The Carnivorous Beast Beauties Are Dying to Devour This Herbivorous Beast Me - 79

Chapter 79: The Summer Festival 2

ーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーー

“’Sup.”

“Oh! There you are.”

It was just around noon. Standing in front of the station, where the summer festival stalls were lined up, were two boys—Shuuya and Kento. The two of them were Haruku’s friends. Of course, the two knew that Seira, Miran, and (also Haruku) were helping the student council run a food stall, and they had come to check things out.

“Obviously there’s Arisa-senpai, but also Haruku, Seira-san, Miran-chan, and… Oh, Haruku’s little sister is helping too, right?”

“And also the class representative and the first year student, Anjuu-chan.”

“Normally I’d say ‘You’re still surrounded by girls as always,’ but… Yeah. I can’t say that today.”

“You’re managing a yakisoba and takoyaki stall, right? Grilling over a hot plate with no A/C in this blazing heat… That sounds like torture.”

“I hope Miran-chan won’t collapse from heatstroke…”

“Hey, shouldn’t you worry a little about Risu-chan too?”

“Haruku, he’s… Well, yeah. I bought refreshments for him, so he’s going to be just fine.”

“Fair point! It’s right around lunch anyway, so let’s hand over the drinks and grab some yakisoba while we’re at it.”

“Sounds good.”

They might not admit it outright, but they probably did think of Haruku as a friend—enough to joke around like that. With a bag in one hand holding a few bottles of cold sports drinks, Shuuya and Kento headed toward the stall where Haruku and the others were working.

“This is around where the school sets up their stall every year, right?”

“Should be, unless they change it… Whoa, is it just me, or is the crowd way bigger than usual?”

The festival, held only once a year, always drew large crowds. Not just locals, but people from nearby towns as well, so the bustle wasn’t surprising. Still, the crowd looked unusually big this year. 

People packed the street where the stalls stood shoulder to shoulder, making it nearly impossible to pass through normally. And yet… All of them were facing in the same direction.

“Wait, is everyone lining up for a single stall?”

“…Ain’t no way.”

A thought struck Shuuya, and he tilted his head. He strained his ear to listen to the voices around him. What he heard confirmed his suspicion.

“Hey, is this the stall with the super cute girls?”

“Yeah, yeah! They’re seriously cute. Like, for real.”

“This is my second time coming today. When I got my food, our fingers touched… Hehehehe…”

“Do you think she’d give me a smile if I asked?”

“Dude, that’s way too creepy. Give it up. You’ve got zero chance.”

Upon confirming his suspicion, Shuuya turned to Kento.

“Kento, I think this might be the student council’s stall.”

“You’re kidding. This whole line?”

“I’m pretty sure this is the stall… Miran-chan and the others are insanely cute, so word of mouth must’ve spread fast.”

“So, do we line up?”

“That’s… The line is a bit too much. Let’s just hand over the drinks from the back.”

“Yeah, that’s probably for the best.”

Overwhelmed by the ridiculous line, Shuuya and Kento gave up on buying food for now and decided to at least follow the queue to say hello to Seira, Miran, and Haruku.

♢♢♢♢

“Ugh, seriously, what is going on here?!”

“This isn’t the time for complaining, Miran-san! Look, the next customer is here!”

The first to raise her voice in the chaos at the front of the stall was Miran. The reason, of course, was the ridiculously long line—so long the end was nowhere in sight.

At the very start of the festival, customers had only trickled in, but with Seira and the others drawing everyone’s eyes, plus the rumor that “the food here is made by gorgeous girls,” the line steadily grew… And by midday it was stretching beyond view.

The original plan had been to work in shifts, but they quickly changed course and decided to have everyone on duty at once. Seira and Miran, both bad with the hot griddle, and the social powerhouse Chinatsu handled customer service, while the rest focused on cooking nonstop.

…And yet, judging by how the line refused to shrink, the draw of the “Top Four Beauties” was formidable. A lot of the customers were students, too.

“Arisugawa-kun, just keep making as much as you can!”

“On it! We’re not gonna run out halfway through, are we…?”

“I’m keeping track of headcount through echolocation…But yeah, we’re probably going to run out.”

“Is it like this every year?”

“No, usually we clear the line by evening… Today’s an exception. I know why, though…”

“Haruu! Three yakisoba!”

“Got it! Just a second!”

While chopping the noodles roughly with a spatula, I called back to Miran’s voice. Next to me, Anjuu-chan was stirring yakisoba on the griddle. She was panting from the heat, understandably so.

Anjuu-chan, be careful… Don’t let your sweat drip to the food…

“Someone cut more cabbage!”

“We could use a swap-out here!”

“Hmm… We beastkin can handle it, but normal students will wear out fast without breaks. What should we do…”

I should’ve asked Shuuya and the others to help after all…

“Yo, Haruku, good work out there.”

“We brought you a little something.”

The moment I heard the voices behind me, I turned my head in surprise. Standing there were exactly the two people I’d just been thinking about asking for help, Shuuya and Kento.

What perfect timing!

ーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーー