“It’s a special opportunity that only today exists!”
Pastel raised her hand high in the middle of the student council room.
“Who wants to go to the auction with Pastel~!”
Hands! Hands!
“I’ll go first! I’m Pastel, and I can’t miss out on Pastel!”
Melissa, who was busy organizing her desk upon arriving at the student council room, looked over.
“We’re not going for fun, are we?”
“Well, it’s true, but I’m going with Pastel, so of course it’ll feel fun! I totally understand! As long as we do our jobs right!”
“What confidence.”
The silver-haired girl next to Melissa muttered.
“Huh?”
“Don’t you think Elshire doesn’t feel that way?”
“Yep.”
It was an immediate answer, needing no thought.
“Well, that’s perfect!”
Pastel clapped her hands, her face lighting up. She dashed over to Elshire, grabbing her arm and lifting it high.
“Hands! Hands! Wow, Elshire raised her hand! Elshire wins!”
“Huh? Did I raise it?”
Elshire looked somewhat bewildered.
“Yep! You raised it, so you did! Let’s go bid! Even if it’s work, it wouldn’t be bad if it feels like fun!”
Elly, who had been quietly sipping her green tea and managing her drowsy mind, glanced over. Then she muttered quietly.
“Your front and back statements are different again.”
Pastel turned her head.
“What did you say?”
“Nothing.”
Elly observed the leaves floating in her green tea, seemingly engrossed in mental healing for the moment.
Dustin answered instead.
“She said your front and back statements are different again.”
Elly looked at Dustin, exasperated.
“Don’t butt in and just work.”
Dustin appeared confused.
“Did I do something wrong?”
“I don’t know about that, but it seems like whatever it is, it’s definitely Dustin’s fault!”
Yup!
“Pastel, you know you’re surprisingly hard on me, right?”
Dustin complained, feeling wronged.
But Pastel, who had spent most of her life in a state of grievance, didn’t particularly empathize with him.
It’s not like she still held a grudge over the victory and defeat from the entrance exam months ago or anything like that!
Nice Pastel doesn’t hold grudges against friends!
She wasn’t calculating that forgiving someone too easily might make her be underestimated and attacked as a popular person!
It’s just common sense that someone like Dustin, the lone male in the student council, shouldn’t get too close to the popular Pastel so he wouldn’t get dragged into an alley.
“Um, perfect.”
Melissa precisely positioned her ink container horizontally before finishing her desk organization.
“Did you negotiate well with Count McKenna? Auction collusion isn’t exactly noble behavior, you know?”
“Of course! Of course!”
Pastel made a peace sign with her fingers.
“I just finished a noble secret contract filled with a merchant’s duty!”
That aside, there was also talk about investment in the Craft High Merchant, but that was a bit awkward to consider as student council work!
Melissa looked a little wary.
“A secret contract isn’t exactly noble behavior either. By your way of speaking, it’d be twice the dishonor.”
Melissa emphasized her point with two fingers spread.
Huh.
Twice the dishonor.
Pastel’s pink eyes widened.
“So it’s like double dishonor-honor? Fwa-fwa honor-honor! Fwa-fwa, if all friends burn away, the only thing left is honor-honor!”
Wow.
Noble Pastel.
“Why is it that way?”
Melissa looked flabbergasted.
Elly, having finished her green tea, cleaned her cup.
“Whether nobility or not, let’s just work now. We’ll check what to do if the Empire Bank emotionally contests the auction collusion this morning.”
“What aspect?”
“If a natural disaster occurs, the main contractor can postpone or cancel the auction with the bidders’ agreement, and that could be exploited.”
Elly passed out the documents she prepared.
“The Empire Bank could hold out, saying they won’t hand over the won bid, claiming the auction must be canceled due to a natural disaster. Whether there is a natural disaster or not will have to be decided in court, and then during the trial, the bankrupt merchant will float without a master as their assets gradually deteriorate. We need to normalize things before the railroad merchants can’t intervene, so we might have to give the Empire Bank a fair price apart from the bid amount.”
“While we may not have acted properly, isn’t that too cheap a response? Is there really such a possibility?”
“I confirmed that they wouldn’t treat the great nobility that way, but I thought it prudent to consider the ‘what if.’ Right, Pastel?”
“Yep! I wholeheartedly agree! Work hard, everyone!”
Pastel went off to her own business, completely ignoring the gazes that seemed to ask if she was working.
Paper, paper~.
The paper was folding into an airplane.
Pastel lifted the paper airplane.
“Paper airplane~!”
A seasoned pilot folds the plane in an instant!
The paper airplane in her hand performed acrobatics.
“Whoosh!”
