Ch.235Epilogue. The Festival (1)

In truth, the literature club activities weren’t extremely busy last year either.

Last year, we worked on related tasks almost right up until the “Hanakawa Festival,” but since there wasn’t much in the way of cultural festival content for the literature club to begin with, most of it was just printing a few things, buying some snacks, packaging them, and that was about it.

We didn’t actually get many visitors either.

So while it was somewhat busier than usual, we weren’t running around without a moment to breathe.

But now—

“…Why is it so…”

I slumped in my chair and muttered.

Yes. This year was incredibly busy.

We had been preparing steadily since the beginning of the school year. During the first semester, we wrote several pieces and articles, and during the training camp, we created a guide summarizing the wonderful aspects of the island we visited, complete with photos.

In the second semester, we wrote more pieces using photos from the school trip and collected stories from our classmates. At the beginning of this month, we edited everything, printed it out, and even had it properly bound at a bookbinding shop.

So, normally, it shouldn’t have been this busy—

“Of course you’re busy when you’re running a café.”

Yuka said, patting my shoulder comfortingly.

Right. We decided to open a literature café for this festival.

The idea was to create a café with a calm, somewhat youthful atmosphere.

“We can’t really use the regular club desks, can we?”

The desks we used were literally just “desks.” They were purely functional objects meant for placing books on and writing, with no atmosphere whatsoever. If someone asked whether they suited a café, the only honest answer would be no.

So first, we had to remove all those desks.

Then we decorated the empty space with various ornaments, and somehow filled it with round café tables that were stored in the school warehouse.

But here’s the thing.

The problem was that the old building doesn’t have an elevator. I’m not sure if they just didn’t care about the rights of students with disabilities when this building was constructed.

However, the fact that there are no classrooms currently in use in this old school building suggests that the school administration is at least aware that there’s a problem.

Strictly speaking, we could have carried everything along the corridor connecting the old building to the new one, taken the elevator there, and gone down, but thankfully, the teachers allowed us to just put the existing desks on the rooftop.

In the end, we still had to use the stairs, but it was more reasonable since we only needed to go up one floor to store them.

Fortunately, the club room desks were foldable, so we carried them up to the rooftop and left them outside. The weather was clear, so thankfully it didn’t look like it would rain.

The café tables were small and easier to move, but that doesn’t mean it wasn’t hard work.

“Besides, moving desks isn’t even that difficult.”

I glanced at Yuka as she said that, and let out a long sigh.

“I had to go back and forth to the faculty office too.”

There were many strict conditions for selling food. We’re not professional food vendors. Naturally, there were quite a few things we couldn’t do according to food-related regulations.

Using fire in the classroom was also problematic for various reasons, though boiling water was possible without fire.

So I had to double-check those regulations one last time, and bring a teacher from the faculty office to confirm that we weren’t excessively occupying the corridor and that everything we set up could be cleaned up after the cultural festival ended.

Only after tidying up the other classroom we borrowed for extra space was the work finally done.

It wasn’t physically exhausting, but it was mentally draining in many ways.

“Good job, good job.”

Yuka said, stroking my head.

“You worked hard, you worked hard.”

Harumi, who was resting nearby, joined in and stroked my head too.

By the way, Koko was already being patted by other students. And Koko’s hand was on Tsuneda’s head, who had a somewhat complicated expression.

Seeing that, I couldn’t help but smile.

“Will it go well tomorrow?”

Izumi muttered, sounding a bit worried.

Although she was a college exam student, she said she wanted to participate in the cultural festival. I was thinking it might be time for her to really focus on studying, but it didn’t feel right to exclude Izumi and Kaoru.

Both of them had been studying hard for quite some time already, so taking a two-day break probably wouldn’t significantly affect their grades.

Besides, this was the last time.

After this activity, the two of them would truly end their literature club activities. It’s not like we wouldn’t see them at school anymore, but it would probably be difficult to meet them in the club room until graduation.

