Lord Baby Runs A Romance Fantasy With Cash [EN]: Chapter 128

The Baby Runs the Romance Fantasy with Cash – Episode 128

☆ Chapter 128 ☆

* * *

The Aurora candidates were led by Count Cheshia into a room that wasn’t very large.

Inside the room, the interviewers sat in a row, and the participants sat in order across from them.

It was a typical interview setup.

‘It’s excessively luxurious for an interview location, though.’

Ruatisha, who had been through countless interviews, was used to it, but the other participants seemed awkward and hunched their shoulders.

Well, what kind of interviews would children in their early teens have experienced?

The interviewers looked at the young girls, smiling warmly and trying to ease their tension.

“It’s wonderful to see the young ladies who will brighten the future of the Empire.”

“Did you all have a hearty breakfast this morning? I skipped mine, by the way. I’m planning to eat a lot at the banquet later.”

‘It’s not a pressure interview at all.’

Ruatisha felt awkward at the kind gazes from the interviewers this time.

The questions were unremarkable.

There were questions about culture and art in general, and they also asked about past conflicts in some territories, asking for solutions.

There were questions about some of the recently implemented policies and even a request to establish disaster relief measures due to monsters.

Some questions were to check how accurately the young ladies knew, and some required deeper thought and perspective.

Of course, ‘unremarkable’ was only what Ruatisha thought.

The people watching the magic mirror quietly whispered.

“The interview questions this time are quite high-level, aren’t they?”

“I thought so when the final competition topic for the preliminary round was relief, but this is more like….”

Aren’t these questions about the capabilities that someone with much greater responsibility and authority should have?

These questions were too much for the young girls, especially since they had to answer immediately after being asked.

Unsurprisingly, the quality of the answers wasn’t very good.

Still, seeing the young ladies earnestly expressing their thoughts with nervous faces brought a warm smile.

“Everyone is working so hard; it’s lovely. It will be a good experience for the young ladies.”

“There are some young ladies who are demonstrating excellent skills even in this situation.”

“Are you talking about Princess Paeraton and Lady Micheloin? When I listen to their answers, I can’t help but slap my knee! To think those are the opinions of young ladies.”

Ruatisha answered without hesitation, like water flowing.

Of course, that was inevitable, considering how many interviews she had been through in her past life.

Compared to the pressure interviews that went as far as personal attacks, these questions, which were considerate of the respondents, were very comfortable.

Moreover, as she was participating in the internal affairs of the Paeraton Duchy and directly managing several businesses, these were very familiar questions.

Since the questions were more high-level than those from the previous Dawn Festivals, Ruatisha demonstrated her skills like a fish in water.

“Princess Paeraton is very skilled, even though she’s the youngest.”

“Beyond being skilled, her thoughts are so unique? I thought her perspective was different when I saw her opinion paper on relief, and it’s the same this time.”

As a person who had lived two lives and experienced two worlds, it was only natural for Ruatisha.

“Lady Micheloin is very stable. She doesn’t waver no matter what question is asked. It’s as if she’s prepared for everything.”

“I knew Lady Micheloin was bright, but she wasn’t a particularly noticeable young lady in social circles. She’s showing many new sides of herself at this Dawn Festival.”

“After seeing the always noisy young ladies, it’s refreshing to see such a calm, quiet, and substantial young lady.”

“……Noisy? What do you mean?”

“Oh, I didn’t mean anything special. Why are you reacting like that?”

An invisible war of nerves arose among the spectators.

With two strong candidates for the win, it was natural for the people supporting each of them to be divided.

Some people had pure intentions, like supporting a sports team, but in many cases, political interests were involved.

It would be like that even if it were simply a competition among young ladies, but it was even more so because the princes were involved.

“Then, I’ll ask one last question.”

In the meantime, the competition was nearing its end.

Some of the young ladies looked relieved, thinking that the end was finally in sight.

“How many cricket bats are produced in the Empire in a year?”

“……?”