Elly watched the scene with a complex expression. Then, as if realizing something, she deeply contemplated and then opened her eyes.
“That means, that…?”
Elly’s eyes looked somewhat vacant.
“I’m reading the contents. I’ll just have another cup of green tea for a moment.”
“Sure.”
After saying to work, she immediately agreed to her superior’s statement about taking a break, Melissa firmly told Pastel.
“As a newcomer who doesn’t quite understand the work, it feels a bit inappropriate to meddle in the work atmosphere, but since no one else is saying anything, I’ll say it. It’s not good for one person to play while the rest are working. How about setting a good example at your station?”
Huh.
Pastel’s eyes widened.
Did she get caught playing?
“This is, this is!”
She flailed her arms.
“It’s a highly sophisticated task that’s hard for newcomers to understand!”
It’s real!
“Making such nonsense excuses is even worse. I may be lacking in social experience, but I definitely understand that this is playing.”
Newcomer Melissa was assertive.
Melissa is so smart!
She instantly figured out that while everyone was in meetings, Pastel was playing alone…!
Pastel flailed her arms.
“No! No! This is super ultra high-level work! Only an elite like me can do this!”
Newcomers cannot comprehend this!
Melissa smirked.
“Another excuse, huh? I might lack social experience, but I can say with certainty. Let me assure you.”
Melissa spoke gently.
“That is not work.”
Huh.
“Playing while working is not exemplary behavior. Refusing to acknowledge the fault is worse.”
Pastel felt deflated.
The newcomer is too smart.
She had figured out within a short time that Pastel had played the most after joining.
Could it be that I can’t just be the slacker Pastel from now on?
Do I have to live in full-on serious work mode?
“Ugh!”
Pastel clutched her head.
“That’s not the cherry blossom Pastel!”
It’s an important point when she usually only wears white or pink clothes!
Besides, cherry blossoms don’t work at all!
I just want power and not work…!
I just want to photosynthesize under the sun…!
“You don’t need to worry about that; you’re already like a cherry blossom.”
Melissa smiled kindly.
“So how about apologizing for playing during work? It’s showing a model example as a superior.”
Ugh.
That’s way too right.
Pastel felt sad and bowed her head.
“I’m sorry, everyone. The truth is, it was an excuse. Pastel is a friend who plays around with paper airplanes.”
I’m sorry for not being helpful until now.
“You did well. You can do it.”
Melissa looked pleased.
This was the reaction of a newcomer who broke the mundane old habits of the workplace with keen insight and exceptional knowledge.
Elly was blankly watching the scene.
Her face was filled with questions.
—
Thrilling Auction Bid.
The chandelier sparkled in the banquet hall, which quickly transformed into an auction venue after the banquet ended.
Heavy meals like meat were cleared away, replaced by light desserts. As ladies and gentlemen lifted their wine glasses, this place was soon to be an auction site.
Dressed in a suit, Pastel sat in the designated chair at the round table, crossing her legs.
She cast her gaze at the open wine bottle, but since there was no Demon Lord to tease this time and no reason to get drunk during business, she lost interest.
“Do you think they’ll betray us?”
Elshire, dressed in a semi-formal dress, sniffed the wine, chimed in as Melissa intervened.
That was quite an unexpected question.
If asked, she’d just help, doing her duty while having no sense of it not being her job, but seeing her carry interest like this, perhaps she felt a sense of belonging to the student council while working.
“I’m not sure.”
The administrative staff held the envelope Pastel had written her bid on and headed to the podium. The envelope was handed to the Empire Bank’s presenter.
It was a sealed bid system where each side wrote their bid and the highest one won.
“If the amount is just a bit higher than what Count McKenna colluded with, that’s it. We can keep the promise with the Empire Bank while benefitting from a higher amount. For a merchant, keeping a prior promise is morally right.”
“And yet, in a secret contract, one could betray at the last minute.”
The company’s representatives also approached and handed over the envelope.
After making various uplifting statements for the ladies and gentlemen watching, the presenter began revealing the bids.
“But.”
The envelope from the company side opened first, and as the presenter took out the paper, he froze as he was about to loudly announce the bid.
“Just putting it out there.”
The presenter’s eyes darted between the company side and the Empire Bank’s side as if confirming, then focused back on this side.
A trembling voice echoed.
— T-There are zero gold coins.
The eyes of the ladies and gentlemen shifted back and forth, just like the presenter, settling upon Craft.
The girl smiled, raising both hands and clapping quietly.
In the eerie silence of confusion, only the clapping echoed.
“A rule stating that zero cannot be written as a bid shall be formed.”
It was a calm voice.
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