Chapter 86: - Parade

༺ Parade ༻

After a brief date with Instructor Lirya, Wednesday.

Titania sought me out early in the morning.

To be more precise, it was closer to say that she barged into my room.

"Instructor! Are you awake? Instructor Eon~♪"

The current time, 6 a.m.

It was somewhat early for the day to start, and most people would be in a deep sleep.

However, that didn't apply to me. Thanks to my long military life, my wake-up time was much earlier than others.

I woke up at 5 a.m., lightly jogged and patrolled the surroundings, and when I finished showering back in my room, I heard Titania's knock from outside the door.

Her knock was closer to a 'bang bang' than a 'knock knock'.

"Instructor Eon! Um, are you still sleeping? Instructor! Please get up! The sun is already up!"

"Titania, don't you think it's a bit too early..."

"...I, want to sleep more."

"......"

There were several presences felt from outside the door.

I wanted to ignore the knock, but Titania seemed unwilling to leave before I opened the door.

I sighed slightly and opened the door.

Beyond the door, it wasn't just Titania. There was Titania, already prepared and changed into her outdoor clothes from early in the morning, Gwyn, and Oznia, who looked dead tired as if she had been dragged out of bed.

As soon as the door opened, Titania was about to greet me with a bright smile, but as she saw me, she widened her eyes in surprise.

"Instructor- Eh."

"Woah!"

"Uh...."

Since I just came out of the shower, I was wearing nothing but a towel around my neck.

Perhaps because I was interrupted in an unprepared state, my voice sounded a bit cold.

"What in the world is going on at this hour."

It was a tone scolding the rudeness of students knocking on the instructor's office door this early in the morning, but there was no returning answer.

The three female students just stood there with their mouths agape.

Titania had frozen mid-smile, Gwyn covered her face, but her eyes were peeking through her fingers. Oznia was gaping like a baby bird with eyes full of shock.

This moment of silence lasted quite a while.

Breaking the lengthy silence, Titania, her face redder than before, stuttered like a broken machine.

"A, a, ah... we, we'll... come back later!!"

Unable to find a proper excuse, she hastily closed the door.

With the closing of the door, there was the sound of the three students hurriedly leaving, and something almost like a scream filled with embarrassment and astonishment.

I sighed deeply and shook my head, then dried the wetness from my hair and finished dressing.

The three of them returned about 30 minutes from then.

Knock Knock-

This time, the knock was much quieter.

I responded with a calm voice.

"It's open."

"...Excuse us."

Titania slightly opened the door and poked her head through to check on me. Confirming that I was properly dressed, she cautiously entered the room.

Following her, Gwyn and Oznia came in as if nothing had happened.

"What's going on."

"We, today... you promised to go to the festival with us...."

"This early in the morning?"

"We thought it would be better to go early...! If we go late, it'll be hard to get on the tram...."

In Titania's expression, there was embarrassment about what had just happened, but it was also filled with anticipation and excitement about the festival.

It seemed that she was so excited about going to the festival that she woke up early, woke her friends, and came straight to me.

Thinking about it, although we had promised to go to the festival together, we hadn't set a specific time.

And considering the difficulty we had yesterday with the tram being more crowded than usual when I went with Instructor Lirya, Titania's argument made sense.

However, despite her excitement, Titania's behavior was undoubtedly rude.

I pointed that out clearly.

"Next time, make sure to set a specific time for our appointment."

"Yes, I'm sorry... I was so excited, I didn't realize...."

"It's fine now that you know. Wait for me at the main gate. I'll get ready and come out soon."

"......Yes!"

Titania couldn't hide her joy at my words and smiled brightly.

***

Fortunately, there were no problems with the festival visit with the students.

On the first day, I had to patrol and deal with disturbances in the back alleys, but today, we were out purely to enjoy the festival, so I hoped we could pass without any mishaps.

Titania seemed determined to make up for not being able to fully explore the market last time, so we spent the whole morning walking around every nook and cranny of the city.

Though we couldn't possibly see every part of the expansive city in a day, so we mostly wandered around the areas near the central road where there were many people.

Of course, just touring that much was enough to enjoy the festival.

"Instructor Eon! Look over there! What's that big, white thing?"

