Published at 21st of August 2020 8:30 pm

Chapter 299: Side Story - “Tempest Academy Festival Event” - Lottery With The Most Benefits Part 2

This chapter is updated by NovelFree.ml

Speaking of Miss Shizu, the one who participated was not the person herself. It was her “body double” that I dressed up using the alteration sphere. I utilized “Great Sage” to dress her up and make the body double performed very cute actions; something the person herself would never do. I went all out since there was no limit in utilizing “Great Sage”. I was mesmerized that it turned out so well.

Incidentally, I cleared my mind - utilizing auto-battle mode. The live concert could be considered a form of play-off anyway, so it was only natural I used that mode.

All that happened because of Yuuki’s remarks.

I was thinking about how Miss Shizu’s regrets would disappear if only we could save the children.

That was when Yuuki commented.

“Actually, teacher Shizu seems to be interested in being an idol. I was telling her a lot about the world beyond, and she mentioned how she would like to see a concert once. Oh, I wonder if I can somehow make that wish come true — [flicker].”

He was saying it so clearly until that last “flicker”.

He had to be kidding! I thought he was being silly - but I could not prove that statement was false either. One thing led to another, and before I knew it, I was already pushed to do it regardless of my opposition.

Reminiscing about it now made me even more convinced that it was indeed a dark past.

“Brother, you’re being rude to Lord Rimuru!”

“Shuna, you can say that because you were in high spirits! I was an utter disgrace. I never want to experience anything that embarrassing ever again!”

I got to thinking about the past while listening to the exchange between Benimaru and Shuna.

I felt a little bad for getting Benimaru involved in that concert.

But that was unavoidable.

Originally, it was Miss Shizu and I that were told to participate. But I deemed that too embarrassing and impossible.

However, if the number of performers were to be increased, the audience’s attention would be dispersed. With that thought in mind, I decided to involve some more people.

As a result, I invited Souei, but he immediately escaped. Shion, on the other hand, proudly declared, “I’m the manager!” I wanted our performance to be good and pleasant to be watched, so I recruited other members.

For some reason, Milim, who was supposed to be busy with work, had decided to participate in the idol contest as well.

Shuna also collaborated, because she was good at singing. Then she grabbed Benimaru’s arm and said, “My brother is good at singing, too,” without getting his consent, and made him participate as well.

Just like that, the five of us - actually, the four of us - participated in the concert successfully without any incidents.

It was a memory I wanted to erase.

I left all of my performance to “Great Sage”, but Benimaru worked extremely hard to do his part. Thinking that he must have been more embarrassed than I did, I felt a bit grateful somehow.

For the same reason, I responded empathically.

“You should be all right, Benimaru. We won’t have to wear embarrassing costumes or sing in public this time … I think. Well, there are fight songs, but they are not compulsory. It’s like singing together and it’s not something conspicuous.”

That was my heartfelt statement, but little that I knew, that was a wrong perception.

However, it was too late when I realized that.

I was about to create yet another dark past …

# # #

Feeling reassured, Benimaru responded, “That’s fine then. I will cooperate with you,” and then he sat quietly.

There seemed to be no objections from the others, so I decided to give an overview of this event.

“Well then, I will continue the explanation. I mentioned earlier that students’ learning motivation is important, but what’s the best way to keep them motivated? Relaxing is important. So this time, I’d like to think about an event to refresh our moods!”

While saying so, I wrote “EVENT” on the blackboard.

Rigurd commented on it.

“So, Lord Rimuru. What are you thinking specifically?”

As expected of Rigurd, he asked the exact question I wanted to bring up to the floor. I then continued.

“This is still on the drawing board and not set in stone yet, but there are events like sports festivals or cultural festivals that come to mind. They are events that take place at school. Why don’t we use these events as our reference to create our version of events?”

To respond to his question, I gave a concrete explanation based on the memory from my previous life.

For the sports festival, competitions like relay race, ball-toss came, or hammer throw were all feasible.

For the cultural festival, various features or performances could be interesting. During my school years, we had a coffee shop, a haunted house, and concerts. We could have the guys dressing up as girls as a gag and serve customers in the coffee shop, but I thought it was probably better for me not to mention that here.

I wrote various possible plans on the blackboard as the ideas sprung up.

“I have a question. May I?”

