Chapter 132 : Lister’s Festival

TL:SummerPeanut

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October 21, 2030, 14:00 hours.

“Duke Regan, we have returned.”

We are now in the principal's office of the Lister Imperial School. All of Daybreak except Ryner and Bram are here.

"Welcome back. We have already received a report from Margrave Isaac. He said that you have fundamentally solved the magic beast attack in the fortified city of Isaac. We have also received a detailed report from the margrave. He detailed that even a B-ranked party would find it hard to accomplish the same difficult tasks such as defeating Hercules Ant and destroying the nests of killer ants...

For now, we are going to promote all Reimei members to C-rank adventurers and all
Genesis members to D-rank adventurers but Mars has received a letter of recommendation as a B-rank adventurer jointly signed by the Margrave Isaac and Recca the Knight Commander of Arcane Fire. What will you do about this recommendation from two people who are also incredibly well-known for their bravery in the Lister Confederacy? I, for one, am very pleased to see the birth of a B-rank adventurer from the Imperial School of Lister and I would very much like you to accept this offer though..."

Perhaps it's because she hasn't seen me in a while, but Duke Regan is speaking very politely. She also seemed to be nervous.

“I understand. I respectfully accept.”

I've gained a lot of confidence now so I guess I can rank up to B-rank adventurer now.

When I replied so, Duke Regan looked relieved and said…

“Thank you, may I ask you one question? Mars, you seem to have grown up suddenly but did something happen? Also, Clarice seems to have changed a lot in the past month?"

"No...nothing in particular...Did you forget that we are in our period of growth?"

Hearing my words, Clarice followed up below.

“There’s nothing special on my side too...but I've been in a lot of battles and my level has gone up a lot.”

“I see...S class will be on break until the 25th, and on the 3rd of November we will have the Lister Festival and S class will be invited to participate in it.”

I wonder what is Lister Festival...and it is even on the 3rd of November, perhaps it is similar to a cultural festival? I asked Duke Regan what I was wondering about.

“What happened to the Warrior Gods Festival?"

Duke Regan smiled when I asked above.

“It was a great battle. Especially the final match between Ike and Duval was an amazing match. Ike was exhausted from continuous fighting against the top 5th graders ever since the qualifying rounds but he won the tournament in the end. It’s amazing that a 4th grader could destroy the 5th grader. I have seen him as a freshman defeating 4th graders but defeating 5th graders from A class is its own spectacular accomplishment. Well, I expected that much from Ike..."

I couldn't help but gulp. I had one more question I wanted to ask but I couldn't talk about it in front of everyone so I asked the other members to go back to the classroom first.

“I'm not sure what happened to Lillian. Did she join the Red Lotus?"

I asked about Lillian, the Holy magician.

“Oh? You knew it was Lillian? Lillian is going to another A-rank party. Lillian herself wanted to join Red Lotus or Reimei but Ike officially turned her down. ...do you brothers realize how valuable a Holy magician is? They are still very valuable despite their character defects, you know? Why are the two of you like this?"

Conversely, Duke Regan returned to me with a question.

“I don't know why Red Lotus turned down Lillian but I like the current Reimei very much. I refused because I believe that if Lillian entered Reimei, there would definitely be problems. I have no intention of letting her join Daybreak either."

When I said it clearly, Duke Regan replied.

“So...I'm sure Red Lotus is with you too...”

I left the principal's office and hurried back to year 1 S class where everyone was in middle of chatting.

“Karen, is Lister Festival like a cultural festival?”

“I suppose so. The other schools call it a cultural festival but only the Lister Imperial School calls it the Lister Festival. Well, this is the center of the Lister Confederacy's cultural festival. The Lister Festival lasts for a week so it is pretty tiring. So what do we do?"

It goes on for a week huh... Well, if we're going to do anything with this group of people, it's going to be fun. Then Baron suggested.

“There might be a lot of people coming here who aren't sure which school to go to. I came to the Lister Festival last year and it was awesome. At that time Red Lotus was already famous, especially Ike, so I wanted to catch a glimpse of him but he was too popular for me to even catch his shadow.”

Then Karen said.

“But I think we're getting a lot more attention this year. After all, it's known to the world that we won against the Royal School of Syrians in the martial arts division at the Freshman Combat Tournament and won the overall tournament, and most importantly, Ike’s last year reputation can’t even compare to Mars’s. It seems that Papa and Marquis San Marina are promoting him and the world knows that even the race-discriminatory Duke of Syrians approves of Mars. In addition, I heard that Clarice's good looks are spreading quite a bit too. Along with her nickname as Nut Crusher..."

Oh...we've completely forgotten about it but the world still remembers it... So when did my fame rise too...and I thought I was keeping a low profile...

“Hmmm...what shall we do…?"

Misha interjected after seeing I’m in lost.

“Mars, what are you wondering about? You've already decided on a maid cafe, haven't you?"

What? I’ve already decided? Then Baron, Dominic, and Minerva expressed their agreement at the sound of a maid café.

“Okay. Then let's make it a maid café. We're off tomorrow so we'll decide on the services and prices while we're on holiday.”

The conversation was settled, so everyone except me and Clarice returned to the dormitories. Clarice and I decided to go to the student council room.

“Excuse me.”

After knocking on the door and entering the student council room, everyone was surprised to see me and Clarice.

