The 'Built A Nice House' Award

The scene shifted to the school building of the Royal Pioneer Academy.

Inside the castle—lavishly constructed even by royal standards—two men stood in an especially opulent room.

“N-no! Well now, goodness me! I never imagined that trash and Monaka-san were childhood friends, zansu!”

“Hmph! Thanks to that, one award has gone completely to waste! And the prize money for an award with no recipient must be returned to the sponsors…!”

The principal and vice principal were constantly looking for excuses to wring money out of the sponsors.

This time, their method had been to create various awards and give prize money to students.

Although the prize money would briefly pass through the students’ hands, it would be spent over the course of academy life and ultimately end up back in the principal’s pocket—a neat little scheme.

However, the principal and vice principal had not given the very first award, the “Monaka-san Lovey-Dovey Award,” to Leopin.

The reason was simple—

“We can’t exactly give an award to someone from the Special Training Class, zansu. If we did, they’d just run off with it immediately, zansu.”

That was right. The Special Training Class was, in essence, an exile room.

Giving prize money to students who might quit at any moment would only result in throwing money away.

For elite figures like the principal and vice principal, giving money to a failure was more humiliating than handing it to a thief.

“Still, what’s done is done, so there’s nothing to be helped. We’ll just chalk this up as having tripped over some trash and move on.”

“Yes! As expected of the principal—so very positive, zansu! That belly didn’t stick out for nothing, zansu!”

“By the way, Vice Principal, are preparations for the next award complete?

If we don’t give out an award soon, the sponsors will start complaining.”

“Of course they are, zansu! Next up is the ‘Built a Nice House’ Award, zansu! We’ll tour the residential plots and give the prize to the student who built the best house, zansu!”

“Hm. In that case, there should be a proper recipient this time. But just in case… there’s no way that trash could have built a good house—”

“No need to worry about that, zansu! The best an unemployed piece of trash can manage is a doghouse, zansu! And on top of that, we moved that trash’s plot into the forest, zansu!”

“I see. In that case, no matter what kind of house that trash builds, it won’t matter. We simply won’t inspect it.”

The principal and vice principal exchanged glances and grinned.

“‘This time for sure, the ten million will be ours… heh-heh-heh…!’”

The two left the principal’s office and headed for the residential plots outside the castle.

But the moment they stepped out of the castle, what leapt into their eyes was—

“O… oho!? Look at that house!”

“Zansu!? A two-story house, zansu!?”

“To build such a house in a situation with no materials or tools…! Look at it—compared to that, the surrounding shacks are like trash!”

“There’s no doubt this person will become an outrageous architect in the future, zansu!”

“There’s no need for any inspection at all! We’ll give the prize money to the student who built that house! And then we’ll flaunt that student’s excellence to the sponsors as much as possible!”

“Yes, zansu! If someone can build a house like that, the sponsorship money will come pouring in!”

“Indeed! The student who built that house is the very definition of a golden egg!”

Filled with enthusiasm, the two hurried toward the two-story house.

There, they found the girls from Class 1-02.

“Oh!? So this house belongs to Class 1-02!”

“A residence befitting the future Great Saint, Monaka-san, zansu! Surely some super-boy built this house as a gift for Monaka-san, zansu!”

Monaka answered brightly.

“Yes! The person I respect and admire above all else is the one who built this house for me!”

“Oh-ho!? Then does that mean the two of you have pledged your futures to one another!?”

“T-that’s not quite… though, of course, if that person were to allow it, then I…”

As Monaka fidgeted shyly, the principal became convinced. This will work.

He leaned over and whispered to the vice principal.

“Judging by Monaka-kun’s reaction, she must be quite close with that super-boy. In that case, we can give the ‘Monaka-san Lovey-Dovey Award’ together as well.”

“I see—brilliant as always, Principal! That shiny head of yours isn’t just for show, zansu! Of course, I always carry the certificates with me, zansu!”

The vice principal promptly pulled two certificates from his inner pocket.

Beaming, he asked eagerly,

“Monaka-san! We would like to give a special award to that super-boy, zansu! And not just one—two of them, zansu! It’s a tremendous honor, so there’s no need to be shy—please tell us the name of that person you admire so much, zansu!”

“Y-yes…! That person’s name is… Leo-kun… Leo—”

“Kyeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!”

The vice principal suddenly screamed like a deranged monstrous bird, causing Monaka to flinch in shock.

As for the principal, he tore the two certificates to shreds and bolted out of the house with a face like a boiling kettle.

Within the residential area, students were in the middle of rebuilding their collapsed houses.

At the sight of such incompetence, the principal and vice principal stamped their feet in fury.

“Gnnnn…! Everything except Monaka-kun’s house is trash…! And all of it is because of that trash!”

“I never imagined that trash would interfere to this extent, zansu! I thought he’d be wallowing alone in filth somewhere in the forest…!”

“At this point, Vice Principal, prepare the next award!”

“Yes, zansu! I already have one in mind! Next will be the ‘First to Level Up’ Award, zansu!”

“Oh! Come to think of it, it’s about time someone leveled up for the first time! Judging by performance, it should be one of the class leaders—”

Just then, both the principal and vice principal sensed a dazzling light at the edge of their vision, like a jewelry box being opened.

They looked at each other, then shouted on reflex.

““Congratulations on leveling up! Now, please accept this certificate—!””

But standing there was the one student they least wanted to see.

Yes—freshly Level 4—

Leopin.

“K-kyeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!”