CHAPTER 671: CHAPTER 670: THE UPCOMING ’SCHOOL FESTIVAL

Academy Festival?

Counting the time, the end of November, the beginning of December, indeed, it’s that time!

"The Red Leaf Hunting Festival is over?" Xia Yu asked.

"Of course! That day just happened to be the swordfighting showdown, and the elites of Far Moon have been engaged from start to finish, with your match kicking off and also concluding this year’s ’Red Leaf Hunting Festival’!"

Dojima Yin said with a blink.

"Uh..."

Xia Yu propped his chin, facing a bit of a dilemma.

After all, as the instructor guiding the Ten Master Mechanism, any suggestion he made had to be useful and feasible. Moreover, he was now a major director of Far Moon; if he could make the ’Academy Festival’ hotter than previous years, his status within the Far Moon system would be further consolidated.

Too young he was, having taken on the roles of director and teacher at Far Moon, there had been no shortage of criticism. Not to mention, within the board, figures like Kasuga Shigeru and Kikuchi Musashi were itching to stir up trouble. Now would be a good time to boost his reputation off this event and strengthen his position—it couldn’t be the wrong move.

Dojima Yin and Senzaemon brought up the topic—it must mean they want him to...

Boost his reputation!

"Let me think carefully!" Xia Yu rubbed his temples, his eyes growing serious.

The original storyline of "Food War Spirit" had changed.

According to the original story, Tiqie Ji would make a dazzling entrance during the Academy Festival and oust Senzaemon from the stage, establishing the Gourmet Central Authority. But in the current reality, Tiqie Ji had been defeated early on and rolled back to the ’Gourmet Council’ headquarters, suffering punishment in some corner. Thus, without Tiqie Ji, this year’s ’Academy Festival’ would be lacking in excitement!

But how to make the ’Academy Festival’ more interesting, even more memorable than previous years?

"Having a variety of student activities is certain..."

Every ’Academy Festival’ was open to the public, and students had to simulate competition between restaurants, ranking according to revenue. Even more brutal was—

Incurring a financial deficit during the event meant expulsion!

Xia Yu had no intention of changing Far Moon’s harsh competitive system. In fact, practically no booth would operate at a loss during the ’Academy Festival’. After all, the five-day ’Academy Festival’ at Far Moon could attract about 500,000 visitors, equivalent to a massive food festival...

"Competition!"

Muttering this keyword, Xia Yu’s eyes lit up.

"Do you have any good ideas?"

Asked Dojima Yin.

"Not exactly a good idea, but with the ’Academy Festival’ system in place, there is no need for any major reforms. We just need to throw some fuel in, to fan the flames higher—" Xia Yu said.

"To encourage competition?"

"Exactly! Set up rankings, offering one set of rewards for the Ten Master Mechanism members and another for non-members, encouraging students to sprint towards the trophy and ignite their passion for cooking and management!" Xia Yu shared his rough idea, discussing it with the two.

This discussion went on from after lunch until nearly evening.

Senzaemon sat with folded arms: "Just go ahead with the implementation!"

Ding.

At this moment, Xia Yu received a system notification:

"Onward! ’Academy Festival’ battle begins!"

"Notice: The tradition of Far Moon Academy Festival has a long history. This gourmet festival lasts for 5 days and attracts no fewer than 500,000 visitors each year. You have now taken on the job of Academy Festival Execution Guide Teacher, so show them tangible work results!"

"Requirement: 5-day visitor count reaching 1 million."

"Reward: 10 Talent Points, one random ’Merck’s Stars’ Taboo Qilin Level recipe."

A reward for a Taboo Qilin Level recipe!

Xia Yu slapped his palm.

Last time, the related recipe provided by the system was "Seared Gem Meat," which he used to defeat his formidable opponent Mars.

After tasting the Taboo Qilin Level ’Gem Feast’ once, he yearned for that flavor—a craving that haunted his soul.

Manga tasks, teaching tasks, recipe improvement tasks, farm management tasks...

