Contrary to Hoshino's speculation, Atticus—after waking up for the second time—had absolutely no awareness of the Shadow Rider. He looked exactly like someone who had been used as a disposable tool and then ruthlessly discarded.
However, based on Atticus's recollection, during his time at Duel Academy's U.S. branch, there were two people he had interacted with who left a deep impression on him.
Aster Phoenix and Sartorius.
Even though he had frequently interacted with both of them while at the branch, the current Atticus couldn't remember anything about either of them.
"Aster Phoenix, huh?"
Just a few days ago, Hoshino had watched Aster duel Jonouchi in the Pro Duelist League tournament during Kaiba's office livestream.
And since he was also part of the Phoenix family, Aster was likely connected in some way to Clara Phoenix—the girl Hoshino had once been acquainted with.
Ever since Zigfried was defeated by Hoshino during the KC Grand Prix seven years ago, the Zigfried family's influence had collapsed at lightning speed.
Some of their assets were absorbed by the Phoenix family, which then caused the family's business to flourish rapidly. Their current prosperity was utterly incomparable to what it had been back then.
"Peace lasted for so long, and now things are starting to move in the shadows again…"
Hoshino rubbed her chin, thought for a moment, then decided: "Atticus-kun, don't return to the U.S. for now. We can postpone the exchange program. Stay inside the main Academy for the time being—don't go out on your own."
"Could it be… the Headmistress intends to personally protect me? As expected, when it comes to your most beloved student, you just can't let go~" Atticus covered his face dramatically. "A 24-hour bodyguard service… I can already see it now! This will eventually develop into love!"
"Mm, that's right. I plan to assign Crowler to guard you 24 hours a day. Whether it develops into love or not… depends entirely on your own fate, Atticus-kun."
"Professor Crowler?" The grotesque grin of Pot of Greed flashed in his mind, and Atticus shivered on the bed.
"Never mind, let my cute little sister take care of me instead. Alexis, your big brother has been waiting for this day forever! Now that you're enrolled too, let's debut together and become the Academy's idol siblings!"
"Sorry, but I refuse. Please just recover properly, and stop doing weird things."
Even Alexis, as his sister, could barely keep up with Atticus's constant airheadedness.
Because of the Shadow Rider attack and what happened to Atticus, Hoshino didn't feel safe staying longer at the hot spring inn. She took the students back to the Academy early by shuttle bus. Compared to the hot spring town, the Academy grounds had far better security.
"What a shame. It was a two-day, one-night lodging ticket… Going back early means we completely wasted that super expensive lunch and dinner!"
Jaden lamented the entire way—his obsession with food was truly impressive.
"Jaden, just go eat the Red dorm's food," Akasha said bluntly. "You're happy no matter what you eat anyway."
Collapsed weakly over his bus seat, Jaden groaned, "Going from frugal to luxurious is easy… but going from luxurious back to frugal is painful. I can't eat just plain fish anymore. At least give me garlic with it."
Just like when they left, the shuttle bus carried everyone straight back to the Duel Academy entrance.
Returning alone to her villa residence, Hoshino felt even more drained than when she had left.
When she first received the free hot spring lodging ticket, she'd suspected that tsundere Kaiba had secretly given it to her as a perk—but clearly, she had overthought it.
Inside Hoshino's room, Okita sat cross-legged, munching on rice crackers. "Master, weren't you supposed to be on a trip? Why do you look like you were hauling bricks all day? Such a gloomy face."
"Because it was like hauling bricks. Honestly, staying home and playing games would've been way more relaxing."
Hoshino snatched the rice cracker from Okita's hand and kicked the comedian out of her room, then turned on her computer with practiced ease.
Of course, as the Academy Headmistress, she wasn't the type to immediately start gaming upon returning home. She still had work to do.
Originally scheduled for next Monday—the Obelisk Blue vs. Slifer Red duel (PS: the one involving Crowler's salary bet)—had been postponed due to the chaos caused by the vampire Camula.
