The Academy Festival was in full swing. The wide-open academy grounds were transformed into a chaotic, vibrant marketplace, dotted with colorful stalls.
Students were shouting promotions, their voices rising above the general din. The air was filled with energy—the sounds of laughter, friends enjoying games, the aroma of treats, and the palpable excitement of people momentarily distracted from the daily grind of survival training.
It was exactly the kind of organized chaos the council had hoped for.
But amid the cheerful clamor, one stall in the C Class section was a pocket of furious silence.
Blaze and Grey, the two core organizers, stood behind their counter, their prepared ingredients for burgers, meat wraps, and steak laid out.
Instead of starting their cook fires, however, they were staring, utterly shocked and increasingly furious, at the stall directly opposite them.
