Volume 4 Chapter 21 Mid-Semester Sub-Event – The Cultural Festival II
Edited by: Kanaa-senpai
I joined the others in the auditorium — they’d managed to grab seats near the front.
Four of us left the Handicrafts club room and headed toward the Auditorium.
The hallways were packed not just with District 13 High School students, but with many from other schools too. The biggest group, as expected, wore Shisei High School Academy uniforms. As the local sorcerer high school, they’re practically our sister school.
There were also plenty of people in regular high school uniforms or casual clothes. Even though sorcerers and plain-folk take different paths after high school, they went to the same elementary and middle schools. A lot of them kept old friendships going.
Beyond the Shisei crowd, the most common sight was plain-folk girls visiting their sorcerer friends. These girls tended to be curvier. It was a bit of a “fishing ground”—a hope that a sorcerer guy might hit on them, or at least a good-looking plain-folk boy.
On the other hand, plenty of people were just here out of curiosity, not knowing anyone. The groups of boys were almost entirely that type.
For plain-folk boys, the Strong-Females (Shoji’s group members) are untouchable—a goal they can never reach. Unless they get a chance like this, they’d never even get the time of day.
Once in a while, a brave plain-folk boy tries to pick up one of the Strong-Females (Shoji’s group members), but in our high school, those girls are already “spoken for” by the Tsuyo-Osu (Strong-Males)1. They never get an answer; instead, they get kicked off school grounds for breaking the rules.
Because of that, flirting is basically limited to students from other schools. It’s an interesting sight: plain-folk boys trying to pick up plain-folk girls inside a sorcerer high school.
We got to the Auditorium just as the doors opened. We managed to grab a spot in the middle of the front section. While we sat in a row, quietly waiting for the show to start, Mitsuki suddenly stood up.
”I’m just going to the restroom…” Mitsuki said.
”Ah, me too…” I replied.
With Mitsuki leading, the girls left the auditorium. As I sat alone, flipping through the pamphlet, someone came up.
”Is this seat taken?” a voice asked.
”Ah, sorry. I’m with someone…” I answered out of habit, then realized I knew that voice.
I looked up to see a familiar, beautiful girl. Manaka, in her Shisei High School Academy uniform. She must have purposely hidden her presence to sneak up on me.
”…This is Mitsuki’s seat,” I said.
”I saw her a moment ago. She said I can sit here until she gets back,” Manaka replied politely.
Manaka sat down with a soft thud, and a nice scent drifted from her.
”Still love your surprises, don’t you?” I remarked.
”I love the look on Minoru’s face when you’re surprised,” Manaka teased.
Manaka laughed off my sarcasm. It had been two months since that summer. She looked even thinner, and I was relieved to see her wearing proper clothes.
”Yoo-hoo☆ Minorun☆” Yuu chirped.
”…Long time no see,” I muttered.
”Can we take these seats?” Yui asked.
Yuu, Yui, and Sawa were there too. The three of them had grabbed seats in the row right in front of us. They turned around to chat.
”Did you come to watch Chifumi’s big moment?” I asked.
”Yes. She’s a precious childhood friend, after all,” Manaka said elegantly.
”We wouldn’t miss it for the world☆” Yui added.
Up front, the stage curtain was still closed. I glanced at the clock. There was still time before the performance started.
”It seems this semester’s dungeon training is going smoothly, too,” Manaka said with a sharp, thoughtful tone.
Manaka brought it up. She must have heard plenty from Chifumi.
”Smoothly… you could say that. Looks like we’ll meet the requirements by the deadline,” I explained.
”I heard you’ve been diving into the ‘Commercial District’. Is the goal to conquer the shallow layers?” Manaka asked.
”Yeah,” I confirmed.
”That’s a dungeon reserved for top groups. As a former member, I’m quite proud,” Manaka said, with a hint of cool pride.
”Former member, huh…” I muttered.
Even though we’d made up, our relationship was still delicate… yet Manaka smiled, completely unbothered, showing none of that tension. There was no point in me ruining the mood.
”How about you guys? With Mitsuki gone, you’re short on fighting power, right? Will your second-term dungeon training be okay?” I asked.
”Don’t worry about us. We’re doing just fine. Even though we could manage with four, we added a new member to fill the hole Mitsuki left, just in case,” Manaka replied.
”Huh. …Is that member not here today?” I probed.
”No. Honestly, they’re not at the level they need to be yet, so they’re probably doing some solo training today,” Manaka said.
I didn’t know what Manaka’s standards were, but I was sure they weren’t low.
”The Minoru-style spartan training in full effect~☆” Yuu laughed.
”No, I’m not ‘spartan’,” I protested.
”Admit it☆” Yuu insisted.
