"The shop's equipment is being supplied by my family's store."
"To raise the foot-massage parlor's profile before opening, I had Norn-san and the others hand out promotional flyers around the school."
"And since we don't have any experienced masseuse on our side, I even contacted some experienced masseuses back home..."
Uh...?
Watching Belno Light speak with complete confidence in front of him, Sakuraba Ryo felt the corner of his mouth twitch.
Why are you so good at this?!
Belno-san, I did not hire you for this!
"Sakuraba-san, do you think what I've done so far is enough?"
Holding a small notebook in her hands, Belno Light looked at him with shining eyes.
"..."
Seeing how neatly Belno Light had arranged everything, Sakuraba suddenly felt like he needed to do something.
No, no, no!
At this rate, they were going to make money!
As an investor, Sakuraba could tell at a glance how smart Belno Light's arrangements were. If he let her keep this up, his money-losing plan was going to collapse before it even got off the ground!
That was unacceptable!
Absolutely unacceptable!
"Belno-san, have you managed a shop before? Why are you this good at it?"
"Ehehe."
Belno Light scratched her head shyly and smiled.
"My family runs a sports equipment store back home, so when I have time, I help out a little with managing the shop and things like that..."
Damn it, and to think I'd get tripped up by a tiny detail like this!
Tch!
Now that he understood Belno Light's capabilities, Sakuraba knew he couldn't let her keep handling things this way.
That said, he was the one who had delegated authority to her in the first place. If he took it back now, wouldn't that just be slapping himself in the face?
So what Sakuraba planned to do instead was offer a few "insightful suggestions" about how to run the business.
"Belno-san, send those masseuse you hired back. My shop doesn't need that many people."
"Huh? But if we do that, then there won't be any proper staff in the shop at all!"
Belno Light froze. She genuinely hadn't expected Sakuraba to make a decision like that.
"It's fine. Isn't there one right here?"
Sakuraba hooked a thumb at himself.
"I'm extremely confident in my own skills."
And to be fair, that wasn't actually a lie.
Back when he'd been running a talent agency, he had really gone out and learned massage techniques so he could properly relieve the stress of the idols under him. It was just that, right up until the company went bankrupt, he'd never gotten the chance to use them.
What Sakuraba didn't know, however, was that everyone at the agency had actually known he learned how to massage specifically for them. The problem was that one member who knew what she was talking about had rated his technique as dogshit-tier, so from then on, everyone had avoided him and never gave him a chance to massage them.
"But even if that's true, Sakuraba-san can't possibly handle everything by himself..."
If a foot-massage parlor were being run properly, then there definitely wouldn't be any shortage of customers. One person couldn't possibly handle the business alone!
"Looks like I forgot to tell you about our shop's business goals!"
With his hands on his hips, Sakuraba spoke with great seriousness.
"First of all, Belno-san, think about it. Ordinary Umamusume do have a need to relax, sure—but would they really spend money here?"
"The answer is no. They don't actually have that much money in their pockets, and even if they do, they probably wouldn't spend it here."
"Our target customer base should be Umamusume who win races regularly and have plenty of spare cash on hand!"
"We should go high-end. Those are the customers we ought to be targeting!"
"High-end customers..."
Belno Light was completely drawn in by Sakuraba's words. She truly hadn't expected him to plan on running a foot-massage parlor this way...
"But, but if we really do that, then what should the pricing be?"
Belno Light instinctively began calculating what a suitable price point would be.
After all, the day-to-day operating costs of a foot-massage parlor weren't low. If they priced it too cheaply, they'd never break even—but if they priced it too high, nobody would spend that much money just to get a foot massage...
She had thought herself into a dead end from both directions.
"ONE HUNDRED THOUSAND YEN!!!"
Sakuraba held up a finger.
"PER SESSION!!!!!"
"That's way too expensive!"
"Don't panic, Belno-san. You have to trust my abilities. My technique absolutely justifies that price!"
Sakuraba thumped his chest, looking utterly self-assured.
Can his technique really be trusted...?
Staring at the man's confident expression, Belno Light sank into troubled thought.
"It's fine, Belno-san! Just do things the way I say! Whether we lose money or make money after that, I'll take responsibility for it!"
"Mm..."
Looking at the deeply conflicted expression on the girl's face, Sakuraba wiped away sweat that didn't actually exist on his forehead.
Damn, I finally managed to bluff my way through that.
Good thing I'm one step ahead. I almost let you make money for me!
Tsk, tsk. Belno-san, you're still too green. You think you can make money with me around?
No chance!
"So, Belno-san, call Norn Ace and the others back. What we should be doing now is improving the shop's service quality!"
"What a foot-massage parlor should have, we'll have. What a foot-massage parlor doesn't have, we'll have that too!"
"We're going high-end!"
"As for publicity, we don't need to invest too much in that. Quality speaks for itself!"
"O-Okay..."
Seeing how insistent Sakuraba was, Belno Light could only go along with him...
She just had a vague feeling that something about Sakuraba's decisions was off, but she couldn't quite put her finger on what.
Can this really make money...?
That was the thought that kept surfacing in Belno Light's mind.
Maybe I should go back to the dorm later and talk it over with Dad... He should know how to handle this sort of thing.
Naturally, Sakuraba had no idea what Belno Light was thinking. Right now, he was simply immersed in the joy of having successfully intercepted a profitable business plan.
After settling those matters, the two of them began discussing how to improve the customer service experience.
...
"Boss, the ojou-sama just contacted us."
"Oh? What did Belno-chan say?"
In Tokyo, inside a major company of considerable renown, a plainly dressed middle-aged man asked his secretary that question.
"The ojou-sama said she's been studying how to run a shop lately—specifically one aimed at the high-end market—and hoped to learn a few things from you."
The middle-aged man burst into hearty laughter.
"Good! Belno-chan is finally taking an interest in this sort of thing! Go find someone professional in the company and have them give her some pointers."
"Yes, Boss!"
"Oh, right. Where is her shop located?"
"Uh... I believe it's in Kasamatsu..."
"Kasamatsu, hm..."
The man stroked the beard on his chin, then instructed his secretary, "Then start promoting Belno-chan's shop here in Tokyo. Be discreet about it, though. Don't let Belno find out."
"Yes, Boss!"
---
T/N: DAMNIT!!! FOILED BY THE LOVE OF A FATHER!!!!!