Unlimited Fafnir:Volume 11 Chapter 4

Chapter 4 - Full Moon of Heavenly Rites

Part 1

On the day of the festival, many students were traveling along the coastal road during daytime, usually deserted except during commutes, which was lined with vendor stalls. They were also dressed differently from usual.

"What a great move on the principal's part, providing yukatas to all students. Everyone looks very different."

Having finished chopping some cabbage at Shinomiya-sensei's stall, Lisa looked out towards the female students in yukatas, coming to buy yakisoba.

"Yes—It doesn't feel like we're at Midgard anymore. It's really like a festival in Japan."

Likewise in charge of the stall with Lisa, I agreed while cutting carrots.

To adhere completely to a festival in Japanese style, Charl had issued a yukata to every student. Furthermore, the students could choose whatever style they preferred.

It was probably borne by Charl's personal tastes, but definitely a lot of work.

But thanks to that, the girls were all very excited. The main event of the festival was the fireworks show at night, but the seaside was already very busy.

"A Japanese festival... I have long wanted to attend one in person."

"I'll take you to one if a chance comes up. However—It'll be pretty tough."

When I smiled wryly, Lisa frowned.

"What do you mean by that? Are you saying I will get lost?"

"No, that's not it. You're too pretty and striking in your yukata, Lisa, so guarding you will be tough."

"Wha—"

Turning bright red, Lisa halted in her food preparation.

"P-Pretty... If only you had said this earlier—back when I first showed myself to you in the yukata. Saying it at a time like this would throw me off-balance."

Confronted with Lisa's sharp glare, I apologized frantically.

"S-Sorry about that, but I already praised your yukata look long ago..."

Like the girls, I was also wearing a yukata.

Currently at the stall, Lisa and I were the ones in charge of preparation while four others including Shinomiya-sensei and Shion were cooking and serving customers. Since the shop area was limited, we were on a shift system. The rest of the class was walking around to check out other vendors.

I was wearing a traditional navy-blue yukata for men, but girls all loved to dress up glamorously.

Lisa was wearing a wisteria yukata with floral patterns, a great match for her glittering blonde hair which had been coiled up.

"tHaNk yOu."

Bowing to customers, Shion was wearing a cute yukata with patterns of blooming pink flowers on a white background. To make up for her slight lack in height, she was standing on a stool.

The adorable Shion was stimulating the girls' maternal instincts. I heard "So cute!" many times.

Although Shinomiya-sensei was frequently distracted by Shion's cuteness, she continued to cook masterfully.

She was dressed in a yukata that was primarily blue with white flowers, exemplifying a mature and conservative style. Beneath her swaying ponytail, her neck flashed in and out of sight, making my heart pound with excitement.

Naturally, I could not voice all of these thoughts but I still expressed my honest opinion to the girls earlier.

However, Lisa did not look satisfied.

"You lumped us all together and said it looked good on us. You call that a compliment?"

"Uh... But it's too unnatural if I praised you one by one—And you girls were about to depart too. If I showed too much interest, it'd turn into sexual harassment, right?"

When I apologized, Lisa shrugged with resignation.

"Although it was an insensitive thing to say, it would still be better than no comment at all. I am glad for the fact that you take an interest in my attire. Well, getting mad or not is a separate matter."

"Why does it feel like I'm being subjected to unreasonable demands... Fine. Starting now, I'll focus on getting you not mad."

While sighing, I nodded with a wry smile.

Seeing my reaction, Lisa's eyebrow twitched slightly.

"—It appears that you have regained a little normalcy."

"Huh?"

Surprised, I looked back at Lisa. She was wearing a complicated expression.

"Recently, something has been troubling you, yes? Although I dared not ask about it earlier, has it been resolved?"

Continuing to cut cabbage, Lisa asked me.

Ever since the barbecue, I had been thinking about how to answer Mitsuki's question. However, it looked like Lisa had seen through me.

