My System Always Wants to Force Me to Confess
Chapter 85: Cultural Festival and the Haunted House

Chapter 85: Chapter 85: Cultural Festival and the Haunted House

Shirakawa Sawahei thought Koyama Haruko might have some unspeakable family issue, so he explained, "It’s okay, Miss Koyama, if it’s inconvenient, you don’t have to say it."

Koyama Haruko shook her head with a smile, "It’s not to that extent... it’s just that I have a younger sister, and she seems to be going through her rebellious phase, so I can’t put all my energy into work..."

"Rebellious phase, huh." Shirakawa Sawahei remarked, "Kids these days are indeed quite troublesome."

For a moment, he forgot he was also a high school student, making such a comment. Hearing this, Koyama Haruko smiled softly, "Mr. Shirakawa seems quite mature."

"It’s nothing, just feeling a bit sentimental... Miss Koyama’s sister is in middle school, right?"

"No, she’s in high school."

Shirakawa Sawahei was taken aback at her words; it seemed her rebellious phase came a bit late.

"Shirakawa! Hurry up, Rion said she would treat us to coffee!" Ise Yu Yuzhijin waved from up ahead.

"Eats all the time and complains about getting fat," Shirakawa Sawahei muttered quietly.

The four of them returned to the coffee shop where the equipment had long been set up. Koyama Haruko, as the chief barista, naturally took on the task of making coffee for everyone. The hand-brewing process was a bit complicated, which Shirakawa Sawahei didn’t like, so he just asked for a machine-brewed coffee.

Ah, the aroma was rich, a bit bitter at first sip, followed by a hint of sweetness. No wonder so many people love coffee; besides keeping you awake, high-quality coffee beans indeed provide a delightful taste.

However, honestly speaking, between coffee and tea, Shirakawa Sawahei still preferred tea.

At least drinking tea is healthier.

Subsequently, Hinata Rion and the maids set a training schedule — there was no way around it; calling strangers "Master" or "Oniichan" naturally requires some special training.

The opening is tentatively scheduled for the weekend, which means Shirakawa Sawahei didn’t have to worry about the café for a few days, and that gave him a bit of peace of mind. Right now, he still had to hustle for the cultural festival, and more time was always better for him.

After teaming up with the little girl, Shirakawa Sawahei found she wasn’t holding him back; she quietly started preparing a knowledge question bank. Ise Yu joined a team on her side by sheer luck and occasionally took advantage of Shirakawa Sawahei’s tutoring to ask about some common knowledge questions.

Sometimes Shirakawa Sawahei wondered if, when the cultural festival competition came around, some tricky question appeared like the four styles of drawing anime eyes, would this Ise Yu be able to stand out and win first place?

Probably not; she wouldn’t be bold enough to humiliate herself so openly. She’d definitely pretend not to know.

As Akihisa High School’s cultural festival drew closer, preparations were underway on campus. During this period, Shirakawa Sawahei didn’t even have time to practice his piano skills, being preoccupied with acquiring random knowledge from Wikipedia. With his photographic memory, he could even dare to sign up if Neon had its version of "The Brain".

Oh wait, Neon seems to not have "The Brain"?

Such a pity, another missed opportunity to show off.

The "Cat Tea Party" coffee shop opened on schedule, with quite the crowd. Whether it was due to Hinata Rion tweeting an ad from her artist account or the cute maids they hired, business was booming so much in the initial days that Shirakawa Sawahei had to help out in the kitchen.

The spending power of the otaku shouldn’t be underestimated, and Shirakawa Sawahei felt he had underestimated this group.

Once business stabilized, Hinata Rion considerately gave Ise Yu Yuzhijin and Shirakawa Sawahei a small break to focus on the cultural festival. Shirakawa Sawahei felt it was irrelevant, but since the Minotaur Artist shop manager was giving him a break, he went along with her wishes.

So, with the anticipation, longing, and dreams of many, the Akihisa High School cultural festival began as scheduled.

Shirakawa Sawahei’s class, having contributed an idea, had core members pulled to help the student council, so they didn’t arrange any exhibits this time and just participated as spectators, purely enjoying the show.

Other classes also had students just observing, and many weren’t satisfied with watching alone, bringing along friends from other schools, family, and others to join in.

Some external students didn’t have friends to introduce them, but Akihisa High School’s reputation was impressive, so they were happy to buy a ticket and come have fun.

The vast Akihisa High School campus was soon packed.

"Shirakawa~ Let’s take advantage of the time before the competition starts to visit the stalls of other classes~" Ise Yu Yuzhijin invited Shirakawa Sawahei with a smile.

Shirakawa Sawahei glanced at her, "You want to go to the haunted house?"

Ise Yu Yuzhijin was shocked, "Shirakawa, can you read minds?!"

"Just find a girl to accompany you, why make it so complicated." Clearly, Shirakawa Sawahei preferred not to be with this troublesome cute little Ise Yu.

"There aren’t any brave girls... I heard the haunted house in Class D is really scary! Many couples broke up on the spot!"

Shirakawa Sawahei: "..."

Are you sure it’s a haunted house and not the gates of hell?

"Asano seems pretty daring; why not ask her to go with you."

Shirakawa Sawahei felt that in front of the manipulative Asano Nazuki, ordinary ghost performances probably wouldn’t scare her.

Ise Yu’s eyes lit up, "Really~ You should have said so earlier, I’ll go ask Nazuki!"

After a while, Ise Yu came back looking regretful, "Nazuki’s already been taken to the haunted house by Minister Sakurazawa..."

"Looks like I’ll have to see if Tachibana would be willing to go to the haunted house..."

"???"

Tachibana Tomoku, with her personality — if she doesn’t get scared stiff, consider me at a loss, and you still want to find her!

If you scare my diligent study buddy, can a little money-making partner compensate for that~

"I’ll go with you then," Shirakawa Sawahei thought about it and felt it was unreliable to let Miss Tachibana Tomoku accompany her.

"Eh? Is it okay? Then let’s bring along Tachibana as well. I think I saw her waiting outside the haunted house for Minister Sakurazawa."

Ise Yu Yuzhijin pulled Shirakawa Sawahei along, quickly reaching the haunted house arranged by Class D, which from afar, looked a bit like a classroom entrance.

It was probably a horror-themed campus series.

Though haunted houses were an overused idea for cultural festivals, Class D’s members had given it a fresh twist and successfully arranged it. Outside, there was even a sign with a simple horror background story providing a psychological cue. Even the staff at the entrance were dressed quite appropriately to match the style.

"According to an old schoolworker’s tale, our Akihisa High School used to be a graveyard..."

Reading this bit of the background story, Shirakawa Sawahei couldn’t help but feel speechless.

The person who wrote this script probably crossed over from Huaxia, right?

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