Halley's Plan

(Miluno)

After driving around the city for a while, I finally found the address where Halley was supposed to meet me. It was a restaurant with a very chic decor in a slightly secluded alley, and even the sign was in English.

Even the best wine needs advertising; business was relatively slow at lunchtime, even though it was the weekend.

Since Halley invited me here, the food must be pretty good. I doubt only seasoned gourmets would know this place exists.

After reverting to his new form and assessing his remaining balance, he stepped into the store with a somewhat hesitant confidence, fearing he'd be forced to wash dishes...

This is a barbecue restaurant.

Because of the Heat Haze grilled meat) stands in Kagerou and Falcon, I've recently lost my appetite for grilled meat.

Upon entering, one is greeted by a faint scent of spices in the air. Green hedges separate the dining tables and booths, and the exquisite wooden tables and chairs have taken on a deep color over time. This is not due to the patina that comes from long use, but simply because there is no partition between the kitchen and the dining area—they have been blackened by smoke.

"Oh, little Yezi! Here~"

As soon as I entered the store, I heard someone greeting me.

Halley was waving frantically from the far end of the shop window.

Today, she was dressed in the typical urban office lady attire: a black women's blazer, a white shirt with a heavy collar, and a red pencil skirt.

I first had Mono sit in the seat against the wall, and then I sat down opposite Halley.

"Sis, there are no other customers in the store, why are you sitting in such a corner seat?"

"I'm a public figure, you know! What would you like to eat?"

Halley brushed aside her bangs and handed over the electronic menu.

"Hey, who's this kid? You and Ceruno are definitely a couple, right? Why are you always surrounded by different girls?"

A barrage of questions rained down on her: Was she originally this talkative and chattering?

I slightly lifted Mono's short-brimmed felt hat, revealing a pair of short temples.

He then introduced her, saying, "Her name is Mono, and she's kind of my Witch Persona."

Halley wasn't surprised; he even rested his chin on his hand and looked her up and down.

"Oh! Sirius mentioned her, she's so cute, doesn't she look a bit like Ceruno?"

When Mono chose his Base Body, he did indeed use Ceruno as the base; simply put...

She is short in stature but has a large bust.

Rarely receiving praise from others, Mono scratched his head sheepishly and smiled:

"Hehehe, thank you, sister."

But Halley then asked:

"So, do you have any plans to become an idol? I'm a really amazing manager, you know!"

As he spoke, he respectfully handed over a business card with both hands.

"Why are you still working as a talent scout? Didn't Kuluoluo Idol Agency close down?"

Mono accepted the business card, and Halley then replied:

"Kuluoluo has completely closed down, but I haven't given up my job as a manager. It's just that I don't have any real idols under my management yet. Neither you nor Ceruno. I'll have to go out and find them myself!"

Shocking! She doesn't even idolize me or Ceruno?

Although I don't have it myself...

"Waitress, I'd like to order."

The waiter took the electronic menu, and then it was just a matter of waiting for the grilled meat to be served.

Halley had already ordered most of the food before we arrived, so Mono and I only needed a few more side dishes... Even if it wasn't enough, we wouldn't order any more, since we didn't have much money in our pockets!

Although Mono has some gold fragments, I haven't converted them into cash yet, so I can't trade them directly.

"Alright, let's get down to business."

Halley brought up the matter himself and said:

"Sirius, tell me, your expected goal for this fundraising concert is to earn two small fortunes?"

Buying the forest farm would cost at least 200 million, but Miss Barbara preferred to buy the entire Forest Park.

"Yes, is it possible?"

Halley paused for a moment when the waiter brought over the complimentary lemonade.

Before this, do you know how much net revenue Sirius earned from his most profitable concert?

"I'm not very clear about these things..."

Sirius is the world's number one idol; her income must be incredibly high, right?

Hallye didn't keep anyone in suspense.

"Only 20 million? And that's her most successful one? She usually only makes a little over 10 million in net income... By the way, I Past only make a little over 3 million from a single concert, and I was considered a top idol back then."

Even three million is a considerable sum, but it's still quite a distance from the fundraising goal.

"Now you understand, right? How unattainable your little goal is."

"... Looks like we're going to have to do a series of world tours?"

Halley shook his head in reminder.

"Using sheer numbers might work, but that forest is about to be logged, isn't it? What you're lacking right now is time."

Tsk, so the only way to create gold indefinitely is by using the magic of the Golden?

Global gold prices will collapse tomorrow.

Mono lay slumped on the table, venting my innermost thoughts.

"If you're going to make things so complicated, you might as well just have Sirius pay for it directly."

"If we do that, all of Barbara's efforts will have been for nothing."

"Do you think it makes sense to put unlimited quantitative easing into the gold pool? The financial system will collapse, you know?"

Halley, unaware of our conversation, was raising one eyebrow at the other and staring at us strangely.

It would be impolite to leave her hanging, so I quickly followed up with:

"Uh, sis, does that mean this can't be done?"

"No, since I contacted you, I naturally brought a proposal..."

She took a rolled-up folder from her handbag and pulled out a similarly rolled-up A4 sheet of paper.

"Here, this is the draft."

Seeing his confident demeanor, I took it and glanced at it.

"Another online concert?"

Judging from her confident demeanor, it turned out to be nothing new; they had already done it once before at Bay Training Camp.

"That's right, that's exactly what I learned from the Bay Training Camp. Even if a live concert is sold out, the maximum audience is only 80,000 people. But for an online concert, that number can be ten times, a hundred times, or even a thousand times."

Looking at the draft in my hand, I understood what she meant: in the end, it still comes down to quantity.

Ceruno and I have experience with online performances, and we also have the advantage of low costs, so we can set the ticket prices as low as possible. If the publicity and promotion are done well enough, we can even attract some casual viewers...

Ah, the barbecue platter is served.

The knife sliced through the crispy-on-the-outside, tender-on-the-inside roasted meat with ease, and steaming juices seeped out from between the cut meat fibers.

It also comes with a "taco," a tortilla filled with grilled meat, topped with a Latin-style salsa.

"This smells like money. Did you bring enough?"

The little thing in my head was saying things that made it hard to enjoy food.

I rubbed my hands together, poured a dollop of bright red Tabasco sauce over the grilled meat, and quickly stuffed it into Mono's mouth.

"So spicy!"

She covered her mouth and curled up in a ball on the sofa.

Is it painful?

This is what it feels like to be short of money.

After the barbecue restaurant waiter, who was trying not to laugh, left, I asked:

"Online concerts also need a venue, right? So where should they be held?"

Since it's just a draft, many details haven't been included yet.

"It's not decided yet, but there's a place that will definitely not be disturbed by ordinary people, and it can also be used as a gimmick. I wonder if we can borrow the venue."

City School...

"You mean the 'Zodiacal' Magic Academy?"

"That's right."

Ordinary people really can't go in, but the scenery is beautiful, and there's excellent natural light outdoors.

"I need to discuss this with Principal Xiao Yi, but she'll understand if I explain it properly."

She put away Halley's proposal paper and then gave him further instructions:

"It would be best to finalize the plan in the next couple of days, since our time is very limited. Ideally, the concert should be released online this week."

Time is really tight...

"Then I'll go back this afternoon."

If the concert goes smoothly enough, then the goal of 200 million is not impossible.