Chapter 47: Preparation for the Cultural Festival
Once October rolled in and midterm exams were over, the school suddenly became lively. That was because a two-day cultural festival was scheduled for the last weekend of the month, and the whole student body was getting excited about it.
Our class had decided to go with the classic option of a maid cafĆ©. The class representatives were actively handling the preparationsācostumes, drinks, sides, and more. Yuna and I were each assigned two hours of cafĆ© duty per day for both days, but in exchange, we were exempt from the pre-event preparations, so it was a pretty relaxed deal for us.
That said, we were involved in something for our club as well.
The "Wizard's Soil Club" I belonged to had officially transitioned from a hobby club to a full-fledged club starting last month.
When I told Yuna I was joining the Wizardās Soil club, she insisted on joining too. And for some reason, Soutaās younger sister, Hisui, joined as well. With that, we hit the five-member requirement and were officially recognized as a school club.
We were a pretty laid-back groupāthree meetings a week, and attendance was optional. Incidentally, both Yuna and Hisui had played Wizardās Soil before thanks to their brothersā influence, so they werenāt just club members in name only.
āWe, as the WiSo Club, will be hosting a tournament for the cultural festival!ā
One day during club activities, Souta made this declaration.
āSounds good to meā¦ Turn end.ā
I replied while playing a practice match with Suzuka using test decks.
āI think itās a splendid idea as wellā¦ I attack.ā
āAhāhere, I think itād be better to attack this way. If your opponent has this card, youāll end up at a disadvantage.ā
As I swapped out the creature Suzuka was attacking with, I pointed out how she could improve her play.
āI seeā¦ Thatās very helpful.ā
Suzuka nodded. She had a good memory and had already grasped most of the basic strategies. Once she got a better handle on the more detailed interactions, I figured sheād do reasonably well in the tournament.
āā¦Can you guys take this a little more seriously? This isnāt just some other peopleās problem.ā
āBut Iāve never been in a tournament before, so I donāt really know what to doā¦ā
Yuna looked up from her textbook, a cup of tea in hand, as she answered Souta from the empty table where sheād been studying.
āSame here. Iām not really that into card games to begin withā¦ā
Hisui tilted her head slightly, looking troubled.
āThen what are you two even doing in this clubā¦ā
Souta let out a sigh.
Honestly, while Yuna only joined because of me, I still had no idea why Hisui had decided to join this club.
If we were short on people and invited her to play, sheād go along with it, but Iād never seen her take initiative to play on her own.
When I first reunited with Hisui in the club room, I wasnāt sure how to act. The last time Iād seen her was at Ikutoās funeral, where sheād suddenly run off.
But before I could even worry, she immediately apologized with, āIām sorry. I was really shaken up back then and ended up showing you a pathetic side of myselfā¦ā and since then, weād talked normally.
She didnāt like it when I used polite speech with her, so I started speaking casually with her like I did with Souta and Suzuka. Aside from that, our conversations had been completely normal, to the point where it honestly caught me off guard.
Putting that aside, it was decided that Souta and Iāboth with some tournament experienceāwould take the lead in organizing the event.
āI want something flashy as a prize. For now, Iāll offer these holographic rare cards as prizes,ā Souta said, pulling out a set of foil-stamped rare cards that were worth a pretty penny.
āIf weāre talking packs, I think I can provide a few unopened boxes,ā Suzuka added. Apparently, her family always had unopened pack boxes ready, thanks to their butler.
āThatās a big help! What else could we offerā¦ Oh, I know! Since there are a lot of girls in our club, how about a ādate ticketā for the cultural festival?ā
āI donāt want that.ā
āSame here.ā
āIāll comply only if Souta insistsā¦ā
The female members were far from enthusiastic about Soutaās suggestion.
ā...Alice, Iām counting on you!ā
Taking that reaction in stride, Souta half-heartedly tossed the idea over to me.
āI donāt really mind, but would anyone actually be happy to go on a date with me?ā I thought. Sure, there might be some people with niche tastes, but the demand would probably be low.
Still, no matter how popular the idea sounded, I couldnāt bring myself to force any of the other girls in the club into a date with a stranger. So, I decided to take the ādate ticketā on myself.
Since prizes would be picked in order from highest to lowest, I figured Iād just play it cool in case the right to date me ended up being the last prize left.
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