As the four of us walked through the festival, I had to keep a constant eye on Raven, who always seemed to wander off to some random booth.
Stopping in front of one of those carnival booths where you had to land a ring on one of the hundred bottles across the floor, Han and Jin each gave it an attempt before failing.
Exchanging a ring for one of the tickets I had received, I used my eyes to calculate the future trajectory of the ring before adjusting it so it perfectly overlapped with the bottle's lid.
Tapping Raven, who was watching countless people fail the game, on the shoulder, I smirked and said.
"Watch this."
As I began the throwing motion, my hand behind my shoulder, I moved forward at the perfect pace. Just as I was reaching the perfect place to release the ring, I felt a sudden pressure on my shoulder.
The pressure messed up my entire throwing motion, as my ring went flying in the complete opposite direction and far away from the rings' bottles... and right at someone's head.
"*OW*"
Pretending I didn't hear or see anything, I turned back around to Raven, who was smiling more than usual.
"*PFFT* How did you manage to miss that damn bad?"
"It's something you'll understand when you're mature."
"Really, that's your best excuse?"
Turning to the source of my miss, I saw my cat silently sitting on my shoulder while licking its paw.
When I had woken up, the cat was gone, presumably through the open window, and now it had just reappeared.
It really just came and went as it pleased...
As we were finished with the game, I turned around to look for Han and Jin, but after glancing around a bit, I found them trying to talk to some girls.
Before, I dismissed girls because I didn't believe this was the real world with real people, but now... what was my excuse?
Was I going to become just like Han and Jin...?
Raven, noticing me staring at Han and Jin with the group of girls, curiously asked.
"Aren't you going to join them?"
Shaking my head at Raven's answer, I replied.
"Then what would I do with you?"
"I could just go back to headqu-"
"You know you always complain you have no breaks, but when I bring you to a lavish festival like this, you just complain."
Ignoring my previous words, Raven glanced back at the group of girls before saying.
"Ah, you already have that one girl you brought to the headquarters earlier, don't you?"
"hm? What are you talking ab-"
"GO CELESTIAL ACDEMY!"
"LET'S GO CT!"
Interrupting my words were the sounds of countless people yelling chants, signifying the start of the events within the coliseum.
Liam would be competing today, wouldn't he?
Before I knew it, Han and Jin had already come back to the booth and ditched the group of girls.
"Let's go watch."
"What are you waiting for? Let go!"
As Raven and I followed the two to the student section of the coliseum, I realized we had actually arrived fairly early, as almost all of the seats were empty.
Choosing the first and best row, we four sat down; however, Han and Jin immediately left to get snacks, leaving jackets on their seats.
Raven was in complete awe upon seeing the size of the coliseum. He was so entranced that he didn't even notice me tapping him on the shoulder.
Well... he had lived in the slums all his life, so things like this coliseum had probably only been in his dreams.
This book's damned author... leaving a good kid like Raven to rot away in the slums.
Leaving Raven to enjoy this new experience, I grabbed the cat off my shoulder, which still hurt from the incident two days ago, and placed him on my lap.
As more and more students flooded into the student section, the sweet and calming silence soon disappeared and transformed as excited students loudly discussed the events and who would win.
As the fireworks emerged from the coliseum and exploded into the sky, the contestants of the first event finally arrived, and Liam, Ruby, the main cast, and the transfer students emerged, adorned in their academy suits.
Watching the events was... anticlimactic, to say the least.
What point is there in watching a competition if you already know the winner?
Turning my side, Raven didn't seem too interested in the fighting either, as the novelty of the coliseum had already worn off for him.
Tapping Han and Jin, who actually seemed quite interested, I said.
"I'm gonna go drop Raven off; I'll be back in a bit."
As the two of us exited the coliseum, Raven wanted to buy some food, so I gave him some money and waited at the exit.
After waiting for a few minutes while looking at my smartwatch, I felt a gaze on me, causing me to look up.
Not even 10 feet away stood Ruby, who walked over to me upon seeing me looking away from my smartwatch.
"...Aren't you participating in an event?"
"Oh, that? Who cares?"
"Which one did you even sign up for?"
"Oh, I got chosen for the battle royale!"
Oh, is she participating with Liam and Lily in the battle royal event instead of Irene? Eh, it won't make much of a difference; they'll still win.
As Ruby waved me goodbye, I saw Raven also arriving in the distance. He looked at Ruby and me for a second before stopping dead in his tracks.
Not again...
After dropping Raven back to the headquarters, I spent the rest of my day walking around with Han or Jin and rotting in my bed.
As the last day of the festival arrived, the cake shop was finally put up for sale in the newspaper, so I immediately pounced, using up some of my savings to purchase it.
Since today was the last day of the festival, the famed battle royale event would be taking place.
Ruby, Liam, and Lily had already qualified for the event during their performances in the previous days, and I was sure Lily would lead them to victory with her book knowledge, so there was no need for me to do anything.
Arriving at the boarded-up cake shop, I entered with the key, ignoring the countless cracks in the walls and trash over the floor before heading directly towards the tunnel.
Climbing down the ladder, I immediately made my way to the clearing before placing down my backpack, which contained some healing potions in case anything happened.
I had put it off for long enough...
It was time to understand my new ability, Dragon's Transformation, finally.
As I opened my backpack, I saw the black cat suddenly jump out before immediately running to a corner of the cave and settling down.
Had it been in the backpack the whole time...?