“We’re a student council that’s like family!”
Pastel proudly declared, lifting her head as an upperclassman.
“If there’s something hard, let’s help each other! A student council that doesn’t distinguish between you and me! It’s a family-like atmosphere!”
“Great senior, I have a question.”
Melissa lightly raised her hand.
“Ask anything! And I’m not just a great senior, I’m a super ultra great senior! The title of great senior belongs to Elly!”
“I don’t need to be called that.”
Elly turned her head, slightly embarrassed.
Melissa glanced at Elly and then back at Pastel.
“Su-per ul-tra, uh.”
Melissa’s cheeks turned slightly red.
“Su, super ultra great senior.”
“Yup!”
Pastel quickly nodded her head.
She’s totally a super ultra great senior!
Elly looked at the model student with pity.
“You can skip the awkwardness with Pastel. As long as she does her job well, she won’t mind being ignored a bit.”
Huh.
Melissa’s pink eyes widened.
Did she think of me that way until now?
Melissa’s complexion brightened.
“I see. Thanks for the advice, Elly-senpai. Pastel-senpai, I have a question.”
Ahhhh!
She even fell for the greatness……!
I guess she was embarrassed!
Huh.
Am I the embarrassed one?
You guys are mean.
“Ask away!”
“Do we really need to create a senior-junior relationship when we’re all in the same grade?”
Oh, good question.
“Yup!”
Pastel nodded firmly.
“It might not matter later, but right now, both Melissa and Elshire are newcomers to the student council. It’s meant to remind you not to let unnecessary pride get in the way during the handover.”
She lightly tapped the stack of documents on the desk. If this were the student council process before the reform, there wouldn’t be this much paperwork.
“Administrative tasks following documents have a high barrier to entry for a noble elite raised with good family education.”
Acting based on documents and recording everything in them is a modern way of thinking.
Typically, a noble elite would be taught to get written approval from seniors but would end up bypassing the process at the scene and getting post-facto approvals instead.
“I agree with that.”
Elly nodded.
Though the super-elite Demon Girl quickly adapted!
That’s why she’s a great senior!
“I see.”
Melissa pondered thoughtfully. Her blue eyes subtly glanced at the silver-haired girl beside her.
“What?”
Elshire, who had been quiet, asked in confusion.
Melissa returned her gaze to Pastel.
“Since I was the first to get an invitation to join, I guess I’m senior to Bellamont.”
Pastel’s pink eyes rounded.
Melissa, weren’t you friends with her?
Is it a friends thing to establish a senior-junior relationship whenever there’s an opportunity?
The super ultra great senior Pastel was flabbergasted.
A popular Pastel can’t even imagine such behavior!
Elshire stared intensely at Melissa.
“I was invited first. When we infiltrated the ruins of Sky Island.”
A pride battle that doesn’t feel like friends.
Caught in between, Pastel was in a bind!
Pastel flailed her arms.
“Guys, don’t do that! It’s basically a contest of who has the better acorn! Instead, praise the super ultra great senior!”
Yup!
That makes sense!
Everyone silently turned their gaze.
Elshire pondered and then spoke.
“Super ultra great sen-”
“I think we’ve done enough orientation, so let me explain the basic tasks now.”
Elly interrupted the unnecessary praises.
Ahhhh!
“Dustin, bring the new training materials and document management regulations from the resource room. The ones we made in the first semester. We might need to tweak some parts, but let’s start with that.”
“Got it.”
“I’ll assign you seats, so take a turn sitting down. If anything feels uncomfortable, I’ll swap out the desk and chair.”
The student council got busy.
“Ahhh!”
Pastel clutched her head in the middle of the room.
My praises!
My praaaiise!
#
In a mountainous valley filled with trees.
Pastel trailed behind the upperclassmen of the Pure Engineering Department. A council member followed them closely.
Her arms waved vigorously.
“Chick!”
“Cheep cheep.”
Elshire answered alone.
“Sparrow!”
“Chirp chirp.”
“Duck!”
“Quack quack.”
“Glow-in-the-dark dragon!”
“Glow-in-the-dark, dragon…….”
Elshire momentarily became blank.
No way.
Elshire doesn’t know how the glow-in-the-dark dragon cries!
But what to do?
I don’t know either.
Pastel also went blank.
Elly approached the upperclassmen with slightly weary steps.
“Are we almost there?”
“If we go a bit further, the railroad across the gorge will come into view. It’s for academic entrance, right? Want me to carry you if your legs hurt?”
Elly momentarily struggled.
“No, thanks.”
“Elly! Elly!”
Pastel waved one arm.
“If it’s too much for the senior, should I carry you?”
Elly was in deep thought. After hesitating, she shook her head.
“I’ll pass.”
Pastel and company headed towards the railroad that the Pure Engineering Department built as a test on Sky Island. It felt like field research.
