After the performance, the school festival finally came to an end.
As the restless atmosphere gradually settled down, the campus returned to its usual calm.
"To celebrate the complete success of our performance, cheers!"
In the light music club room, Ritsu suddenly stood up holding a teacup full of black tea. She boldly planted one foot on her chair and raised the cup high as she shouted.
"Cheers!"
Yui immediately followed her lead, standing up with sparkling eyes as she lifted the teacup in front of her and clinked it against Ritsu's.
Clink!
A crisp sound rang out as the cups touched.
Then the two turned toward the others still seated and raised their brows together, signaling everyone to join in.
Sato merely lifted the teacup in front of him and took a light sip. Then, with a somewhat complicated expression, he looked at the two of them and slowly said, "You two can try guessing how much the cups in your hands are worth. If you don't know, you can look them up online."
Huh?!
Ritsu and Yui, who had been posing dramatically, immediately felt their hearts skip a beat. The two exchanged a glance and swallowed hard before cautiously asking, "How much? Are they expensive?"
Whoosh!
Sato suddenly leaned his face close to theirs and stared at their nervous expressions with a serious look.
"They're not just expensive. They're extremely expensive!"
Gulp!
"H-How much?!"
Yui asked with a trembling voice.
"For a single teacup, probably around fifty thousand yen."
At that moment, Mio's faint voice drifted over from the side. The enormous number nearly made the two lose their grip on the cups in their hands.
"Fifty thousand?!"
"T-That's so much money!"
The two exchanged another glance, then nodded solemnly.
They carefully placed the teacups back on the table and took two steps backward.
Everyone else looked at them curiously. What were they planning to do?
The next second, under everyone's watchful eyes, the two suddenly dropped to their knees together.
"Grandpa Cup! I didn't know you were this expensive before! Please be magnanimous and forgive me!"
"Divine Spirit-sama, from now on I'll definitely pray sincerely before using you to drink tea!"
"..."
Everyone: "..."
Sato stared at the scene dumbfounded. One of them fooling around was one thing, but how exactly were their brainwaves synchronized so perfectly? Even their movements were exactly the same.
"Um... everyone really doesn't need to do this. Even if they break, I won't make anyone pay for them."
Kotobuki Tsumugi could not help but say this after seeing the scene.
"Mugi-mugi! This isn't about money!"
Ritsu turned around and looked at Kotobuki Tsumugi with a serious expression. Just as everyone waited for her profound insight, her face suddenly crumpled in misery.
"It's about whether we even dare use them! The important thing is that I just casually clinked cups with Yui using something worth fifty thousand yen!"
"Ahhh!!"
Ritsu painfully grabbed her hair and roared toward the ceiling.
"That's fifty thousand yen! I could've replaced my bass drum pedal with that!"
Yui also pouted with teary eyes.
"With fifty thousand yen I could've paid off part of my debt. I still haven't finished paying for my guitar..."
"We're obviously so poor, yet we're using things this luxurious!"
"Uwaaaah..."
The two hugged each other and started crying together.
How enviable...
Watching the two crying miserably, Kotobuki Tsumugi's lips moved slightly, but in the end she still did not tell them the truth.
Actually, those two teacups were not worth fifty thousand yen.
Because they were limited editions, their real price was actually double that.
Knock knock knock!
Hikigaya Hachiman withdrew his gaze from the spectacle and got up to open the door. The moment he saw the person standing outside, the corner of his eye twitched.
"Yo! My friend!"
Zaimokuza Yoshiteru waved at Hikigaya Hachiman. His voice was steady and powerful, and he somehow carried an unexpectedly dignified aura.
Jeez, this guy...
Hikigaya Hachiman sucked in a breath as he stared at Zaimokuza Yoshiteru.
What kind of medicine did this guy take? Why had he suddenly become like this?
"May I ask if Nohara-sensei is inside?"
Zaimokuza Yoshiteru asked respectfully.
Nohara... sensei?
Nohara Sato?
"Ah, he's inside..."
Hikigaya Hachiman scratched his head and looked at Zaimokuza Yoshiteru in confusion, completely unable to figure things out.
"Then excuse me!"
With that said, Zaimokuza Yoshiteru walked into the club room.
His voice earlier had not been quiet, so Sato and the others had all heard why he came.
"He came to see you."
Ritsu, who had still been fooling around moments ago, quickly got up and sat beside Sato as she spoke.
"I'm not deaf. I heard him."
Sato could not help rolling his eyes. Then he watched as Zaimokuza Yoshiteru walked up in front of him.
Whoosh!
He suddenly bowed at a full ninety degrees, startling everyone.
With a waist that sturdy, how did you even bend that far?!
"Thank you very much for your guidance, Nohara-sensei!"
Faced with the puzzled looks from everyone around him, even Sato felt confused.
"What guidance?"
"Of course, the light novel!"
Zaimokuza Yoshiteru straightened up proudly, his face full of high spirits.
"To be honest with you, Sensei, I've successfully signed with Gensokyo now! One foot has already stepped into the light novel industry!"
So that was it!
Everyone immediately realized what he meant. That had all happened last semester, and they had nearly forgotten about it.
"Congratulations!"
From not far away, Yuigahama Yui offered her congratulations.
"Thank you! If not for Sensei's guidance back then, I never would have achieved what I have today!"
Zaimokuza Yoshiteru looked at Sato solemnly as he spoke.
"Oh, that... it was just a small favor."
Sato thought back for a moment and finally remembered the time he had written several pages of notes and suggestions for Zaimokuza Yoshiteru.
Thinking of that, he asked with interest, "What's your book called?"
"Yes! My new book is called 'Yoshiteru Sword Saint's Journey to Another World'!"
Ah... that title...
Sato's expression immediately became subtle.
Could it be that Zaimokuza Yoshiteru only got signed after reaching the contract word count requirement?
He took out his phone and searched for the title on the website. Soon, he entered the book's synopsis page.
When he saw the reviews, Sato could not help raising a brow.
It seemed... things were a little different from what he had imagined.