On a sunny afternoon, at the train station where the pleasant sunlight shone, a salty breeze from the beach blew gently.
The early winter wind would bring enough chill for someone to adjust their clothing, but it didn’t apply to Walter, who was dozing off in the staff chair.
The high-ranking nobles of the United Kingdom’s Parliament were quarreling, and in the midst of their chaos, a perfectly functioning trading guild went bankrupt and changed its name to Craft Guild. However, contrary to its infamous reputation, Walter’s salary was always paid promptly, and guaranteed holidays made the advanced welfare system quite satisfying. So the early winter wind was not cold at all, but perfect for a quick nap.
There was once a fear of railway terror that kept one’s mind alert, but realizing that there was no reason to cause chaos in this place, which was nothing but a rectangular metal shade with a stable and a staff chair set up, he found no reason to resist sleep any longer.
However, if Walter had known who the guest coming to visit him was, he would have long forgotten about napping.
Three horses galloped along the railway and slowly came to a stop at the station. The sound of someone jumping down from the horse was heard.
“Puh-puh. It’s a bit harsh that the quality of the station drops so much after a long ride.”
“Is that so? I thought I took quite some care with it.”
There was a calm sound as they landed.
“The facilities look sturdy as well. It means there was no shoddy construction. Even though someone is sleeping, there is still a staff member present. Managing personnel may seem simple, but it’s quite a tricky task. As it stands, the staff member is doing their job properly.”
“No, no, no.”
Shaking his head.
“If you’re going to station staff, you should assign at least two. Having only one is no different than not assigning anyone at all.”
‘That seems like an excessive demand. This place doesn’t extend towards the continent; rather, it’s spread out along the beach, making its business viability relatively low. The profitability of the railway itself isn’t great yet, so having a stable employee maintain the station’s operations and postal deliveries is quite an effective optimization.’
“Heh, with you saying it, it does seem that way. Well, there’s no need to bind ourselves too much to principles.”
Leisurely footsteps approached the staff chair.
“Uncle, uncle, sleeping uncle.”
Walter slowly awakened at the sound of the voice. In his blurry and dazed vision, cherry blossoms bloomed everywhere. As he gradually woke up and gathered his senses, he realized it was a pink-haired girl.
“Hehe.”
The pink eyes sent a gaze anticipating a reaction.
Walter, still half-asleep, thought blankly.
Pink…?
It was a color he was not familiar with at all, but it stirred something in his brain. It felt like something he had heard from somewhere.
He didn’t listen when they explained, but he recalled hearing about the visit of the self-proclaimed Great Governor of Craft at the bar on his way home.
Pink?!
Though her attire was less extravagant than the rumors suggested, her glamorous appearance and distinctive features were just as described.
Walter came to his senses at the crossroads of life and death, or more accurately, a crossroads of dismissal. He got up from his chair and instinctively reacted.
“Self-proclaimed Great Governor!”
As condition reflexes often reflect poorly on one’s unconscious mind, he felt it here as well.
“Self-proclaimed…?”
The pink eyes widened.
Both hands cutely covered her mouth.
“It was self-proclaimed, you know.”
Ugh.
Walter froze.
All sorts of unfortunate futures flashed through his mind. Unfortunately, considering Craft’s infamy, the best future he could hope for was dismissal, and the next worst would be his head chopped off.
Given Craft’s history of massacring civilians during the conquest of the Demon Realm and forcing prisoners to torture fellow captives, the idea of his head being chopped off felt like an all too plausible reality.
As Pastel maintained her cute pose with her hands covering her mouth, Walter froze, unable to do anything, and she muttered just loud enough to be heard.
“Kneeling…?”
Walter immediately knelt.
Thud.
“I had a bit too much to drink yesterday and fell asleep! Please forgive me just this once!”
Pastel wore a surprised expression.
“Ugh. If you suddenly kneel like that, Pastel will be…”
The girl’s body twisted.
“Feeling too good.”
Her cheeks flushed.
“Hehe.”
Walter quickly seized the moment to shout.
“I won’t do it again! Never again!”
The pink eyes looked down with a soft gaze, and her eyelashes fluttered as she gave an expectant glance.
“Rubbing your hands together…?”
Walter immediately rubbed his hands together.
“Please forgive me just this once! Just once…!”
“Ugh.”
The pink eyes became slightly dazed as if tipsy. The girl twisted her body.
“Then, then.”
The pink lips moved.
