Professor’s Meeting.
The absence of the Sky Island Governor’s Office rendered the academy’s board of directors practically useless, making it a powerful decision-making body.
The professors sat around the table, surrounding it.
In the center of the table lay a gem awakening potion, barely submitted after the student council’s hard work.
A professor who analyzed the potion opened his mouth.
“It seems to bear the touch of the Cult.”
“Huh.”
“Is it really the Cult? It hasn’t even been 20 years since Lord Craft eradicated them.”
“Though it’s a remnant, it does belong to the Cult. This level of manufacturing skill isn’t something a newcomer could acquire overnight—it’s the Cult’s technology.”
Sighs emerged from various corners.
“But it’s just a remnant; it shouldn’t be a major issue, right? We won’t have to stand guard every day, will we?”
“There’s no way it could recover in the meantime. Distributing the awakening potion might be a desperate strategy for recruitment.”
“Regardless of it being just a remnant, shouldn’t we consider how to respond?”
Amidst the murmurs, one professor frowned.
He was also the one who had been responsible during the battle when Lord Marquis’s airship crashed.
“What Cult are we talking about? You’re all misreading the situation!”
A fist slammed the table.
“It’s demons! Demons! What kind of resources do a fallen Cult have to use the fins of a Sky Whale in an awakening potion?”
It’s not like any great house was robbed clean, after all.
“Disgusting demons are revealing their true colors! They’re absorbing remnants of the Cult to pull off their filthy schemes! I knew it! I just knew it!”
The complexion of some professors changed.
“Certainly…”
“The demons sound more plausible than the Cult.”
“Professor Marius raises a valid point.”
Marius’s eyes sparkled.
“We must search for the demons on Sky Island immediately! And the students enrolled at the academy! We shouldn’t have allowed demons onto Sky Island in the first place! The foundation was corrupted!”
“That’s a bit too blunt, isn’t it?”
One professor spoke with an indifferent gaze, resting his chin on his hand.
Marius frowned.
“What? Are you siding with the demons right now?”
“Sure, I could side with the demons. What are you going to do about it?”
So what are you going to do?
Their gazes locked intensely.
A quiet tension hung in the air.
After a moment, Professor Carlo, who had been reading the analysis report of the awakening potion, put the report down.
“The meeting is getting heated. Everyone, please calm down. What will the students think if they see this?”
Marius sighed and turned his head.
“I’m just concerned… Well, emotions have flared a bit. I apologize.”
“Yes, Professor Marius. I understand.”
Carlo looked around at everyone.
“There seems to be a division of opinions. Since it’s merely a remnant, how about we watch this matter calmly?”
All eyes turned.
“Let’s task the student council with monitoring the awakening potion distribution in the surrounding merchant shops and wait for further reports.”
The meeting continued and then concluded.
One piece of work was handed over to the student council.
#
Eep.
After finishing the smuggling, I secured a construction company from the Demon Realm and returned to the student council.
Pastel looked mournfully at the dormitory construction schedule that had just begun to take shape.
Dormitory construction – starting in summer break.
Eep.
We can’t just kick out the students who are doing just fine to proceed with construction. The plan is to start building during summer break when most students head home.
It’s a solid plan, but.
It’s just too solid a plan!
Ugh.
Pastel ruffled her hair.
My Demon King’s legacy…!
Exploration of the ruins under the dormitory…!
The power of gem duplication (wishful thinking) nom nom nom…!
Ugh.
Life is so hard, Pastel.
Is the harsh reality this cold to a starving child?
“The first semester is originally short. The summer break will come quickly.”
That’s not a good argument!
“If you want something quickly, how about checking the library materials? If you’re lucky, you might infer the secret entrance to the dormitory’s underground.”
Eh?
Spending time in the library without talking?
The top student, Pastel, can’t do that~.
Pastel wore a blank expression, trying her hardest to pretend she didn’t hear.
Ugh, ugh, I must do student council work.