"That's an ice sculpture. It seems to be a sculpture of a white dragon. They managed to prepare ice that big for this season."

"Wow! Is that the White Dragon Albinisis? Ah! There are a lot of people gathered over there! What are they doing?"

"It's a dice gambling game. Don't worry about it. They're all con artists anyway."

"Hmm, it actually didn't look fun to me either. But it was interesting to see so many people gathered."

"...Is that so interesting?"

"Yes!"

Titania said, smiling brightly.

"I don't see this many people in the forest. It's amazing to see so many people gathered together and enjoying something!"

"Don't elves hold festivals?"

"Hmm... Well? We have a festival to pray for the well-being of our ancestors, but it doesn't have this kind of festive atmosphere. Elf festivals are quieter and more serious. That's why this human festival feels quite fresh to me!"

Titania said, sounding a bit regretful.

"It would have been nice if Marian and Elizabeth were here too."

"......"

Unlike these three who could enjoy the festival normally, the students of higher status weren't in a situation to enjoy the festival right now.

Schultz seemed to have enjoyed the festival in his own way until yesterday, but today he appeared to have gone to help his father, the prime minister, with his work. Marian also had to stay at home for a few days after receiving a call from her family, so she hadn't returned to the dormitory since yesterday.

And there was no need to mention Princess Elizabeth.

Titania put on a forced smile.

"But it's okay. We promised to watch the parade together on the last day."

"Did we make such a promise?"

"Yes. It was just for a moment when we were in the restroom. They all said they would somehow make time. Elizabeth might find it difficult, but she will still be in the same place."

"I see."

While other students would mostly be spectators of the parade, Elizabeth would rather be a participant.

It wasn't so palpable when we saw her at the dormitory, but she was, after all, the princess of this empire.

"We all agreed to watch Elizabeth in the parade. I'm really curious to see what she will be like."

Titania said with a look full of anticipation.

"You're going to come and see it too, right, instructor?"

"Uh...."

The parade, huh?

Truthfully, I hadn't planned on going.

The chances of meeting faces I didn't want to see were high, and I wasn't particularly interested in things like festivals in the first place.

If it hadn't been for the invitations from Instructor Lirya or Titania, I probably wouldn't have gone to see the festival today. As always, I would have focused solely on my tasks and ignored whatever festival was happening outside.

However, I was unsure whether it would be alright for me, as an instructor, to be the only one absent from an event that all the students would be participating in.

I would have liked to seek advice from Instructor Lirya, but given what happened yesterday, it felt a bit awkward to see her.

"...If I have time."

"Absolutely! You have to make time? We, the Opal Black class, have agreed to gather together, so we can't have you, Instructor Eon, absent from that!"

I had tried to give a sufficiently vague answer, but Titania seemed to interpret it as a definite commitment to attend if I had the time.

I could vividly foresee a future where she would be disappointed, asking why I hadn't come if I didn't attend the parade.

While I was pondering on how to handle this, Gwyn and Oznia, who had briefly left to wash their hands, returned.

However, in Gwyn's arms, inexplicably, was a huge bear plushie the size of a human torso.

Startled by the sight of the plushie, Titania asked.

"Gwyn! What on earth is that bear plushie?"

"Oh, this? There was this old man cheating with dice over there. So when I caught him, the man selling plushies nearby gave me this as a token of gratitude. I was having trouble figuring out what to do with it, would you like it, Tanya?"

"Really? Can I?"

"......."

It seemed like she was talking about the dice gambling we saw a little while ago.

So, Titania participated in an archery contest to repay Gwyn and ended up winning first place, while I spent my time buying and eating all sorts of food from nearby stalls.

During that time, Oznia was continuously swept up by the crowd, eventually ending up as squishy as a slime. There were these minor, yet entertaining happenings, but overall, it was an ordinary and uneventful day.

That evening, I received a letter from Elizabeth.

It was about her riding in a parade float on the day of the parade.

Titania was disappointed that she wouldn't be able to closely watch Elizabeth, but she was genuinely happy about the fact that she would be riding on a parade float.

And so, Thursday passed without incident.

The last day of Victory Celebration, Friday, was approaching.