“Pressing your forehead to the ground—”
‘How far is this going?’
The demon pressed down on the pink crown with his palm.
“Ugh!”
Pastel shrank under the pressure. Her arms flailed about.
“Lord Demon! Lord Demon! You’re interrupting at such an important time!”
‘What’s so important?’
Waaah!
My thrilling moment!
Melissa approached the staff.
“Staff, you can get up now. Whether it was negligence or not, you’re not obligated to endure excessive reprimands in an employment relationship.”
The staff, bewildered, looked at the thoroughly demoralized Governor Pastel before slowly standing up.
“Uwaah!”
“Even Melissa…!”
While the southern commander’s heir was going to execute a soldier who was napping as an example! It was evident without even seeing!
“Waaah!”
My few exhilarating moments…!
Grabbing the wrist of the demon pressing down on her crown with both hands, she lifted it up.
“Lord Demon! Please reward me! If you kneel and rub your hands together right now, Pastel’s heart might soften!”
And if you press your forehead to the ground, it might be oh-so-pleasant!
The Demon blinked in disbelief.
‘Do you think I would?’
“Yes!”
Pastel gazed at him expectantly.
Shiny, shiny~!
The Demon spoke coldly.
‘No, I won’t.’
“That’s impossible!”
Thud.
Despair.
Despair.
Ugh.
The Demon doesn’t understand my feelings either.
And yet, he’ll surely regret it.
Karma and just deserts!
“Was there anything unusual during work? Even small things not written in the regular report are fine.”
Regardless of whether her friend was sitting in despair, Melissa held onto the staff and did her job.
“Since it’s true I dozed off, now that this has happened, please answer honestly. Shall we say it’s a chance to make amends?”
The staff hesitated.
“I’m not the one writing the report; my superior is doing it instead, so I don’t really know what’s been written. I can’t write long sentences.”
“Oh. Then I’ll read the report to you, and please check if anything is missing. Just a moment.”
Melissa approached her bag and rummaged through it.
Pastel, seeing that both Melissa and the Demon were ignoring her, puffed out her cheeks and simply stood up. The Demon brushed the dirt off her skirt.
“Just because you start caring after the fact doesn’t mean that pouting Pastel transforms into non-pouting Pastel.”
‘I have no interest.’
“Puh.”
Pouting her lips, she walked over to Melissa with a quickened pace.
“I’m glad we came out this far?”
Melissa pulled out the regular report she had brought. The pages flipped.
“Well, it is. It says you’re not illiterate, but seeing you in person, you are practically illiterate.”
Pastel let out a deep sigh.
“This is why documenting is hard. Sky Island has an academy, and the education level is high, so it was relatively easy for document reforms, but upon coming to the Demon Realm, the reliability of the reports drops, doesn’t it?”
“The literacy rate is indeed a problem.”
“Right. Since one cannot sustain themselves as an individual, confusion and discrepancies arise. Universal education is necessary.”
Melissa paused. After a moment of silently staring, she turned her gaze back to the report.
“Is that so?”
Melissa confirmed that this was the report from the station and returned to the staff, reading each line to verify its accuracy.
The staff consistently responded that there were no mistakes, but only after finishing the report did they look perplexed.
“A vital report is missing.”
Puh-puh.
It seems something is missing~.
Like a report of embezzlement?
As the staff tried to explain, a noise started to be heard from afar.
Black smoke rising from the chimney, and the breath of the steam engine shaking the railway. The sound of a horn filled the beach.
“Oh?”
Pastel’s eyes widened.
Was it train operation time?
It didn’t match her memory.
A black train sped rapidly towards them.
Pastel could feel an immense sense of incongruity in that sight.
Well, it made sense, as the trains owned by Craft Guild ran at a speed similar to that of a running person. The speed of a bicycle fast enough to blow wind like that train was not reasonable at all.
“That’s it!”
The staff pointed at the highly technical train.
“I don’t know what they’re up to, but they are using our railway without permission!”
“What did you say?!”
The train arrived at the station. However, like a thief would never stop by a police station, it sped past without slowing down.
A series of linked freight cars filled their vision. The cargo volume was equivalent to Craft Guild’s single shipment capacity. The difference being that it was a million times faster than Craft’s train.
A similar amount of cargo with vastly superior service quality.
But they weren’t paying for the railway construction costs!
“Uwaah!”
In the noise of the train, Pastel screamed.
“It’s business thievery…!”
Chase them! Chase!
