“Today is a special opportunity that only exists today!”
Pastel raised her hand high in the middle of the student council room.
“Who wants to go to the auction bid with Pastel~!”
Hands! Hands!
“First, it’s me! I’m Pastel, and Pastel can’t miss out!”
Melissa, still awkward in her seat while organizing her desk upon arriving at the student council room, looked over.
“It’s not just for fun, right?”
“True, but going with Pastel can’t help but feel like fun! I totally understand! Just doing the work properly is what matters!”
“Such great confidence.”
The silver-haired girl next to Melissa muttered.
“Huh?”
“Do you think Elshire feels the same way?”
“Yeah.”
It was an immediate response, as if there was no need to think about it.
“Well, that’s great!”
Pastel clapped her hands, her face lighting up. She quickly rushed over and grabbed Elshire’s arm, lifting it high.
“Hands! Hands! Wow, Elshire raised her hand! Elshire wins!”
“Huh? Did I raise it?”
Elshire looked somewhat perplexed.
“Yes! Since you raised it, you did! Let’s go bid together! Actually, it’s work, but if it feels fun, that’s a good thing!”
Ellie, quietly sipping her green tea and calming her dazed mind, glanced over. Then she muttered softly.
“You’ve contradicted yourself again.”
Pastel turned her head.
“What did you say?”
“Nothing.”
Ellie observed the leaves floating in her green tea. Her attitude was to put work aside for a moment and immerse herself in mental healing.
Instead, Dustin answered.
“She said again that your words contradict each other.”
Ellie looked at Dustin with disappointment.
“Don’t just butt in; focus on your work.”
Dustin looked puzzled.
“Did I do something wrong?”
“I’m not sure, but it seems like you’re likely in the wrong!”
Uh-huh!
“Pastel, you know you’re kind of harsh on me, right?”
Dustin felt wronged.
But Pastel, having spent most of her life feeling wronged, didn’t particularly sympathize with him. It wasn’t like she was still holding a grudge over their competition and defeat during the entrance exam six months ago or anything.
Nice Pastel wouldn’t hold grudges against her friends!
If she forgave crossing the line too easily, it would only make her vulnerable and prone to being targeted as a popular person; she calculated the risks herself.
She knew that anyone could see that Dustin, the lone male in the student council, hanging out too closely with popular Pastel was just asking to be dragged into a back alley, so she made sure to keep a reasonable distance.
“Hmm, perfect.”
Melissa positioned the ink pot precisely level and finished organizing her area.
“Did you negotiate well with the Count? Colluding in an auction isn’t exactly honorable, though.”
“Of course! Of course!”
Pastel made a ‘V’ sign with her fingers.
“I just completed a noble secret pact related to merchant duties!”
Not only that, but there were also discussions about investments in the Craft Guild, which was a bit unclear if it could be considered student council business!
Melissa looked somewhat uneasy.
“Secret pacts aren’t exactly honorable either. If you’re speaking as you do, it doubles the disgrace.”
Melissa emphasized this with two fingers spread apart.
Gulp.
Double disgrace.
Pastel’s pink eyes widened.
“So, it’s disgrace upon disgrace? Flap flap, honor honor! Flap flap, all friends will fly away if they burn, leaving only honor honor!”
Wow.
Honorary Pastel.
“Why does it end up like that?”
Melissa looked incredulous.
Ellie, having finished her tea, cleared her cup.
“Whether honorable or not, let’s start working. This morning, we’ll be reviewing scenarios in case the Empire Bank emotionally disputes the auction collusion.”
“What kind of scenarios?”
“A scenario where natural disasters occur, and the auction can be postponed or canceled through the agreement of the host and bidders, exploiting that rule.”
Ellie distributed the documents she had prepared.
“The Empire Bank might insist on not handing over the items won at auction, claiming a need to cancel due to natural disasters. The existence of a natural disaster needs to be determined in court, and if that happens, the collapsed guild would float without an owner during the trial while its assets gradually degrade. We must normalize things before the railroad guild is ruined to the point we can’t do anything, so we should offer a fair price to the Empire Bank separate from the bid amount.”
“We shouldn’t have colluded, but isn’t that a pretty childish response? Is it really possible?”
“I’ve confirmed that they wouldn’t act that way against the major nobles, but I thought it necessary to review just in case. Right, Pastel?”
“Yeah! I totally agree! Let’s work hard!”
Pastel sashayed away.
Although the looks shot at her implied “are you working or not,” she pretended not to notice and pulled out some paper.
