The student council room was set up as a square conference room using a long desk. The vice president, Leonardo, sat at the innermost part in the center with his three clerks. At his signal, all the participants for this year’s festival took their seats.
The Carlest companies sat on the left side, with the two Carlest siblings at their center. The Kendall companies sat on the right, with Maria and Jean at their center. Myself, Mia, Plura and Dargan also ended up sitting with them, going with the flow of things.
The remaining empty seats were filled by companies which didn’t deal in food or drinks. And one student who was formerly under the Dreyfan umbrella but was now independent sat in the last seat very awkwardly.
After everyone was seated, Alfina and Hilda entered the room.
“Regardless of being blessed with so much space, you did a splendid job in managing an area of the festival for the first time, Alfina. I’m quite impressed.”
Hilda praised Alfina, giving off the air that she was only doing it for form’s sake. Is that so? The courtyard was prime real estate, was it?
“It is all thanks to you for charging me with such a wonderful location to supervise, President Hilda.”
“I-I see. It looks like things will be fine here after I graduate.” Hilda’s face cramped at Alfina’s response, seeing that it was completely devoid of any ill intentions.
The courtyard was supposed to be occupied by a single lonely cart. But it ended up flourishing with activity thanks to the one-plate lunch and the pain perdu. I was sure everything ran counter to her expectations.
“Now then, before we move on to the closing festivities, let’s recap the results of the shops in general. This year’s Academy Festival was truly a success. First—”
Leonardo began revealing all the results of the festival as a whole in an inoffensive manner. In short, the donations received by the Academy this year were fairly major.
Apparently, the rules that drove out the middling companies, and opening the bids on small rooms afterward, were all recorded as the student council’s achievements. The efforts of the commercial world were all sucked up by politics as taxes. A truly wonderful microcosm of society itself.
“The earnings from the courtyard on the final day were especially notable,” Leonardo added with a businesslike tone.
Hilda’s face twisted slightly in displeasure for just an instant, but she kept her silence.
“As a special case participant, although it took on a peculiar shape, your work on the shop called the Food Court was quite surprising, Weinder. Your rank wasn’t all that high, but you still surpassed several silver companies, despite being a copper.”
He gave me an unexpectedly proper assessment. But please don’t look down on me. Those of the self-preservation party are wary of all statements made about them, be it praise or disparagement. I guess that’s just my distrust in humanity. But seeing that the older Carlest is snickering to himself, I suppose you could say it’s my faith in humanity.
Leonardo was adding on all kinds of prefaces like “special case” and “peculiar shape” as well. Hilda was quietly listening to my praises being sung, but was now urging Leonardo to hurry up with her gaze.
“...However, there have been complaints raised regarding the fact that you are a special exception, and towards the way your shop was managed.”
“Complaints, you say? Umm, what do you mean by that? I managed a shop in the courtyard under the direction of both of you in the student council, did I not?”
I made a show to look as bewildered as possible. Apparently, they had quite some interest in my bad inventory. In truth, I’d do this for free. But I am a merchant. I’ll put in the effort to sell it for as high a price as I can.
“Was it not your personal order to liven things up in the courtyard? Did I make some manner of mistake?”
First, I needed to go on the attack. Hilda averted her gaze at my comment, while Leonardo looked back at me with a cramped smile.
“Yes, and liven it up you did. We went over there ourselves earlier today, and you truly did your best with what you were given. We of the student council also recognize this.”
Leonardo paused and took a glance over to Alfina.
“However, even if it was not a proper room, you never paid a participation fee. Furthermore, it seems that you occupied more space than two classrooms put together on the final day. So, because of that...”
Theodore rose to his feet and interrupted.
“The earnings of the Weinder Company’s shop came from an outside source. The ones who paid him were the other shops who participated. Am I wrong?”
I see, he at least put some thought into it. The coins guests exchanged their money for were pure profit for the Academy. However, the usage fees of the Food Court were paid by exchanging money between fellow companies, using the coins received from our customers.
“It’s strange to put it that way. Just as Vice President Leonardo said, the invigoration of business in the courtyard was Weinder’s contribution. In other words, he devoted himself to increasing the profits of the Academy Festival itself.” Jean rose to his feet and faced off against Theodore.
The Carlests and Kendalls stared each other down. Tension ran through the room. I saw the student council president half rise to her feet, ready to break the balance. Okay, it’s time to genuinely start our negotiations.