Commercial Street

As Konoe entered the student council room, he heard Tachibana Senpai's somewhat angry voice.

"You're too slow! How long do you expect us to wait?"

"Sorry, Chabashira-sensei just called me away." Konoe wondered inwardly, Don't you guys have anything better to do?

Everyone was in the student council room except for Nagumo Miyabi.

"Konoe, this time I want you to learn about accounting. Kiriyama." Horikita Manabu called out Kiriyama's name, who was the current accountant for the student council.

"Yes, President." Kiriyama responded, taking out what he had prepared: a USB drive and a small notebook.

Konoe curiously took the two items Kiriyama handed him and asked, "What are these?"

Kiriyama explained, "The USB drive contains the income and expenditure records of all third-party shops in the school, and the other is the corresponding ledger."

Konoe looked at Horikita Manabu and asked, "So this is also student council work? Isn't it a bit too difficult for me?"

"Konoe, I'm not asking you to be the accountant, just to gather information."

"Gather information?"

Before Horikita Manabu could explain, Tachibana couldn't help but interrupt, "First, let's talk about what happened last time. How could an ordinary person read and remember... over eight hundred pages of material in just ten or twenty minutes!"

Kiriyama looked over at Konoe in surprise.

Tachibana continued, "And the Olympiad math problem I gave you the time before that..."

"You used an Olympiad math problem as an interview question? And Senpai, you knew how substantial the material was last time? I thought this was normal stuff in the student council." Konoe said indignantly.

"I asked Tachibana to find a problem that a student absolutely could not solve to test you. I thought you had solved the previous mini-test by getting the past exam questions, but I didn't expect you to actually solve it yourself." Horikita Manabu nodded with satisfaction. "The same goes for the material last time. It seems you have something special about you."

"...You flatter me, but I don't have a computer. How can I view the contents of the USB drive? Can I borrow the one in the student council room?"

"There's quite a bit of material this time, so I'll have Tachibana help you with this. You'll focus solely on memorizing the material this week." Horikita Manabu paused and said, "What you'll be dealing with is confidential, you understand that, right? No matter who asks, you can't say what you're doing."

Hearing that it was confidential, Konoe felt a strange sense of excitement: "No problem! I just need to memorize the content?"

"For now, yes."

"...Alright then, what's next?"

"Tachibana, take Konoe to buy a notebook computer for work, using the student council's funds."

"Yes, President." Tachibana took out a key, opened a safe iron cabinet, and took something out.

Konoe exclaimed in surprise, "There's such a good thing?"

"...The computer isn't being bought for you. This is equipment purchased by the student council, and it's only being temporarily lent to you for work," Horikita Manabu reminded him.

"I know. Is it okay if I work from home?"

"What strange things are you saying in front of the President? Hurry up and come with me!" Tachibana grabbed Konoe's sleeve and led him out of the student council room.

The purple-haired Maruko Head Senpai led the way, and the gazes of those around them occasionally fell on her. The student council often held events, and Tachibana was usually in charge. Although her figure was a bit petite, her strides were not slow at all.

Konoe followed her to the commercial street. Due to Tachibana's swift and decisive pace, Konoe, following behind, was out of breath.

"Wait... wait a moment... Senpai, are you speed-walking?"

Tachibana put her hands on her hips, displeased with Konoe, "You're too slow! Konoe, no wonder you kept the President waiting for so long just now. If all the student council's field work was as slow as you, when would the work ever get done?"

"Hoo... I..." Konoe wanted to retort but almost choked, so he had to shut his mouth and focus on breathing.

Tachibana put on an expression of defeat towards Konoe, "I can't stand it. You wait here."

"Even though I'm just a junior, can't Maruko Head Senpai have a better attitude..." Konoe felt a bit sad inwardly.

However, to Konoe's surprise, Tachibana returned just a few minutes later.

"Here." Tachibana handed him a bottle of energy drink.

"What?" Konoe had adjusted his breathing, but he still didn't react to the bottle in front of him.

"You'll know when you look at it, right? This is for you. Once you've rested, let's go."

Konoe took the drink and asked curiously, "Thank you, Senpai. But can the student council reimburse this?"

"What are you dreaming about? I bought this for you myself!"

"...Wuwuwu, Senpai, you're so good to me. I'll never call you Maruko Head Senpai again," Konoe said emotionally.

Seeing Konoe's feigned demeanor, Tachibana felt a shiver and glared at Konoe angrily, "...You rascal."

"Don't worry, Tachibana Senpai. I'll tell President Horikita that you're a kind, cute, and gentle senior to your juniors."

"Is... is that so?" Tachibana smiled sheepishly, seemingly forgetting what had just happened.

So easy to handle.

Soon, the two finally reached their destination, a shop specializing in notebook computers, with all sorts of models available.

"Senpai, I want that one!" Konoe pointed at a price tag of 199,999.

"Are you a child!" Tachibana was startled and looked around. Seeing that no one was paying attention, she let out a sigh, then quickly stepped forward and firmly patted Konoe's head, "Behave yourself. The computer has already been pre-ordered."

"Ouch! Why does everyone like using violence so much..." Konoe clutched his head in pain.

"You two seem close," a middle-aged man said with a smile as he walked over carrying a computer bag.

"I'm embarrassed that you had to see that, Shop Manager," Tachibana said sheepishly.

Konoe stepped forward. "Hello, Shop Manager. Speaking of which, can this shop really make money by being located here? I see a lot of merchandise that students can't afford."

"Hey, you..." Tachibana tried to stop Konoe, feeling his question was a bit abrupt.

"Hahaha, it's alright, it's alright. Is this student also part of the Student Council?"

"Sorry for the late introduction. I'm Konoe Hirakawa from Class D, first year. I just joined the Student Council."

"Hello, student. I'm in charge of purchasing equipment for the Student Council. As for the shop, Kiriyama-san should know best, so it's fine to tell you: this shop hasn't been profitable since it opened."

"Not profitable? But I thought young people should like electronic products."

"Yes, but that depends on customer traffic. As you can see, there are only a few hundred people in the school, but the commercial district here is so large. If it weren't for the school subsidizing some of the rent and the adults who work at the school occasionally visiting, I doubt many shops could stay open."

"...Is that so? May I ask which item has the highest expenditure?"

"Of course. The highest expenditure is probably transportation. If the shop has too little merchandise, it won't attract students to buy. If it has too much, it will sit unsold. If transportation were convenient, this wouldn't be a problem, but the school has rather strict requirements in this regard. It's not easy to transport merchandise in, which makes people hesitant to ship goods to the warehouse here. So, most orders for shops here are pre-orders. Although it's a bit troublesome, it's the most cost-effective way. This item in my hand is also something Kiriyama-san pre-ordered."

The Shop Manager finished patiently and handed the merchandise to him.

Konoe quickly took it with both hands. "I see. I've learned a lot."

"Not at all, thank you for your business."

After greeting the Shop Manager, Konoe and Tachibana left. Once outside, Tachibana immediately said goodbye to Konoe, saying she needed to return to the Student Council room to help.

Konoe brought the computer back to his dormitory and casually looked through the contents of the USB drive. Income and expenditure charts for hundreds, nearly a thousand shops over a year were all inside.

There are so many shops in the school? But not many are profitable...

Even Konoe looked troubled by the sea of data before him. "I'll have to skip tonight's training and memorize a portion each day..."