The End of the Festival
As a cool breeze brushed against their skin...
"H-Hey, are you sure this is okay?"
Leje, speaking in an anxious voice, nestled closer to Rudell.
"Of course. Don't tell me you're scared?"
"S-Scared? Who said I was scared?!"
Leje retorted, trying to appear composed in response to his question.
Of course, her gaze kept darting down to the seemingly endless drop below.
They were currently at the top of the academy's western tower.
A place at least tens of meters above the ground.
"Don't worry, even if you fall, I'll catch you."
"I'm not going to fall!"
Leje blushed and shouted at Rudell, who was chuckling.
"Let's see, it seems like it's about time it starts..."
Muttering to himself, Rudell pulled out his pocket watch.
It was already half-past six.
If things went according to schedule, the fireworks would begin soon.
"By the way, you managed to find this place pretty well. You don't come up here often, do you?"
Leje, her expression relaxed as she seemed to have calmed down, asked Rudell.
Naturally, climbing up to a place like this was a violation of school rules.
It wasn't something the Disciplinary Committee should be doing.
"Hmm... sometimes?"
"Seriously, are you even aware that you're part of the Disciplinary Committee?"
"Have you ever heard this saying? It's not illegal if you don't get caught."
"..."
Leje stared at him, speechless, and Rudell chuckled at her reaction, tilting his head back to look at the sky.
Countless stars were scattered across the bluish night sky, not yet completely dark.
It had always been this way, but this was Rudell's favorite scenery.
"What are you looking at so intently?"
"This and that? Stars, the sky, the Milky Way, the moon, and meteors..."
"Nothing special, is it?"
"But isn't it beautiful?"
Perhaps this was the difference in perception.
With that thought, Rudell let out a soft laugh.
Unlike Leje, who was born and raised in this world, Rudell had memories of his past life.
The sky he remembered was always hazy, filled with a pungent smell, and even in the dead of night, the stars were not visible.
However, the sky in this world was different.
Clear, clean, and at night, countless stars adorned the sky.
To Rudell, this sight was truly magical.
"You're so romantic. Since when were you like this?"
"What are you talking about? I've always loved stargazing."
Come to think of it, he had heard that telescopes existed in this world as well.
Rudell replied to Leje, thinking he should look into it sometime.
"Are they really that pretty? I don't really get it."
Leje tilted her head, looking up at the sky, and Rudell chuckled at her words, pointing at the twinkling stars.
"Look, see that bright star over there? That star and the three stars clustered together over there, and if you connect them with that star, it makes Ursa Major. The stars over there look symmetrical, so that's Gemini..."
Rudell continued, recalling the knowledge he had read in books as a child.
"It doesn't look like that to me at all."
Leje narrowed her eyes, looking at the constellations Rudell pointed at, and said so.
"That's how constellations are. It's not about what you see directly, but the stories intertwined within them that matter."
In reality, constellations could appear differently depending on the viewer's perspective.
However, the meaning of a constellation lay not in how it looked, but in the story it held.
Stories of people, objects, and lives intertwined with that constellation.
Rudell believed that such things accumulated and formed a single constellation.
Just as Rudell was telling Leje stories about various constellations...
"Ah..."
"What's wrong?"
Leje asked in a puzzled voice, looking at Rudell, who let out a low groan.
"There's a meteor passing by. Make a wish."
"Make a wish on a meteor? Why?"
"It's just a thing. You should try it too. There's a saying that if you make a wish before a meteor disappears completely, it'll come true."
"What's that?"
Leje made a face as if it was ridiculous at the sight of Rudell clasping his hands together, but as she watched his serious expression, she looked at the meteor disappearing in the distance and clasped her hands together neatly, just like Rudell.
"Alright."
A few seconds passed, and as soon as he opened his eyes and saw the meteor completely disappear, Rudell muttered softly, and Leje also opened her eyes.
"What did you wish for?"
"It's a secret."
"What do you mean, a secret? Just tell me, what's the big deal?"
"There's a saying that if you tell someone your wish, it won't come true. Have you heard of it?"
"That's a pretty picky meteor, isn't it?"
Leje replied sarcastically to Rudell, who was grinning, but soon turned her head away as if she didn't care.
What could she do if he insisted on it?
That was what she thought.
Just like that, who knows how long the two of them had been gazing at the stars in the sky?
-FWEEEEEEEW!!
With a sharp sound, both of them turned their heads.
And what they saw was a firework shooting up into the sky, trailing a long tail.
Soon, the firework that was soaring into the sky began to fade...
-BOOM!!
With a tremendous explosion, the firework began to paint the sky with colorful sparks.
Starting with that, countless fireworks shot up from all over the academy, illuminating the dark night sky with their vibrant colors.
"Wow..."
A gasp escaped Leje's lips as she watched the spectacle.
A feast of fireworks unfolding right before her eyes.
It was a sight that no one could easily witness.
"Amazing..."
This was the first time, even including his past life, that he had seen fireworks from such a close distance.
"What do you think? Don't you think it was worth breaking the school rules for this?"
"W-Well..."
Perhaps unable to answer affirmatively, Leje trailed off, and Rudell smiled faintly at her.
Honestly, whatever answer she gave wasn't that important to him.
Just wanting to capture this sight in his eyes for a little longer.
That was all Rudell was thinking about.
And then...
"...?"
Feeling a touch on his fingertips, Rudell turned his head with a puzzled expression.
And what he saw was Leje, who had somehow grabbed his hand.
"..."
Seemingly unaware of it herself, Leje's gaze was still fixed on the fireworks that were brilliantly decorating the sky.
'Honestly...'
Rudell let out a chuckle as he watched her.
It was so cute how she pretended to be indifferent but revealed her true feelings in moments like this.
Rudell felt tempted to tease her a little more, but he soon shook his head and turned his gaze back to the fireworks.
It was fine to be like this for now.
With that thought, Rudell turned his head and looked at the fireworks that were painting the sky.
And so, the Sabbath Festival was coming to an end.
* * *
"Amazing."
Cayley said as she watched the exploding fireworks outside the window.
Although they were partially obscured by some buildings, she could still easily tell how grand and magnificent the fireworks display was.
"Don't worry about me and go out to enjoy it yourself."
"Where would I go, leaving Your Highness behind? And besides, I'm not someone who has the leisure to go watch fireworks, even without you."
Cayley said to Jade, who followed up by putting down her teacup.
Officially, Jade was supposed to have returned to the royal palace.
However, due to a certain fact revealed during the investigation, she had secretly returned to the academy.
"So... you know what this is?"
After looking out the window for a moment, Cayley returned to her seat and handed something to Jade.
It was a cross-shaped metal ornament with a red eye-shaped decoration attached to it.
"The Death Eater Cult..."
"The Death Eater Cult? What a cheesy name."
"It's a cult that worships an evil god who has brought countless deaths while operating behind the scenes of history. I thought they were extinct long ago, but..."
"Villains who were thought to be dead but turn out to be alive are a common theme in old stories, aren't they?"
Jade muttered with a serious expression as she looked at the ornament, and Cayley reacted as if it wasn't funny.
"This is not something to take lightly. Every time they appeared in history, unimaginable disasters have befallen the world..."
"Sigh... This is a real headache."
Hearing those words, Cayley pressed her forehead and let out a short sigh.
Why did something like this have to happen during her reign?
Her expression seemed to say just that.
"So, what are you going to do now?"
"We'll have to discuss it, but... first, we need to gather people we can trust."
"Do you have anyone in mind?"
At Cayley's question, Jade silently nodded and looked at the documents on the table.
With a short sigh, Jade looked up from the documents and nodded at Cayley.
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