The argument between Saori and Hoshino, which I thought was heading into irreconcilable territory, ended surprisingly peacefully.
Well, that's if you don't count Saori's Gránd Seiza as an "event."
Thankfully, Hoshino admitted her own fault and accepted the apology. But that didn't mean the wounds in her heart from losing Yume had healed. Hoshino is one of the strongest girls in Kivotos, so I'm sure she can overcome it, but I believe she'll need the help of the new students who will eventually join Abydos.
In any case, after Saori was pacified (having learned a less-than-ideal trick from Azusa), the atmosphere had lightened considerably. The conversation had ended on a good note, and Saori's self-sacrificing act had effectively shattered the serious mood.
…Separately from all that, I need to inspect Azusa's phone sometime soon. I'm genuinely scared she's learning strange things from the Trinity message boards. I want my little squirrel to stay pure.
As I was lost in these silly thoughts, Hoshino fanned herself and spoke up.
"Uheh~ Let's put this boring talk to rest. This old lady wants to hear Saori's story now. I'm curious what Mika-chan did for you all to make you react like that."
"...My story? It's not a very pleasant one. More importantly, it's definitely not the kind of story you should be listening to while you're here to enjoy a festival."
"Our story wasn't much different, so I won't accept such a flimsy excuse. If it's a story that will help me understand Mika-chan, like you said, then I really want to hear it."
"...If that's the reason."
"Uheh~ Good, good. I'm not just curious about Mika-chan, but about you too, Saori. Thanks to you, I was able to face a truth I'd been avoiding, so I'm grateful for that."
Um, excuse me.
Hey, kids, are you trying to have a competition to see who had it tougher?
First, let me be clear about one thing: I love Saori's story. I love the backstory of the entire Arius Squad, but if I had to pick a favorite, it would be Saori's. If you ask why, I can only answer that it's because it's so closely intertwined with Mika's own narrative.
Saori is indispensable to the completion of Mika's character, and Mika is indispensable to Saori's redemption. A fated connection that began with goodwill but led to betrayal. A hatred that snowballed in the process. And a story of salvation, where one forgives the other after understanding them, and the other reflects on herself to find her own redemption.
If you told me that was my story, I'd refuse it until my dying breath, but from the perspective of an observer, it's a narrative so compelling that I not only became completely immersed but even made the protagonist my favorite character.
If they were to hear this story, Golconde and Decalcomanie would probably say something like, 'The literary process was excellent, but the ending was a letdown. A typical story that starts strong but ends weakly.'
The reason I'm bringing this up is to discuss my second favorite character. If someone were to ask me to choose, I would probably be torn between Nagisa and Saori.
That's how much I like her. So, to hear even a part of Saori's story from her own lips is, frankly, difficult. It's not as if this is the first time I'm hearing about her life in Arius from her.
"Saori, are you sure?"
"...Princess, if you receive something, you must give something in return."
"Hey, I don't think that's the right context for that saying…?"
"I-Is that so?"
It was hard enough hearing about the squad's past from Atsuko. Hearing it from Saori herself feels like it's going to be really tough. Especially since their story stands in direct opposition to the core themes of Blue Archive: school and youth.
…Wait, that's strange. Since when did Hiyori start retorting Saori's comments? Is this a change that came about as the squad's vertical hierarchy, with Saori at the top, has softened? This is interesting.
Anyway, as I was thinking about this, the voice of the student running the eating contest boomed through a megaphone.
Screeech.
[Ahem. In exactly five minutes, the final round of the Summer Festival's second eating contest will begin!]
…What a relief. While Saori is telling her gloomy story, I can just cheer for Azusa. I just hope Saori doesn't get upset. It's not that I don't want to listen because I dislike you; it's just that hearing about what you went through there will probably hurt my heart, so please understand.
As the eating contest officially began, the five participants started inhaling yakitori skewers.
There were fewer contestants than I expected, likely because the contest is held four times throughout the festival and you can't participate more than once.
Izumi and Akari from the Gourmet Research Society, and my Azusa. The other two were a Samoyed-morph of indeterminate gender and a robot that couldn't possibly have a gender.
No, wait, a robot in an eating contest? Who made these rules? Is it just incinerating the food as it goes in?
In any case, the mountain of yakitori in front of the five of them was shrinking at an astonishing rate. Even Azusa, who I thought couldn't eat much, was keeping up surprisingly well. It was terrifying.
Ah, watching this is making me crave some skewers too. It reminds me of the "hellfire" chicken skewers they used to sell at the food stall in front of my high school.
"It wasn't a daily occurrence for students to die in Arius, but it wasn't unheard of either. We were too young when the Arius higher-ups were fighting their civil war, but when the Madam… when the dictatorship of an adult from outside the district named Beatrice began, we could no longer use our age as an excuse. If I hadn't stepped in back then, Azusa might, in the worst-case scenario, not be with us today."
Ugh, please. I just want to see and hear stories of you all walking on a path of flowers…
I tried my best to ignore Saori's words, which were clearly audible, and focused my attention on Azusa. As Saori's story progressed, Hoshino's expression seemed to change, but it was hard to be sure what she was thinking.