And now came another task related to the Academy Festival.

Looking over the backlog of tasks, Xia Yu’s head swelled with pressure.

Interestingly, the "Manga Celebrity" task was worth a full 20 Talent Points. Was the system implying that this task was much more difficult than managing the "Far Moon Academy Festival"?

He left the main hall.

"Ah!"

There was an excited shout from the corridor; Tiqie Ailisha had just finished school and bumped into a teacher at home, immediately pouncing like a gust of wind.

"Ailisha!" Xia Yu greeted her with a smile on his face.

The girl’s next words caught him off guard:

"Sea fireflies! I want to know how Eriina got that ’sea firefly.’ I want one too!"

This remark was very characteristic of Ailisha’s frank, childlike nature. She approached like a naughty baby wanting candy, pouting with her hands behind her back, leaning forward, the front of her white shirt and knitted cardigan jacket accentuating the curves of her chest, almost bumping into Xia Yu.

Despite the childish pose, there was a certain demure charm about her that quickened one’s heartbeat.

"Ah, what ’sea firefly’?"

Xia Yu feigned ignorance.

"Look—" Clearly prepared for his charade, Ailisha whipped out her phone, opened Eriina’s personal Twitter, and showed him how the typically low-key girl who disliked posting pictures or mood journals on social media had been sharing a series of daily life photos. The most representative one showed Eriina in a dark bedroom holding a glass jar with the ’sea firefly’s’ radiant light shining on her golden hair and delicate facial features, casting an elegant poetic atmosphere from the photo.

Then there was another photo of the girl holding the glass jar in a flower room, feeding the ’sea firefly’ with dew and nectar.

Without a single mood post, the series of pictures made it obvious that Eriina was thoroughly enjoying herself, content and smiling, which caused her Twitter fandom to swoon with adoration.

"Wow, high-quality photos!" Xia Yu continued to play dumb, admiringly praising, "The shooting angles and techniques are both great. Surely it was Hizaki behind the camera helping her..."

Tiqie Ailisha interrupted with a wave of her hand: "That’s not the point!"

"Why didn’t you give me a ’sea firefly’?" she demanded, her whole demeanor forceful, her pupils clearly filled with a mix of emotions.

"Makki!"

She said, "Makki has one too; I asked her!"

Well, then!

Xia Yu could only say, "Because I only brought back 3 ’sea fireflies.’"

Zhu Qing and Eriina immediately claimed two of them, and the last one was taken away by Makki the day Xia Yu returned to Tokyo.

"How about this, not bringing you girls gifts was my oversight. Ailisha, what would you like? I’ll make it up to you!"

Xia Yu announced with a grand gesture.

"Sea firefly!" Ailisha did not hesitate.

"Well, about that..."

The girl just looked at him intently with her eyes. Xia Yu thought of the "Far Moon Academy Festival" and had an inspired idea, pretending to struggle: "The ’sea firefly’ is a fantasy insect, obtained only in exchange for rare ingredients. How about this, Ailisha, let’s make a deal..."

Hence, he successfully sparked Ailisha’s competitive spirit using the ’sea firefly.’

To avoid a chaotic scene, when he went out, he wisely called Jintan Shun: "Hey, uncle, contact that ’Witch of Breeding’ for me. I want to buy a batch of ’sea fireflies.’ And by batch, I mean a BATCH!"

Jintan Shun was choking on his extravagance.

Xia Yu decided to present each woman he knew with a ’sea firefly,’ those from Polar Star Dormitory, Shen Liangzi, Tanaka Hikari, Yoshino Yuuki, and even Niho Fuyuka...

Cough, cough!

Turning off his phone to enter the store, Xia Yu could already foresee Ailisha coming to him with tears to settle the account later.

But to prevent the spread of conflict, this was the only way to deal with it.

He mentally gave himself a thumbs up—

Brilliant!

The little figure in his mind kneeled in worship.

On certain matters, Xia Yu could indeed be quite clever.