Chapter 460: The Gourmet Festival in Totsuki
Saturday, the weekend.
Hachiman woke up as usual and prepared breakfast. It had been over half a month since the sports festival ended, and his life had settled back into a simple routine.
His days typically revolved around writing novels, flirting with the girls, and occasionally engaging in recreational activities. He would spar in kendo with Kotonoha and Saeko, discuss novels with Utaha, or delve into culinary arts with Alice.
In between, he organized events like cosplay gatherings with them—all in all, a rather straightforward, monotonous routine...
By the way, Hachiman's latest book, "The Garden of Sinners," Volume 1, had hit the shelves at the end of last month. Carrying the prestigious title of "King of Light Novels," its sales were naturally impressive.
In just over a month since its release, it had soared past the one million sales mark and was now approaching two million copies sold!
At this pace, "The Garden of Sinners" was likely to surpass the sales milestone of "That Time I Got Reincarnated As a Slime," which had sold over ten million copies by its eighth volume.
This recent success had kept Hachiman in high spirits. After all, a bestselling novel meant more money in his pocket.
Although money was now just a string of numbers for him, who would complain about having too much money? Besides, he needed to accumulate funds for his next venture. If he aimed to replicate "FGO," the first step would be establishing his own game company. Hachiman wasn't foolish enough to sew wedding clothes for others.
Rather than starting a new game company from scratch, he preferred acquiring an existing one. This approach ensured the company's basic structure and departments were already in place, saving him considerable effort.
...
After breakfast, Hachiman and Komachi left the house together.
A black sedan had been waiting at the door for some time. Today, the siblings planned to visit Totsuki for some fun.
Just a few days ago, Erina had received an invitation letter announcing the upcoming Totsuki school festival, inviting both siblings to visit and enjoy themselves.
Naturally, Hachiman didn't hesitate to accept. Since the summer festival, he hadn't seen Erina and Alice for quite some time, so it was a great opportunity to catch up with them.
As for Komachi...
Well, as soon as this young girl heard about the prospect of delicious food, her eyes lit up, and she insisted on joining them.
The Totsuki Academy's school festival is naturally different from those of other schools. As a world-renowned culinary school, the students' culinary skills naturally rank among the best in their age group.
During this school festival, students can set up their own stalls or shops on campus to attract customers, providing a perfect stage to showcase their culinary skills.
It's worth mentioning that the student stalls simulate restaurant competition, ranked based on their turnover.
Most importantly, all expenses incurred during the festival are meticulously recorded by the academy for later cost accounting and revenue assessment.
If a stall incurs a financial deficit during the festival, the students responsible face expulsion.
This constant competition characterizes life at Totsuki Academy, where any misstep can lead to the risk of expulsion.
However, what does all this have to do with Hachiman? After all, he's just an ordinary visitor here to enjoy the school festival.
...
Traveling in Totsuki's exclusive sedan, Hachiman and Komachi soon arrived at the academy's gates.
Entering through the gates, they were greeted by a sea of people.
Seeing the bustling scene before them, Komachi couldn't help but exclaim in amazement.
"Wow, there are so many people!"
"Of course, this is an annual gourmet extravaganza," Hachiman chuckled.
Every year, Totsuki's school festival is akin to a grand culinary celebration. This year's festival spans five days, expecting to host over half a million visitors.
Today marks the festival's third day. After two days of buildup, the atmosphere on-site had already reached its peak.
Hachiman pulled out an envelope that came with Erina's invitation letter.
Upon opening it, they found a thick stack of gourmet vouchers inside.
At Totsuki's school festival, no cash transactions are accepted. Instead, all purchases are made using these special gourmet vouchers.
These festival-exclusive vouchers come in three denominations:
- The "Ume Voucher" valued at 500 yen,
- The "Take Voucher" valued at 1,000 yen,
- The "Matsu Voucher" valued at 10,000 yen.
Visitors to the festival can use these vouchers to purchase their desired foods.
The entire academy is divided into three areas where stalls can be set up, each with different pricing strategies.
In the High Terrace Area, prices are highest, with dishes typically around 5,000 yen. However, most of the stalls here are run by the Elite Ten making it well worth the cost.
The Central Area ranges from 1,000 to 5,000 yen, and it's also a popular choice among students.
The Corridor Area primarily offers snacks and light bites priced between 500 to 1,000 yen. Although it's the least expensive, it's the first area visitors pass through after entering from the campus gate, ensuring it has the highest foot traffic.
...
Since we're at a gourmet festival, there's no need to overthink it—just eat!
Starting with the corridor area, Hachiman strolled casually with Komachi, buying snacks that caught their interest as they passed by.
It seems like in the original story, Alice was also in the corridor area.
With this thought in mind, a crisp, melodious voice rang in Hachiman's ears.
"Hachiman-kun, over here!"
Turning towards the voice, he saw Alice smiling brightly behind a stall, waving at him. Beside her, looking rather weary, was Kurokiba Ryo.
Spotting Alice, Komachi's eyes lit up.
"It's Alice-neechan! Onii-chan, let's go see!"
Naturally, Hachiman had no objections. Together with Komachi, they approached the girl's stall.
Upon closer inspection, Hachiman noticed that Alice wasn't collaborating with Hayama as in the original story. Instead, she was running a beverage shop on her own with Ryo.
As soon as Alice saw Hachiman approaching, she rushed out from behind the tent with a happy smile on her face.
"Hachiman-kun, you're here!"
"Yeah, Alice, I'm here," Hachiman nodded back with a smile.
"Thank you for coming."
Upon hearing this, Alice's smile brightened even more, then she turned her gaze towards Komachi who was standing beside Hachiman.
"Good morning, Komachi-chan."
"Yeah, good morning, Alice-neechan," Komachi replied with an adorable smile.
After greeting her little sister, Alice turned back towards Hachiman, looking a bit displeased.
"Ugh, it's all Erina's fault. She only told me at the last minute that you were coming too. Otherwise, I would have applied for a better stall to entertain you guys."
Seeing her pout, Hachiman couldn't help but find it amusing.
Alice was still the same—honest and straightforward. She said what was on her mind, and that was something he really liked about her.
At that moment, a tired voice came from behind their stall.
"Miss... Please come back and help."
Turning around, Hachiman saw that their stall had already attracted quite a crowd. While it was just fruit juice, the process was quite intricate, and Ryo alone couldn't handle it all.
Seeing this scene, Alice reluctantly displayed a displeased expression but decided to go back and help for the sake of the overall situation.
"Hachiman, please wait for me. I'll come back to serve you in a bit," she said.
Hachiman smiled faintly in response. "It's okay, Alice. Go ahead and take care of things."
With Hachiman's approval, Alice sighed with relief and quickly returned to her stall to get busy.
She began by placing various types of fruits into a large machine. With a rumbling sound, colorful fruit juices flowed into containers below. She then mixed these juices in specific proportions to create refreshing drinks that were perfect for alleviating the greasiness from consuming too much food at the festival.
Hachiman queued up and bought two cups. Upon tasting them, he found them quite refreshing and suitable for sale at such a food-centric festival.
After all, with so much food being consumed, people inevitably feel a bit heavy. At such times, a refreshing drink like this was a perfect complement.
It was precisely because of this that Alice's stall was so popular and bustling with customers.
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