Ch.211Side Story: Summer Festival – 4

The Earth’s Greatest Carnivorous Dinosaur.

A catastrophe for herbivorous dinosaurs roaming the land.

The dream and hope of every child around the world.

A body structure designed almost exclusively for hunting.

A creature that becomes more overpowered with each new scientific discovery.

A being completely different from that insignificant dinosaur that walks on four legs, catches fish by the riverside, has a heron-like snout, and sports a chicken’s comb on its back.

That was the Tyrannosaurus.

Now, what if such a Tyrannosaurus had a body made entirely of machinery, breathed fire and electricity, and fought by firing machine guns and missiles that emerged from its back and waist?

Even someone with no knowledge of dinosaurs would undoubtedly feel a shiver of awe rising within them.

That was exactly what happened. Even the Magic Tower Masters who oversaw the construction of the artificial dungeon poured their hearts and souls into designing the space to house my Nano-Tech Mecha Tyrannosaurus after seeing its design.

The visitors were no exception.

“It’s quite popular.”

“Indeed.”

I casually mentioned to Leona, who was sitting at the desk beside the dungeon entrance organizing ledgers. She smiled and nodded in agreement. The retry rate for our artificial dungeon was skyrocketing.

Excluding Valera, who was a Grand Magician, most people attempted an average of 6.3 retries. Considering that we charged an entrance fee for each attempt, it meant the dungeon was worth every penny.

“Waaaaaah!”

With a loud crash, a group of male students tumbled out and sprawled on the ground. It meant they had failed. If they had succeeded, they would have walked out proudly through the entrance with their shoulders squared, carrying their spoils.

The boys lamented that they had almost made it, then strode over to Leona as if they couldn’t waste another second.

“Can we try again?!”

“Of course. But even if you succeed, you’ll only get a refund for this attempt—”

“That doesn’t matter! Let’s go! I’m definitely going to succeed this time!”

Clink! A number of gold coins equal to the number of people dropped onto her palm. As soon as they paid, the boys rushed back inside and disappeared.

This was already their 11th attempt. Thinking I hadn’t designed it to be that difficult, I checked the combat logs recorded in the Mecha Tyranno.

“No wonder they keep failing. They’re not trying to defeat it—they’re trying to ride on its back?”

What’s more, they weren’t even trying to weaken it first before mounting; they were attempting to climb onto it while it was at full strength. No wonder they were all being ejected toward the entrance together. There’s a reason it’s the dungeon boss.

“Wow… they’re impressive in many ways. Don’t they care about the money? That’s already 11 gold coins.”

One gold coin per entry for a group of five. If they succeed, they get their money back, so even if they succeed now, they’ve already spent the equivalent of 10 gold coins. That was an excessive amount to spend on a single booth.

“But I can understand it. I rode it myself after completing it. It felt great.”

If even I, the designer, felt that way, it’s understandable that those who had to face it directly would be filled with desire. Leona nodded with a wry expression.

“By the way, what about your sister Mira? Isn’t she coming?”

Kang Yuna is a hunter belonging to the Eternal Guild, and except for Latina, all the women around me are guild masters, so originally we had a hierarchical relationship.

But after it was revealed that Kang Yuna is my biological sister, everyone except the Chairwoman unconsciously started using semi-formal speech with me. The Chairwoman, of course, has nothing to lose in terms of age or position—or rather, she’s a dragon.

My sister grabbed me and wailed about how terrifying and creepy it was to receive semi-formal speech from her superiors, wondering what kind of relationship I had with them to be subjected to such treatment.

“I asked her, but she refused. Said it was scary and she needed mental preparation. Said she wasn’t ready to accept that there are worlds other than Earth.”

For an A-rank hunter, I don’t understand why she’s so timid. I clicked my tongue inwardly.

“Hmm… I see. Then I’ll have to be careful when we visit your parents together later.”

“Huh?”

“Eh?”

We blinked simultaneously.

Leona looked like she hadn’t even realized what she’d just said, but after three seconds, her cheeks flushed. She seemed to have realized how her words might have been interpreted.

“N-no! That’s not what I meant…! I mean, it’s not completely not what I meant…!”

As Leona started rambling and stuttering in an attempt to recover, attention focused on us.

Not only Elysiere and Rosaria, who were resting in the temporary building after finishing their shifts, but even Priscilla and Latina, who were preparing for their shifts, peeked their heads through the window.

Her already red cheeks turned an even deeper shade.

“Um… ah! I-I need to go somewhere for a moment! Something urgent came up!”

Unable to bear the stares any longer, Leona fled at an incredible speed befitting a current hero. Fortunately, there were no outsiders who had heard this absurd conversation. I finished the ledger Leona had been working on.

Latina approached, tilting her head.

“Why is she acting like that?”

“She’s embarrassed.”

“It must have been quite embarrassing. There are people here who do far worse things on a daily basis.”

