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With the Student Council election just a week away on Monday, campaign posters began appearing all over the academy.

While Ignis’ posters focused entirely on promoting himself, Estea’s emphasized harmony and the joy of academy life. Alongside them, we also put up posters announcing the upcoming concert, and before long, crowds had already begun gathering around them.

“I can’t wait for the performance~~~!”
“Leave getting the crowd hyped to me. A live show’s all about the atmosphere!”

It was reassuring to see Numelin and Vannabelle looking forward to it without reservation.

“”As members of the Elf Alliance, we shall make sure Alfe’s singing echoes throughout the academy and beyond!””
“Leave the concert merch to Sir Romeo and me! We’ll make plenty of things to cheer everyone on, forsooth!”

Class 1-F’s reaction couldn’t have been better.

Thanks to Isaac’s and Romeo’s enthusiasm, plans were already underway to handcraft cheering items and make the concert as lively as possible.

“I’ll keep practicing so everyone has a great time!”

Now that the concert date had been announced, I was genuinely happy that words of encouragement were reaching Alfe directly.

She was probably nervous about singing in front of such a large audience, but watching her now, I didn’t think she’d have any trouble.

Everyone surrounding the stage would be on her side.

And if her singing could bring smiles to all of them, then I was certain Alfe would repay them with the brightest smile and the most beautiful voice she could give.

　　　＊　＊　＊

That night, after finishing our usual after-school practice, we made our way through the school building, where nearly all the lights had already been turned off.

With the cafeteria about to close, there were no students left doing club activities or studying on their own. The only sound echoing through the halls was our footsteps.

“Ahh… I’m starving…”
“Me too~! I’m absolutely famished. First thing I’m doing is getting another helping of bread!”

I smiled as I listened to Farah and Melua complain about their empty stomachs when Hom, who had been walking ahead of us, suddenly came to a stop.

“What’s wrong, Hom?”

Without answering, Hom simply stared ahead with a troubled expression.

Following her gaze, I saw the Student Council campaign posters—in other words, the ones for Estea and Ignis.

As we drew closer, I realized what had happened.

Most of Estea’s campaign posters, along with the concert announcements that had originally been neatly displayed, had been torn down and replaced with Ignis’ posters.

“…What…?”

Realizing why Hom had stopped, Alfe was left speechless.

“Oh, honestly! Tearing down our posters and replacing them with his? How utterly underhanded! Fine then—we’ll just put up so many posters that he won’t be able to tear them all down!”

Unlike Alfe, Marie shouted in open outrage.

I’d expected some level of sabotage like this.

The problem was that responding to it every time would only eat into our practice time, which was probably exactly what Ignis wanted.

Wondering what we should do, I looked over at Estea.

She rested a hand against her chin, thought for a moment, then spoke.

“…It’s okay, Marie. Don’t worry about it.”
“What do you mean it’s okay?! It’s totally not okay! If our posters are gone, people won’t even notice us!”
“Will they?”

Estea tilted her head as she calmly replied to Melua’s protest.

“Of course they won’t!”
“Nya-ha!”

Farah suddenly burst into laughter at Melua’s emphatic declaration.

“Farah? What’s so funny?”

Since she’d started laughing so unexpectedly, Alfe looked at her in surprise.

“I was just thinking… that’s so like Senior Estea.”
“Lady Farah, what do you mean by that?”

Unable to follow the conversation, Hom asked the question.

Farah simply raised her index finger and traced a small circle through the air.

“Think back for a second. Right after the third term started, we had those academic exams, remember? I looked over the results, and more than seventy percent of the students had answered the review questions correctly. It reminded me that this academy really is merit-based.”
“And what does that have to do with this? I’m completely lost.”

Marie spread both hands in surrender and tilted her head in confusion.

“It might seem like a leap, but… do you really think students that capable would forget the former Student Council President just because a few posters got torn down? Especially when practically everyone witnessed that incredible battle at the Canalford Cup.”
“Oh… You’re right! There’s no way they’d forget her!”

Melua was the first to grasp what Farah was getting at, clapping her hands in realization.

“Exactly! Farah’s right! The posters just have to let people know someone’s running. Everyone’s already seen what kind of person Estea is, everything she’s accomplished, and how amazing she is!”
“Nya-haha. That’s exactly my point.”

