Ch.77Chapter 77

“…Huh?”

I let out a dumbfounded voice. I was told to put my feet into the cardboard bike, but my feet were still on tiptoe on the ground to keep the bike from falling over.

I was already sad about being short, and now having to stay in this position was starting to give me cramps in my legs.

As soon as the start signal sounded, Sera, Aria, and Karen raced across the large space. There was no “vroom!” sound, but seeing them laughing and riding made me groan with envy.

But I couldn’t do it.

Of course not. I knew it used magical formulas for the engine, but I’d never heard you had to inject mana to make it go, so I hadn’t practiced that separately.

The corners of my mouth twitched. I gripped the handlebars tightly with a frustrated expression.

This is hell. Only I, only I can’t have fun.

Just as I was about to distort my lips with a whimper, the girls who had brought the cardboard bikes stopped beside me.

“Ourr, what’s wrong?”

Sera pulled her bike up close beside me. Behind her, Aria and Karen were quietly watching to see what was happening, which made my frustration explode as I pointed at the bike with a tearful voice.

“The bike won’t… go… I don’t know how… to put in mana…”

My throat felt choked up. After forcing out the words, Aria, who was next to me, parked her bike properly and came to my side. Then she briefly examined the magic circle that served as the engine.

I hoped she might do something, but apparently tampering with someone else’s magic circle wasn’t allowed, so she discreetly called over another staff member.

“Ourr doesn’t know how to inject mana. Is there any way to start it without having to inject mana separately?”

“…Ah, I don’t think that’s possible. This was made by a club, so they didn’t prepare for that.”

Aria came back with the bad news.

I thought the bike bumper cars would be fun even if we didn’t deliberately crash into each other, just enjoying the speed, but it seemed that was just my dream.

I blankly held onto the bike for a moment, then pouted and got off.

I parked the bike and approached the staff.

“I’ll just not ride…”

It should be exciting to attract visitors and for me to have fun too, but where else would you find such a static bumper car? I’d just be stuck in place unable to start, making it frustrating for the others who couldn’t ride freely, so it was best to step aside.

It’s disappointing, but what can I do?

Let’s just think I couldn’t ride because I’m not tall enough. I’m only about 140cm, so I wasn’t supposed to ride anyway.

If it had been a regular mechanical bike, could I have started it? No, then they probably couldn’t have made it into a bumper car in the first place.

All sorts of thoughts crossed my mind out of disappointment. As I was about to open the entrance covered with mats to leave, someone grabbed my clothes to stop me. When I turned around blankly, I realized Karen was holding me back.

Sera and Aria were talking to the staff about various things, and eventually something must have worked out because another staff member took my bike away.

Only three bikes remained, but the girls pulled me over and sat me on a bike.

“Ourr, let’s ride together.”

Sera sat me in front of her.

“Huh? But they said it’s dangerous…”

“Can’t be helped. You wanted to ride, and it would be sad if you had to leave without riding, right? Besides, I’m actually pretty good at games, so I’m used to this kind of thing.”

While I was making a dumbfounded expression, Aria and Karen smiled and sat back on their bikes.

[Ready to start again?]

The operator, perhaps finding it difficult to speak up in this atmosphere, announced the restart signal in an awkward tone.

Nestled in Sera’s arms, I quietly grabbed the side of the handlebars. Seeing this, Sera chuckled.

“Ourr, hold on tight, okay?”

“Okay.”

Just a moment ago I felt like crying, but now I was fine. The moment I nodded, the wheels spun with a scraping sound before suddenly accelerating with a bang!

Oh.

“Aaaaaahhhhh!”

“Hold on tight!”

Sera said that as she instantly made a complete turn.

Compared to a car or something similar, I couldn’t say the speed was amazing, but there was a world of difference between accelerating in a stable space with a stable posture and racing like this in an unstable position with the wind hitting your entire body.

I felt like my eyes were spinning. I tried to hold onto the handlebars tightly to avoid falling off the bike, but since I didn’t have particularly strong hands, I ended up mostly entrusting my body to Sera’s embrace.

I slightly frowned at the wind. Looking ahead, I could see Aria driving smoothly and Karen driving a bit awkwardly.

Would it have been more fun if I could have ridden by myself?

