1.1

As we arrived at school, we occasionally passed third-year students, and they looked at me the same way they did when I was on the boat, but there is no sign of Sudō noticing.

During the summer vacation, I kept seeing this same scene whenever I went outside, but I don't think I'll ever really get used to it. The act of being watched gives a strong sense of oppression and blockage. This is something that will continue unless I erase the existence of the gaze itself.

Kei quickly gathered a group of girls to talk about the summer vacation, and Sudō started chatting with his good friends Ike and Hondo. I waited for the bell to ring while chatting briefly with the Ayanokōji Group.

Eventually, Chabashira-sensei arrived, looking the same as she did in the first semester.

"In this second semester, there are a few big events coming up for you guys. First of all, there will be a sports festival, similar to the one held last year. Obviously, it will be a test of the students' physical abilities. This will be held in October. Some rules will differ this time around, but the base concept is still the same. Testing of each individual students' physical ability."

Right now, Chabashira-sensei was talking about a battle that would soon begin that would strongly require physical ability; a battle that could be troublesome for students who only excelled in their studies. The rules are different from those of the first year, which is also a concern.

"And in November, we will be holding a cultural festival, which will be our first cultural festival in the history of Advanced Nurturing High School.

The details will be announced, just like the sports festival, but we'll take the time to do this in parallel starting in September."

September will mainly be spent preparing for the festival, with an extra few hours of physical education classes per week. After the P.E. festival in October, the students should start practising for the cultural festival in November.

There's also a school trip coming up, although I'm not sure if it's related to a special exam.

"Furthermore, in between these events, there will of course be midterm and final exams."

There was no doubt that it would be a busy second semester.

"I'll explain more about the sports festival later, but first let's talk about the cultural festival."

In terms of order, the sports festival came first, but Chabashira-sensei began to talk about the details regarding the cultural festival.

"The cultural festival will be held with a large number of guests. You will have to compete with the classes of all years in the festival for the total amount of sales. You can apply for as many items as you like, but the budget is limited. Please look over your tablets for details."

[Outline of the Cultural Festival]

• Each second-year student will be given 5,000 private points that can be used only in preparation for the festival.

• First-year students will receive 5,500 points and third-year students receive 4,500 points.

• Additional funds will be given for social contributions such as student council service, and for contributions made through club activities.

• Details will be announced for each class once they are finalized.

• The initial cost and additional funds will not be reflected in the final sales, and will be confiscated if unused.

• 100 class points will be awarded to the 1st through 4th place classes.

• 50 class points will be awarded to the 5th through 8th place classes.

• Class points for 9th to 12th place will remain unchanged.

As for the rewards, a relatively large number of class points were available, and there are no penalties for finishing lower than 8th place. The rules are straightforward and easy to understand. It was clear why they announced the details of the cultural festival before the sports festival. I guessed it was because they couldn't start preparations until the rules were explained. As for the sports festival, there's not much to it besides training physically every day.

"Hey, it's kind of like a middle school cultural festival."

It may not be exactly the same, but I could understand why Shinohara would say that.

I can't see any risk of losing class points or getting expelled. The fact that I'm tempted to wonder if there's more to it than what we see is probably evidence that I've become deeply ingrained in the structure of this school.

"It will also be important to determine which areas of the grounds are reserved. For example, if you want to set up your stall near the main gate, where visitors will definitely pass by, you will have to pay the school for the space."

The students, including me, looked over the new information that had been sent to the tablet. It was a map of the grounds with the title 'List of Possible Stalls on the Grounds' and the names of possible stall locations combined with locations and numbers. The location closest to the main gate mentioned by Chabashira-sensei is labeled "Main Gate 1" and the cost of the location is 10,000 points. If the location is far away from the main gate and difficult for guests to get to, it's low cost or even free. The budget without considering additional funds was about 200,000. If you think about it, 10,000

points isn't anywhere near cheap.

However, there is no doubt that it is a prime location that is expected to attract many customers.

"It is possible that there will be conflicts with other classes and grades regarding the location of the stall, but only one class per location can use that location. If there is a conflict of interest, a bidding war will be held, and the class that offers the school the highest bid will get the right to use that space."

In other words, if you are forced to spend a high amount of points in order to secure a prime location, this in turn will drastically cut the budget that can be allocated to the show. The class will be spending the next two months figuring out how to fight efficiently with a limited budget.

"The school will not disclose which class will be doing what kind of performance or where the stalls will be until the day of the festival. However, be aware that you can't plug the ears of other students. If the information is leaked, you should expect to be faced with consequences."

Even if you come up with an ideal exhibit, there's always the risk that other classes will copy it and take countermeasures.

"There will be things that you may need from time to time. If there's something you can't get on the premises, you can apply for and get it from outside if you gain permission. As long as it's within the terms of the agreement, you're free to use the budget however you want."

I guess I'll have to look into that and other details sometime later.

"These are the descriptions of the cultural festival and its rules. The specific preparation and set-up period will start after the end of the sports

festival, but please start discussing today and use your own time to decide what the events will be and how the budget will be allocated."

It seems that the more time we have to devote to the festival, the more chance of success we'll have.