Chapter 35: It’s a Festival! Lots of Guests are Visiting, Huh!
Since it was break time, Kazuma parted ways with Kosuke to meet up with the friends he had promised to go around the school festival with.
“Well then, I’m heading this way.”
“Yeah. I’ll contact you when it’s time, so don’t you go dropping your phone or anything.”
“Yup, yup. I know.”
It wasn’t as if Kazuma had ever dropped his phone and become unreachable, but since today was the school festival, there were many lost items. Concerned about this, Kosuke had warned Kazuma, but he didn’t quite understand.
After parting with Kosuke, Kazuma contacted his friend by phone. After a few rings, his friend, Alice, answered the call.
“Hello?”
“Hello, Kazuma? You called, so does that mean you’re on break?”
“That’s right. I’m on break until just before three. Is that okay on your end?”
“No problem. Our part is over, so we can go now.”
“Alright, where should we meet up?”
“The Clock Tower should be fine. It stands out, so it’s easy to find.”
“Okay. The Clock Tower, got it. I’ll head there right away.”
Kazuma immediately started moving, heading for the Clock Tower while avoiding the crowds. Behind him, Momoko, dressed in a maid outfit, was trying to follow Kazuma but was being hit on. Kazuma, oblivious to this, disappeared from Momoko’s sight.
◇◇◇◇
While the school festival was in full swing, a suspicious duo was loitering around the school building. Two men with model-like figures, wearing sunglasses and host-like suits, were wandering the school grounds.
“Hmm… With this many people, we won’t find him~”
“Excuse me, miss. Do you know the man in this photo?”
Beside the man groaning about how troublesome it was, the other man, photo in hand, spoke to a woman. The woman, realizing he was handsome even through the sunglasses, blatantly raised her voice higher than usual as she answered his question.
Unfortunately, the woman didn’t know him, but the man blurted out something about this also being fate, started hitting on her, and put his arm around her waist.
“What do you think you’re doing?”
“Owowow!”
The man who pulled the ear of the pick-up artist trying to go somewhere with the woman sighed in exasperation.
“Honestly. The moment I let my guard down, you do this…”
“Ahaha. Sorry, sorry. When I see a woman, I just can’t help myself.”
“It’s not ‘can’t help myself’! If you do it again, I won’t forgive you!”
“Yeees. So, my apologies, miss. Since my friend here says so, let’s save tea for another time.”
“Oh, um, can we meet again?”
“Fufu, don’t worry. You and I have formed a connection like this. We’ll surely meet again someday.”
The woman, who had looked anxious, brightened up instantly upon hearing the pick-up artist’s words and nodded happily.
“Y-Yes! Let’s meet again!”
Her face flushed red, the woman ran off. She was completely smitten. It seemed the pick-up artist had stolen her heart.
“Fufu, they’re cute, the women of Japan.”
“…Don’t get any funny ideas.”
“I know my limits!”
“Where exactly?!”
“Ouch!”
The man who had brought his fist down on the pick-up artist, who had already successfully wooed multiple women, shrugged with a “good grief” and took out a mobile terminal from his breast pocket.
“Satsuki Kazuma. Where on earth could he be…”
They had gone to the classroom Kazuma attended. However, he wasn’t there. When they asked a classmate, they were told he was currently on break and somewhere in this school building with his friends, but Esper Academy was vast.
And above all, today was the school festival. There were even more people than usual. Finding one person among them would be quite a task.
“Now, now, no need to be in such a hurry. It’s a festival today, so why don’t we enjoy ourselves too?”
“Have you forgotten we’re here on a mission?”
“Of course, I haven’t forgotten! But, staying on high alert all the time is just tiring, isn’t it? If so, we should enjoy the current situation too!”
“Haaah… Please don’t get too carried away.”
“I know that!”
The pick-up artist thumped his chest as if to say he wouldn’t commit such a foolish act, but considering his behavior so far, the other man couldn’t feel at ease at all and was extremely worried.