Yuu made a hand sign. Stop that, it’s vulgar. Or wait, is it actually a thing for a Jirai-kei2?
Anyway, the only time I set strict training rules was around the first year after I got my memories back. I used my adult knowledge to build efficient menus and forced them on everyone using my authority as group leader.
Specifically, after Manaka, who followed the menu carefully, awakened at breakneck speed, the others started taking it seriously too. Since then, Manaka had kept refining the training rules, leading to the current, unbelievably efficient system. I might’ve been the spark, but it wasn’t just my doing.
”Minoru’s way of thinking and your perspective were essential for making us who we are today,” Manaka said with serious, academic weight.
I’ve never really seen it that way.
Back then, the others didn’t move according to my plans as much as I’d wanted. They still don’t, actually.
Still, Mitsuki and the others are taking a while…
”They won’t be back for a while, you know? They gave me some time to talk to you,” Manaka noted.
Did she read my mind!? That’s terrifying.
”Even I could tell what Minoru was thinking just now,” Sawa said with a playful grin.
Sawa, in the seat in front of me, gave a smug look.
”Chifumi told us to ask about your troubles, Minoru. Is something bothering you?” Sawa asked innocently.
”Troubles, huh,” I sighed.
It wasn’t that I didn’t have any, but this wasn’t the place to discuss them.
”I’m fine,” I insisted.
Manaka snapped her fingers, and the surrounding noise vanished.
”Soundproofing sorcery?” I asked.
”Yes,” Manaka replied.
The soundproofing sorcery used in high school classrooms only works because a classroom is a closed space with walls on all four sides. In a huge space like this Auditorium, it’s impossible to cast a soundproofing field around just our seats.
What made it possible was Manaka’s Inherent sorcery.
Space-mastery sorcery passed down through the Kuga family. She must have cut out the space itself and activated the soundproofing within that small area.
The fact that she could slice through space so casually showed how high her mastery of sorcery really was. That she had read my thoughts was no surprise.
Since she’d set the stage this well, maybe I could talk.
”Raising funds is proving pretty tough,” I admitted.
”Are you short on money for gear?” Manaka asked.
”Yeah, something like that. Specifically, the cost of consumables is brutal,” I explained.
”I’ve heard some magic pistols are at a level where it’s like throwing money at your targets,” Manaka observed.
”That’s exactly it,” I confirmed.
Rocket rounds are powerful, but expensive. I wanted to bring a few for the boss fight, but if I bought those, it would be hard to upgrade my armor. I couldn’t have both, which was my problem.
Manaka thought for a moment before speaking.
”Aberrations that drop Uniform patches appear in the ‘Commercial District’, right?” Manaka asked.
”Yeah,” I nodded.
”Uniform patches have been rising in price lately. Did you know?” Manaka asked.
”Eh? Really?” I exclaimed.
”Auction prices have gone up a lot. There’s a rumor that someone is buying them all up,” Manaka explained.
I’d been relying on official buyback prices to rank up my purchasing. I hadn’t checked the recent auction prices. That was good to know.
”Rare patterns sell for quite a high price. Have you considered selling them at auction?” Manaka suggested.
”I see… I’ll look into it,” I said.
Since Manaka was being helpful, I decided to ask a bit more. I wanted advice on boss countermeasures. It wasn’t information I wanted to spread to the general public, but I didn’t think Manaka and the others would blab about it.
”I’m likely going to have to fight a boss with zero information available. What would you do, Manaka?” I asked.
”It’s impossible that there’s absolutely no information. There must be hundreds, if not thousands, of sorcerers who have cleared the shallow layers of the ‘Commercial District’,” Manaka analyzed.
”Normally it’s a minor boss, but I found a way to enhance it. It’s not in the official records, but the info is reliable. If I use that method, the drop items get a lot better too, so I want to fight the enhanced version if I can,” I argued.
”In that case, I think you should ask the person who gave you that information first,” Manaka replied.
”I did. But they only had scattered bits of info. It’s a good reference, but there’s too much missing,” I said.
Manaka listened carefully to my complaining.
”Is it a secret technique from some family, then? It’s troublesome when information is scarce. Personally, I would prioritize safety, even if the drops were better,” Manaka advised.
”I figured you’d say that… normally, I would too. But there’s a reason I can’t,” I muttered.
The goal was to meet an Aberration with the power of Hinoki and get that power back. The boss enhancement was for that purpose. The drops were just a side benefit, an excuse.
”Then you have to prepare for every possible situation. You do have the scattered information, right?” Manaka asked.
”Yeah,” I replied.
”Then you have no choice but to fill in the missing pieces with your imagination,” Manaka concluded.
”Right…” I sighed.
I thought it would come to that. Just then, Sawa spoke up from the row in front.
”Minoru, is there any information you’re overlooking?” Sawa asked.
