Chapter 133 : Shake Hands

TL:SummerPeanut

====================================

November 3, 2030.

"Best regards."

"Best regards."

"Best regards."

What I'm doing right now is shaking hands. Because we are holding a handshake session. We, the first-year S class, are going to have a maid café for the Lister Festival.

Duke Regan gave us permission but we have to do a handshake session for the first two days.

According to Duke Regan…

She didn’t think I would allow others to touch the girls initially. So she asked what about a handshake session? There is definitely a demand for it. Security will be provided by the entire Lister Imperial School. And to my surprise, she said each person would be charged one silver coin (10,000 Japanese yen) to shake hands with us.

I thought there was absolutely no way anyone would pay 10,000 yen to shake hands
with us so I readily agreed and here we are.

It’s not like I don’t understand the feeling of being able to shake the hand of one’s
idol by just paying 10,000 yen…but we are not idols and of the same gender… I'm not comfortable shaking the hand of a man I don't know.....so I thought the guys would be the same way...but the reality was different.

There’s a long line of people waiting to shake hands with us members of S class. The last row looked to be quite far away.

Each handshake lasts 10 seconds, and there is an entrance and exit to the S class classroom, and at the entrance, Ryner and Bram are checking for any suspicious people, and they make sure the people in the line wash their hands before shaking hands with us.

Sasha and Lorenz are guarding near us, and Duke Regan is near the exit.

The handshake lineup is in descending order of rank from the entrance.

Minerva, Dominique, Baron, Misha,

Karen, Ellie, Clarice, and myself.

As I expected, Clarice is the most popular. She is beautiful and sociable among the many beautiful girls in the S class. But the other members are also popular.

Ellie seems to be popular among the beastmen... or rather deified, and many of

them got down on one knee before shaking her hand.

Karen is greeted by nobles of both genders when shaking hands, and Misha is also popular because she is a rare elf. Minerva is also popular for her natural cheerfulness and charm.

And as for us boys... Dominic is popular too but Baron's popularity is greater than expected. Must be his fame as the hero of the north.

But more than that, for my part it’s incredible...Dominic and Baron didn't have many females shaking hands with them until the time limit, but in my case, there were many girls who were still holding my hand even after Duke Regan told them it was over.

I thought to myself that I'm such a popular guy.

Some of them were looking me up and down (which is natural since Mars is tall), 

holding my hand with both of theirs, and even putting my hand on their chest. They would also whisper to me that they would be waiting for me where and when tonight.

I tried my best to make a face of being troubled but I couldn't help but relax my cheeks... Whenever I did this, a blue vein would run across the face of Clarice who was standing next to me.

Finally, at 12 noon, when it's time for a break, Clarice told Duke Regan.

“Can't you do something about the girls shaking hands with Mars? I think it's a bit much to allow the touch to their brea-...chest!"

Ellie protested.

“...there’s such people!? ...won’t forgive! If she comes again...tell me...her chest...I'll cut it off!"

She said boldly with a killing spirit unleashed. Ellie was absolutely serious. Duke Regan saw this and turned to the two of them.

"Okay, okay...the two of you calm down... I'll be watching next to him at noon...okay?"

She tried her best to calm them down.

After that, we continued to complain to each other over lunch. I could only see Clarice next to me but Clarice had also suffered a lot. The boys who came to shake her hand kneaded Clarice's hand as if they were licking it more than necessary.

And, of course, these guys would grab my hand as hard as they could, trying to crush it. It doesn't hurt to be squeezed by someone whose strength value is in the single digits but it doesn't make me feel good. They stared at me with all their might. I'm sure they're wondering why I’m standing next to Clarice.

When I mentioned this to Dominic and Baron, both of them had the same problem, and Clarice also said that when she shakes hands with a woman, she gets clawed.I guess same-gender handshakes are problematic after all.

In the end, we decided to have separate handshaking sessions for men and women 

in the afternoon. The boys would shake hands only with Clarice and the girls would
shake hands only with us. And the price remained the same...

We had other staffs at the entrances and exits. Duke Regan and Sasha were to watch us boys shake hands, while Ryner and Bram were to watch Clarice and the girls.

As a result, we sold a little over 1,400 silver coins in four hours in the morning and 1,400 silver coins in two hours in the afternoon. ...In total, we shook hands for six hours and sold 28 million Japanese yen. ...Duke Regan was also happy about this.

The admission fee to the Lister Imperial School was also one silver coin, which is not
too expensive since it is a place where even senior nobles usually do not come. If you think of it as a theme park...oh it’s still expensive…

Duke Regan is going to aim for 4000 silver coins tomorrow from only one year of S class. Duke Regan's eyes were already dollar marks... I felt relieved after she told me that the day after tomorrow she would turn it into a maid cafe.

