After a moment of silence, Naja accepted Washu’s claim. “I did look scary… Oh, what did I come here for?”
“Well, I heard, ‘Wasn’t I your friend?!’”
“Wasn’t I your friend… Yes, that’s it!!” Naja clapped her hands as she remembered her business. “After you said, ‘Of course you’re my friend,’ I was supposed to say, ‘Why didn’t you tell me you were selling your house?!’”
“Are you saying it’s my fault you forgot what you came here for?”
“Enough with the comedy! Anyway, about the real estate broker…”
“There’s a place I really wanted.”
“I know. That farm in the suburbs, right? Why didn’t you come talk to me about it right away?”
“So that’s how this leads to the topic of our friendship.”
“Yes!! You’re so cold.”
A subdued response…that was the method she had found worked best to deal with Naja.
“Washu-chan, you meanie… Anyway, this house isn’t going to sell, no matter how long you wait. Not until that farm gets foreclosed.”
“What do you mean?”
“Washu-chan, you’re such an easy mark…” According to Naja, the farm’s mortgage holder, and the real estate broker in charge of all property sales for the area where Washu lived, shared a parent company. Drawing up the paperwork delayed the sale of Washu’s house so that she would miss the due date. Similar tricks were used so a buyer would not be found for the farm. “That real estate broker wants to raze the whole farm to build a high-end residential zone.”
The area where Washu lived, which had increased in status due to the Department of Philosophy’s presence, was quite popular. But residential construction was restricted for habitat protection, with limited areas for expansion. The old woman’s farm, though in the suburbs, was close to the city, with scenic views, and thus qualified as prime real estate. It was small for a farm, but if rezoned into a residential district, it would be converted into several hundred residential parcels.
“But what could be done about it now?” Washu asked. “Do we even have any choice but to go through the local real estate broker?”
“Maybe not on other planets. But this is the Jurai Imperial Academy.” Naja proudly patted Washu’s shoulder. “I’ll show you just what kind of presence the Department of Philosophy has in the Academy.”
“What do you mean?” Washu felt uneasy at Naja’s cryptic reply.
“It’s not a big deal, Washu-kun.”
“P-Professor Ikuma?!”
Ikuma was standing in the doorway of the living room. “I did knock… May I come in?”
“Of course. I apologize for not hearing you…” Naja’s grimace did not escape Washu’s notice. “What brings you here today?”
“Same as Naja-kun. I heard that you offered to trade this house for that farm. I found out before Naja-kun…but her youth and vigor beat me here.”
So that’s why Naja-san came running in like that, thought Washu.
“Professor, you meanie!”
“I understand that you want Washu-kun to see that she can depend on you.” Ikuma smiled meaningfully at Naja.
“Professor!!”
“Sorry, sorry.” Ikuma scratched his forehead and turned to Washu. “Washu-kun, the Department of Philosophy is indeed special, but what’s more important is that this is the Imperial Academy, a school.”
“Oh!”
“That real estate broker was appointed by Jurai. He ought to act solely in the students’ interests.”
“I see what you mean!” Washu shouted, standing up. Finally, she’d found a breakthrough in the situation.
Behind her, Naja was tracing curlicues on the ground with her finger. “I wanted to say those things,” she muttered in a tiny voice.
A few hours later, Professor Ikuma revoked the real estate broker’s control over the area around Washu’s mansion.
“Thank you for doing this for me…” Washu said.
“Don’t worry about it,” Professor Ikuma replied. “Their antics were getting to be too much. In fact, there have been many student complaints. This was a good opportunity.”
“Some rich idiots raising the prices of land, making it too expensive for students to live… It defeats the whole purpose of the place,” Naja declared. “You know what was hilarious, when we looked into their business affairs? Clay was the substantive manager of the parent company.”
“Well, being a miser is his style,” Professor Ikuma said.
“If only he would turn his passion for money toward his research.”
“Ha ha. Naja-kun, greed and avarice are Clay’s driving forces. Without them, he would no longer be himself.”
Washu, listening to their chatting, shivered. I can understand how Nana could think we’re all weird. She felt that their standards and values were different from hers.
“Leave this matter to us,” Professor Ikuma urged her. “Go share the news with the woman at the farm.”
“I will. Thank you, Professor Ikuma.” Washu ran off towards the farm at a speed that far surpassed the Academy women’s track-and-field sprint record.
Ikuma watched and smiled. “May she never lose that golden heart.”
Beside him, Naja traced curlicues on the ground with her finger and muttered in a tiny whisper, “Argh, he did it to me again.”
“Perhaps it’s not so easy with you around, Naja-kun,” Professor Ikuma said.
“I wanted to say those things!” Naja protested. “Professor, I hate you.”
Washu opened the door to the observatory and gave the old woman the news. Then she made a proposal. “It would be lonely to live here by myself. Won’t you live here with me?”
And so, Washu bought the farm and started living with the old woman, its former owner. The butler and the maids followed.
“Why…?” Washu asked, surprised.
“We aren’t servants of the house,” the butler explained. “We were hired to help your studies proceed smoothly, as part of your scholarship.” Dressed as if they had run away under cover of night were one hundred and fifty maids, all lined up.
“Yoo-hoo, Washu-chan!” Naja turned up uninvited, solely because she had fallen in love with the observatory. Washu put the dilapidated farm back together and acquired livestock to start it working once again. The once-desolate farm now teemed with life.
“I never imagined I would be doing this at my age,” remarked the butler, laughing as he led a cow. The maids also seemed to be pleased. Washu dove onto her bed, looking at the stars from the windows of the observatory. Feeling a sense of relief for the first time since she came to the Academy, she fell into a deep sleep…