Chapter 55: Eriri, who looks very confident
After Golden Week, the Midterm Exams, as well as the school festival and sports day, would follow.
As the Midterm Exams approached, for these two days, only the club president and Kaede came to the Art Club to prepare the backdrop paintings for the school festival.
"Asakura, pass me the red paint."
"Okay."
After handing a small bucket of red paint to the president, Kaede looked at him and asked, "President, the Midterm Exams are coming up soon. Is it okay if you don't study? Uchimaki and the others have all gone to the library, you know."
"Hahaha, it's fine, it's fine. My grades are pretty good."
The president dipped his brush in some paint and began to draw on the large canvas in front of him.
Kaede listened to the president, and although he didn't know the specifics of his grades, he wasn't too worried and continued to focus on the part he needed to paint.
More than half an hour later, it was almost five in the afternoon, and while Kaede and the president were busy, Eriri and the other two also walked over.
"It's almost time, let's stop here for today!"
Hearing Eriri's voice, Kaede turned his head and asked her, "Have you finished reviewing for today?"
Motioning for Kaede to come down from the ladder, Eriri handed him a drink and said, "I've pretty much reviewed all the key points. I just need to consolidate them over the next few days. The knowledge points you organized are very complete, so I don't feel as much pressure as before."
"That's good."
Kaede smiled, took the juice, opened it and took a sip, then looked at the president, who was also coming down from the ladder, and said, "President, let's go back for today. We can finish the rest of this in two days after the Midterm Exams are over, with everyone working together."
Drinking the drink Uchimaki Subaru handed him, the president nodded and said, "Yes, yes, I've been a bit tired these past two days. I need to get some good rest in the coming days."
Hearing the president say this, Usami also said with an 'I knew it' expression, "I knew it, President, you would never say you'd review properly later."
"Hahaha, this is the room of a senior, you know?"
Although the president said that, a few days later... similar to some high school systems, apart from quizzes, for major exams like the Midterm Exams, the results would all be posted on a large public bulletin board for everyone to see.
Kaede first checked his own grades, which were pretty good, fifth in his grade. It wasn't that he made many mistakes, but rather that there seemed to be quite a few academic overachievers in this batch, with the top few scores generally within ten points of each other.
Kitamura Yusaku, who planned to join the Student Council, scored second in the grade this time. As for Takasu Ryuji, his scores were all above average.
Looking further down, Eriri's grades were also quite good, reaching her expectation of over 80 points in each subject, with math even reaching 90 points.
After checking the first-year results, Kaede also looked to the right, at the second-year results board.
As expected, Utaha's name was ranked first, followed by Student Council President Kano Sumire in second place.
"Emmm..."
With a puzzled expression, Kaede searched from top to bottom, one by one, and finally found the president's name in the middle to latter half of the grade rankings.
It wasn't ridiculously bad, but every subject hovered just above the average score line, looking like he was just a hair's breadth away from having to take remedial exams.
After searching for a while, Kaede also found the president among the second-year students.
After saying a few words to Takasu Ryuji and Kitamura Yusaku, Kaede walked over and patted the president's shoulder.
"President."
Seeing it was Kaede, the president smiled and said, "Oh, it's Asakura. I saw your grades. You did very well."
"..."
Kaede pointed at the results board with a helpless expression and said, "President, is this what you meant by the room of a senior? You're clearly flirting with the edge of remedial exams."
"Uh... Ah haha~~~" Being told that by his junior, the president awkwardly scratched his head and said, "This was a mistake, a mistake. This isn't my true level. I'll show you next time."
Sigh, unreliable in every sense of the word. His words were probably just a joke.
"But it's a good thing you don't need remedial exams, President, otherwise Teacher Koyama would definitely come looking for trouble with you."
When Kaede said this, the president suddenly remembered and patted his chest in relief: "That's right, if Teacher Koyama said I neglected my studies because of the Art Club, then I wouldn't be able to sleep well in the Art Club anymore, would I?"
"..."
This guy is hopeless.
All in all, despite some twists and turns, this Midterm Exams concluded smoothly, and everyone's grades were stable, with no one needing remedial exams or anything of the sort. They could now calmly look forward to the upcoming major events.
After classes in the afternoon, everyone from the Art Club gathered together and went to the place where they needed to paint the final backdrop. The five of them got busy.
While applying paint with a brush, Eriri smiled and said to Kaede next to her, "When I used to learn oil painting, I could only use small brushes, but now using a brush like this feels so good! It's just a little tiring."
"Then you can go a bit slower, no need to rush. Two days will definitely be enough to finish."
After touching up a spot at the very top that Eriri probably couldn't reach, Kaede quietly asked, "I've been meaning to ask, how are your manga preparations coming along? When will you submit it?"
Hearing Kaede ask, Eriri carefully glanced at the other busy people before leaning closer to Kaede and saying, "It'll take a few more days, but half of the storyboards for the first chapter are already drawn."
"Aren't you going to let me see it first? At least I have some skill in storytelling."
"No way!" Eriri said with a look that she wanted to keep it a secret, "I'll tell you after it passes the review and is confirmed for serialization, otherwise it would be too embarrassing. And you also said you just 'storytell,' but for manga, storyboards and art style are also very important. I'll handle it myself. As long as the story isn't a big problem, it can be modified in consultation with the editor."
"I see, then there's nothing I can do. You really have to work hard, okay?"
"I know without you telling me, I will definitely become a serialized manga artist!"
Eriri said with full confidence.
However, Kaede didn't think Eriri would succeed so quickly. After all, when he was writing konosuba, he had to scrap and restart it several times before he finally grasped the style. Eriri had only drawn doujinshi before, and now he wondered if she could successfully shift her mindset.
If it doesn't pass, he hoped she wouldn't be too disheartened.