A little while later, outside the academy.
“Master Demon! Master Demon!”
The pink-toned girl rushed towards the black train that was demonstrated in the engineering department. She spun around the lonely locomotive and pointed at it with both hands.
“This is what a train looks like! Choo choo!”
It even lets out dark clouds!
“Hoo.”
The Demon stroked his chin as he approached the train. His fist knocked against the black iron.
“The world is really developing quickly.”
Wow, what a statement that shows his age.
Is this what happens when you live long?
I hope I don’t end up like that.
“It looks quite heavy. Is it really going to move properly?”
The upperclassman hesitated at his muttering. The man in front of them claimed to be a servant, and with such a confident demeanor and the way he was treated, he was clearly a mystery. He was struggling in the space between formal and casual speech.
Pastel immediately provided the answer.
“Just try riding it! Upperclassman! Hurry up and shovel some coal!”
The upperclassman realized his position and quietly picked up the shovel. The sound of shoveling echoed.
Pastel jumped onto the locomotive.
“Master Demon too! Master Demon too!”
“Wait a moment.”
The Demon observed the tracks and wheels before boarding. As the upperclassman diligently shoveled coal into the furnace, the train slowly began to move. The black wheels rolled along a small circular track set up on the outskirts.
“Hoo. The wheels really do roll with this weight.”
Pastel felt an inexplicable pride.
“And it doesn’t stop there! If we attach a body behind it, we can enable mass transportation! Much larger than carriages and way cheaper than airships!”
Mass transportation would trigger economies of scale, leading to price drops and allowing for low wages, triggering factory expansions and supply growth that accelerates the market economy… or something like that!
I’m going to be rich!
Pastel decided she would become a million times richer.
“Imagine monopolizing all carriages! Or all airships! If something big is to be done, I’m going to be essential, right? Everyone will be watching me and handing over sparkly yellow gifts!”
Wow!
Her mouth hung open.
Even if it wasn’t outright monopoly, starting now could get her pretty close!
Nobody knows that the initial railroad infrastructure is way too important for the private sector!
“A future where everyone kneels before Pastel!”
Hoo.
I haven’t exactly asked them to kneel, but just thinking about it gives a thrilling shiver.
“Huh.”
Pastel trembled as she wrapped her arms around herself.
This is power.
Now a powerful Pastel, she was still amazed by how little her power was.
The upperclassman hesitated as he shoveled coal, stealing glances. He then pretended he hadn’t heard any royal disrespect and focused back on shoveling.
“A mass transportation vehicle? I look forward to the progress, but at this speed, it won’t be immediately useful for the private sector. If the cargo increases, won’t it get considerably slower?”
The Demon’s ignorant remark.
But Pastel felt a little empathy as she experienced the scenery rushing by.
“What’s the speed?”
“Excuse me?”
“The speed.”
“I mean, it differs slightly with coal quality, but it’s about 15 kilometers per hour right now.”
Slower than a person running…
Ugh.
Pastel waved at her rocky friend who seemed too slow to pass by.
“Hello!”
A response came back.
Rocky Friend: Hello!
Hoo.
It really turned into a greeting!
Ugh.
“It is indeed slow! Slower than a person!”
The upperclassman, sweating as he shoveled coal, flinched. His pride as an engineering student kicked in.
“It is overwhelmingly faster than a person! In the 100m dash, sure, the train seems a bit slow, but operations and transportation are measured in kilometers! People can’t run for dozens of kilometers at full speed!”
Pastel’s eyes went wide.
Then she corrected herself.
“It’s slower than a bicycle!”
The upperclassman’s mouth hung open. Unable to counter, he resumed shoveling.
“Bicycles are advanced products and not suitable for cargo transport…”
Muttering.
The Demon pondered the speed of the scenery.
“The speed is important because of operating time. Judging from this, significant investment in railroad construction and ongoing maintenance is necessary. If the train speed is slow, the profit per unit time decreases. For it to be commercialized in the private sector without going bankrupt, we must increase the train speed.”
Huh.
That was not an ignorant statement from the Demon, it was a rational one.
The pink-eyed girl sparkled.
“I can feel the experience!”
This is the wisdom of 400 plus years!
Feeling overwhelmed by the age difference!
The Demon looked at the would-be Demon King with a concerned expression.
“While it’s great to move away from smuggling, that doesn’t mean I want you to take risky investments in new technologies.”
Pastel’s plans to smuggle construction golems’ gem fuel through connections with the Demon Realm Alliance Kingdom took a hit.
“Why’s that?”
Just a pink, pink thought!
Pastel made a blank expression.
Silly, silly Pastel.
“Hmm?”
The Demon looked at her suspiciously but soon dropped it.