Masafumi, who happened to witness this scene, trembled with dread. Masafumi, a teacher in the Combat Course, was in charge of security within the school building and had chanced upon them. They were likely trying to hide their faces with just sunglasses, but Masafumi knew them and immediately saw through their identities.
“Knights of the Round Table, Sir Bedivere and Sir Tristan…!”
They were Gifted from England, members of Britain’s strongest corps, the Knights of the Round Table, named after the legendary King Arthur. All of them bore the names of the thirteen knights from the Arthurian legends.
Of course, they were not the same individuals as the knights spoken of in legend. They were simply honored for their strength and bore those names. Therefore, it was the highest honor among the Gifted existing in England.
“Are you the one who called our names?”
“!”
Tristan, who had been more than ten meters away just moments ago, was now standing behind Masafumi, casually putting an arm around his shoulder.
Masafumi couldn’t react at all to the sudden event, only able to tremble in shock.
“S-Since when…”
“That doesn’t matter, does it? More importantly, could you answer my question?”
“I-It’s true I called your names. However, I had no hostile intent. I merely blurted it out in surprise.”
“I see. It doesn’t seem like a lie.”
“Tristan. Let him go.”
While Masafumi was distracted by Tristan, Bedivere had also approached. However, he wasn’t interested in Masafumi; he had merely come to retrieve Tristan, who seemed about to cause trouble.
“It’s not like I was going to eat him or anything, you know.”
“Of course an ordinary person would be surprised if you put your arm around their shoulder. More importantly, let him go quickly.”
“Yes, yes.”
Scolded by Bedivere, Tristan moved away from Masafumi. Finally freed, Masafumi took a step back, putting distance between himself and the two. It didn’t mean much, but it was better to be cautious.
“There, you see? He’s wary of us now, isn’t he?”
“Eh~, is it my fault?”
“It’s because you needlessly got involved with him. Reflect on your actions a little.”
“I’m not convinced~”
Ignoring Tristan, who was pouting discontentedly, Bedivere turned his gaze to Masafumi. Even though he understood they wouldn’t likely cause a scene in such a public place, his opponents were members of England’s strongest group of Gifted. Masafumi, while remaining cautious, faced them squarely.
“It is a pleasure to meet you, warrior of the East. I believe you already know, but I am Bedivere, one of the Knights of the Round Table. Please, make my acquaintance.”
Masafumi was surprised by Bedivere, who bowed politely, but he responded with a polite Japanese-style bow, saying, “L-Likewise, it’s a pleasure to meet you.”
“By the way, that around your neck is an ID for this academy, isn’t it? Does that mean you’re affiliated with the academy?”
“Y-Yes, that’s right. I am a teacher here.”
“Oh! That’s wonderful. We are actually looking for a student here. Do you happen to know where he might be?”
Bedivere’s face lit up with joy at the unexpected encounter, and he showed Masafumi the photo of Kazuma displayed on the mobile terminal he was holding.
Seeing it, Masafumi clenched his back teeth, thinking, as expected. There could only be one reason for the Knights of the Round Table to come to an island nation like this, and to such a place. It had to be about the Crimson Knight.
It was natural for them to try and contact Kazuma, who was currently considered the most suspicious individual. It wasn’t strange for a country to try and recruit a freelance Gifted who wasn’t yet affiliated with any nation.
“Wasn’t he in his classroom?”
“No. We went to check, but we were told he was on break.”
“In that case, I don’t know either. He’s probably going around the school festival with friends, so you’ll likely have to search for him exhaustively…”
“Is… that so. I understand. We apologize for the trouble. Well then, we shall take our leave.”
“Yes. Ah, please try to refrain from any conspicuous actions. We have many guests today.”
“We will keep that in mind.”
Bowing his head once more, Bedivere then grabbed the ear of Tristan, who had started hitting on someone the moment Bedivere looked away, and disappeared into the crowd, pulling Tristan along.
Left behind, Masafumi felt a wave of exhaustion wash over him, and he was sweating profusely. He then immediately called Manami and Momoko, realizing he had to report this fact right away.