Shuna raised her hand.

“Yes?”

“Isn’t leaving various shops to be run by students not much different from the vocational training we usually do?”

Indeed. In addition to studying at the temple school/Terakoya, the students were to practice interacting with human customers as one of the preparations for future encounters. It was not surprising that Shuna thought of that activity was unnecessary for the event.

“You’re right. In that case, shall we do a sports festival instead? The security forces are busy doing combat every day. Since they are required to do physical activities during training days or rotations, they might not find this sports event to be appealing. What if we plan something more extreme to show off their capabilities?”

I replied, in hopes of establishing a common ground with Benimaru and Shuna.

Certainly, her input was reasonable.

The purpose of the event was for refreshing the mood. So it would not make sense to do something similar to the daily activities.

However, Benimaru rejected my suggestion.

“It’s an event for relaxing, so it shouldn’t have anything extreme. Besides, I’d like to do something different from usual, so I think the security forces should plan a cultural festival, while the temple school/Terakoya side should do a sports festival.”

That way, even those who did not do daily physical activities could move their bodies, and those who put themselves in battle would enjoy the production activities. That would be a good and different experience to refresh the mind, wouldn’t it?

“I see, as the name implies. It’s a festival!”

Rigurd shouted happily.

It seemed that he understood my intention.

Following Rigurd, Kaijin agreed.

“That’s an excellent idea! Security personnel will need to adjust their schedules, but I think it’s a good experience to do something different.”

Garm and the three Dwarf brothers agreed as well.

“Yeah. I’ll prepare - whatchamacallit - gym clothes as well!”

“Brother Garm is absolutely right. Anything you need, just tell us!”

“…”

Myrd was as silent as ever, but he nodded in approval.

“I see. For the students of the temple school/Terakoya, a competition like what Lord Rimuru mentioned should be enough. If we act as the referees, we could avoid unwanted accidents as well.”

“In that case, I will do my best to help as well!”

Benimaru and Shuna also agreed. They were on the same page now and positively thought about what kind of competitions and features to create.

The meeting had finally been set in motion. Given the situation, it seemed to be all right for me to leave the rest of the planning to them.

“Hee hee, as expected of Lord Rimuru.”

Shion smirked while saying that.

This girl … Is she misunderstanding something again …?

“What do you mean?”

“I’m Lord Rimuru’s secretary, so I can see through everything. Lord Rimuru is trying to make people with different occupations understand each other’s work, right?”

“Huh?!”

With a self-satisfied look, Shion blurted out an interpretation that was in a completely unexpected direction.

What are you talking about? - I was going to say that but changed my mind, since what she said was certainly a valid point as well.

No, now that she said that, it was right on target. Shion could be sharp sometimes. It would be unwise to underestimate her.

With this event, she would have an opportunity to deepen her understanding of different jobs as well. She would undoubtedly earn respect from other people if she could accomplish that. Considering that, I felt that this event would “kill two birds with one stone”, or more like, three birds.

“Wow, you have improved your skills as my secretary to realize that.”

“Of course, Lord Rimuru! I’m not only improving my cooking skills!”

Eh?!

Well, I wouldn’t agree with that …

I honestly thought her cooking was terrible. In the background, Benimaru shot a distant and melancholic look toward her comment as well.

Wherever Shion’s confidence might have come from would be an eternal mystery.

# # #

As such, the meeting progressed and various ideas began to take shape.

Haunted house was rejected since it would be meaningless for demons.

Concert was also rejected due to the fierce opposition from me and Benimaru.

Hundred-meter running competition was rejected as well because the different characteristics between demon races were too great, so a fair competition would be hard to achieve.

In the end, the features decided for the cultural festival were food stalls. Food stalls would be set up in a large venue, simulating nostalgic peddlers in the village.

As for the sports festival, the competition was something that everyone could participate in. Considering the gap in demon races, we decided to have an obstacle race and ball-toss game.

“Alrighty, we have gathered quite a bit of ideas, so let’s decide. Then —”

The meeting progressed very nicely; I thought it was time to round it up.

Suddenly.

“I heard!”

Milim swung the door open and burst into the room.

“Milim!! Why are you here?!”

“Rimuru, I’m sad. As my best friend, you’re doing something so interesting and yet kept it a secret from me …”

I wanted to explain myself to Milim who was pretending to cry.