”Overlooking?” I repeated.
”It’s not really our place to say, but… I feel like you’re too used to things being unfair, Minoru,” Sawa remarked.
”……”
Yui and Yuu agreed with Sawa. Manaka, acting as their spokesperson, went straight for my weak spot.
”You have a habit of enduring things alone, or just accepting unfair situations without saying a word, thinking you can handle them yourself. That is both your strength and your weakness. From the outside, while you’re good at predicting what comes next based on existing information, your ability—no, your willingness—to look into the causes of the current situation is weak. As a result, you sometimes misjudge things,” Manaka critiqued.
”……”
”Regarding this case… is it really true that there’s little information about the boss? Could it be that there’s information you haven’t noticed?” Manaka asked.
”…Maybe,” I admitted.
She hit a sore spot. I could feel my heartbeat speeding up and my face getting red.
”It’s the group members’ job to cover what the leader lacks. Why not sit down and be open with Chifumi, Mitsuki, Risa-san, Yurina-san, and Asari-san, for once?” Manaka urged.
”We’ve had plenty of strategy meetings,” I defended.
”Even so. It is your role as leader to create an environment where group members can speak freely without fear,” Manaka said.
I never expected to hear words like that from Manaka. I’d always felt she had an adult way of thinking, well beyond her years. Was this the elite education of a sorcerer… or maybe high schoolers really aren’t that different from adults after all.
”It’s about time,” Manaka noted.
I looked where Manaka was gazing and saw Mitsuki and the others walking back. The soundproofing sorcery faded, and the surrounding noise returned. Before I knew it, the seats around us were filling up.
”Well then…” Manaka said.
Manaka stood up, moved to the row in front, and waited for the show to start with Mitsuki and the others.
About five minutes later, the curtain rose, and the performance began. Chifumi’s instrument was the clarinet. She started playing it when she entered junior high. I don’t know what a professional’s ears would say, but to me, she sounded quite skilled.
* * *
Chifumi being in the brass band had nothing to do with her inherent sorcery. Her flowing-performance sorcery has nothing to do with music. Why she keeps practicing so passionately—I remember hearing about it, or maybe I didn’t.
Is this, perhaps, the ‘Minoru-ness’ that Manaka was talking about?
After the performance, I met up with Chifumi and Risa, and we walked around the school festival together. Manaka and her group planned to leave right after Chifumi’s performance, but we steered them toward the food stalls Asari and the others had set up, and somehow we ended up enjoying the festival until the very end.
After it finished, we all went to karaoke because why not. We parted ways at the station in time for Manaka’s curfew.
Walking home with Chifumi, I thought about everything I’d considered today about boss countermeasures, and what I needed to do.
—
Summary:
Minoru attends the school festival, finding himself in the auditorium with his group and an unexpected encounter with Manaka. Manaka uses her spatial mastery to isolate a private conversation, offering Minoru critical advice on his leadership style and his struggles with dungeon boss preparation. The chapter concludes with a clarinet performance by Chifumi and Minoru reflecting on his personal growth and future tasks as they walk home.
—
Trivia:
- The Auditorium’s soundproofing spell is specific to high school classrooms and is usually ineffective in large open spaces; Manaka bypasses this with Kuga family spatial mastery.
- Manaka claims to have added a new member to her group to replace Mitsuki’s combat strength.
- The Uniform patches prices in the Commercial District are rising due to market manipulation by an unknown party.
- Minoru reflects that his “leader” persona was formed by forcing his adult knowledge of efficiency onto his group during their first year post-reincarnation.
—
Translation Notes:
Notes:
• A – A student from South Middle School described as an idol who has been recruited into R’s high school squad.
• Shisei – An acquaintance involved in high-profile activities.
• S – A first-year student at District 13 High School who has taken B from North Middle into his squad.
• T – A first-year student at District 13 High School who has recruited K and N from East Middle into his group.
• B – A student originally from North Middle School who was added to S’s group.
• Shoji – A conspicuous male transfer student in a distinctive white uniform, this top-ranked Tower Dungeon conquest student leads an independent exploration group and treats diving as a change of pace. Entering the dungeon first, he is encountered by Minoru, works as an associate of Kotoha’s group, and maintains links to several other students within the same curriculum.
• M – A first-year student at District 13 High School and the childhood friend of Anonymous Student 0006, described as an atavistic strong-female who looks plain but possesses significant power.
• Mitsuki – Tall and dark-skinned with an imposing, athletic hourglass figure, this blunt transfer student and Sumo club member is Minoru’s devoted, clingy childhood friend, rival, and ally. A top assassin candidate and Witch, she leads a vanguard party with Manaka and Koki. Shrouding her strong body in black, she uses recovery sorcery and a shoulder-carried Kanabo to finish defeated Aberrations.
