Chapter 515
"... It really hurts me. As my teammates, you don't believe me."
He muttered something under his breath, walked over, and picked up his guitar.
"Forget everything else, let's get practicing. That's the point of today, isn't it? We've already wasted a lot of time. Here, time is money."
"Oh, right! Leave the details of the next exchange outside!"
Shiina Rikki quickly sat back down in her seat.
"But we don't have any pieces to perform yet."
Chihaya Aine shrugged.
"Ah, in that case, I have a few good options..."
Nagasaki Sōse took out her phone.
"Wouldn't 'KASUMIKAGE' be fine? Let's talk about another one later."
Shiina Rikki picked up the drumsticks.
Nagasaki Sōse paused, "Hmm~ I think it's quite suitable for practice, but..."
What does "appropriate for practice" mean?
Shiina Rikki cast a cold glare at him.
"Eh..."
"Well, let's try them all,"
Ogura Asahi stepped in to smooth things over, "Sōse, which pieces are you referring to? I can play 'KASUMIKAGE'."
"Hey? Have you heard of Asahi-chan?"
"I've heard Mutsuko-chan Sauce play it."
"Oh, I see..."
A faint shadow fell over the mature and beautiful youthful face of Nagasaki Sōse.
"I'm the only one who hasn't heard of that before, Asahi- senpai~"
"Rikki, do you have the original sheet music?"
"..."
Next, in a slightly awkward atmosphere, the familiar practice sounds of a two-guitar version of "KASUMIKAGE" filled the recording studio, which was covered with wooden strips.
'Next time, I'll bring my Keyboard to try it out.'
As he played the music, Ogura Asahi thought to himself.
This song definitely needs Keyboard!
Just kidding, he likes both.
The next day, inside the Twin Buildings of the Philia Academy.
"Oh~ Hehehe~ I never expected to have the honor of meeting the legendary genius of the Sakurakoji Family today. It's truly gratifying and delightful!"
It was early morning, after the students had started their classes. Two figures, one in gold and one in silver, one in white and one in black, stood facing each other like shadows in the quiet and bright lobby of the Philia Academy.
Sakurakoji Talent couldn't help but exhale a faint breath. The person in front of him, who had just been so reserved and gentlemanly in his words and actions, had completely abandoned his high-class demeanor after learning his identity, and immediately revealed the naked desires in his heart.
This is truly... utterly speechless!
But people are diverse, and he has no right to judge others given his situation, so I forgive him.
"Nice to meet you, Mr. Handelsbanken. Please forgive my sudden intrusion."
For this world-class figure who had already made a name for himself in the industry and whose status and power were not to be underestimated, his wording became much more cautious and normal.
The man before them had short, curly blond hair and bright, clear blue eyes that were enough to attract the attention of some people.
What's even more remarkable is that he has a well-proportioned and tall figure, estimated to be around 186 centimeters tall, a physique that would easily make him a model. In addition, he has well-defined features and harmonious proportions, making him an absolute handsome man.
He looked quite young at first glance; if someone didn't know him, they would probably think he was only in his early twenties, not much older than him.
But in reality, he was already over forty years old...
In other words, he is a middle-aged demon who is the same Okura Iyo as, or even better preserved than, Daizou.
Lafley Handelsbanken, born in Sweden, was a classmate of Okura Iyo and one of the "The Legendary Seven".
Based on the information he had gathered, this person was quite dangerous to ordinary geniuses.
[Note 1: The Legendary Seven are top professionals in the clothing-related fields of the Kintsugetsu Series. They possess top-notch skills and talents in their respective areas, such as sewing, design, pattern making, and jewelry engraving. Each of them is no less capable than Okura Iyo. They provided technical support in the early stages of Jean-Pierre Stanley's business before he became a world-renowned brand.]
[Note 2: According to research, Iyo and others studied at the Antwerp Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Belgium. In the early 1980s, six Belgium designers who rose to prominence in the Europe fashion world were known as the "Antwerp Six," all graduates of this academy, and are the prototypes for the "legendary seven." Furthermore, Linda Loppa, the designer responsible for creating them, was the first to introduce the designs of Japan fashion designers Yohji Yamamoto and Rei Kawakubo to Belgium, and these two were the prototypes for designers Okura Iyo and Yamabuki Yachiyo.]