The participants, as well as the people in the audience, had strange expressions at the absurd question.

Lady Micheloin looked up and surveyed her surroundings.

Not only the other young ladies but even Princess Paeraton had a bewildered expression.

This was the first time Princess Paeraton had reacted like this during the questioning process.

‘Well, it’s understandable.’

Lady Micheloin, who had received the questions two days earlier, was also surprised when she heard this question.

Until now, most of the questions had been related to managing the country.

But the most important last question was such a useless question.

What does the number of cricket bats produced have to do with social circles or national management?

‘It’s not like His Majesty is an avid fan of cricket games…….’

She had many questions, but Lady Micheloin found the answer to this question.

She investigated the number of cricket bats produced last year.

‘But that’s not really what they’re asking.’

Questions always have intentions.

But no matter how much she thought about it, she couldn’t understand the intention of the question.

‘Are they trying to see how well we can hide our embarrassment and give witty answers to absurd questions?’

That was the most plausible reason Lady Micheloin could think of.

If that was the real intention, she was confident that she could surprise people in reverse.

“…….”

Was it really okay to do this?

When she saw Princess Paeraton answering without hesitation, she thought it couldn’t be helped.

But seeing the princess looking flustered now…….

‘It’s certain that I’ll win with this question.’

Was it okay to do that?

“Micheloin is truly a great family. Has there ever been another family that has achieved such great academic achievements? It can be said to be the foundation of the Empire’s intellectual world. Everyone in the Empire will praise the achievements of the Micheloin family and respect its honor.”

“You flatter me, Your Majesty the Empress.”

“But what would people say if they found out that there was such corruption in that achievement?”

“……?”

Lady Micheloin couldn’t take her eyes off the documents the Empress was holding out.

Inside, various corruptions related to the Micheloin family were densely written.

She swore she had never known that there was such corruption in her family.

She had always been proud that she was a member of Micheloin…….

The corruption alone was shocking, but the Empress was even threatening her.

She didn’t know what to do.

“Shh, young lady. Don’t tremble. I have a good impression of you. No adult dislikes a smart child. I’m trying to help you.”

“In fact, minor shadows tend to follow when achieving achievements. Isn’t that so? Even the founding emperor shed a lot of blood when he founded the empire. There must have been lives that were unjustly lost.”

“But that doesn’t mean the founding emperor’s great achievements disappear. Isn’t it inevitable that small flaws arise when pursuing great things? I understand and even sympathize.”

“But I wonder what others will think……. I’m worried that dirty stains will be on Micheloin’s high honor.”

The Empress spoke with a kind face.

However, she was hiding fangs to bite Micheloin under that face.

Lady Micheloin pondered.

Wouldn’t it be right to reveal the family’s flaws?

Lady Micheloin was taught to ‘live with pride as a member of a family that reveals the truth.’

Isn’t the truth in revealing corruption, not in academic research?

As if noticing her 고민 [worry], the Empress said.

“I feel sorry for Marquis Micheloin. Because of his daughter, his family’s honor is about to plummet to the ground in an instant.”

Adding guilt about the family to a fourteen-year-old girl who was mentally exhausted from the shock, she couldn’t bear it.

The faces of her father, mother, and many family members flashed before her eyes.

If she listened to the Empress, nothing would happen.

The Empress’s words that flaws are bound to arise when pursuing great things became an escape.

But.

“I like it? Rather than Lady Micheloin, who is so bright, looking at me as just a child and not even bothering to deal with me, seeing me as a proper rival.”

“Really? I have a reason to win.”

“It feels good to compete 멋지게 [admirably] and win, right?”

The face of the child who was smiling brightly.

Lady Micheloin clenched her skirt tightly.

“……Lady.”

“Lady Micheloin?”

“Yes, yes.”

Lady Micheloin was flustered and looked up.

To be distracted at the most important moment.

“Are you okay? You don’t look well.”

“I’m fine. I’m sorry.”

