"Father, that performance just now was truly entertaining; I thoroughly enjoyed it," said Shinku, perched on Lin Luo's shoulder, dangling her small feet and clapping her hands excitedly, a wide smile illuminating her face as she spoke to him.

"Indeed, it was quite excellent," Lin Luo nodded. The excitement of the school festival surpassed his expectations. Whether they were locals or visitors from elsewhere, everyone was completely immersed in this festive holiday. Songs and laughter flooded the entire Academy City, and all sorts of interesting shows rarely seen on normal days were happening everywhere.

No matter where they went, they could always find something to lift people's spirits. Regarding Yuuya's assertion that the school festival was becoming overly commercialized, Lin Luo found it perfectly natural. Students spent weeks, sometimes even a month, painstakingly setting things up, investing significant effort, time, and no small amount of money. While the primary motivation was enthusiasm for the celebration, they certainly wouldn't pass up the chance to earn a little profit during this period.

And the visitors, while enjoying themselves, naturally loosened their purse strings. Even those usually quite frugal wouldn't hesitate to spend their money under such an atmosphere—perhaps the concept was simply 'paying for happiness.'

"Mmm... Xiao Long Bao are delicious," Shinku sat in her usual spot atop his head, but unlike her usual imperious demeanor, her face was filled with sheer contentment. Her small belly was already puffed out like a balloon, yet she continued to shove them into her mouth with gusto, exclaiming happily with every bite.

He hadn't noticed it much before, but now Lin Luo felt her stomach was an absolute bottomless pit, rivaling some great-appetite phantom from Gensokyo. At the Super Baozi Shop, she had already devoured thirty-two baskets, yet she still seemed unsatisfied, eyeing what was in the pot while eating what was on her plate. Before leaving, she insisted on taking one hundred baskets to go... Lin Luo could only be utterly impressed by such an appetite.

Finishing one, her hand automatically reached out to the side, and another Xiao Long Bao immediately materialized, with almost no temporal gap before it went into her mouth again... This feat, of course, wasn't her own ability, but rather Lin Luo's spatial storage device. Even small ones, one hundred baskets of Xiao Long Bao weren't something one person could easily handle, especially with her sparrow-like frame. For convenience, Lin Luo had placed all the buns into his spatial storage and linked it to her, so she could eat to her heart's content, saving him the trouble of being pestered.

Speaking of the Super Baozi Shop, it truly lived up to its reputation as the Academy City's number one cash cow. People visiting the Academy City might skip the parade, might skip the haunted houses, might skip all sorts of entertainment activities, but they absolutely would not miss tasting the Academy City's foremost delicacy at the Super Baozi Shop.

Even on a normal day, the Super Baozi Shop was busy, but compared to today, the difference was night and day. Forget eating; even queuing required waiting several hours. People swarmed like ants, making it impossible to squeeze in. If it weren't for the owner of the Super Baozi Shop, Rin, and the main staff being his students, giving him special favor, Lin Luo might have had to give up on eating the Super Baozi today.

However, that monstrous appetite certainly increased the already demanding workload for Chou Rin-ne and the others... a speed of eating ten buns per second put immense pressure on them.

Of course, it must be mentioned that the craftsmanship of the future person was exceptional. It even surpassed that of the mechanical maids from the City in the Sky. Anything produced by Chou Rin-ne was guaranteed to be a masterpiece, which explained why the Super Baozi Shop could dominate the number one spot in the Academy City, even inspiring her grand ambition to open a global chain of Super Baozi restaurants.

Mikoto's mood today was also exceptionally bright. Since the Daihaisei Festival during her first year, she hadn't been this excited in a long time, especially upon spotting a Gutar-only store here; her excitement level immediately skyrocketed, making her feel utterly euphoric.

Fortunately, she maintained enough self-control not to cause a public scene.

The events at the Mahoraba Festival were countless. It was fundamentally impossible to experience every single activity in one day; even dedicating all three days to it wouldn't suffice. But because every activity was so engaging, they didn't need to carefully select anything—they just played whatever they stumbled upon, and they were thoroughly satisfied.

"Speaking of which, Mikoto, aren't you going to play the violin?" Lin Luo asked the entranced Mikoto.

"Eh!" Hearing this, Mikoto startled, then her face flushed slightly, and she looked away. "N-No way. I would never do something like that in public! Isn't it embarrassing?"

"Why not? You play the violin quite well, don't you?"

"N-No, I don't," Mikoto replied hesitantly. Although a small part of her was pleased, the proud girl she was obviously couldn't admit it openly. "I've only practiced for a little while; it's really not worth listening to."

