Chapter 196

196 . Society 1

"Welcome to the 0thtea party of our [Society] today!" (Mitsuha)

Even though she hated it, Mitchan is still properly acting as a mistress . As expected of the daughter of a senior noble...

As for why this is the zeroth instead of the first is because this is not yet a formal [Society] tea party .

This time is just a trial . Mitchan talked with a few of the carefully selected candidates, regardless of whether they would join or not, and invited them to a tea party with a brief explanation of the purpose of the meeting and saying [Why don't you just come to get along for the time being?] . So that's why this is the 0th .

The place is at the small hall of Mitchan's mansion .

Among the people that Mitchan had talked to, some of them seems to have declined or rejected the invitation due to variety of reasons such as [Because their house are belong to different factions] or [Because they disliked the idea that they would be acting under Mitchan] .

Well, I guess there's that too .

Even though Mitchan is a daughter of a marquis, there are other marquises, margraves, dukes, etc . , even among the counts, some of them seems to have an equal level of influence with marquises, so just because someone raised their hand, it doesn't mean that everyone would be happy to go for it .

Well, if I had explained in detail from the beginning, more people may have participated .

But Mitchan invited them by [simply explained the purpose] . ...right, she didn't explain much about the service from Viscount Yamano...

Because Mitchan said [I don't need anyone who just lured by the bait]... .

There's no way she could blatantly say that the faction of the parents isn't relevant, and she had to invite those whose family status exceeds hers to a certain level, so she deliberately didn't mention my name as a trick for selecting [Those who would participates even without the bait] .

Well, I guess that's right . There's a saying that [the scariest thing is not a competent enemy, but a stupid ally] . Attracting the incompetents and adversaries is one thing that we absolutely should avoid .

Among those who gathered today, those who said that they would like to officially join [Society] will become the founding members . And the founding members will be treated much better that those who joins later .

That's natural .

There will be no equal treatment between those who participated at the start of something unpredictable and those who wanted to join after confirming the success of it . And for those who want to join later, the hurdle will be quite high . After all, they cannot be admitted unless all the members unanimously concur via secret ballot . Those who loves to bully someone using the shade of their family status are obviously out of question .

So today is the welcoming ceremony for the members .

I have to be involved in order for me to be able to utilize this gathering . So, today I'm also taking Colette-chan together with me . I'll taking Colette-chan here and there from now on, so it's better to have everyone remember her so that they can help us when we have a problem .

Yeah, [Society] has a strong sense of unity... it should be .

"Well then, now Viscount Mitsuha von Yamano, the Vice president, will explain about the details of this [Society] . " (Mitchan)

Eh? Vice president?

Who? Me?

I haven't heard about this!!

...tte, Mitchan's mouth is distorted . She's laughing, no, she's [Sneering]!!!

Damn, so this is her retaliation!!

But, well, I guess it can't be helped . Certainly it was me who entrapped her first .

Besides, providing the supplies is my job anyway .

Well then, let's start from explaining the benefits they can get from the [Society]...

Fellowship and information sharing .

Help each other .

Treat everyone as your own siblings .

Someone's enemy is everyone's enemy .

Sweets and drinks are delicious .

Members may preferentially purchase imported goods from Yamano Viscount House at discounted prices, as long as the goods are going to be used by themselves and their families . Those who have made significant contributions to the [Society] will be rewarded with dresses, jewelry, and much more that even a Princess doesn't have . Except for personally purchased items, all memberships fees are free, including food and drinks .

Boom, How's that!?

" " " " " "..............." " " " " "

The ladies, who had only heard about the first two items in the prior explanation from Mitchan, are solidified .

Alright, now is the chance for...

"Tea and sweets!" (Mitsuha)

At my signal, the maids who were waiting moved all at once and started carrying tea and shortcake, toffee, fruitcake, potato chips, ice cream, and more to each table .

Of course, they were all bought in Japan .

Actually, I have to make up for the used money from abroad every time I bought something from japan, which is troublesome and tax-intensive . Aside from industrial products, sweets have a variety of customs outside of Japan after all...

Yeah, there's a possibility that the sweets from abroad might be suitable for the people here, but as expected it's better to serve Japanese sweets which I'm familiar with .

As for drinks, at first, we serve tea which everyone familiar with, but we will serve cocoa, 100% fruit juice, carbonated drinks and much more . ...speaking of 100% fruit juice, it was 5 times concentrated fruit juice that was diluted 5 times, so it's 100% fruit juice .

No, the calculations are right! ...on questionable .

But somehow it doesn't make sense!

No, I know the difference between straight juice and concentrated juice . Concentrated juice is convenient and inexpensive in terms of transportation costs, storage costs, and its shelf life . The calculation fits because you only need to evaporate or add the water .

Well, because the scent and flavor are gone due to the process, they put various additives such as fragrance, enhancers, sour agents, etc . ... .

No, I don't care about such things . It's good as long as it's cheap!

So that's why...

"Everyone, this is the product of my country... tte, no one is listening to me!!" (Mitsuha)

Everyone is competing with each other... no, not quite . They're competing with each other to eat the most sweets . ...are you lots really the daughters of senior nobles...

After a while, the place finally settled down .

As expected, the ladies seemed to have realized that it was improper of them, they seemed to look down with a little blush and reflecting on themselves . ...well, it's good, because I was able to confirm the strength of the Japanese sweets industry .

And the next move...

I slowly took something out of my bag, and...

"Actually, I made something like this ..." (Mitsuha)

What I showed everyone is three framed photos .

The photos of Mitchan which taken with a digital camera the other day has been finished, by working around with color correction, backgrounds, rays, and various other peripheral processing without making unreasonable modifications to the face, she looks like an angel . Face color correction is not a scam, as it can be done with makeup .

And not only thetsunexpression, there are also her slightly relentless expression, and her fresh expression, with the three pieces together, there's an incredibly attractive girl .

"Wh, wh-wha!!" (Mitchan)

Either she wants to protest against the two pieces that are not her clear expressions, or that she is impressed by the workmanship of her own picture, Mitchan turns red and doesn't say anything . Umu, how cute...

"And, like this, you can take the picture of your own figure . Of course, you will be charged, and only if you're the member of the [Society] . Oh, please take this home with you so that you can easily explain it to your family" (Mitsuha)

I gave them the photos of Mitchan, in L-size (89mm x 127mm) 3-piece set as the sample . There's no way that their fathers who saw this would not order the picture of their daughters so it can be used for their marriage proposal .

If they order more than one, then I just have to print them out, so it'll be a profit for me . Well, the image processing is outsourced to professionals, so it costs money, of course .

And before Mitchan regain her senses and begins to make complaints, I launched the next attack...