[Note 3: Jean-Pierre Stanley, the person with France royal blood mentioned in the previous two chapters, is also the designer with the strongest design ability in the Kintsugetsu Series. He is a classmate and Okura Iyo, and also an old friend of Okura Yusei. He is the person who led Yusei into the fashion industry.]
"No need to be so polite, just call me Lafley, you deserve it."
Lafley's gaze swept over the man before him, his eyes narrowing like a venomous snake eyeing its prey.
"So those works of unknown origin in your mother's studio were painted by you... I've asked your mother Iyo a few times, but they always just chuckled and changed the subject."
"Isn't that obvious?" Sakurakoji Talent thought to himself.
If it were anyone else, Sakurakoji Luna and Okura Iyo might have mentioned it briefly, but for this fanatical "believer" who values talent above all else, they would never place their precious nephews in front of him.
"I've long admired Mr. Lafley; to finally meet him today is truly a lucky occasion!"
Thinking of the information he had received from Okura Iyo, he said this rather reluctantly.
According to Okura Iyo, the other party's academic performance was among the best in their class, and in terms of overall strength, he was probably the strongest.
But that only applies to standards; when it comes to design that requires sensibility, he can never beat Stanley.
Tragically, in the process of following Stanley in starting his business, as his deputy, he gradually lost his own unique style as Stanley repeatedly created works according to Stanley's ideas due to time constraints.
They abandoned their own ideas, their own originality, their own potential, their own desire for victory and to fight to the death, and even their own selves, all in order to reproduce the genius's original work as much as possible.
So in the end, he became a fanatical follower of Jean, and could only exist as Jean's shadow and assistant, ridiculed by others.
No matter how hard you try, even if you achieve 99% accuracy, it's impossible to perfectly replicate someone else's work; that path is doomed from the start.
However, this was also because Jean-Pierre Stanley was too incompetent; he secretly stuck out his tongue.
Despite being a top-tier designer, he spends a significant amount of time gathering inspiration for each design, often resulting in delays in delivering work. To maintain business and the company's overall operations, the only option is to let him continue in this manner, even though he willingly chose this path.
If it were his mother or him, they would never have asked someone else to draw the design because of a problem with the blueprint.
Putting him aside for now, Sakurakoji Luna is also a rare superhuman designer who can handle all the design work by herself, a fact that even Okura Iyo has to admire.
In the last two years, another one has joined the ranks, along with Yamabuki Yachiyo. With so many masters at his disposal, his studio is now considered a top-tier design company.
Although it was a tragedy, it was his own choice... Meeting his greedy and angry eyes, he felt the same regret.
If he hadn't simply copied Jean's style, but instead added his own unique touches to each piece, he probably would have created works that surpassed Jean's by now.
Winning three or four out of ten matches shouldn't be a problem, but unfortunately...
[Note: Regarding the Talent in the original work, I prefer to divide it into pre-awakening and post-awakening. His pre-awakening Talent, due to childhood trauma and not finding the right path, was essentially covered in ashes, sweeping away ordinary people, slightly inferior to top-tier geniuses, probably around T1.5. However, his Talent after clearing away the shadows moved even the T0.5 Lafley to tears (although there was contextual bonus), which is too outrageous for his age, arguably the best performance in the Kintsugetsu System. I think he deserves at least T1 to T0.5.]
The reason why Lafley, despite his busy work schedule, still ventured into the field of education, which he had no interest in, and became the headmaster of the Japan branch school, was that he knew he would never reach Jean's level in this lifetime, so he wanted to personally cultivate a genius who could surpass him.
This can be described as his current obsession.
He is the chairman of all Philia Academy worldwide. The positions of principal of the other branch schools have already been taken by the other "Legendary Seven" who know his character well and are afraid that he will harm geniuses. Therefore, only this position is left for him.
The reason they fear he will ruin geniuses is because... his philosophy remains: only by imitating true geniuses can one surpass them.
In other words, he hoped to find geniuses and have them imitate Jean's works just like he did, in order to surpass Jean.
It's truly the real deal, and it's absolutely misleading!
Sakurakoji Talent stared at the "beast in human clothing" in front of him, almost laughing to himself.
Fortunately, he hasn't encountered any truly capable geniuses yet, so no one has been harmed by him for the time being.