The experience of being driven by someone else versus driving myself would definitely feel different.

If I wait just one more year, maybe I could really participate and have fun then? But next year, Sera and Aria won’t be here. That thought made me sad.

If only I could enjoy this more right now.

But this isn’t bad either.

“Hee, heehee.”

I smiled while nestled in Sera’s arms. I let out a silly laugh while enjoying the wind.

[It’s about time to wrap things up!]

At the operator’s voice announcing the end, Sera whispered to me once more.

“Hold on tight, okay? We’re going to crash into Karen.”

“Karen?”

“Yes, Karen! Aria, ram her!”

Before I could say anything, Sera shouted loudly.

Karen was surprised and opened her eyes wide, but soon nodded and increased her speed. Then Aria changed her surprised eyes to glaring ones.

So that’s how you want to play? That was the expression on Aria’s face as she also increased her speed.

Of course, we were the target.

I was a bit scared. I was afraid it might turn into something like a traffic accident, but remembering the earlier crashes, I didn’t think it would be that dangerous, so I could relax.

And then with a soft thud! The cardboard bikes, letting out a weak whoosh of air, all collapsed at the very end, with only the wheels rolling on the ground.

Rising from the box, I shook my head from side to side and looked at each of the girls.

“Hee.”

I think I’ve made good friends.

If I had just left through the door, it would have been really boring. Would it have been the worst festival ever? But that didn’t happen. Even though I got help from the girls, even though I rode with Sera, the speed still gave me a thrill. The feeling of crashing into others and being crashed into still lingered vividly.

On our way out, I grabbed Sera and Aria and pointed to where the food trucks were.

“Sera, Aria. I tried it earlier with Karen, and it was really delicious over there. I’ll treat you.”

“What did you eat?”

“Stir-fried udon. Karen, it was delicious, right?”

Karen seemed momentarily dazed as she shrugged her shoulders. Then, recalling my question, she nodded a beat late.

“Yes, it was delicious.”

“See? Let’s go! Professor, would you like to have some more too?”

“No, I’m good.”

The professor declined with a bitter smile.

“That was quite thrilling, by the way. It’s amazing they could make something like that out of cardboard.”

Aria, beside me, brought up the bike bumper cars we had just ridden, smiling. The lingering excitement made me nod in agreement.

“I think it’s amazing that someone thought of making bikes out of cardboard. To design it so it doesn’t collapse when someone sits on it must have required serious planning, right?”

“That’s probably why it was a bit expensive.”

Karen, perhaps excited by the unusual experience, spoke in a more animated voice than usual. Sera shrugged her shoulders.

Before we knew it, we had approached the food truck. I ran ahead and held out a bill to the owner.

“Three udons, please!”

“Regular udon?”

“No, stir-fried udon!”

As the owner was about to take the money from my hand, a hand from behind snatched it away. I turned my head with a “Huh?” and Sera smiled wryly.

“You already got a free bumper car ride, you can’t get free food too. Right, Aria?”

“Right.”

Aria nodded at Sera’s words and then pulled out a card with an exaggerated pose.

I almost thought I saw it sparkle.

“Today, I’ll buy whatever you all want to eat.”

“…I’m full.”

While Aria spoke with a solemn expression, Karen clutched her stomach and shook her head.

Aria froze. She turned her head stiffly and then carefully asked.

“You don’t want to eat more?”

“Not yet.”

“What about you, Professor?”

“I ate a lot for breakfast. Thanks for asking. But I’m full after getting treated by Ourr.”

Aria seemed unable to accept that the professor and Karen were full, and quietly approached the food truck.

“…Five portions, please.”

“Hey, hey. Two people just said they can’t eat. Why are you casually ordering five portions?”

“If you eat two portions and Ourr eats two portions, it works out perfectly.”

“No, I don’t feel like eating that much from the morning.”

Sera grabbed Aria’s arm as she was handing over her card, and after some bickering, they finally changed the order to three portions.

Perhaps tired from the commotion, Sera gently hugged me from behind and stroked my head.

“Watching her do that sometimes is exhausting.”

“Aria is cool.”

“Ourr, don’t encourage her like that.”

Sera pinched and pulled both my cheeks.

“Nnnngh.”