But why is a test railroad built in a remote area like this?
“If we’re going to spend money anyway, let’s also test the product in a harsh environment! That’s the idea behind it. But, buying land and building it ended up being not just costly for construction but also inconvenient for traffic; it was a tough environment for humans, not the railroad.”
An experience encountered when an engineer rushes in with enthusiasm but no business experience.
Now that Pastel has the reins, such a disaster, without considering investment attraction and marketing, won’t happen!
They arrived at a surprisingly wide and flat gorge. The railroad station stood alone in between.
Even though primitive, the railroad stretched across the gorge. While it seemed that amenities weren’t considered from the start, there appeared to be a station for waiting passengers.
Pastel squatted down and lightly tapped on the ground of the station. The sound of rocks echoed from the cement.
Oh, cement.
What a shock.
Melissa found it interesting.
“I know about this, too. My mother showed me the construction site where they adopted Demon Realm’s new technology for repairing the walls of the Great Forest. It’s fast and effective. Even though it’s not a time when walls are significant due to war anymore, it’s still useful against beasts.”
Elshire took a step closer. After gauging the surrounding atmosphere, she finally seemed ready to speak to her friend upon hearing something she knew.
“There have been talks of introducing it to us in Bellamont as well. The northern mountains are targets for exploitation, not defense, but it was rejected.”
“Bellamont is outdated, after all.”
She offered a reason but merely defined it as outdated.
Elshire stared deeply at Melissa.
You said you were friends.
Unfortunately, it seemed like Melissa accidentally said that. It’s her true feelings that were engraved in her heart.
What a pity.
But it seems true that a frontline that doesn’t even use cement is indeed outdated!
Yup!
Elshire’s lips formed a slight pout.
“Well, the southern cowards who just guard in front of the Great Forest have to depend on walls.”
“Why are you suddenly picking a fight?”
Melissa was flabbergasted.
Was that a genuine realization of her true feelings?
Seniors who were fixing the train covered with a tarp to avoid the wind and rain approached.
“Lady Pastel! We’re ready for operation!”
“Wow!”
I never expected to ride a train in my life!
Chugga chugga! Chugga chugga!
Clouds, fluffy clouds!
Pastel dashed over to the steam locomotive.
“Train friend! You haven’t even introduced yourself yet, but you’d better be ready to rank up as my best buddy!”
Pastel, who is surprisingly picky about choosing friends, only has a few esteemed spots!
The department representative proudly unveiled the tarp.
“This is the culmination of the latest engineering technology!”
As the tarp was pulled back, the black body of the train was revealed.
“It’s a steam locomotive!”
Pastel’s pink eyes sparkled.
“This is……!”
Pastel inhaled and prepared to marvel, then paused.
Something about it looked slightly different than she imagined. Only the round front part of the imagined train was there, while the long body part was missing.
Only the train’s head is here.
The air she inhaled whooshed out.
Pastel quickly walked around the train friend.
At this point, it feels less like train play and more like a pencil play fattened up.
The seniors were stiff. They approached with pale faces.
“Lady Pastel? Is there a problem……?”
Ah.
My expectations were too high!
Flustered, Pastel flailed her arms.
“Nothing’s wrong! Pastel doesn’t discriminate when making friends! I don’t even have a friend ranking in my heart!”
Melissa ranked first, Elshire was in the top tier, and Elly was excluded from ranking, placed separately, while Leonard landed in the mid-low tier due to a bad first impression, and Dustin’s rank went uncalculated!
By the way, the Demon Lord is in the family ranking.
Melissa was flabbergasted.
“A friend ranking, is that really a thing? I thought it was just a rumor.”
Huh.
I might get caught for having a bribery ranking too!
I’m already feeling unjust!
Pastel hurriedly turned to her train friend.
“Train friend! What did you just say? We should take a ride to celebrate becoming friends, right?! A lovely thought!”
I’ll eagerly accept it!
Pastel clasped her hands together, imploringly.
“Seniors! Seniors! The junior wants to ride the train!”
How do I get on now~
“I’ll prepare it immediately!”
The department representative rushed over. He climbed onto the engine without a door and pretended to sweep away nonexistent dust, gesturing for them to enter.
“Come on in!”
The effort of cleaning even a speck of dust moved the junior~.
Pastel quickly hopped on.
“Train friend! Let’s do our best!”
“We’re starting!”
The department representative made a few adjustments to the machinery, opened the firebox, and began shoveling coal.
“Wow!”
A real coal train!
The whistle sounded, and the train wheels began to move.
“Clouds, fluffy clouds!”
Pastel beamed, sticking her upper body out from the doorway. She looked up at the locomotive.
Black smoke was spewing out from the smokestack.
Oh?
It’s not white clouds.
Pastel thought for a moment and then cheerfully shouted again.
“Clouds, black clouds!”
Oh yeah!
