I started stretching.


    The race would start in an hour.


    So, I had plenty of time.


    There weren''t that many people out in the field.


    And most of the festival stuff wasn''t even going to be set up before tomorrow.


    People were still in the midst of only attempting to set things up.


    I did see Rose in the distance though.


    And since I basically had nothing to do- I went towards her.


    "Hey, long time."


    Rose had other prefects with her and they were discussing stuff.


    When she noticed it was me, her smile kind of vanished and she was almost disappointed.


    "Long time, yeah."


    And it just got awkward.


    "Well, just wanted to say hi. Bye." So, I turned around and walked.


    If I was just troubling her and making her feel ufortable, then it was best I left.


    But she followed me. "So, you tamed the Battlesuins?"


    "Tame? No. it''s more like I dethroned their leader and now my father is the new leader."


    Oh, wait… I guess she could say that.


    "So, it''s true you were a Battlesuin? And an heir of the main family no less. So howe you had that fight with ze? Wouldn''t he have been executed?" It was kind of weird seeing her without wings sticking out her back. I guess she grow them out whenever she needed and when she didn''t- yeah.


    Well, technically he was executed, and by Hyora too. But I was still framed. At this point, it didn''t matter though.


    "I''m kind of half and half. And my parents hid it. Don''t worry about it."


    At least I didn''t want to.


    "Uh-huh."


    I walked faster. And she still followed me.


    ''This was a bad idea!''


    "Did you want something?"


    I walked even faster.


    "NO just-" She also walked faster.


    I was breaking a sweat from this.


    Well, exercise was good for health.


    Probably.


    "Just?"


    "Thanks."


    "For?"


    I stopped.


    She also stopped. "I have work to do. So, I''ll get back now."


    ''What the hell?''


    She could follow me then thank me but couldn''t tell me what for?


    I kind of didn''t care though. It was getting way too awkward anyway.


    And I still had about 50 minutes to burn.


    ***


    I walked, I sat tight, I sometimes just stared up at the sky and saw people flying in the clouds.


    Sigh.


    But time didn''t move- it didn''t pass. I still had about twenty minutes.


    Even remembering and counting down about a hundred digits of pi wasn''t helping.


    Sigh.


    And where the hell was the people who were always after me and trying to seduce me and stuff?


    I needed them to tease me and help me pass the time, but no one was here.


    Sigh.


    And I''d fallen so low that at this point, I didn''t really care how. I just wanted to pass the time.


    Anyway…


    SIGH!


    ***


    Eventually, it was time and about two dozen participants took ce.


    The limit was 30 participants, meaning, even if I''de now, I wouldn''t have had a problem.


    ''Then why the hell did I even bother?''


    Why the hell indeed.


    I didn''t even have time toin though.


    "Set… GO!"


    Bang!


    With that signal, I started running.


    Nothing mattered- only chocte was real!


    The track was simple. There were palm trees on both sides and the road didn''t have any trees. That was it!


    But- but there was chocte everywhere and no, they weren''t on the ground. The chocte was actually floating in the air. Our hands were tied, and it was forbidden to collect and take any chocte home. It was inly all you can eat- nothing more and nothing less. All I had to do was to note in thest- and it was fine.


    So- I started it off by eating the first chocte that came my way. It was decent. I just had to keep my mouth open and run with modest speed.


    White chocte, milk chocte, dark chocte, extra dark, and even candies: they had them all.


    Muahahhahahha!


    Currently, I was in three and there was chocte- way too much chocte around.


    I could eat all I want. No one was here to stop me. I could eat everything.


    Ah! Chocte!


    Muahahahhaha!


    Heaven!


    ''How I''ve dreamed of this day!''


    I''d seen this event highlighted in the admission circr three months ago.


    It might or might not have had a major influence on me choosing this academy. At the time my first and foremost concern was education so I could be an explorer. But I guess at this point, I just wanted to survive and make money for my family rather than go live my dream and all that.


    Then again, I still had time. So,


    Anyway- chocte!


    There were spectators cheering us on by the track sides.


    I ate- I ate till I felt like puking.


    But now I couldn''t really run anymore. And I was two-thirds of the way in.


    Even the round-bellied ones were running faster than me. Everyone was passing me by.


    At this point, I also had a ratherrge round belly, and breathing was hard.


    At this rate, my newfound 10 gold fortune would have been used up just for this.


    So- ''RUN!'' with a bit of inner scream I started to pick up speed.


    The spectators were cheering us on.


    As we were nearing the end, more and more spectators were showing up.


    With chocte littered on my mouth and face- I took deep breaths and ran hard. 150 meters to go and 13 people to catch up!


    No more chocte! I never thought the day woulde when chocte would literally fly for my mouth, but I''d purposefully avoid them….


    The irony!


    I ran faster than ever- but it wasn''t even remotely close to my normal speed.


    This wasn''t working… and I couldn''t even use my powers either.


    Eating way too much, was a bad idea.


    "Don''t give up!" I heard Elsa''s voice.


    She was there in the crowd. When the hell did she- no, it didn''t matter. She was here and that mattered.


    And no, giving up was never an option.


    "RUN!"


    One down.


    Two down.


    Five down!


    Run! Run! RUN!!!


    Eight down!


    Just a little bit more.


    Just a little.


    2 meters.


    No!


    Sixth!


    Cheers!


    I lied down on the ground and breathed rapidly.


    I never expected there to be a crowd like this. This was technically the first event of the festival and almost all the parts of the whole track were filled with spectators.


    "Damn it!" I sat down, punched the ground, and still breathed rapidly.


    My blood sugar levels were off the chart. I wouldn''t have been surprised if I ended up with diabetes or something. Then again, I never really had any problems with those kinds of things, so things should have been fine.


    Right?


    Right!?


    Elsa walked up to me. "Well, you did better than I expected.''


    "Really? Actually, what were you expecting?"


    "Last ce?" She also took a seat. We had grass beneath our bottoms.


    Did she really have to be honest about that? She almost hurt my feelings.


    Then again, if I hadn''t run like my life depended on it, at thest moment, I might or might not have actually ended upst or something along those lines.,


    "Won''t your dress get dirty?" So, as a responsible adult, I changed the subject like a pro.


    She was wearing a rather ck dress today- it did look good on her though.


    "Aren''t you afraid of bugs?"


    Sigh. And yeah, that did remind me, so I stood up vigorously and regretted a secondter, as my chest started to hurt a little.


    Yeah, I definitely shouldn''t have had so much frigging chocte. I sure didn''t regret it though.


    Elsa giggled but she also got up, giving a pat on her bottom, to get rid of the dust.


    ***


    There were no prizes for this event.


    The first three didn''t have to pay for anything.


    4th and 5th were going to cover 2% and 5% of the cost of the choctes respectively. 6th ce, my ce was 10%. 7-12 was 20% each andst ce- 25th was exactly 50%.


    Actually, adding them all up probablyted the organizers about 15X~20X more profit- but oh well.


    Now that I looked carefully, most of the winners had actually a muchrger build than me. I guess thinking they''d be slow just because they were a bit obese was wrong of me. ''Don''t judge a book by its cover I guess.'' I already knew that saying. Never knew, it''d literallye true like this, though.


    The chocte used wasn''t that expensive and they actually didn''t really care all that about the money- after all, in the end, the losers actually would get the leftover choctes. And most of the spectators would also at least get a piece of candy.


    Too bad winners!


    Muahahahah!


    ''Wait, they''re still keeping the money, right?''


    I got two bars of milk chocte for free- after paying fifty silvers.


    Muahahaha.


    I was definitely not sour about this, promise.