This was definitely not surprising. That was how Lisa was as a person.

"Resolved... Not yet. But I know how to handle it properly, so you don't need to worry."

I answered vaguely.

I had not been able to reach an answer before the festival. All I had done was nonstop reminiscence.

Digging deeper into the depths of the memories Tia had recovered for me—I carefully went through my memories, starting from my earliest recollections with Mitsuki and dug out every memory since then.

For memories that had faded, I would call my parents to confirm, asking them to try their best to recall and send me photos preserved in albums for me as reference material.

In this manner, I kept thinking about Mitsuki, all the way till today.

But even though I still had not found a clear answer—I should be able to speak naturally when I meet Mitsuki later.

"Is that so? Then I shan't worry. Please do your best."

Lisa smiled and spoke with reassurance. She began to cut cabbage swiftly again.

"Yes, I'll give it my best."

I smiled too and nodded, cutting carrots in sync with her rhythm—

I had agreed with the girls to go check out the festival together when our shift ended.

My promised meeting with Mitsuki was last—before the fireworks. I was going to convey my answer then.

Before that, I wanted to enjoy the festival with everyone and so intended to calm my emotions—However...

"So, the winning team gets to monopolize Yuu."

"Yeah—Agreed. The team that wins the most prizes wins."

In front of the ring tossing game stall, Kili and Ariella were staring at each other.

Both of them looked good in their yukatas, but now was not the time to be praising them.

"Do not fail mine expectations, daughter."

"Good luck, Onee-chan."

The two sides had Vritra and Ren cheering for them respectively.

"Uh... Wouldn't it be better for us to stick together?"

Having walked around with these four so far, I tried to mediate.

In the beginning, the four girls were having fun together relatively peacefully, but Kili and Ariella later got into a conflict—Then it became like this.

Ariella had interfered in Kili's night visit before, which resulted in a subtle sense of competitiveness to develop between them.

"No, Yuu. We're already at the stall, so I won't give up."

"That's right, Mononobe-kun. For our sake so that the three of us can enjoy the festival together in peace, this contest is unavoidable."

In perfect agreement in a certain way, the two of them immediately rejected my suggestion.

Next, they presented cash coupons to the stall keeper.

Along with the yukatas, we had been issued cash coupons that could be used at the vendors during the festival. Normally when buying things from the cafeteria or the snack shop, we could pay by direct debit from our personal accounts through our portable terminals, but this was not available at these stalls.

Furthermore, since Midgard's Ds earned money by transmuting resources from dark matter, many of them were immensely wealthy. Unless there was some restriction imposed on sales, the merchandise could get sold out in a flash.

Since this festival was held to let the entire student body enjoy themselves, one method to prevent things from getting sold out was to institute cash coupons.

"Okay, three rings each."

Saying that, a female member of Midgard staff handed out rings to Kili and Ariella. I had seen her many times before in the command center. Although I did not know her name, I remembered she was the operator.

It looked like all of Midgard's staff really were running this festival.

"Since the type of prize doesn't matter, aiming for small prizes is fine too."

Kili confirmed the size of the rings and said quietly with a serious expression.

The prizes were each secured onto the stand and could be won by landing a ring to encircle the desired prize. Comparatively speaking, it was more likely for the rings to bounce off larger prizes.

"Although I've been to a Japanese festival with Ren before—Compared to the original stalls, these prizes are really grand."

Ariella appraised the prizes while remarking poignantly.

"Mm... So many cute ones too. That bunny... is great."

Standing straight, Ren was looking at a rabbit plushie while her eyes shone.

As pointed out by Ren, most of the prizes were cute and girly things. That selection of prizes was only natural since everyone was a girl except for me.

"Oh, do you want that, Ren? I'd really like to win it, but it's kind of big. It'd be too risky if I'm trying to win the showdown."

Seeing Ariella hesitating, I raised my hand.