• Manaka – An aristocratic, intelligent beauty from Shisei High, this resilient Kuga family sorcerer manipulates space and sound in tough dungeons. Leading the Initial Strong-Females with a calm, tactical voice, she is an exceptionally competent manager formerly in Mitsuki’s group. She acts as an advisor to her childhood friend Minoru, following a complicated relationship that improved over the summer.
• Minoru – A lean, black-haired student sorcerer with adult memories leads an all-female dungeon squad in a reversed-beauty world. Clad in uniform, this pragmatic, danger-sensing tactician commands Aberrations using Tatemiya magic, shadow/space sorcery, and an iron whip. Balancing academic pressure and festival booths, he risks his life to protect his sister Mai, partner Risa, and recruit Mitsuki.
• Yuu – Energetic and bubbly, this Futami twin is Mai’s older sister, Yui’s younger sister, and a member of Manaka’s circle. Characterized by her expressive gestures, enthusiastic speech, and striped, high-leg swimsuit, she loves meat and nostalgic references. Supportive yet slightly aggressive, she follows her sister’s lead in combat before being eaten by the Phantom during beach activities.
• Yui – One of the Futami twins, Yuu’s sister, Minoru’s childhood friend, and a supportive member of Manaka’s circle. This private school student has short hair with a white lock and pink/black attire. A blunt, low-tension Onibara disciple in the Shisei group, she uses knives and curse arts to manifest Clams. Usually observant, she is bubbly during exploration. She was eaten by the Phantom.
• Sawa – Voluptuous and bespectacled, this private-school student, IT-savvy gamer, and original Shisei member belongs to Manaka’s circle. A pragmatic, self-reliant childhood friend of Minoru, she acts as the group’s detective, reads his behavior to offer blunt feedback, and assists with chores. An Onibara disciple linked to group plots, she knows Mitsuki and enjoys fishing away from water.
• Chifumi – Minoru’s childhood friend and central harem member, this scrawny, long-haired first-year Lead Majo plays the clarinet in the brass band. An intellectual strategist, she masks a sharp demeanor with bubbly idol poses. She coordinates the team’s combat timing, gathers intel on Aberrations, and wields water/ice attributes to unleash destructive torrents, intercept magic, and restrain enemies.
• N – A student from East Middle with an eccentric personality who entered National High School due to complex family circumstances and used herself as leverage to negotiate a protective agreement for K.
• Kuga – The family name, shared by Marin and Manaka, marks their kinship and appears on their garments, symbolizing their bond; it is also described as the farthest point from the narrator’s home, underscoring their distant connection.
• K – A student from East Middle who followed N to National High School out of care, successfully remaining pure through N’s protection until a misunderstanding involving Anonymous Student 0008 led to her capitulation.
• R – A first-year student at District 13 High School who has successfully built a squad and added multiple girls, including M and A, into his group.
• Hinoki – Bound to Minoru, this they/them Oni-fied centipede Phantom speaks from his shadow in a regional dialect. Sharing a deep bond, they act as a protective mount, navigator, and tactical advisor. Though apologetic for the group’s troubles, they are a powerful combatant with a metallic-sounding shell, massive reptilian forms, and sharp combat eyes, wielding dungeon sorcery, venom, and chains.
• Yurina – A black-haired, refined Plain-folk Kendo vanguard and front-line offensive specialist in Minoru’s squad, wearing a traditional apron and cat-ear headband. Stoic, polite, and Chifumi’s childhood protector, she trusts Minoru’s support but dislikes the Komoda group. This decisive dungeon explorer wields a swift katana with Severing Sorcery to cleave enemies, and despite academic struggles, her cooking has vastly improved.
• Asari – A serious, intelligent Kasakura first-year, this tall (170cm+), long-haired, curvy (E-cup) dungeon explorer and Dojo trainee is close to Mari and Nagase, and Minoru’s devoted partner before being devoured by a Phantom. A defensive vanguard, she uses durable crystal barrier sorcery with delicate settings to block boss strikes, though she expresses deep shame for failing her role.
• Risa – A tall, well-endowed Plain-folk Naruse merchant student and disciplined Onibara practitioner. As Minoru’s protective childhood friend and servant, she defers to Chifumi, knows Yurina, and suspects Komoda. Lacking innate sorcery, this reliable, tactically minded Shooting club member uses a rifle with a grenade unit and magic pistols to flexibly damage Unique Variants and harvest loot.
• Yuri – A cheerful and energetic first-year student at Higashi High who is a classmate of Shibuya and an acquaintance of Kibe Yurina from their middle school days. A girl known for being aggressive toward Hayato and displaying overt favoritism.
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Edited by Kanaa-senpai.
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