People bring their own maids to the training camp

Kushida fell silent. She felt that Chihaya's words were full of implications, and she did indeed understand the implications in her words.

"Alright, that's all for today. I have other things to do." Chihaya patted Kushida's cheek and then stood up. "Oh, right, here's a reminder—don't spend your points too much, okay? They might come in handy later, especially in terms of gaining popularity."

After saying that, he left cleanly and decisively, without even giving Kushida a chance to say that he understood the hint. He simply waved his sleeve and left without leaving a trace.

This left Kushida stunned. Wasn't she here to do *that* kind of thing? She thought she'd have to pretend her feet hurt all day again tomorrow.

Could it be that he's actually quite gentle?

Wait, wait, wait, why would I have such an unrealistic idea!

Kushida shook his head violently, trying to shake this strange thought out of his mind.

Let's eat first, since we didn't eat anything last night or this morning, and we only had a regular lunch.

Kushida, who had originally planned to order a lavish takeout meal, hesitated again after remembering Chihaya's kind reminder.

"..."

"Never mind, I'll just grab something to eat," Kushida sighed.

----split line----

Chihaya's room.

"You're back." Hayasaka bowed to Chihaya as she entered through the door.

"Ah."

"It's much faster than I expected," Hayasaka said expressionlessly. "If we use all methods, I think it will take at least thirty minutes for you to return—of course, we can't rule out the possibility that you'll spend the night there."

"...Is your mind filled with nothing but lewd nonsense all day long?" Chihaya said helplessly. "You make me sound like a lustful demon. Is it really that exaggerated?"

Hayasaka didn't say anything, but gave Chihaya a "what do you think?" look.

"..." Chihaya walked up to Hayasaka without saying a word and pinched her delicate little face.

"Woooooooo..."

"You've been a bit naughty lately, haven't you?" Chihaya flashed an even brighter smile than she had in Kushida's room. "Should I teach you a lesson?"

"Okay, okay!" Hayasaka nodded repeatedly. "I hope I can't get out of bed~ I'm afraid you can't do that."

"Okay, then I'll punish you by making you sleep in your own room for a week."

"???"

43. Bonus chapter for recommended votes

Having won over Kushida added a bit of fun to Chihaya's otherwise boring life—it was quite enjoyable to tease Kushida every now and then.

Especially when Chihaya sees Kushida's expression of wanting to get angry but forcibly holding it back, she can even eat an extra bowl of rice.

At this stage, Kushida still needs to be continuously "intimidated," otherwise this person will definitely take advantage of any slight given her, and who knows what resources she might be able to swindle by taking advantage of her power.

Therefore, Chihaya's order to Hayasaka was not to reveal any important information to Kushida, but simply to continue to suppress her.

Of course, it wasn't just a matter of giving slaps without any rewards; Chihaya planned to give Kushida some extra points every month as "rewards."

Although she hadn't inquired specifically about Hayasaka's money-making plans, she figured that since Hayasaka had made such a confident guarantee, there was nothing wrong with it. The maid was never one to make empty promises; she always did what she was supposed to do.

For example, directing action movies featuring a man and a woman, but this is a hidden hobby of Hayasaka that Chihaya only recently discovered.

Faced with the truth coming to light at the school, Chihaya's overall strategy remained conservative.

Furthermore, through Hayasaka's counter-surveillance skills, he has successfully identified the person who was following him and the mastermind behind it.

The person being followed is Masumi Kamuro from Class 1-A, and the person instigating it is Arisu Sakayanagi from the same class.

Sakayanagi was already on Chihaya's watch list after their conversation during that exam, so this time they were investigated together.

Hayasaka was reporting to Chihaya at that moment.

"Based on my investigation into the surname Sakayanagi, I have not found any relevant information. Therefore, we can first rule out the possibility that the other party is a contact of the Mikado family, or to be precise, not a local tyrant."

Japan is neither a very large nor a very small country. Many prefectures and even cities have local powerful families. Although these families have no influence in Tokyo, they are still quite influential locally. Even prominent families in Tokyo often choose to cooperate with them when expanding their businesses.

