Prologue

The excitement of the student council election had just settled down.

Kiou Academy was finally about to welcome…

The preparations for the Cultural Festival!!

(This is no laughing matter…)

I managed a wry smile as I tackled the mountain of work in front of me.

As expected of Kiou Academy. Not just the cultural festival itself, but even the preparations were on a scale that could be called an event in its own right. It was a given that there was a lot to do, but with a huge amount of money involved, we had to work with the utmost care. Thanks to that, the student council officers were swamped with work again today.

It was tough, but—it was interesting.

This was what we signed up for when we decided to become student council officers in the first place. With the awareness of being at the core of the academy, coming up with ways to make the event more exciting was a very rewarding job.

“The orders for materials are pretty much done, you know.”

Tennouji-san said as she looked up from tapping away at her keyboard.

In front of Tennouji-san sat a desk that was conspicuously larger than any other in the student council room. Its surface, however, was buried by a massive pile of documents.

The larger the desk, the larger the responsibility. Ever since I realized that, I stopped feeling envious of Tennouji-san’s large desk and started to admire it.

“Miyakojima-san, just in case, could you please confirm when each of the materials would arrive?”

“Got it. It’d be a problem if they all came at once, so I’ll try to space them out as much as possible.”

Interactions with outside parties were often handled primarily by Narika, the general affairs manager.

The other officers would then process the information obtained through Narika.

“Abeno-san, have you finished the expense report?”

Where Tennouji-san’s gaze fell, a girl with a bob cut and glasses was typing on her keyboard at a furious pace. Reflected in her lenses was an endless string of numbers. Skilled at calculations, she replied without stopping the movement of her fingers.

“It’s mostly complete. As expected of our regular suppliers, they’re handling our rather bold orders at fair prices, so the calculations are easy.”

“It’s a baton passed down to us by our predecessors, isn’t it. We must also strive to meet those expectations!”

The reason the Kiou Academy brand is trusted by outsiders is because our senpais have continuously polished it. We must not tarnish it, and it is our mission to polish it further before entrusting it to the next generation.

“Yodogawa-san, are the invitations ready?”

“Almost done! The format was different last year and the year before, so I’m checking the minutes to find out why, just in case!”

Yodogawa was intently reading through the documents displayed on the monitor.

As you could tell from the loudness of his voice, he was an energetic boy who seemed to give you energy just by talking to him. He was supposed to be the same age as me, but his shorter stature, humble way of speaking, and refreshing crew cut gave him a kouhai-like vibe.

…Now that I think about it, he spoke a bit more politely at the tea party during the election, but this must be his true self.

He didn’t seem like the type to care about such things, but perhaps he was putting on a bit of an act because of the election. Still, the lively impression I got from him back then didn’t seem to be a lie.

Tennouji-san looked my way.

Understanding what she wanted to say with just a glance, I stood up from my chair.

“Tomonari-san—”

“I’ve compiled the list of additional suppliers.”

I gently placed the document on Tennouji-san’s desk.

“These two companies will be new business partners for us, but I believe they are trustworthy since their major clients, luxury hotels and cruise lines, are indirectly connected to Kiou Academy.”

“Thank you for looking into it. …Many distinguished guests will be attending the cultural festival, so it would be rude if our facilities are inadequate.”

This is Kiou Academy, a gathering place for the children of the wealthy. Naturally, their wealthy parents visit for the cultural festival.

Since so many VIPs would be gathering in one place, arranging security was also a major task. Some of the guests, like the Konohana family, prefer to arrange their own security, so we also had to set up opportunities to coordinate their security with ours. The fact that we, the students, and not adults, were handling this shows just how much trust is placed in the student council.

As the vice president, my duties were wide-ranging, second only to the president, Tennouji-san. As the student council president’s right-hand man, I also had the authority to give instructions to the other officers, just like Tennouji-san.

“Abeno-san.”

When I called out to the girl typing away, the round eyes behind her glasses turned to me.

“If there’s any room in the budget, could you please check if we can raise the quality of the guest seating? It seems the Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry will be attending this year.”

“Understood.”

Apparently, the Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry, who came to give a speech at the Management Game, will be visiting as a guest at this year’s cultural festival. It’s unlikely he’d come alone, so I wanted to make the space for a few people where they’d likely be staying particularly luxurious.

Of course, there was absolutely no nuance of a bribe. It’s just that we had to show our gratitude for their investment in the Management Game.

“Yodogawa-kun, it might be faster to ask the former secretary about the invitation format. If I recall correctly, the former secretary’s family runs a printing business.”

“You have a point! That might be why it changed!”