"Then I'll go for the plushie."

Saying that, I handed a cash coupon to the staff and received the rings.

"—Thank you, Onii-chan."

Ren's happy gratitude was filling me up with motivation.

"Yes, leave it to me."

To be honest, I was very confident.

For someone like me with honed combat abilities, tossing an object was merely a single faceted skill. Given three chances, I could also make slight adjustments. There was no reason for me to miss.

But while I was checking the ring's weight and shape, Vritra, who was standing on Ren's other side, tugged at my yukata sleeve.

She pointed at a certain product seriously.

"I desire that."

It was a bag containing candies of different colors. It was a relatively challenging target because the ring was barely large enough to fit around it.

"Why don't you try it yourself first?"

"I have decided to use all coupons on food. I do not have any to spare on such games with uncertain prizes."

Despite Vritra's matter-of-fact declaration that only served her own interests, I still went "fine" and sighed. None of the prizes was anything I wanted. Since I had three rings, I might as well help Vritra.

"—Got it. I'll help Ren first."

"Yes. I am counting on thee, my comrade."

Since we were cooperating, Vritra haughtily tapped my arm without worry.

Next, Ariella, Kili and I stood side by side with me in the middle and started to toss rings.

"Yes!"

Ariella and Kili won small prizes of low risk.

On further thought, they were very definitely very competitive. Succeeding on the first toss was only natural.

Having no intention of losing to them, I focused my concentration and stared at the rabbit plushie intently.

I adjusted my breathing and tossed the ring like releasing a hand grenade.

Slightly off, the ring's center of gravity was unstable, wobbling while it flew, but this was within my calculations.

Having calculated the loss of distance due to the wobbling, my first toss landed over the rabbit plushie as intended.

"Wow!"

Ren cheered out loud in a rare display.

"You are all amazing."

Accepting the prize from the female staff, I handed the rabbit to Ren.

"Here you go, Ren."

"Mm... So happy. I'll... cherish this gift from Onii-chan."

Blushing, Ren hugged the rabbit plushie.

However, Vritra soon urged "next one is mine."

Smiling wryly, I attempted the second toss.

Building on my success against a high-risk target on the first toss, I did not need to be that nervous. Tossed lightly, the ring landed on the bag of candy.

"Hmm, well done."

Vritra praised my efforts haughtily as usual but seeing her relieved expression, I felt that I had nothing to be mad about.

Next to me, Kili and Ariella also succeeded on their second toss.

"You're not bad."

"—You too are better than I thought."

Seing sparks fly between them, I picked up my last ring.

Since I had won Ren and Vritra's prizes, I no longer had any clear target. As a result, winning anything was fine...

However...

After scanning the stand, I noticed a Japanese style brooch in a corner of the merchandise. It was an exquisitely crafted brooch with a red maple design.

—A brooch huh.

It would not suit me but I remembered Tia's happy face from when I had given her a brooch in the past. I tossed the ring over.

Following a trajectory even more ideal than my second toss, the ring landed accurately over the brooch.

Thus, my rings were all used up. Only Kili and Ariella's third toss was left.

After concentrating for a long while, the two girls exhaled strongly and tossed their rings at the same time.

"—Oh."

Seeing the two rings' trajectories, I could not help but cry out.

They were apparently aiming for the same target. The rings collided in midair and fell on the ground.

"Why did you get in my way!?"

Kili roared angrily and Ariella replied with raised eyebrows.

"No, you're the one who got in my way, Kili."

After glaring at each other for a while, they handed coupons to the female staff at the same time.

"Another go."

"Another go, okay?"

The second round of the contest began.

"...Looks like it'll take a while."

"I am tired."

Satisfied with their prizes, Ren and Vritra commented wearily.

Indeed, it would be very hard to reach a conclusion between Kili and Ariella. When serious, neither of them was going to make a mistake while attempting interference would only end in mutual failure.

