On a sunny afternoon, the train station basked in warm sunlight, with a salty breeze from the beach gently blowing through.
The early winter wind would bring a chill that might make someone adjust their clothing, but it had no effect on Walter, who was dozing off in a staff chair.
Though the esteemed gentlemen of the United Kingdom’s council were bickering and somehow managed to bankrupt a perfectly good merchant company—only to have it renamed Craft High Merchant—the pay was still coming in regularly with guaranteed holidays, making the advanced benefits quite appealing. So, the early winter wind was perfect for napping rather than feeling cold.
Once, the fear of railroad terrorism kept the mind alert, but realizing there was no real reason to terrorize the sparsely set-up place with just a square iron shade, a stable, and one staff chair, there was no longer any reason to hold back on taking a nap.
However, if Walter had known who the guest was about to arrive, he would have banished any thoughts of napping from his mind long ago.
As three horses galloped down the railroad, they gradually came to a stop at the station. The sound of someone jumping off a horse was heard.
“Pooh-pooh. Just because we ran a bit far, there’s no need for the station quality to drop this drastically.”
“Is that so? I thought I put in quite a bit of effort.”
A calm landing sound followed.
“The facilities look sturdy. So that means there’s no shoddy construction. Even if someone is asleep, there’s still a resident staff member here. Managing personnel might seem simple, but it’s tricky business, yet the staff member is at least holding their post properly.”
“No, no, no.”
Shaking head.
“If you’re going to place a resident staff member, you should place at least two. Having only one is nearly equivalent to having none.”
“That seems like an excessive demand. This isn’t on a direction spreading across the continent but rather a place that unfolds alongside the beach, so the business potential is relatively low. The train’s profitability isn’t great yet either, so it’s really efficient to assign stable staff to maintain operating costs through stagecoach operations and postal delivery.”
“Oh, I see. Coming from the Demon Lord, that makes some sense, I guess. Still, there’s no need to get too bound by principles.”
Calm footsteps approached the staff chair.
“Hey there, sleepyhead.”
Walter slowly woke up upon hearing the voice. Cherry blossoms began to bloom in his blurry and hazy vision. As he gradually emerged from his sleep, he realized it was a pink girl.
“Hehe.”
The pink eyes sent a subtly expectant gaze.
Walter, with his still drowsy mind, thought blankly.
Pink…?
An entirely unfamiliar color, but it triggered something in the back of his brain. Something he thought he had heard somewhere before.
He had forgotten whatever it was the superior had explained, but he recalled hearing about the (self-proclaimed) Governor Craft’s visit at a bar on his way home.
Pink?!
Though the attire was simpler than the rumors suggested, her glamorous appearance and distinctive features were exactly as described in the stories.
Walter jolted back to life, realizing he was at the crossroads of life and death—or rather, the crossroads of losing his job. He rose from his chair and instinctively blurted out a response.
“Self-proclaimed great lady!”
Though, as is often the case with conditioned reflexes, some undesirable subconscious feelings were reflected in that.
“Self-proclaimed…?”
Her pink eyes widened in surprise.
Her little hands cutely covered her mouth.
“I was self-proclaimed.”
Gulp.
Walter froze.
A mix of troublesome futures flashed through his mind. Unfortunately, the best-case scenario considering Craft’s infamous reputation was getting fired, followed by the very real possibility of a decapitation.
Given that Craft had once forced civilians to commit atrocities during the conquest of the Demon Realm and tortured prisoners by other captives, the thought of a decapitation seemed quite plausible.
As Pastel maintained her cute pose of covering her mouth, she began to mumble, loud enough for Walter to hear.
“Like kneeling…?”
Walter immediately knelt down.
Thud.
“I drank too much yesterday and ended up falling asleep! Please, just this once!”
Pastel’s expression turned to one of astonishment.
“Gulp. If you suddenly kneel like that, I am still Pastel who…”
The girl’s body twisted.
“It’s too pleasant.”
Her cheeks flushed pink.
“Hehe.”
In that moment, Walter hurriedly cried out.
“I won’t do it again! Never again!”
Her pink eyes narrowed as they closed gently. Her lashes fluttered, and an expectant gaze was directed his way.
“Or rubbing your hands…?”
Walter immediately rubbed his hands together.
“Please, just this once! Just once…!”
“Uh-huh.”
Her pink eyes became slightly hazy, as if tipsy. The girl’s body twisted again.
“Then, then…”
Pink lips quivered.
“Bow your head to the ground—”
“How far are you going with this?”
