The Game Development Club reached their own happy ending.
Although, according to Yuuka, it was merely a postponement of their club’s seizure and disbandment due to not receiving an official award. Regardless, escaping the threat of disbandment itself was good news for them.
Yuzu no longer needed to return to the dorm where her taunting classmates were, and Aris was able to continue being part of the Game Development Club.
Tales Saga Chronicle 2 reached 30,000 downloads just two days after winning a special award at the Millennium Price, achieving a market rating of 4.1, which was quite commendable.
User reviews were multifaceted, but compared to the previous work that was purely panned, they had truly made significant progress.
There were plenty of ridiculous moments, and a few times that could aptly be called crises.
Still, looking back at the end, the teacher thought it was truly a rewarding time, a pretty enjoyable request.
“Teacher, what on earth is this messy report?”
“…Haha. Just give me a break this once, Rin-chan.”
“Who on earth refers to me as Rin-chan…? Sigh. I think I need to have a very detailed lesson for you on report writing soon.”
“Can I resign?”
“Absolutely not.”
…The process of recording wasn’t very enjoyable, but recently, within the last two days, there had been a new change in the teacher’s daily life.
While staying in Millennium, he often heard songs from the multi-talented idol group, Blooming Buds, which had been added to his playlist. Occasionally, after finishing work, he would watch their stage performances on music video or streaming sites.
Given that the group was made up of busy kids gathering together, it was unusually professional, resulting in the teacher feeling intrigued.
When Tales Saga Chronicle 2 won its award, T.S.C 2 recorded more search counts than most idols from Kivotos, but the one entity they could never surpass was the stronghold of Blooming Buds.
Thus, two days later, a new goal was added to the teacher’s bucket list.
Someday, to personally produce a new idol group and nurture them like those sparkling jewels…!
Of course, the more he watched the students shining brilliantly in stage videos, the more he felt his confidence wane. He couldn’t help but wonder if that was even possible.
However, he had no intention of giving up a bit. After all, they were his students; there was no way they wouldn’t shine like that.
“…But how come Mika isn’t missing anywhere?”
It hadn’t even been a full two months since he started being active in Kivotos, yet the name Mika was exceedingly familiar. Everywhere he looked, the name kept popping up.
Even when he discovered that the owner of the restaurant franchise selling the spicy rice cakes he ate for dinner yesterday was also named Mika, the teacher couldn’t help but question whether he was the brain in a jar.
‘What if I’m just the brain in a jar, and Kivotos is a virtual world created by Misono Mika, and I’m a resident living there in consciousness after death?’
It was an absurd delusion, but he had his own reasons for saying it.
Just then, a phone call rang through to the teacher’s office.
“…Hello?”
[Ah, you really picked up! Oh no, what do I do?!]
[Calm down and take a deep breath, leader! Haah! Hoo!]
[O-Okay. Hoo. Haah. Then… Hello! If it’s not too much trouble… is this the phone number for Shalle’s teacher?]
“Yes, that’s correct. Please tell me your name and purpose of contact before transferring 1 million yen to the account number I’ll provide.”
[Ah, so it’s correct. My name is Shizuko, and the purpose is… um, wait a second. 1 million yen?!]
“Haha, just kidding.”
[You’re unexpectedly a bit of a troublemaker…]
“So, Shizuko. Can you tell me why you called?”
[Cough cough… Hello, teacher! I’m Shizuko~ I’m the leader of the Matsuri Management Department at Hakgwiyaeng United Academy~ And I’m also in charge of the White Night idol group~!]
Hearing Shizuko’s self-introduction made the teacher chuckle quietly. How is it that all the students are so quirky?
‘…Hakgwiyaeng.’
It had been quite a while since Mika explained it, so memories were a little blurry, but he still had a rough idea.
Hakgwiyaeng was a united academy formed under the leadership of the club called Baekhwayoran, combining multiple clubs. There wasn’t an official student council, but there was practically a club called Onmyoubu that held a similar status.
And the place where various festivals took place throughout the year, a sanctuary for festival addicts.
So there surely existed a club called the Matsuri Management Department.
[The reason I’m calling today is to invite you to our spring cherry blossom festival, White Night!]
“White Night?”
[Yes! Please come as the teacher of Shalle and light up our event! This time at White Night, we’re planning something special like never before! It’s going to be an even more extraordinary festival!]
