Jewelry Academia.
It was the pride of Jewel City, the name given to the greatest elite academy on earth.
Complete with a grandiose phrase claiming that only those blessed with bloody effort, dazzling talent, and luck surpassing others could gain admission.
Looking at the students actually enrolled there, I could understand why they wanted to brag. Magical girls Ruby and Sapphire attended, and aside from them, the place was packed with powerhouses whose names anyone would recognize.
“Well, the school staff probably don’t know about Rabi and Sophia, though.”
In any case, the students of Jewelry Academia were being thoroughly trained to face the endlessly appearing monsters and the evil organizations dreaming of world domination.
And for some reason, in this place of learning for the young heroes who would lead that future, I ended up opening a café.
“Oh my, it seems a new shop is coming in.”
“Hmm. According to Miss Amber, it was certainly a shop called a café…”
“I absolutely want to try something called cheese cake!”
Leaving behind the conversation of young ladies who didn’t even know what a café was, I continued hammering away.
For now, the school had handled the construction, so all that remained was things like the interior and putting up the signboard.
“How did that bastard Lapis manage to slip something like a Silver Corps branch into a prestigious school like this?”
Judging by the fact that they built the café without the slightest suspicion, it didn’t seem like they had caught on about the Silver Corps.
Well, secretly planting the roots of evil like this was probably a talent in its own right. It was the kind of maneuver worthy of the boss of the Silver Corps.
“We managed to infiltrate somehow, but…”
The mission assigned to the Operations Support Department—in other words, to Amber and me—was to investigate and record the movements of Magical Girl Ruby and Sophia.
If possible, we were also told to listen in on conversations around Jewelry Academia. You never knew where valuable information might leak from.
“Seeing you at school, Senior… it feels kind of strange.”
“Amber?”
As I was hanging the sign engraved with the words “Café Eclipse” above the front entrance, she had somehow appeared behind me.
“Man~ It was always so far away, so walking there was annoying. This makes things way more convenient!”
“…You look pretty happy.”
I understood how she felt. Going to and from the café by train every time must have been quite exhausting.
I had been thinking about that part too. Though I never dreamed we’d end up moving onto school grounds.
It was truly, deeply regrettable that my life as a paycheck thief was no longer possible.
“A life like a plant, requiring no intense joy, yet free from deep despair. That was my goal…”
“What nonsense are you spouting all of a sudden? Stop grumbling and hammer!”
This was why beginners were no good. Even if I tried to bring up manga, there was no way she’d understand.
In the end, Amber chatted to her heart’s content and wandered off somewhere, leaving me to continue working silently on my own.
“Should I call it a day here?”
Whether I worked hard or slacked off, my salary would be about the same. Since I had no motivation anyway, I decided to loaf around a little.
Using the class hours when the students weren’t around, I wandered aimlessly through the school grounds.
“Jewelry Academia, huh.”
From the outside, it looked like nothing more than an ordinary prestigious university. If I had to add praise, it would be that all the buildings were modern.
But the elites of the world gathered here to cultivate their own magical power.
“The air’s different from the university I went to.”
I felt a strange sense of alienation. Like I’d been dropped all alone among a crowd of exceptional people.
I suddenly wanted to see Amber’s face. At this point, anyone I knew would do.
If I walked around campus like this, wouldn’t I run into someone? Like Rabi or Sophia.
“No, wait. I’m not supposed to meet them.”
Those two were magical girls, the sworn enemies of the Silver Corps. No matter how bored I was, thinking I wanted to meet them was definitely wrong.
Sophia was still one thing, but Rabi in particular would be dangerous.
As I was entertaining those useless thoughts, I suddenly sensed someone behind me.
Thinking, No way, I turned around unconsciously, and standing there was—
“O~hohoho! I heard from Miss Amber! You’re that coffee cook, aren’t you!”
“Who the hell is this…”
Standing there was a female student I had never seen before, neither Amber nor Rabi nor Sophia.
More importantly, this was the first time I’d ever seen someone actually laugh “ohoho” in real life. Was this something I could brag about?
“Who the hell, you say? How rude! Don’t tell me you don’t know who I am?!”
Long, flowing white hair, a massive frame, and a voluptuous figure to match.
With breasts that large, I felt like I should know her, but nothing came to mind at all. Had I met her somewhere before?
“Then it’s not too late, so remember this clearly! I am the next head of the Brilliant family, Brilliant Aste Diamond! Everyone calls me Lady Dia!”
