Chapter 91: The Weekend Disaster Begins

One day, as the Celestial Festival approached, a disaster occurred.

“Uh… um… it looks really cool.”

Celian stammered, her voice lacking confidence.

“Y-yeah. It’s not as bad as I thought?”

Yuri, despite saying it wasn’t bad, for some reason turned her face away to hide her expression.

“Pfft… You and Elysia… Puhaha!”

Anne tried to hold it in but ultimately couldn’t and burst into laughter.

Even the cat curled its tail and looked away, as if finding the sight utterly pitiful.

Meanwhile, Rinne was floating midair, clutching her stomach as she rolled around laughing.

How did it come to this?

It had all started with just one small comment from Celian.

I hadn’t expected it to turn out like this… If only I had rejected Celian and my friends’ suggestion back then, could I have avoided this disaster?

I curse my past self for being so careless.

Past me, because of your thoughtless attitude, present me is suffering.

If I could, I would turn back time.

“Come to think of it, El, do you have something to wear for the Celestial Festival?”

On a rare weekend morning with no event rehearsals, I was lazily rolling around in bed when Celian suddenly spoke to me.

“Hmm? I can just wear whatever. It’s not like I don’t have clothes.”

Originally, my sparse wardrobe could have been filled during summer break when I visited Yuri and Celian’s houses.

I had received so many outfits, regardless of the season, that I no longer had to worry about clothes.

Celian, who had personally given me some of those clothes, was well aware of this fact.

So why was she suddenly concerned about what I would wear for the Celestial Festival?

“This year, the main star of the Celestial Festival is you, El, the Hero. Not just the students, but the entire city will be watching you. I don’t want you to appear sloppy.”

“The main star isn’t me, it’s the Goddess…”

I tried to stop Celian from unnecessarily glorifying me, but before I could finish, someone else interrupted.

“That’s right! Celie said it perfectly. It’d be a waste not to show you off… If people are going to see anyway, we should make sure you look your best.”

“No, I mean, the Celestial Festival is about the Goddess…”

Another person joined in to put me on a pedestal, and I tried to calm them both down, but once again, I was cut off.

“What? What? What’s happening? Celestial Festival? El? Clothes? I’m in! Let’s go, let’s go!”

Anne, the latest riser among us, had finally emerged from washing up, her hair wrapped in a towel. Without even knowing what we were talking about, she loudly barged into the conversation.

Despite not having a clue, she immediately grasped the situation and sided with Celian and Yuri.

“Ohoho! I smell something fun. If that’s the case, there’s no way I, Rinne, can be left out!”

And so, just because it seemed amusing, Rinne also joined in to indulge her own desires.

At this point, rejecting the idea had become nearly impossible, a far cry from when Celian had first brought it up.

“…Fine. If no one has anything else to do, let’s head out around lunchtime. We can eat out while we’re at it.”

Yeah. If they were going out of their way for me, there was no reason to refuse.

Thanks to becoming the Hero, I no longer had to worry about tuition until I left for the Demon King subjugation, meaning I had more financial leeway.

It wouldn’t hurt to splurge on a high-quality outfit for once.

And since everyone had been helping me all this time, it wouldn’t be a bad idea to treat them to lunch as thanks.

“Then, should we start getting ready to leave? It’s probably best to eat first before heading out. What does everyone want?”

“Anything’s fine! Just not spicy food!”

Normally, “anything” would be the hardest order to fulfill, but since Anne was the one saying it, it was a bit different.

For her, “anything” really meant anything.

If she didn’t have a specific craving, Anne could eat just about anything without complaint.

Still, one might wonder why she wouldn’t just stay quiet until a menu was decided, but… well, it’s Anne.

“Um… let’s see. Now that I think about it, I heard a new noodle shop opened recently, and it’s supposed to be pretty good.”

“Recently? I think I heard some classmates talking about it too.”

“Oh, I heard about it as well! It hasn’t been open for long, but people are already lining up outside.”

For a noodle shop with fast turnover to have a waiting line, it must really be popular.

“Then let’s go there. It’s still a bit early for lunch… but if we consider the waiting time, should we head out now?”

