Akatsuki Translations

“Looks like it went well,” the male student said.

“To think you could wrap it up in a single meeting. As expected, Riruka’s recognition is well-deserved,” the female student added.

After the two independent companies and Kenwell’s representatives left, two students entered the room, guided by Riruka. The male and female with identical faces were both third-year students. They were the twin siblings of the large Kenwell company, the vice-president of the Food Guild and Riruka’s boss.

In exchange for providing the chairs and desks, they wanted to talk to me. Since they were involving three of their subsidiaries, they had to uphold their obligations, but I wondered what the successors of a gold-ranked company wanted. Just how much would this conversation cut into my self-preservation?

The woman was a laid-back beauty with long, gently curled brown hair. The man was a refreshing handsome fellow who closely resembled her. Their demeanor was almost indistinguishable from that of noble scions.

It was only natural, considering they might even obtain an honorary title and become nobles in name only.

“Jean-senpai, Maria-senpai. It’s not like I particularly acknowledge Vinder or anything,” Riruka said.

Judging by Riruka’s angry reaction to being teased about her relationship with me, their relationship seemed to be good. However, there was the fact that despite being the successors of the main company, they had left their subsidiaries in a pinch.

From our perspective, thanks to that, we were able to recruit members, and the arrangement of desks and chairs was a huge help. However, there were rumors that Carst was giving the locations they had bought up to their subsidiaries. Wasn’t there a competition for profits between the Carst and Kenwell affiliates?

“I understand what you want to say. It’s about taking care of your subsidiaries, right? Unfortunately, it’s our company policy. Each company values independence. Even though it’s important, we can’t interfere with academy events,” Jean said.

“Father has strictly forbidden it,” Maria added.

Perhaps noticing my questioning gaze, the two spoke.

“Your corporate culture. It seems different from Carst,” I remarked.

“That’s right. They say Carst is vertical, while Kenwell is horizontal. Well, that’s one of the reasons we don’t get along with them. It wasn’t a problem when Drefano was the sole power, but as soon as that crumbled, this happened,” Jean explained.

I see, it’s like the difference between Mitsubishi Corporation and Mitsui & Co.

“What do you think?” Jean asked.

“Each has its advantages and disadvantages. If it’s working well, either is fine. As long as you don’t mix them, it should be okay, right? If you ask me which I prefer, it would be Kenwell’s approach,” I replied.

“That’s an honor. But the holdings you proposed… It seems like it could flexibly adapt to either format. It might even be possible to mix the two to some extent. Am I wrong?”

They had probably heard about the contents of the meeting to some degree from Riruka and the others. However, it was impossible in the current situation.

“Well, it’s just a theoretical discussion. This time, we had a common goal, or rather, a common enemy. And the limited condition of it being only for the duration of the festival. Otherwise, it wouldn’t be manageable,” I said.

In fact, if Carst hadn’t pushed them to the point of being unable to participate, this scheme wouldn’t have been possible.

“That’s right. No matter what rules there are, without the backing of profits and power, they will eventually collapse. The more complex and larger they are, the more so. Even taking that into account, it’s still interesting,” Jean said.

“When I heard about bringing together small companies, I wondered what kind of romanticist you were… So you had an enemy, huh? Riruka has a truly amazing friend. I was surprised when I heard you participated in the princess’s tea party. But now I understand,” Maria added.

“Speaking of which, your performance was also impressive. You stunned them by using the Sage’s room first. Then you finished it off with the princess at the end,” Jean remarked.

“No, using this room was Riruka’s suggestion,” I said.

I was simply considering the best place for maintaining confidentiality.

“Hmm. But the princess’s connections are your own, right? So, let me ask a question. Why didn’t you use the princess from the beginning?” Maria looked at me.

It seemed like a casual question. However, when both halves looked at me with four eyes together, it was clear that it wasn’t a simple question. Compared to the silver-ranked merchants who had scattered earlier, their attitude so far had been friendly and gentle. But these two were the successors of a gold-ranked company. In the future, they would assume positions that could be considered representatives of the merchants.

“It’s not good for merchants to determine policies using the authority of the nobility,” I answered honestly.

Commoner students don’t go against noble students. That’s because going against customers, or defying the class system, can be fatal. However, merchants are not necessarily convinced.

It’s not about rebelliousness or egalitarianism. Merchants and nobles have different positions and roles. Unless you’re like Drefano, cozying up to the nobility and pushing down other companies to fatten yourself up, there’s bound to be discrepancies between the two.

That’s why having an honorary noble as the guild leader is a bad system.

In other words, if it appeared that today’s meeting was decided by royal authority, there would definitely be lingering dissatisfaction. If this hodgepodge group were to hold such a bomb, there’s no telling what kind of trouble would occur.

“I see. You seem to be aware of the elements associated with connections. That’s right, we are merchants. Merchants have their own way,” Jean said, narrowing his eyes.

I couldn’t let my guard down, but it seemed like we could communicate better than with Drefano.

“It’s not a connection I wanted and obtained,” I said.

“Well, well, those aren’t words I’d expect from the Priestess’ first partner,” Maria teased.

“Could you please stop saying it like that, Kenwell-senpai?”

“You don’t have to be shy. I heard it from the viscount’s daughter.”

“You know Luitza-sama?”

“Since Riruka kindly created a connection for us, I made use of it right away. She was an interesting person,” Maria said.

That’s right, that dance commotion was Luitza’s doing. I still couldn’t read her intentions.

“Anyway, we are grateful for what you did this time. Otherwise, Riruka and the others would have had no choice but to give up on participating,” Jean said, bowing his head slightly to me, and Maria followed suit.

