Chapter 21: Part 1 – Greetings

11 minutes

“Good morning, Vinder-senpai,” a voice called out.

“Good morning, Vinder-sama,” another chimed in.

Having missed the first two days of the second term due to work, I was walking down the hallway, feeling like it was my first day all over again. That’s when this unexpected incident of being greeted by two female students occurred.

“Ah… um, good morning. …sama!?” I stuttered, caught off guard.

I didn’t recognize their faces. It made sense that they’d call me senpai, being underclassmen, but there was no reason for them to address me as ‘sama’.

Wait a minute, I thought to myself. I don’t even remember being greeted by underclassmen during the first term.

Something was definitely off. Was I just forgetting their faces due to my poor skill at remembering people? No, both girls had features striking enough that I’d surely remember if I’d seen them before. My skill might be powerful, but it apparently made an exception for information based on male instinct.

“Hey, what was that all about?” I asked, turning to my secretary.

“What do you mean? It was just a ‘normal’ greeting from first-year students to their ‘ordinary’ senpai as they passed by,” Mia replied flatly, offering no real explanation.

“I know it was a greeting, but…” I trailed off.

Suddenly being greeted by strangers was like a magical attack to me. There was a risk of being inflicted with a confusion status effect.

What exactly is a greeting, anyway? In my theory, it’s a reflex. The most important thing for humans is safety. Therefore, judging whether the person in front of you is dangerous or not is top priority. This judgment, like deciding what to do when a car comes barreling towards you on the street, needs to happen without conscious thought.

That’s where greetings come in. You signal to the other person that you’re not a threat, and if they greet you back, you can feel assured they’re not an enemy either. Whether someone is worth greeting or not is decided the moment you see their face. There’s no room for reason or thought to intervene.

What I’m trying to say is, the fact that I start pondering people’s intentions every time I’m greeted proves I’m socially inept.

Well, given the current situation, it might be considered proper self-preservation to be wary of people associated with the guild leader I had to eliminate or the vice guild leader I had no choice but to oust.

As I was lost in these trivial thoughts, another underclassman approached. A cute, small-faced girl with blonde twin-tails. Her large, slightly upturned eyes met mine as I reflexively tried to look away from the stranger. The girl adjusted her path towards me.

“Ah, good morn-” I began.

“Hmph!” the underclassman girl interrupted, coming right up to me only to glare and change course. My attempt at a preemptive greeting had missed its mark.

“Well, now it really feels like I’m back at the academy,” I muttered to myself.

By the way, being socially inept has its advantages. Even if someone doesn’t return my greeting, I don’t get flustered. People with normal social skills tend to be overconfident in this regard. They unconsciously assume that if they greet someone, they’ll always get a response.

So on the rare occasions when they don’t, they’re as thrown off as if they’d missed a step on the stairs. I don’t have that problem. I’m always considering the risk that my greetings might not be returned.

“Before you develop any strange fetishes, Senpai, I should inform you that she’s the daughter of a merchant house that had dealings with both Drefano and Carst. Please be cautious,” Mia explained with a sigh.

I see, I thought to myself. When Drefano was strong, Carest just followed the guild leader normally. I suppose there would be merchant associations in such a position as well.

“Good morning, Mia. It’s a new term, so we should try to be more cheerful. And good morning to you too, Vinder,” Riruka greeted us.

“Oh, morning Riruka,” I replied. “Mia seems to be in a bad mood. Also, I’m a bit troubled by underclassmen suddenly greeting me. Do you have any information about that?”

“That’s an unusual request for information… Well, I suppose it’s because you’re the heir of Vinder, the rising star who advanced to silver rank in just four years,” Riruka explained.

“What’s that about? I thought our family was the only copper attending the academy. Even after advancing, we’re still at the bottom. Isn’t ‘death to newcomers’ the standard response?” I questioned, puzzled.

“Listen…” Riruka sighed. “That’s not all. People want to get close to the Priestess of National Salvation, the commoner students’ goddess, Princess Alfina. They want connections with the Archduchess of the West, Euphylia Berthold-sama. And, if I may say so, they want ties to the Food Guild leader, the Kenwell Company. There are plenty of reasons why people would want to get close to you.”

So, I thought to myself, those first two greetings weren’t reflexive but calculated. That’s even more terrifying. It made the blonde girl who glared at me seem like a nice, honest kid in comparison.

“This is extremely troublesome. Who’s been sticking these problematic labels on me?” I grumbled.

“Well, both Dalgan-senpai and Plura-senpai… and me too, I guess?” Riruka admitted sheepishly.

“Mia, you should choose your friends more carefully,” I advised.

“No, no, that’s not it,” Riruka interjected. “You need to understand Mia’s concerns too. Hey, you’re worried, aren’t you Mia? Sweet as honey…”

“Riruka, maybe I should choose my friends more carefully,” Mia retorted.

“That’s harsh,” Riruka pouted, spreading her arms in a plea for sympathy from Mia. Well, at least Mia was acting normal towards Riruka.

“Um… I wonder if Alfina-sama won’t be coming today either,” Riruka asked, blatantly changing the subject. For the record, any level of topic change that I notice is defined as blatant. If it’s even slightly subtle, I won’t pick up on it.

“That’s right,” I said, struck by an idea. “When people ask about the princess, I’ll introduce you as her friend. And a member of Kenwell to boot. That should divert half the trouble your way.”

