Chapter 4: A convenient story for Ren and Licia

Klonoa is apologetic and has a hard time saying it.

“Every time, I can’t find anyone at all who wants to be a member of the committee….”

If she said that much, Ren and Licia could understand a lot.

Klonoa wanted to ask them for help. She took a new piece of paper from her pocket and handed it to them.

It reads, “About the Lion King Grand Festival Preparation and Executive Committee”.

“Does that mean executive committee for short?”

“Yes, just as you imagine, Ren-kun.”

Even though she’s a member of the executive committee, she’s not involved in the overall operation of the Lion King Grand Festival. It is a role that coordinates the various affairs of the Imperial Military Academy.

The job involves negotiating and organizing information within the academy together with the faculty.

There will be some work to be done on the day of the Lion King Festival, but it is unlikely to spoil Ren and Licia’s plans, as they won’t be so busy by then.

“Don’t the teachers tell the students about these things and solicit candidates?”

“Of course they do that. I’m going to ask the teachers to start tomorrow and recruit over the next few days. I really don’t think there’s much hope this year. So that’s why I asked if you would think about it once, if you two are willing.”

Ren didn’t fully understand what Klonoa was trying to say at this point.

The same goes for Licia, who wondered as she listened.

(Why is that? Not all of us are going to participate in the competition.)

The answer can be heard a few days later in the same dean’s office after school.

◇ ◇ ◇ ◇

Two days later.

As Klonoa had said, there was a period of time to wait for the candidates to run for the committee, but there were no candidates.

Ren wondered why, with a reasonable number of students.

“We all choose to participate in competitions, and the committee members are not preferred because they do a lot of paperwork….”

The other day, Ren and Licia sat down on the sofa, and Klonoa spoke up in the same manner as the other day.

“But if you’ve held such a position here at the academy, it seems to me that it will have a positive impact on your career path after graduation.”

“Yes! I was thinking the same thing as Ren-kun until a while ago!”

He said strongly, but Klonoa’s expression still didn’t clear up.

“It’s true that it will have a positive impact. But in our case, just graduating is enough of an advantage.　So many kids want to do well in the actual competitions….”

“I see, so even if you can’t represent your specialty, it’s better to participate in an event where there is no limit on the number of people who can participate.”

“That’s what I’m saying….”

This is especially true when it comes to special classes, and there is little reason to go out of your way to be a member of the executive committee.

If there is a place where you can show your value more than serving on the committee, the students who enrolled in this academy wouldn’t pay attention to the committee or more precisely, they couldn’t afford to serve on the committee because they are desperate for other things.

In fact, given the nature of the Imperial Academy, it is more natural that the students would want to perform well in the competition.

So it’s not that the students are wrong …….

(Klonoa-san, that’s why she asked us for advice.)

(Yes, it seems so)

Ren and Licia looked at each other and shared their thoughts, exchanged a wry smile, and then looked at Klonoa.

Licia, who had seen the documents, was the same as Ren and thought that the Clausel family’s business near the Great Festival of the Lion King would be no problem, so she left the reply to Ren.

“Just out of curiosity, how many people do you usually gather?”

Klonoa’s body moves slowly.

If it were a mechanical body, for example, the gears in its entire body would have been creaking.

She stood up and went in front of the window where the spring breeze was coming in.

Whenever she shakes her hair in the warm breeze, the sweet scent of flowers spreads from her hair.

“……We need about ten people…”

The words were mumbled in a whisper, and Ren and Licia’s cheeks drew together.

Klonoa, sensing their reaction even though she didn’t see it, hurriedly turned to them.

“But it’s okay! It’s the job of the committee members to organize the interactions between the students, and we’ll do everything from distributing materials to finalizing the schedule, for example!”

“But if it’s just me and Licia-sama, then we need eight more people….”.

Ren’s sharp… and normal thrust.

After that, Licia said.

“And, Klonoa-san, this year we will have more guests than ever before, both at home and abroad….”

“Yes….because last time we didn’t invite any guests, just students competing.”

“………?”

Ren wonders as he listens.

“Was the last Lion King Festival different from usual?”

The Lion King Festival as Ren knows it is a very lively event.

The last time it was held was shortly before Ren’s first visit to the imperial capital.

In addition, it was an important event related to Vane’s awakening.

It was only a story of the legend of the Seven Heroes, but Ren tilted his head at the development he was unaware of.

“It’s because of the disturbances in the Baldor Mountains. The Baldor Mountains riots spread to the rest of the academy, so that year it was a student-only event, just to be safe.”

“Oh, so that’s why Lessard-sama didn’t mention it at the time.”

“That’s what I meant. This year, many people think it’s practically the first Lion King Festival in four years.”

Four years ago, during the previous Great Festival of the Lion King, there was not much time to spare because it had been a short time since Lessard had been in charge of Elendil. The hotels near the imperial capital of Elendil were also busy as most of them were fully booked, but it was too much to entrust everything to Lessard, who had just been given charge of the big city.

