"Why is the campus so lively today? What's going on?"

In the early morning, Ray, who was still sweeping leaves at the doorway of the flower room, noticed that there were more people on the path outside. Many students were dressed in strange costumes, with quite a few of them wearing red robes of ancient church soldiers as if they were parading. Even more exaggerated was the half-naked boy with a sock in his mouth, tied to a pole on a flatbed trailer, being pushed and pulled by four other people.

"Can't you tell? It's a parade!"

Clomis, while cleaning his ears with a cotton swab, walked out of the Brunian teleportation gate.

"Going to the snow-covered hot springs early in the morning is really refreshing! Ray, focus! This place is so dirty! Have you forgotten how to clean after not doing it for so long?"

"But why have a parade all of a sudden?"

As he spoke, Ray swept some dust onto Clomis' snow-white robe, covering it with dust.

"Ah! Be careful! Do you know what holiday it is today?"

Clomis asked, pretending to be serious.

"I really don't know."

"Torch Festival! Torch Festival! How could you forget such an important holiday?"

"Torch Festival? Not Valentine's Day?"

"Oh, it seems you do know! Then why did you ask knowingly?"

"I thought there might be some other religious holiday that required them to dress like this for a parade. What are they doing?"

Ray pointed at the students dressed in ancient church uniforms and asked.

"Of course, they are going around the campus and then lighting torches in the college square! Isn't this the tradition?"

Clomis said matter-of-factly.

"Uh... what kind of weird tradition is this?"

Ray couldn't help but feel a bit overwhelmed.

"Back when the church was burning people, they did the same thing. Those with lighter sentences would be paraded around Saint Capital's inner city, then dragged to the square outside the church and burned. Those with heavier sentences would go around Saint Capital three times and then get burned in the square outside the church. And back in those ignorant days, almost anything could be sentenced to death. Just like now, you are blaspheming against a great priest, a noble regional bishop, and an honorable believer, and for such a crime, you should be paraded around Saint Capital seven times and then dragged to the square and burned."

Ignoring his nonsense, Ray just snorted.

"Alright, that's ancient history. And besides, if they do this, won't the academy interfere? After all, this is the territory of the church, and it's not right to reveal the scandals of the past."

Clomis shrugged.

"Even though it's in the past, it's still something the church once did! Admitting one's mistakes and striving to improve is important, right? And look, the students seem to really enjoy this activity!"

"Alright, what about the guy tied up and paraded around? What's his crime?"

"He had 15 girlfriends in one month."

"What?!"

"You heard right. He had 15 girlfriends in one month, but not an average of one every two days – he was simultaneously dating around 10 of them, from freshmen to fifth-year students, in every academy, not letting anyone go. It's even said that he hooked up with a magic teacher."

"Oh, he really has some talent!"

Ray couldn't help but nod in approval, only for Clomis to snort in disdain and flick his golden hair gracefully.

"What does that count for? If it weren't for my position in the church, my talent would be even better! The girls who would actively pursue me could line up from here to the school gate!"

Ray rolled his eyes.

"You're proud of attracting everyone from 8 to 80 years old? You have the nerve to say that!"

"What's wrong with that? Anyone's fair game! I've been holding this in for a long time. I need to tell someone to feel better! Anyway, do you want to go and see?"

"See what?"

"The torch lighting! I heard a lot of girls are waiting in the square to watch! Many of them even brought their boyfriends along. This time it's an event organized by the girls themselves!"

"Forget it, it's just an illusion to scare people anyway. You go ahead, I still have work to do."

Clomis glanced at Ray, seeming to think of something, and then waved his hand."See you again!! I also promised them to symbolically hold a mass for this guy!"

Ray waved his hand as well, didn't say anything, silently picked up the broom again, but only for a short while before putting it down. It seemed like he mustered up the courage to go back to the empty greenhouse. After hesitating for a bit, he took a violet with dew still on it from his pocket and placed it under the bright red rose wall, whispering softly.

"Happy Valentine's Day"