Just by hearing Shizuko’s bright tone on the other end, the teacher’s heart started to lean into accepting.
Yet he couldn’t help but notice that the atmosphere felt somewhat artificial rather than naturally bright.
[Additionally, there’s a little something I wanted to consult with you, so I hope you can come visit us!]
Click.
Left with the disconnected call, the teacher stroked his chin with a subtle expression.
It had only been three days since the Game Development Club’s work ended, and now he had to go out again?
‘No, wait. It’s a festival, right? Even if it’s a consultation, it shouldn’t be anything major…’
Recalling the requests from the Game Development Club, the teacher paused for a moment in thought.
After all, the Game Development Club’s request was also initially taken on lightly and ended up taking more than two weeks. Although not all of that time was spent in Millennium, most of it was.
‘Still, it’s a festival…? Can I ignore this?’
An intense internal conflict was brewing within the teacher. There was no way he could simply pass on a cherry blossom festival that was supposed to be more special than ever.
In fact, setting everything else aside, once Shizuko mentioned a consultation, the teacher’s mind had already made up its decision.
And that’s when Shizuko sent a picture.
[Here’s the poster to help you find your way to the festival venue.]
[So, Shizuko, while hoping that you come, I’ll be waiting at the White Night♪ Nyang nyang!]
“…Nyang nyang?”
Nyang nyang… Nyang… Nyang nyang?
With that, the teacher immediately jumped up from his seat and began searching for plane tickets.
Watching him silently, Arona let out a small sigh.
At times like this, she thought he was not just an adult but rather a big kid.
*
Suddenly, an inexplicable thirst arose.
“Hey, I’d like to drink some water… Ah, thank you.”
He naturally accepted the water being offered by Nagisa next to him.
But isn’t she giving him a bit too much? He was gulping it down, but still…
“Ah.”
When the water bottle dropped from his lips, a few drops trickled down his chin.
As if waiting for that moment, Nagisa used her fingertips to wipe it away and guzzled down the remaining water in the bottle.
It’s not like he didn’t have hands, so why was he drinking the water someone else handed to him? He could understand if someone questioned that. If it were him, he would.
But there’s a reason for it…
“…”
On his left, Hina was peacefully sleeping, clutching his arm, breathing steadily. Was it because everything was such a bother that she didn’t sleep much, which made her more tired?
Turning his gaze to the right, Nagisa, as beautiful as ever, smiled sweetly. She too was tightly holding on to his arm. To be precise, she was gripping his hand tightly.
If he had to argue, these two were relatively possessive among his partners, and that trait had carried over to this scenario where he could hardly use his hands.
“Mika.”
“Yeah, why does it matter?”
“Nothing important. I just wanted to call your name.”
“…Are you bored?”
“A little. But just having you beside me makes it fairly bearable.”
With a smile, Nagisa raised their interlocked hands to her eye level. He wasn’t entirely sure, but her gaze was probably directed toward her ring finger.
Just before boarding the plane today, she had been searching for ring designs on her phone.
“…Hua.”
“Nagisa, that tickles…”
Just as she leaned against him, she inhaled deeply. The sensation of Nagisa’s ticklish breath on his nape was something he could never quite get used to, regardless of how many times he experienced it.
It wasn’t just Nagisa, but if anyone else were to experience the same, they would likely have a little note in Noa’s mental database on Misono Mika detailing this.
[Nape: ★★★]
That’s the sort of feeling.
…Wait, no, if it were Noa, she might have more detailed categorizations. Because otherwise, there’s no way he’d feel like his stamina was being drained double time whenever he dealt with Noa.
That and the fact that she always had energy to spare was downright incredible.
“But, Nagisa, there’s something I’ve been curious about since earlier. You both have oddly large travel bags today. Why is that?”
“Um… I’m not sure? I don’t really know.”
The way she stammered meant there was definitely something going on. The reason that their travel bags seemed around 1.5 times larger than his…
Well, whatever. He’d figure it out after unzipping and looking through them at the accommodation.
Truth be told, there was something more crucial and at the same time a little disappointing. He was sure that if he peeked outside the window, he would see the cherry trees of Hakgwiyaeng, blooming beautifully.
Yet, Hina had fallen sound asleep right by the window, preventing him from seeing it…
