Chapter 169: Cool Down is Important

After the super-peaceful discussion with Joseph, I went with my bodyguard in full body armor to the venue where the awarding and closing ceremonies are being held.

「Dannaaa, how long should I dress like this? It’s hot and stuffy in here~」

「Until we leave the academy. If you didn’t cause a problem, it wouldn’t be a problem to show your face.」

「W-Well, that was my bad… Even I reflect on it, you know?」

「I don’t mind about it, but Lily seems to be feeling responsible. Well, just bear with it a bit more.

「Yeees.」

The chat with the armored Touko was quite fun, so I didn’t feel bored on the way to the venue. By the way, according to the previous information, it seems that people will swarm to the students with excellent grades to invite them after the closing ceremony. For the absent Chinatsu, Nell will do something around the infirmary and then pick her up. But then, people will swarm to the second place Haru. It’s going to be bothersome to pull her out of there.

「Hm? Deris-danna, isn’t that Haruna?」

「Eh?」

Armor-kun pointed at a different direction from the schoolyard where the venue is set up. It’s an unpopular place on the back of the building. But for some reason, Haru is there, rummaging through the grass as if looking for something. I and Armor-kun tilted our heads, looked at each other, and then approached Haru.

「Hmm, not here…」

「He~y, Haru!」

「Eh? Ah, Shishō! And Touko-chan too!」

Noticing us, Haru immediately stood up and rushed toward us. First, let’s praise her for her good fight in the final. When I was patting Haru’s head, Armor-kun kept glancing at me. Yeah, I will pretend I didn’t see that. Rather than that, let’s heal Haru while I can―― alright.

「Ehehee.」

「Second place is pretty good, but… what about the closing ceremony? Is it over?」

「Ah, yes. It was over about five minutes ago. I ran here while avoiding the waves of people rushing in! I’ve been looking for it since then, but I haven’t found it yet…」

「What are you looking for?」

「Come on, Shishō. It’s obvious, isn’t it~? It’s the Doggan Staff that I threw with all my might!」

「………」

Aah, yeah. She threw it at the final match. Right, I haven’t told her yet.

「I think the direction was this way, but I couldn’t find it anywhere…」

「Haru, you don’t have to worry about your Doggan Staff.」

「Eh?」

「It would be dangerous if it fell into a place with people, so I retrieved it with magic the moment it got out of the venue.」

I called out a small black ball, put my hand into it, and rummaged it. Then, my fingertips felt something that I was looking for. I grab the handle of the Doggan Staff and pull it out.

「Let’s see… Here.」

I hand over the Doggan Staff to Haru. Probably because of its fight with the Flame Magic Sword Pluto, the Doggan Staff is damaged here and there. We have to ask Gan-san to repair it when we returned to Diana.

「I-I’m glad! Doggan Staff is back! Thank you, Shishō! I’m sorry for the trouble!」

Haru repeatedly bowed her head deeply.

「Nah, Haru got outside of the venue, so it’s alright in the end. So, raise your head. Also, your ponytail is shaking like crazy.」

「Okay!」

She’s an obedient girl.

「Good! Now, we are going to pick up Gobuo at Therese’s mansion and hurry back to Diana.」

「Eh, already?」

「Yeah. I’m sure you want to say goodbye or something, but I’m sure Weerel and Therese are surrounded by people right now. Of course, they are looking for the main stars, Haru and Chinatsu, as well. If you are found by them, it will be troublesome. So, we are going to leave now.」

「Danna, what about Chinatsu? She was carried away by the stretcher, right?」

「Nell will take care of Chinatsu. Or rather, we have to escape from that Nell.」

「「Come again?」」

I explain to the two. Nell and I decided in advance that we will return to Diana as soon as the closing ceremony is over, and we will respectively take care of our disciples. I will take care of Haru and Nell will take care of Chinatsu.

「Danna, what about me and Lily-shishō」

「About that, well…」

「………」

「No, I’m joking. I was planning to take you along too!」

But for Lily, well, I’m sure she can manage by herself. Now, let’s resume the explanation.

「There, just go home is boring, so we are thinking of playing a game while going home.」

「Shishō, is that related to the thing you said about escaping from Nell-san?」

「Haha! I feel it. I feel it, Danna! My wild intuition is telling me I’ve got a bad feeling about this!」

「Ah, I somehow can feel it too. It’s time for a trial! Something like that!」

She’s calling herself wild, huh. But as expected of the wild girl, her intuition is roughly right.

「The game is, let’s say, a game of tag. Nell will be 『it』, and we are the ones running away. I will carry Gobuo. All right?」

「「Oo rai?」」

「… Should I run backward?」

「Running backward, huh? Crap, this is a lot tougher than I expected…!」

……These girls are high schoolers, right?

「You can run normally. There are no difficult rules since it’s just a normal game of tag. The start is here, and the goal is Diana’s outer gate. You can take any route to Diana and you can run as you like. Also, Nell will leave the academy about an hour from now while carrying Chinatsu. You are free to hide on the way, but considering the level of her presence detection, I don’t recommend it.」

「I have a question!」

「What is it?」

「What if we got caught by Nell-san?」

「… Please guess it.」

「「Guess what!?」」

「Well, the point is, it’s fine as long as you don’t get caught. It’s not that she will chase after us with all her might, and it’s enough if we run half the time when we ran before.」

「D-Danna, that’s pretty unreasonable, you know?」

「Really?」

I don’t think it’s unreasonable or anything. They’ve grown a lot since the last time they ran, and if they put their all into it, they can do it. Even I will be running while carrying Gobuo.

「Is there any other question?」

「Um, do I have to carry Doggan Staff?」

「And here I’m wearing full-body armor…」

「Alright, let’s start! I’m heading to Therese’s mansion first, so you can go home on your own! Try to run with some ingenuity!」

「Eh, ah, Shishooo!?」

「Danna, hey, so fast!?」

Thus, we began the fun and enjoyable cool-down that would conclude the long day. Since I’m the one who seems will be targeted first, I want to quickly secure my safety. There are also the preparations for moving and ceremony once we are home. I’m going to be busy, huh. Ah, and the meeting of the Great Eight Demons is near, right? There sure is no boring day since Haru came.