“Professor!”
Pastel ran happily with a bright smile.
Professor Horace turned around.
“Oh, junior! Why use such a stiff title like professor?”
“Right! That’s right! Senior!”
It’s senior! Senior!
Pastel flapped her arms according to her mood.
“Exactly! That’s right, junior!”
Professor Horace smiled broadly.
The cheerful atmosphere continued. After exchanging greetings about their well-being since the cult attack, they got to the point.
“The guild under the student council?”
“Yes!”
Pastel excitedly spoke about the big picture.
“There are many desperate people in the world! We’re trying our best to help them, but we can’t assist everyone with these small hands, can we?”
She stretched out her hand.
Her hand trembled as if tormented by the thoughts of those they couldn’t help.
It was not at all a sentiment about regretting not meeting the demand for smuggling.
“Oh! That’s true!”
Professor Horace actively agreed and put on a deliberately sad expression.
“I, too, have felt regret about that. What should we do?”
Gasp.
Pastel’s eyes widened.
“Really?!”
“Yes.”
Wow.
The relationship between seniors and juniors is so beautiful.
“I have an idea! Let’s form a guild under the student council to deliver supplies with more hands!”
“Good idea! With that, we can save many people!”
Even the veteran smuggler agreed.
However, Professor Horace wore a deliberately sad expression.
“But it might be difficult.”
“Yes?”
“Good juniors don’t do bad things, so it’s not a concern, but there is actually a regulatory mechanism within the student council. The auditing professor is supposed to monitor the student council’s activities and financial management and report regularly to the professors’ meeting.”
Gasp.
The auditing system.
It’s more strange that it doesn’t exist.
Pastel’s mouth fell open.
Various embezzlement and abuse of power that she had committed rushed through her mind.
Student council funds?
Transformed into smuggled goods~.
Public authority?
Transformed into a demon realm pass~.
Put together, a fantastic smuggling~!
The imagined professor looked over the ledger and shook his head.
―No, that won’t do, it’s prison.
Gasp.
Handcuffs clicked around Pastel’s wrist.
Iron bars became her seat.
Aaaaah.
Economic offender Pastel in a major crisis…!
Please recognize me for my survival-type corruption…!
“The student council was originally supposed to be dissolved, so an auditing professor wasn’t selected this year. After the dissolution was revoked, many felt it wouldn’t be right to audit the viscount who holds real power in the student council, or the good first-year student.”
“T-Then?”
Pastel’s complexion brightened.
Professor Horace looked increasingly sad.
“But we can’t leave it empty for long, so an audit is scheduled for the second semester. Who will do it has already been decided.”
A lump formed in Pastel’s throat.
Professor looked even sadder.
“I understand your noble intentions, but I don’t know if the auditing professor will understand. A guild under the student council? It’s suspicious to anyone looking at it.”
“Th-That’s right! I’m just doing this for the people!”
“I know, I know. How could I not know? But the world is just too harsh.”
That’s right!
Pastel slumped down.
The fantasy world is a complete death game.
A world merciless to starving children.
Ugh.
“Can I know the name, or rather the honorific, of the auditing professor? I want to do my best to persuade them of my sincerity. I’m just delivering for those in desperate need.”
Why is the world so cold?
I hope the auditing professor is a warm adult who opens their heart to a child’s persuasion (gold bars).
Golden sparkles.
A warm heart.
A girl happily singing.
“Wow. You really mean to make a heartfelt persuasion?”
Professor Horace sighed.
Gasp.
A completely bad expression.
Pastel felt the coldness of the floor strongly as she sat down. Her heart was growing chilly.
“Are they someone who won’t even be persuaded? Like Professor Carlow? Or is it Professor Carlow?”
The professor who announced the student council’s dissolution firmly?
“Originally, Professor Carlow was supposed to take it, but another professor burned with passion for student council auditing and stepped up decisively. They persuaded all the professors and became the auditing professor.”
Aaaaah.
Completely bad news.
Pastel wiped her eyes.
“Senior, I’m leaving now. I’ll go to prison carrying the misunderstandings and coldness of the world with me.”