Since we all enjoyed exploring good restaurants together, we had already conquered most of the popular spots in the city.

With a newly opened restaurant in the mix, there was no reason for any of us to oppose the idea, so the decision was made quickly.

“Wow. If we had arrived just a little later, we would’ve had to wait in that long line.”

Fortunately, when we arrived, they were still preparing for business, so there was only a short line.

Considering that once the restaurant opened, people entered one after another without having to wait, we really didn’t have to wait long at all.

“This place is definitely worth it. If I had known, I would’ve come here sooner.”

However, by the time we finished our meal and stepped outside, the situation had changed.

A long line stretched out in front of the restaurant.

No matter how fast the turnover rate was, the people at the end of the line would still have to wait at least several dozen minutes.

“Whew, I’m stuffed.”

Anne, who had single-handedly devoured an extra-large portion, rubbed her stomach with a satisfied look.

She was the smallest among us, yet where did all that food go?

It was a mystery that my now-smaller stomach, after becoming a girl, simply couldn’t comprehend.

“Alright then, shall we go check out El’s outfit now? It’ll help with digestion too.”

Oh, right. Our main purpose wasn’t just trying out new restaurants—it was about my outfit.

The noodles had been so delicious that I momentarily forgot.

“A hero should focus on armor rather than clothing, don’t you think?”

“Hmm… Is that so? But if El wears armor, it would cover up her body, which feels like a bit of a waste.”

“…But on the other hand, thinking about how many people would see El’s figure makes me a little uneasy. It’s not like I don’t want to show her off, but…”

“Ah, I get that feeling. It’s a bit concerning, isn’t it? Especially since if we leave El alone, she always ends up unknowingly gathering more admirers—”

“Exactly. Lately, even students from other classes have been asking me about El. I sent them all away, though.”

“Ever since El became a hero, there have been more people flirting with her, regardless of gender… That’s why we need to stay even more vigilant.”

“That may be true, but El is just so—”

“Yeah, yeah. Even the other day—”

Somehow, Celie and Yuri ended up sticking together, chattering about all sorts of things.

But why was it that out of all the words coming from their mouths, my name was the most frequently mentioned?

“Alright, let’s go. If we move, they’ll just follow us.”

Anne, who had been watching them intently, spoke to me while keeping her eyes fixed on the two.

“…Well, you’re probably right.”

As expected, since we all knew each other too well, the moment Anne and I took a step forward, Celie and Yuri quickly noticed and scurried after us.

Even as Anne led the way, the two of them continued their conversation enthusiastically behind us.

“Here! This place should be perfect, right?”

The store we arrived at was a bit unusual.

It wasn’t just a clothing shop, as it also sold armor.

At the same time, it wasn’t purely an armor shop either, since it also had clothing.

That didn’t mean the quality of either category was subpar—in fact, the items on display were quite high-end.

Normally, when a store tries to handle both, it ends up failing to specialize in either.

But this shop was different.

It owed its success to the unique nature of Pelches, the city where Griffin Academy was located.

Many of the students attending Griffin Academy were wealthy nobles or children of high-status merchants, and they were interested not just in clothes but also in weapons and armor.

When this store first opened, many assumed it would fail due to its ambiguous positioning.

However, by perfectly catering to the needs of academy students, it had expanded significantly beyond its original size.

“Oh, right! I completely forgot this place existed. I was only thinking of one side or the other.”

“Exactly. If we had remembered earlier, we wouldn’t have needed to worry at all.”

“Heheh. What do you think of my choice? Pretty great, right?”

Anne stood in front of Celie and Yuri with her arms crossed, slightly lifting her chin as if waiting to be praised.

“Oh, as expected of Anne. Thanks to you, we’ll save a lot of time.”

Since she looked like she was fishing for a compliment, I decided to give her one.

“Heheheh.”

Anne giggled proudly.

Anne’s face instantly softened with a bright smile the moment she received a compliment. She truly was an honest girl, inside and out.

“Hmm… Then, shall we take a look at the clothes first?”

Following Celie’s lead, we headed toward the clothing section.

And that was the beginning of the weekend disaster.