The Demon Lord pressed down on Pastel’s pink head with his palm.
“Wah!”
Pastel shrank from the pressure. Her arms flailed.
“Demon Lord! Demon Lord! You’re interrupting at such an important moment!”
“What’s so important about it?”
“Wahh!”
My electrifying moment of glory!
Melissa approached the staff member.
“Staff member, you can wake up now. Regardless of negligence or not, there’s no obligation to face excessive reprimanding in an employment relationship.”
The staff, dazed, glanced at the disheveled Governor Pastel and cautiously stood up.
“Wahhh!”
“Even Melissa…!”
The future commander of the southern territory would execute sleeping soldiers as an example! It was obvious enough without needing to see it!
“Waaaah!”
It’s one of my few electrifying moments…!
I grabbed the wrist of the Demon Lord pressing my head down with both hands, lifting it up.
“Demon Lord! Reward me! If you kneel and rub your hands, Pastel’s mood might lighten!”
And if you also bowed your head to the ground, that would be immensely enjoyable!
The Demon Lord looked at me incredulously.
“You think I’d do that, little Craft?”
“Yes!”
Pastel sent a hopeful gaze.
Sparkling~!
The Demon Lord coldly replied.
“Not happening.”
“That can’t be true!”
Thud.
Despair.
Despair for sure.
Guhh.
The Demon Lord doesn’t understand my feelings.
But soon enough, they’ll probably find out the hard way.
Karma! Retribution!
“Were there any abnormalities during work? Even tiny ones not listed on the report are okay.”
Regardless of whether the friend collapsed in despair, Melissa grabbed the staff and handled the situation.
“It’s true I did doze off, so now that this has happened, please answer honestly. Think of it as an opportunity to make amends.”
The staff hesitated.
“I’m not the one writing that report; the higher-up handles it for me, so I really don’t know what was specifically written. I don’t know how to write long essays, you see.”
“Oh. Then let me read the report to you, and you confirm if anything is missing. Just a moment.”
Melissa approached her bag and rummaged through it.
Since neither Melissa nor the Demon Lord were paying her any mind, Pastel puffed up her cheeks and just stood up. The Demon Lord dusted off the hem of her skirt that had dirt on it.
“I won’t suddenly turn into a non-miffed Pastel just because you’re paying me attention now.”
“I care less about that.”
“Pooh.”
Pouting her lips, Pastel skipped over to Melissa.
“You’re glad you came out here, right?”
Melissa pulled out the regular report. The pages flipped.
“It says here you aren’t illiterate, but in person, it seems you actually are.”
Pastel sighed heavily.
“This is why paperwork is difficult. The Sky Island has an academy and a high level of education, so the reform of paperwork was relatively easy, but in the Demon Realm, where education levels are inconsistent, the reliability of document reports just plummeted.”
“The literacy rate is an issue.”
“Yup. A single individual lacks independence, creating confusion and disasters. What’s needed is universal education.”
Melissa paused. She stared for a moment, then turned her gaze back to the report.
“Really?”
Melissa confirmed it was the report from this station and returned to the staff. She started reading line by line to verify the report’s accuracy.
The staff consistently reacted with no incorrect parts until the end of the report, at which point, they appeared bewildered for the first time.
“An important report was missing.”
Pooh-pooh.
Something seems to be missing~.
A report about embezzlement, perhaps?
As the staff was about to explain, noise erupted from afar.
Black smoke billowing from the chimney and the breath of a steam engine shaking the railroad. The sound of a whistle filled the beach.
“Huh?”
Pastel’s eyes widened.
Was it train operating hours?
That didn’t seem right.
The black train sped toward them.
Pastel felt an immense sense of unease.
After all, the Craft High Merchant’s train operated at roughly the same speed a person runs. The speed of a bicycle that could actually create a breeze felt utterly different from that.
“That’s it!”
The staff pointed at the remarkably skilled train.
“I don’t know what they’re up to, but they’re using our railroad without permission!”
“What did you say?!”
The train arrived at the station. But just like a thief wouldn’t stroll into a police station, it passed by without slowing down.
Cargo cars linked together filled the view. It was equivalent to the Craft High Merchant’s freight volume in a single trip. The only difference was that it was a million times faster than Craft’s train.
Similar quantities of freight, with vastly superior service quality.
But they weren’t paying for railroad construction.
“Uwahhh!”
Pastel screamed amid the noise of the train.
“It’s business thievery…!”
Pursue them! Follow them!
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