I Became the Academy’s Genius Shikigami Summoner – Chapter 63.2

Time flew by quickly, and during that time, the students of the Academy, regardless of their grade, had been busily preparing for the festival.

“And so, that concludes today’s lesson. I expect everyone to arrive on time on the day of the scheduled field trip.”

And so, the festival finally began.

Out of the three-day event, the main day was the last day, so everyone was free to do as they pleased for the first two days.

「. . . 𝙒𝙚𝙡𝙡, 𝙛𝙧𝙚𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙙𝙤 𝙖𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙮 𝙥𝙡𝙚𝙖𝙨𝙚, 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙨𝙖𝙮.」

But considering that something was going to happen in just two days, it wasn’t like I could just relax and enjoy myself.

Besides, based on past events, there was no guarantee that the attack would take place on the last day.

That’s why I had no choice but to wander around the festival grounds restlessly, as if I were on patrol.

“Should I go check that out?”

“I heard they’re preparing something over at the central plaza.”

“Hey, how about a glass of our special drink?”

Students, academy staff, and even various outsiders.

As I weaved my way through the throngs of people, my steps began to feel heavy sooner than I had thought.

「𝙄 𝙛𝙚𝙚𝙡 𝙚𝙭𝙝𝙖𝙪𝙨𝙩𝙚𝙙 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙨𝙤𝙢𝙚 𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙨𝙤𝙣. . . . . . .」

This definitely wasn’t an efficient way to go about things.

If I kept up this state of tension and ended up running out of steam when I actually needed to take action, that would be a problem in itself.

In the end, I sat down on a bench near the promenade to recover some of my strength when someone approached me. It was Seo Ji-an.

“Why are you running around like that? Looking for something?”

“. . . No, not really.”

“Then, come hang out with me for a bit.”

After a brief moment of hesitation, I accepted Seo Ji-an’s offer. I hadn’t noticed anything strange while walking around, so there probably wouldn’t be any problems today.

“Here.”

Clank.

After we agreed to spend some time together, the first thing Seo Ji-an handed me was the special drink that I had seen being sold on the street earlier.

“It’s an energy drink developed by a third-year student. You’ve looked tired this whole time.”

“. . . I’ll drink it, then.”

Was it that obvious?

I accepted the drink, massaging my entire face with both hands.

After taking a few sips, I did feel somewhat better, to be honest.

“Sorry for worrying you.”

“Is it because of the field trip escort in two days? You’ll only tire yourself out if you start worrying about it now.”

Seo Ji-an was unaware of what was going to happen then, but she wasn’t wrong. I decided to take her advice and relax a little.

“By the way, what’s up? I heard you went to a lecture given by a graduate.”

“I already went. And I got some interesting information there.”

And so, Seo Ji-an led me to a quiz booth in Zone B, which was filled with all sorts of fun things to do.

“A game of Sympatico?”

“. . . Apparently, the economics book that the graduate wrote himself is a limited edition item.”

Seo Ji-an continued, looking somewhat embarrassed for some reason. After all, for someone like her, who was practically a wealthy heiress, it must have been quite unusual to be asking someone else to play a game like this.

I made some inquiries, but it seemed like there was only one copy of the book and that it couldn’t be purchased separately.

「𝙎𝙤 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩’𝙨 𝙬𝙝𝙮 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙗𝙧𝙤𝙪𝙜𝙝𝙩 𝙢𝙚 𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚.」

It was a game that couldn’t be played alone, so a partner was absolutely necessary. I nodded as I checked the contents of the game.

“I got it. I can’t guarantee I’ll win, though.”

“. . . That’s enough. Thank you.”

The rules of the game were simple. Out of two words given in each round, choose one that matched the other.

And to win the prize, you had to succeed in doing that ten times in a row.

At a glance, the highest score so far was 6. If no one got a perfect score by tonight, the prize would be given to the team with the highest score.

「𝙄𝙛 𝙞𝙩’𝙨 𝙎𝙚𝙤 𝙅𝙞-𝙖𝙣’𝙨 𝙩𝙖𝙨𝙩𝙚, 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙣 𝙨𝙝𝙚 𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙗𝙖𝙗𝙡𝙮 𝙠𝙣𝙤𝙬𝙨 𝙦𝙪𝙞𝙩𝙚 𝙖 𝙗𝙞𝙩 𝙖𝙗𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙞𝙩. . . . . . .」

Although she didn’t have much of a presence in the main story, she was popular, as I had mentioned before, so things like her settings being included as bonus material in guidebooks were not uncommon.

And of course, I had long since familiarized myself with all of that as well.

“Now, Han Kang-yoon and Seo Ji-an from Class A, Grade 2! Let’s begin!”

The student acting as the host began speaking, and I quickly read through it.

The first choice was a question asking about our favorite color. Fortunately, I knew the answer to something simple like this for sure.

“Blue.”

“Oh, you got it! What a great start. Then, let’s move on to the next question.”

This time, it was a question asking which we liked more, dogs or cats.

I knew this one as well, so I continued answering without hesitation.

“Cats.”

“You got that one too! The difficulty will increase from here on out!”

As we continued to answer the questions correctly, the topics did indeed become more difficult. If Adrian had been behind me instead of Seo Ji-an, I was sure we would have disagreed on our answers.

However, with Seo Ji-an as my partner, I was able to answer every question easily, no matter what it was.

In the end, we passed all ten questions and received the limited edition item, to the applause of the spectators who had been watching us.

After the game, Seo Ji-an left Zone B, hugging the book to her chest with a satisfied expression.

At the same time, she revealed a curious look.

“. . . Do I usually talk about my preferences that much?”

“There weren’t many questions that I was sure about. I guessed the rest of them.”

“You have good instincts. To be honest, I thought you’d definitely get some wrong halfway through.”

Seo Ji-an seemed rather pleased, even though she didn’t say it. After all, I had heard that the author who had written the book was a rising star in his field, so it must have been quite a valuable treasure for Seo Ji-an, the heiress to Dae-jin Industries.

“. . . Since we’re already here, do you want to walk around a bit more?”

“Sure. I was thinking of clearing my head a little, too.”

And so, I was able to enjoy the festival with a lighter heart, free from the oppressive feeling for a while.

And I realized something. This festival, which I had thought of as just another passing event, was actually quite enjoyable when I actually experienced it firsthand.

「. . . . . . .」

That’s why I had to steel my resolve even more.

I knew better than anyone else in the world how this festival would turn into a living hell in two days.

I had originally intended to get involved, but now, as a student of the Academy, I had grown fond of this festival.

「𝙏𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙞𝙨𝙣’𝙩 𝙟𝙪𝙨𝙩 𝙖 𝙥𝙡𝙖𝙘𝙚 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙩𝙤 𝙜𝙚𝙩 𝙧𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙣𝙜𝙚.」

No matter what variables came my way, it didn’t matter. I was a veteran who had overcome even greater crises in the future.

「𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙣𝙚𝙭𝙩 𝙩𝙬𝙤 𝙙𝙖𝙮𝙨.」

I would get through them safely.

That was what I, in the present, had to do.

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