Business Advisor of the Chamber of Commerce 10: The Shopping District's Decision and the Cease and Desist Order [#CreativeAward2025 #WorkNovelCategory]

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Yuto immediately gathered the people of the shopping district and explained the situation.
"The city office has revoked our permit."
"As things stand, the Sakuragawa Marche cannot be held."

For a moment, silence fell.
However—

"...So what?"
Shigeru Tanaka said with a fearless smile.
"We've already come this far. There's no turning back now."

Kazuo Matsuda nodded as well.
"That's right. If we give up here, we'll just slide back into that 'it's impossible anyway' atmosphere."
"We have no intention of giving up anymore."

"Hey, what are we going to do?"
The people of the shopping district all looked at Yuto at once.

"You decide."
Yuto closed his eyes for a moment and slowly exhaled.

And then—
"...We will hold it."
"Even if we don't have a permit, we will make the Sakuragawa Marche a success ourselves!"

At those words, everyone cheered.
"Ohhhhh!!!"
"Let's do it!!"
"We've come this far, there's no stopping us now!!!"
The unity of the shopping district had finally reached its peak.

The day of the Sakuragawa Marche finally arrived.
People had been gathering in the shopping district since the morning.
There were long lines in front of the food stalls run by local restaurants.
The fresh vegetables from the greengrocer were selling like hotcakes.

The manju from Matsudaya were also on track to sell out early.
"Amazing...!"
Kota's eyes were shining.
"Dad, it's like the shopping district has come back to life!"
"...Yeah, it really has."

That was when it happened.

"Hey! This is bad!!"

One of the shop owners came running over.
"City office officials are here!! They're saying to cancel the event!!"

When Yuto turned around, there they were—
City office officials, and Seiji Miura.

"Cancel the Sakuragawa Marche immediately."
The city official stated in a calm yet firm tone.

Beside him, Miura stood with his arms crossed, watching Yuto quietly.

"I acknowledge your efforts. But this is now a matter of 'rules'."
"Holding an event without official permission is, strictly speaking, a violation of city ordinances."

At those words, the atmosphere in the shopping district tightened in an instant.

"If you force this through, and there are reports from residents, the local Community Safety Division may get involved."

Miura continued quietly, as if delivering a verdict.
"If that happens, it won't just be about the event. If things go poorly, the entire shopping district could face administrative guidance."

"Administrative guidance...?"
"Is it really going to become that big of a deal...?"
"I thought we had permission..."

The people of the shopping district began to murmur.
You could feel the positive atmosphere from just a moment ago gradually cooling down.

"Maybe... we should cancel after all..."
"If we defy the city and get penalized later..."

As anxiety spread all at once and everyone swallowed their words—
"...Even though we've come this far...!"
Yuto bit his lip and gritted his teeth.

That was when it happened.
"Don't mess with us!!"
A shout rang out in the center of the shopping district.

“If we were going to cancel it now, we wouldn't have started it in the first place!!”
It was Tanaka, the greengrocer, who shouted.
His face was filled with anger and resolve.

“We have...”
Tanaka declared, looking straight at Miura.
“We’ve been giving up for so long, so long!! We’d say it’s no use, it’s impossible anyway, and we’d just open our shops without doing anything, watching the customers dwindle!!”
“But... Morita got us moving!!”
“How many years has it been? Since the shopping district has been this lively!!”
“If we cancel it here, we’ll never be able to recover again!!!”

At Tanaka's words, the people of the shopping district raised their voices one after another.

“That’s right!! What ‘rules’!! We’re doing this to survive!!”
“This festival is our pride!!”

Amidst the shouting, Yuto gasped.
“The people in the shopping district... they’re serious.”

Miura watched the agitated people of the shopping district.

“...Good grief, you’re all just running on pure emotion.”
The voice that muttered this was mixed with exasperation, irony, and a hint of frustration.
His profile revealed complex feelings about something he couldn't stop.

Then, he glared at Yuto again.

“Morita. Can you take responsibility? If you keep going like this, a real problem might occur.”

Yuto looked straight back into Miura's eyes.
“...I will take responsibility. We can't turn back now.”

Hearing those words, Miura was silent for a while.
Eventually, he sighed and—
“...Tch.”
He clicked his tongue and crossed his arms again.
“...Do as you like.”
Saying that, Miura turned his back.

Yuto stared at Miura's back in surprise.
“Miura-san...?”

“...I can't say for sure that your way of doing things is wrong.”
“But if something happens, you take full responsibility.”

Yuto nodded firmly at those words.
“Yes.”

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