In the first place, she mentioned she had work to do and left.

Besides, she decided to show up uninvited and participate in the last concert, as if it was only natural for her to perform!

“Didn’t you say you had work to do?”

“Well, that’s that, and this is a different story!”

This girl … she was definitely skipping work. I was convinced of it but decided to be the adult and kept quiet.

Besides, Milim would not listen to any reason once she was in that mode. Since I would not be able to persuade her otherwise, it would be better to allocate her some non-crucial tasks for the event.

“If so, would you help us with the event?”

“Of course! You can leave everything to me.”

Milim nodded happily. Now that she had seized the initiative, Milim’s participation would not be a problem.

“Lord Rimuru is amazing …”

“Yes, Brother. He could tame Lady Milim so splendidly.”

“Hmm. I should learn from him, too.”

I thought I overheard such a conversation, but I dismissed it as my mere imagination.

Finally, Milim’s participation was confirmed.

# # #

Milim changed into a uniform and took a seat.

I did not know who prepared it, but it suited her.

Ah, Myrd was giving her his thumbs up.

Knowing he was the culprit, I felt relieved and returned to the topic at hand.

“I think it would be good for some executives to participate in the competition as well to lead examples for the students. I want you to be the core and guide the students in the right direction.”

Everyone acknowledged and nodded in agreement.

Milim was … sleeping.

Shion stood up and was about to warn her, but I rushed to stop her.

“Let her sleep. She was probably forcing herself to join us even though she was very busy.”

“Indeed. Lady Milim is a person who can support everyone by just being there. It may be better to ask her to help with the planning for the competition rather than have her participate in the game as a player.”

Shion commented with a gentle and cheerful expression.

I agreed to get support from Milim but disagreed to leave the planning of the competition to her. As a matter of fact, I decided to choose the members who would participate in the competition as players.

Benimaru and Souei had too many abilities and too much difference from the students. The outcome of the competition would be directly linked to how they did. So choosing them as players was out of the question.

For the same reason, having Geld participate as a player would not be fair either. I would have them be in the supporting team. The only ones left were Gabiru and his group, as well as all the girls.

“Gabiru and group will participate in the sports event since they usually seclude themselves in their research lab. I’d like to invite Vesta to participate in the obstacle race as well.”

“Acknowledged!”

“Lord Gabiru will definitely win!”

“Affirmative.”

“Lord Gabiru, I shall assist as well, so let’s show the power of the research team!”

Oops, I got unnecessarily excited and motivated.

I was somewhat worried that the executives would be aiming for victory instead of setting an example.

Oh, well.

While I was considering who else to invite as participants - someone made an unexpected remark.

“Oh, does that mean Vesta will participate as well? 　That’s good. Well then, I shall participate as well, and have a match with that bastard just like old times.”

Kaijin grinned while making such a remark.

The three Dwarf brothers had behind-the-scene duties, but the blacksmith Kaijin should be free. I wanted him to be my counselor but if the person himself was motivated to participate in the competition, it was needless to prevent him from doing so.

“Then it’s decided. Kaijin will be participating in the obstacle race as well. The team divisions will be decided later, but the races will be separated to spread out the abilities and have a more fair competition. Since you and Vesta are Dwarves, let’s be thoughtful and go in different teams.”

“Yeah, I’ll leave it to you, Master!”

The showdown that Vesta did not know about was decided without his consent.

At that moment, Shion raised her hand.

“Shion, what do you have in mind?”

“Yes! Since I’m one of the cultural festival personnel, would it okay to be in charge of cooking?”

The question petrified the whole room.

No way it would be okay.

My eyes met with Benimaru’s. His gaze was more eloquent than any words could express, pleading me to stop her by any means necessary. I felt the same way, so I nodded in acknowledgment.

“Um, Shion, about that … There are many simple food stalls at the cultural festival, right? Gobuichi, Miss Haruna, and Miss Lina will be supervising, but I want to give the students a cooking experience as well! That’s why —.”

“I see, that means professionals like me won’t have showtime, right?”

Huh?!

I was frustrated by her overconfident statement, but to avoid unnecessary tragedies, I thought it would be wise to go along with it.

“Y-yes. That’s right. So don’t worry about the cultural festival, but please participate in the competition, Shion.”

