"I can see that." Lotus responded and patted his furry head.
"Food, later!" Yuu said firmly before pointing to the large gray stadium.
Following Yuu, they arrived at the stadium that was usually used for events and magic tests. Lotus watched as the majority of the sports club got together to make the stadium. There were even purple-colored curtains around. They weren't good texture-wise, but how many would reach out to touch it during a performance?
"Whoa!" Grim pointed out after chomping on the last of his mackeral, "There's a huge stage coming together in the Coliseum!"
"All right, that's good! Stop it there, Jack. Now send that pole straight now."
"Gotcha!" Jack's voice responded, "Keeping steady control over a levitation spell is pretty hard."
"Hey, I already told you those VIP seats need a certain color of plastic cover! Get a move on." Leona called out from the stadium.
"Yessir! We'll get right on it!" A student called out.
"Oh, aren't those the Savanaclaw guys over there?" Grim pointed out with a wide smile and waved his paw, "Heeey!"
"What've we got here, the pair of kittens from Ramshackle Dorm." Ruggie snickered, "Didjya come to help us contruct the stage? Shi shi shi."
"Oh yeah, didn't you say something about being Ace and Deuce's manager?" Jack recalled the news that he was told by Yuu and the trio the other day.
"Those guys are busy making last-minute adjustments for VDC. We got kicked out after being told we were in the way, y'know." Grim responded with a grumbled before looking around with interest, "By the way, were you guys the ones who made this special stage?"
"During the magift tournament, the culture clubs were in charge of running the stands and getting everything set up." Leona responded with a huff of exasperation, "So this time around, our roles are reversed. The athletic clubs are forced to be the handymen."
"Those of us in the track & field and magift clubs are in charge of getting the Purple Stage ready to go." Jack responded with a confident grin on his face.
"Everything is student-made!" Yuu said in bewilderment, "Isn't that something professionals should do?"
"Don't let the scale of this event fool you, this culture festival is still a school event." Ruggie explained with a frown, "There are somethings we call in the pros for, but in general it's built by students. Well, this is just another way of learning on the job."
"You all must have plenty of free time on your hands if you're able to stand around chatting like this during setup."
A familiar student with bright red hair showed up before them, "Are all the preparations proceeding according to schedule?"
Jack gasped before he responded with a look of admiration, "Good morning, Riddle!"
Leona sneered at the sight of him, "Well, well, if it isn't our esteemed committee leader. Welcome to the dusty construction site."
Trey walked over to them and said with a dry smile, "Thanks for all the hard work you've put in this morning. Here are some warm drinks from the planning committee."
"Oh, now isn't this thoughtful! Working this hard out in the cold has me freezing down to the end of my tail." Ruggie said with a wide smile and took a cup, "I gratefully accept your gift!"
Riddle turned to Leona and said, "Leona, could you tell me how fairs the Purple Stage preparations?"
Leona responded with a huff, "As you can see, there's nothin' worth mentioning. All that's left is to run tests on the lights and sound equipment, and then things'll be ready for the rehearsals to start at noon."
Riddle smiled at the sound of this, "Wonderful. The eyes of the entire world will be on the Vocal & Dance Championship set to happen on the Purple Stage. Please do a final, thorough check of everything for the sake of the performers gathering from all over the world here as well."
"Yeah, yeah." Leona shrugged and turned away.
Ruggie smiled wide upon the progress, "That's right. All the moneyba—no, all the guests are coming from around the world. I hope you'll be keeping a close eye on everything so no trouble crops up, Mr. Committee Leader."
Riddle said in exasperation, "YOU'RE telling ME that? Good grief…"
"Mistakes behind-the-scenes lead to trouble down the line, so we'll take utmost care of everything on our end." Jack responded reassuringly.
"That's a relief. We're counting on you. …Okay, can we call our check up on the three special stage done, Riddle?" Trey smiled.
