A short while later, on the outskirts of the Academy.
“Devil! Devil!”
The pink-haired girl rushed towards the black train, which had been demonstrated by the engineering department. She circled around the lone locomotive and pointed at it with both hands.
“This is a train! Choo choo!”
The smoke is really coming out!
“Oh.”
The devil rubbed his chin and approached the train. He knocked on the black iron with his fist.
“The world is really advancing quickly.”
Wow, that sounds like something someone of mature age would say.
Is this what happens when you live long?
I can’t let that happen.
“It looks quite heavy, but is it really moving properly?”
A senior student hesitated at his own words.
The man in front of him, who claimed to be a servant, had a confident demeanor and treated the devil with a certain respect, leaving him in a dilemma between formal and informal speech.
Pastel immediately provided the answer.
“Just ride it! Senior! Come on, shovel the coal!”
The senior realized his position and quietly picked up a shovel. The sound of shoveling coal began.
Pastel jumped up and got on the locomotive.
“You too, Devil! You too!”
“Wait a moment.”
The devil observed the tracks and wheels of the train before climbing aboard. As the senior diligently shoveled coal into the firebox, the train slowly started to move. The black wheels rolled along the small circular track set up on the outskirts.
“Oh. Really, the wheels are turning with this weight.”
Pastel felt a sense of pride for no particular reason.
“This is just the beginning! If we attach a long body to the back, we can enable mass transportation! It’s much larger in scale and far cheaper than a wagon or a scoff!”
Large-scale transportation would lead to economies of scale, causing a decrease in prices, allowing for the acceptance of low wages, leading to factory expansions and supply expansions, thus accelerating the market economy, blah blah blah!
I’m going to be rich!
Pastel decided to become a million times richer.
“Just imagine monopolizing every wagon! Or every scoff! If you want to achieve something big, my help will be essential! Everyone will bow down before me, handing me shiny yellow gifts!”
Wow!
My mouth fell open.
Even if it’s not a monopoly, starting now could get me to a similar position!
Right now, no one knows that the initial railway infrastructure is too important for private ownership!
“A future where everyone kneels before Pastel!”
Yikes.
I didn’t particularly say for anyone to kneel, but just thinking about it gives me chills.
“Wow.”
Pastel trembled, wrapping her body.
This is power.
She became a powerful Pastel, yet she was still amazed by the fact that her power was still weak.
The senior glanced over while shoveling and then pretended not to hear any mention of royal disdain, focusing intently on his shoveling.
“A large-scale transportation means. It is promising for development, but at this speed, it won’t be very useful for private operations right away. If the cargo increases, won’t it become significantly slower here?”
The devil made an ignorant statement.
However, Pastel felt the speed of the Academy scenery passing by, and she slightly empathized.
“What’s the speed?”
“Huh?”
“The speed.”
“It varies slightly depending on the quality of the coal, but right now it’s about 15 km/h.”
Slower than a person running…
Ew.
Pastel greeted a rock friend that seemed to be passing by slowly enough to have a conversation.
“Hello!”
The rock friend responded.
Rock friend: Hello!
Yikes.
I actually got a reply!
Ew.
“It’s really slow! A level slower than a person!”
The senior, sweating as he shoveled, flinched. His eyes reflected his pride as an engineering student.
“It’s overwhelmingly faster than a person! If you measure it with a 100m sprint, the train is somewhat slower at the moment, but transportation works in kilometers! A person can’t run dozens of kilometers at full speed!”
Pastel’s eyes widened.
Then, she corrected herself.
“Slower than a bicycle!”
The senior’s mouth flapped open. Unable to refute, he began shoveling again.
“Bicycles are the latest models, and they aren’t suitable for cargo transportation…”
Muttering.
The devil pondered the scenery’s speed.
“The speed is vital because of operation time. From what I see, large-scale investment in railway construction is needed, along with continuous maintenance costs. If the train’s speed is slow, the income per unit time decreases. To commercialize this in private, the train’s speed must be increased first.”
Oh.
That wasn’t an ignorant statement; it was a reasonable statement from the devil.
The pink eyes sparkled.
“I can feel the experience in that!”
This is the wisdom from over 400 years of experience!
Feeling overwhelmed by the age gap!
The devil looked at her with a worried expression.
“While it’s good to step away from smuggling, that doesn’t mean I want to encourage risky investments in new technology.”
Pastel, who had been considering smuggling magic stone fuel for construction golems through a connection with the Trading Guild, felt uneasy.
“Why do you think that?”
Just pink!
Pastel made a blank expression.
She was silly-silly Pastel.
“Hmm?”
The devil scrutinized her suspiciously but soon dropped it.
