Volume 5 Chapter 6.6
Editor: Weasalopes
「Well, she isn’t Elle, so there’s no way we’d expect Lime to understand factional disputes, dodgy dealings, or the like at her age.」
「Umm, Tatsuya-sama. That almost sounds like I’ve led a dirty life, the way that you are putting it……」
「Well, regardless of what’s dirty or not, when you were the same age as Lime, you understood your position and your situation, behaving your best so as to not have anyone lay their eyes on you, right?」
「Well, yes……」
「Elle actually had her life on the line, so she acted carefully. Lime isn’t in that situation, so there’s no need to feel like she has to comprehend. Normally, Elle shouldn’t have even had to go through something like that until now or a little bit later, but her sister was a bit of a freak case……」
Tatsuya had a somewhat faraway look in his eyes, and Aearis was now exuding a melancholic atmosphere. The Japanese looked at Tatsuya with reproach in their eyes. It was rare for Tatsuya to slip up like this except for when it came to provocation, but that didn’t excuse what he had said.
「W-Well, anyway, if something goes wrong with Lime and her relationships, we can just pull her back from school right away, so I don’t think there’s much to worry about. How’s that sound?」
「Lime’s gonna stop going to school??」
「No no. Just, if something happens. Right now you’re fine.」
Lime looked up as she hugged Hiyohiyo, who had finished his food. She looked up at Tatsuya with a slightly worried expression as she inquired from him, but Tatsuya assured her with a smile and a pat that she would be just fine. When she heard that, Lime had a smile on her face. Yep, children truly do look nicest when they’re smiling.
「Kay, I’m done with food, so I want cola!!」
「Yup. I think it’s bout time.」
Lime, growing tired of this complicated topic, demanded cola, to which Hiroshi agreed with a wry smile. Haruna, who had been listening to this, interjected.
「Hiroshi-kun. Would you say it’s about time for that ca○pis soda?」
「Yup. Lime, wanna try a new flavor?」
「Yeah!!」
Lime nodded at Hiroshi and Haruna’s proposal, her eyes glittering. When he saw her response, Hiroshi poured ca○pis soda, the standard of all soft drinks, into a cup for her. He also handed cup after cup to everyone watching. Fum was an exception, as she didn’t take kindly to carbonated drinks, so her soda was diluted with water.
「Ah, this is good too.」
「The acidity stands out just a bit more than with the cola.」
「I prefer this one.」
「We don’t have too many sweet drinks like this one, unless you count the fruity variety, so it’s a very fresh taste to me. Hiroshi-sama, do you think we could mass produce and sell this?」
「It’s good, but if the village discovers that Teres and I tasted this before them, everyone’s going to flip.」
Japan’s major fermented milk drinks appeared to be an overall big hit. Grinning at their reactions, Hiroshi took out something else unnecessary.
「Kay, how bout we have y’all try one of our punishment drinks. Oh, but not you Lime.」
For some reason, Aearis’s eyes were glittering at the lukewarm carbonated drinks that Hiroshi took out. Maybe she liked punishment games because she wanted to be treated worse for a change.
「Wait one moment, Boss Man!」
「Nora hasn’t done anything wrong! What do you mean by punishment game!」
「Ah, well this isn’t really for punishment. It’s more like I’m usin’ you as a guinea pig.」
「That’s even worse!」
Hiroshi ignored the fierce complaints from the workshop members with a placid face as he prepared all the drinks. Aearis immediately went for the M○Col and Dr.○epper, drinking both of their contents before anyone could stop her.
「……I think these are actually fairly drinkable as long as you cool them down.」
「Elle, you’ve got some guts……」
Makoto just had an exasperated expression on her face at how composed Aearis was. Lately, Aearis had a habit of eating just about anything, and it was very possible that Haruna’s insane eating habits had influenced this.
「Wow, this is gross……」
「Sure, I guess it’s drinkable if you cool them down……」
「But it’s definitely not something I can just drink with a straight face like Elle-sama, yeah……」
「Well yeah, that’s cuz it’s a punishment game, y’all.」
Hiroshi gloated when he saw everyone besides Aearis react the way he had expected, although there was truly nothing for him to be proud of. While a bit exasperated at him, Haruna suddenly began thinking about how the weather had become a bit warmer lately; something that was totally unrelated.
「Oh yeah, Hiroshi-kun.」
「Whazzup?」
「I’d like you to teach me how to cast heat rash/inflamation prevention enchantments.」
「Well, I’m sure ya can do it with ease, but why?」
「Well, girls have a lot going on.」
When they heard Haruna say that, the gazes of every female who had begun their dive into the 2nd dimension (excluding Aearis) focused on one person. And…
「Haru, I hope you get paitaku’d……」
Mio muttered something rather unpleasant.