“Don’t you value the independence of your subsidiaries?” I asked.

“We value independence. That’s precisely why we can lend our strength if Riruka and the others try to break through the situation on their own. We’re grateful to you for creating that situation,” Jean replied.

“If you help our subsidiary children, we feel indebted. Because we’re family,” Maria said.

The word “family” sounded scary, but in this case, it probably meant the usual meaning. Although the degree of being in the same boat was far stronger than in my original world.

“I feel like there’s one more thing we should thank you for,” Jean said, looking at me with probing eyes.

Could it be about taking down Drefano? Indeed, I had Jacob leak information about the Third Knight Order to Kenwell as well, but I didn’t think they would notice. No, was it through Luitza’s line?

“I have absolutely no idea what you’re referring to. Even if I did, wouldn’t the desks and chairs make us even?” I implied that I didn’t do it for their sake, so it was fine.

“Oh? It seems like there’s something I don’t know on your scale. It’s far from balanced, though. Well, let’s put that aside. It’s just speculation without evidence,” Jean said.

“Huh? What do you mean?” Riruka asked, looking puzzled.

“It’s a trade secret,” Jean and I said in unison.

“Ugh, why are the trade secrets of gold’s and copper’s flying over my head?” Riruka grumbled but didn’t pursue it further.

It’s fine. This isn’t the place to talk about how I destroyed a classmate’s family business.

◇◇

“Regarding the tenants, everything went according to plan. Everyone managed to secure the first floor perfectly,” Dalgan said.

“There was no competition at all, so it was cheap. Hah, but they’re really just warehouses,” Plura added.

“The way everyone looked down on us was scary… But we were able to save on costs,” Belmini said.

“…”

Two days after the meeting, the members of the holdings gathered at the usual place. I had heard from Riruka, but the auction results seemed to be excellent. The next stage was to solve problems unique to the food court.

“We need an eye-catching attraction to draw customers to the food court,” I said.

“That’s right. The novelty of the space alone won’t make those high-minded nobles sit down. Moreover, with so many shops in one place, it won’t be easy for them to choose what to eat,” Dalgan agreed.

“…T-That’s true. If our vegetables get buried…” Belmini added.

“Well, our confectionery isn’t the kind of thing you eat outside,” Plura said.

As I brought up the topic, the members raised the next set of issues. They were as expected of people from merchant families when it came to switching gears like this.

We had cleared the physical constraint of area. However, the next problem was even bigger. Even though the shops faced the courtyard, they were scattered. We couldn’t possibly take orders from the windows of warehouses.

I had a plan ready. And since I was no expert in cooking, I had no choice but to rely on the strength of the members.

“I have an idea regarding that. I’d like each of you to prepare your specialty dishes by the next meeting. However, in this format,” I said as Mia distributed papers to each company.

They weren’t recipes, just specifications for color, shape, and size. The dishes themselves were vaguely designated as each company’s recommended items.

“Dalgan’s selling point is meat. Last year, we offered roasted whole meat,” Dalgan said.

“Meat is fine. How about roast beef or something?” I suggested.

“But this tiny portion won’t be satisfying at all,” Dalgan complained.

I casually guided them towards their specialty dishes.

“Our selling point is luxurious confectionery that abundantly uses a variety of fruits. The white base is good. But with a single-bite size, we can’t bring out the luxury…” Plura said.

“I’ll leave the base to you, so please keep the toppings to a single point,” I said, sounding like I was specifying sock regulations in high school.

“…”

“So many different types of vegetables in small amounts. How will we manage the inventory, how…” Belmini muttered.

“Ugh, greens… Well, if Vinder says so, I’ll do it,” Riruka said.

It seemed like Riruka and Belmini would do it for now.

“Please do it, even if you think you’re being tricked. Just confirming each other’s specialties will have meaning,” I said.

At my words, the five of them somehow nodded. It was true that since we were doing business in the same space, we needed to understand each other.

However, if this worked out, it would become the eye-catching attraction of the food court. It was a gimmick to attract customers and showcase each company’s products. But to achieve that, there was one more thing we needed.

I called out to the silent senior.

“Roston-senpai.”

“What is it?”

“Apart from bread, there’s a fruit I’d like you to procure. Can you get your hands on this?” I showed him a small citrus fruit I had copied from a botany book.

Roston’s face was painted with surprise. “How did you know about such an obscure fruit?”

Finally, at the very end, I managed to elicit a genuine reaction from him.

◇◇

“Ya remember our promise, don’t ya?” Fuglsig asked.

“It’s about the idea for a more sensitive magic power receiver. Let me say this first, it’s not something I have confirmation on,” I replied.

After the members left, Mia and I were paying Fuglsig for the use of the place. Being charged for just two hours of private use and being asked for otherworldly technology was too much, but all I could provide was an image. It was the job of the curator, an expert, to recreate it in this world.

“Aye, that’s fine. If it’s your idea, there must be something’ to it.”

No, that’s what I’m saying is not good. It’s troubling if you raise the bar too high. It’s even more outside my area of expertise than cooking.

“Well, you make a ceramic plate that’s a little flatter than a salad bowl, like this…” I drew a schematic on the stone slate.

“Oh, I see. You use the curved surface to gather the wavelengths of the collected magic power and concentrate them at one point for measurement. I have got to have this made right away,” Fuglsig said, seeming to understand the meaning behind the shape I had drawn.

As expected of an expert when it came to measuring magic power.

However, it was busy even though it was summer vacation. What should have been a summer of self-preservation had turned into a summer of “tension.”

As a result, work at my family’s business was piling up. I wondered if my dad was doing okay.