I’m the Vice Student Council President, Treasurer, Planning Director, Public Relations Director, Service Director, and Discipline Director, so I have too much to do.
She fidgeted on the student council sofa.
Fidgeting, fidgeting.
Weary, weary.
Ugh.
Working is so hard.
Life is so difficult, Pastel…!
Ugh.
The harsh realities of society swoop down on the starving child!
Elly approached with dark circles under her eyes.
“Pastel, there’s a directive from the professor’s meeting.”
Pastel paused.
“Oh, I already checked that. It’s about monitoring the merchants, right?”
Elly flashed a brief odd look.
“Yep.”
“Get a list of the surrounding merchant shops, categorize them by case, and organize them separately. Then, make a map for easy access during fieldwork.”
“Got it.”
Elly left, starting work in consultation with Dustin.
Pastel began to fidget again.
Life is just so hard, Pastel…!
Ugh.
The cold decision from the professors rolling mercilessly over the dreamer of smuggling.
What is the poor smuggling dreamer supposed to do here?
What dreams exist in monitoring merchants?
But there was something.
Not long after, a merchant came looking for the student council. He was someone owning one of the shops to be monitored.
With a blank expression, Pastel sat across from him.
The merchant appeared to have a lot of guilt. Sweating cold, he nervously retrieved a small box from his bag.
Then he slid it towards Pastel.
“Um, um. This is a token of goodwill from our shop to the student council.”
The box clicked open.
Gold bars were neatly stacked inside.
Gasp.
Pastel’s mouth fell open.
Whoa.
The gold bars are greeting me!
Hello, hello.
Whoa.
Hello there, gold bar friend.
Pastel twisted her body in awe of her friend’s brilliant shine.
Grrrr.
Too powerful.
Then she rubbed her face with both hands.
But I’m sorry, gold bar friend.
See you next time.
With a calm expression, Pastel pushed the box away.
“Our student council does not accept bribes. The monitoring and investigation of awakening potions will proceed according to procedures and regulations.”
Drugs are a serious issue, so emotions cannot be involved.
Personally, I would love to search for awakening potions while snacking.
The merchant nodded.
“Of course! We will diligently comply with the monitoring of awakening potions! It’s a matter of student safety, after all! However, that is not what I’m here about.”
Huh?
The merchant was sweating profusely. It seemed he eagerly wished for Pastel to catch on.
But realizing that it was a naive girl, he eventually confessed.
“It’s just a little tax evasion, ha ha ha!”
Tax evasion?
A hearty laugh echoed through the air.
“Just a little matter! Ha ha ha!”
Tax evasion, huh.
Gasp.
A memory flashed back.
The perilous journey to save the starving child.
Meeting pirates, encountering ruffians, and, well, the arduous journey.
Could this merchant also be someone trying to help a starving child?
Gasp.
Pastel’s eyes widened.
Looking down at the gold bar friend.
Could this friend also be for the sake of a starving child (me)?
Gasp.
I’m sorry, friend.
I couldn’t believe your kind heart.
Pastel’s sneaky hands snatched the gold bar box.
Her righteous mouth quickly mumbled.
“I promise the student council will focus on monitoring the awakening potions. There shouldn’t be anything else that catches our eye or that we need to do.”
“Of course! Our shop will also serve diligently! Ha ha ha!”
The merchant beamed a smile.
Pastel’s lips curled into a grin.
Hehe.
“You…”
Eep, where did that whisper come from?
I must have misheard.
Merchants began to visit the student council in droves.
The merchants from Sky Island, notorious for its expensive real estate, were incredibly powerful.
Boxes piled up neatly.
Gold bars and coins glimmered.
Whoa.
Pastel took a deep breath.
“Wow!”
Gold bars, gold bars.
Coins, coins.
How much tax evasion have these people committed?
The innocent Pastel, with no connection to tax evasion, had no idea.
Hehe.
I should switch all of this for smuggled goods.
Oh yeah.
#
In a dark merchant building.
Merchants gathered.
“We can’t just offer our money like this! This is the academy’s merciless suppression of merchants!”
