AN: No beta we die like hilichurls
Standing in the middle of the common room, Hertha stood. "So, now that our little merry band has gathered, let me repeat what needs to be done."
"Aw, again?"
"Yes, again, Bruce. Now shut up, because Noelle's only heard the abbreviated version." Hertha cleared her throat. "I will be answering the What, Where, Why, How, and When. In no set order. Is that acceptable?"
Noises of agreement rang throughout the room. There weren't many of them, but they had all listened to Hertha one way or the other.
◤Maestra Hertha does have some kind of ability, doesn't she?◢
Noelle's eyes gazed in amazement at the woman.
The ability to take control of a room, the ability to hold a crowd's attention for themselves to say what they pleased and everyone would listen… It was amazing to see in action.
Right now, in front of her very eyes, Noelle was sure that the Hertha she was seeing wasn't the Hertha from every day that she knew.
The Hertha that would tease her, smother her in affection, threaten to punish whoever made her feel even a little bad, and follow up on said threats was temporarily unavailable right now.
The Hertha that Noelle had seldom seen was now in front of her. The Coordinator of Favonius had grabbed their attention, and her will shall be heard.
"So, to start things off, what we have is something I like to call the Knights of Favonius Light Novel Contest!" Hertha exclaimed enthusiastically.
Belinda raised a hand. "What-"
"A contest where we right a short light novel. It can be about anything as long as it is anything too risque- Rated PG people, Rated PG!" Hertha shook her head.
"Not that I'm against it but… why all of a sudden?" A knight asked.
"Honestly? No clue. Master Jean just told me about this all of a sudden earlier this morning." she shrugged. "And to be honest? I couldn't be bothered to know when, get this, the prize for winning is an all-expense paid week stay in the land of Inazuma!"
"What?"
"No way!"
"All-expense paid?!"
"I'm making one right-friggin now."
The knowledge of such an enticing reward was enough to rouse the Knights more so than ever. Some even had notepads out and had been listing down their ideas.
Of course, she had heard of light novels before. If what Lisa had told her was correct, which it was, Light Novels were shorter than regular novels. A simple, quick way to pass the time without needing a bookmark, she supposed.
Though she did find a few light novels with multiple volumes in the library. Perhaps those were famous enough to warrant multiple installments?
"For any questions, please compile them into an organized list, and send them to my dropbox. I shall be addressing them tomorrow at this same time. That is all." Hertha concluded.
After a while of chatter of discussion amongst the Knights, they slowly began to disperse until the only ones left in the room were Hertha and Noelle.
The coordinator raised an eyebrow and smiled. "So, Noelle, are you participating?"
"Uhm, I'm not too sure."
"Trust me. There will be no sore losers on my watch."
Noelle shook her head. "No, that is not the issue. It's just…"
"It's just…?"
◤Is something wrong, Maestra Noelle?◢
Noelle pursed her lips, before looking Hertha in the eye with a small reluctant smile.
"I… don't want… the prize?"
"So you're telling me, an all-expense paid vacation to Inazuma doesn't interest you?"
"I'm afraid not."
"At all?"
"Not really."
Walking through the halls of the Headquarters of the Knights of Favonius, Noelle, Cookie, and Hertha were once again walking together.
Let it be known that the Halls of Favonius was quite the adventure. They would seem to go on and on without end until you were at your destination before you knew it.
"Cookie?" Noelle turned towards the robot.
◤Yes, Maestra Noelle?◢
"Are you not too busy today? No offense." she asked. Normally, the robot would be just like her in the sense that she would be practically everywhere.
◤Ah, Maestra Noelle must be wondering why I am still here with her. I understand.◢ Cookie seemed to nod. ◤Maestra Sanae is starting her first shift today, so I am not very busy until the afternoon.◢
Noelle gave it a thought. "I see. Well, I hope it all goes well for her. She's quite the diligent one. Albeit a slight bit jumpy and shy, but she does good work."
◤I hope so as well. Maestra Sanae is very kind to me.◢
"Sanae? Green-hair, from Inazuma, looks like she'd run off if you look at her wrong?" Hertha commented.
Noelle sweatdropped at Hertha's rather colorful description. "Well… I don't think the description is too accurate but… yes. Do you know of her?"
"Know her? Of course, I do. I was one of the people that helped her get her job in the first place."
Noelle's eyes widened. "Really?"
"Sure did. I'm not the coordinator of the Knights of Favonius for nothing." Noelle could almost hear the smug coming out of her voice. "But, that's a story for another time. Speaking of Inazuma…"
"Again, I am still on the fence about it."
"But… the all-expense paid vacation…"
"Again, it's not really something that interests me." Noelle put a finger on her chin. "I would much prefer to stay here and keep doing what I do."
◤I understand the feeling, Maestra Noelle.◢
"See? Cookie agrees with me."
"Cookie will agree with you no matter what you say." Hertha sighed. "Alright, how about this then? I won't force you to participate, but instead of thinking about the prize, why not participate to see if you can do it?"
"Do what? Write?"
"Yes. Participate and test yourself if you can write a light-novel. Don't think about the prize, just see if you and write one." Hertha smiled as she put a hand on her shoulder.
"Hmmm… writing one does sound like a challenge."
"Think about it, okay? Who knows, you might have a bit of fun."
◤Cookie will help Maestra Noelle should she wish for assistance.◢
Noelle thought about it for a moment, before she gave a reluctant, yet slightly excited smile.
"Alright. I'll try."
AN: This was supposed to be in the last chapter, but, well, because of time constraints, you see how that ended up. I would've liked to add one more scene to this but unfortunately, I couldn't see the point of extending this chapter. I feel like it already ended where it should.