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School Festival Preparations (1): 10 Years of Succession

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*Today’s Diary*

The preparations for the school festival have begun.

The preparation period for the school festival at this school is one week, and the actual event lasts four days, during which local citizens are welcomed into the academy. Then, there are two days for cleanup. And the next day is a day off, making it a very large event that spans a total of two weeks.

Actually, there’s a reason for this. During the time when the Oran Knight Military Academy is holding its school festival, the largest military exercise of the year is conducted near the northern front.

The military exercise lasts about one week, and during this time, most soldiers, including those who have been relaxing at the academy, are summoned, except for those who cannot leave their posts. With the time it takes to gather from various places for the exercise in the north, it takes exactly two weeks.

During this period, except for a few instructors who are dedicated to the academy for various reasons, everyone disappears from the academy at once. In other words, classes cannot be held.

So, it seems that they decided, “In that case, why not use this time for a school festival as a way to blow off steam?”

By the way, this large-scale exercise is, of course, a show of force directed at the Principality of Solar, but ironically, they also hold a large-scale exercise at the exact same time, so the fighting on the front line stops as a result.

I can’t help but think, if we just kept holding large-scale exercises all the time, wouldn’t the world be peaceful?

Up to this point, this is what I heard from Saras-senpai about the behind-the-scenes of the school festival.

Setting aside the meaningless show of force in the north, the second-year and third-year students are very fired up for the school festival.

At the school festival, stalls are lined up along the main street that runs through the center of the academy. Although there are some exhibits in the classrooms showcasing regular activities, the main focus is on the stalls.

The reason for this is that anyone can open a stall, as long as they apply and get approved first, and after giving 10% of their profits to the academy, they can split the remaining profits among those who ran the stall.

The school festival draws a huge crowd every year, and since the quality standards are low due to the perception that it’s “made by students,” people tend to be more willing to spend money. In other words, it’s a prime opportunity to make some extra pocket money.

Therefore, first-year students don’t get a chance to participate, and at best, they help out their seniors and pick up some know-how for next year while receiving a small share of the profits.

Of course, if someone provides food and causes food poisoning, the profits are confiscated, and the person responsible has to compensate for the damages. And if they try to overcharge customers and upset the citizens of Rodon, both the former and latter will simply lower their future reputation.

Our goal is to become soldiers, not shopkeepers, so the risks of such actions are too high. The citizens of Rodon understand this, so although the food may vary in taste, they trust that nothing terrible will be served.

So, that’s all from what I heard from Saras-senpai about why the school festival is so exciting.

“That’s why I’d like you to help with our stall, Lux?” (Saras)

To which Senpai Saras said.

“I’m sorry, actually, we’re planning to do a team exhibit…” (Lux)

And that’s why I had to turn down his tempting offer…

 

—

 

One day a while ago, after school.

“How about we make a newspaper for the school festival?” (Heinz)

Heinz gathered the members of Catrap in the old school building’s library and presented this idea, leaving everyone looking confused.

“What’s with this all of a sudden, degozaru?” (Hana)

Hana asked, and Heinz nodded deeply once before saying something that was somewhat understandable, yet unclear.

“I want to use the school festival for information gathering.” (Heinz)

“So, you mean we’re going to gather information on the Seven Mysteries through the newspaper?” (Lite)

Lite asked, and Heinz nodded deeply again.

“Yes. Many students at this academy have siblings or acquaintances who are former students. It’s probably because this is a military academy, a unique environment.” (Heinz)

Certainly, there are many students with military connections, such as Bianca, whose siblings are attending the school, and the senior who told Frank about the Fifth Mystery, so the vertical ties are likely stronger than in a normal school.

“I think it’s a pretty natural reason for gathering information from students we don’t usually interact with. What do you think?” (Heinz)

Since Heinz revealed his true identity, his tone has gradually changed.

This is probably his true self.

“It might seem like a natural reason, but I doubt we’ll gather much information, don’t you think?” (Sonia)

Sonia said. The students are excited about the school festival, and it’s easy to imagine that they wouldn’t pay attention to something as plain as a school newspaper.

“I’ve thought of a way to prevent that. Here it is.” (Heinz)

Saying this, Heinz pulled out a small slip of paper about the size of a ticket.

“What’s that?” (Rick)

Rick-san squinted at the paper.

“These are discount vouchers for the stalls. I negotiated with the seniors who plan to run stalls and got these. We’ll give these to people who provide information that may not be groundbreaking but still interesting.” (Heinz)

“That’ll definitely increase the number of people providing information, but… how do you plan to do that?” (Lux)

“It’s simple. On the day of the festival, we’ll distribute the school newspaper at the entrance. In the paper, we’ll include advertisements for the stalls that cooperated with us and mention that bringing the newspaper will get them a discount. When I explained that it would promote their stalls, they were happy to provide the vouchers.” (Heinz)

Heinz is really sharp.

It wasn’t just me, but everyone looked at him in admiration.

Ten years ago, when Sura-senpai was making the newspaper all by himself, it was different. Now, we have a way to print many copies, and we have enough people. Yeah, it feels like we can actually do this.

“Heinz… You seem more suited to being a con artist than royalty.” (Frank)

Frank said, and I couldn’t help but agree a little.

“Getting the teacher’s permission seems easy, and… it sounds fun, so let’s give it a try. Right, Lev?” (Maria)

Maria called out to Lev, and Lev replied briefly.

“Yes.” (Lev)

“Eh, I’d prefer to do something like a food stall, though…” (Ratt)

Ratt-kun said, and I replied,

“The people running the stalls can’t be eaten, you know?” (Lux)

“That’s true. Then, I agree with making the newspaper!” (Ratt)

He raised his hand energetically, and we all laughed together.

And so, we set out to revive the school newspaper for the first time in ten years.

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