Arifureta After III School Festival Second Part
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Under the bright and clear sky.
The high school that Hajime and co enrolled in was showing bustling activity since early in the morning. The students were running to left and right in order to finish the final preparation for their class or club’s program. Loud voices were raised for this and that.
It was school festival. The reason for the unusual tumult was the proof of the long awaited school festival.
The atmosphere of the school was festive and joyful like that. However, there was one place that gave off atmosphere like it just had stayed up all night.
「……Finally, it came.」
The one who said that with a voice that sounded like it was wrung out from inside their stomach was placing both their elbows on the table, joining their hand together in front of their jaw, hiding his mouth with a Gendo○ pose, the vice principal.
Yes, the place with atmosphere of staying up all night was the staff room.
All the teachers with the exception of one person were having a pensive look. It was like the expression of the populace who were told that 「The world will end today」.
「Teachers. Today will be a difficult day. Most likely, it will be an unprecedentedly difficult day in our whole teaching career.」
The male teachers gulped their saliva audibly. The female teachers covered their face with both their hands with a sob. Kazuko-sensei looked like she would vomit from nervousness.
「With the police’s cooperation there will be security of plainclothes police officers. The school is also hiring security guards. We cannot deal with this by ourselves. But, even so, we are the one who should stand against the brunt of outside attention. The teachers of this school have to step forward to deal with the problems that occurred.
Because, if they didn’t do that the mass media would abuse them again. The lifespan of my few remaining hairs that is already short even now will be decreased even more.
The vice principal looked outside. People were already gathering outside the school’s outer wall. They weren’t the relatives of the students. They were the slaves of curiosity and the hyenas who made information as their source of income.
His gaze returned to inside the room.
「Also about the headmaster, yesterday midnight he vomited blood and sent to hospital in emergency. Today he cannot be present because he’s hospitalized. ……It seems a hole with record breaking size was opened in his stomach due to excessive stress.」
‘Headmasterrr~’ Everyone’s feeling wanted to yell that. The tragedy of the supreme commander suddenly exiting the stage made everyone wanted to hold their head. Kazuko-sensei went 「Oee」 and covered her mouth.
Vice principal slowly ran his gaze through everyone. He saw the eyes of the teacher one by one, and then, he announced with a warrior face.
「I ask everyone to resolve themselves.」
‘What resolve!?’ The teachers shuddered. Kazuko-sensei quickly opened a vomit bag and vomited.
While the school nurse looked after Kazuko-sensei, the vice principal’s sharp gaze flew to a corner of the staff room.
「Are you listening, Hatayama-sensei?」
「!!」
Aiko-chan-sensei was shrinking her body that was already small even in normal time, desperately wanting to erase her presence. Her body jumped with a jerk. And right after that she started trembling all over like a small animal.
「I, I’m lhistening!!」
She bit her tongue. It seemed she mutilated her tongue with all her strenght. She became teary from the pain. The air of the staff room softened slightly. Though it didn’t work agains the vice principal.
「The fate of this school might be decided today. It’s a critical time! You understand don’t you!?」
「e, u…..ca, calling it fate might be exaggerating……」
Aiko-sensei questioned if it was a bit exaggerating with mumbling voice. The vice principal’s eyes glinted hearing that. Not his head. His eyes. The vice principal knew that it would be meaningless if he wasn’t properly equipped.
He suddenly stood up and approached the window with brisk steps. He pointed sharply at a corner of the ground.
「Who-, permitted-, that kind of huge set up!?」
Ai-chan-sensei averted her gaze wordlessly. The other teachers saw “that” and their eyes turned into the eyes of rotten dead fish.
Over there was a tent. It was a huge crimson tent with height that rivaled thee-storied building. On its prettily decorated signboard was,
――Welcome! To the returnees’ exciting and thrilling South Cloud Circus♪
Such thing was written. It was really irritating how the “!” and “♪” were strangely elaborate. For vice principal.
「Bu, but, they were permitted to perform at the schoolyard……」
「Certainly, I recognize that.」
Vice principal took off his glasses with a trembling hand. He wiped it. As though he was suppressing the volcano inside him that was in the verge of erupting.
「Accidents might occur if people flood toward that special classroom. There’s also a risk the argument toward the classroom’s location might heat up once more without the masses even understanding that it’s a measure that cannot be avoided with the understanding of both the student’s families and government.」
Thus, they were allowed to hold their performance outside the classroom. In the first place, holding a performance on the ground was completely inadvisable. Because depending on the wind’s direction on that day, there was a risk of dusts blowing on the people. There was the intention that the program would be a quiet one if the students were given the requirement that “they didn’t cause any dust to fly to the surrounding” and “the show would be only for a hour at the afternoon”.
Also if the location was spacious, it would be relatively easier to bring the situation under control. The danger would also be lessened. It was also considered that chaos would be harder to occur if Hajime and co were asked to scatter outside of the hour. Because of that, the vice principal gave his permission no matter how wary he was.
But, but still.
「Who would think-, that a tent like that can be raised in just one night!? Is this building a camp in one night like that story of building a fortress in one night!? Don’t screw around-!!」
「Vi, vice principal! Calm down! Didn’t you say that recently your blood pressure isn’t good!」
‘You’re going to get sent to hospital along with the headmaster!’, Teacher Asada pacified the vice principal who couldn’t endure his eruption as expected while pinioning him from behind.
「Shut up-, if it’s hospital then you go first! To the psychiatry! Immediately! Your act is like a completely different person now! It’s scary-」
His wig was beginning to shift out of place. The teachers did everything they could to not look at it while surrounding the vice principal and desperately calmed him down. If he collapsed right now then who would shoulder the responsibility――not that, who would take command of them? Kazuko-sensei sloo~wly fixed the position of the shifted wig. With soft touch! With soft touch! Just like affectionately petting a kitty that was just born!
「Re, rest assured-, vice principal! There isn’t anything dangerous at all! It’s safe and secure! It’s not scary! Let’s get along! That’s the strategy after all!」
「Try speaking the definition word by word! Isn’t there a gap with your understanding of it!?」
‘Aa, vice principal, don’t move! It’s sliding down again!’
「It’s fine! Please have faith! Surely you will be able to see a dream-like world!」
「Rather I want to wake if this is a dream.」
The vice principal said only the last sentence with a straight face. The other teachers were greatly in agreement.
Anyway for the time being he stopped moving, so Kazuko-sensei splendidly accomplished her mission. It wasn’t out of place for even an inch. Rather, his hair style looked more ordered than before. The teachers sent praises inside their heart toward the technique of soft touch Kazuko.
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.
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Even though the teachers were trembling with fear in the staff room, the time was mercilessly moving.
The school festival finally began.
Thanks to the capable local polices, or perhaps thanks to the notification of 「banning anyone related to the mass media in the school festival」 that was sent beforehand, the marching mass media people didn’t mess up the school festival from the start and cheerful hustle and bustle echoed through the school.
It wasn’t like someone somewhere had limited the visitors by taking measures beforehand……there was no such thing. That was the story they were sticking with.
That someone somewhere was walking toward the front gate brazenly. He was gathering attention whether he wanted it or not. That too was also something that couldn’t be helped. The reason was,
「Hoee~, we’re surrounded just as expected~」
「……Nn. Just as planned.」
「Although this is so we won’t get separated……as I thought I can’t calm down.」
「It can’t be helped, Shizuku-chan. I don’t want the long awaited school festival to be ruined because of our fault.」