“Oh, it's been a long time. Mars...you have grown up a lot or rather...matured, haven't you? Aren't you taller than me already...? And Clarice, too... I can't even look directly at you...what can I say now?"

Ike slurred his words, and the senior glasses said.

“Aah, how awful of you to fall for another woman right in front of your fiancée. And I can't believe that the other person is my brother's fiancée. But really, Clarice has become so cute...It's like the crystallization of beauty. ...the big winner this year is Clarice I guess...Mars is quite something, too...you’re cooler than ever..."

As she said this, she looked into my face and the glasses senior's face got redder and redder.

“Ede, you’re the one with the hots for Mars...and you two really do surprise me with your many things.”

Apparently, the two of us have grown up a lot. I've certainly grown a lot taller and firmer. I'm probably well over 170 cm tall.

Well, Clarice's height hasn't changed but her appearance is so outstanding that even from the top of her school uniform you can tell that she has completely grown into an adult figure. Not only her chest but also her body lines are completely maturish. Clarice was embarrassed as she replied with a “Thank you”.

“Brother Ike. Congratulations on winning the Warrior Gods Festival. I met Senior Duval in the fortress city Isaac and he seemed quite strong. And to be honest, the axe-user-looking brother Ike, who is actually a spear-user, didn't seem to be a good match for him but it seems that you have won with flying colors.”

When I said this, Ike looked happy.

“Thank you. This year was my last chance. Next year, Mars will be here so I definitely wanted to win the Warrior Gods Festival this year."

By the way, Ike's stats is as per below.

Name: Ike Bryant

Title: -.

Status: Human race, Count Bryant's heir apparent

Condition: Good

Age: 13 years old

Level: 28

HP: 82/82

MP: 1102/1102

Strength: 63

Agility: 54

Magic: 35

Dexterity: 36

Endurance: 58

Luck: 10

Special Ability: Swordsmanship (Lv6/C)

Special Ability: Spearmanship (Lv8/B)

Special Ability: Fire Magic (Lv6/C)

Special Ability: Wind magic (Lv2/G)

Equipment: Salamander Lance.

Equipment: Ifrit’s Mail.

Equipment: Flame Bracelet

Equipment: Ring of Protection

I think his stats is quite high for a level 28.

Well, Reimei and Genesis members can expect our stats to increase further with age so we can't exactly compare them fairly... But with this stats, Clarice and Ellie are already stronger. Misha may possibly be the stronger one too.

Whether he knows it or not, Garl the Dwarf added his five cents.

“No one can beat Ike now as a student ‘ya know. No doubt Ike will become an A-rank adventurer...

And we're pretty strong too. I might become an A-rank adventurer before too long."

At Garl's words, Ike said.

“Garl...there is no doubt I'm weaker than Mars. That's all you need to know. And I’m probably weaker than Clarice... Clarice, I'm sorry but can you take off your bracelet?"

To take off the bracelet of disguise huh. ...Speaking of which, Ike was not equipped with a bracelet of disguise at any point. I nodded silently as Clarice looked at me for confirmation. I don't know how much the glasses senior's Binding Eyes can appraise but I'm going to trust Ike here.

It will probably allow the senior glasses to appraise it. When Clarice took off her bracelet, Ike asked her to have senior glasses appraise Clarice. Naturally, the senior glasses is surprised to see Clarice’s specs...

“What...? This is a lie right...? All her stats are higher than Ike's... Isn’t Clarice a rear
guard? How can she have that kind of status...?"

As soon as Clarice was appraised by senior glasses, she immediately equipped herself with the bracelet of disguise. Hearing those words, Garl and other Red Lotus members were surprised.

“You get it? Garl? This is the reality. Sure, I think we are strong but there are always students stronger than us. It's not just Mars and Clarice here. Perhaps Ellie is stronger than me. But we still have to become strong.

We must not be servile just because we are weaker than Mars and Clarice. We have to work harder than ever before, and at times, we have to study harder too. We must not become arrogant and the result of our efforts will be just like Mars and Clarice.

There is a difference in talent, of course, but I have seen Mars and Clarice's unparalleled efforts since I was a child. Let's become stronger without being conceited. We the Red Lotus party will only get stronger from now on!”

All the members of Red Lotus who were present nodded their heads at Ike's words. I think Ike is really admirable. I am really glad that Ike is my brother.

“By the way, what are brother Ike's 4th grader class S doing for the Lister Festival?”

I asked him.

“After what you just said, I'm thinking of doing ... kumite*1 because it's rare for a fourth-year student to be the winner of the Lister Imperial School's Warrior Gods Festival. I want to show those who are not sure if they want to take the test this year that they can be this strong as a 4th grader if they stay here. Also, the 5th graders will be joining us. By the way, what are you and the other S class freshmen doing?”

“We're going to have a maid café, and since we have the 25th off, we'll decide on the details before then.”

I said to Ike.

"That's a great idea! I'm sure there will be a constant line. You'd better think about how you're going to control the crowds. Also, you should definitely talk to Duke Regan. And to the other teachers too."

After talking with everyone in Red Lotus, Clarice and I left the student council room and decided to go on a date in the Regan academy city, just the two of us for the first time in a while.

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Author’s note:

The muddy situation of an older brother and his wife falling in love with the younger brother and his wife...I don't even want to imagine that.

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TL’s note:

1. Try googling japanese Kumite (組み手).