From what I had looked up, the format for the cultural festival invitations doesn’t change every year, but it has changed a few times in the past. However, creating the invitations is overwhelmingly cheaper compared to other tasks. Therefore, I had predicted that the change wasn’t due to cost, but rather due to the influence of the person involved in the task.

Finally, I called out to Narika, who was staring at her computer monitor.

“Narika, you were ordering cutlery earlier, right?”

“Eh? Ah, I was, but…”

“Could you let that company know that our orders might continue even after the cultural festival is over?”

“Even after the cultural festival is over?”

As Narika tilted her head in confusion, I told her succinctly.

“Tennouji-san’s campaign promise.”

“Ah…”

When Tennouji-san was running for student council president, she promised to implement etiquette classes.

Those classes would probably consume a large amount of cutlery, so it would be a great advantage if we could secure a supplier now.

“Tomonari-san…”

Tennouji-san, who had been listening to our conversation, smiled happily.

It was a promise we had worked hard to come up with together to become student council officers. What Tennouji-san wanted to do was what I wanted to do as well.

As I was thinking that and exchanging glances with Tennouji-san, I noticed Narika glaring at me with a sullen look.

Abeno-san spoke without taking her eyes off the monitor.

“Please stop flirting and get back to work.”

“I—”

We’re not!! …I was about to say, but because Tennouji-san turned her face away with her cheeks flushed red, it created an atmosphere that made it hard to deny. …Um, if you don’t deny it, it really makes it seem like we were flirting.

Th-there’s a strong bond of trust between us, forged by campaigning together…!!

It’s definitely not such an impure feeling…!! Probably!!

◆

“Fuuu~~~~”

Once everyone had reached a stopping point in their respective tasks, Tennouji-san let out a long sigh.

“We’ve met today’s quota, haven’t we.”

“Good work!”

Yodogawa’s energetic voice echoed. He looked so bright, as if to say, “But it’s rewarding!” I agreed with him on that.

The 72nd student council, led by Tennouji-san, was running smoothly so far. There was no doubting Tennouji-san’s skill.

Abeno-san was fully utilizing her earnest personality to fulfill her duties as treasurer, and Yodogawa was also working hard with his overflowing stamina. The secretary’s job is simple, but in return, it requires reading through vast amounts of documents and creating a large volume of materials, so it might be a good fit for someone as energetic as him.

Narika was also making full use of her experience to converse with people from outside the academy on equal terms. For a long time, Narika had been self-conscious about her social skills, but as a result of her continuous efforts to overcome that, she was beginning to grasp how to present herself in a way that earns trust. Watching her like this, I even think that someone who has overcome a weakness can produce more flexible results than someone who has been good at it from the start. Negotiating might even become Narika’s specialty in the near future.

As for me… For now, I feel like I’m being useful, but…

The moment I feel I’m being particularly helpful is when I’m searching for reliable business partners. Before Narika deals with people from outside the academy, I often research the potential partners first. Tennouji-san also trusts my judgment in that area, especially after the Management Game.

“As scheduled, we will decide on each class’s cultural festival project after school tomorrow. It’s going to be busy for a while, but let’s do our best!!”

“Yes.”

“Right!”

The preparations for the cultural festival are proceeding steadily. Today, we finished ordering the minimum necessary materials, and from tomorrow, we also have to consider each class’s project.

I wonder what kind of projects they have at the Kiou Academy cultural festival. …Given how things have been so far, it’s probably completely different from a normal high school.

“Tomonari-san, what’s the matter?”

“Ah, no… I was just wondering what our class will be doing.”

Because I’ve been busy with student council work, my interaction with my classmates has been a bit limited lately. That said, everyone is supportive, and I’m sure they’d tell me various things if I asked.

I wonder what kind of projects everyone wants to do.

“Class A will almost certainly want to do a play.”

I looked at Tennouji-san, who had said that.

“Why is that?”

“Well, because Konohana Hinako is in Class A.”

Huh? I still don’t get it.

However, the other three showed signs of understanding.

“Ah… that was certainly amazing.”

“I also didn’t expect to be so moved at a cultural festival.”

“Yeah! I got interested in theater after that day!”

The three of them clearly knew something I didn’t.

“Come to think of it, Tomari-san is a transfer student, so you wouldn’t know, would you.”

Tennouji-san explained it to me, who couldn’t keep up with the conversation.

“At last year’s cultural festival, Konohana Hinako played the lead role in a play and received high praise. …It’s frustrating to admit, but that was magnificent.”

Tennouji-san let out a frustrated grunt.

Hinako… playing the lead in a  play…?