Riddle nodded, "We can. Next we should check on the exhibition booths and the green room. Doors open at 11 o'clock. We need to keep our eyes peeled for any disputes or rule breaking. Prefect, Grim, we plan to take a walk around the whole school. If you're interested in the exhibitions, then I don't mind if you join us."
"I'll take you up on that." Yuu nodded with a wide smile, "That sounds fun!"
Riddle smiled, "All right, construction team, do your best on your final tasks."
"Will do!" Jack waved, "Then I'll catch you later, Prefect, Grim, and Lotus! I got a ticket of VDC from a guy in my class, Epel. So I'll be there. Tell those guys that they better give it everything they've got for me."
"Yeah, sure thing." Grim responded confidently with a wide smile on his face.
"Lotus?!" Riddle looked around in surprise.
Hearing her name, Lotus poked her head from behind Yuu's shoulder, "Yes?"
"There you are!" Trey's eyes widen in a mix of bewilderment and relief when he saw her face, "I received a call from the club advisor that your bi- Ahem, a bird had just made it to the window of the dorm. He wanted to know if you can tend to it in the stead of a club member."
Hearing this, Lotus naturally smiled mischeviously, "Okay~!"
Watching her leave with them, Riddle couldn't help but sigh as he remembered what he has to do in a few days.
.....
It was the morning of the first day of cultural festival when Cater rushed in with horror at the sight of the group.
"Bad news, Riddle!" Cater rushed into the room in horror as he hurried into the room.
"Cater, you need to knock first." Riddle huffed in disappointment as he took out the papers, "All right. What trouble occurred this time? It's the cultural festival now, so nothing can be allowed to go awry."
"W-Well, it's..." Cater muttered nervously before explaining everything to Riddle.
Hearing the news, Riddle's eyes brightened when he heard this news, "Every single freshman passed their exams with hundred percent?! This isn't bad news at all. It's... Oh..."
Upon realization, Riddle was horrified as he realized what was going on, "Everyone being able to pass this test so easily. I would say that you worked hard, but I also know that it would be difficult for you to manage everyone by yourself... It can't be... Lotus?"
"But why would he do that?" Cater muttered in confusion.
"Hm? Cater? Riddle? What's going on?" Trey walked in after knocking on the door in confusion.
"Well..." Cater looked a little hesitant as Riddle nodded, "It's like this..."
After hearing the details from Cater, Trey's eyes widen in horror when he heard this, "Again?!"
"Again?" Riddle raised a brow in bewilderment, "Is he always like this? Why didn't I know of this before?"
Trey hesitated before he sighed in defeat, "He is also from our science club and takes part in it before your club begins. At first, he was very humble and bright for the first few weeks, but the third year students and I soon found that it was actually a cover, especially since we are the only ones who knew of his true character. He has the attention of Pomefiore's dorm apparently, but, for some reason, no one was really able to find him when they wanted to find him. Then, he would start pulling little stunts, like seeing what would happen if he used a certain liquid chemical when melting iron with magic from his friends. He created little tools for us to use, but..."
Trey shook his head and responded, "When we used the scissors and scalpel, they nearly cut through the steel table."
"What?!"
They looked to him in bewilderment as Trey nodded in exasperation, "So, we talked with him and wondered if he had something up his sleeve. Turns out, there was no grudge between anyone of us and him. He was just bored out of his mind and wanted to try something new for a change. So, he tried to make the strongest or sharpest tools he could think of that everyone could try. Since then, he's made many strange things."
"You didn't scold him for it?" Cater raised a brow in confusion.
Trey sighed, "We warned him about it, but we couldn't really scold him. The things he makes really were useful, but only for purposes outside of what they were created for. Now those scissors and scalpels have been used to cut out pieces of metal and hard materials."
"So, he did all this because he was bored?" Riddle stared at him in disbelief, "That can't be! Although..."
Riddle sighed in discontent, "He really did help out our first year students by pulling this prank off... But, how are we going to squeeze all eighty students into a single exhibition?"