“It will go well.”

I said, imagining Izumi and Kaoru in maid outfits.

“Actually, it might be better to hope it doesn’t go too well.”

“Huh? What do you mean? Isn’t it just good if things go well? Why shouldn’t it go too well?”

“You’ll probably understand tomorrow.”

I deliberately left my words vague.

Hearing my words, Kaoru seemed to understand, while Izumi just tilted her head in confusion.

*

See?

I told you so.

From the moment the festival started, there was a long line at the “Literature Café,” and about an hour after opening, the line had grown enormously.

It’s only natural.

It wasn’t simply because the maids working there were pretty. Though that certainly played a big part, school festivals naturally attract crowds.

At the very least, all the students studying at this school are potential customers. And if you consider the friends and family members they invited, even more so.

Although it’s called a school festival, the actual venue is fixed. Naturally, the places where people can enjoy themselves are also limited, so when people start gathering in those small spaces, they fill up quickly.

“Yes, yes, I’m coming right away…!”

Izumi, dressed in a maid outfit, was working busily, forgetting to say things like “Yes, Master” as she called out.

Surely we weren’t the only ones with a maid café, but customers kept pouring in. Even though we were on the top floor.

Thanks to this, the photography club using the room right next to ours was enjoying an unexpected boom.

To be fair, what the photography club was doing wasn’t much different from sticker photos, but being adjacent to a crowded café meant people naturally overflowed into their space.

“Thank you. I hope you had a pleasant time.”

As a professional maid with experience, I wasn’t particularly flustered as I saw off customers after they paid.

People are diverse. Some smile, some look strangely dissatisfied. But even though I may not look it, I’ve worked at a maid café for about two years. I know how to deal with difficult customers, and most of the visitors here were likely acquainted with students, so they couldn’t easily cause trouble.

Moreover,

“…”

Yes. There had been a woman hovering around me for a while.

A woman with such striking beauty that she caught the eye of passersby, but who also had a somewhat intimidating impression, had been watching me continuously.

“Um, are you okay?”

“That’s my mother, miss.”

When a customer who looked like a college student expressed concern for me, I politely explained, and they nodded with an “Ah…” before leaving.

“…”

I spent about five seconds in thought, then walked over to her, clasped my hands together, and said in a respectful voice:

“Miss, you’ve used up your 30 minutes.”

“My, ‘miss,’ you say.”

Hearing my words, Kagami twisted her body as if she didn’t know what to do with herself.

“…The other masters and misses are feeling uncomfortable.”

“…Um, sorry, but could you not use the word ‘master’?”

Come on, how can you not use that word in a maid café?

Well, it is called a literature café, but still.

“In the 21st century…”

The strange excuse she gave was probably because she was uncomfortable with me using such terms with other men.

At least at my workplace there are adults around, but not here.

Well, as a mother, it’s not strange to worry about a daughter who has already experienced stalking.

But still.

After thinking for a moment, I said:

“Miss, would you like a maid outfit?”

We do have extras.

Of course, I’m not sure if it would fit Kagami. It might be a bit tight around the chest area.

“…No, no matter what, I don’t want to wear something like that.”

But surprisingly, Kagami refused with a serious face.

I guess maid outfits are too much for ordinary people after all.

People like me only wear them under financial pressure, or when caught up in festival excitement… Indeed, there’s no other occasion to wear such clothes. It’s not just a regular employee uniform.

“…”

“Okay, I get it. I’ll stay quiet.”

But you’ve been quiet all this time.

The problem is that you keep glaring at the men I call “master.”

“…Why don’t you wait inside instead? I’ll clear a table for you.”

“Really?”

When I dropped my maid persona and spoke normally, Kagami’s eyes lit up as she asked.

Was she hanging around just to hear me say that?

I appreciate her caring for me, but I think she goes a bit too far sometimes.

…Well, I do agree that wandering alone at a festival like this feels a bit awkward.