Professor Horace sighed.
“Ha! But there is a small piece of good news for you, junior.”
“What is it?”
Pastel looked up with a tearful face.
It felt like tears were about to fall.
“That auditing professor is…”
Professor Horace suddenly smiled broadly.
“It’s me!”
Laughter echoed.
Pastel’s eyes grew wider.
Gasp.
The auditing professor is actually a senior?
So, I’ve been teased all this time?
“Ahahaha!”
Pastel burst out laughing.
Sadness and fear flew away.
“Senior! You are so clever! I totally fell for it!”
So much that tears could have flowed out!
She wiped her eyes for no reason.
The world truly is worth living in.
Filled with anticipation, she looked up at Professor Horace.
“You understand the goodness of the new guild perfectly, right?!”
“Of course! I’m personally taking on the audit to prevent any bad misunderstandings! What wrong could there be when our junior is working! As a senior, I have to dispel misunderstandings!”
Professor Horace laughed heartily.
“Indeed, senior!”
Pastel flapped her arms.
So very happy!
“I can’t just sit back as a junior! I’ll prepare a fruit basket to ensure you’re not bored each time you visit the student council! Come anytime!”
A fruit (gold bar) basket.
Professor Horace’s eyes lit up.
“Oh! Will you really? I never expected, but since it’s your sincerity, I can’t refuse! As an auditing professor, I’ll visit regularly! I can’t neglect my duties, can I?”
“Of course, of course! Come often!”
Ahahaha.
A cheerful atmosphere flowed.
Is this a gathering of good and righteous delivery workers?
Oh yeah.
“Haa.”
The demon murmured.
“Don’t hand out bribes so casually…”
“To build a guild, we must choose a good merchant. Especially one with a unique guild like yours.”
“I’ll keep that in mind!”
“Yes!”
Professor Horace moved the quill pen. Beautiful letters filled the letter paper.
“Finding the right merchant is a very challenging process. Given the unique situation, it’s hard to find someone through networking, and it’s also awkward to just pick anyone.”
“Oh! That’s right!”
Nodding vigorously.
I agree a hundred percent.
“Even after finding a suitable merchant, it’s a problem. Someone who is tight-lipped and skilled. And has a unique ethical view. A merchant meeting these conditions is likely to betray their master halfway through.”
“Oh! I fully agree!”
A thousand percent agree!
That’s a tenfold increase in understanding!
“But there must be a suitable merchant somewhere. If you’re willing to accept a few drawbacks. What’s needed here is the wisdom and experience to recognize a merchant.”
Gasp.
“I have neither!”
Aaaaah.
Pastel was just a cherry blossom tree…!
Cherry blossom, cherry blossom.
Professor Horace chuckled.
“Trust this senior.”
The quill was set down. The letter paper was neatly folded and placed into an envelope.
“I’ll fill you with wisdom and experience.”
The envelope was sealed. A candle tilted, dropping wax. The wax fixed the letter envelope. The professor’s ring was stamped into the wax. The family emblem was left on the wax.
Professor Horace handed her the letter.
“This is a letter of introduction. It should ease their wariness. After that, it will be easy.”
He glanced at Pastel’s pink hair.
“You have persuasive power just by being yourself.”
Pastel swallowed hard.
“I’ll do my best!”
She received the letter of introduction with both hands.
“For Senior’s fruit basket!”
Professor Horace was briefly taken aback before bursting into laughter.
“Of course! I will be waiting for good news!”
Pastel left the professor’s office.
She walked away with a light step.
“You’re such a nice senior!”
Trotting along.
Trotting!
Then spun around in a circle.
Her view spun, and wow.
A beautiful world!
“Little Craft, it’s really hard to understand your feelings. Think about that wicked heart of theirs. They’re not helping you just to receive a bribe. They’re creating connections in advance for the viscount who will enter the central political sphere someday. What are they doing to you? Truly a wicked person.”
“Geez!”
Pastel waved her arms.
“Negative thoughts lead to negative words! Look at me, look at me!”
One, two, three!
“Pastel Spin!”