After all, harmony brings wealth, so why not make money together?

“However, Sakayanagi Arisu clearly knows about your maternal grandmother’s Nordic ancestry, which is not something that ordinary people can access. It is unlikely that a temporary investigation can be conducted in a closed boarding school. So there is only one explanation: Sakayanagi had a certain understanding of the Himegami family from the beginning. However, I guess it should have come from her elders, otherwise your gender issue would definitely have been discovered.”

Chihaya strongly agreed with Hayasaka's speculation. His personal characteristics were very distinct, and anyone who studied him closely would know that the Himegami family did not actually have such a girl.

"Furthermore, Sakayanagi appears to have a leg ailment, and such a person would be very conspicuous in social situations. However, I have no memory of this, so it is highly likely that I learned about it from an elder."

“In any case, Sakayanagi’s background is definitely a key factor. I need to know which side she represents,” Chihaya said to Hayasaka. “I’m a little worried right now.”

"Is there anything you're worried about?" Hayasaka asked, puzzled. "If you wanted to, probably no one in this school could rival you."

"No, I'm not worried about the students at this school. If I can lose at playing house with them, I might as well go home and go on blind dates." Chihaya waved her hand dismissively. "What I'm really worried about is whether this school is a continuation of certain competitions. You see, merit is everything, 100% college entrance rate. Since it's a middle school that cultivates a large number of talents, who will ultimately benefit?"

"You mean—the political aspect?"

“Yes, Gaoyu has been established for many years, and as you have seen, it is a national secondary school that receives national funding,” Chihaya said. “The fact that this school has been able to receive national funding for so many years proves that it has played its due role.”

"You mean, investigate the people involved in this matter?" Hayasaka suddenly realized, "I was overthinking it! If we only investigate matters related to Mikado, most of them are just public political figures."

"Yes, the next step is for you to investigate the teachers and senior management of this school, such as the principal, director, and chairman of the board. Let me know if there is anything noteworthy, since we can't use the abilities related to the Imperial Palace and the Imperial Gate right now."

"Understood." Hayasaka nodded. "If it really involves a political struggle, what about us?"

Hayasaka stopped speaking halfway through his sentence.

The Imperial Concubine family is indeed a political powerhouse, an ancient family with influence commensurate with its status.

However, Chihaya's personal situation is somewhat awkward—he is definitely going to take over the Mikado family business, and he has almost no chance of entering politics.

Moreover, because of Chihaya's consistent "lack of cooperation," he has never been involved in family affairs.

This resulted in his lack of judgment regarding the political situation.

They also lack insight into political figures.

Everyone can name the Prime Minister, but not everyone knows all of his staff. Especially since there are likely some who do the dirty work and hard labor.

Fortunately, everything is still in the "imagination" stage, and Chihaya has plenty of time.

“If it really involves that aspect…” Chihaya paused for a few seconds, “then we’ll just have to deal with it all at once, right?”

"Understood." Hayasaka nodded. She had no doubt that Chihaya possessed the ability to match her words, after all, she was probably the one who understood Chihaya the most.

“If that’s the case, then it makes more sense.” Chihaya continued her analysis. “My mother wasn’t usually that forceful about my schooling, so her attitude this time is clearly different. But if it’s to get me to do something, then it’s understandable.”

"That is to say, I've given you a reason that you can't refuse."

“If you told me the purpose directly, I definitely wouldn’t agree. In a way, you could say that no one knows a child better than their mother.” Chihaya sighed and rubbed her temples. “Honestly, even if there’s a problem, what kind of trouble can a mere middle school cause? Unless something earth-shattering happens.”

“Such a thing wouldn’t happen at a school like this, would it?” Hayasaka immediately denied. “Even if it’s for training talent for the country or a certain faction, it’s far from the level you’re describing.”

“You’re right, but…” Chihaya frowned. “For now, we can only wait and see.”

44. Hiyori Shiina

One day after school, at the library.

Since both of Chihaya's clubs were closed today, he decided to kill some time at the library.