Her gray eyes glanced at Priscilla, who had immediately nestled into my arms and was purring. She had often tried to sneak into my bed naked, claiming she wanted to feel my warmth, only to be stopped.

“I was wondering when we could enjoy the festival.”

“Probably from the afternoon, I think. Or we could go tomorrow or Thursday when we’re off. Choose whatever works best for you.”

Bellium Academy is open to the public from 9 AM to 6 PM. From then until midnight is reserved exclusively for academy students.

That’s when even professors set up stalls. Or clubs and students who chose the night because they didn’t want to deal with outsiders. Thanks to this, the night had its own attractions.

“I prefer the night.”

“I thought so. There are too many eyes during the day.”

“Yes. If others see us, they might view you as a playboy surrounded by women or changing partners every few hours. I don’t want Mira to be seen that way.”

“…”

I didn’t mean it that way; I was referring to our reputations.

I patted her head as she looked up at me brazenly. Latina immediately grabbed my hand and rubbed it against her head. I messed up her hair as she wanted.

“If you touch it like that, my hair will get tangled. I’ll have to comb it again later.”

Despite her grumbling, her head followed my palm’s movements. She seemed determined not to allow even a moment’s separation.

“Aaaaargh!”

“Ugh.”

The group of male students who had gone in earlier came flying out again with similar screams. Almost simultaneously, another group collapsed on the ground. Their screams were cuter, probably because there were female students mixed in.

I quickly removed my hand from her head. Priscilla sat up, and Latina sat in the chair as if nothing had happened.

“One more time!”

“Let’s try again!”

That day, no one succeeded in mounting the Mecha Tyrannosaurus.

“Now, let me explain the rules.”

The Chairwoman’s voice rang out clearly. The audience, easily numbering over a hundred thousand, sat in their seats listening attentively. Above them floated a display created by magic.

“Basically, you’ll move around inside the area collecting treasures to earn points, and the team with the highest score at the end wins. You’ll have to find the number and location of treasures yourselves, so explore diligently. Inside, there are monsters implemented in the same way as in artificial dungeons. For each person deemed to have received a fatal injury, 10% of your current score will be deducted, so keep that in mind.”

It means if you rush for treasures in dangerous places and get unlucky, your score gets cut by a percentage. And the more you have, the more you lose.

“And scattered throughout are Bellium Academy students playing the role of powerful monsters. If you defeat our students, you can obtain treasures worth significant points. The points vary according to the strength scale, so plan your strategy carefully before challenging them.”

Up to this point, it was an ordinary treasure hunt combined with a raid event.

Up to this point, that is.

“Finally, I’ll explain the special rule, so listen carefully.”

The students, who had been murmuring, fell silent at the mention of a special rule.

“If all the students playing powerful monsters are defeated, or if less than 30 minutes remain until the end, a final monster will appear. If you can make the student playing this final monster use more than 1% of their power, you’ll earn twice the combined points of all treasures and monsters in the area.”

Twice the combined points of all treasures and monsters in the area. Even if you miss everything else, catching just that one would be enough. The murmuring grew louder, mostly questioning if this was correct.

“Of course, there’s a reason for setting such a rule. It would be wise not to challenge recklessly. Keep in mind that I’ve instructed the highest-scoring team to be hunted, so you should also pace your treasure hunting appropriately.”

The murmuring grew louder for a different reason. If the Chairwoman was saying such things, who could possibly be playing the role of the final monster?

Laila Academy and Rosemary Academy had selected participants strictly by academic performance, and each team had as many as 10 members. Yet the condition was to make them use more than 1% of their power?

Students who caught the hidden meaning in her words shuddered.

“Now, let’s begin.”

Following the Chairwoman’s words, one team from each grade level, totaling six teams from both academies, crossed through the dimensional gate. I also sat in the audience and turned on the magical device given to each person.

Apart from the devices floating high in the sky, they were designed to allow us to directly select and view any location we wanted. It was clear how much support had been poured into this festival.

‘Let’s see…’

I checked where Leona was. She was sitting absentmindedly in the shade of a tree, holding her holy sword. The locations of powerful monsters were all marked on the map received before the start, so anyone could find them if they wanted.

And there was only one person who would seek out Hero Leona, the monster assigned the highest points, as soon as the event started.

“I am most pleased to meet you, Hero.”

Aihenhart Renitus.

“Oh… yes. Hello.”

Leona, with her eyes wide as if she hadn’t really expected someone to come looking for her right at the start as I had predicted, returned the greeting. Seeing her ambiguous expression, a question mark appeared above Aihenhart’s head.

“…Why do you look like that, Hero?”

“Well, you see…”

It’s because she had made a bet with me before the start.

If the first person to visit her right after the start was Lady Aihenhart, she would say what I had instructed her to say. If not, she would grant me any one wish.

Having lost the bet, it was time to fulfill her promise.

“…I was wondering if the spot where you got flicked on the forehead the day before yesterday is okay.”

“Eeeeeek!”