Now that she’d put it into words, it made perfect sense.

There were only two candidates for Student Council President.

There was no way the students of this academy had forgotten either of them.

“I see. Rumors might spread that she’s withdrawn from the race, but even Ignis wouldn’t go so far as to tear down every poster. If he did, his sabotage would be obvious, and his own candidacy would likely be revoked.”

In other words, all that had really changed was the number of posters.

The concert would still be held during the time allotted for campaign speeches, so the chances of the students missing it were practically nonexistent.

“…Then, Master, even if we leave this alone, wouldn’t it be even better if we prepared something to take the place of Estea’s posters?”
“Do you have something in mind, Hom?”

Judging by the look on her face, she’d already thought of an idea, so I asked with confidence.

Understanding that I was prompting her to continue, Hom looked around at everyone before speaking.

“I was thinking… perhaps we should simply let the other students watch our rehearsals.”
“That’s a wonderful idea, Hom.”

A smile spread across Estea’s face as she nodded, clearly encouraged by the suggestion.

“I agree~! Though campaign activities other than posters are only permitted on the day of the speeches, so we’ll just call it a rehearsal.”
“We can actually do that, Senior Marie?”

Marie grinned and looked to Melua for confirmation.

“There’s always the option of accidentally interfering with the broadcast room’s signal, right? Isn’t that right, Master~?”
“Since both the instruments and the microphones are magical devices, if we deliberately cause the aether signals to interfere with each other, we should be able to hijack the academy’s speaker system. Is that what you mean?”

Melua stared at me so expectantly that I couldn’t help shrugging.

Still, compared to tearing down our posters, this plan would leave almost no evidence behind.

Even I had to admit it wasn’t a bad idea.

“Exactly! In that case, we might as well move our rehearsal location too~!”

Marie’s ability to grasp the idea so quickly was impressive.

To create a clean signal through aether interference, the fewer obstacles between us and the broadcasting room, the better. The shorter the distance—and the fewer walls separating us—the more clearly our music should reach the broadcasting room’s magical speakers.

　　　＊　＊　＊

As for hijacking the academy’s broadcast system, after discussing it with Melua, we decided to abandon the less reliable idea of creating signal interference. Instead, we’d use communication magic to transmit the sound from the rehearsal room’s amplification device to a modified Mermaidia, which would then relay it to the broadcast room’s magical speakers.

Since everyone had their own Mermaidia, I’d simply modify mine and bring it with me.

The following morning, our rehearsal space was moved to an unused classroom near the broadcasting room, and we began gathering there during lunch break to practice.

“What do you think~?”

Our new rehearsal room was a corner classroom with windows on two sides.

Just opening them would let the music carry outside, making it easy for students who became curious about our performance to naturally drift over.

“This is awesome! At this rate, we won’t even need to hijack the broadcast room anymore.”
“Then let’s get started.”

Estea picked up her guitar, and Hom nodded before taking her place back-to-back with her.

We stepped onto our makeshift stage, and at the cue of Farah’s drums, we launched into the song together.

“Ever since I awoke, I began searching
Who am I?
No one would tell me.”

The Mermaidia in the broadcasting room came to life, and our performance—along with Alfe’s singing—filled the empty classroom.

For a brief moment, the academy seemed to erupt in commotion during lunch break. Then, as though everyone had instinctively focused on the song, the chatter gradually faded until our music alone filled the air.

Beside me, Hom and Estea wove together a sound that was gentle, powerful, and warm.

Farah’s drums beat with unwavering strength.

Melua’s keyboard wrapped around us like an embrace.

I fell into the rhythm.

I sang alongside Alfe.

We sang, letting our voices carry ever farther, and before we knew it, our performance had reached its climax.

Bathed in the applause and cheers echoing from every corner of the academy, we exchanged smiles before returning to our respective classrooms.

There was no need for words.

We could all feel the same overwhelming sense of accomplishment.

In fact, it almost felt wasteful to put it into words.

I wanted to pour this exhilaration into our music instead, to let it travel even farther and reach even more people.

Three days remained until the real performance.

At last, we could finally see the stage waiting for us.