[Novel: Venus Syndrome] [764] A Mercenary Guy (Sequel to Amano Writing Club's "I Give Up")

Niihari City, at the foot of Mount Tsukuba in Ibaraki.
The winter sky is high, and only the surface of the lotus fields shines dully.
Yet, contrary to that scene, the city has been quietly losing its people.

For Tsumugi Togashira, the land was becoming less of a "place to return to" and more of a "place I just happen to know."
As a freelance fitting model—a so-called "mannequin"—who travels to various places, Tsumugi only hears about the current situation from Misato a few times a year.
Misato said, sounding strangely amused.
"Asahi is doing well. He seems to be doing something amazing right now."

Asahi Ikeda. A classmate from junior high.
For Tsumugi, it was a name she didn't really want to remember.
Ikeda, who works at the Niihari City Hall, approached Tsumugi to perform at an event for free in order to curry favor with Taito Sukegawa—the "Kim Jong-un of Niihari," who is the son of the mayor, the "Kim Jong-il of Niihari" Taizen Sukegawa, and also the head of the Chamber of Commerce Youth Division.

With the words "It's for the local community," there was no mention of compensation at all. (Main Story484Episode).
When Tsumugi refused, Asahi's attitude changed openly.

He, having had the ladder pulled out from under him by Tsumugi, was treated coldly at City Hall, and Tsumugi was quietly removed from the class group chat.
She didn't even get the notice for the year-end reunion.

But after that, the situation took a strange turn.
Taito, who serves as a department manager at the construction company run by his uncle, tried to unilaterally push forward the conversion of the Tsukuba Sangu Railway to BRT. (Main Story746Episode).

That high-handed move, which bypassed the local power brokers, ended up ruining the reputation of his father, the mayor Taizen, and Taito disappeared from the public stage as if he had been disowned.
The person Asahi had tried to curry favor with, only to be left out in the cold, was suddenly gone.

Removed from the Commerce and Tourism Division, he was now in the Building Management Division—a department everyone thinks of as a "place where nothing happens."
But according to Misato, that was where he really showed his true colors.

"Only the places the mayor walks through are incredibly clean. Seriously, just those spots."

At first, I thought it was a joke.
But when I heard more, it seemed Asahi had thoroughly researched the flow of movement within the building and was concentrating the budget only on the hallways, stairs, and conference room entrances that the mayor used daily.

Red carpets were laid on the floors, lighting was adjusted to be bright, and houseplants were placed.
Conversely, no one touched the hallway just one row behind, even if the fluorescent lights were burnt out.
The pretext of "improving the impression for visitors" holds up.
But the only one who actually gets that impression is the mayor.

Furthermore, on the days of inspections or meetings, the perfection of that "path" goes up a notch.
Old chairs are swapped with new ones from other floors, and the restrooms are meticulously cleaned right before he arrives.
If the mayor says, "The atmosphere in the building has improved lately," that comment becomes Asahi's evaluation directly.

They say the air conditioning in the mayor's office is also strangely comfortable.
I don't know who is doing it, but Asahi knows exactly when to "make it known."

"Apparently, all the problems are reported as 'already handled.' Conversely, he makes the things he did himself look a bit bigger before solving them."

Misato said this half-exasperated and half-impressed.

Tsumugi stared at her smartphone screen and said nothing for a while.
Being told to work for free back then, and being removed from the group chat—it all feels far away now.

But I understand Asahi's methods well.
Whoever the person is, he identifies "who he needs to show it to" and pours everything into that one point.
For that sake, he has no hesitation in cutting off everything else.

"What a mercenary guy."

At the foot of Mount Tsukuba, the red carpet stretches out straight.
In places no one is looking, it was never laid down to begin with.

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#TsumugiTogashira #TsukubaSanguRailway
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