“And what’s your wish?” I asked after a pause.
“I mean, isn’t it obvious? I want a Grand Spirit in my staff.”
I had no idea what the relative value of a wish like that would be, but I could tell it was important to her.
“Well, let’s go get our wishes granted,” I said. Stella nodded. I felt her tighten her grip on me. Our plan was to get past the guards and touch the Goddess statue, but that was so bare-bones it could hardly be called a real plan at all.
“With this many people, we won’t have any chance at all. We’ll have to wait for the festivities to end before we try. Which means getting something to eat sooner rather than later,” Stella said, walking between the stands with me still in hand.
The sweet and savory scents of loose candy and cooking meat drifted to me. It seemed the food here wasn’t much different from what I was familiar with. There was a stage with lit-up hearths at the back of the plaza, and girls wearing matching outfits were chanting some kind of grand, solemn song.
On the other end of the stage was a statue of the Goddess. She was looking down upon the plaza with a calm smile—one that was so perfect, it ended up feeling kind of fake and fishy. Though maybe that was just me.
“So, Stella. Why is everyone here a girl?” I asked, having noted that everyone we passed by was a girl wearing robes and carrying a staff just like Stella was. Even the Goddess’s statue had a staff, which possibly pointed to the fact carrying one was common sense here.
“This is Saint Antohsa’s Academy. It’s an all girls’ school with a dormitory, so boys are obviously banned from the premises.”
“And they seem to mostly be teenagers too. Don’t think I see someone twenty or older here.”
“There’s some older guys working the stands here due to the ceremony, but normally a single boy here would kick up a huge fuss. The soldiers would come barging right for them.”
“To think I’ve infiltrated an all girls’ school. Maybe being a staff isn’t half bad after all.”
“Why do you sound so lively?”
“I mean, name a more common harem trope than there being a single guy at an all girls’ schoo— Ow, ouch!”
“Idiot! You pervert!” Stella shouted, slamming me against the stone path all the while. Uh-huh. I had ticked her off.
“Look, no matter how many heroines end up flocking around me, you’ll always be my one true love, Stella! I won’t leave you behind to go flirt with other girls. No archetype can beat a tsundere!”
“Um, excuse me?! I’d rather die than be caught flirting with a creep like you, Otaku.”
She intensified her slamming with each word. The banging was starting to make my head hurt. I was a fan of embarrassment expressed through violence, though. It meant she was so intensely embarrassed that only a high-impact tsundere beatdown could calm her down. How cute was that?
“Hey!” came a shout from the side.
An older woman came running this way with a scary frown. “How dare you treat your staff so poorly? Your life is in its hands. What would the Goddess think if she were to...”
The woman, probably a professor, launched into a verbose, tedious speech. She must’ve been scolded like this when she threw me out her window too. Stella listened with a solemn expression.
“Good grief, this is why nobody likes you,” the professor concluded. Stella flinched.
(Uh... “Nobody likes” her?)
The professor coughed and left, leaving Stella to bite her lips and lower her head.
“Stella, what was—”
“Shut up for a second; I need to buy food.”
Stella bound me with a cord and put me on her back, then went to a stand with a long line. The staves of this world weren’t talkers either, it seemed. Sella would end up looking weird if we had a conversation.
I fell silent and allowed myself to become a true staff.
The moment Stella lined up, the girl in front of us turned around; she balked, then quickly left. The other students followed one after another, scattering like spiders.
(What...? Are they avoiding Stella?)
Stella arrived at the stand before I could even finish that thought. The entire line had vanished into the wind. They were watching Stella from afar and whispering to each other.
Not exactly pleasant.
Stella had surely noticed all of this, but she didn’t seem bothered. She stayed facing directly forward with a calm demeanor and ordered some kind of kebabs from the older man at the stand.
He chatted with her while preparing the order. “Yer pretty tiny, miss. Are ya really a student here?”
“Hmph... I’m a first-year.”
“Ha ha! I’m sure yer growth spurt’s comin’ right up. Lemme help ya with that—this one’s on me,” he said, sticking some extra meat onto the kebab.
Stella waved her hands. “I-I didn’t order this much...!”
“It’s fine, it’s fine,” he said, sticking out the loaded kebab. Stella hesitated, eyes wandering all over, until finally she shook her head in defeat.
“F-Fine, if you insist. I accept your kindness,” she said. Her tone indicated she was none too pleased to do so, but the smile creeping on her lips betrayed her true feelings. Her eyes were sparkling at the kebab too.
The man gave a broad smile. “Hey, may the Goddess bless ya.”
Good job, random guy! Let’s get together and discuss tsunderes one day.
Stella left the stand with her wrapped kebab.
The plaza had a bunch of tables and chairs lined up like what one might see in a food court. The moment Stella sat down in an open seat, all the students in the nearby seats left to sit down elsewhere.
They’re not even trying to hide it. Well, that gives us the opportunity to talk, I guess.
I started to speak, only to be interrupted by shrill laughter. “Oooooh ho ho ho! I should have known you were behind the sudden killing of the mood, Stupella.”
A haughty redhead girl came walking into the space left by everyone avoiding Stella. She seemed about Stella’s age, but with her ballroom gown decorated with lavish accessories, she was much gaudier. She even carried a glittering folding fan.
Ah, the fabled isekai villainess...
“What are you even doing here in our most noble of plazas? Do not tell me you think you are a fitting presence to celebrate the Descension Ceremony,” the red-haired girl said with dripping condescension. Beside her were three other girls, wearing less-flashy outfits and nodding along.