“Understood, Lord Rimuru!”

And as such, Shion became one of the participants in the obstacle race.

# # #

I was at ease since the cooking nightmare was avoidable without any victims. But then Shion turned toward Shuna and started chatting.

“Miss Shuna, it’s too bad. Professionals like us can’t participate in the cultural festival.”

I thoughtlessly shifted my attention toward Shuna and Shion with a severe look.

Perhaps Shuna was surprised as well, and replied, “Eh?!”

That would be the natural reaction, wouldn’t it?

In Shion’s mind, she had skills comparable to Shuna’s and was proud of it. However, Shuna must have felt like rebutting an objection from where she was standing.

Oblivious of the atmosphere, Shion kept whispering.

“Let’s leave the cheering to Benimaru, and we should participate in the competition. What do you think?”

Shuna was perplexed by such a proposal.

I was baffled by it, too. Shuna was supposed to help with the cultural festival.

Unlike Shion, Shuna’s cooking skill was reliable.

I was pondering what to do.

Rejecting that idea crossed my mind, but soon realized that I hadn’t heard Shuna’s response. Supposing she wanted to participate, I would be killing her initiative.

That would be awkward, but - at that time, my “Magic Sense” detected a strong glare.

In my line of sight were the three Dwarf brothers. Garm, Dord, and Myrd were mercilessly glaring at me.

No, that was not accurate.

They were using their glaring power to communicate something to me.

Garm showed me something from his chest pocket.

Those were — Bulma/girls’ gym shorts!!

Of course! In my previous life, those girls’ gym shorts had gone out of existence for some reason.

<>

I see. So that’s how it was.

I was wondering if the complaints were coming in randomly, but turned out there was a good reason which resulted in the regulations.

<>

I remembered. It was on the evening news.

I had completely forgotten how beautiful they were - wait, that was not the problem at hand!

Currently, Garm had already prepared them based on the reenaction of my memory. And the three brothers hoped that Shuna would wear them.

Now that Shion had invited Shuna, the probability for their wish to come true was high. But would it be okay to allow such an indecent idea …?

<>

— Huh?!

Then they should not be a problem.

Hold on a second. To begin with, this was a different world altogether. The ethics from my previous life would not apply here. It was one thing if the girls themselves did not like wearing them. But I did not see the need to deliberately establish rules to ban them.

I nodded in approval to Garm, and then went to call out to Shion and Shuna.

“It might be unbalanced if only Shion who participates. What are you going to do, Shuna? If you participate in the competition, I’ll take over the cheering part.”

Immediately after saying that, Garm and the others looked at me with respect.

Well.

If I put it that way, Shuna would not be able to refuse it, right?

I thought it was a sly move, but I could not disappoint Garm’s expectations.

Somehow or other … I wanted to see the girls wearing them as well!

I had lost my sexual desires that made my demand to enjoy beautiful things all the more excessive.

Besides … Shuna and Shion had been treating me as their dress-up doll habitually.

So shouldn’t I be allowed to wish for them to understand my feelings every once in a while, without being punished? I was thinking along those lines when …

“If that’s the case, then I understand! I will do my best in the competition, so please cheer for me! 　It’s a promise, okay, Lord Rimuru!”

Yeah!

I made a triumphant pose in my mind.

Garm and the others joined shoulders happily.

Shuna and Shion were to participate in the competition as well.

I was overjoyed at the time. Shuna then muttered with a soft voice, “Lord Rimuru, for the cheerleading, please wear that outfit …,” but I was too excited to pay any heed to what she said.

Little that I know I would regret it on the day of the sports festival …

The remaining personnel, Benimaru, Souei, and Geld formed the cheering party.

Of course, Milim took part in it as well, as promised.

The meeting on that day was adjourned after the role of each person was decided.

# # #

Two days had passed since that meeting in the conference room.

Without delay, the cultural festival was officially opened.

The speed in which they actualized an event in this beast kingdom was second to none.

However, since the main purpose of this event was to give the participants a hands-on occupation experience, by having a few people working for a fixed number of hours in rotation to each stall would give enough experience for everyone. No major problems occurred because the personnel working behind-the-scene were vigilant.