When I saw the fifth round starting, I suggested to Ren and Vritra:

"While they're still competing, why don't we first check out the nearby stalls?"

"Mm, good idea."

"Hmm, that frankfurter stand first, yes?"

The two of them responded immediately.

Then we walked to the vendors opposite to us.

In the end, Kili and Ariella did not manage to settle who was the winner. Since the time for their shift arrived, they had no choice but to give up.

Carrying the mountain of prizes they had won, I was really glad that their shift had started before they could use up all their coupons.

Part 2

"Th-This is... goldfish scooping...!"

Next to the water tank with little fish swimming about, holding a goldfish scooping tool in her hand—the paper net—she was shaking in excitement.

"Well, more precisely, it's tropical fish scooping."

Standing behind her, I calmly corrected Iris.

The small fish swimming in the tank were not goldfish but tropical fish such as guppies.

Bringing live animals into Midgard from outside was very difficult, so these were probably acquired locally.

"That's fine too! I've always wanted to try it."

With heightened spirits, Iris held her paper net.

Iris had suggested for our class to set up a goldfish scooping stall for the school festival last time. Although her idea had not been used at the time, it looked like it had taken root deeply in her heart.

Walking around together this whole time, Tia, Firill and Jeanne also expressed their interest.

"Looks very fun! Tia will do it too!"

"...How amusing. I will have a go, as a sort of life experience."

"It's not a chance that comes up every day, I'll give it a try. But... What do we do after scooping them up? Eat them?"

Hearing Jeanne's question, Iris looked back and smiled.

"Jeez, Jeanne-chan, you've gotten it all wrong. You take these fish back home to keep as pets. I can't believe you're such a glutton, Jeanne-chan."

"Well, Iris, you made the same mistake before too."

Iris explained proudly, but her face suddenly turned red when I reminded her.

"J-Jeez, Mononobe! Don't reveal that—"

Listening to our conversation, the female staff pointed to the back of the stall.

"For the convenience of customers who succeeded in catching fish, we have prepared fish tanks that can be purchased using coupons. In addition, you may also choose to exchange your fish for other prizes based on quantity."

As expected of a festival operated by Charl, the after-sales was very well-prepared. Those who found keeping fish a hassle would be pleased too.

"Hmm, should I exchange for prizes..."

Seeing Iris hesitating, I sighed.

"Iris, why don't you worry about it after you've caught the fish? It'll probably turn out to be harder than you think, you know?"

"G-Got it. I'll give it a try!"

Iris answered happily and aimed for the tropical fish.

Tia, Firill and Jeanne also arrived at the fish tank, holding paper nets.

"Tia will haul in a large catch!"

All fired up, Tia targeted a swimming guppy with full force.

Although it was a good choice of target, her paper net broke before it touched the guppy when she smashed it into the water.

"Eh—Why did this happen?"

Looking at the broken paper net, Tia cocked her head unhappily.

Seeing Tia's failure, Firill murmured seriously.

"It's just like in books... The paper net breaks easily. Those scenes where the male protagonist tried to show his cool side to a girl—I remember it's important to avoid the water's resistance as much as possible..."

Making use of her knowledge gleamed from stories, Firill slid her paper net sideways into the water and scooped up a guppy.

"Wow, I did it. Perhaps... I might have talent in this area."

Firill cheered. Watching her, Iris and Jeanne started to imitate.

"Yes! I got one too!"

"—It's not that hard once you get the trick."

The two of them caught guppies splendidly and made their second attempt in the same manner.

"If only Tia can be as good as Firill..."

Already out of the game, Tia slumped her shoulders in disappointment.

However, Firill, Iris and Jeanne all had tiny holes appearing in their paper nets when scooping their third fish.

"Oh... It broke."

"Well, it's made of paper after all."

Iris and Firill failed respectively on their fourth and fifth fish.

Jeanne kept going, using the edge of her paper net to catch her ninth fish, but finally lost at the milestone of the tenth fish.