“The current train technology won’t provide enough cost-effectiveness for private operations. If you want to do something, it might be better to negotiate with the state. Getting the Empire’s investments by tying it to the military could work, but with the current disarmament policies, that would be difficult. The Demon Realm United Kingdom might be good. Though they’ve lost their bite, a government is on a different level than the private sector. However, dealing with the Craft Family could prove troublesome…”
The red-eyed figure gazed at the next Demon King.
“I still don’t understand the reasoning. I guess I’ll have to try it.”
The Demon Realm United Kingdom.
Having delivered essential shipments for the residents of the Demon Realm several times, it still felt completely foreign.
“Don’t you have any friends in the Demon Realm, Master Demon?”
Considering the sensitive past entwined with family grievances made her nervous about asking questions or even studying.
But, according to a few things overheard from half-demon nationalist Professor Marius, he said that he had spent a long time in the Demon Realm?
The Demon stared at Craft, who was shamelessly asking questions, feeling quite dumbfounded for a moment before regaining composure.
“I don’t have any anymore.”
His voice didn’t sound very pleasant.
Pastel discreetly shifted her gaze.
That was a bad topic to bring up.
It’s not good to tick off the only protector.
As she blankly watched the upperclassman shovel coal vigorously, she turned her gaze to the scenery.
An administrative staff member dashed over from the other side.
“Your Grace!”
He was running up along the side of the train to indicate just how urgent the matter was.
The train is super slow!
“Your Grace!”
The staff member urged for a response.
Pastel raised her hand energetically.
“Yes! The great Your Grace is here!”
“There’s been an issue with the acquisition plan!”
The staff member panted as he quickly pulled out documents, which the wind couldn’t hold onto and blew away.
“Ugh!”
His hand flailed urgently.
“Wow!”
Pastel leaned out of the train to wave at the documents flying away behind them.
“Bye bye, document friend!”
The staff member’s complexion turned pale as he realized both the document friend and his performance evaluation might be flying away.
“Please retrieve those later! Just tell me the key points for now!”
The staff member hurriedly collected himself.
“The Empire Bank refused the acquisition proposal! If you want to acquire the organization, you must participate in the auction without bypassing any procedures!”
Eek?
Pastel felt suspicious whether this was really a serious issue. While it would be nice to make a clean purchase through dealing directly with the seller, an auction didn’t seem like a huge problem, right?
We’re the Sky Island Administration, after all.
The staff member added more information.
“Your competition is the Demon Realm Stock Company!”
Pastel went blank.
Who the heck is that?
The staff member summarized it for her.
“They have more money than the entire budget of Sky Island!”
Hoo.
“Ughh!”
Pastel clutched her head.
“My train…!”
Make it so I can bypass the procedures!
Pastel fell deep into thought.
She alternated between looking at a black suit in one hand and a fall dress in the other.
“What should I wear before this business battle?”
A grave matter.
The Demon smirked. It was a look of amusement watching his cute daughter ponder something common sense-related.
“Of course you wear a suit.”
Ugh.
Pastel felt conflicted.
If she wore this, she’d no longer be pink and cute.
But she also thought wearing the fall dress would make her seen as underestimatable, so she changed into the suit.
Being underestimated in a disadvantageous situation would be troublesome.
Looking in the mirror, the girl’s black suit flowed down alongside her pink hair. Her pink eyes sparkled dreamily.
Ugh.
She really looked like a Demon now.
In a suit with pink hair, she looked like the epitome of a standard Demon!
Pastel clung to the Demon.
“Master Demon! I can’t be unfairly treated like before in this appearance!”
“What kind of weird reason is that?”
Not a joke, but really Craft!
Completely two-faced!
At any rate, an appearance that gets her being deemed understandable!
In this look, she couldn’t confidently declare that everyone should believe her when they see her pink and cute appearance!
“I’m so unfair!”
Suddenly, Pastel had a realization.
Hoo.
She can indeed be unfair.
Her pink eyes rolled around.
Then she just had to be unfair.
“I’m so unfair!”
Ugh!
I’m totally kind! I’m totally gentle!
It’s only that I like a little power and money!
This is way too Demon-like…!
“Master Demon! Comfort! Comfort!”
The Demon looked bewildered.
“What do you mean comfort?”
“Just comfort me!”
The Demon patted her back.
“Huh.”
Cherry blossom, cherry blossom, Pastel is totally done for.
An administrative staff member knocked and entered the cabin.
“It’s almost time for the M&A briefing session to begin. You need to go now.”
They were set to participate in an explanation session prepared by the Empire Bank before getting to the real auction.
Total pre-battle.
“Huh.”
The girl slipped from the Demon’s embrace.
When wearing a suit, she pulled out the candy stick she had brought as fashion accessory from earlier.
She popped the candy stick into her mouth, the crackling sound echoing.
“Shall we go?”
Her pink eyes sank.
“Time for business.”
The Craft family left the cabin.
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