Therefore, the civil servants of the imperial castle and other nobles shared the workload and took care of the necessary tasks.

“This is just my guess, but I think since the Lion King Festival is going to be the most crowded in a long time, many people want to enjoy themselves to the fullest this time.”

Because of this and the nature of the academy, there were no candidates for the committee this time.

“It’s true when you put it that way. It seems that they don’t have time to serve on the executive committee because of all the other competitions they have to participate in.”

“Yes! So I was prepared for this year’s Lion King Festival to be like this…. but I didn’t think there would be zero candidates….”

In light of these circumstances, it is still understandable if we recall the nature of this institute.

It is fair to say that everyone who enrolls in this academy has a high goal in mind. It is no wonder, considering the purpose of winning the tough entrance examinations.

(And from what Klonoa said earlier, this is kind of the first time for Lessard-sama to work on the Lion King Grand Festival, right?)

If that is the case, Ren has no intention of sparing any effort to cooperate.

By serving as a member of the executive committee, it would be good if he could cooperate in any way, even if it is in the position of a student. It makes him think so.

The results of their work here will be appreciated by the Clausel family.

“Klonoa-san, this year’s Lion King Grand Festival will be very lively.”

“It’s going to be fine. I’ll do the work of ten people if it comes to it.”

It sounds unrealistic, but Klonoa has a good idea there.

The teachers, including Klonoa can just help out. In fact, when there aren’t enough committee members, half of the committee is made up of teachers.

The committee members’ job is mainly to organize things and represent the students.

That’s why it is considered a position that shouldn’t include too many teachers, but they do exist when there is nothing that can be done.

We can’t prepare for the Great Festival of the Lion King, there can be no greater blunder than that.

(But If I remember correctly, Klonoa-san left the Imperial Capital during the Festival of the Lion King, saying that she had some important work to do.)

While I do not know why that was, I recall in the legend of the Seven Heroes, such a thing had happened.

But since I had no further information, I decided to leave it at that for the moment.

“Licia-sama, what do you think?”

“I help the Clausel family with their work, and Ren helps me with the paperwork sometimes. I think I can do the paperwork better than some of the kids my age.”

But even so, it would be better to have a few more people.

Especially if they were going to act as representatives of the students, it wasn’t enough to have just the first-year students themselves.

(Hmmm…)

Ren thought about this and looked up at the ceiling to see what he should do.

He remembered that there was one condition that had to be met before he could accept the position of committee member.

“Licia-sama and I would accept the offer. But we need to discuss something with you.”

I told her what Ulysses had asked me to do and the situation of the Clausel family without concealment. Then Klonoa hurriedly waved her hands and said, “I’m sorry! Then take it easy!”

“Oh no, it will be fine if you give me some time on the day!”

“It’s alright! If you’ll only allow me and Ren to leave the table occasionally, we’d love to help you!”

In fact, it’s not a bad deal for Ren and Licia.

It would be better for both of them to be involved in the Great Festival of the Lion King rather than just doing what Ulysses asks or the Clausel family’s work, even for their future.

There was no doubt that it would also play a role in selling their names and networking.

In other words, it was a win-win situation for both of them, who weren’t passionate about the competition.

We could have said that we would be busy, but it wouldn’t have mattered as long as we had room to adjust our schedule.

“And I actually find myself thinking that it would be more fun to work behind the scenes.”

“Me, too. It’s a great festival, and I’d be happy to be involved in this way.”

“The preparation period is the most enjoyable part of a festival like this.”

Hearing their replies, Klonoa smiled broadly, bowed deeply, and thanked them.

(But this number of people is not good, so let’s talk about it on the way home.)

However, the fact that no one had come forward in the past few days meant that there was no hope for anyone else to come forward.

Therefore, Ren had a certain presence in mind and prayed that this presence hadn’t yet returned.

◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇

“That’s exactly why, maybe you could introduce me to someone?”

“I don’t know. Why won’t you think of asking me to do it?”

Ren approached Radius and went to the garden on the roof of the institute.

“Huh? Can I ask Radius to do that for me?”

The two men continued their conversation, looking out at the glowing sky.

“I don’t know why you are questioning me.”

“Because you’re the third prince, and I felt that it wouldn’t be right to ask you to be a member of the executive committee.”

“I don’t care.”

“Really? But I was wondering if you would be participating in the competition.”

“I would be lying if I said I wasn’t interested, but I also have things to do during the Festival of the Lion King. I have to talk with guests from other countries, and depending on who they are, I may even show them around.”

Radius didn’t run for the executive committee because of that, and he wasn’t interested in participating in some sort of competition.

But if Ren asked him to join, he couldn’t be indifferent.

As a person who had been helped by Ren many times, he had no hesitation in cooperating with him.