「Mio-sama, what is a paitaku?」
「It’s where you wet your boobs with black ink and press calligraphy paper against them to replicate the image. It’s a traditional craft.」
「Oh my!」
「Oi, Mio, don’t tell Elle lies like that!」
Tatsuya hurriedly interjected with all his might to prevent Mio from having a negative influence on Aearis. However, as if ignoring him, Mio beckoned Makoto over and began putting together an unnecessary plot.
「Haru appears to have few weak points, so first let’s practice with Artiem……」
「Right. And then, while we’re at it, shall we do it for Nora too, since she’s been getting bigger recently?」
「Understood.」
「Hey, wait a minute, you also look like you’re on your way to growing some cleavage……」
「Don’t worry. Elle is still way ahead of me.」
Picking up their quiet conversation, Hiroshi quivered with fear. Beginning to feel a sense of urgency, Tatsuya tried to force the conversation to an end, and that did seem to temporarily resolve things, but……
「Mio……」
「What is it, Mako?」
「I see what you’re hiding! You already have a C cup, don’t you!」
「No, I’m barely at the median for B cup. Elle is already a C cup and is growing at a faster rate.」
「……So I’m right when I say I can pluck a couple from you before Haruna?」
「I will not stand for this violence.」
Having figured out that Mio was already progressing toward a C cup from her current B, there was henceforth a rift between Makoto and Mio.
Meanwhile, at Rufeus Academy’s faculty meeting.
「Headmaster, I have but one desire.」
One of the professors who did not think very highly of Lime’s, or rather, Azuma Workshop’s intervening, brought up a certain proposal with the headmaster.
「And what might that be?」
「The student from Azuma Workshop who entered our academy has been increasing her claims that contradict our very research we have conducted over hundreds of years.」
「And is that some sort of issue?」
「Well, unfortunately, it isn’t quite possible to prove whether their explanation is factual or not. Still, it’s not very adultlike to discard it just because someone is lying or mistaken.」
「In other words, you want the academy to explain this to the workshop master.」
The professor from the opposing side shook their head at the headmaster’s words. The headmaster and Professor Floot made puzzled expressions when they saw this.
「There is no meaning in us explaining this to them, so I propose we have him give a special lecture.」
The opposing professor proposed with a somewhat nasty expression on their face. The headmaster appeared to be considering this a bit.
「……Fair enough. We will see if the members are available, and if they accept, then I have no doubt this will be a plus for Rufeus Academy.」
「Then!?」
「Yes, but this is only if they accept. They’re busier than they might appear, and we are already asking a big favor of them, so please proceed with the assumption that they might refuse.」
「Of course.」
The opposing professor had a somewhat dark smile on their face. If the workshop didn’t accept, they could drop their reputation by saying the workshop ran away, and if they accepted, this would still be a lecture from someone who wasn’t even experienced in the teaching field. That would leave plenty of opportunity to scorn them. It was easy to see what the professor was thinking.
As long as you had an argument with a base that had no contradictions, even Lorren had a certain degree of acceptance. If done correctly, you could injure your opponents’ influence to an extent.
The headmaster inwardly sighed at this professor’s obvious thought process.
「Professor Floot.」
「What is it?」
「Do you think anything will go according to their scheme?」
「No, I do not.」
The headmaster and Professor Floot spoke to each other in quiet voices so as to not be overheard by the professor in question. True, Azuma Workshop was ultimately a group of craftsmen. Teaching was not in their profession. However, Hiroshi and Mio were the ones who had raised Lime to the level she was in the first place. Having such an ability to educate a young girl probably meant they could do a fair amount of lecturing.
Besides, even if they were to refuse, there was no way to harm them. Azuma Workshop was a group of craftsmen, therefore the main area their reputation lay in was in their products. The quality, functionality, and performance of these products were assured by the small amount of consumers they had. When compared to the ratings of those who had actually used the products, any comments from Rufeus Academy were fairly trivial.
Also, no matter how you may try to disparage them, it was important to keep in mind that Azuma Workshop had made Class 3 potions, orichalcum equipment, and golem carriages with unprecedented performance, so something so ludicrous as vehemently insisting that the workshop had “ran” away from teaching at Rufeus Academy would only garner uprorious laughter. To the consumers, who cared if the theory was right or wrong as long as the results were coming in?
「At any rate, all we can do is pray that they listen to the academy’s request.」
「If they do in fact respond, then make no mistake- this academy, too, will change in a positive direction.」
The headmaster and Professor Fleut continued to whisper to one another as they observed the professors continuing their fruitless faculty meeting.
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