“Brilliant? You’re their daughter?”
It was a family well known as the name behind a multinational corporation with branches all over the world.
Heavy industry, construction, finance, sports, semiconductors—they had conquered every field imaginable, so there was supposedly almost no one who didn’t know their name.
“Hmph. Now you know exactly who I am, don’t you? Feel free to look up to me as much as you like!”
For someone who’d announced she came from nobility, she was noisy about every little thing.
“Still, this is the first time I’ve seen someone introduce themselves with their full name.”
People in this world didn’t emphasize surnames much.
Apparently, because of the long magical wars, the histories of families had become all tangled together.
Only a handful of clans with deep histories could proudly put forth their family names.
This girl seemed to have considerable pride in her family, but…
“More importantly, aren’t classes still going on? Don’t tell me you snuck out?”
“An honor student like me is specially exempt from classes!”
Exemption from classes. I had obtained useful information from an unexpected place.
Even magical girls who protected the world were still students, and classes could become a shackle for them. Even more so if they were hiding their identities from everyone.
“So they got good grades, earned exemption from classes, and made sure it didn’t interfere with their magical girl activities.”
I had wondered what Rabi and Sophia were, appearing all over the place every time, and now that question was finally answered.
“Coffee cook, enough idle chatter. Hurry and guide me to that place called Eclipse! I’ve wanted to enter a proper café at least once!”
As Diamond shouted that and struck a triumphant pose, her large breasts swayed with a bounce.
“It’s not finished yet… but follow me for now.”
Dealing with her any longer would be a pain, so I’d just serve her a cup of coffee and send her back quickly. I absolutely had not been lured in by her breasts.
***
“Ah, Dia-chan? Of course I know her. We’re friends to begin with.”
After returning to the Silver Corps headquarters, I was digging for information about Diamond from Amber.
“You call her Dia-chan?”
What a cute nickname. Next time I met her, I’d try calling her that.
“She’s super famous in school. She’s the eldest daughter of the Brilliant corporation, after all. More importantly, it’s stranger that you met Dia-chan, Senior.”
“She came by out of nowhere, so I gave her a cup of coffee and some cake and sent her off.”
The sight of her happily devouring cake was quite something to see. If only she kept her mouth shut, she’d be a beauty.
“Ah… just in case, I’m asking, but is there any chance she’s a magical girl?”
Feeling uneasy from the sudden déjà vu, I asked the question.
“No way~ If she were a magical girl, I would’ve noticed ages ago.”
Maybe because this was the girl who had missed Rabi and Sophia in her own class, I couldn’t quite trust her.
Still, none of the magical girls were connected to Diamond, so the possibility was probably low.
But Amber put on a slightly troubled expression and added an explanation.
“She’s not a magical girl, but… that girl is actually insanely strong. Almost on the same level as Sophia.”
“She’s on Sophia’s level?”
That was a terrifying fact. To think she stood shoulder to shoulder with a magical girl who manipulated magical power more efficiently than anyone and had defeated thousands upon thousands of enemies.
It seemed her calling herself an honor student wasn’t mere bluffing after all.
“Well, there are other things to be jealous of too. Her family’s amazing… and her breasts are big.”
“You’ve got a good family too. Your breasts are unfortunate, though.”
“Aaah! That’s the part I’m sensitive about!”
In any case, it didn’t seem like there was any need to be too wary of her. If we didn’t bother her first, there wouldn’t be any reason for her to strike back.
“More importantly, the café’s finished. I set it up so we can open right away tomorrow…”
“Ooh, that was fast.”
The problem here was the number of customers.
Even if a crowd gathered on the first day to some extent, we’d need to gradually reduce the number of customers in order to carry out the mission properly.
“If the shop is always packed, we won’t have time to pay attention to the mission or anything else.”
“You say that, but what’s your real reason?”
“I just want to hang around in a shop nobody comes to and enjoy an easy ride.”
“Wow, honest… How about raising the prices a lot? To about double what they were.”
“Double, huh.”
It wasn’t bad, but it felt a little lacking. In my original world, there were plenty of daylight robbers who charged 5,000 won for a cup of coffee.
In that case, I’d go one step further here. I could raise the price by offering dessert together with it.
“A truly devilish idea…”
***
Four days later.
[ The Next Head of the Brilliant Family Gives High Praise! What Is Café Eclipse? ]
[ Jewelry Academia’s New Pride—Where Will Its Triumphant Advance Lead? ]
I made one billion.