Wheat Flour Distribution

Every game Kakerukun had set up with Payper to use against Leopin had ended in complete failure.

Feeling like he had been cleaned out at a casino, Kakerukun returned to the principal’s office.

The vice principal, who also served as his secretary, spoke to him in an exhausted voice.

“Principal, this evening there is a press conference in the Royal Capital, desura. You need to make your inaugural greeting for the outside world, desura.”

“Ah… come to think of it, there was that too…”

Kakerukun’s mood grew even heavier.

At that press conference, he had intended to boast about having driven out the incompetent student of the Special Training Class as an achievement of his own.

In his rosy calculations, Leopin should have been drowned in debt by the “Leopin Millionaire Game” Kakerukun had set up on his very first day as principal, and should have run away in the night long ago.

If he had announced that loudly and proudly, he should have been able to make the sponsors who hated Leopin recognize his own competence, but…

However, that boy was still alive and kicking…!

Kakerukun had failed to come up with a single accomplishment to boast about.

He headed from the academy to the Royal Capital through a transfer magic circle in utter disappointment, but…

At that very press conference venue, unexpected words flew out from among the reporters.

“Principal Kakerukun! Is it true that a wheat field has already been created at the academy and that wheat flour has already begun circulating in the residential district!?”

“If so, that is an enormous achievement! At previous pioneer academies, it took at least a full year before wheat flour began circulating without relying on imports from outside! This speed is astonishing!”

“As expected of Principal Kakerukun! Not just in gambling, but as principal too, you’ve hit the jackpot!”

Kakerukun turned pale and said,

“W-why do you know about that…!?”

But after being showered with praise by the reporters, his cheeks quickly flushed red.

“Kakakakaka! Well, if the secret’s out, it can’t be helped! Things like distributing wheat flour are like betting on the favorite for a guy like me, so I didn’t think it was even worth bragging about! Right, right!”

“So it really was thanks to Principal Kakerukun’s guidance! Still, the students who distributed it seemed to be quite outstanding students as well!”

To distribute wheat flour, the existence of a producer—in other words, a farmer—was indispensable.

However, in this Leak Eight Kingdom, all industries in the secondary sector and below were treated as “jobs anyone can do.”

In other words, occupations such as agriculture, fishing, manufacturing, and construction were regarded as jobs for lowly people, and their social standing was very low.

Though there were exceptions like the Celestial Carpenter, the ones socially celebrated were those in the tertiary sector and above.

The tertiary sector referred to those who did not perform simple labor.

They were regarded as being in a position to order producers around at will and were seen as the superior class.

That was why the reporters were less interested in who had made the wheat flour than in who had distributed it.

Caught up in the mood, Kakerukun replied in high spirits.

“Kakakakaka! The ones who distributed the wheat flour were Class 1-09, the Merchant Union!”

“Oh, so it was the Merchant Union! That is quite the achievement!”

“Right, right! So I decided Class 1-09 should rank up by two levels!”

“I certainly think that is an accomplishment worthy of a two-rank promotion! But there was another merchant class in the academy too, wasn’t there… the Grand Merchants’ Union?”

“Ah, those kids were hopeless! All they did was interfere with the distribution of wheat flour! So I decided Class 1-07 should be punished with a one-rank demotion!”

To think Kakerukun, carried away by the flow of conversation, had announced changes totaling three whole ranks.

When the leaders of both classes learned of this, it was said that they let out screams of sorrow and joy from opposite extremes.

“N-no wayyyyyyーーーー!? We lower merchants are moving up to the middle ranks!? And we can even become the same rank as senior merchants!? It’s like a dreamーーーーーー!?!!?”

“M-my paaaaaaaperーーーーーーーーーーーーーー!? Pay and the others, senior merchants!? We who were in the upper ranks when we first enrolled!? To think we’d end up at the same rank as lower merchantsーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーー!?!!?”

And then Kakerukun, having been thoroughly praised by the reporters, returned triumphantly to the academy.

However, he was once again thrown into the depths of despair.

By a notice from the Board of Education informing him of a two-rank demotion.

“W-why, why, whhhyyyyyyyyーーーーーーーーーーーーー!?”

However, he could not say he had no idea why.

Because he had made two blunders.