"Captain, this is a pleasure of hunting that can only be realized in a nonflowing fish tank."

Displaying her accomplishment to me, Jeanne said contentedly.

Despite having been told that the fish were not meant to be eaten, Jeanne seemed to have caught her fish with a hunting mindset.

"Would you like to take your fish home? Or exchange them for prizes?"

When the female staff asked us, the girls thought for a while before giving their respective answers.

"Hmm... It's a rare chance, let's buy a fish tank together."

When Iris said that, Firill clapped her hands together.

"Then let's buy a bigger fish tank to keep them together. Putting it in Mitsuki's dorm might be a bit tacky... But it might be nice as decoration for the dining hall. What do you think, Jeanne?"

"Yes, Zwei would like it too."

Jeanne agreed with delight. Imagining Shion's smile, her expression turned gentle.

After buying a fish tank using coupons, the three girls decided to make a trip back to the dorm.

"Mononobe, Tia-chan, we'll be right back. Just wait for a moment!"

Pushing a cart loaded with the fish tank, the three girls left in the dorm's direction.

"Hmm..."

Left out because she had failed to catch any fish, Tia was pouting with a bit of a sulk.

"How about we go check out other stalls first?"

Patting Tia's head with her little red horns, I suggested. Tia nodded lightly.

Normally, she would instantly show joy when I patted her head, but she was currently quite demoralized.

At that moment, I remembered the Japanese brooch I had won at the ring toss stall, so I took it out of my front pocket.

"Here, Tia, I have a present for you..."

"A present?"

While she was tilting her head in puzzlement, I brought my closed hand in front of Tia's face and opened it.

"I saw this at the ring toss stall. I thought it'd look good on you so I won it."

"Wow! It's so pretty!"

Seeing the red maple brooch, Tia smiled with happy radiance. I was relieved to see her reaction.

"How about putting it on if you like it?"

"Of course! So happy!"

Finally smiling, Tia reached out with her hand but stopped halfway.

"...What's wrong?"

I made a questioning gaze and Tia looked up at me awkwardly.

"Umm, can Yuu put it on for Tia?"

"Sure, no problem—"

Nodding, I bent down. At that moment, I realized why Tia was feeling shy.

She was wearing a yukata with thin fabric. The size was just right and the weather was relatively hot, so the yukata was clinging tightly to her body. If I had to pin the brooch on to the chest of the yukata for her, my fingertips would unavoidably touch her.

"Umm... Where do you want to wear it?"

"How about here?"

Just in case, I confirmed, but sure enough, Tia pointed to her right chest.

Frozen in my posture, kneeling in front of Tia, I noticed the surrounding gazes all gathering upon me.

From the perspective of others, me bending over reaching out for Tia's chest must look rather bizarre. As a guy, I was already very conspicuous and this might cause unexpected misunderstandings.

"L-Let's do this somewhere else."

I stood up and holding Tia's hand, I started to look for a place less conspicuous.

"Yuu is holding tia's hand... Yuu so aggressive today, Tia so happy!"

Holding my hand, Tia smiled and spoke in a bouncy voice.

There were female students all over the place along the coastal road, so I took Tia through the stalls to enter the dense jungle.

With leaves blocking the sun, it was relatively dim and quiet. No one would discover us if it was here.

"Okay, I'm going to put it on."

I let go of Tia's hand and stooped down in front of her.

"Y-Yes... Please go ahead."

Blushing, Tia nodded, staring intently at my hand that was holding the brooch.

I nervously reached for the right of Tia's chest, feeling like I was committing a crime.

Hesitation was not going to change this weird atmosphere, so I mustered my determination and touched Tia's yukata.

"Mm—"

While the soft sensation of the mild bulge from her chest was transmitting to me through the thin fabric—Tia moaned lightly.

