Starting With The Sefirah Castle In The Anime World

Maria quickly prepared dinner and the birthday cake for the party.

The cake was made collaboratively, and even had images of Hayasaka, Sakuya Aizawa, and Sonoko on it. It was clear this cake had been specially prepared.

"Then, let the three stars of today's party make their wishes first."

Hayasaka, Sakuya, and Sonoko closed their eyes slightly and clasped their hands near their lips.

After a moment, the three opened their eyes.

"Did you all make your wishes?"

The three of them nodded slightly.

"I hope your wishes come true. Praise be to Mr. Fool."

Maria's words drew strange looks from those unfamiliar with the reference, while those who understood it smiled subtly.

"Yes, I hope Mr. Fool will grant my wish."

Sonoko spoke first with a grin.

"Ms. Suzuki's wish will definitely come true. I believe Mr. Fool is listening."

Hayasaka added seriously.

"Hahaha! I bet Mr. Fool can hear us loud and clear right now."

Sakuya laughed, unable to suppress her amusement.

However, their comments left those unaware of the context with question marks in their minds.

They weren't sure if these three were telling some kind of inside joke.

As for Mr. Fool sitting off to the side, he certainly heard everything.

However, rather than hearing the actual wishes, he heard their clear hope that Mr. Fool would help them fulfill those wishes.

Hearing those words, Ren, who held the Fool position, just felt a headache coming on.

Maria covered her mouth with her hand, smoothing out the corners of her lips, then quickly began slicing the cake.

As the hosts of the birthday party, the three adorable girls were naturally the center of the celebration.

Each guest received a piece of cake as thanks for joining the festivities.

The cake was massive. Even after everyone got a slice, there were still two-thirds left. The rest would go to the girls who had a sweet tooth.

"Nagi-chan, how are you feeling about your new school?"

Once the group settled into eating and chatting, Hinagiku asked curiously.

The question piqued everyone's interest.

They were all still confused about Nagi and Isumi's transfer. After all, it had happened very suddenly.

What kind of school could make both of them choose to transfer without hesitation?

"It's pretty good. The environment and atmosphere are nice. Other than the fact I can't help falling asleep in class, there's nothing really wrong."

To Nagi, there wasn't much difference between Hakuo and Teitan. Aside from the scale, it felt like she had spent more time at Teitan in the past few months than she did at Hakuo all of last year.

"The stuff the teachers teach now are things I learned two or three years ago. Their standards aren't very high. But when I get sleepy, I just head over to the club building to rest."

"But I've still been showing up to school regularly, right, Isumi?"

"Mm."

Isumi, hearing her name, nodded slightly and answered seriously.

"Nagi-chan hasn't skipped any classes at her new school. Even when she's bored, she'll go rest in the club building instead of leaving campus."

"Eh~?"

Hinagiku looked at Nagi in surprise.

She could understand that Nagi found class boring. After all, Nagi had always been smart. Her main problems were being a shut-in, lacking self-discipline, and having poor physical stamina.

Aside from those minor issues, Nagi had a lot of strengths.

But after transferring, it seemed like Nagi had corrected many of her old bad habits.

Thinking about it, it felt like Nagi had run away from home. Otherwise, she wouldn't have come to her to learn kendo.

Now she was attending school regularly, not cooped up at home, and even working on her physical condition. Everything seemed to be heading in a positive direction for little Nagi ever since transferring schools. What changed?

Could it be that Hakuo and Nagi just weren't compatible?

That seemed like the only explanation Hinagiku could think of.

Otherwise, why had all of Nagi's bad habits improved the moment she left Hakuo?

"Is this for real?"

Segawa looked at Nagi in disbelief.

"Nagi, the one who used to skip class all the time, is now going to school normally? And the worst she does is nap in the club building?"

Although that behavior wasn't exactly good, the teachers at Teitan High didn't really care.

Not because of her status, but because of her grades.

In several placement exams, Nagi had scored full marks. She'd also donated money to the school in her own name and even renovated an old building.

Although it was currently used by their club, once Nagi graduated, wouldn't that building be owned by the school?

That alone was a major gain for the school. What could the teachers or principal say?

Of course they would treat her well.

Skipping class? That's barely worth mentioning.

Top-performing students always get special treatment. Otherwise, how could they be different from ordinary students?

"…Is it really that surprising I go to class like a normal person?"

Nagi raised her eyebrows. But when she thought about it, she realized she had only gone to Hakuo a dozen times last year.

Yeah, even she found it hard to believe.

It had only been a few months since transferring, but she had already corrected many of her old bad habits.

Was it because she'd gained strength? Or hope to keep moving forward?

Or maybe it was because…

Nagi's gaze subtly drifted toward Ren, who was quietly eating cake nearby.

"Amazing."

Asakaze Risa couldn't help but nod in agreement.

She never imagined such a dramatic change could happen after Nagi transferred schools.

But considering just how exaggerated Nagi's transformation was, Risa figured there had to be a specific reason behind it.

"Now that I think about it, Nagi-chan, are all of you in the same club?"

Risa suddenly recalled the club Nagi had mentioned and continued her questioning.

"Yeah. It's nice to have a club. Besides being able to do activities together on weekends, it also gives us a relaxing space at school."

"So what kind of activities have you been doing recently?"

"Recently? Not much. We're going to attend the Suzuki Conglomerate's 60th anniversary celebration in half a month, so we haven't scheduled anything else for now."

(To be continued.)