Since it was just a duel Kaiba randomly decided to host, postponing it for a week or two didn't matter.
But there was one thing that absolutely could NOT be delayed—
The Duel Academy School Festival.
It was the Academy's most important annual event, and the biggest attraction for investors.
During the festival, the Academy would be open to the public all day, drawing countless duel enthusiasts to visit the island.
For Duel Academy Island—normally lacking any outside spending—this sudden influx of people was essentially a tsunami of money in the eyes of local businesses.
So since last month, Principal Sheppard had been working tirelessly, contacting every shop on the island to prepare for operating booths and services inside the Academy during the festival.
While the businesses made heaps of profit, the Academy received a share as well—truly a win-win.
Naturally, everyone had long been gearing up in excitement.
In other words, even though this was a dangerous period due to the Shadow Rider and the Sacred Beasts, the school festival had to continue as planned, despite the increased risk of opening the Academy to the public.
"Okita, I brought tea! Did you leave some rice crackers for me?" Nobunaga crawled out from under Hoshino's bed, holding a teapot with an eager smile.
"Huh? Where's Okita, and why are you back so early? Weren't you two meeting later tonight?"
"So you two were having a tea party in my room?"
Looking guilty, Nobunaga had clearly assumed Hoshino wouldn't return during the day and shamelessly used her room for a secret date with Okita.
Ignoring the mystery of how she poured tea from under the bed, Hoshino took the teapot and cups, then kicked the second comedian out of the room as well.
Tea and rice crackers secured—it was time to work.
While Principal Sheppard handled funding and sponsorship, Hoshino, as the Headmistress, was responsible for organizing the events hosted by the students and the Academy during the festival.
Opening her inbox, she saw that last week she had asked all dorm administrators to compile the proposed activities for each grade, then submit them to her for review.
"Slifer Red, first-year—A 'Legends of Runeterra Card Tournament'? What kind of school festival event is this? It has nothing to do with dueling! First-years… that would be Jaden and Minazuki's class, right? Rejected!"
Most school festival events were group activities organized by grade levels or clubs—performances, live art, haunted houses, maid cafés, food stalls, things like that.
The original purpose of the festival was to help students learn independence while also demonstrating their growth to the public.
The Duel Academy school festival had one special rule:
Any activity hosted by a grade level or club had to be at least somewhat related to Duel Monsters.
"Slifer Red, first years — Duel Yakisoba? You think slapping the word 'Duel' in front of 'yakisoba' magically makes it duel-related? Rejected!"
Starving for patience, Hoshino sighed. This wasn't the Academy's first festival, yet reviewing event proposals was always a tedious ordeal.
First-year students, in their innocence, always believed that selling yakisoba while playing cards automatically counted as an Academy-approved event.
"Slifer Red, third years — Maid Café? You can duel the maids, and if you win, you get special service from the cute maids. Not bad. As expected of third years—at least you have some experience."
Though honestly, for true duel maniacs, once they start dueling, winning takes priority over any so-called "special service."
Hoshino could already picture the scene:
(Maid: "If I win, Master has to eat my homemade omurice~"
Jaden: "Don't worry, I absolutely won't lose!")
"This kind of development is unexpectedly interesting. Approved!"
Continuing to skim through the emails, Hoshino suddenly noticed a particularly eye-catching entry.
"Obelisk Blue, second years — Duel Queen Contest! Students vote for the Academy's most popular cute girls. The winner becomes the new Duel Queen."
"Feels more like a beauty pageant… doesn't seem related to dueling at all. But it sounds fun. Approved!"
Indeed, the Headmistress wielded tremendous authority.
Even if an event had nothing to do with Duel Monsters, as long as it caught her interest, its chances of approval skyrocketed.
This was Hoshino shamelessly abusing her power.
Reaching the end of the inbox, the last submission came from the faculty representative, Professor Crowler.