If it weren't so bad, why would the Design Department have seen a year-on-year decline in student enrollment in recent years, and this year they even had to close down the first-year boys' class and stop recruiting... It's all because they haven't produced any outstanding graduates.
But this year is different from previous years. Judging from the students' level this year, apart from him, there are three other geniuses who have caught his eye and have his eye on them.
One example is Esther, who is currently trying to multitask. Because she hasn't revealed her true strength, she won't be targeted for the time being, but it's only a matter of time Mirai she has to show her true colors.
Secondly, there's the France girl, Justine Emily Lagrange, who lived in the same apartment building as him and was brought to tears by his own actions.
Thirdly, there is Ginjo Shunsin, who comes from a humble background, ranks first in the first year, is good at street style design, but not good at formal dress design.
His purpose in coming here today was twofold: firstly, to use connections to discuss matters related to enrollment, in order to prepare for fulfilling his promise to Yōkadō Sakuri later;
Secondly, we need to find a way to completely break Lafley's evil intentions and prevent him from harming the three of them and ruining their talents in the future.
Chapter 469 Negotiations with Lafley.
The reason he chose today is simply because he happened to fly back from France today.
Although he is the headmaster here, as the vice president of a world-renowned company, he is really busy and can only come here occasionally to handle some matters.
Each branch of the Philia Academy has numerous different colleges and departments, almost identical to the divisions of a university.
As a world-renowned designer, Lafley not only serves as the dean of the Fashion Academy here, but also as the head of all the academies, that is, the principal.
Together with Okura Rina, the current president of the Okura Family and the chairperson of the Japan branch, she manages the Japan branch of the Philia Academy.
Given his status and position, this is perfectly reasonable; almost no one else could compete with him for this position.
[Note: Some readers previously didn't understand the difference between a principal and a board chairman. This distinction only exists in private schools. Public school principals are appointed by the state and there is no board chairman. Simply put, the principal is the person who actually manages the school's affairs on a daily basis, equivalent to a senior external teacher, while the board chairman is a major shareholder on the board of directors. Similar to a private company, one is the CEO, and the other is the chairman of the board. The chairman has the right to hold meetings and announce the replacement of the CEO.]
"Hehehe~ You flatter me."
Lafley stared intently at him; to an outsider, it might have seemed as if he harbored ulterior motives towards him.
Naturally, language is not a problem for geniuses like them.
He not only speaks several languages fluently, but also speaks them all with a native-speaker level, even the less common Japanese.
"..."
Sakurakoji Talent is often hidden.
He still prefers your polite, public persona from earlier. Can you try to revert to that?
This was the true face of Okura Iyo after his outrageous behavior; he really didn't want to face it...
"I hope I haven't bothered you by inviting you today?"
"No, not at all~ Just seeing you today is the biggest gain of this trip! Even if I'm on the verge of a break from work at the company studio, I'll still make time to come and see you!"
His tone was melodious and varied, giving it a distinct feel from stage musicals.
"That's good. I look forward to your guidance in the future."
"Hmm? In the future?"
Lafley's eyes narrowed, and he began to scrutinize him again. "You mean in business? If so, we'll have many opportunities for cooperation without you even having to say it."
"You should also know that Rang has a very close relationship with your parents and Iyo."
"I do know about that kind of thing; after all, I've seen it quite a few times."
He chuckled and nodded.
"Is that so... So that guy already knew about your existence? That guy... actually wanted to monopolize such a precious rough stone—no, I should say a finished gemstone, it's truly unforgivable!"
He gritted his teeth, his eyes contorted in a ferocious grimace, as if he wanted to tear that distant person to shreds.
Gou Ri is quite perceptive...
Realizing he wasn't alone, he straightened his clothes and asked with a humble expression, "So, if it's not business, what is your purpose in coming here today?"
"It's nothing major, I just want to meet with you."
He said with a forced smile, "Besides, I have several Relatives and friends who are also studying at Filia this year, so I just wanted to ask for your opinion on the students this year."
He didn't care about the others, but he couldn't just stand by and watch Esther be targeted by him.
Although, judging by the shit she's drawing now—if she has any conscience at all—she should pay for Lafley's medical expenses.
"This...?"
Lafley's eyes widened slightly, then narrowed with interest. "I'm not too familiar with the other majors, but as for the Design Department... I'm going to the office now to review their design work from this period. Would you like to come along?"