“That won’t work,” Riruka shot back. “For example, I don’t know what Alfina-sama is doing right now. But you do, don’t you, Vinder?”

My brilliant plan was instantly rejected.

“You’ll be able to meet her today, Senpai,” Mia chimed in.

“See… wait, that’s more than I expected,” Riruka said, surprised. “Well, I’m not shocked anymore. What kind of big event are you planning this time?”

“It’s just a coincidence,” I defended myself. “And it’s a proper job, I swear. A solid, sensible one.”

We were just holding the world’s first shareholders’ meeting, that’s all.

“By ‘job’, do you mean that perverted act of dressing the princess in a maid outfit?” Riruka teased.

“You’ve become merciless lately. You’ll lose your head for lèse-majesté. Besides, Mia’s invited too,” I pointed out.

“Oh, that’s amazing,” Riruka exclaimed.

“I’m just there as the Senpai’s attendant. My position is different from Senpai’s… and Alfina-sama’s,” Mia explained.

But wait, I thought to myself, wasn’t Mia’s name properly written on the invitation?

◇◇

We found ourselves in the office of the Archduchess, located in the center of the Berthold mansion, one of the largest in the royal capital. As we were about to leave after greeting the Archduchess, she called out to Mia. A maid standing nearby eyed Mia eagerly, her hands twitching with excitement.

“…It wouldn’t suit me,” Mia protested weakly.

“There’s no need to hold back. Consider it a thank you for taking care of Alfie,” the Archduchess insisted.

At the Archduchess’s words, the maid approached Mia, holding a pale green dress. It seemed they wanted her to wear it to the meeting. The whims of great nobles can be quite troublesome.

“I’ll wait outside,” I offered, trying to escape.

“Abandoning me makes you a failure as a boss,” Mia pleaded. “Um, really, it wouldn’t suit me. And I’ve never worn such a… Eek! Please don’t undress me!”

“Don’t worry. Meir is an expert in this field,” the Archduchess assured her.

As I stepped into the hallway, I noticed a middle-aged man leaning against the window frame. His worn-out appearance seemed out of place in the Archduchess’s mansion.

“Ricado, I’m counting on you today,” he said.

“No, no. Explaining management policies is the president’s job,” I replied.

“But you’re a shareholder too, Ricado.”

“Shareholders are supposed to be on the receiving end of explanations,” I pointed out.

“I’m a shareholder too… Sigh, this stock system is really interesting. The separation of ownership and management is unthinkable in normal circumstances.”

“We haven’t separated them yet,” I explained. “To follow the rules while accepting the Archduchess’s investment, we had no choice. Well, she does have veto power over major decisions.”

I eyed my superior suspiciously. The Archduchess’s investment had increased more than planned, which meant her voting rights had been strengthened. We were supposed to keep the Archduchess’s investment below half. The plan was to secure safety by partially making it the Archduchess’s property and to borrow money at favorable rates using the Archduchess’s investment as credit.

It was an incredibly presumptuous request, but for the Archduchess, a great noble, Vinder’s scale was small. The key to the negotiation was to pique her interest in the stock system itself, to make her think, “This is an interesting toy, let’s observe how it works.” My demonstration of the system’s power at the festival stall should have given us an advantage in negotiations.

“No, that’s why as usual, Ricado, you’re going too far…” My old man started, but suddenly his attention shifted. “Oh, Mia! You look just like an angel!”

Mia emerged, accompanied by a maid, and my father’s focus instantly switched from his son to her.

“I’ve always wanted a daughter, you know. After all, my son has absolutely no charm whatsoever,” he remarked.

“Wait, we’re not done talking…” I turned around to protest, but the words died in my throat. There stood a girl in a dress that was simple yet visibly high-quality. The bare shoulders and the embroidered flower at the chest were refreshing touches. Her usual plainness made this transformation all the more striking.

“How… how do I look, Senpai?” Mia asked, fidgeting unusually, which only added to her charm and further threw me off balance.

“W-well, as a subordinate, I can’t disparage something the president, my boss, has praised,” I stammered, forcibly averting my gaze from her captivating appearance. The maid whispered something to Mia, who blushed for a moment. Then, she awkwardly twirled once in front of me, her skirt floating gracefully. That’s cheating, I thought.

“W-well, um… you certainly look… different. Yeah,” I managed to say.

“Hehe. I wasn’t expecting any clever compliments from you, Senpai. I’ll take it,” Mia smiled, amused by my flustered state.

“Well, Mia. It suits you very well,” a voice chimed in. At that moment, a young lady in a white dress appeared from the other end of the hallway.

Her lovely figure inevitably reminded me of the dance at the celebration. I thought I’d gotten used to seeing Alfina in her school uniform, but when she exerted her princess power like this, I was utterly defenseless.

“Ricado-kun. Did you compliment her properly?” Alfina asked.

“I-I did praise her,” I defended myself. “But compared to a real princess’s seal of approval, well, right Mia?”

Being graded on my ability to compliment a girl’s outfit was too much. I turned back to Mia and said,

“…Yes. Thank you very much, Alfina-sama,” Mia replied formally, her earlier smile instantly replaced by a respectful demeanor. There was no trace of the stern instructor who used to drill new part-timers at Vinder. Perhaps she was mindful of the Archduchess’s presence.

Well, Mia is capable after all, I thought to myself. Unlike me, she can switch gears properly.


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