'Exhibition of the Legendary Duelist Yugi Muto's Deck. — With Yugi Muto's personal permission, this is a perfect reconstruction of his legendary deck (excluding the Egyptian Gods). It will be displayed during the festival for students to observe and learn from, allowing them to appreciate the depth of a true legendary duelist's deckbuilding.'
"A perfect recreation of Yugi's deck, huh…"
Hoshino had to admit—if she were still a student at the Academy, she would absolutely be excited for something like this.
After all, unlike Jonouchi who joined the Pro League, or Hoshino who became a Headmistress, Yugi had essentially vanished from the public eye after the KC Grand Prix.
The legendary Yugi Muto—whereabouts unknown. His strength could only be glimpsed through the few recorded duels that remained.
Given such a rare chance to study his deck openly, what duelist wouldn't be interested?
"But through observation alone, can people really appreciate the depth of his deckbuilding…? Not that most people could even use Yugi's deck."
Still, since the proposal claimed Yugi had given personal consent, Hoshino didn't want to waste his goodwill. She approved it as well.
Ding-ding!
Just as Hoshino finished the final email, her phone chimed.
"ヾ(๑╹◡╹)ﾉ My current condition is fine. Please don't worry, Senpai. — Alexis"
Alexis's magical overload had flared up again only a day after the previous episode, making Hoshino increasingly worried that leaving Alexis alone might be dangerous.
Judging from this update, Mash's theory seemed correct: after every kiss, the lingering magical energy inside Alexis decreased, and the interval before the next flare-up lengthened.
Even so, Hoshino replied:
"You still shouldn't let your guard down. If it happens again at night, it's dangerous. I'll come check on you after dinner."
Reading Hoshino's message, Alexis—who had nearly resigned herself back at the hot spring inn—once again fell into a tangled mix of joy and embarrassment.
"If I'm completely cured… does that mean I'll never get to kiss Senpai again?"
…
One week later — the day of the school festival.
"Wahahaha! So lively! So lively! Is this the gathering of humans?!"
Balancing on her toes as she surveyed the bustling festival grounds, Uria's twin red ponytails bounced wildly with her every movement.
Watching the excited expression of the girl whose eyes sparkled at every booth in sight, Hoshino crossed her arms.
"Uria, didn't you say the only reason you reluctantly agreed to join the festival was because you were worried the Shadow Rider might attack during the event?"
"Hmm~ Uria doesn't like humans, but the things humans make are an exception!"
In the blink of an eye, Uria already had a taiyaki stuffed into her mouth.
"This sweet fish is so tasty! It's my first time eating a sweet-tasting fish!"
"…That's not actually a fish, you know."
Hoshino stared at the innocent Uria in front of her. She didn't resemble a Sacred Beast at all…
What God of Flame? What embodiment of divine fire?
She was just a bratty, masochistic child.
"Ah, there you are! Hoshino!"
A familiar voice called out from behind, instantly grabbing Hoshino's attention.
"Mana came to play this year too! And she's dressed up properly!"
Mana, wearing a full Dark Magician Girl cosplay, waved enthusiastically.
Her natural charm instantly drew countless eyes from the crowd.
"Look! That girl cosplaying Dark Magician Girl—she looks amazing!"
"So cute! She's basically the real thing!"
"Well, her skin's a little darker… kind of like a fusion between Dark Magician Girl and Apprentice Illusion Magician."
"Grandpa approves! This trip was worth it!"
The Academy Festival, being a massive gathering of duelists, naturally attracted Duel Monster cosplay enthusiasts—much like an anime convention.
Popular monsters—whether cute or cool—always had someone willing to cosplay them.
Among the most popular were the cute hand-trap girls.
It made sense for people to cosplay Ghost Ogre, Ash Blossom, or Ghost Belle…
But Hoshino squinted at one cosplayer across the way.
"But that guy cosplaying Maxx 'C'… what the heck is he doing?!"