The Saint And Miko’s Great Match

“Yes! This is a café run by the people of Class 1-16, but to praise Leo-kun… Leopin-kun, they changed the shop name to ‘Leopan’!”

“Master… Leopin-sama is a wonderful person! If I were permitted, I would even like to make my Shrine into ‘Leopin Shrine’!”

Monaka and Kotone spoke rapidly, as if swept up in a fever.

From that point on, the exchange flowed with unstoppable momentum.

“Leopin!? Isn’t that the same name that was carved into the wheat field!? According to Weiss-sama, he is a hopeless failure of a student…!”

“That is not true! After all, that wheat field is something Leo-kun made!”

“We also help him after school!”

“And this bread was baked using Leo-kun’s recipe too!”

“Thanks to Master making the wheat field and the bread, then granting them to us, everyone in this residential district has become able to eat bread!”

“If Leo-kun had not been here, we would have been unable to eat bread and would have been in hardship!”

“Ahh, Master is a god of salvation…!”

Perhaps Monaka and Kotone were overcome with emotion as they explained how wonderful Leopin was, because their eyes, clear enough to reflect the blue sky, grew moist.

At last, they bent their knees and began praying toward the Leopin on the signboard.

The prayers of a famous Saint were originally something offered only to gods and those in power.

When something so noble was directed toward an unknown student, the reporters’ confusion reached its peak.

“A-amazing…! Monaka-sama and Kotone-sama are kneeling…!”

“What on earth is this student called Leopin…?”

“There should not have been anyone with that name among the sons of prestigious families…?”

“Could he perhaps be an unknown commoner? It should be impossible for a commoner student to accomplish such things, though…”

“You all think so too, right? Right, right?”

Then, a voice cut in as if it were completely rotten.

When they looked, Kakerukun and the vice principal were there, kneading the sample bread around in their hands.

“There isn’t a single piece of evidence for what Monaka-san and Kotone-san are saying, right?”

At that, the two Saints rose indignantly to their feet.

“No way! Principal, are you saying that we are lying!?”

“Yes! Because there are plenty of reasons for that! Right!”

Kakerukun had handed the guide role over to Weiss.

After that, he thought it would be fine to leave things to Weiss and had been relaxing inside the school, but when he saw students rushing into the infirmary because they felt sick, he grew uneasy.

When he went to Eternal Toinette, there he found the Sage alone, displaying a ghastly scene of corpses piled upon corpses.

Thinking that Weiss must have made some outrageous mistake, Kakerukun hurriedly thought of a countermeasure.

The method he chose there was to “insist that everything was a lie”…!

Some students and supporters already naturally knew about Leopin’s achievements up until now.

The students could be silenced by force, and the supporters were instead in a position where they would actively keep their mouths shut.

However, the problem was Monaka and Kotone, since authority did not easily work on them.

So what Kakerukun came up with was….

“Monaka-kun and Kotone-kun are lying because they want to get the Hero’s attention, right! You want to make the Hero jealous, so you’re praising a failure with no real merits like Leopin-kun, right! Right, right!”

Astonishingly, he treated the pure feelings of the two Saints as an act…!

It was a fairly reckless plan, but Kakerukun was confident.

As long as Leopin was not here, things would somehow work out…!

If Leopin were present, that would be the end, because his excellence could easily be proven.

However, Leopin was currently in the middle of supplementary lessons at the lake.

At this point in time, to the reporters, the impression of Leopin was nothing more than a being as detached from reality as an animal from myth.

The broadcast was scheduled to end at noon, so if he could just get through this situation….

Leopin would become an imaginary creature…!

That scheme was extremely effective, and relief immediately spread among the reporters.

“I see…! So that is what it was…! In that case, it makes sense!”

“I thought it was strange! From what I hear, that student called Leopin is a failure, and jobless on top of that!”

“There is no way such a useless student could perform better than the Hero or the Sage!”

Monaka and Kotone desperately held their ground.

“It is not a lie, it is the truth! After all, the bread here is the greatest proof!”

“And if Master did not make the wheat field, then who exactly did!?”

Kakerukun thought it would be bad if the topic was taken in that direction, so he raised his voice even louder.

“If you believe in Leopin-kun that much, let’s play a game! Right! Its name is the ‘Leopin Pioneer Game’!”

The rules he announced all at once, without even letting them interrupt with objections, were as follows.

From now on, if Leopin could make the Pioneer’s Breakfast within one month, Monaka and Kotone won. If he could not, they lost.

“If Leopin-kun is truly excellent, then procuring the ingredients and making the Pioneer’s Breakfast in one month should be easy, right!? Since this match is against Monaka-san and Kotone-san, as a special exception, I’ll allow the two of you to help Leopin-kun!”

This declaration greatly excited the reporters.

“Ooh!? At a pioneering academy, the next goal after farming is livestock raising, correct!”

