"Tsk, seriously, why are they so enthusiastic about this year's school festival? They even brought in real youkai to play ghosts—no wonder people might get scared to death."
Shaking his head as he stepped out of the old school building, Yoru saw that the entire building had been completely taken over by the Occult Research Club for preparations. From the sports festival, to the school trip, and now the school festival—there was barely any time between them. This was the kind of high school life most students dreamed of.
The Kuoh Academy school festival was a grand event, with every club and class preparing their own attractions.
For example, last year the Occult Research Club had set up a haunted house. But Rias had invited actual supernatural beings to play the ghosts. Needless to say, the number of students who fainted filled up the infirmary, forcing Sona, the student council vice president, to step in and shut it down—something that left Rias sulking for quite a while.
This time, perhaps because she felt last year's festival had been a missed opportunity, Rias was unusually fired up. After all, as a third-year, this would be her last festival.
The haunted house was returning—but this time, Rias secretly included a few real monsters again without Sona's knowledge, just to get under her skin. In addition, they were also setting up a café, a fortune-telling booth, and an occult exhibition. It was the first time Yoru had heard of a single club handling so many attractions, but the old school building had more than enough unused rooms, and the club's members were certainly capable.
While the second-years had been away on their school trip, Rias, the other third-years, and Koneko had already started planning. Now that the proposals were finalized, everyone was working hard to prepare.
All the members of the Occult Research Club were busy modifying the building. While magic could have sped things up, Rias insisted on doing everything by hand to "enjoy the fun of the school festival," meaning everyone was forced into manual labor.
The girls handled costumes and room decorations for the haunted house, while Kiba Yuuto was in charge of moving furniture and carpentry work. After working through the entire afternoon, the vice president, Akeno, brought two bits of news: the Phoenix family's princess, Ravel Phoenix, had arrived in the human world and transferred into the first year, and Yoru was returning with the Kyoto youkai leader's daughter.
Hearing both, Rias couldn't sit still.
"Tch… this is really worrying." In one of the club's rooms, Rias sat frowning, with Akeno beside her.
"Akeno, do you think Yoru might be… a lolicon?"
"And what makes you think that, President?" Akeno said, half amused.
"Koneko, the Phoenix family's little princess, and now Kyoto's little youkai princess—he's surrounded by more and more little girls!"
"It's just coincidence. The Phoenix princess is nearly an adult, and it's normal for her to come here to develop her peerage. As for Kyoto's little princess, she's here because of the new alliance—there's nothing strange about that."
"Still… I feel a real sense of danger. No, this school festival, I'm going to make sure they all know who Yoru's real queen is!" Rias declared confidently.
Akeno could only shake her head helplessly and let her president be.
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"Ah, the long-awaited school festival… youthful girls, their pure white thighs gleaming as they sweat under the sun—ah, youth is truly a wonderful thing." Azazel leered shamelessly at the passing students.
"You're an embarrassment. Being seen with you makes the entire Occult Research Club lose face," Rias said in exasperation.
Present were all the club members, as well as the little fox Kuzuha who had returned with Yoru, and the newly transferred Ravel Phoenix.
The old school building had been transformed into the "Occult Hall," and visitors were already coming in. Judging by the buzz, they were in for the same kind of "surprise" as last year.
Yoru had heard bits and pieces about Rias's antics and couldn't help but chuckle. Almost everyone was busy with their own work, leaving Yoru the most relaxed as he wandered around the club with Kuzuha and Ravel.
"Please form a single-file line!"
Asia, dressed in a cute maid outfit, was guiding students in the hallway—this was the line for the café.
"Welcome! This corner is for fortune-telling and exorcism, run by Koneko-chan and senior Himejima Akeno."
Irina, also in a maid outfit, was acting as the greeter for various booths.
Though the Occult Research Club had a notorious history, the start of the festival still drew huge crowds—after all, the most popular beauties in the entire school were all members.
"Ready? Say cheese!"
That was Rias, in a maid outfit, taking photos at the café.
From another room came screams—likely Kiba scaring visitors in the haunted house.
"This is so much fun! So this is a school festival!" Kuzuha said excitedly, her eyes darting everywhere.
"Yeah… this is a school festival." Seeing the smiling club members, Yoru also wore a faint smile.
"Let's hope nothing happens…"
Sona had arrived early, worried about a repeat of last year's incident. She'd even brought medical staff, just in case. As a student council member, it was also her job to supervise the festival.
"Come to think of it… I'm technically a student council member too," Yoru said suddenly, smacking his forehead.
Sona gave him a sharp look. "Oh, so you do remember. How long has it been since you last did any council work?"
"Ahem, I'm patrolling right now, aren't I?"
Sona rolled her eyes in a way that was almost charming, and the group continued enjoying the lively festivities.
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