“Bring Lady Micheloin a glass of water. ……Princess Paeraton, would it be okay to postpone Lady Micheloin’s answer and have the princess answer first?”

“Of course.”

Princess Paeraton answered without hesitation.

Lady Micheloin was surprised and turned to look at her.

‘She was so surprised by this question, but if the order is even moved forward, Princess Paeraton will be at a greater disadvantage…….’

That thought wasn’t entirely wrong.

Ruatisha was definitely surprised.

‘What is this, a question that would be asked in a job interview on Earth?!’

And Ruatisha knew very well what this kind of question was intended to ask.

The flustered young ladies answered as if guessing, saying a thousand, ten thousand, but this wasn’t really asking about the production volume of cricket bats.

“How much do you think the production volume is, Princess?”

“I cannot answer that question.”

“……Are you saying you don’t know?”

“No. I am saying that I cannot answer because the criteria for the question are not clear.”

Ruatisha’s words were clearly different from the answers given by the other young ladies so far.

Not only the questioner but also the spectators who were watching pricked up their ears.

“Cricket bats are not necessities but tools needed for hobbies. It is natural for demand to increase or decrease depending on the trend.

In other words, you asked about the annual production volume, but the value varies greatly depending on the base year.”

The questioner was a little embarrassed.

He never expected this kind of answer to come back.

“It also varies depending on the inventory situation and the population, in addition to the trend. The production volume a hundred years ago and this year’s production volume will be very different. That’s why I said I can’t answer.”

“I see. Then let’s change the question. What do you think last year’s production volume was like?”

She had pointed out the loopholes in the question and escaped a little while ago, but this time she wouldn’t be able to help it.

But Ruatisha opened her mouth with even a relaxed smile.

“That can be answered in three ways.”

“Three ways?”

“The first is to inquire with the bat manufacturers in the Empire. If you add up the results of the inquiries, that’s it.”

“……You’re saying something too obvious.”

But it was a much better answer than just guessing a few numbers.

Because it was presenting a method.

“The second is to assume and analyze the situation to predict the production volume.”

“Can you tell me more about that?”

“For example, let’s assume that the population of the Empire is 300 million. And let’s assume that it only goes to the domestic market. We don’t export or import bats.”

“Hoo…….”

Admiration flowed from among the questioners.

She was answering in a direction that exactly matched the intention of the question.

“Let’s assume that the population that directly enjoys cricket is from their teens to their 30s, and that new bat buyers are half of this population. If they already have a bat, they won’t bother to buy a new one.”

Of course, you can enjoy cricket in your 50s.

But Ruatisha had no hesitation in assuming.

What was important in this question was not ‘what it actually is’ or ‘how accurate the assumption is.’

“Also, families without the means carve wood directly or use second-hand goods, so let’s say that buyers are people with middle or higher income levels. Under this assumption, we can estimate that about 1/30 of the population will buy bats.”

“So that means 10 million will be produced?”

“No.”

Ruatisha smiled brightly.

“10 million would be produced under the assumption that all those buyers only buy one bat each, and that the manufacturers only produce as much as they order.”

While the child’s voice rang out clearly, silence enveloped Diluculum Hall.

“Heo…….”

Starting with someone’s admiration, exclamations flowed from here and there.

Since there was no accurate information, she assumed everything, and based on that assumption, she analyzed and inferred to draw a conclusion.

The viewers who were embarrassed by the sudden question realized the intention of this question only after hearing Ruatisha’s answer.

“That’s really amazing. When I first asked about the bat production volume, I couldn’t even think of assuming and inferring it. I wouldn’t know if it was a different question.”

“How can a child have such thoughts? I can only admire it.”

Still, she was very curious as there was still one more way left.

“What is the last third answer?”

“I prefer this method the most.”

Ruatisha smiled. It was a slightly mischievous smile.

“Ask my aide.”

“……!”

“That’s why I keep talented people by my side, paying them a lot of money.”

It was an absurd yet most realistic answer.