“They say it takes about another year before livestock raising becomes possible! Even for an excellent student, shortening that to one month is, no matter how you look at it…!”

“But if he can accomplish it, then it will prove that the student called Leopin is truly excellent!”

Kakerukun had a sufficient chance of victory.

In the first place, this match was to do in one month what took one year, so Kakerukun’s side was overwhelmingly advantaged.

――Making the Pioneer’s Breakfast in one month is impossible!

-Besides, if I know what he is going to make, I can interfere as much as I want!

-And besides, even if he somehow achieves it….

-The reporters will leave by noon today, so there will be no third-party witnesses!

-If the only witnesses are students and supporters, I can cover it up however I want!

-If I arrange to announce the results at the press conference in the Royal Capital one month later, I can fabricate the results as much as I want…!

-This time, this match is my win! My wiiiiiiiiin!!

Kakerukun sharply pointed at Monaka and Kotone.

“If you win this game, I’ll give you two billion from my own pocket! Even if you split it between the two of you, that’s one billion Ender each! Right!”

At this, not only the reporters, but even the gathered student spectators erupted with “Ooooooh!?”

The crowd was completely on Kakerukun’s side.

“However, if you lose, you must hand your entire booklet of Slave Tickets over to me! Got it!? Right, right!”

Before they knew it, all the outer defenses had been secured, and Monaka was confused.

“U-um, Principal, that is gambling, right? Gambling is a little…”

However, Kotone, who had been waiting beside her, stepped firmly forward.

“I accept this match…!”

“No way!? Kotone-san!?”

“Monaka-sama, did we not swear to devote ourselves to Master? And I no longer wish to overlook Master’s great achievements being disregarded!”

At that declaration of resolve, Monaka snapped to attention as if struck by lightning.

She stepped forward to stand alongside Kotone.

“I will do it too…! I also cannot bear Leo-kun’s greatness not being acknowledged any longer…! And Principal! In exchange for accepting this game, there is one more thing I would like you to permit!”

“What might that be, be?” Kakerukun answered teasingly.

“We would like the academy to recognize our activities as the Leopin Royal Guard!”

“Eh… eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeh!?!?”

The scream that exploded in front of the bakery raced throughout the residential district.

That was only natural. After all, Monaka the Saint had made a statement practically equal to forming an Alliance.

An Alliance was a gathering that crossed the academy’s established frameworks, such as classes, committees, and clubs.

In pioneering academies, they were formed around the middle period, and in short, they were a system for integrating and reorganizing groups.

For example, Maachan’s Merchant Union was one type of Alliance.

And if Leopin had not been there, by now, it would likely have been absorbed into the Grand Merchants’ Union.

In this way, Alliances themselves were not that unusual.

However, for a Saint as famous as Monaka to form an Alliance for someone other than the Hero or the Sage was an exception among exceptions.

The reporters’ murmuring would not stop.

“Monaka-sama is forming an Alliance!? This is an incredible scoop!”

“But an Alliance is an important decision that affects a Saint’s entire life! Does Monaka-sama’s guardian know about this!?”

As if answering that question, Monaka turned toward the transmission device and spoke while looking into the camera.

“Big Sister! Are you watching!? I have informed you about Leo-kun many times in my letters, right!? Your reply has not yet reached me, but…. Even if you tell me no, Big Sister, I want to keep supporting Leo-kun!”

Monaka said, “I am sorry for being selfish!” and bowed deeply toward the transmission device.

A sudden statement about forming an Alliance, and one named after a jobless failure at that, was something Kakerukun absolutely could not allow.

However, this match was like a spiderweb to Kakerukun.

If he could lure the beautiful butterflies into an area where absolute victory was guaranteed…!

――I can sweep away those annoying students attached to Leopin…!

-This time, I can make Leopin all alone for sure…!

-And with the bonus of especially beautiful girls…!

-With Slave Tickets, I can order them to do this and that…! Kakakakaka!

Kakerukun declared while scattering drool.

“Fine! If you win, in addition to the two billion, I will officially recognize the formation of the Leopin Royal Guard as principal!

Then the game starts now!

Now that the game has begun, you will not be allowed to retire until the match is decided! Right, right!”

A match card with no precedent in history: the Saints versus Kakerukun.

The curtain on that battle was finally cut down…!

However, at the exact timing when that curtain had just barely fallen, or had not yet fallen, to the ground, the match was decided.

A single girl holding a tray came out of the bakery building.

On the tray sat a dish giving off warm steam.

She had been shut away in the kitchen at the back the whole time and knew nothing of the exchanges up until now.

The girl looked at the crowd gathered in front of the shop and tilted her head, wondering what they were doing.

Before long, as if mustering her courage, she called out to the spectators.

“U-um, um, ummm! A-a new menu has b-been completed! It is the Western Pioneer’s Breakfast, for which Chef Leopin provided the ingredients and recipe!”

“Ba… bankruuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuupt!?!?”