"Misaki isn't here, but she's also in Arius Squad. Since she was a child, she always used to say she wanted to be freed from this suffocating and bleak body—"
But just because I didn't want to listen didn't mean I couldn't hear. The story started with Misaki, and then Saori began to praise my decision to send her to the Remedial Knights to the high heavens. It was getting to be a bit much. I just introduced her to some good people; why is that all my doing?
Honestly, the praise was so relentless that it was starting to feel like she was worshipping me. It would be nice if I could just enjoy this situation, but the problem is, it's incredibly pressuring. I'm afraid that I might disappoint the feelings of these girls who see me in such a positive light, feelings that go beyond mere affection and border on admiration or even reverence.
I'm not as amazing as you all think I am. I'm just an ordinary person who was lucky enough to possess the body of someone with power and authority second only to Sensei in Kivotos, and who used my knowledge of the original story to help you all.
Fortunately, Azusa declared she was giving up after finishing what must have been two or three hundred yakitori skewers, freeing me from this uncomfortable situation.
Still, to beat Izumi is quite an achievement. As long as she didn't come in last, that's what matters. The robot was basically cheating, and her real competitors were Izumi, Akari, and the Samoyed-morph. Akari has a stomach that can seemingly hold an infinite amount of food, so trying to beat her was pointless from the start. And Izumi is more of a gourmet of strange foods than a big eater. So, surprisingly, Azusa effectively came in third.
…But I really don't know where she put all that food in that small body. I'm not sure if I could even eat ten skewers on an empty stomach.
"Man~ Saori, you've had it pretty rough. But after hearing your story, I get why you think so highly of Mika. She really is a good person. Still think she's a fool, though."
Thanks to that, the story about Arius finally came to an end, which was a relief for me. Once Azusa came down from the stage, we could go for a swim, and since there were so many people, we could even watch the fireworks before heading back.
…I don't know why Hoshino had to take another shot at me, but considering I single-handedly invaded the Arius district, I guess I can't argue with the "fool" part.
Putting all that aside, I was just glad that Saori seemed to have made a good friend. After their big clash and coming to an understanding, it felt like Hoshino and Saori had become comfortable with each other. Atsuko is really the only one who voluntarily tries to expand her social circle in Trinity, so I was relieved that Saori had made a friend, even in this way.
And this was something I had expected to some extent, ever since my position as an anonymous benefactor had dissolved and I had become a new friend to them.
"By the way, Mika-chan, can I see your hand for a second~?"
"Huh? Why…?"
"Uheh~ It'll just take a second. No need to be so on guard."
"Aha. You're going to give me the card back, aren't you, Hoshino?"
"...Uheh?! How did you know… I didn't think I was being that obvious!"
Just as I thought, Hoshino tried to return the debit card to me. As if I'd take it.
"Nope, absolutely not. That card isn't mine until Abydos has paid off its debt."
"But we're doing pretty well now~? We have enough money saved up to cover three months' worth of interest. We can handle our supplies and pay the interest with that from now on."
"In that case, why don't you use the money I'm providing to keep increasing your surplus and take care of the new students who will enroll one day? I'd be much happier with that than with getting some stupid card back."
If I could, I'd want to work my butt off, save up money, and then team up with Nonomi to launch a "Project to Revive Abydos." If I can reach the pinnacle of the food industry in Kivotos, maybe the two of us together could even take on Kaiser someday. After all, Nonomi is the heiress to the St. Nephthys Company, and her personal assets alone are enough to clear Abydos's debt in one go. If we can just keep it a secret from Hoshino, we might be able to pull off some grand plan.
"Calling it a 'stupid card' is a bit harsh to someone who was suffering because they didn't have one~."
"Ahaha, it's not that you didn't have one, it's that you had one but didn't use it, right?"
"...Nonomi's card is an absolute no. Vetoed. And even if we do pay off the debt, the fundamental problem… the fact that someone is targeting Abydos, remains."
It might sound like she's just being stubborn, but Hoshino must have her reasons for refusing to use Nonomi's wealth. I'll respect her choice… but that doesn't mean I like it. Isn't there some other way?
I heard later that in the eating contest, Akari continued to devour yakitori until they ran out of ingredients for the day, shattering the Kivotos record by a huge margin.
The stomach of infinity, indeed.
Azusa, upon hearing this, lamented that she had only lost by a paper-thin margin, to which Hiyori delivered a critical hit by saying, "Azusa, I don't think it was a paper-thin margin, more like a paper factory margin…"
The only other important news was the status of the competition. After we moved to go for a swim, I leisurely checked the competition status while leaning back on a sunbed, only to be met with a disastrous result that made me squeeze my eyes shut.
Gold, silver, bronze—a clean sweep by Gehenna. An all-kill.
"Wa—ow…"
They had taken an eight-point lead in an instant.
I just wanted to die.
…Maybe I should just drown myself right here?
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