"Too much modesty is just vanity, you know," Lin Luo smiled. Mikoto's violin performance, while perhaps not on par with true masters, possessed a considerable level of professionalism. This might be her only 'Onee-sama' skill.

"L-Liar! I'm not being modest at all," Mikoto's face grew even redder.

Lin Luo chuckled, finding teasing Mikoto highly amusing. Just as he was about to say something more, a young woman's voice called from behind him, "Teacher Lin Luo, what are you doing?" The voice was deliberately lowered, seemingly carrying a trace of anger.

Lin Luo instinctively turned around to see two beautiful high school girls standing not far away. One was slightly taller, the other appeared more slender, and both were looking at him with displeased expressions. He felt somewhat bewildered. However, he quickly understood the reason, as he recognized both girls. They were his partners responsible for stopping students from confessing their love in front of the World Tree—the magic students of Mahoraba.

"Oh, it's you two. Hello, Sakura Ai-san. Hello, Takane... Takane Something-or-other-san," Lin Luo greeted them warmly.

"Hello, Teacher Lin Luo," as the saying goes, one shouldn't strike a smiling face. Hearing Lin Luo speak, the slender girl immediately returned the greeting politely.

"My name is Takane D. Goodman, not Takane Something-or-other!" However, the taller high school girl's mouth twitched, as if forcefully suppressing her anger, and she hissed low, "You remember my sister's name but not mine. Are you deliberately trying to provoke me?!"

Ah, the inheritor of D's Will. Lin Luo realized with a flash of understanding, but naturally, he couldn't voice that thought. He laughed awkwardly, "My apologies, your name is a bit long, I momentarily forgot."

"Hmph! Fine, let's drop that," Takane snorted, seemingly unwilling to dwell on the matter. Instead, she pointed at him with a slightly warning tone, "Everyone is patrolling, yet you are out here on a date with female students. You really know how to live!"

"Hehe, thanks for the compliment," Lin Luo scratched the back of his head and laughed... Having become too engrossed in the fun, he had completely forgotten about his responsibilities. In situations like this, feigning obliviousness was the best way to avoid criticism.

"I was not complimenting you!" But the girl clearly wasn't buying it. A vein popped on her forehead. "Even though the effect of the World Tree isn't as strong as it will be on the final day (120), on the first day, it's at least 60 to 80 power. So you absolutely cannot be careless! Do you even realize this? And you're a teacher, completely lacking in any sense of responsibility!"

"Mm, mm," Sakura Ai nodded repeatedly behind her.

"Who are you, daring to speak to Father like that!" Before Lin Luo could respond, Shinku, sitting on his shoulder, couldn't tolerate it any longer. She stared coldly at Takane, a trace of killing intent flickering in her eyes. Such a weak human dared to reprimand her most beloved Father; in her view, that was a crime punishable by death.

"Ugh!" Takane visibly flinched. Although she was a magic student, her strength wasn't very high. If Ryudo's strength was 'A', her strength was at best a 'B' rank. How could she possibly withstand Shinku's naked killing intent? She instinctively staggered back a few steps.

Even Sakura Ai, who wasn't directly exposed to the killing intent, gasped internally.

"Alright, she does have a point, actually," Lin Luo patted Shinku's body, calming her down completely, then said to the girls, "Thank you for the reminder, Takane-san. I will take my duties seriously."

"You... Since you know that's good," although Shinku's killing intent had ceased, a shadow of lingering fear remained on the girl's face. She couldn't comprehend why merely being glared at made her heart pound with dread.

"Then I'll be on my way."

"Wait a moment, Takane-san, there's one thing I wanted to ask you," Lin Luo called the girl back and asked with a smile, "You two are clearly sisters, so why do you have different surnames? And yours sounds foreign?"

"Is there a problem with that?" the girl asked doubtfully.

"No, just asking casually. As expected, those not biologically related are indeed different. Your temperaments are completely distinct—one so gentle and delicate, and you are so... well, forget I said anything." Lin Luo turned to leave immediately as he noticed the girl's expression suddenly darken. He laughed awkwardly and swiftly departed.

"That guy, I will absolutely not let him get away with this!" Watching Lin Luo's receding back, the girl clenched her fists, grinding her teeth in anger.

The lively and passionate school festival soon transitioned into night. Although the sky had darkened, the enthusiasm of most people had not diminished. Under the illumination of colorful lights, countless people surged toward a specific location.

A major event was about to take place there—the Mahoraba Martial Arts Tournament!

This was completely different from the trivial scuffles of the past. This Martial Arts Tournament was a genuine fighting competition, revived once more—a battlefield belonging only to the strong!

The moment for surging passion was drawing near!

: The long-awaited Martial Arts Tournament has begun. It's time to ignite!"