One was that in front of the reporters, he had talked up the Merchant Union and talked down the Grand Merchants’ Union.

Praising lower merchants also led to denying those of the upper classes.

If it had been the other way around, there would have been no problem at all, but this had touched the sponsors of the academy on a raw nerve.

And the other was that even after having High-Quality wheat flour right before his eyes, he had let it slip away.

When it came to High-Quality wheat flour, it was as good as gold in this world.

Ordinarily he should have snatched it away by any means necessary and offered it up as a political tool for his sponsors, but…

He had not done that… no, he had been unable to do it…!

Kakerukun was on the verge of losing his mind, but he immediately made a donation to the Board of Education and lobbied to have the measure revoked.

The amount of money required to erase the two-rank demotion was an unbelievable 1 billion…!

“B-baaaaankruuuuptcyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyーーーーーーーーーーーーーー!?!!?”

Kakerukun rolled around with such force that he nearly shredded the brand-new carpet in the principal’s office all over again.

“It’s frustrating, frustrating, frustratinggg! So frustratinggggg~~~~! That I, of all people, would lose not once but twiiiiceeeee~~~~! And to suffer losses of 1 billion, twice over too…! I won’t forgive this…! I won’t forgive you, Leopin…! Not just double—ten times…! I’ll pay you back tenfold and make you cry your eyes out! …Uwaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーー!!”

The wheat flour I had produced and milled was bagged by Maachan and the others of the Merchant Union and began to be sold in the residential district.

It was sold under the name “Leopin Brand Wheat Flour,” for 1,000 Ender, one-tenth the price of the wheat flour sold at the school store.

Needless to say, it sold like crazy, but the ones buying it were only the lower-ranked classes.

That was because for people in the upper-ranked classes, buying wheat flour with my name on it was the ultimate humiliation.

The only upper-ranked classes buying my wheat flour were Monaka’s class and Kotone’s class.

But wheat flour, which until now had only been allowed to the rich in the residential district, had become an ordinary food.

Total sales of the wheat flour came to 3.5 million Ender.

I split that revenue evenly with the Merchant Union.

Even now, the Grand Merchants’ Union still threw its weight around in the residential district.

But the existence of this wheat flour had struck a great hole in the market that had long been under monopolistic control.

“If we can start distributing crops other than wheat flour from here on, that warped market should gradually improve too. And more than anything, I want to support Kurumi’s dream of becoming a Pastry Chef, even if only a little.”

Once I could picture the consumers who would use what I made and eat it, my motivation surged all at once.

The day after the wheat flour uproar was a holiday, so I got up earlier than usual.

“All right, the weather’s nice today, so I’ll get fired up and do some fieldwork.”

Muttering to myself things like, “I should harvest the sesame soon too,” I headed toward the field and found some unexpected visitors there.

Monaka and the others from Class 1-02, and Kotone and the others from Class 1-19.

Altogether, the two classes made a total of twenty female students waiting for me.

For some reason they were all wearing bloomers, and the thighs of the Saints and Miko, which they normally hardly ever showed, were dazzling.

“What’s with those outfits?”

When I called out to them, Monaka’s and Kotone’s faces brightened at once.

“Ah, Leo-kun! Please let us help with the work too!”

“We heard rumors that Master was making a field together with the people of the Merchant Union, so as your disciple, I hastened here.”

Monaka held a small hand rake like the kind used for clam digging, and Kotone held a tiny shovel like the kind used for playing in a sandbox, both of them excited like children eager to help with gardening in their parents’ yard.

Their white skin looked untouched by fieldwork, and their hands were as pretty as a kitten’s paw pads.

I didn’t think they’d be much of a labor force, but if they were willing to help, then I might as well accept even that cat’s-paw help.

“Let’s see, then could you lightly dig over the empty field with those shovels? Onesuko, Shinobuko, and Tomoe can probably handle blades, so help me harvest the sesame.”

“Okaaay!”

With those cheerful voices, the future Saints and Miko scattered off.

The trio of attendants grumbled, but once they started harvesting, they seemed to enjoy it and cut down the sesame as if competing with each other.

The sparkling smiles of beautiful girls, and sweat bursting forth.

It was a very peaceful, heartwarming sight.

They were welcomed into my base.