The handshake session was to end at 3:00 p.m. but even at that time, there was still a long line of people waiting in line. Our working hours were kept, and the hundreds of people who were waiting in line were told to come back tomorrow. I say "tomorrow" casually but the admission fee alone is another silver coin...and I truly think it's a complete rip-off...

The public is supposed to leave the grounds of the Lister Imperial School by 4:00
p.m.

Students at Lister Imperial School are not allowed to leave their classrooms or designated areas until the public leaves. And during the Lister Festival, we had been told to stay away from outside as much as possible. We, the 1st year S class students, were especially strictly told not to go outside.

I had to stay in the classroom until 4:00 p.m. so I was chatting with the S class members.

“In the end, Mars is really popular huh. For some reason, that made me happy, too.”

Misha said with a smile, and Minerva added

“I know right. I was surprised at how well-known Mars and Clarice are in the Lister Confederacy. Really. Perhaps they have surpassed Baron's fame.”

Yes, after all, Baron was very well known.

After all, he had been famous as a hero of the north since he was a child and many people came to the show to see him. It was not only girls but also boys.

“I have no doubt that Mars will be more famous than me in less than a month. Even today, all the girls who came to see me are already crazy about him.”

“Having both titles of sword saint and the hero of the north...something about Baron
smells like protagonist...”

Hearing my words, Dominic said.

“The reason I was called sword saint was that there was no Mars in the Holy Kingdom of Diadora. The Holy Kingdom of Diadora has a lot of exaggerated titles. Sword saints, saints, young scions...and even some not-so-appreciated nicknames such as devils and stallions.”

“The stallions were called the stallion because there’s no Mars in the Holy Kingdom of Diadora. If there had been a Mars, wouldn't those guys have stopped being a pervert?"

Karen's strong words hit me hard... Karen also seems to be angry about what happened at the handshake today... And my partner hasn't been used in 30 years including my previous life let alone being a stallion... I'm shrugging my shoulders, and Clarice followed up for me.

"Well, that was initiated from the girls...and it's hard to say no to a lot of things when we’re getting paid for them..."

With this one word, the flow of the conversation changed.

“Hmm... That may indeed be true because the number of student candidates will be affected by how well they do at the...Lister Festival, so from Duke Regan's point of view, I'd say that's something to pay attention to..."

Karen seemed to have changed her mind a little. She is the sub-leader of Reimei, after all.

“But Mars no longer has the image of a sword saint in our minds, no? No matter how you twist about it, he's a magician, and...well, there’s no image of a stallion in this world, do we? Well, I do think in years to come he’ll have the nickname, ‘Stallion of Reimei’."

The runaway elf had taken the flow to the wrong side again. And what's with the Stallion of Reimei, I'm not going to go and accept a commission if it there’s with XYZ!*1

At 4:00p.m. we headed for the school canteen. Normally it's only open for lunch but during the Lister Festival it's open until night.

We could have eaten in the dormitory canteen but we decided to eat in the school canteen because we were going to eat with all the S class students.

When we were eating in the cafeteria, the members of Red Lotus also came.

“Mars, I heard you had a great handshake session. I just met with Duke Regan and she said it was the most profitable one ever.”

The Lister Festival is different from Japanese cultural festivals, and it seems to be a very commercial-like event.

“When I think I'll be free from the handshake tomorrow... I don't want to do it again next year... By the way, how did Brother Ike and the rest go?”

“Yeah. They were quite fruitful here too. The Balkus Kingdom and the Zarkham Kingdom also seem to have more and more five-year schools, and it was quite fun to watch the fight with students of the same grade from other schools.”

Huh? Ike isn't fighting?

“Brother Ike didn’t fight?”

I asked, and Garl answered.

“There’s no way they can fight the last boss directly, can they? Only those who fought us and the fifth years and win first can fight Ike. Well, there aren't many students like that..."

Yeah. That's more than a bit humbling. Then Clarice said.

“Sister-in-law, would you have some time during the Lister Festival? We're going to have a maid cafe the day after tomorrow, would you like to join us and be a maid? I don't think five of us would be enough..."

When I suggested it, the senior glasses said.

“Sure. I'd like to play with Clarice and the others, it would be fun. When I'm not fighting, I'll be your personal maid over there."

She made fun of me with a smug look. Clarice is used to it by now and said, "Well then, I'm looking forward to working with you" and easily let the senior glasses’ words slide.

But Clarice's suggestion was nice. I think you have to have one maid with glasses in the team. I'm looking forward to the day after tomorrow.

====================================

Author’s note:

Please shake hands with me at Korakuen Stadium.

<<Prev

Next>>

TL’s note:

1. If you forgot, Reimei means Dawn.