“As it stands, the train technology won’t be economically feasible for private operations. It would be better to deal with the state. Getting the Empire’s investments through military involvement might work, but with the disarmament policy, that seems difficult. The Demon Realm United Kingdom would be good. Although its power has diminished, a state is on a different level than private entities. However, the Craft Clan could be problematic…”
The red eyes looked at the future Demon Lord.
“I still don’t understand the reason. We might have to try to find out.”
The Demon Realm United Kingdom.
So far, they had made several deliveries for the demon residents, yet it felt completely unfamiliar.
“Don’t you have any friends in the Demon Realm, Devil?”
Past grievances related to clan enmity made her nervous about bringing it up, so she hadn’t studied it either.
However, she had heard from professors like the half-demon nationalist Marius that the devil had spent a long time in the Demon Realm, right?
The devil briefly looked at Craft, who asked the shameless question, then felt utterly ridiculous, only to regain his composure.
“I have none left.”
His tone wasn’t particularly pleasant.
Realizing this, Pastel quickly averted her gaze.
I should not have brought this topic up.
Making my only protector unhappy is not good.
As she blankly watched the senior furiously shoveling coal, she turned back to the scenery.
An administrative official was sprinting towards them from a distance.
“Your Excellency!”
The urgency of the situation was clear as he ran alongside the slowly moving train.
The train is really slow!
“Your Excellency!”
The official urged for a response.
Pastel raised her hand energetically.
“Yes! The great Pastel is here!”
“There’s a problem with the Trading Guild acquisition plan!”
Gasping for breath, the official quickly pulled out documents, which were swept away by the wind.
“Whoa!”
His hands flailed in a panic.
“Wow!”
Pastel leaned out of the train, waving at the documents that were flying behind them.
“Bye-bye, document friend!”
The official’s complexion turned pale as he realized he’d likely get a failing evaluation along with the departing document friend.
“Please retrieve that later! For now, just give me the gist!”
The official hurriedly composed himself.
“The Imperial Bank has rejected the acquisition offer! If you wish to take over the Trading Guild, you have to participate in the auction without ignoring procedures!”
Wha?
Pastel was uncertain about whether this was a serious issue based on the official’s reaction. It would be nice to make a neat purchase by negotiating with the seller, but isn’t an auction still a big deal?
We are the Sky Island administration, after all.
The official added more information.
“Your competitor is the Demon Corporation!”
Pastel felt stunned.
Who is that?
The official summarized.
“They have more money than the entire budget of Sky Island!”
Yikes.
“Ahhh!”
Pastel grasped her head.
“My train…!”
Please let me bypass the procedures!
#
Pastel contemplated deeply.
She alternated between observing the black suit in one hand and the autumn dress in the other.
“What should I wear before the business battle?”
It was a serious issue.
The devil chuckled. His eyes held the gaze of a father observing his cute daughter struggling with a common sense problem.
“Naturally, a suit.”
Ew.
Pastel felt conflicted.
If I wear this, I’ll lose my pink!
But a dress would truly seem like a downplay, so she changed into the suit.
She couldn’t afford to be underestimated in an unfavorable situation.
Looking in the mirror, the girl in the black suit had her pink hair cascading down. Her pink eyes shimmered dreamily.
Ew.
This is definitely a devil.
Look at this standard devil look—black suit and pink hair.
Pastel clung to the devil.
“Devil! I can’t afford to feel wronged in this appearance!”
“What kind of strange reasoning is that?”
I’m not joking; it’s truly Craft!
So contradictory!
At least I’d understand a cautious appearance!
In this look, I can’t confidently say my usual line about being trusted based on my pinkish appearance!
“I feel wronged!”
Suddenly, Pastel realized.
Yikes.
I can indeed feel wronged.
The pink eyes rolled.
Then I’ll just feel wronged.
“I feel wronged!”
Ahhh!
I’m completely good! Totally virtuous!
I just like a bit of power and money!
This is too devilish…
“Devil! Comfort! Comfort!”
The devil looked at her in disbelief.
“What do you want me to comfort you about?”
“Whatever, comfort me!”
The devil patted her back.
“Wow.”
Pastel, the cherry blossom.
The administrative official knocked and entered the compartment.
“It’s almost time for the M&A briefing to begin. You need to head there now.”
They were here to participate in the presentation arranged by the Imperial Bank before the actual auction.
A complete prelude.
“Wow.”
The girl fell from the devil’s embrace.
She took out the candy stick she had brought as a fashion accessory, thinking it would match her outfit.
She put the candy stick in her mouth, and it cracked with a sound.
“Shall we go?”
Her pink eyes settled.
“It’s time for business.”
The Craft Clan leader exited the compartment.