A merchant shouted from the podium.
“Exactly! Exactly! There’s an infringement on merchant rights!”
Innocent tax evaders cheered in agreement.
Contrary to the thrilled atmosphere, one side of the table engaged in serious discussion.
A seasoned merchant frowned.
“Cough, as rumored, Craft. To have lost half to flexible bribery. We’ve been caught off guard, divided and helpless.”
“But wasn’t Lord Marquis just a naive girl? I clearly saw the light dragon showcased during the festival.”
One merchant sighed in despair.
The seasoned merchant smirked.
“You’re missing the point. The light dragon never mattered. No one cared if it failed.”
Craft’s schemes were consistently ambiguous.
Always maintaining a strict image management under normal circumstances and revealing their dark intentions when it truly counted.
The image they created varied by house.
“This time it’s the naive girl. Because of her appearance, time and again, they’ve all been deceived. Now everyone knows, right? Craft is different on the outside than on the inside.”
“Huh.”
Another merchant hit the table.
“I was fooled, fooled!”
“Exactly. They managed their image in places that didn’t matter. What kind of naive girl would genuinely showcase a light dragon? Clearly, there was something deeper!”
The seasoned merchant was confident.
“Oh! You’re right! There’s no way she’d genuinely show off something so embarrassing!”
The skinny merchant slapped his thigh.
“Then isn’t that a big problem? How can we deal with Craft, who has the empire’s top merchant ranks?”
The seasoned merchant smiled.
“We just have to show our strength. A duel trial! We can challenge Lord Marquis to a duel over the infringement of merchant rights and win!”
The merchants whispered in surprise.
A duel trial.
The outcome of a duel carries no legal weight currently.
However, it’s a matter of honor, which brings a different set of complications. If the loser does not concede, it is extremely dishonorable, especially the higher their rank.
“According to the investigations I’ve conducted.”
The merchant smiled slyly.
“I hear she’s at the top of her class but scored a zero in practical combat!”
“Is that true?!”
The merchants were greatly surprised.
The seasoned merchant laughed.
“We can’t lose a duel!”
The merchants whispered among themselves.
This is going to work.
We will definitely win!
One merchant appeared uneasy.
“Is it really okay? Drawing blades is somewhat blasphemous.”
The merchants froze. Anxiety spread gradually.
The seasoned merchant smiled.
“Phew, I’ve considered that too.”
“Oh, as expected of you! Please, do tell us how!”
“I overheard something while investigating her. I couldn’t catch all the details, but I certainly caught the important words!”
“What were those?”
The seasoned merchant clenched his fist.
“It’s an arm-wrestling duel! We can do that without drawing swords!”
“Oh! You’re a genius!”
“The pride of the merchant alliance!”
“The god of schemes, surpassing Craft!”
The merchants erupted into excitement.
Some time later.
Invited by the Alliance of Merchants, Lord Marquis paid a visit.
The merchant representative stepped forward.
“Lord Marquis, we request a duel trial in the form of an arm-wrestling contest.”
Gasp!
The pink girl’s eyes widened.
“How did you know I’m just a smart kid?”
Ugh.
The seasoned merchant called forth a mercenary with a flourish.
The bulky mercenary displayed his massive muscles. His copper-toned muscles bulged.
Flexing.
Ugh.
A ruthless death game targeting the weakness of the “smart kid”…!
The mercenary and the girl took their positions at the table.
Ugh.
“The merchant alliance swears to yield to the outcome….”
Blah blah blah procedures.
And the duel began!
The girl squeezed her eyes shut.
“Yahhh!”
This is the best a smart kid can do!
The table creaked.
“Ahhh!”
The mercenary rolled backward with the wreckage of the table.
Silence ensued.
One merchant was sweating profusely.
A moment later, the merchants gathered behind the shops as if they had promised. The seasoned merchant rolled on the ground, receiving kicks.
“Hey, you old fool!”
“Ah! Ah! Please don’t! I was just caught in Craft’s information manipulation!”