She twirled in place. Her white dress fluttered. Her pink hair danced.
One, two, three!
“Pastel Reverse Spin!”
She twirled the other way.
Her white dress flared.
Her pink hair fluttered wildly.
Feeling alight with joy!
“The demon is totally negative!”
Ahahaha.
Pastel cheerfully ignored the demon’s whispers.
Fresh, fresh lemonade~.
Wow.
She left the Academy and headed to the docking station of the scoff.
The guild buildings stood in line. Using the geopolitical value of Sky Island to trade between the human realm and the demon realm, the guilds typically had strong security and armed personnel.
It was entirely different from the surrounding commercial alliance she had overpowered with arm wrestling last time.
“The expenses are also high. You haven’t experienced it fully, but there are numerous cases of ships being hijacked by pirates and going bankrupt. It’s common for buildings to be sold overnight, and the signboards to change.”
Oh my.
“Smuggling is not an easy way to make money. Especially as the scale grows large enough to attract pirates’ attention. I really hope you come to realize that.”
Gasp.
I see.
Pastel listened vaguely while looking around.
“But there seems to be more armed personnel than before?”
What day could it be?
“It’s because it’s vacation season. When the students return, the Academy’s defenses on Sky Island become lax. However, trade still doesn’t stop, so the guild’s mercenaries have increased.”
“Pirates must be aware of that, right? Their activities will increase.”
“So I hear that every vacation season, the guild alliance is involved in some punitive expeditions against pirate lairs. They must be preparing for a punitive mission, which explains this noise.”
“Ahh.”
Pirates.
Tremble, tremble.
So scary.
Pastel trembled as she wandered the streets. Then she spotted the signboard the professor had told her about and rejoiced.
“That’s it!”
Wow.
It was a guild of just the right size—not too big, not too small. Uniquely, the number of armed personnel was greater than the size of the guild itself.
Pastel swallowed hard and entered the guild.
She strode up to the desk staff. The indifferent gaze of the staff met the clueless visitor.
Then the gaze landed on her pink hair, and after a moment of consideration, the staff’s expression changed. A commotion broke out.
Moments later, Pastel was informed that the guild master would return shortly to the top floor’s reception room.
Wow.
Once left alone, she fidgeted on the sofa.
The sofa was plush and soft.
The girl exclaimed wow.
After enjoying the luxurious sofa, she sat calmly with the noble air fitting for the highest reception room and glanced at the steaming cup of tea.
The tea looked incredibly expensive.
She elegantly picked it up with both hands.
After blowing on it gently, she took a sip.
Bitterness filled her mouth.
Ew.
It tasted awful.
She elegantly set the teacup down.
Then her eyes widened.
Wait a minute.
This was not the time to be a fool.
She had a meeting with the guild master waiting. No matter how many letters of introduction she had, she couldn’t let her guard down.
Aaaaah.
How mercilessly would the harsh reality pounce on a starving child?
An unfeeling death game was waiting to start here…!
Aaaaah.
Smart Pastel is needed…!
The guild master arrived in the reception room.
It was a middle-aged woman dressed in a fashionable yet antiquated style, holding a folding fan.
Gasp.
So scary.
Business mode, business mode.
Pastel composed her face into a cold expression.
The guild master sat directly across from her.
Time seemed to pass as they assessed each other.
Suddenly, the guild master smiled.
“Do you perhaps not recognize me? I sent you a letter of condolence. We met when you were a little knee-high.”
Oh?
Pastel rifled through her memory.
I have no recollection at all.
Did that show on her face? The guild master looked slightly disappointed.
“I am the sister of Maid Emma. I applied to be a maid for Craft but didn’t make it. I cried then, but now I’m sitting across from you instead of my sister.”
Her voice was filled with bittersweet and nostalgic feelings.
Pastel’s eyes grew round.
Sister of Maid Emma?
The sister of a fallen retainer…?
Oh, wow.
The demon spoke.
“Don’t let your guard down. Even though the academy is right next to you, you haven’t reached out. They are fond of profit and numbers.”
Oh, I’m aware of that.
After all, it’s clearly business mode.