The last time I came to the library was to participate in a knowledge competition. Although only a week has passed, it feels like a long time to Chihaya.

Kamuro has been unable to keep up with Hayasaka's harassment for the past two days, and because of Hayasaka's superb skills, Kamuro considers any obstacles to be just bad luck.

For example, a soccer ball flying towards him as he passed the playground; a truck unloading goods as he passed the convenience store; or the elevator passing by his floor when he wanted to use it—all these things made Kamuro question his existence.

This is also thanks to the perfect teamwork between Chihaya and Hayasaka; as long as Hayasaka interferes with Kamuro, Chihaya can immediately escape.

However, Chihaya doesn't leave Kamuro completely disoriented every day. During normal activities, he doesn't mind having a "little tail" following him.

Therefore, Kamuro only felt that he was occasionally unlucky, but did not think that Chihaya had done anything wrong, so he did not report it to Sakayanagi.

Whether it's participating in club activities or coming to the library now, Chihaya just follows Kamuro around casually—he won't get any useful information anyway.

He and Hayasaka are ostensibly best friends, so it's not a big deal if they stay overnight in each other's dorms. Kushida can also explain it as a newly made good friend.

Most importantly, Chihaya herself hadn't actually done anything, so she wasn't worried that Kamuro, who was following her, would find anything. Given time, Sakayanagi would naturally stop watching her, or rather, Sakayanagi would naturally realize that the fact that Kamuro hadn't discovered anything after so long meant that Kamuro was simply incompetent.

At this stage, tracking the bald guy in Class A is more effective than tracking himself, Chihaya couldn't help but complain inwardly.

Having pieced together bits and pieces of information about the current situation of each first-grade class, Chihaya had gained a general understanding of Class A in the first year.

Just like how Class B of the first year took the initiative to elect class monitor and vice class monitor to determine the class's voice, Class A of the first year and Class C of the first year also took similar actions, only Class D of the first year was basically still a disorganized mess - I also heard a lot about this from Kushida.

Back to Class 1-A, they now have two "opinion leaders"—Arisu Sakayanagi and Kohei Katsuragi, the latter being the bald guy Chihaya secretly criticizes, who is very conspicuous.

The two were not class monitors, but they bore similar responsibilities.

Chihaya had also learned a little about Katsuragi and found that he was indeed a student who was capable of fulfilling the role of class monitor in all aspects. However, it seemed that Koyuu School did not have a rule for setting up a class monitor position. Although it was strange, it was not a necessary position.

In such a situation where there are two people in charge, it will naturally end with one of them backing down, otherwise it will definitely affect themselves.

However, these things are not very important to Chihaya. Class B is currently in a stable and improving state. Under Honami's management, it is well-organized and, even if it is not as good as Class A, it is much better than Class C and D.

Managing a class is too much trouble; I'd rather be a pretty mascot.

With that thought in mind, Chihaya completely ignored Kamuro behind her and walked briskly into the library.

......

Although Chihaya entered the library, it was only on a whim, and she didn't have any specific book in mind, so she just wandered around between the bookshelves.

Less than a month into the semester, and with no exams in sight, the library was unusually quiet with hardly anyone around.

"It's a perfect atmosphere for quiet reading," Chihaya thought to herself.

Gao Yu's library was quite magnificent, with countless books and everything one could possibly need.

Although there wasn't any particular book she wanted to read, Chihaya was quite pleased just to stroll around in this atmosphere.

This reminded him of his childhood: before he formally began intensive study, he spent most of his time in the library. Hayasaka later remarked that the Chihaya-sama who loved spending time in the library back then was really easy to please; all he needed to do was remind her of mealtimes.

"Detective Fiction Section..."

Upon arriving at a new bookshelf, Chihaya encountered a living person she hadn't seen since entering the library—a gray-haired girl who was standing on her tiptoes, trying her best to reach a shelf of books that was far taller than her.

This is also a drawback of large libraries: because there are so many bookshelves, they are usually quite tall in order to save space as much as possible.