Paper paper~.
The paper neatly folded into a plane.
Pastel lifted the paper airplane.
“Paper airplane~!”
An experienced pilot folds the plane in an instant!
The paper airplane in her hand performed acrobatics.
“Whoosh!”
Ellie watched the spectacle with a complicated expression. Then as if something clicked, she deeply pondered and closed then opened her eyes.
“That is, um…?”
Ellie’s eyes changed slightly to a vacant gaze.
“I’m reading the contents. I’ll just have one more cup of green tea for now.”
“Go ahead.”
Melissa readily affirmed her superior’s statement about working and immediately taking a break.
“As a new recruit who doesn’t know the work well, I shouldn’t meddle in the atmosphere. But since nobody has said anything, I’ll say it. It’s not good for the subordinates to work while only you play. Shouldn’t you show a model that fits your position?”
Gulp.
Pastel’s eyes widened.
Did she get caught playing around?
“This, this is!”
She waved her arms around.
“This is a highly sophisticated work that’s hard for newcomers to understand!”
It’s true!
“Making nonsensical excuses is even worse. I’m not very experienced in society, but I can definitely tell. I’ll assure you.”
Melissa spoke firmly.
“That’s not work.”
Gulp.
“Playing during work doesn’t set a good example. Refusing to acknowledge wrongs is worse.”
Pastel felt drained.
The new recruit was too smart.
She had figured out that Pastel, who had just joined, was the one who played the most.
Could it be that she could no longer be the lazy Pastel from now on?
Would she have to live in serious work mode?
“Ahhh!”
Pastel clutched her head.
“That’s not the cherry blossom cherry blossom Pastel!”
It’s as important a point as wearing all white or pink every day!
Besides, cherry blossoms live without working!
I want to gain power and not work…!
I just want to photosynthesize under the sunlight…!
“You need not worry about such things; you already resemble a cherry blossom.”
Melissa smiled gently.
“So, how about apologizing for playing during work? It sets an example as a superior.”
Ah.
Those words hit too close to home.
Pastel sank her head in sadness.
“I’m sorry, everyone. It was actually an excuse. Pastel is a friend who plays while flying a paper airplane.”
I’m sorry for not being helpful until now.
“Well done. You can do it.”
Melissa felt proud.
Her reaction was that of a new employee breaking the old customs of the workplace with cold reasoning and excellent knowledge.
Ellie stared at the scene blankly.
Her face was full of question marks.
#
The exciting auction bidding.
The chandelier-lit banquet hall quickly transformed into an auction venue once the banquet ended.
Heavy meals like meat were cleared away, and simple desserts filled their place. As the gentlemen and ladies held their wine glasses, this became the auction house.
Pastel, dressed in formal attire, sat cross-legged in her designated round table chair.
She glanced at the open wine bottle, and since there was no devilish presence to tease her and no reason to get drunk during business, she lost interest in it.
“Will they betray us?”
Elshire, dressed in a semi-formal dress, asked as she sniffed the wine due to Melissa’s interference.
It was a somewhat unexpected question.
Though she only helped out as if assigned when asked, showing concern indicated that perhaps she had developed a sense of belonging to the student council while working.
“Well, I don’t know.”
An administrative staff member approached, carrying the letter envelope with Pastel’s bid written on it, heading to the podium. The envelope was handed over to the Empire Bank’s facilitator.
It was a sealed bidding method where each party wrote down their bids, and the one with the highest bid would win.
“If we just write a little higher than the amount Count McKenna colluded with us, it’s all over. Keeping our promise with the Empire Bank while making a better deal seems correct according to merchant codes.”
“They could betray us, though; the secret contract could allow for that.”
The company representative also came out and handed over an envelope.
After remarking a few things to amuse the gentlemen and ladies present, the facilitator began to announce the bids.
“But then…”
The company’s letter envelope opened first, and the facilitator pulled out the paper.
“Betrayal is more about the follow-up than the success.”
The facilitator, who was about to shout the bid amount, froze as he read the numbers.
“Just saying.”
The facilitator’s eyes darted between the company side and the Empire Bank side before looking over here.
A trembling voice echoed.
―Um, zero gold coins.
The eyes of the gentlemen and ladies drifted like the facilitator’s toward Craft.
The girl smiled. She raised both hands and quietly applauded.
Amid the quiet chaos, only the sound of applause echoed.
“It seems a rule will be born that a bid cannot be zero.”
It was a calm voice.
