt those things at the festival.
She hadn’t imagined that they would make jam from the fruits of the Great Forest and show an empire-friendly attitude from the start.
[Bakery Booth]
The booth that Lavrenti and other students were leading this time was none other than a bakery.
The reason for choosing this booth was quite military-veteran-like.
The empire’s military rations included hard, dry biscuits with almost no moisture.
At first, there were many complaints about how to even eat them. Just one bite felt like it sucked all the moisture out of your mouth.
But once they were deployed on the actual battlefield, they realized that it was impossible to have regular meals, let alone a quick snack. And in those moments, the dry biscuits became the best gift.
Countless veterans reminisced about how they never knew those biscuits, nibbled on during brief moments of respite, could be so delicious.
Lavrenti felt the same way.
She even wished she could eat as many of those biscuits as she wanted after being discharged.
“Baked goods. Not bad, Lavrenti. But do you have to make them like this?”
“Huh? If you make them like this, they’ll be too dry. And tasteless.”
“If you add these ingredients and bake them like this, they’ll be a bit better—”
Let’s skip over the part where Lavrenti’s classmates dissuaded her from making them solely in the military style.
If she had done it her way, it would have been a ‘combat ration experience booth’ instead of a ‘bakery booth.’
Anyway, Lavrenti’s bakery booth was doing well. At first, that is.
“Hey, these cookies from the bakery booth taste amazing with the jam from the elves’ booth!”
“Really? Let me try… Whoa? It’s true!”
“They’re good on their own, but they were missing something, and this jam fills that gap.”
It was something Lavrenti couldn’t have imagined, and a situation she wasn’t particularly happy about.
They were supposed to be competitors, but the students were pushing them into a collaboration.
This wasn’t right. This wasn’t what she had planned. As Lavrenti and Eloise were struggling with this strange situation…
“Huh?”
Selena, who had just finished her work and entered the festival, heard strange news from Lefia.
“What did you just say, Lefia?”
“Well, I don’t know if it’s true or not, but… I heard Senior Karl is going to demonstrate his ability to nullify magic…”
What was this, as soon as she arrived? Selena was flustered and quickly went to find the source of the rumor.
[Translator – Angel Dust]
[Proofreader – Prototype]
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