In order to secure the brooch's pin, it was necessary to lift the yukata's fabric, but I had trouble pinching the thin fabric up.

"Y-Yuu... It tickles..."

When my fingertip rubbed against her chest, Tia trembled and moaned passionately. Her reaction was making my heart beat faster and faster.

At this rate, it was almost like I was teasing Tia. Although I was hesitating whether to use more strength since I was touching her chest, letting this drag on would be a bad idea.

"Sorry, I'll get it done straight away."

Ignoring the fact that I was touching her chest, I pinched the fabric hard with my fingertips and lifted the yukata forcefully.

"Ah—Hyah!"

Tia cried out sharply and her delicate body jumped.

It looked like I had touched her somewhere sensitive, but at least I managed to pinch the fabric so I immediately secured the brooch.

"D-Done."

Having finished Tia's request, I wiped sweat from my brow.

"Yuu... Thank you."

Blushing, Tia touched the brooch and thanked me.

"You're welcome."

"Yuu's present... Tia will treasure it. Tia has been treasuring the flower brooch from last time too."

While she was holding the maple brooch tightly, Tia's eyes turned watery.

"Really...? I'm happy to hear that."

I felt happy but also a little embarrassed.

"Umm, Yuu—Does it look good on Tia?"

Tia let go of the brooch and asked for my opinion.

"Yes, very good."

Just as I had expected, the red maple brooch was a good match for Tia's hair and the floral patterns on her yukata.

"Really? Come closer for a look. Is it straight?"

"I really think it's fine—"

Tia gestured for me to come closer so I bent down to inspect the brooch on her chest.

But in that instant, Tia took a step forward and leaned against my face.

While the soft and slightly moist sensation surprised me, Tia stepped back slightly and smiled shyly.

"Unless Tia did this... Tia could not express thanks completely."

Saying that, Tia hugged my arm tightly.

"But Tia is not done expressing, so this will continue! Let's go, Yuu!"

Pulling me by the arm in this manner, Tia walked towards the road packed with stalls.

"It's hard to walk if you cling so tightly."

"Don't worry. If it's hard to walk, we can walk slowly."

Flustered, I pointed out it was hard to walk like this, but Tia had no intention of changing posture.

"—Got it. I'll go along with this."

Since it was Tia's wish. I nodded with a wry smile.

Back to the festival, walking together this intimately, we instantly gathered stares. However, it was pointless to be bothered by them, so we walked around the stalls together like this.

It looked like Tia had completely forgotten about failing to catch a single fish. She was very excited right now.

"Yuu, are you happy?"

Holding a water balloon from a vendor, Tia asked.

"Yeah, I'm happy."

After I replied instantly, Tia looked at the sky where the sun was sinking gradually.

"Tia is happy too, but—Tia worries whether being this happy is allowed."

"...Why?"

Tia mumbled when I asked.

Seeing the slight anxiety on her face, I instantly knew what she was thinking about.

"Don't tell me you're worried about the ninth calamity? Vritra said there was no urgency yet, you know?"

"Yes—She said the same to Tia, so Tia did not think about scary possibilities at all. But... is that really okay?"

Seeing the unease surface in Tia's eyes, I nodded firmly.

"Yes, at least for today, you won't need to be punished for enjoying yourself."

I asserted strongly and reached out to pat Tia's head.

Naively pushing things on the back burner would definitely be bad, but there should not be any problem with waiting until the festival ended.

"...Thank goodness. Tia thinks so too."

Tia smiled with relief.

It was probably due to her extreme joy at the moment that made her so concerned about summoning the seeds of calamity.

Even if told there was no urgency, it was true that a crisis was approaching. Perhaps there would be no choice but to confront it soon.

At Vritra's request, I had not spoken to the others about this... However, I decided that the minimum necessary information should be shared with them, after all.

While deciding in my thoughts to have a good discussion with Vritra about this after the festival, I continued to visit the stalls along the road with Tia.

Part 3

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