Many minor troubles occurred, but those were quite entertaining. By identifying the small details that had possibilities of generating a major incident, everyone was able to reflect upon them and be cautious. Accidents could easily be born from trivial mistakes. And mistakes often happened when you were already used to the job.

It seemed that this school festival provided an opportunity to understand that as well.

Because the amateur participants were not familiar with the work, they became more cautious and asked more questions. They asked surprisingly stupid questions as well.

Personnel overwhelmed with questions they did not have the answer to, were panic-stricken. They immediately cried to their seniors and were told to participate in the compulsory study session. Nevertheless, they were pleased with the valuable experience.

For this very reason, the event was unexpectedly informative for the personnel working behind-the-scene as well.

It seemed that even the participants who usually work in managing a store came to understand the difficulties faced by those working behind-the-scenes. In the future, the number of people making unreasonable orders should decrease. Thus, it could be said that the event was truly meaningful.

The cultural festival, which brought more good impact than I had expected, was held for two full days and ended without any problems.

Then, the destined sports festival began.

Milim had been enjoying buying and eating all kinds of food for the past two days.

I was exhausted from baby-sitting the participants.

Shuna cheerfully appeared in front of our exhausted figures.

“Lord Rimuru, and also Lady Milim. I have especially prepared these outfits for today! 　Please wear these and cheer for us, okay!”

When I unfolded the clothes that were handed to me, I found a sleeveless V-neck top and a fluttering miniskirt.

That.

A cheerleader outfit.

— I mean, wait, wait, wait!!

She wanted me to wear this?!

I was already made to wear maid clothes to serve customers yesterday!

Keeping up with Milim was agonizing. Shion and Shuna were hard to keep up with, too.

Thanks to the four of us wearing maid clothes, the sales that day shot through the roof. From noon to dusk, we were working non-stop to serve the customers who were standing in a long snakey line waiting for their turns to be served.

I was so busy that I had not the time to feel shy. I felt comfortable, so to speak, but … that was by means I was okay with the getup. Absolutely, not okay with it.

“Wait a minute —.”

“Hahahahaha! Wearing this is so easy to move!”

“Wow, you look great, Lady Milim!”

“Really! Very cute.”

My protest came a little too late.

Milim had already changed into the cheerleader’s outfit in a blink of an eye. Upon seeing that, Shuna and Shion started to flatter her.

“Rimuru, you should hurry up and change, too!”

“No, like I said, I’m … originally a man —.”

“Do you dislike wearing matching clothes with me?”

“Like I said, that’s not the problem!”

Like swimming against the current in a great river, I was too powerless to go against them.

I mean, ever since that idol incident, seemed like Shuna had been attempting to dress me up as a girl whenever she had the chance.

“Hee-hee. Lord Rimuru, you promised to be my supporter, didn’t you?”

Witnessing that smile, I could only think that perhaps Shuna might have been under stress as well.

As was the case with the idol activity, surprisingly, Shuna did not resist wearing such clothes. I thought it was the same way this time, too, since she wore the gym clothes so willingly … seemed like it was not just my wild guess.

If she wanted to dress me up like this, I can’t purposely —.

I felt bad to deny her the pleasure.

Benimaru was looking at me with a sympathetic gaze.

“Don’t just look, help me!”

“That’s impossible. Just give in already …”

When it came to Shuna, Benimaru and Souei could not be relied upon. Realizing that, while tasting the bitterness of life, I gave up and held the cheerleader’s outfit in my hands …

The sports festival was getting very exciting.

The results were also unexpected. A team of girls, including Shion, Shuna, Haruna and Souka, won the obstacle race.

No … This result might be reasonable since Shion entered the competition. It was more accurate to say that the male participants were disappointing because Gabiru and his group were not strong enough to compete against Shion.

Well, it could not be helped.

If future opportunities arise, I think it would be better to prepare more carefully and divide the team more appropriately.

The bravery of the girls that unfolded during the fierce competition was magnificent, the cheering from Milim and me was most certainly contributed to the excitement of the sports festival as well.

Anyway, the original purpose was fulfilled. The students released their stress, and the event concluded with great success.

Incidentally —

Because of how the event progressed, — a new entertainment was born in Tempest.

Unknowingly, a popularity contest had already been held.

As a result, Shuna, Milim, and I came to be nicknamed as the three great idols, but … it took a while before I knew about that fact.

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