Once Again! The Festival Department's Meeting!

Whiteboard, check. Dry erase marker, check. All good to go!

The stage is yours, Pina!

Yes, ma'am! We've received the president's blessing, so it's time!

Let us commence with the meeting of the Festival Operations Department!

Heehee. Heeheehee!

We may have been thwarted by the Inner Discipline Club's unwelcome intrusion last time...

But things will not be the same this round! No, indeed!

Why you ask? Because this time we have an ace up our sleeve.

The one and the only, Umika has returned!

Yes! The best ace up our sleeve we could ask for!

Welcome, Umika! I've eagerly awaited your return!

It's good to be back, Boss!

I've missed you too, Pina!

Call me president, not boss!

*sigh*

Just how many times do I need to hammer that into your head?!

Moving on to business! We are scheduled to host a festival in the Foxy Shopping District next month!

Now, Our dearest Umika embarked on a grand festival expedition to learn more about the trade!

If you will, please share the stories of your exploits and the lessons you've learned! Armed with your new business acumen, we'll storm the shopping district and bring about a festival renaissance!

A renaissance!

Yes, yes! I have returned with many proposals.

To begin, I learned about the Bloody Crimson Festival of Gehenna and found a treasure trove of inspiration.

(Bloody crimson sounds... Oh. She means the Gehenna Tomato Festival.)

(I've only read about it, but the students gather together and throw tomatoes at each other to create the impression of a blood bath. It suits Gehenna.)

(A festival of that scale... I wonder...)

W-Wonderful!

Please enlighten us on what this treasure trove you discovered is.

Yes, it's very enlightening.

The origins of this festival can be traced far back in time. To call it a "bloody history" is rather apt, as the participants would shoot each other with live rounds until their bodies were soaked crimson red with blood!

What?!

That... That sounds like a violent conflict between two warring organizations...

As expected of Gehenna! How horrifying!

No, no, no. There's no way that's the actual origin! Who told you that?!

Hm? It was a kind member of the Helmet Gangsters I happened to meet.

They offered to tell me the story of the secret, unknown origins of the bloody crimson festival for just 1,000 yen. It was rather generous of them.

Umika! That was the most obvious scam of the century. Didn't I tell you to be careful of tourist traps?

Yes? And I was?

To return to my story, this bloody practice was eventually replaced with today's more peaceful iteration.

It's become a wonderful festival where they throw tomatoes instead of bullets, but with the Gehenna touch of course!

They implement all kinds of throwing devices, such as tomato catapults, tomato launchers, tomato grenades, armor-piercing fin-stabilized discarding tomato sabots...

I was truly inspired by their limitless imagination.

I could wile away weeks, no, months watching the different ways they project tomatoes at each other!

What in the world are armor-piercing fin-stabilized discarding tomato sabots?!

There are even rumors that the massive scale of this festival is so impressive that Millennium is entering into a partnership with them!

And thus, I would like to propose that we recreate the very same Bloody Crimson Festival in Hyakkiyako, Boss!

R-Recreate it?! Here?

You see, there is much more to the Gehenna Tomato Festival than throwing tomatoes.

It's also environmentally friendly, as it is a chance to use up surplus tomatoes in a culturally enriching, non-wasteful method.

Just imagine the possibilities, Boss!

If we can recreate it here...

Hyakkiyako will purchase all the surplus tomatoes from surrounding farms...

And the Festival Operations Department will be the leading force in revitalizing our markets!

It'll also be an opportunity to expand our traditional cuisine and discover new tomato dishes. Don't you think so?

This way, surplus tomatoes won't be left to simply rot in the fields.

We'll cooperate with local restaurants to introduce these new tomato dishes to festival attendees.

And Hyakkiyako will consume even more tomatoes!

As an added bonus, the clean-up for the festival will require professional cleaners and laundromat services.

These local industries will generate more business, which in turn will boost our economy.

Umika, you're truly an inspiration!

Your journeys have proven fruitful in broadening your knowledge of our trade!

None of these wonderful possibilities even occurred to me.

I-Is that so?

Revitalizing the local economy is a definite benefit, so maybe it would be...

No! I almost got pulled in! We don't have the budget for any of this!

And there's way too much liability. People could get injured! Rejected!

That's okay. I observed the festival practices of many different places!

The Wildhunt Art Academy holds an academy-wide festival that's unique to their district.

I like the sound of that. No blood or sabot things.

Right? Right?