“Are you sure you’re okay with this when you have the royal family to deal with?”

“I won’t always be on official duties for the royal family, so I can handle your job just fine.”

First of all, this man seemed to be able to handle his work perfectly, no matter how busy he was.

Ren felt that it would be a disservice to the man if he were to be more reserved, so he asked in his usual manner.

“Then, could you do it for me?”

“I’m entrusted. Now there are three committee members.”

“I heard they usually have about ten people on the committee, and I don’t think we’re enough.”

“I don’t know if it’ll be enough, but I am sure we can do the job well enough.”

(If you ask me, it is true.)

With Radius, there’s no doubt.

But the more forces we have, the better. Since both Ren and Licia have time to help, he wasn’t going to irresponsibly leave everything to Radius here.

Still, Radius would likely take care of everything on his own.

(How’s that for a friend?)

Ren would not like to invite someone and then leave them to it.

If I’m going to do it, I’m going to do it responsibly.

“If I remember correctly, tomorrow at noon is the deadline for applications. The fact that there are currently no candidates for the committee means that we will have to make a move to get more people to join us. However, you will call on Fiona Ignat, too, won’t you?”

“Yes. I looked for her before I came to your place, but Fiona had already gone back to her dormitory.”

Fiona will surely help us because she is a daughter who studies alongside her father Ulysses.

But she might not have time to serve on the executive committee because she might have Ignat family business to attend to.

Ren mentioned that he was concerned about that.

“What are you talking about? How could you ask her to be on the committee and she will say no?”

“Eh, how can you be so sure?”

“Never mind. I was talking to myself so you could hear me.”

“That’s not a soliloquy anymore…..”

Radius was not so tactful and swallowed the rest of his words.

He was bathed in the evening breeze, and his cheeks relaxed with a good mood at Ren’s words.

“Kuh…… somehow even the sword king moved. Maybe if you asked, Ren, everyone would listen to you.”

“No, I don’t know much about the Sword King.”

The Sword King’s true intentions are still unknown, as she was instrumental in the Grand Clock Tower fiasco last summer.

Whether Radius asked or the emperor asked, there was no response other than a single word: ‘I was curious’.

According to the emperor, she wouldn’t answer no matter how many times he asked.

“After that, yes, I’ll call on one of them.”

Ren sat down on a nearby bench and leaned his body against the backrest. Radius rests his back against the rooftop fence and turns his body toward Ren.

“A friend or something?”

“A childhood friend, one who has served me for a long time. She will be a female student who moved up to the fourth grade this year.”

Ren searched his memory, wondering if Radius had ever had such a presence by his side.

It has already been fourteen years since Ren was born into this world, and it is especially difficult these days to search for memories prior to that time. After a hard search through his fading memories, he had no idea of the existence that Radius had mentioned.

This is probably because Radius dies in Legend of the Seven Heroes I, so his appearances are few and his information is limited.

“She’s is the daughter of the Countess of Arkhaise. Have you heard of her?”

“I don’t know. Maybe not.”

“Then I will tell you. The Arkhaise family was a heroic faction until a few years before I was born. However, due to a disagreement within the same faction, it became a member of the royalist faction.”

“Wow…. what kind of family is it?”

“It’s a prestigious civil official that has produced prime ministers in the past. The current head of the family serves as his Majesty’s aide-de-camp. That’s why the daughter is with me.”

It seems that the current head of the family and all the other members are excellent civil servants.

Ren took an interest in him, thinking that even if he changed his faction for some reason, he still had people by the side of the royal family.

“I mean, it’s kind of awesome to hear that Radius has a childhood friend.”

“Hmm? Why?”

“For some reason, I have the impression that she’s a very talented person.”

“She’s excellent. She did a good enough job with the Grand Clock Tower last year, and even before that, when you helped me crush the Demon cult’s hideout, she was by my side.”

“Oh, she’s even more impressive than I had imagined.”

“I can’t complain about her excellence. She was also the student body president at this academy last year, so she’s definitely a force to be reckoned with. I know she’ll be a great help —- only in terms of excellence, though.”

Radius’ words have been full of strange one-liners since a few minutes ago.

Even though he was praising his opponent strongly, which was unusual for him, there was a strange one word in there that left a strong impression on Ren.

What kind of woman is she?

I can’t imagine that she is a person that this third prince does not care for. ……

“Well, she’s just unique in a lot of ways, but she’s competent.”

“Ah, ah… I understand.”

Although there are many words of concern, since Radius says so much, there can be no doubt about her ability.

“Since it’s the first lion king festival in practically four years, I don’t think the students’ attention will turn to the executive committee members. By noon tomorrow, the five of us will be confirmed.”

Ren nodded his head in agreement.

The number of students is likely to be half that of previous years, but Ren wasn’t worried about that.

On the contrary, he was confident that there would be no problems at all.

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