A sound recognition of the problem at hand. However, there was a merit for us. Thinking about it from my personal circumstances, I had something far more important to gain than building up my reputation. That said, however, it wasn’t related to any of them, so I didn’t mention it. Instead, I simply presented them with another fact.
“Frankly, this matter is a complete nuisance to us Weinders, since we were forced into participation by the Carlests and the student council. It’s more than enough for us if we meet the requirements of spending the bare minimum expenses to put up a shop in the courtyard.”
“But this is the Academy Festival. I simply cannot trust such a statement.”
“Then, answer me this. Is there any merit for me to appeal to noble guests at the Academy Festival? Let’s say that a copper company attracts the eyes of many nobles; do you think we could possibly maintain our business after that?”
“That... Well... You certainly have a point.” Plura yielded.
“Hmph, meaning you understand your social standing? If the nobles slap in a big order all at once, you can’t refuse them. It’s quite frankly a full-on nightmare to get buried in huge orders without the goods to fulfill them,” Dargan added.
Even if a small enterprise invents something revolutionary, they’ll be unable to scale their production to an unrestrained number of orders. Sooner or later, a larger corporation will steal the marketplace with a substitute product. The burden of desperately trying to keep up with production will then crush them. Even back in the other world, there was plenty of precedent for this. It was even more prominent here, given the productivity and logistical standards of this world. There was at least a reason for the structure of the membership clubs known as the guilds.
But strictly speaking from the perspective of the Weinders, we were planning to deal with this through the expansion of our honey production output. It was for this reason that we needed to finish our negotiations with the archduchess regarding her investment. That was why we needed to put on this stage show— so that we could demonstrate the power of the stock system.
There was actually more than just that. This Food Court Firm would in fact be a pseudo-company made up of different companies. You could more or less call this experiment a version of my future objective, the general trading company. There were so many benefits to this that I practically felt guilty about it. I’m not going to say that I’ve leveled up from a rude junior to an obsessive-compulsive megalomaniac, though.
The two upperclassmen began thinking it over in silence before chiming in.
“I get what you’re saying. Honestly, being able to secure guest seating is a huge boon. I won’t argue that you seem to specialize in management, either. There’s an easy to understand facet of it with everyone being given equal rights through the investment capital as well.”
“It’s quite unpleasant to have such barbaric meat dishes and plain vegetables placed at the same seats as my delicate confections, though. But... It’s certainly true that having no seats at all is out of the question... Tch, if only the Carlests didn’t take things so excessively far...”
“Barbaric meat dishes...?”
“V-Vegetables aren’t plain...”
Just when Dargan began frankly opening up to the group, Plura provoked him and took a prod at Shirley while he was at it.
“...I’ll agree to this,” Ruston said.
“I also have no objections. We can’t just shut ourselves in and ignore the Carlests’ tyranny, right?” Lilka added.
Aptly put. Having a common enemy is the best support we can have in such a situation. Lilka’s statement put a stop to the other three’s little quarrel.
“But is it really okay to create such a big thing all on our own like this? I’m betting there’s no precedent for it at all,” Dargan asked.
We were now talking under the premise that the establishment of the Food Court Firm was a determined fact, meaning all business-related decisions had been made. It looks like we’re ready over there too, so the timing is just right.
“The one who told me to set up a shop in the courtyard was the student council president herself. Furthermore, we have received the permission of Princess Alfina, who is the supervisor for the courtyard.”
“Really?”
“A copper laid the groundwork with the princess... How...?”
“Hey, Lilka, should we really be working with this person?”
The room was stirring. Ruston was the only one just staring me down, as if he were measuring my capabilities. I stood up and headed for the door to the director’s office. After opening it, I signaled my classmate in the other room. The newbie official of the student council then entered the room with a calm, relaxed, and refined pace.
“Your Highness!”
Everyone rose to their feet and bowed at the sudden entrance of the royal princess.
“Princess Alfina, these are the potential participants of the Food Court.”
“My, so these ladies and gentlemen will be the ones setting up shop in the courtyard?”
Alfina smiled in a truly delighted manner. It didn’t look anything like an act. Not like it could ever be an act with her.
“This is my first time serving as an official for the Academy Festival, so I may be somewhat unreliable, but I look forward to working with all of you.”
The princess’s words made the members feel even more obliged, and they all bowed even further.
“Now then, can I assume that all members here will be participating in the Food Court Firm?”
After Alfina returned to the director’s office together with Fulsig, I cut to the chase.
“...If you’re saying we’re gonna do it, then I guess I’ve got no other choice. I’m not gonna grumble about it now that it’s settled. Relax.”
“Hmph. I’m in.”
“—Acknowledged.”
“G-Got it. I mean, even the princess came out and all, right?”
The four of them consented, each with a different expression.
“Okay, then let’s put some spirit into the bidding. Let’s give it to the Carlests!” Lilka led the charge into the next topic.
“Not like there’s gonna be any competition for these tiny rooms.”
“Hmph, it’s barely adequate for my shop, but I suppose there’s no helping that.”
“With a small shop, even if we fail, the losses will be minimal... Err, but failing in front of Her Highness would be rather...”
The members all leaned over the rough map of the school and began talking about the next round of bidding, conspiring to haggle down the prices of public utilities. In a sense, this was collusion.
With this, I cleared the first hurdle of evading being a loner in the courtyard. The next problem was going to be the student council’s attitude towards us, as well as the Carlests. Fortunately, they were under the belief that we’d all fail, and surely didn’t even have us in their field of vision. However, what would they do once they became convinced we were going to succeed? The main point was predicting the timing with which they’d start being wary of us. Maybe I could make use of that marketing plan based on a certain theory...
Here it was summer break, and yet I’d just been spending it walking tightropes. Furthermore, this time the tightrope was being traversed by a whole group of people at once. Well, best to consider it an improvement over last time, when I had the entire western Kingdom walking with me.