And, as I said, it has a very unique twist with the performance they hold. When one thinks of a play...

I'm at the edge of my seat! Yes? Yes?

They want a sense of realism, to create true immersion!

So they implement an MG5 right on the stage! And they use all one hundred rounds!

In retaliation, the opposing force utilizes incendiary munitions! Flames! Fire!

In a dramatic finish, the stages collapses as it burns to the ground, and explodes just as the play ends!

The clubs are given free reign to express art in whatever medium they wish!

It all comes together in a beautiful menagerie of explosion! Destruction and chaos! Dismantle the institution!

I love it! Explosions are the true essence of art, after all!

Or...was it destruction?

I don't think any of those words and festival should even be in the same sentence!

What...was your source for all this?

The internet!

For the last time! Not everything you read on the internet is true, Umika.

Ah. I do remember you telling me that. Okay, how about a rural academy's racing festival?

A peaceful, rural academy... It sounds very healing. Tell me more. Is it like a track and field race?

To be precise, it's a technical race festival.

Wh-What do you mean by technical?!

Exactly that! They race with modified vehicles, outfitted with any weapon they can think of: antiaircraft cannons, rocket launchers, automatic machine guns, whatever will fit!

It requires great technical skill to drive a vehicle with such an unstable center of gravity, pushing speed to its limits with their unauthorized V8 engines...!

It opened my eyes to a whole new world!

It'll breathe a new kind of energy into our streets! This race is the epitome of living life to its fullest.

I want to absorb this energy!

This is exactly what we need to excite the student body here!

No, no, no! Absolutely not! Hyakkiyako is way too regulated for illegally modified vehicles, especially with that kind of weaponry.

Rejected!

I'm begging you, Umika... Do you have anything that's in line with the Momoyodou brand? I'll take anything at all at this point...

In line with our brand... Hm. There is one festival. But it's rather underwhelming...

I don't really see the benefit behind it...and it's not nearly as exciting as illegal car racing...

It doesn't hold nearly the same amount of potential to revitalize the shopping district, but...

During my travels, there was a smaller festival that did catch my eye momentarily.

It was called the Willow Tree Festival.

What do they do in this one? Do they maybe swing around from the branches of a willow tree?

Nothing like that. They simply come together and create decorations resembling willow tree branches. Then, the participants all walk along the river bank while holding them.

Their feelings and good intentions come together as they observe the branches swaying in the wind or flowing in the water.

It's a festival celebrating the tranquility of life.

The vendors prepare festival foods shaped like willow trees, such as candies or baked goods.

According to legend, the positive energy stored within the willow tree branches protect and deliver good blessings to the locals.

The festival then blossomed from this legend.

How wonderful! I didn't know about the significance of willow trees!

It's quite beautiful! The legend likely stemmed from the fact that willow trees are capable of purifying nearby water sources.

The bark and leaves of the willow tree also have medicinal properties, as they're filled with salicylic acid.

When mixed with acetic acid, it can create acetylsalicylic acid. In other words, an antipyretic analgesic the local people have used for centuries.

I also heard a story of a weary traveler who passed through the town, desperate for water. The residents added willow leaves both to revitalize the traveler and to ensure they didn't drink too quickly and harm themselves.

What a romantic story!

I thought it was beautiful as well!

When the festival originally began, people would use actual willow tree branches...

But the locals didn't want to harm the trees, so they instead began creating their own decorative branches!

That's exactly what we needed, Umika!

You're amazing! I expected nothing less.

I agree with the president! I was really moved by both the origins and the stories that came with it. That's our Umika for you.

R-Really?

I'm surprised! But very happy. As long as you like it, Boss!

I know! We'll use all of our budget to create a large scale model of a willow tree instead of just branches!

Stop right there!

H-Huh?

But...

The original idea is plenty!

It's a little lackluster, but if you say so, Boss.

Then that concludes today's meeting!

Yes! Umika's idea will be the perfect foundation for the shopping district's festival!

R-Really?! I suppose I did do most of the presenting, but I'm sure the boss has...

But your idea is good, Umika. And there's nothing to worry about. You're not doing it alone, after all!

The Festival Operations Department are loyal to each other, through blood, sweat, and tears!

Exactly! Festivals are meant for anyone and everyone!

So, let's go! We're going to prove just why we're called the Festival Operations Department!

Yes, ma'am! Come on, Umika!

Y-Yes! Boss! Pina!